The first weeks of the school year shine with hope. Each day brings the possibility that something magical will happen. But first, you've got to get to school. Depending on where your trip begins—from brownstone Brooklyn, orchard country in Eastern Washington, or your dorm room in a rare public boarding school—the logistics of getting to school vary radically across Teach For America's 53 regions. 

It's still dark when Genevieve Marlin Fernandez (N.Y. '17) starts her day. She is a first-year teacher and part of the "Mom Squad," and informal group (formed at summer institute) of corps members who are also mothers. Genevieve came to teaching after a career in journalism and communications. She and her son C.J. take four subway trains to get to their schools. 

On a cool Tuesday morning in Mesa, Washington, eight-year-old Miranda Chavez and her five-year-old brother, Isaac, waited with their mother and their dog, Lulu, for the school bus. Miranda was off to third grade at Basin City Elementary School, home to the Bobcats and Miranda's favorite second grade teacher, Claire Rudder (Washington '14).

On a cloudy Wednesday morning in Baltimore, Augustine Nwuzor started the second day of 11th grade in his dorm room at the SEED School of Maryland. Having spent the summer as a MERIT medical intern, a position he secured with the help of SEED's external opportunities coordinator Julie Hess (Chi-NWI '09), he was back to sharing the bathroom with 13 other guys, and thinking about the next step: college.