After spending the first 23 years of my life in suburban Pennsylvania, I was ready for a change and moved to Brooklyn, NY .  After a year of "figuring my life out" and still reluctant to enter "the real world," I decided that I had spent enough time in school as a student and that I would try sitting at the front of the classroom, doing more talking and less note-taking.  I spent a year at NYU-Steinhardt, studying education and student teaching in pursuit of a masters degree, and emerged with a job at a NYC public high school.  My short and disappointing stint there solidified in my mind the hopelessness of trying to be an authentic educator within the public school system, and I decided to accept a staff position at Manhattan Free School where I had  previously volunteered.  I am excited to begin my journey into free/democratic education, and plan to spend the majority of this summer "unschooling" myself in preparation for the challenges ahead.