I have a license!!

A couple weeks ago, I got my "Letter of Eligibility" from the Florida Department of Education saying that if I pass Florida fingerprints/background check, I am eligible for a Florida teaching certificate in Educational Media PK-12. If I want, I can pay $54 and send away for a fingerprinting packet and complete the process of getting my Florida teaching certificate, but I only applied as a back-up plan for getting my Virginia teaching license.

Looks like I don't need to worry about the back-up plan because my Virginia teaching license application went through!! I don't physically have my license yet, but if you search for my name now on the Virginia Department of Education license query page, I come back in the results, and it says I have a license!!

Now I can relax and enjoy my last few weeks at AOL and get excited for beginning my career as a librarian!

Teaching License and Diploma

I finally got the last thing I needed to complete my teaching license application in the mail yesterday, so my teaching license application is on its way!

I also got e-mail from FSU yesterday saying that diplomas are going to be ordered the week of June 17. That means that somewhere near the beginning to middle of July, I should have my official diploma!!

The next steps

As of today, my "unofficial" online transcript shows that I passed my internship, so it's one step closer to being finalized. It still doesn't say that I've graduated, but I expected that. FSU sent e-mail last week to everyone who was graduating that said transcripts would reflect degrees earned sometime after May 25, so I will need to wait until then before I can order all the transcripts I'll need for job applications and teaching applications.

In terms of next steps after graduation, so far I have:

1. Applied to LCPS - I still need to send them an finalized transcript once available and a copy of my teaching license once I get it
2. Started the application process for a Florida teaching certificate (just in case I need to go that route to get my Virginia teaching license) - I filled out the online application, paid my application fee, and requested my Hood transcripts sent.
3. Got my Hood transcript sent to me for my Virginia teaching license and started filling out the Virginia teaching license application. I can't send it in until I have everything though - I'm waiting on a form filled out from FSU confirming I completed a state-approved teaching program and a final transcript from FSU. Unlike the Florida application, the Virginia application is all paper and must all be submitted together.