Alliance for Catholic Education
Part of the reason many of us signed up for ACE was to experience a new place and a new culture. I can live anywhere for two years, right? In my interview, I was asked, “Where would you not want to be placed?” Immediately, I said, “I wouldn’t want to go to Indianapolis or Louisville because they’re too close to where I grew up in Cincinnati, and I want to be pushed more out of my comfort zone and experience something new.” Well, a couple months later, I was told my placement — Indianapolis. Now, I couldn’t be happier with that outcome.
My mindset quickly changed upon arrival because I discovered that even though I was close to home geographically, every city has something unique to offer. Our neighborhood is right by Butler University, but also is ten minutes away from Broad Ripple and Mass Ave, two of the young neighborhoods in the city. One thing I love about Indy is all of the bike trails running throughout the city. We can walk less than a mile from our house to the Central Canal Towpath that my housemate lovingly calls “The Bayou” to keep us connected to the ACE communities in the South. There’s also my beloved Fall Creek Trail I run almost every day at track practice.
By October, I still didn’t feel like I knew my city. I knew how to get to school and the grocery store and maybe had been to two different restaurants, but there was so much of the city I knew nothing about. One of the best things I did to help me feel at home was to play tourist for a day by taking a guided audio walking tour of the downtown. It felt silly at the time, but now I have so many facts and sites to point out when people visit! Another one of my favorite things to do was going to a coffee shop in Speedway, the home of the Indianapolis 500. This neighborhood has checkered-flagged everything — from street signs to fire hydrants. Your students are a wealth of knowledge, too! “What is your favorite local restaurant?” is a great ice breaker or exit ticket at the beginning of the year to learn more about the city.
As every ACE teacher quickly learns, we don’t always have room for extravagant weekend plans, but every city has free things to offer. My Saturday mornings are usually reserved for the farmers markets and I haven’t even tried them all yet! Indianapolis also has so much free art to check out, including along the canal walk downtown, Funky Bones, the sculpture shown in The Fault in Our Stars movie thanks to Indianapolis resident and super fan John Green, and our community’s favorite Ann Dancing, a glowing orange stick figure who sways side to side and you can’t help but dance when you walk past her! We love to take advantage of all of the teacher discounts, too, like free days at local museums or discounts at stores. Last year, we went to teacher appreciation day at the zoo, and we recently discovered that a local ice cream shop gives teachers free ice cream any time we want! I don’t even have enough room in this blog post to start talking about all the great live music and professional sporting events we can see here for less than $20!
After exploring many different places, I finally found a few that I wanted to become somewhat of a regular at. My favorite Mexican restaurant has a hilarious server who is a local legend that even my students talk about. On Tuesday nights, you can probably find me at trivia night with some college friends. And last but definitely not least is The Cheesecake Lady, a woman-owned cheesecake shop that opened less than two blocks away from our house last winter. Kate Morse (ACE 29) and I were ecstatic when there was a shop dedicated to our favorite dessert within walking distance from our house, and we used every excuse to stop in (Cheesecake Lady, if you’re reading this, I’m your biggest fan). This year, some of my favorite days have been the ones where I have introduced my new housemates to my favorite spots in Indy.
Any city can feel like home, if you give it a chance! It might take some time, but once you start exploring with your community, you’ll find the things you love about your placement site. I’ll remember these times as just as important of a time in ACE as my time in the classroom. After all, the people really do make the place!