UW-Madison senior Becca Heffernan had not given much thought to Teach For America before spotting an advertisement during her anatomy lab last week.
""I literally just stared at it for about five minutes and started thinking, ‘Maybe I should do this,"" said Heffernan, who barely beat the first application deadline two days later.
""I come from the south side of Chicago, so the rate of continuing education for our high school is so small,"" she said. ""It definitely just struck home to me, and having no plans after graduation I figured I might as well give it a shot.""
Teach For America will deploy 4,100 college students to teach in 35 poor communities across the county this year for two-year terms, according to Luke Livingston, TFA's Wisconsin recruitment director. There has been an especially high number of applicants at UW-Madison so far this year.
""Looking at last year, most of our heavy recruiting was done early on, and we're still up about 160 percent this year,"" Livingston said.
So far, 116 applications have come in from UW-Madison, compared to 71 at this time last year, when 250 were received by the final deadline and 56 were accepted. Livingston said this year's emphasis on applying early lifted applications more than the ailing economy.
Heffernan had plenty of reasons to apply beyond job security, but the thought had crossed her mind.
""I know so many seniors who graduated ... and have continuously applied [for jobs] but still haven't gotten anything. It's definitely scary,"" Heffernan said. ""If I don't need a teaching degree but I can be a teacher, that looks like a good transition until I find out what I do want to do with the rest of my life.""
UW-Madison senior Ellen Vanden Branden said her chances of getting a job after graduation with degrees in journalism and art history played no role in her decision to apply.
""Someday I'm going to have a job that I really want, but I just figure that I'm still young and I don't want to settle down yet and not everyone's been as privileged as most people who go to Madison,"" Vanden Branden said.
Teach For America applications are available online, with deadlines on Oct. 28, Jan. 8 and Feb. 19.
