In 1999, I graduated from the University of Toledo in Ohio with a double major in Applied Mathematics and Psychology. When some people hear that they say, "That's an odd combination. Math and psychology?" My stock response is, "Have you seen the girls in the math classes?"

The truth is that I declared my math major from the beginning. During my junior and senior years, I was still taking two or three high-level math classes each semester just to meet the degree requirements. I enjoyed the introductory psychology classes and decided to add a psych major at the beginning of my junior year. Somehow, there was no problem completing all the psych courses for the major.

Prior to graduation, I had already decided to join a program called Teach for America. Teach for America is a program that recruits college graduates of all majors to teach in "under-resourced" locations throughout the United States. The program did not require one to have an education degree. In fact, I think they preferred people who were subject matter experts who could learn the rudiments of teaching in relatively short order. 

After I graduated in May of 1999, I returned to my high school to complete some pre-work in the form of teacher observations. In June, I packed up my 1984 Toyota Celica GTS (iMac carefully protected in the original box and secured in the passenger seat) and drove from Indiana to Houston, Texas to attend a five-week intensive training program called the "Institute." Little did I know I was about to experience the most intensive training program of my life.