It’s for Real
POCA Tech is happening. I know it’s for real, because I’ve started having anxiety dreams about it.
In the first dream I had, I arrived at school to find out that POCA Tech had been moved. It was no longer in a classroom at St. Charles, it was in the old OCOM facility out on Cherry Blossom Drive. And — OCOM was still there. And — we had been assigned to a room in the middle of the building, so that OCOM was happening all around us. And — the room was arranged like a misshapen Z, so that no matter where they sat, most of the students couldn’t see or hear me trying to teach at the front of the room. So people kept wandering away because they were bored and I kept trying to get them back, which meant I wasn’t actually teaching and so even more of them wandered away. And then Skip appeared and reminded me that the curriculum had all changed, and the only thing we could teach, ever, was Zang-Fu diagnosis.
The second dream wasn’t quite as bad; it had something to do with a surprise microbiology exam that all of us had to take.
When something has been this long in the works, with so many tiny incremental steps, it is hard to believe that it’s finally taken form and is generally visible. When I was a kid, I had a lot of imaginary friends. (Not surprised, are you?) I always wondered what it would be like if one day, other people could see them. POCA Tech opening this week is kind of like that.
This past Saturday was one of those magical clinic days at Cully (in the morning, at least). Everything went smoothly; lots of families came in together; everyone was sweet. Towards the end of my shift, I was treating a person who was asking me about POCA Tech. This happens a lot: people want to know how it’s going, where the classes are going to be held, how many students we have, if I’m excited. (If I could fully believe it, I would be excited.) Anyway, we were talking about all of it, and then my patient said, “What a loving thing to do, to make an affordable acupuncture school.”
I said, “Wow. Thanks.”
I’ve thought about her statement ever since. Who but a community acupuncture regular would say something like that? And also, hell yes.
After I put up this blog post about student loan debt versus expected earnings, POCA super-volunteer Gloria J reminded me that the only reason that POCA Tech is able to offer its tuition at a price that lines up with what acupuncturists actually earn is because a) about 90% of the work it took to set up POCA Tech was done by people volunteering their time, and b) cash donations covered the things we had to pay for. In other words, if we were trying to do this thing in the context of capitalism, we wouldn’t be doing it at all. It simply wouldn’t happen. The only thing that makes the math work out is love.
Muhammad Yunus was right: the desire for profit is not the only reason people do things. Being surrounded by capitalism, it can be hard to remember that. It can be hard to believe that collective love is real and makes things happen. But starting this Friday, POCA will have an ongoing reminder. What a loving thing we’ve done.
What if all the volunteers showed up for the weekend, to welcome the POCA Tech students? That would be a different sort of dream.
I love our patients!
That would be very nice, but you wouldn’t all fit in the classroom. (Fodder for more anxiety dreams.) I guess we could move down the hall to the gym in that case — perks of renting an old elementary school. OK then!
*seriously, though, please let me know if you are planning to do this.*
No, just a daydream. Don’t worry and sleep soundly.
Anxiety dreams always make the best stories 🙂 I have a recurring one in which I am in my own middle school from the 80s, standing on a teetering pile of chopped up furniture (chopped up by my students – and it looks very Dr. Seuss-ish) trying to control the class, but whenever I try to yell I can’t hear what I’m saying.
All this aside, the POCA Tech reality is simply fucking awesome!
wow. after a long, hard week, this post just made my night. what a loving thing to do!
I can’t believe it’s happening. And I am so grateful that it is. All this work will be repaid exponentially each time we have a graduating class of new punks ready to work. It’s like the fairytale to balance out the nightmares. Thanks to everyone for pouring themselves into this act of LOVE.
Hell. Yes. <3
Love love love. “When I was a kid, I had a lot of imaginary friends. .. I always wondered what it would be like if one day, other people could see them. POCA Tech opening this week is kind of like that.” I should not have red this at work because I’m teary at the desk. Sitting right next to my receptionist/POCA Tech student.
I’m so happy this is finally happening! I (like all of us) wish this had been around when I went to school.
Hi all, I am really excited and ready to apply to POCA Tech for the 2015 class! I downloaded the application form and it has 2014 at the bottom. I am not sure who or how to ask, but am searching around to find out if it’s too early to apply for fall 2015. If anyone has any guidance, I would greatly appreciate the info. Thanks so much for the work you do!
POCA Tech will be accepting applications for Fall 2015 starting January 2, 2015.
Our 2015 application will be posted to http://www.pocatech.org by 12/1.
Other updates will be posted on http://www.pocatech.org