Sociology senior Darius Rucker, 21, expected his Nov. 8 rehearsal of "Chicago" to be just like the other ones. It wasn't.
Rucker found out right before that he was accepted into Teach for America. He could hardly contain his excitement sitting in the pit with his bass for the three-hour rehearsal.
"I was super excited, but I didn't cry," he said. "My mom cried, though."
Rucker is one of 34 UF students who were accepted into Teach for America on Nov. 8. This time last year, 22 students were accepted. This higher acceptance rate is not a national trend, said Caity Hickey, UF recruitment manager with Teach for America.
Teach for America is a national teacher corps that recruits recent college graduates to teach for two years in low-income communities.
Hickey expects more UF students to be selected overall this year than in previous years.
"We just have a group of students who are a strong fit this year," Hickey said.
This is the first of four rounds in which students are accepted. Other rounds are in January, March and April.
Although Teach for America doesn't have a quota to fill, about the same number of students is being accepted.
Last year, there were about 6,000 students accepted. UF was ranked No. 5 in the country for large schools last year based on its 75 selected applicants. The University of Michigan produced the most selected applicants in the country, Hickey said, followed by the University of California, Berkeley.
Hickey said she thinks UF has more accepted students because the Student Body understands the achievement gap among students from different income levels.
When English senior Isamara Berrios, 21, was applying, she was told Teach for America accepts only 11 percent of applicants.
Berrios is in that 11 percent. She will be going to her hometown of Miami to teach secondary English. She doesn't know what grade, but she doesn't really care.
"I am so excited to meet my students and see their faces," she said.
Corps members teach grades pre-K through 12 in about 10 subjects in 43 regions.
Rucker will be teaching middle-school math in St. Louis.
"I'm really into music, and I'm thinking how I can use that to increase the amount of learning," he said.
