Hello everyone,
I am sorry that I am reverting to such impersonal mediums as a blog to update you with what's going on in my life, but I felt it was the easiest way to convey a lot of information in a short amount of time/space. I wanted to include all of this information in the notes I sent out, but unfortunately a 3 x 5 card was just not enough space for such a long-winded person like myself!
As many of you know, on May 11, I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a minor in Deaf Studies. Three days later, I began my master's program in Secondary Education (I had already been in school for two weeks by the time I spoke with most of you). The Teach Arizona masters program is a rigorous one-year accelerated program that prepares teachers for their certification as well as gives them a Masters of Education degree. I will be in school all day, five days a week for the entire summer (with the only breaks being weekends and an few odd days at the end of July) taking teacher preparation courses such as education theory, how to write assessments, how to write lesson plans, how to teach literacy in each content area, etc.
In July I will take the first section of my AEPA exam. The AEPA (Arizona Educator's Proficiency Assessment) is an exam that all teachers must take to be certified to teach in the state of Arizona; it is basically the Bar Exam for teachers. There are three portions to the exam: Content Knowledge (knowledge in English, Math, Science, Social Studies, Spanish, or whatever subject you will be teaching), Professional Knowledge (knowledge of secondary education and practical skills needed to be a teacher. E.g. "If a student throws a pencil at your face, what do you do?", etc.), and the US/Arizona Constitution exam. Each exam requires an 80% to pass. On July 7, I will be taking the Content Knowledge portion of the exam and lately (in all my spare time--NOT!) I have been studying my butt off for it. Prayers that I will ace it with no stress or test anxiety!
At the beginning of August, I will begin student teaching. I will be teaching at Flowing Wells High in Tucson teaching freshman and AP junior courses. I will be student teaching for the first part of the day, and in the afternoon, I will be taking additional teacher prep courses. We get an hour break in between student teaching and our UA classes every day and that time will be spent eating lunch and, for my fellow students, driving to Flowing Wells High where our classes will be held. My cohort is rather jealous that I am placed in the same school that our classes are and my hour will able to be spent planning instead of driving across town (many of my fellow students have at least a 45-minute drive to FWHS from their student teaching sites). However, I am going to need as much free time to plan as possible. As opposed to my fellow students in my 55-person cohort, so far I am the only one who is teaching two different preps (or grade levels/subjects), which means that I have to create two distinct lesson plans for every day. This is a daunting task for an experienced teacher let alone one who is just starting out. I have only met my mentor teacher once, but she seems to love literature and education just as much as I do and she seems as though she is going to work me to the bone. I am excited to learn everything she has to teach me, but at the same time, this master's program is intense enough on its own.
I hope to be able to keep a blog of all of my teaching adventures, so please tune in periodically to see if I have posted something! I will try and be better about blogging more regularly since I will probably not have enough time to call each of you individually frequently (even though I would love to talk to you!). After speaking with the head of the TAZ program, it sounds as if we will not be seeing the light of day until next May when we graduate. If you don't hear from me for a good chunk of time, it's not you, it's...Teach Arizona.
I do want to thank you all for always supporting me and investing in my life. It means so much to me to know that I have individuals like you who care about me and will care for me. Know that the person I am now has been directly influenced by who you are! I am always looking for a break from my massive amounts of homework and lesson-planning, so if you have the time, please send me an email at allison.sherer@gmail.com or call me at 480.773.5558. I would love to catch up with you and I will steal any kind of positive affirmation you may give! Thank you all once again for being the amazing people who God made you to be and for blessing my life! You all are wonderful and I love you.
Sweets to the sweet,
Allison
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Youthworks, Week 2
Hello everyone!
Greetings from Martin, South Dakota! My team and I completed one week of training in Denver on Friday and then on Saturday we took the nine-hour drive to Martin, South Dakota. I am not sure the exact population of Martin, but it is most certainly the smallest town I have ever been in. The highlights of the town include a few mom and pop restaurants, a park, a library, a Family Dollar, and they are in progress of building a Subway--the only fast food restaurant in town. My Site Director walked the entire length of the town in less than 30 minutes. Despite the smallness of the town, Martin's residents hold the biggest hearts you can imagine. Before we even arrived, a couple members of the town were calling our Area Director multiple times a day offering their services for ways they could help us when we arrived. When we arrived at the Catholic church where we are staying on Saturday, we were greeted by Fr. Bryan, who has been so gracious to lend us the space for the summer and supply us with more than enough supplies and services--one of which is internet! Sidenote: I have just about zero cell reception, but I have a great internet connection. Who da thunk?? Send me lots of online love!
Sunday and Monday the team began the process of organizing all of our things that were in storage and utilizing our spaces. Our main space is the Catholic church I already mentioned. This is the place where the staff will be living all summer (the staff will be sleeping/living in two storage closets for the summer...) and we will be utilizing one common room for the girls' sleeping area, all of our meals, evening worship, orientations, etc. The boys will be sleeping in a large tile room in a place called The Legion across town (this space also doubled as our storage room for our supplies during this past year). Both girls and boys (and staff) will have to drive across town to shower every day at a field house used for wrestling practice. Each side of the field house has four shower heads. Did I mention that we are going to have about 75 people coming every week? Needless to say, we are crunched for space. It will be a great learning experience for us staff and all of the youth that come to our site! Through it all, though, we thank God for everything because, as I mentioned before, we did not have any of this space a couple weeks ago. Praise God for His provisions! Please pray that God continues to provide for us in grand ways we cannot even imagine.
The last few days, the staff has been doing much manual labor cleaning, organizing, and doing inventory. For the rest of the week, each staff member will be doing tasks specific to their roles in the team in order to get everything established for when our first group of youth come on Sunday. My role specifically will be arranging the evening activities the groups go to each night, all aspects of the evening worship (including the ten-minute talks I give each night), devotionals, and orientations, as well as making connections with the members of the community. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am excited to get everything arranged. Next week, the staff from the two Pine Ridge sites will be joining us to shadow and help us through our first week with youth. It will be really fun to have 12 staff in one place instead of just us four! Prayers to keep in mind for the next few weeks:
-Safe travels for the other staff to Martin
-God's continued provision for space, supplies, and community contacts
-Diligent working for Martin's staff and that all of the pieces come into place before Saturday
-Good relations between the Martin staff
-For God in move in the youth and adult leaders' hearts that they may be open to Martin and its people
Thanks to all for your continued support! I will send you more updates in a couple weeks :)
For Him,
Allison
Greetings from Martin, South Dakota! My team and I completed one week of training in Denver on Friday and then on Saturday we took the nine-hour drive to Martin, South Dakota. I am not sure the exact population of Martin, but it is most certainly the smallest town I have ever been in. The highlights of the town include a few mom and pop restaurants, a park, a library, a Family Dollar, and they are in progress of building a Subway--the only fast food restaurant in town. My Site Director walked the entire length of the town in less than 30 minutes. Despite the smallness of the town, Martin's residents hold the biggest hearts you can imagine. Before we even arrived, a couple members of the town were calling our Area Director multiple times a day offering their services for ways they could help us when we arrived. When we arrived at the Catholic church where we are staying on Saturday, we were greeted by Fr. Bryan, who has been so gracious to lend us the space for the summer and supply us with more than enough supplies and services--one of which is internet! Sidenote: I have just about zero cell reception, but I have a great internet connection. Who da thunk?? Send me lots of online love!
Sunday and Monday the team began the process of organizing all of our things that were in storage and utilizing our spaces. Our main space is the Catholic church I already mentioned. This is the place where the staff will be living all summer (the staff will be sleeping/living in two storage closets for the summer...) and we will be utilizing one common room for the girls' sleeping area, all of our meals, evening worship, orientations, etc. The boys will be sleeping in a large tile room in a place called The Legion across town (this space also doubled as our storage room for our supplies during this past year). Both girls and boys (and staff) will have to drive across town to shower every day at a field house used for wrestling practice. Each side of the field house has four shower heads. Did I mention that we are going to have about 75 people coming every week? Needless to say, we are crunched for space. It will be a great learning experience for us staff and all of the youth that come to our site! Through it all, though, we thank God for everything because, as I mentioned before, we did not have any of this space a couple weeks ago. Praise God for His provisions! Please pray that God continues to provide for us in grand ways we cannot even imagine.
The last few days, the staff has been doing much manual labor cleaning, organizing, and doing inventory. For the rest of the week, each staff member will be doing tasks specific to their roles in the team in order to get everything established for when our first group of youth come on Sunday. My role specifically will be arranging the evening activities the groups go to each night, all aspects of the evening worship (including the ten-minute talks I give each night), devotionals, and orientations, as well as making connections with the members of the community. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I am excited to get everything arranged. Next week, the staff from the two Pine Ridge sites will be joining us to shadow and help us through our first week with youth. It will be really fun to have 12 staff in one place instead of just us four! Prayers to keep in mind for the next few weeks:
-Safe travels for the other staff to Martin
-God's continued provision for space, supplies, and community contacts
-Diligent working for Martin's staff and that all of the pieces come into place before Saturday
-Good relations between the Martin staff
-For God in move in the youth and adult leaders' hearts that they may be open to Martin and its people
Thanks to all for your continued support! I will send you more updates in a couple weeks :)
For Him,
Allison
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Summer 2011
Hello everyone!
As many of you know, I am going to be working at YouthWorks this summer as Program Staff. In a nutshell, YouthWorks is a Christian organization that arranges week-long mission trips for junior high and high school students. In the past, the youth groups from St.James/Living Faith have gone on a mission trip through YouthWorks every summer. If you do not know much about YouthWorks, putz around their website a bit and check out all of their different ministries: http://youthworks.com/
Each week, a group of 50-75 junior high/senior high students and their adult leaders from different Christian denominations will be coming from various parts of the country to work with local children, repair/paint homes, visit the elderly of the community, and learn about the culture of the site. The students will arrive Sunday afternoon and leave the site Friday morning, which leaves the rest of Friday to gather up lose ends of the week and run errands for the next week; Saturday is a day of rest; and Sunday we begin the preparations for the next group to arrive. There are four members on a typical YouthWorks Staff: The site director who oversees the team and the overall flow of the site; Work Projects Staff who facilitates the work being done on resident's homes; Kids Club Staff who guides the students in working with the children of the town; and Program Staff (me) who works to build relationships between the organization/participants of YouthWorks and the community. I also will be leading Club (the evening worship) and giving the talks to the students. I have the unique pleasure of being able to teeter between the Kids Club and the Works Projects sites during the week, which will be wonderful, as I will get to experience all aspects of the YouthWorks ministry. My main objective, however, will encouraging connections between the incoming students and the community.
YW has 75+ sites around the country, but I have been selected to work in Martin, South Dakota. Martin is a small town in Southwest South Dakota located between the Pine Ridge and Rosebud American Indian reservations. The racial makeup of the city is primarily white (54 percent) and Native American (38 percent). While the Native Americans in Martin live off the reservation, they still retain important connections with the reservation community. The city’s position between two reservations has produced racial tensions between Martin residents and the Indian tribes, but the people of these communities are now making efforts to be more sensitive to one another. The area also is home to many low-income families; nearly 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. What I have gathered from speaking with my site director is that the people of the town are nice enough, but the immense amount of poverty and the racial tensions have made this place a difficult site, one that YouthWorks has been called to reach very specific goals in their ministries. After a week of training in Denver, Colorado (from May 23-27), Martin will be my home until August. I will be staying at a local church there and--you guessed it--sleeping on an air mattress and living out of a suitcase for 10 weeks. Oh yeah!
Pastor Bob of Living Faith Anglican encouraged me to put together a personal prayer team for the summer, and because he is a smart man, I thought I would go with it. To anyone reading this...I would greatly appreciate it if you could remember me and my team in your thoughts and prayers this summer. I hear that we may have internet on the weekends, and if that is the case, you will probably receive blog posts of updates and prayer requests from me. If not, there will definitely be text message updates instead! Some prayer requests to start us off...
Please pray for:
~Good team dynamics that our relationships may be strong and Christ-centered
~Each member of the team, that our nerves may be calmed in the days leading up to training
~Safe travels to Denver and then to South Dakota
~Each member of the team that we may learn the skills needed for our specific job and that we rely on God's strength to accomplish our tasks
~Good relations between the people of Martin and the YouthWorks organization/participants
~The incoming students and leaders, that God will work in them and through them.
~The talks that I will be giving each night to the students; may they be the words of God and not mine, and that they reach the students in a new, tangible way.
~The health and strength of each of the team members leading up to and during the summer (Especially me, as I have not been feeling the greatest these past few days)
Thank you to all for your prayers this summer! I would greatly appreciate it if I could receive emails or Facebook posts of encouragement from you as well; those would keep me positive and focused on the work God has set out for me to do. It doesn't have to be much, just a little line to let me know you are thinking about me and praying for me. I wish you all the most blessed of summers and I look forward to feeling your prayers this summer!
For Him,
Allison
P.S. I am terribly sorry to those of you I promised I would see before I took off. This week has literally flown by as I have been trying to get things in order for the summer! We will see each other soon and be connected in Christ until then :) And to all of you at Camp Lutherwood--I am so sorry I am not returning. I miss you all so much! I know that God will continue to perform amazing camp miracles through you! Please sing "I Just Want to be a Sheep" at the top of your lungs for me! <3
As many of you know, I am going to be working at YouthWorks this summer as Program Staff. In a nutshell, YouthWorks is a Christian organization that arranges week-long mission trips for junior high and high school students. In the past, the youth groups from St.James/Living Faith have gone on a mission trip through YouthWorks every summer. If you do not know much about YouthWorks, putz around their website a bit and check out all of their different ministries: http://youthworks.com/
Each week, a group of 50-75 junior high/senior high students and their adult leaders from different Christian denominations will be coming from various parts of the country to work with local children, repair/paint homes, visit the elderly of the community, and learn about the culture of the site. The students will arrive Sunday afternoon and leave the site Friday morning, which leaves the rest of Friday to gather up lose ends of the week and run errands for the next week; Saturday is a day of rest; and Sunday we begin the preparations for the next group to arrive. There are four members on a typical YouthWorks Staff: The site director who oversees the team and the overall flow of the site; Work Projects Staff who facilitates the work being done on resident's homes; Kids Club Staff who guides the students in working with the children of the town; and Program Staff (me) who works to build relationships between the organization/participants of YouthWorks and the community. I also will be leading Club (the evening worship) and giving the talks to the students. I have the unique pleasure of being able to teeter between the Kids Club and the Works Projects sites during the week, which will be wonderful, as I will get to experience all aspects of the YouthWorks ministry. My main objective, however, will encouraging connections between the incoming students and the community.
YW has 75+ sites around the country, but I have been selected to work in Martin, South Dakota. Martin is a small town in Southwest South Dakota located between the Pine Ridge and Rosebud American Indian reservations. The racial makeup of the city is primarily white (54 percent) and Native American (38 percent). While the Native Americans in Martin live off the reservation, they still retain important connections with the reservation community. The city’s position between two reservations has produced racial tensions between Martin residents and the Indian tribes, but the people of these communities are now making efforts to be more sensitive to one another. The area also is home to many low-income families; nearly 30 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. What I have gathered from speaking with my site director is that the people of the town are nice enough, but the immense amount of poverty and the racial tensions have made this place a difficult site, one that YouthWorks has been called to reach very specific goals in their ministries. After a week of training in Denver, Colorado (from May 23-27), Martin will be my home until August. I will be staying at a local church there and--you guessed it--sleeping on an air mattress and living out of a suitcase for 10 weeks. Oh yeah!
Pastor Bob of Living Faith Anglican encouraged me to put together a personal prayer team for the summer, and because he is a smart man, I thought I would go with it. To anyone reading this...I would greatly appreciate it if you could remember me and my team in your thoughts and prayers this summer. I hear that we may have internet on the weekends, and if that is the case, you will probably receive blog posts of updates and prayer requests from me. If not, there will definitely be text message updates instead! Some prayer requests to start us off...
Please pray for:
~Good team dynamics that our relationships may be strong and Christ-centered
~Each member of the team, that our nerves may be calmed in the days leading up to training
~Safe travels to Denver and then to South Dakota
~Each member of the team that we may learn the skills needed for our specific job and that we rely on God's strength to accomplish our tasks
~Good relations between the people of Martin and the YouthWorks organization/participants
~The incoming students and leaders, that God will work in them and through them.
~The talks that I will be giving each night to the students; may they be the words of God and not mine, and that they reach the students in a new, tangible way.
~The health and strength of each of the team members leading up to and during the summer (Especially me, as I have not been feeling the greatest these past few days)
Thank you to all for your prayers this summer! I would greatly appreciate it if I could receive emails or Facebook posts of encouragement from you as well; those would keep me positive and focused on the work God has set out for me to do. It doesn't have to be much, just a little line to let me know you are thinking about me and praying for me. I wish you all the most blessed of summers and I look forward to feeling your prayers this summer!
For Him,
Allison
P.S. I am terribly sorry to those of you I promised I would see before I took off. This week has literally flown by as I have been trying to get things in order for the summer! We will see each other soon and be connected in Christ until then :) And to all of you at Camp Lutherwood--I am so sorry I am not returning. I miss you all so much! I know that God will continue to perform amazing camp miracles through you! Please sing "I Just Want to be a Sheep" at the top of your lungs for me! <3
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Lost In Translation
I feel that the purpose of celebrating one’s birthday has gotten lost in translation. We wish others a happy birthday, buy them presents, or take them out for dinner because that’s what we have always done, because that’s what we are supposed to do. We never really stop and think why we celebrate birthdays.
Birthdays are the markers of one year passing, or getting one year older. Some would think that birthdays are a time to wish the following year to be a blessed one, while others would congratulate you on making it one more year without kicking the bucket. Or for all of those cynics out there, birthdays mark one more year closer to death. These are all good things to celebrate, I suppose, but I think my reasoning for celebrating out-stands them all.
I think of birthdays as the celebration of one’s birth You’re probably thinking to yourself, Well, DUH. But let me explain…
Birthdays are in celebration of the day someone was born, and birthdays are the celebration of the years they have been alive since that birth and the life which they have lived. Birthdays are meant to celebrate the person and the blessings they have had and the blessings which they are. Birthdays rejoice in the many talents and accomplishments of an individual and celebrate in advance the impacts yet to come. Birthdays not only celebrate the person themselves, but also the God who made them and gave them life. Birthdays are a celebration of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.
Birthdays are about celebrating individuals, yes, but I think it is much more than that. You receive gifts on your birthday as a gesture of friends and family thanking you for who you are and what you have done in the world. I feel that this a wonderful thing, but I also find it sort of selfish. Birthdays are all about commemorating a life well lived, but the celebrations do no take into consideration the ones who helped to make it worth living. Birthdays should not only be about celebrating the life of an individual, but also should honor the ones who have helped the individual become the person they are.
I cannot celebrate my 21st birthday in the mindset that it is “my day,” when really, my birthday belongs to so many people. I cannot name individually all of the people who have impacted my life, but I can name a few:
First of all, my parents. Let me just state the obvious and say thanks for having me. (P.S. Sorry about the C-section, Mom. That must of been rough. But I am thankful you had me all the same!) And let me state the not-so-obvious and say thank you for raising me with all of the love and support you have for these 21 years. Thank you for being role models in every aspect of life. Thank you for making me into the person I am today, even though I can sometimes be a pain. I love you both more than I am able to express in both words and actions. You both are my heroes.
Seestors: You both are my everything. I know that sometimes we fight and I am obnoxious, but I love that we always make up and can go back to having fun. I look up to both of you immensely (yes, even you, Nicole, although technically you are still shorter than I). You two are the ones who keep me accountable and on the right track. Thank you for always being there for me and having my back. I am so blessed to be able to be so close with both of you, and I look forward to when I get to talk to you and see you. I love you both so much!!
Teachers/Bosses/Mentors: Thank you all for taking the time to invest in me. You have taught me so much about academics, working with students/kids/individuals, and life in general. Thank you for always encouraging me to be the best version of myself that I can be and to strive for goals you know I can obtain. Thank you for inspiring me to find my passion and pushing me to “pay it forward.” I owe a lot of who I want to become to all of you.
Friends: Each and every one of you has made an impact on my life, even if you do not realize it. Every interaction I have with you has helped me to grow, love, and has enriched my life in some way. Thank you all for taking the time to get to know me and allowing me to get to know you. Thank you for being the amazing people that you are and for blessing my life. I am the luckiest girl in the world to know all of you!
A great big thanks to every single one of you. I would not be the person I am today without your presence in my life and I thank you in advance for loving, supporting, and encouraging me into the person I will become. You all mean so much to me. Thank you for who you are! So really, I wish ALL OF YOU a very happy birthday!
Birthdays are the markers of one year passing, or getting one year older. Some would think that birthdays are a time to wish the following year to be a blessed one, while others would congratulate you on making it one more year without kicking the bucket. Or for all of those cynics out there, birthdays mark one more year closer to death. These are all good things to celebrate, I suppose, but I think my reasoning for celebrating out-stands them all.
I think of birthdays as the celebration of one’s birth You’re probably thinking to yourself, Well, DUH. But let me explain…
Birthdays are in celebration of the day someone was born, and birthdays are the celebration of the years they have been alive since that birth and the life which they have lived. Birthdays are meant to celebrate the person and the blessings they have had and the blessings which they are. Birthdays rejoice in the many talents and accomplishments of an individual and celebrate in advance the impacts yet to come. Birthdays not only celebrate the person themselves, but also the God who made them and gave them life. Birthdays are a celebration of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness.
Birthdays are about celebrating individuals, yes, but I think it is much more than that. You receive gifts on your birthday as a gesture of friends and family thanking you for who you are and what you have done in the world. I feel that this a wonderful thing, but I also find it sort of selfish. Birthdays are all about commemorating a life well lived, but the celebrations do no take into consideration the ones who helped to make it worth living. Birthdays should not only be about celebrating the life of an individual, but also should honor the ones who have helped the individual become the person they are.
I cannot celebrate my 21st birthday in the mindset that it is “my day,” when really, my birthday belongs to so many people. I cannot name individually all of the people who have impacted my life, but I can name a few:
First of all, my parents. Let me just state the obvious and say thanks for having me. (P.S. Sorry about the C-section, Mom. That must of been rough. But I am thankful you had me all the same!) And let me state the not-so-obvious and say thank you for raising me with all of the love and support you have for these 21 years. Thank you for being role models in every aspect of life. Thank you for making me into the person I am today, even though I can sometimes be a pain. I love you both more than I am able to express in both words and actions. You both are my heroes.
Seestors: You both are my everything. I know that sometimes we fight and I am obnoxious, but I love that we always make up and can go back to having fun. I look up to both of you immensely (yes, even you, Nicole, although technically you are still shorter than I). You two are the ones who keep me accountable and on the right track. Thank you for always being there for me and having my back. I am so blessed to be able to be so close with both of you, and I look forward to when I get to talk to you and see you. I love you both so much!!
Teachers/Bosses/Mentors: Thank you all for taking the time to invest in me. You have taught me so much about academics, working with students/kids/individuals, and life in general. Thank you for always encouraging me to be the best version of myself that I can be and to strive for goals you know I can obtain. Thank you for inspiring me to find my passion and pushing me to “pay it forward.” I owe a lot of who I want to become to all of you.
Friends: Each and every one of you has made an impact on my life, even if you do not realize it. Every interaction I have with you has helped me to grow, love, and has enriched my life in some way. Thank you all for taking the time to get to know me and allowing me to get to know you. Thank you for being the amazing people that you are and for blessing my life. I am the luckiest girl in the world to know all of you!
A great big thanks to every single one of you. I would not be the person I am today without your presence in my life and I thank you in advance for loving, supporting, and encouraging me into the person I will become. You all mean so much to me. Thank you for who you are! So really, I wish ALL OF YOU a very happy birthday!
Friday, October 15, 2010
I watched Julie & Julia yesterday
and it really made me want to start blogging again. About what, I haven't entirely decided just yet. I think I am just going to start typing and see where it gets me...
I am taking four classes this semester: Discourse Analysis for ASL Interpreters (Deaf Studies course), American Indians in Film, Chaucer (both English courses), and Ancient Roman Drama (Classics course). All of the classes are fine, so far anyways. Midterms are coming up, so I have a lot of work to do; a lot of work that I don't want to do and clearly am not doing. Sometimes I wonder to myself why I chose the major that I did and what on earth possessed me to want to double minor, but alas, that is my life right now and I must deal.
Things with Future Teachers Club have been great. We have gotten a lot of recognition within the College of Education and even within the university. A couple weeks ago, the FTC officers and College of Education Ambassadors were invited to watch the UA vs. Citadel football game in the Presidential Skybox. I had the opportunity to talk to President Shelton, past President Schaffer, and other authoritative people about FTC and the importance of the club. Next week I have been invited to give a ten-minute presentation about FTC in front of the dean and associate dean of the College of Education as well as a board of scholarship donors. I hope that the more FTC's name gets out, the more support we will get from the College of Ed. The club itself is going really well. We have a solid number of consistent members and they all seem very dedicated to the club. We have partnered with the Wildcat School to run an after school 4H program (we are teaching drama to fourth through seventh graders) and a read-a-thon. I am just so proud to be president of such a great club. I can honestly say that the success of the club has nothing to do with me, though; my officers are wonderful, the members are wonderful. All around, the club is wonderful!
It's been two months since I was last at Lutherwood and I miss it terribly. Well, I don't really miss the cold nights in the Ark and always being tired and only showering twice a week, but I do miss the atmosphere of camp, the silly camp songs and skits, getting to know new kids every week, and so much more. The thing I miss most of all, though, is the staff. The staff this time around was absolutely wonderful. I felt like I could connect with every person on staff in some way or another. I have been so blessed to have gotten to know well a lot of the counselors, some of whom I still keep in contact with on a weekly basis. My life has been so completely enriched by every single person I got to know this summer and I feel as though I have become a better person because of them. If anyone from camp is reading this, know that I love you more than I can express and I am so glad you are in my life. How deeply you're connected to my soul!
Also, I forgot to post when I moved into my new place, but here is my new address.
1717 E. Speedway Rm #D221
Tucson, AZ 85719
I absolutely love getting mail, so anything you would like to send me would brighten my day immensely. :)
Blessings to all! I hope to hear from you soon!
I am taking four classes this semester: Discourse Analysis for ASL Interpreters (Deaf Studies course), American Indians in Film, Chaucer (both English courses), and Ancient Roman Drama (Classics course). All of the classes are fine, so far anyways. Midterms are coming up, so I have a lot of work to do; a lot of work that I don't want to do and clearly am not doing. Sometimes I wonder to myself why I chose the major that I did and what on earth possessed me to want to double minor, but alas, that is my life right now and I must deal.
Things with Future Teachers Club have been great. We have gotten a lot of recognition within the College of Education and even within the university. A couple weeks ago, the FTC officers and College of Education Ambassadors were invited to watch the UA vs. Citadel football game in the Presidential Skybox. I had the opportunity to talk to President Shelton, past President Schaffer, and other authoritative people about FTC and the importance of the club. Next week I have been invited to give a ten-minute presentation about FTC in front of the dean and associate dean of the College of Education as well as a board of scholarship donors. I hope that the more FTC's name gets out, the more support we will get from the College of Ed. The club itself is going really well. We have a solid number of consistent members and they all seem very dedicated to the club. We have partnered with the Wildcat School to run an after school 4H program (we are teaching drama to fourth through seventh graders) and a read-a-thon. I am just so proud to be president of such a great club. I can honestly say that the success of the club has nothing to do with me, though; my officers are wonderful, the members are wonderful. All around, the club is wonderful!
It's been two months since I was last at Lutherwood and I miss it terribly. Well, I don't really miss the cold nights in the Ark and always being tired and only showering twice a week, but I do miss the atmosphere of camp, the silly camp songs and skits, getting to know new kids every week, and so much more. The thing I miss most of all, though, is the staff. The staff this time around was absolutely wonderful. I felt like I could connect with every person on staff in some way or another. I have been so blessed to have gotten to know well a lot of the counselors, some of whom I still keep in contact with on a weekly basis. My life has been so completely enriched by every single person I got to know this summer and I feel as though I have become a better person because of them. If anyone from camp is reading this, know that I love you more than I can express and I am so glad you are in my life. How deeply you're connected to my soul!
Also, I forgot to post when I moved into my new place, but here is my new address.
1717 E. Speedway Rm #D221
Tucson, AZ 85719
I absolutely love getting mail, so anything you would like to send me would brighten my day immensely. :)
Blessings to all! I hope to hear from you soon!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Look! I am updating again!
I am hoping to start getting into the habit of updating my blog biweekly, and even though I am failing at that at the moment, perhaps this semi-frequent posting will train me for that endeavor.
Nothing overly noteworthy has happened since my last post...School is still kicking my butt and I have a laundry list of books I need to read this weekend, the amount of pages I don't even want to think about. My roommate sat me down the other day and had a "talk" with me about needing to get out more. She says the amount of time I spend doing homework in the room is not healthy for me and I need to make friends or something. She does not understand that I don't really have much time to do anything else besides homework, but I must admit that getting out and doing something fun would be a nice alteration to my forever-reading schedule. Not to mention my closest friends don't even go to this university, some of which don't even live in this state. It's a problem. But nonetheless, I think I am going to take her advice, crawl out of my hermit hole, and begin the discomforting task of being extroverted...
I guess I started my venture with my small, but not-to-be-considered-insignificant volunteer work. About once every couple weeks, I give tours of the University of Arizona to upper-elementary school and middle school students from the Tucson area. I am not overly articulate or well-versed in facts about the UA, but that doesn't seem to matter a lick to these kids; they are struck with utter admiration that a college student would take time out of their "no-rules-no-responsibility" day to lead them on a tour and they blush with the feeling of extra-ordinariness when they receive my answer to a question they have asked. It really brightens my day and even makes me swell with self-importance, perhaps undeservedly, for being able to mentor these students, even in the condensed time I get to spend with them. The more tours I do, I start to realize more and more that I might actually want to teach junior high school students for a living. Call me deranged, but I am not turned off by the incandescent rush of hormones or the awkward interactions; in fact, I find them rather entertaining and slightly endearing. Perhaps God will bring me to work in a junior high setting some day. Until then, the plan is still rooting for ninth and tenth grade English.
Speaking of which, (random interlude of something you probably don't care about, but is nonetheless intriguing for me and I am thus going to share with you regardless) I have been thinking a lot about what kind of material I would be teaching if I were to teach the age group previously mentioned. When I was that age, our curriculum focused greatly on Greek mythology and literature, reading The Odyssey and learning about the different myths. I have always found this be incredibly fascinating and have really enjoyed taking a mythology class two semesters ago and currently reading classical literature in my Women in Lit class. I am so seriously divulged in these subjects that I have even often thought about minoring in Classics. Since I am almost finished with my minor in Special Education (Deaf Studies), it's kind of pointless to make Classics my minor. However, I was talking to one of the girls in my classes and she is double minoring in two emphasis areas, something I am thinking of incorporating into my four year plan. If I can double minor without having to spend any more time at the U, I will double minor in Special Ed and Classics, but if I have to be here longer and pay more money (they're raising our tuition 31% for next semester, ugh), then I will just take Classics courses as some of my elective credits. Nevertheless, I am extremely looking forward to enriching my knowledge in the Classics, especially Greek mythology and literature, not to mention it will be very advantageous to have studied these traditions if I do end up teaching them in my future classroom.
So that's my life: completely mundane. This weekend I am taking Jenny's challenge and so I will be hanging out with my sister, which should be fun and then working. Not exactly my roommate's idea of "getting out," but I love my job, so I don't mind (I still work at Centennial Hall, the performance theater at UA, but as of last semester I was promoted from being an usher to being a manager, fancy fancy). Oh, and this weekend, I will be reading up the wazoo as usual. Breaks from school are most certainly welcome, so I invite you to give me a call or send me an IM/email to catch up/distract me from my homework. :) Take care and I can't wait to talk to all of you soon! Peace and Blessings
Nothing overly noteworthy has happened since my last post...School is still kicking my butt and I have a laundry list of books I need to read this weekend, the amount of pages I don't even want to think about. My roommate sat me down the other day and had a "talk" with me about needing to get out more. She says the amount of time I spend doing homework in the room is not healthy for me and I need to make friends or something. She does not understand that I don't really have much time to do anything else besides homework, but I must admit that getting out and doing something fun would be a nice alteration to my forever-reading schedule. Not to mention my closest friends don't even go to this university, some of which don't even live in this state. It's a problem. But nonetheless, I think I am going to take her advice, crawl out of my hermit hole, and begin the discomforting task of being extroverted...
I guess I started my venture with my small, but not-to-be-considered-insignificant volunteer work. About once every couple weeks, I give tours of the University of Arizona to upper-elementary school and middle school students from the Tucson area. I am not overly articulate or well-versed in facts about the UA, but that doesn't seem to matter a lick to these kids; they are struck with utter admiration that a college student would take time out of their "no-rules-no-responsibility" day to lead them on a tour and they blush with the feeling of extra-ordinariness when they receive my answer to a question they have asked. It really brightens my day and even makes me swell with self-importance, perhaps undeservedly, for being able to mentor these students, even in the condensed time I get to spend with them. The more tours I do, I start to realize more and more that I might actually want to teach junior high school students for a living. Call me deranged, but I am not turned off by the incandescent rush of hormones or the awkward interactions; in fact, I find them rather entertaining and slightly endearing. Perhaps God will bring me to work in a junior high setting some day. Until then, the plan is still rooting for ninth and tenth grade English.
Speaking of which, (random interlude of something you probably don't care about, but is nonetheless intriguing for me and I am thus going to share with you regardless) I have been thinking a lot about what kind of material I would be teaching if I were to teach the age group previously mentioned. When I was that age, our curriculum focused greatly on Greek mythology and literature, reading The Odyssey and learning about the different myths. I have always found this be incredibly fascinating and have really enjoyed taking a mythology class two semesters ago and currently reading classical literature in my Women in Lit class. I am so seriously divulged in these subjects that I have even often thought about minoring in Classics. Since I am almost finished with my minor in Special Education (Deaf Studies), it's kind of pointless to make Classics my minor. However, I was talking to one of the girls in my classes and she is double minoring in two emphasis areas, something I am thinking of incorporating into my four year plan. If I can double minor without having to spend any more time at the U, I will double minor in Special Ed and Classics, but if I have to be here longer and pay more money (they're raising our tuition 31% for next semester, ugh), then I will just take Classics courses as some of my elective credits. Nevertheless, I am extremely looking forward to enriching my knowledge in the Classics, especially Greek mythology and literature, not to mention it will be very advantageous to have studied these traditions if I do end up teaching them in my future classroom.
So that's my life: completely mundane. This weekend I am taking Jenny's challenge and so I will be hanging out with my sister, which should be fun and then working. Not exactly my roommate's idea of "getting out," but I love my job, so I don't mind (I still work at Centennial Hall, the performance theater at UA, but as of last semester I was promoted from being an usher to being a manager, fancy fancy). Oh, and this weekend, I will be reading up the wazoo as usual. Breaks from school are most certainly welcome, so I invite you to give me a call or send me an IM/email to catch up/distract me from my homework. :) Take care and I can't wait to talk to all of you soon! Peace and Blessings
Saturday, February 13, 2010
It has been brought to my attention
several times in the last few days that it has been nearly a year since I have updated this blog, and for those few and far between viewers, I have concealed the falling action of a rather mundane but nonetheless progressive story of my life. Since my last post, I have completed two semesters strongly at UA with a summer sabbatical working at a Christian kids camp in Bellingham, WA, in between. I guess "sabbatical" is a bit of a misnomer considering the fact that I was incredibly sleep-deprived, never showered, and was constantly on the go working with children first grade through twelfth grade (not all at the same time; each week I was working with a different age group). However, I can honestly say it was the best three months of my life. I made some of the closest friends I have ever had and could ever ask for, friendships that will last for a lifetime, no doubt. I had the unique opportunity of getting to hang out and play with kids, while at the same time being able to mentor them and show them Jesus' love. I have collected quite the array of hilarious anecdotes from working at camp, a few of which will have you laughing so hard you are crying. If you are interested in listening to some of my stories, just ask (I highly recommend the nudist fifth grader story or the hummingbird story). It was through working at Lutherwood that God really made it clear to me that I am supposed to be working with children and youth for a living and that He has designed me to help them grow in their faith and grow as human beings as well. Do not consider me vainglorious for boasting of these astute qualities for I can guarantee you it is not of my own doing; all the praise goes to God. I am just thankful He is allowing me to assist Him in being a shepherd to His flock, something He continued to remind me of every day while at Lutherwood, not only through the interactions I had with the kids but through my camp name as well. As counselors, you go through a small identity crisis at the beginning of staff training where you no longer use your birth-given name but it is instead replaced with a puerile name that will be used for the rest of the summer. It soon becomes the campers' unofficial game to try and guess your real name. I can honestly say that no camper ever guessed my real name and I remained imperishably Lamb Chop all summer long and will remain as such forever in the eyes of the other counselors. As ridiculous as said camp name is for me, it was God's reminder to me of my duties as a shepherd to his flock, and I most certainly owned and grew to enjoy being called Lamb Chop (or Chops, Choppy, Choppy Chop, Da Chopsta, etc.), a name I will continue to use when I return to Lutherwood this summer. Or that is the plan, at least. But until then, I have to finish this current semester...
Speaking of which, said semester is proposing itself to be far more difficult that I had previously gathered it to be. I started out taking three literature classes and two Deaf Studies classes, but due to a series of stressful and dramatic events, my class schedule has transformed into one Deaf Studies class and four English classes. Kill me now. When describing my course schedule to Manatee, another counselor from Lutherwood (as you can plainly tell by the inordinate nickname) and a fellow English major, he was completely shocked that I was taking so many literature courses at one time. I didn't realize the serious consequences of taking four English classes simultaneously until it was too late to drop any of them. My homework consists of mostly reading and analyzing novels and other literature but at an extremely rapid rate. I average reading around four to five books a week, something presenting itself to be rather difficult for someone like me who has not been fond of reading in the first place. I am reading my books every chance I get: in between classes, during classes, while eating lunch, at work, at parties my roommate invites me to, etc. This excessive reading is portraying me as an avid bookworm and introvert, but really, it's simply so I can trudge through my courses without failing miserably. I am praying that I find some way to survive and excel at these classes without getting too burnt out; additional prayers from you would be greatly appreciated.
I mentioned earlier about my roommate...Since my last post, I have roughly gone through three roommates. The first one who I was living with during my last post ended up transferring to NAU for the 2009 fall semester, leaving me with a random roommate, a freshman pre-med major. We had absolutely nothing in common other than we lived two miles away from each other back home, and we barely spoke to one another, never exceeding one two to three minute small talk conversation per week, complete with a couple angry exchanges about temperature control and sleep schedules. Needless to say, we didn't exactly get along. I had become very good friends with a girl who lived down the hall and I spent a lot of my time escaping my roommate in her room. Since we spent so much time together, we decided it would be best for the both of us if we moved in together. After much drama and cattiness, Jenny moved into my room and my roommate moved into her room with Jenny's old roommate. As of now, Jenny and I are very happy in our vintage-themed mess of a room and she has become to be one of my best friends. It is pretty evident to everyone that I am much happier this semester since my living situation has been remedied. However, it is also evident that I am a bit grouchier due to my intense workload, but there's not much I can do about that but traipse through all of my homework, something I should probably be doing right now...blarg...
Thank you all for reading my picayune troubles posted on my blog. I hope you all are doing well and I am hoping to update my blog more often. It has become my 2010 resolution to be better at keeping in contact with people who are important to me (that's you!). Help me out by emailing me/calling me/bugging me to update my blog. I hope to talk to all of you individually soon. Love and God Bless
Speaking of which, said semester is proposing itself to be far more difficult that I had previously gathered it to be. I started out taking three literature classes and two Deaf Studies classes, but due to a series of stressful and dramatic events, my class schedule has transformed into one Deaf Studies class and four English classes. Kill me now. When describing my course schedule to Manatee, another counselor from Lutherwood (as you can plainly tell by the inordinate nickname) and a fellow English major, he was completely shocked that I was taking so many literature courses at one time. I didn't realize the serious consequences of taking four English classes simultaneously until it was too late to drop any of them. My homework consists of mostly reading and analyzing novels and other literature but at an extremely rapid rate. I average reading around four to five books a week, something presenting itself to be rather difficult for someone like me who has not been fond of reading in the first place. I am reading my books every chance I get: in between classes, during classes, while eating lunch, at work, at parties my roommate invites me to, etc. This excessive reading is portraying me as an avid bookworm and introvert, but really, it's simply so I can trudge through my courses without failing miserably. I am praying that I find some way to survive and excel at these classes without getting too burnt out; additional prayers from you would be greatly appreciated.
I mentioned earlier about my roommate...Since my last post, I have roughly gone through three roommates. The first one who I was living with during my last post ended up transferring to NAU for the 2009 fall semester, leaving me with a random roommate, a freshman pre-med major. We had absolutely nothing in common other than we lived two miles away from each other back home, and we barely spoke to one another, never exceeding one two to three minute small talk conversation per week, complete with a couple angry exchanges about temperature control and sleep schedules. Needless to say, we didn't exactly get along. I had become very good friends with a girl who lived down the hall and I spent a lot of my time escaping my roommate in her room. Since we spent so much time together, we decided it would be best for the both of us if we moved in together. After much drama and cattiness, Jenny moved into my room and my roommate moved into her room with Jenny's old roommate. As of now, Jenny and I are very happy in our vintage-themed mess of a room and she has become to be one of my best friends. It is pretty evident to everyone that I am much happier this semester since my living situation has been remedied. However, it is also evident that I am a bit grouchier due to my intense workload, but there's not much I can do about that but traipse through all of my homework, something I should probably be doing right now...blarg...
Thank you all for reading my picayune troubles posted on my blog. I hope you all are doing well and I am hoping to update my blog more often. It has become my 2010 resolution to be better at keeping in contact with people who are important to me (that's you!). Help me out by emailing me/calling me/bugging me to update my blog. I hope to talk to all of you individually soon. Love and God Bless
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Back at school
This is my second day back to school and nothing much has happened, really. I have substantially less work this week than I did before I went on Spring Break (I survived the week from Hell, by the way! Completed everything but one assignment that really didn't care to do in the first place, so be proud of my accomplishments!), however, I do have a ten-page paper due tomorrow that is only half finished and I have absolutely no motivation to do whatsoever. At this rate, it'll probably get to be about 1:00am before I actually start working on it...Other than that, this week should be pretty chill. Although I have just returned from a wonderful week at home, I am sick of school already and desperately wish to be back at home spending time with my family. Perhaps it is the fact that the week was indeed so wonderful and it didn't feel nearly long enough that I have this unquenchable yearning to return, but whatever. Only 16 more days until I go back home! (but who's counting...?)
In other news, my best friend, Jared, and his mom are driving down to the U this weekend to visit and take a tour of the campus. I am so incredibly excited to have someone I am so close with experience my world and see all of the places I am so repetitiously mentioning. The only issue is...Jared and his mom have major food allergies. Jared and Linda are both allergic to gluten, so anything with wheat, oats, barley, and other assorted grains are completely off-limits, and Jared is also lactose-intolerant. I have come to discover that is much more difficult than it seems to plan and make meals for them to eat. So many things have gluten in them, even things you would never expect like tomato soup (don't believe me? Go look at the nutrition facts...). I think I have concocted a few meals for both of them, and I am also relying on the assistance of Taco Bell and Applebees to help me out...But besides me stressing about the food options, I am completely and utterly ecstatic that they are coming down here to visit. I am sure if you speak to me between now and then, that's all I will be talking about.
I sent in a summer-job application yesterday! While applying for the Youthworks job, I received an instant message from one of the ladies I met on the Youthworks trip I took two years ago. She had taken her youth group from Washington state on the trip and she and I became very close while we were there. She was inquiring if I had heard anything from Youthworks, and that when I heard back from them to inform her if I got the job. After finding out that I didn't get it, I emailed her and told her the bad news. Jokingly, I asked if she knew of any good places to apply for a summer job. She emailed me back and told me that she was no longer the youth pastor of the church in Washington but that she is now the Program Director of a 1-12 grade Lutheran summer camp in Washington and that I should apply for it. Well, I sent in my application yesterday, emailed her and told her that I did, and I received back a very excited email from Nichol saying that she will look out for my application. Pray that she and the other hiring staff smile upon my application!!
Next week, I have my appointments with both of my advisers to discuss my class choices for next semester. I am assuming that I am going to be taking mostly English classes with a few Deaf Studies or Interpreting courses. Unfortunately, with the Arizona Education budget cuts, the Secondary Education department at the UofA has been completely abolished. The Secondary Ed students will now be forced to major in the subject they want to teach and then take education classes as their minor in order to get their teacher certification. This system is beneficial in one aspect because the teacher will be more well-versed in the subject they are going to teach, but will be ill-prepared to teach in a classroom setting. In effect, I am no longer a Secondary Education major, but rather a double-major in English and Educational Interpreting (unfortunately) with a minor in Education. I am thinking about modifying my minor to include another area, which I am hoping will be Classics. For some reason, I am thoroughly interested in Classical Mythology and other such subjects (probably just because Professor Sexy is totally fantastic), and I think I would really enjoy learning more about the subject area, but we'll see. Sadly, I am really starting to hate American Sign Language. Well, I guess I can't really say that. I really enjoy the language, but I do not appreciate the culture that goes along with it, and considering that the culture is a vital part of the language and my major as an interpreter, it's kind of difficult to run away from. It really saddens me that something I used to be so passionate for has fully lost its fire in my life and I no longer care for it whatsoever. Since high schools nowadays (and especially the high school in Gilbert I want to teach at) prefer that incoming teachers are equipped to teach more than one area of expertise, I am reluctantly going to stick with American Sign Language just because I am good at it, but for no other reason but that. Ironically, I am discovering that I am less proficient at English than I originally accepted and that scares me because I am going to get a huge slap in the face next semester when I am enrolled in upper-level English courses, but I stay true to my dream of wanting to be an English teacher because I do love it and I don't want to do anything else. I am really starting to pity my future students...
Well, I should really get going on that paper...You know, I think I would rather pluck my arm hairs out one by one than write this paper, but such is life...
Take care everyone. I miss you terribly but am so thankful for your presence in my life. <3
In other news, my best friend, Jared, and his mom are driving down to the U this weekend to visit and take a tour of the campus. I am so incredibly excited to have someone I am so close with experience my world and see all of the places I am so repetitiously mentioning. The only issue is...Jared and his mom have major food allergies. Jared and Linda are both allergic to gluten, so anything with wheat, oats, barley, and other assorted grains are completely off-limits, and Jared is also lactose-intolerant. I have come to discover that is much more difficult than it seems to plan and make meals for them to eat. So many things have gluten in them, even things you would never expect like tomato soup (don't believe me? Go look at the nutrition facts...). I think I have concocted a few meals for both of them, and I am also relying on the assistance of Taco Bell and Applebees to help me out...But besides me stressing about the food options, I am completely and utterly ecstatic that they are coming down here to visit. I am sure if you speak to me between now and then, that's all I will be talking about.
I sent in a summer-job application yesterday! While applying for the Youthworks job, I received an instant message from one of the ladies I met on the Youthworks trip I took two years ago. She had taken her youth group from Washington state on the trip and she and I became very close while we were there. She was inquiring if I had heard anything from Youthworks, and that when I heard back from them to inform her if I got the job. After finding out that I didn't get it, I emailed her and told her the bad news. Jokingly, I asked if she knew of any good places to apply for a summer job. She emailed me back and told me that she was no longer the youth pastor of the church in Washington but that she is now the Program Director of a 1-12 grade Lutheran summer camp in Washington and that I should apply for it. Well, I sent in my application yesterday, emailed her and told her that I did, and I received back a very excited email from Nichol saying that she will look out for my application. Pray that she and the other hiring staff smile upon my application!!
Next week, I have my appointments with both of my advisers to discuss my class choices for next semester. I am assuming that I am going to be taking mostly English classes with a few Deaf Studies or Interpreting courses. Unfortunately, with the Arizona Education budget cuts, the Secondary Education department at the UofA has been completely abolished. The Secondary Ed students will now be forced to major in the subject they want to teach and then take education classes as their minor in order to get their teacher certification. This system is beneficial in one aspect because the teacher will be more well-versed in the subject they are going to teach, but will be ill-prepared to teach in a classroom setting. In effect, I am no longer a Secondary Education major, but rather a double-major in English and Educational Interpreting (unfortunately) with a minor in Education. I am thinking about modifying my minor to include another area, which I am hoping will be Classics. For some reason, I am thoroughly interested in Classical Mythology and other such subjects (probably just because Professor Sexy is totally fantastic), and I think I would really enjoy learning more about the subject area, but we'll see. Sadly, I am really starting to hate American Sign Language. Well, I guess I can't really say that. I really enjoy the language, but I do not appreciate the culture that goes along with it, and considering that the culture is a vital part of the language and my major as an interpreter, it's kind of difficult to run away from. It really saddens me that something I used to be so passionate for has fully lost its fire in my life and I no longer care for it whatsoever. Since high schools nowadays (and especially the high school in Gilbert I want to teach at) prefer that incoming teachers are equipped to teach more than one area of expertise, I am reluctantly going to stick with American Sign Language just because I am good at it, but for no other reason but that. Ironically, I am discovering that I am less proficient at English than I originally accepted and that scares me because I am going to get a huge slap in the face next semester when I am enrolled in upper-level English courses, but I stay true to my dream of wanting to be an English teacher because I do love it and I don't want to do anything else. I am really starting to pity my future students...
Well, I should really get going on that paper...You know, I think I would rather pluck my arm hairs out one by one than write this paper, but such is life...
Take care everyone. I miss you terribly but am so thankful for your presence in my life. <3
Thursday, March 5, 2009
"You should see my schedule..."
The infamous phrase that's been coming out of my mouth for the past week. Yesterday, I was looking at my calendar of due dates for my classes and I just realized that the rest of this week and next week is going to be completely crazy.
Tomorrow, I have an English presentation due, an essay due Sunday, three essays due Monday, Tuesday, I have a major homework assignment due and then I have to work that night, Wednesday I have two midterms and a ten-page paper due as well as a major homework assignment due, and then on Thursday I have another midterm. Yeah, ridiculous. I am feeling a little overwhelmed and I really should be working on all of the stuff I have to get done, but I really needed a break. I have been living off of liters of Dr. Pepper for the last week, but I am thinking I am going to have to bump it up to two liters a day the way things are going. Prayers for me would be greatly appreciated...
But after these couple of crazy weeks, I will be home for Spring Break! I am coming home Friday, the 13th of March and will be returning to UofA on the 22nd. I think we should hang out. :)
Tomorrow, I have an English presentation due, an essay due Sunday, three essays due Monday, Tuesday, I have a major homework assignment due and then I have to work that night, Wednesday I have two midterms and a ten-page paper due as well as a major homework assignment due, and then on Thursday I have another midterm. Yeah, ridiculous. I am feeling a little overwhelmed and I really should be working on all of the stuff I have to get done, but I really needed a break. I have been living off of liters of Dr. Pepper for the last week, but I am thinking I am going to have to bump it up to two liters a day the way things are going. Prayers for me would be greatly appreciated...
But after these couple of crazy weeks, I will be home for Spring Break! I am coming home Friday, the 13th of March and will be returning to UofA on the 22nd. I think we should hang out. :)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Wow.
It has literally been forever since I have posted; my apologies to those few and far between people who actually take the time to read this measly thing. I guess I should try and cover everything as briefly yet completely as I can.
Classes are a lot better this semester. I am taking 15 credit hours, with four attendance classes and one online class. I am enjoying the subject matter of my courses far more than I did last semester, however, my classes are more difficult which means more homework. I am taking mostly gen-eds (with one graduate level course), but they are higher level gen-eds or whatever. Classes include:
Educational Leadership: Mondays and Wednesdays at freaking 7:30am. Ridiculous. My professor lectures like she is giving a speech, meaning she just brushes over topics in a well-versed manner that does not explain anything, so we are forced to read the textbooks to gain any sort of knowledge about what the class is about. All of her tests are online, which is great, but you would think that because of this factor I wouldn't have to go class...WRONG. Being the clever professor she is, she assigns in-class activities due at the end of the hour so we HAVE to be there. It's usually not that bad, but a lot of them are group projects and I am not a sparkling pearl at 7:30 in the morning...
Nutrition: It's online, so there's really not much to talk about...I am really glad it's online because it's the stupidest class ever; my physiology majoring RA even thinks so...Besides the complete and utter less than lack of motivation to do anything associated with that "class," everything is fine.
Mythology: My favorite class! The subject matter is so interesting and my professor is absolutely fabulous. I think I am developing a slight personality-crush on the man, to be honest...But overall, that class is just fantastic.
Language and Culture of Deaf Communities: This class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00. Nice that's it's my only class on those days, but Mondays and Wednesdays are really busy for me, so after that class, I am just wiped. The class is taught by the professor I had for my ASL class last semester, which at first I was like, "Oh great..." but now I am really starting to like her. At the beginning of the semester, we had a lady come certify our class to work with the DeafBlind, which was a really neat experience for me and now I am qualified to work with the DeafBlind in either a casual, volunteer, or paid environment. As of now, we watch a lot of videos and have a lot of class discussions (all in ASL), so it's totally chill. The only two things are...1) There is a lot of homework. AND 2) Professor Volk is having us serve 30 hours of volunteer work in the Deaf community and I have yet to find a place to volunteer. The whole class is centered around our service-learning project, so the fact that I haven't found a place to serve yet has really set me back. Being the over-planner that I am, not knowing what I am going to do to serve my 30 hours really scares me. I have roughly two months left to finish 30 hours and all of the work associated with it and it is stressing me out like you wouldn't believe.
English 102: THE. STUPIDEST. CLASS. I. HAVE. EVER. TAKEN! I can't even reiterate that enough. To start, my teacher is a total creeper. Seriously. Tim Meloni is a skinny, hairy, grad student in his late twenties who has the greasiest hair and the longest, yellow finger nails I have ever seen. He says, "OK?" more than any human ever should and he has trouble breathing when he teaches. Speaking of teaching, he has never taught English 102 and he told us on the first day of school that he is going to be learning the material we are learning right along with us. EXCELLENT. He writes cutesy, cheesy poetry that would make any girl swoon...but only enough for him to get in her pants, something of which he probably had no experience of whatsoever. He assigns us ridiculous busy work that will never help us when writing our essays, the main thing our grades are based off of. We recently handed in our first essay, on which I got the highest grade in the class. The girl who sits next to me thinks this is because Tim has a crush on me, mostly because he tends to look at me whenever I am doing anything awkward. I, personally, like to consider that my writing is better than everyone else's in the class (even those who think they are all that by using big words that create a circumvented argument), and I feel like I am not learning anything whatsoever other than to never to take a gen-ed English class ever again; I actually feel like my writing is deteriorating rather than improving, but whatever. Basically I cannot wait until I get into upper-division English classes, even though I am pretty sure they are going to kick my butt...
As far as majors go, I have decided to double (and almost, triple) major. My vowel-infested majors are: Secondary Education with an emphasis in Extended English and Educational Interpreting for American Sign Language (boy that's a mouthful). In addition, I have joined Future Teacher's Club, also know as The Lamest Club on Campus. There are about ten regular members (on a good day) and we basically just sit around and talk or listen to guest speakers from the College of Education. I absolutely love the people in the club and even after my third meeting with them, I feel like we are going to be good friends. FTC is supposed to be a community outreach club for teachers, but they are not doing so well on the outreach aspect. I am trying to get more involved with the club so I can help with that. If you have any good ideas for outreach in the community revolving mostly around students, teachers, administration, or just school in general, please let me know.
Really the last thing I am doing to occupy my time besides class, homework, and FTC is work. I still work at Centennial Hall as an usher and I absolutely love it. UA Presents got another Usher Manager (my boss) this semester and he's totally awesome. His name is Tadj Hodges (I had to add that in there because saying his full name is totally fun!) and he's totally cool. Some of the other ushers and I agree that we like him better than old boss, Sam, which is a big deal because Sam was absolutely fantastic. Speaking of ushers...I am starting to get really close with the student ushers, which is really fun. A lot of the volunteer ushers know me personally now (most of them are teachers or were teachers at one point so they like to talk to me about their experiences and sort of take me under their wing) and I love talking to them; I guess I just have thing for old people. :) I work at Centennial two to three days a week and it's totally chill. Basically I just love my job all-around and I really hope I am in the running to become a manager for next year...
I think that's about all. Things are still going great with the roomie and we have decided to live with each other next year in the same dorm. I still haven't found a solid Christian group to be a part of yet, but I am looking. I haven't been to Ballroom at all this semester because I have been working a lot and have just kind of lost interest, which is a little sad but not too heart-breaking. My elbow is doing a lot better. I am going to physical therapy twice a week and it's pretty much back to normal. I don't think it will ever be completely back to the way it was, but that's to be expected after such an awful break, but what can you do? Basically things here are just good, plain and simple. ;)
Hope you all are doing well and I would be blessed to receive an email telling me how you are and what is going on in your life. (allison.sherer@gmail.com) God Bless. <3
Classes are a lot better this semester. I am taking 15 credit hours, with four attendance classes and one online class. I am enjoying the subject matter of my courses far more than I did last semester, however, my classes are more difficult which means more homework. I am taking mostly gen-eds (with one graduate level course), but they are higher level gen-eds or whatever. Classes include:
Educational Leadership: Mondays and Wednesdays at freaking 7:30am. Ridiculous. My professor lectures like she is giving a speech, meaning she just brushes over topics in a well-versed manner that does not explain anything, so we are forced to read the textbooks to gain any sort of knowledge about what the class is about. All of her tests are online, which is great, but you would think that because of this factor I wouldn't have to go class...WRONG. Being the clever professor she is, she assigns in-class activities due at the end of the hour so we HAVE to be there. It's usually not that bad, but a lot of them are group projects and I am not a sparkling pearl at 7:30 in the morning...
Nutrition: It's online, so there's really not much to talk about...I am really glad it's online because it's the stupidest class ever; my physiology majoring RA even thinks so...Besides the complete and utter less than lack of motivation to do anything associated with that "class," everything is fine.
Mythology: My favorite class! The subject matter is so interesting and my professor is absolutely fabulous. I think I am developing a slight personality-crush on the man, to be honest...But overall, that class is just fantastic.
Language and Culture of Deaf Communities: This class meets Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00. Nice that's it's my only class on those days, but Mondays and Wednesdays are really busy for me, so after that class, I am just wiped. The class is taught by the professor I had for my ASL class last semester, which at first I was like, "Oh great..." but now I am really starting to like her. At the beginning of the semester, we had a lady come certify our class to work with the DeafBlind, which was a really neat experience for me and now I am qualified to work with the DeafBlind in either a casual, volunteer, or paid environment. As of now, we watch a lot of videos and have a lot of class discussions (all in ASL), so it's totally chill. The only two things are...1) There is a lot of homework. AND 2) Professor Volk is having us serve 30 hours of volunteer work in the Deaf community and I have yet to find a place to volunteer. The whole class is centered around our service-learning project, so the fact that I haven't found a place to serve yet has really set me back. Being the over-planner that I am, not knowing what I am going to do to serve my 30 hours really scares me. I have roughly two months left to finish 30 hours and all of the work associated with it and it is stressing me out like you wouldn't believe.
English 102: THE. STUPIDEST. CLASS. I. HAVE. EVER. TAKEN! I can't even reiterate that enough. To start, my teacher is a total creeper. Seriously. Tim Meloni is a skinny, hairy, grad student in his late twenties who has the greasiest hair and the longest, yellow finger nails I have ever seen. He says, "OK?" more than any human ever should and he has trouble breathing when he teaches. Speaking of teaching, he has never taught English 102 and he told us on the first day of school that he is going to be learning the material we are learning right along with us. EXCELLENT. He writes cutesy, cheesy poetry that would make any girl swoon...but only enough for him to get in her pants, something of which he probably had no experience of whatsoever. He assigns us ridiculous busy work that will never help us when writing our essays, the main thing our grades are based off of. We recently handed in our first essay, on which I got the highest grade in the class. The girl who sits next to me thinks this is because Tim has a crush on me, mostly because he tends to look at me whenever I am doing anything awkward. I, personally, like to consider that my writing is better than everyone else's in the class (even those who think they are all that by using big words that create a circumvented argument), and I feel like I am not learning anything whatsoever other than to never to take a gen-ed English class ever again; I actually feel like my writing is deteriorating rather than improving, but whatever. Basically I cannot wait until I get into upper-division English classes, even though I am pretty sure they are going to kick my butt...
As far as majors go, I have decided to double (and almost, triple) major. My vowel-infested majors are: Secondary Education with an emphasis in Extended English and Educational Interpreting for American Sign Language (boy that's a mouthful). In addition, I have joined Future Teacher's Club, also know as The Lamest Club on Campus. There are about ten regular members (on a good day) and we basically just sit around and talk or listen to guest speakers from the College of Education. I absolutely love the people in the club and even after my third meeting with them, I feel like we are going to be good friends. FTC is supposed to be a community outreach club for teachers, but they are not doing so well on the outreach aspect. I am trying to get more involved with the club so I can help with that. If you have any good ideas for outreach in the community revolving mostly around students, teachers, administration, or just school in general, please let me know.
Really the last thing I am doing to occupy my time besides class, homework, and FTC is work. I still work at Centennial Hall as an usher and I absolutely love it. UA Presents got another Usher Manager (my boss) this semester and he's totally awesome. His name is Tadj Hodges (I had to add that in there because saying his full name is totally fun!) and he's totally cool. Some of the other ushers and I agree that we like him better than old boss, Sam, which is a big deal because Sam was absolutely fantastic. Speaking of ushers...I am starting to get really close with the student ushers, which is really fun. A lot of the volunteer ushers know me personally now (most of them are teachers or were teachers at one point so they like to talk to me about their experiences and sort of take me under their wing) and I love talking to them; I guess I just have thing for old people. :) I work at Centennial two to three days a week and it's totally chill. Basically I just love my job all-around and I really hope I am in the running to become a manager for next year...
I think that's about all. Things are still going great with the roomie and we have decided to live with each other next year in the same dorm. I still haven't found a solid Christian group to be a part of yet, but I am looking. I haven't been to Ballroom at all this semester because I have been working a lot and have just kind of lost interest, which is a little sad but not too heart-breaking. My elbow is doing a lot better. I am going to physical therapy twice a week and it's pretty much back to normal. I don't think it will ever be completely back to the way it was, but that's to be expected after such an awful break, but what can you do? Basically things here are just good, plain and simple. ;)
Hope you all are doing well and I would be blessed to receive an email telling me how you are and what is going on in your life. (allison.sherer@gmail.com) God Bless. <3
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
School
has been far too stressful for its own good. It's the end of the semester and the professors are just packing on the work. I had six papers due the week of Thanksgiving, one ten-pager last week, and another one due tomorrow. I have two finals tomorrow, one on Friday, I am working all weekend, have my hardest final on Monday, and then my last one on Thursday, the 18th. Not to mention I have countless other events I have to go to. I calculated the amount of sleep I have been getting and in the last week and a half, the total hours are 21. Crazy. I have been so busy, I haven't had time to breathe. It stinks I am not going home until the 19th. I just want to cut the stress, make some Christmas cookies, and play Sequence with the family; that's it.
My health is not so good. I am losing my voice from all of the stress (and screaming at the UA vs. ASU game--BEAR DOWN, CATS!). I have been running on adrenaline for so long that my body has finally just crashed. I am still taking my iron pills, but they are giving me other health problems, so I switch on and off from taking them. I feel tired all the time when I don't take them, but I am sick when I do take them. It's just a lose-lose situation, really. I went to the orthopedic doctor a couple weeks ago and I no longer have to wear my arm in a sling. My elbow, however, is not healing as quickly as he would like it to, so I have to do intense physical therapy on my own, which I have been bad about doing. My arm should be completely by Thursday of next week at my next appointment, so my friend Kyle down the hall is going to work with me every day to get my range of motion back. Basically, I am just all messed up...
The day before my birthday, I had a meeting with my adviser. It was basically a major session of "Let's Crush Allison's Dreams, Shall We?" We were discussing the fact that I need to declare a major and minor soon, so I asked her if I could major in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Extended English and a minor in Educational Interpreting so that I can be qualified to teach both English and American Sign Language. She informed that Deaf Studies and Educational Interpreting are not minors they offer for Education majors and that the state of Arizona does not offer a teacher certification exam for ASL teachers, so if I wanted to do anything with sign language, I would have to a) change my major altogether OR b) wait until I graduate and get accepted into the masters program. Even then, they would be teaching me how to TEACH the deaf, not teach hearing high school students sign language, which is what I really want to do. I kept thinking to myself, "How come this isn't possible for me when I know I had two great sign language teachers in high school? They must have had some way to be able to teach ASL..." So I emailed Mrs. Thomasson (my level 1 ASL teacher and one of my all-time favorite teachers in high school) and asked her how she became a sign teacher. She told me that she took 24 credit hours related to Deaf Studies and then took the Arizona Educator's Proficiency Assessment (which is the exam that all Arizona teachers must take to become certified) in order for her to get certified as an ASL teacher. So I am going to speak with the head of the Deaf Studies/Education Interpreting department and see what advice they have to give me. I am thinking I am going to have to double major in Educational Interpreting and Secondary Education, but I think it will be well worth it. If I have calculated my credits correctly, I believe that I have fulfilled half of my required credit hours already and I am only a freshman; double majoring will be a piece of cake. I really want to make myself marketable as a teacher so that people will be begging me to be working at their school, and working half as an English teacher and half as an ASL teacher will not only allow that to happen, but teaching both is what I want to do. It's my passion to teach and I want to be able to teach the two things I love and (hopefully) help my students to love them just as much as I do. Plus, if I teach English for only half the day, it'll be less papers to grade. :)
I really need to get started on my paper considering it's due tomorrow and I haven't even started, not to mention, I still have two finals I need to study for. Can't wait to see you all over Christmas Break! Love you all.
My health is not so good. I am losing my voice from all of the stress (and screaming at the UA vs. ASU game--BEAR DOWN, CATS!). I have been running on adrenaline for so long that my body has finally just crashed. I am still taking my iron pills, but they are giving me other health problems, so I switch on and off from taking them. I feel tired all the time when I don't take them, but I am sick when I do take them. It's just a lose-lose situation, really. I went to the orthopedic doctor a couple weeks ago and I no longer have to wear my arm in a sling. My elbow, however, is not healing as quickly as he would like it to, so I have to do intense physical therapy on my own, which I have been bad about doing. My arm should be completely by Thursday of next week at my next appointment, so my friend Kyle down the hall is going to work with me every day to get my range of motion back. Basically, I am just all messed up...
The day before my birthday, I had a meeting with my adviser. It was basically a major session of "Let's Crush Allison's Dreams, Shall We?" We were discussing the fact that I need to declare a major and minor soon, so I asked her if I could major in Secondary Education with an emphasis in Extended English and a minor in Educational Interpreting so that I can be qualified to teach both English and American Sign Language. She informed that Deaf Studies and Educational Interpreting are not minors they offer for Education majors and that the state of Arizona does not offer a teacher certification exam for ASL teachers, so if I wanted to do anything with sign language, I would have to a) change my major altogether OR b) wait until I graduate and get accepted into the masters program. Even then, they would be teaching me how to TEACH the deaf, not teach hearing high school students sign language, which is what I really want to do. I kept thinking to myself, "How come this isn't possible for me when I know I had two great sign language teachers in high school? They must have had some way to be able to teach ASL..." So I emailed Mrs. Thomasson (my level 1 ASL teacher and one of my all-time favorite teachers in high school) and asked her how she became a sign teacher. She told me that she took 24 credit hours related to Deaf Studies and then took the Arizona Educator's Proficiency Assessment (which is the exam that all Arizona teachers must take to become certified) in order for her to get certified as an ASL teacher. So I am going to speak with the head of the Deaf Studies/Education Interpreting department and see what advice they have to give me. I am thinking I am going to have to double major in Educational Interpreting and Secondary Education, but I think it will be well worth it. If I have calculated my credits correctly, I believe that I have fulfilled half of my required credit hours already and I am only a freshman; double majoring will be a piece of cake. I really want to make myself marketable as a teacher so that people will be begging me to be working at their school, and working half as an English teacher and half as an ASL teacher will not only allow that to happen, but teaching both is what I want to do. It's my passion to teach and I want to be able to teach the two things I love and (hopefully) help my students to love them just as much as I do. Plus, if I teach English for only half the day, it'll be less papers to grade. :)
I really need to get started on my paper considering it's due tomorrow and I haven't even started, not to mention, I still have two finals I need to study for. Can't wait to see you all over Christmas Break! Love you all.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
This week
has been pretty crazy for no real reason. I have been lax of a lot of homework and exams, which has been great. I have had some time to rest, do dorm chores, and work on getting my arm healed. I am making great progress, I think. I still do not have full extension of my arm, but it is getting there. The saddest thing is that I cannot bend my elbow to touch my face or my hair...let's just say, watching me try and do my make-up is pretty hilarious. I have been taking those iron pills to help with my anemia. I am no less-tired than I was before, so I have no idea if they are working or not. The weird thing about the pills is that they make me incredibly not hungry. I have basically been eating nothing but Craisins for a week. I have eaten stuff here and there, but it has been about five bites. I guess taking iron pills are one way to lose the freshman 15...
This week has been what my sister and other seniors say freshman year should be. It has been the spontaneous late-night, "Hey, you want to hang out?" with just random people. Adam, Andrew, and I have been making snow cones like crazy. Andrew asked his mom to send their old snow cone maker to him (he is from Washington, so they obviously don't need a snow cone maker right about now), and we have randomly been making cherry snow cones all week. Wednesday night, I went to a Ballroom costume party (I dressed up like a Pink Lady from Grease. I was still in my sling and it was funny because most people thought that was part of my costume...) and afterward Sarika, Cimone, and I raided the HoGG party, then VDP's. Afterward, I called and talked to Jared and right after I hung up with him, my friend Kyle down the hall walks up the stairs. I thought we were going to have a pleasant two minute conversation, but we ended up talking for two and a half hours. Crazy. The next night, I went to Intervarsity. Andy's friend Erin invited me to an Office party afterward, but basically a lot of stuff happened, and the long of the short is, Erin didn't come find me to have me join them, so I didn't go. I don't really know anyone in Intervarsity. The two girls down the hall go there, but we never talk to each other except for the friendly small talk we have in the bathroom. I know one guy who is also in Ballroom and we talked for about a half hour after IV. What a cool guy, seriously. I hope we get to be good friends. Other than that, I know Stephen Hall and Andy's friend Erin. There's this girl Rahel that I have talked to MANY times and she still doesn't know my name. She pretends to care about having me feel a part of the group, but I can totally see through her act. She doesn't even care to actually learn my name, for Heaven's sake. I really just feel like I don't fit in there, and sadly, I don't fit in at any Christian group on campus. I know it's because I am not making an effort to fit in, but I think I know that these Christian groups are not what I have expected them to be. IV is the closest thing I can get to what I was expecting, and even then, it's nothing like it at all. People keep telling me I need to be become a part of a Christian community, but eh. I'm not making an effort to fit in because I don't, and they're not making it an effort to make me feel I am a part of the group. So whatever. I'll still go when I can. Anyway, after IV some crazy stuff happened and basically I ended up hanging out with Adam and Andrew for a while until I calmed down and then I was in Kyle and Randal's room until the wee hours of the morning. Last night I went over to Katie's apartment and her roommates Erin and Davia and I made caramel apples, punch, popcorn, and other such goodies and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Hocus Pocus. I spent the night and we had a really fun time together. It's been nice being social for a change. I think it's funny that I spend the most time with 1) A friend from junior high 2) My roommate 3) The boys down the hall and 4) My sister's roommates. Makes me sound a little lame, but I am having fun. :)
Other than that, not much else is new. Next week I have the same sort of schedule I had this week, and after that, it starts to get crazy again. I have a quiz and a huge astronomy test next Friday. What a way to spend my birthday: taking a test for the class I hate the most and having this feeling of failure over my head for the rest of the day. Oh joy, oh rapture. I am going home next weekend to see Mesquite's play and have some birthday celebrations.
I applied for a job at Youthworks!. Youthworks! is a Christian organization that prepares and operates week-long mission trips for high school students, usually through their youth groups. I have been on four Youthworks! trips as a participant where I have spent two days painting or building a house for a family who cannot afford to do it themselves (either financially or physically) and then two days working with the impoverished kids of the neighborhood in a Vacation Bible School sort of setting. (On some trips, we also did various other projects like working at a Salvation Army, a food bank, or visiting the elderly in a nursing home.) Each mission site is run by four college-age staff members: one who organizes and runs the Kids Club portion, one who organizes and runs the work projects, one who gives the talks at night and runs other aspects of the worship service, nightly fun activities, and other odds-and-ends of the trip, and lastly, the one who oversees the entire site and everything in it. These staff members work all summer (May through August), getting a new group of teenagers every week to do different projects. I just finished my application a couple minutes ago and it was really intense. They want to know your experience in pretty much every aspect. Andy got a job with them last year and he told me how crazy the interview process really is. They interview you many, many times for many different aspects of pretty much everything, and the whole process is drawn out over a period of many months. I really want this job, more than I can tell you. I have wanted a job with Youthworks! since I was a freshman in high school. I really would like the job to be the one who does the talks every night, but I will take any job I can get. Basically just keep your fingers crossed and pray like crazy that I get a call for an interview...
Happy All Saint's Day! Today is to celebrate all those who love the Lord and are working toward the glory of His Kingdom!
This week has been what my sister and other seniors say freshman year should be. It has been the spontaneous late-night, "Hey, you want to hang out?" with just random people. Adam, Andrew, and I have been making snow cones like crazy. Andrew asked his mom to send their old snow cone maker to him (he is from Washington, so they obviously don't need a snow cone maker right about now), and we have randomly been making cherry snow cones all week. Wednesday night, I went to a Ballroom costume party (I dressed up like a Pink Lady from Grease. I was still in my sling and it was funny because most people thought that was part of my costume...) and afterward Sarika, Cimone, and I raided the HoGG party, then VDP's. Afterward, I called and talked to Jared and right after I hung up with him, my friend Kyle down the hall walks up the stairs. I thought we were going to have a pleasant two minute conversation, but we ended up talking for two and a half hours. Crazy. The next night, I went to Intervarsity. Andy's friend Erin invited me to an Office party afterward, but basically a lot of stuff happened, and the long of the short is, Erin didn't come find me to have me join them, so I didn't go. I don't really know anyone in Intervarsity. The two girls down the hall go there, but we never talk to each other except for the friendly small talk we have in the bathroom. I know one guy who is also in Ballroom and we talked for about a half hour after IV. What a cool guy, seriously. I hope we get to be good friends. Other than that, I know Stephen Hall and Andy's friend Erin. There's this girl Rahel that I have talked to MANY times and she still doesn't know my name. She pretends to care about having me feel a part of the group, but I can totally see through her act. She doesn't even care to actually learn my name, for Heaven's sake. I really just feel like I don't fit in there, and sadly, I don't fit in at any Christian group on campus. I know it's because I am not making an effort to fit in, but I think I know that these Christian groups are not what I have expected them to be. IV is the closest thing I can get to what I was expecting, and even then, it's nothing like it at all. People keep telling me I need to be become a part of a Christian community, but eh. I'm not making an effort to fit in because I don't, and they're not making it an effort to make me feel I am a part of the group. So whatever. I'll still go when I can. Anyway, after IV some crazy stuff happened and basically I ended up hanging out with Adam and Andrew for a while until I calmed down and then I was in Kyle and Randal's room until the wee hours of the morning. Last night I went over to Katie's apartment and her roommates Erin and Davia and I made caramel apples, punch, popcorn, and other such goodies and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Hocus Pocus. I spent the night and we had a really fun time together. It's been nice being social for a change. I think it's funny that I spend the most time with 1) A friend from junior high 2) My roommate 3) The boys down the hall and 4) My sister's roommates. Makes me sound a little lame, but I am having fun. :)
Other than that, not much else is new. Next week I have the same sort of schedule I had this week, and after that, it starts to get crazy again. I have a quiz and a huge astronomy test next Friday. What a way to spend my birthday: taking a test for the class I hate the most and having this feeling of failure over my head for the rest of the day. Oh joy, oh rapture. I am going home next weekend to see Mesquite's play and have some birthday celebrations.
I applied for a job at Youthworks!. Youthworks! is a Christian organization that prepares and operates week-long mission trips for high school students, usually through their youth groups. I have been on four Youthworks! trips as a participant where I have spent two days painting or building a house for a family who cannot afford to do it themselves (either financially or physically) and then two days working with the impoverished kids of the neighborhood in a Vacation Bible School sort of setting. (On some trips, we also did various other projects like working at a Salvation Army, a food bank, or visiting the elderly in a nursing home.) Each mission site is run by four college-age staff members: one who organizes and runs the Kids Club portion, one who organizes and runs the work projects, one who gives the talks at night and runs other aspects of the worship service, nightly fun activities, and other odds-and-ends of the trip, and lastly, the one who oversees the entire site and everything in it. These staff members work all summer (May through August), getting a new group of teenagers every week to do different projects. I just finished my application a couple minutes ago and it was really intense. They want to know your experience in pretty much every aspect. Andy got a job with them last year and he told me how crazy the interview process really is. They interview you many, many times for many different aspects of pretty much everything, and the whole process is drawn out over a period of many months. I really want this job, more than I can tell you. I have wanted a job with Youthworks! since I was a freshman in high school. I really would like the job to be the one who does the talks every night, but I will take any job I can get. Basically just keep your fingers crossed and pray like crazy that I get a call for an interview...
Happy All Saint's Day! Today is to celebrate all those who love the Lord and are working toward the glory of His Kingdom!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Happy Diwali!
Today is the Indian New Year: Diwali, the Festival of Lights. I know this because Sarika is trying to Brownify me. I don't really know why, exactly, but she has dubbed it her duty to make me Indian, or at least an honorary one. She has this strange obsession with making me her project for various things and I really just don't get it, but whatever. It's cool to be cultured. :) Anyway, Sarika has been counting down the days until this holiday; apparently, it's her favorite. She has been filling me in for weeks about the different traditions and whatnot because I was going to do everything in my power to celebrate it with her as best as I could. However, because our schedules were so completely different today, we had to celebrate separately until we could celebrate a little together. We started the day off by wearing new clothes (I wore my shirt that I bought when Alysa and I went shopping forever ago that I hadn't worn until now because it had been too hot. Apparently it looks good on me, says Sarika). We spent most of the day apart, doing more schoolwork than celebrating, but we got together later tonight. We went to Kabobaque (a fast-food Indian restaurant on University. It's kind of like calling Taco Bell Mexican food, but it was the closest we could get). We got our food and walked over to a shady place under a beautiful tree to have a picnic. We ate our food on new plates (apparently the food was said to be horrible by other Indians, but Sarika thought it was good and that Indians only say it's bad because they want to cause drama. I really liked it, too. Sarika said they did the spices correctly because our noses were running, whatever that means) and sat in the candlelight of these battery-operated candles that I bought when I was causing trouble with my sister's roommate at Walgreen's. When I first gave Sarika the candles (one for her, one for me), she was completely overjoyed. Squealy, even. She almost cried. She said it was the nicest thing anyone had ever down for her (which in my opinion is pretty lame sauce considering it wasn't even that big of a deal). She called her mom and told her about the candles (apparently they're a big deal in Indian culture and quite crucial to Diwali or something) and I think I got major brownie points with her mom, which I need. Not that I did anything for her to not like me, but she just doesn't like anyone really, so I need all of the help that I can get. We finished eating and then Sarika had to go to her chem lab. We were going to watch an Indian drama that's like, 5 hours long, but we just didn't have time for that. Another day. And then I will be really Indian. :) Also, you may have been wondering if we have seen the Diwali episode of The Office, and yes we have, and yes, we were going to watch that as well, but we didn't have time. I might watch it by myself before I go to bed because, well, I just can't get enough of The Office. In celebration of Diwali, I am keeping the lights on for as long as I can before Alysa goes to bed, and after I have to turn off the lights, my little candle will "burn" for the remainder of the night. Happy Diwali to all!
In other news, I got my cast off yesterday. It's amazing how much lighter I feel. They reweighed me at the doctor's office after I got it off and I had lost 2 1/2 pounds. The doctor said I am healing so well that all I have to do is wear a sling for the next couple weeks and do my own form of physical therapy. Basically I just have to keep my elbow moving and really work at having full extension and full usage of my arm, and so far, I think I am doing pretty well. I can move my arm so that it's almost straight (I basically look like I am doing the Mr. Roboto) and I am doing well with he suppination and pronation. I am actually typing with both hands for the first time in two weeks! Granted, it hurts like crazy, but I am getting used to it. I am in a lot of pain all the time, but hey, no pain, no gain. I am just really proud of my progress. I will be back to dancing in no time! In fact, cool story:
So I have been going to Ballroom like usual; I am just there to watch, not to dance. All of the advanced students have been really sweet and are always coming up to talk to me about my arm. Jake the Cake (my friend and Sarika's dancing partner) came up to me and told me that if I sit there and write all of the moves down that I have not yet learned, he would take time with me personally to teach me outside of class. Erin also offered the same thing, so potentially I will be getting double the one-on-one help. :D After practice, this guy Michael (Sarika has nicknamed him, her words not mine, McBastard because he is basically a pompous jerk. He doesn't really socially converse with people because he thinks he is too good for everyone else because he has been doing Ballroom for four years plus) comes up to me and asks how my arm was. I told him and he says, "I know it must be torture for you to just have to watch everyone dance [exactly what I had been thinking the whole time]. But you know, most of the moves are footwork and 95% of the time, the woman is led by her right hand; her left hand is merely for show. I don't know if you would be up for it, but I think you could should try dancing, even with your arm the way it is. If you want, I can be your partner and I will be extra gentle." I told him that it was a good idea and that I would consider it. I look over and Sarika's mouth is hanging wide open. We both could not believe that McB actually had a heart. Sarika thinks he has a thing for me, but I think he was just being nice (I have always thought he was nice deep down; Sarika was the one that thought he was "a hopeless case"). Either way, I am really thankful that the people in Ballroom (especially the advanced students whom I thought didn't know I existed) are being so nice about the whole situation and just really want me to come back. I think they see how much I just really want this.
Another thing that happened today...I had my follow-up appointment to get my test results back from "the worm doctor." Basically (as I thought), I don't have worms, a parasite, or anything creepy living inside of me (sadly the name I came up with for the potential tape worm inside of me, Herman, is no longer valid, but I do believe that I am going to keep the name in reference to my stomach nonetheless). I am, however, incredibly anemic and that is why I have been having so many physical problems. I think it's because I ate so many freaking goat kabobs and goat with rice and goat with cooked plantains and goat with ground nut sauce and goat with peas and just plain freaking goat that my body was pumped with iron (probably the iron it was missing all along), that when I came back from Africa and the goat supply was immediately discontinued, my body freaked out and yearned for its goat (or at least the iron that was in the goat), in which case I became incredibly anemic and hence my body was screwed over (the doc also said that that could have contributed to the breakage of my arm: I was just very weak and so a single fall just took me out). The doctor proscribed me with iron pills that I have to take three times a day for six months. Holy Goat Kabobs, I am just one messed up child.
Nothing much else to report...this week has been and probably will be a very chill week. I like it, especially since I am still recuperating from everything and I have been strangely tired all the time lately (probably due to the anemia). I do have a test on Friday and then a test next Friday (happy birthday to me...) that I need to study for and that is going to occupy a lot of my time. That's about it, though...
Sorry for another long post. I think I have realized that it is almost impossible for me to write short ones...
In other news, I got my cast off yesterday. It's amazing how much lighter I feel. They reweighed me at the doctor's office after I got it off and I had lost 2 1/2 pounds. The doctor said I am healing so well that all I have to do is wear a sling for the next couple weeks and do my own form of physical therapy. Basically I just have to keep my elbow moving and really work at having full extension and full usage of my arm, and so far, I think I am doing pretty well. I can move my arm so that it's almost straight (I basically look like I am doing the Mr. Roboto) and I am doing well with he suppination and pronation. I am actually typing with both hands for the first time in two weeks! Granted, it hurts like crazy, but I am getting used to it. I am in a lot of pain all the time, but hey, no pain, no gain. I am just really proud of my progress. I will be back to dancing in no time! In fact, cool story:
So I have been going to Ballroom like usual; I am just there to watch, not to dance. All of the advanced students have been really sweet and are always coming up to talk to me about my arm. Jake the Cake (my friend and Sarika's dancing partner) came up to me and told me that if I sit there and write all of the moves down that I have not yet learned, he would take time with me personally to teach me outside of class. Erin also offered the same thing, so potentially I will be getting double the one-on-one help. :D After practice, this guy Michael (Sarika has nicknamed him, her words not mine, McBastard because he is basically a pompous jerk. He doesn't really socially converse with people because he thinks he is too good for everyone else because he has been doing Ballroom for four years plus) comes up to me and asks how my arm was. I told him and he says, "I know it must be torture for you to just have to watch everyone dance [exactly what I had been thinking the whole time]. But you know, most of the moves are footwork and 95% of the time, the woman is led by her right hand; her left hand is merely for show. I don't know if you would be up for it, but I think you could should try dancing, even with your arm the way it is. If you want, I can be your partner and I will be extra gentle." I told him that it was a good idea and that I would consider it. I look over and Sarika's mouth is hanging wide open. We both could not believe that McB actually had a heart. Sarika thinks he has a thing for me, but I think he was just being nice (I have always thought he was nice deep down; Sarika was the one that thought he was "a hopeless case"). Either way, I am really thankful that the people in Ballroom (especially the advanced students whom I thought didn't know I existed) are being so nice about the whole situation and just really want me to come back. I think they see how much I just really want this.
Another thing that happened today...I had my follow-up appointment to get my test results back from "the worm doctor." Basically (as I thought), I don't have worms, a parasite, or anything creepy living inside of me (sadly the name I came up with for the potential tape worm inside of me, Herman, is no longer valid, but I do believe that I am going to keep the name in reference to my stomach nonetheless). I am, however, incredibly anemic and that is why I have been having so many physical problems. I think it's because I ate so many freaking goat kabobs and goat with rice and goat with cooked plantains and goat with ground nut sauce and goat with peas and just plain freaking goat that my body was pumped with iron (probably the iron it was missing all along), that when I came back from Africa and the goat supply was immediately discontinued, my body freaked out and yearned for its goat (or at least the iron that was in the goat), in which case I became incredibly anemic and hence my body was screwed over (the doc also said that that could have contributed to the breakage of my arm: I was just very weak and so a single fall just took me out). The doctor proscribed me with iron pills that I have to take three times a day for six months. Holy Goat Kabobs, I am just one messed up child.
Nothing much else to report...this week has been and probably will be a very chill week. I like it, especially since I am still recuperating from everything and I have been strangely tired all the time lately (probably due to the anemia). I do have a test on Friday and then a test next Friday (happy birthday to me...) that I need to study for and that is going to occupy a lot of my time. That's about it, though...
Sorry for another long post. I think I have realized that it is almost impossible for me to write short ones...
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Surgery,
Yup. Surgery. On my elbow. Here is my story...
Sunday, my little sister drove back from Phoenix with my older sister and myself to stay at UofA during her Fall Break (oh, how I wish we had one). Sunday night, she stayed at my sister's apartment, and then on Monday, Katie's roommate drove her to campus. Monday night, I took Nicole to Ballroom with me (we were doing Rumba--one of my favorites!), and afterward, we walked back and were hanging out with the guys outside. I still had my heels on, and I was going to go change them, but I felt that I needed to call Sarika. Turns out she really needed a friend. So I leave my sister in my dorm room, fly down the stairs, and head toward toward PSP. Stupid me, I take the corner out of VDP too quickly and totally biff it and fall right on my elbow. It all happened so fast: one minute I was hurrying to Sarika's dorm, the next minute I am lying flat on the pavement in immense pain. I sort of blacked out a little, and I just laid there for a couple minutes. The sad thing is, there was a whole bunch of people sitting around and they all saw me fall and didn't do anything or say anything (including--I found this out later--one of the guys down the hall, who knows me and didn't even say anything. Then again, he's a total jerk, so I should've known better). I stagger to my feet, and I can barely walk, but I manage to get to Sarika's dorm. When I get there, she got me some ice and we talked for a while, then she decided we needed to get me back to my dorm. We get to my dorm, and luckily we run into one of the guys down the hall, Andrew. I told him what happened, and he concluded that it wasn't dislocated because I could move my fingers. He thought I needed to see a doctor, so he looked up when Campus Health was open (it closed at 4:30, and by this time, it was about midnight), but he found an emergency line I could call. I called (I was on hold FOREVER) and spoke to the doctor on call. I told him my problem, and he said (crankily), "Uhh...I can't really diagnose you over the phone, so if you can go to sleep, sleep and then go to Campus Health in the morning. But if you can't sleep...go to the emergency room tonight." Idiot. Andrew said he was willing to take me to the emergency room, but I didn't want to make him do that. He took me in his room, wrapped an athlete ice pack (he probably got it from lacrosse) around my elbow, and said goodnight. I went back to my room, took some Ibprofen, and went to bed. I slept on and off.
Tuesday, I woke up and I was in so much pain and I couldn't even move my arm. I decided to skip sign language and go to Campus Health instead. I was in the waiting room for a very long time, and once again, I made friends with the receptionists. I finally met with a nurse practitioner named Lisette who was older, sweet, and surprisingly really knowledgeable. I told her what happened and proceeded to tell her what I thought the problem was and how I thought it could be fixed (I have learned that with Campus Health, you just have to spell things out for them right at the get-go. If you're nor pregnant or don't have an STD, they just don't know how to treat you...). I tell her that I know it's not dislocated because I can move my fingers, and I don't think it's broken, so it must be like what I previously did to my knee where all of the muscles go into shock and tense up, so you just have to baby it but work at straightening them out. She told me that she was going to take an x-ray anyway, just to be safe. The lady who took my x-ray was heartless, she really was. She pushed, pulled, prodded, and bent my arms in ways that are probably some variation of a colonial torture mechanism. I don't think I have cried that hard in a long time. After my x-rays, Lisette pulled me in to show me the results. "And you thought you didn't need an x-ray..." she says to me. I look at the x-ray, and even a five year old can tell something is wrong there. Your eyes are immediately drawn to a break. It's not just a little line on my bone; it's a thick, BLACK space starting at the top of my bone going straight down to the bottom. Once I look at it, Lisette and the Asian nurse are running around with their heads cut off trying to get the stuff ready to put me in a cast, as if it were a matter of life and death if they didn't put my cast on right away. Huh. Must have been serious. They put me in a Baby Tong splint, which is a splint that goes from the top of my hand, around my elbow, to the palm of my hand and then from my bicep, around my elbow, to my triceps using this material that starts off squishy, then hardens as you have it on. It's really cool! Anyway, Lisette scheduled me with an Orthopedic doctor for the next day so he could better assess how to treat me (basically, Campus Health can only do so much...). Lisette gave me some serious painkillers (heavy duty Vicodin) and told me to not go to class for the rest of the day. So I didn't. :)
Wednesday, my parents drove down to take me to my appointment with the orthopedic doctor. They had to pick up Nicole on Thursday anyway, so they just drove up a day early to get her and to go to my appointment. We went to the doctor's and showed him the x-rays taken at Campus Health. He took one look at them and said, "You need surgery. Not having surgery isn't even an option." I flipped out. Dr. Wild explained that I had broken my ulna all the way through to my elbow joint and that my bone wasn't even connected to my elbow anymore. If my arm were to be simply cast up and have the bones mend themselves together, my arm would be in the bent position and I would have little to no range of motion for the rest of my life. After that, I was like, "Alright. Whatevs." My parents were then in a mad rush to schedule a time for my surgery, get everything figured out with the doctors, and try to see if my surgery would be covered on our insurance. I just sat there quietly and watched my parents basically freak out. It was kind of entertaining. After about two hours, everything was taken care of. My surgery was scheduled for the next day. I was pretty scared to be honest. I made and got a lot of phone calls about my surgery that night. It was nice to know people cared about me. :)
Thursday, I went to the hospital to have my surgery. They dressed me in that fabulously fashionable cloth garb and I sat there and wondered to myself why they even put you in it; it's not like it covers anything. I think they should just have you lay naked on those uncomfortable rolley beds; you would keep the same amount of warmth with or without those itchy pieces of cardboard. Anyway, they put my IV in and kept pumping fluids in like crazy; I took so many freaking trips to the bathroom, it's not even funny. I laid in the prep room for like, 3 hours (I took a nap) before the anesthesiologist came in. I remember closing my eyes for a second and then I woke up and my parents and the nurse were at the foot of my bed. "All finished," the nurse said to me. "With putting the anesthesia in?" I asked. "No, with everything." I look down and there's this hella bulky/heavy cast on my arm and I was like, "Tight." And the next thing I remember is waking up in the hotel room. I ate some dinner and went back to bed. I was incredibly drugged up, you have no idea. Apparently Origene from Rwanda called me on Friday and I just kind of yelled into the phone and went back to bed. I felt so bad. (I emailed him later and told him I was sorry, so don't worry)
I spent the remainder of my weekend at my sister's apartment. She and her roomies took very good care of me. We had Office marathons and Erin made me Dinosaur Pumpkin Toast (which is just toast but cut into the shape of dinosaurs using a cookie cutter and smuthered with pumpkin butter. Basically it's the best thing ever). Sunday night I went back to the dorms. The boys down the hall have taken good care of me. They carry my stuff up the stairs and do other such biddings like opening jars for me or whatever (every night I come into their room to have them open my medicine bottle for me and they all know what is coming so they all just extend their hands to receive the bottle. It cracks me up). Sarika has been an angel through this whole process. Every day, she comes over and undresses me so I can take a shower and the redresses me afterward. It's so embarrassing that I can't even dress myself, but whatever. It's been quite the bonding experience for the both of us, let me tell you. You can't say that you're real friends until a bra's come off, that's for sure. :)
It's been hard living with only one arm. I seriously can't do anything by myself and it takes twice as long to do things. Like this post, for instance. I have been typing a little every day and it's Saturday and I am just now finishing. Oy. But be proud of my accomplishment! Schoolwork takes me forever to do, but thankfully I chose to break my arm at a time when most of my midterms were finished and not that much stuff is going on. Sadly, though, doing the tiniest things exhaust me. I can't clean my room very well, I can't do my dishes in fear my cast will get wet, and I can't do my own laundry (that I don't mind). I can't even open a jar of peanut butter by myself for Heaven's sake. The once-Superwoman now has to ask for help with everything. It's definitely been a lesson in humility, that's for sure. I am in a lot of pain all the time, but the worst part is underneath my splint constantly itches like crazy with no way to scratch it. I stole a wooden s'more skewer from the guys down the hall to itch under my ace bandage wrapped around my arm and we have lovingly named it the Itch-a-Stick. I just have to be careful not to scratch too far down or else I will rip my stitches. And I am kind of getting sick of people asking what I did to my arm, especially people I am just meeting for the first time. I wish I had a cooler story than, "Oh, I just fell and broke my elbow." but I really don't. A guy from my work (his name is Barry and he's 65 and completely adorable!) told me to tell people that I fought a bear single-handedly and that's how I broke my arm. I've adopted that as my story and it's funny to see the expressions on people's faces when I tell them that, either of complete disbelief or of complete amazement. I do like it, though, seeing when people genuinely care about what happened to me and want me to get better. My professors and TAs have been really understanding and very accommodating. I went to Ballroom this week, not to dance, but just to watch, and the advanced students were really worried about me. It's nice to know they actually know how I am and want me to get back on the dance floor. I have an appointment on Monday with the surgeon to see how I am doing and he is going to tell me when I can get my splint/sling off. I hope soon because I am sick of being an incompetent, non-dancing, freak-of-nature anti-Superwoman; I ready to return back to normal.
Thanks to all for all of your prayers and thoughts. Please continue praying for a speedy recovery and for perfect healing. Thank you and love to all!
Sunday, my little sister drove back from Phoenix with my older sister and myself to stay at UofA during her Fall Break (oh, how I wish we had one). Sunday night, she stayed at my sister's apartment, and then on Monday, Katie's roommate drove her to campus. Monday night, I took Nicole to Ballroom with me (we were doing Rumba--one of my favorites!), and afterward, we walked back and were hanging out with the guys outside. I still had my heels on, and I was going to go change them, but I felt that I needed to call Sarika. Turns out she really needed a friend. So I leave my sister in my dorm room, fly down the stairs, and head toward toward PSP. Stupid me, I take the corner out of VDP too quickly and totally biff it and fall right on my elbow. It all happened so fast: one minute I was hurrying to Sarika's dorm, the next minute I am lying flat on the pavement in immense pain. I sort of blacked out a little, and I just laid there for a couple minutes. The sad thing is, there was a whole bunch of people sitting around and they all saw me fall and didn't do anything or say anything (including--I found this out later--one of the guys down the hall, who knows me and didn't even say anything. Then again, he's a total jerk, so I should've known better). I stagger to my feet, and I can barely walk, but I manage to get to Sarika's dorm. When I get there, she got me some ice and we talked for a while, then she decided we needed to get me back to my dorm. We get to my dorm, and luckily we run into one of the guys down the hall, Andrew. I told him what happened, and he concluded that it wasn't dislocated because I could move my fingers. He thought I needed to see a doctor, so he looked up when Campus Health was open (it closed at 4:30, and by this time, it was about midnight), but he found an emergency line I could call. I called (I was on hold FOREVER) and spoke to the doctor on call. I told him my problem, and he said (crankily), "Uhh...I can't really diagnose you over the phone, so if you can go to sleep, sleep and then go to Campus Health in the morning. But if you can't sleep...go to the emergency room tonight." Idiot. Andrew said he was willing to take me to the emergency room, but I didn't want to make him do that. He took me in his room, wrapped an athlete ice pack (he probably got it from lacrosse) around my elbow, and said goodnight. I went back to my room, took some Ibprofen, and went to bed. I slept on and off.
Tuesday, I woke up and I was in so much pain and I couldn't even move my arm. I decided to skip sign language and go to Campus Health instead. I was in the waiting room for a very long time, and once again, I made friends with the receptionists. I finally met with a nurse practitioner named Lisette who was older, sweet, and surprisingly really knowledgeable. I told her what happened and proceeded to tell her what I thought the problem was and how I thought it could be fixed (I have learned that with Campus Health, you just have to spell things out for them right at the get-go. If you're nor pregnant or don't have an STD, they just don't know how to treat you...). I tell her that I know it's not dislocated because I can move my fingers, and I don't think it's broken, so it must be like what I previously did to my knee where all of the muscles go into shock and tense up, so you just have to baby it but work at straightening them out. She told me that she was going to take an x-ray anyway, just to be safe. The lady who took my x-ray was heartless, she really was. She pushed, pulled, prodded, and bent my arms in ways that are probably some variation of a colonial torture mechanism. I don't think I have cried that hard in a long time. After my x-rays, Lisette pulled me in to show me the results. "And you thought you didn't need an x-ray..." she says to me. I look at the x-ray, and even a five year old can tell something is wrong there. Your eyes are immediately drawn to a break. It's not just a little line on my bone; it's a thick, BLACK space starting at the top of my bone going straight down to the bottom. Once I look at it, Lisette and the Asian nurse are running around with their heads cut off trying to get the stuff ready to put me in a cast, as if it were a matter of life and death if they didn't put my cast on right away. Huh. Must have been serious. They put me in a Baby Tong splint, which is a splint that goes from the top of my hand, around my elbow, to the palm of my hand and then from my bicep, around my elbow, to my triceps using this material that starts off squishy, then hardens as you have it on. It's really cool! Anyway, Lisette scheduled me with an Orthopedic doctor for the next day so he could better assess how to treat me (basically, Campus Health can only do so much...). Lisette gave me some serious painkillers (heavy duty Vicodin) and told me to not go to class for the rest of the day. So I didn't. :)
Wednesday, my parents drove down to take me to my appointment with the orthopedic doctor. They had to pick up Nicole on Thursday anyway, so they just drove up a day early to get her and to go to my appointment. We went to the doctor's and showed him the x-rays taken at Campus Health. He took one look at them and said, "You need surgery. Not having surgery isn't even an option." I flipped out. Dr. Wild explained that I had broken my ulna all the way through to my elbow joint and that my bone wasn't even connected to my elbow anymore. If my arm were to be simply cast up and have the bones mend themselves together, my arm would be in the bent position and I would have little to no range of motion for the rest of my life. After that, I was like, "Alright. Whatevs." My parents were then in a mad rush to schedule a time for my surgery, get everything figured out with the doctors, and try to see if my surgery would be covered on our insurance. I just sat there quietly and watched my parents basically freak out. It was kind of entertaining. After about two hours, everything was taken care of. My surgery was scheduled for the next day. I was pretty scared to be honest. I made and got a lot of phone calls about my surgery that night. It was nice to know people cared about me. :)
Thursday, I went to the hospital to have my surgery. They dressed me in that fabulously fashionable cloth garb and I sat there and wondered to myself why they even put you in it; it's not like it covers anything. I think they should just have you lay naked on those uncomfortable rolley beds; you would keep the same amount of warmth with or without those itchy pieces of cardboard. Anyway, they put my IV in and kept pumping fluids in like crazy; I took so many freaking trips to the bathroom, it's not even funny. I laid in the prep room for like, 3 hours (I took a nap) before the anesthesiologist came in. I remember closing my eyes for a second and then I woke up and my parents and the nurse were at the foot of my bed. "All finished," the nurse said to me. "With putting the anesthesia in?" I asked. "No, with everything." I look down and there's this hella bulky/heavy cast on my arm and I was like, "Tight." And the next thing I remember is waking up in the hotel room. I ate some dinner and went back to bed. I was incredibly drugged up, you have no idea. Apparently Origene from Rwanda called me on Friday and I just kind of yelled into the phone and went back to bed. I felt so bad. (I emailed him later and told him I was sorry, so don't worry)
I spent the remainder of my weekend at my sister's apartment. She and her roomies took very good care of me. We had Office marathons and Erin made me Dinosaur Pumpkin Toast (which is just toast but cut into the shape of dinosaurs using a cookie cutter and smuthered with pumpkin butter. Basically it's the best thing ever). Sunday night I went back to the dorms. The boys down the hall have taken good care of me. They carry my stuff up the stairs and do other such biddings like opening jars for me or whatever (every night I come into their room to have them open my medicine bottle for me and they all know what is coming so they all just extend their hands to receive the bottle. It cracks me up). Sarika has been an angel through this whole process. Every day, she comes over and undresses me so I can take a shower and the redresses me afterward. It's so embarrassing that I can't even dress myself, but whatever. It's been quite the bonding experience for the both of us, let me tell you. You can't say that you're real friends until a bra's come off, that's for sure. :)
It's been hard living with only one arm. I seriously can't do anything by myself and it takes twice as long to do things. Like this post, for instance. I have been typing a little every day and it's Saturday and I am just now finishing. Oy. But be proud of my accomplishment! Schoolwork takes me forever to do, but thankfully I chose to break my arm at a time when most of my midterms were finished and not that much stuff is going on. Sadly, though, doing the tiniest things exhaust me. I can't clean my room very well, I can't do my dishes in fear my cast will get wet, and I can't do my own laundry (that I don't mind). I can't even open a jar of peanut butter by myself for Heaven's sake. The once-Superwoman now has to ask for help with everything. It's definitely been a lesson in humility, that's for sure. I am in a lot of pain all the time, but the worst part is underneath my splint constantly itches like crazy with no way to scratch it. I stole a wooden s'more skewer from the guys down the hall to itch under my ace bandage wrapped around my arm and we have lovingly named it the Itch-a-Stick. I just have to be careful not to scratch too far down or else I will rip my stitches. And I am kind of getting sick of people asking what I did to my arm, especially people I am just meeting for the first time. I wish I had a cooler story than, "Oh, I just fell and broke my elbow." but I really don't. A guy from my work (his name is Barry and he's 65 and completely adorable!) told me to tell people that I fought a bear single-handedly and that's how I broke my arm. I've adopted that as my story and it's funny to see the expressions on people's faces when I tell them that, either of complete disbelief or of complete amazement. I do like it, though, seeing when people genuinely care about what happened to me and want me to get better. My professors and TAs have been really understanding and very accommodating. I went to Ballroom this week, not to dance, but just to watch, and the advanced students were really worried about me. It's nice to know they actually know how I am and want me to get back on the dance floor. I have an appointment on Monday with the surgeon to see how I am doing and he is going to tell me when I can get my splint/sling off. I hope soon because I am sick of being an incompetent, non-dancing, freak-of-nature anti-Superwoman; I ready to return back to normal.
Thanks to all for all of your prayers and thoughts. Please continue praying for a speedy recovery and for perfect healing. Thank you and love to all!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
I have decided
to ditch the idea of posting every, single, minuscule detail about my life, because ultimately, it is not that exciting, nor do does anyone want to take the time to read about it. So therefore, only the important things that I find worth value to write about will be posted. My apologies...I am still learning how to do this blog thing minus the raw emotion...:)
Friday night, I worked my first show at Centennial. I arrived a half hour before my (what I thought was my) call time, which was fine because Sam (my boss) put me to work. I think I started off on a good note in Sam's book. The show I worked was called "A Motown Celebration," which was a concert of The Funk Brothers and Mary Wilson from the Supremes. Ya gotta love 60's Soul, baby. I worked the merchandise table for The Funk Brothers, so I worked before the show and after the show (I would have worked intermission if there was one), and I sold A LOT of stuff because both Mary Wilson and The Funk Brothers were signing autographs after the show. During the show, I sat out in the lobby, but I could hear the music loud and clear out there. It was really fun to hear that kind of music live and to "get my groove thang on." During the encore that they played, The Funk Brothers and Mary Wilson sung together and they sung "Ain't No Mountain High." It brought me immediately back to the days of Nothing but the Truth and I began dancing like we used to before our shows. I look down and realize my outfit is white on top, black on bottom and I was sort of lost back in the "times of old." It was really kind of a special moment. :)
I finished with work at like, 11:30, which was about an hour after I should have been finished, but because my sister is a manager there, she had stuff for me to do. Don't mind, though. I was paid for my time. Afterward, even though I was really tired, Sarika made me go over to her dorm to watch Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers with the people in her dorm. So her dorm is basically the introverted honors dorm, which means all of the people in her dorm are NERDS, and I say that in the most loving way possible. Basically they were sitting through the whole movie quoting every line and talking about how every single thing was "epic." I really don't like that movie in the first place (I like the third one best; that one is just really boring because I am so confused) and I was tired, so my negative comments about the movie were coming out like verbal diarrhea. I thought I was going to get flogged by the Lord of the Ring cult worshipers. I ended up going to bed at like, 3:30...
Saturday morning, I wake up semi-early to get the dorm room ready for Lys' parents come for Family Weekend. Yeah, didn't even matter because they never came in the room. To be honest, I didn't even SEE them the entire weekend. Seemingly odd, if you ask me. (Sidenote: I hate Family Weekend if your parents aren't there. I have been to Family Weekend before when I was still in high school visiting my sister, and I felt the same way as I do now. I feel like an orphan. I don't know why, but I look around campus with the students with their parents and I think to myself, "I wish I had parents..." even though I know perfectly well that my parents are only two hours or a phone call away. I have no idea why, but Family Weekend always makes me so depressed...) Anyway, I went over to my sister's apartment to celebrate her roommate, Davia's, birthday. Davia, her friend Stephanie (whom I REALLY don't like...), and I went to the football game. We got there about two hours early, and I was so tired, that I conked out on the bleachers for a slight cat nap. Stephanie wanted to sit by the band (for reasons that really bug me, but that is a story for another day...), and Davia said that once you sit next to the band, it will change your view of UA football games FOREVER! And it did! ...I NEVER want to sit by the band again. It's the most boring place ever. You can't see anything that is going on on the field and all you hear is the stupid Color Guard girls gossiping. Some things from high school don't change. I ended up watching the drum majorette more than I watched that game because I was that bored...
BUT! The cool thing that happened while I was there...I saw David Hasselhoff from Baywatch (his daughter goes to UofA so he is at like, all of the games. He's not as all-that as he thinks he is, but this story is still fun). I was about 10 feet away from him; like, I could spit on him if I wanted to. He was taking a video of the band and the crowd, and since I was standing next to the band in the crowd, I was in his video A LOT. How cool is that to be in a video of someone famous?! Bet you can't say that has ever happened to you. :) After the game, we went back to my sister's apartment and then to Applebees. I was so tired. Called and talked to Em (highlight of my weekend!!)...passed out. Literally. In the same spot I was sitting talking to Em. I seriously didn't move an inch all night.
Today, I haven't done anything. And I literally mean that. I slept in, talked to Jared on the phone, watched five episodes of The Office and now I am at Katie's apartment about to watch more. It's been a weekend full of pretty much everything and yet nothing that exciting...
Friday night, I worked my first show at Centennial. I arrived a half hour before my (what I thought was my) call time, which was fine because Sam (my boss) put me to work. I think I started off on a good note in Sam's book. The show I worked was called "A Motown Celebration," which was a concert of The Funk Brothers and Mary Wilson from the Supremes. Ya gotta love 60's Soul, baby. I worked the merchandise table for The Funk Brothers, so I worked before the show and after the show (I would have worked intermission if there was one), and I sold A LOT of stuff because both Mary Wilson and The Funk Brothers were signing autographs after the show. During the show, I sat out in the lobby, but I could hear the music loud and clear out there. It was really fun to hear that kind of music live and to "get my groove thang on." During the encore that they played, The Funk Brothers and Mary Wilson sung together and they sung "Ain't No Mountain High." It brought me immediately back to the days of Nothing but the Truth and I began dancing like we used to before our shows. I look down and realize my outfit is white on top, black on bottom and I was sort of lost back in the "times of old." It was really kind of a special moment. :)
I finished with work at like, 11:30, which was about an hour after I should have been finished, but because my sister is a manager there, she had stuff for me to do. Don't mind, though. I was paid for my time. Afterward, even though I was really tired, Sarika made me go over to her dorm to watch Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers with the people in her dorm. So her dorm is basically the introverted honors dorm, which means all of the people in her dorm are NERDS, and I say that in the most loving way possible. Basically they were sitting through the whole movie quoting every line and talking about how every single thing was "epic." I really don't like that movie in the first place (I like the third one best; that one is just really boring because I am so confused) and I was tired, so my negative comments about the movie were coming out like verbal diarrhea. I thought I was going to get flogged by the Lord of the Ring cult worshipers. I ended up going to bed at like, 3:30...
Saturday morning, I wake up semi-early to get the dorm room ready for Lys' parents come for Family Weekend. Yeah, didn't even matter because they never came in the room. To be honest, I didn't even SEE them the entire weekend. Seemingly odd, if you ask me. (Sidenote: I hate Family Weekend if your parents aren't there. I have been to Family Weekend before when I was still in high school visiting my sister, and I felt the same way as I do now. I feel like an orphan. I don't know why, but I look around campus with the students with their parents and I think to myself, "I wish I had parents..." even though I know perfectly well that my parents are only two hours or a phone call away. I have no idea why, but Family Weekend always makes me so depressed...) Anyway, I went over to my sister's apartment to celebrate her roommate, Davia's, birthday. Davia, her friend Stephanie (whom I REALLY don't like...), and I went to the football game. We got there about two hours early, and I was so tired, that I conked out on the bleachers for a slight cat nap. Stephanie wanted to sit by the band (for reasons that really bug me, but that is a story for another day...), and Davia said that once you sit next to the band, it will change your view of UA football games FOREVER! And it did! ...I NEVER want to sit by the band again. It's the most boring place ever. You can't see anything that is going on on the field and all you hear is the stupid Color Guard girls gossiping. Some things from high school don't change. I ended up watching the drum majorette more than I watched that game because I was that bored...
BUT! The cool thing that happened while I was there...I saw David Hasselhoff from Baywatch (his daughter goes to UofA so he is at like, all of the games. He's not as all-that as he thinks he is, but this story is still fun). I was about 10 feet away from him; like, I could spit on him if I wanted to. He was taking a video of the band and the crowd, and since I was standing next to the band in the crowd, I was in his video A LOT. How cool is that to be in a video of someone famous?! Bet you can't say that has ever happened to you. :) After the game, we went back to my sister's apartment and then to Applebees. I was so tired. Called and talked to Em (highlight of my weekend!!)...passed out. Literally. In the same spot I was sitting talking to Em. I seriously didn't move an inch all night.
Today, I haven't done anything. And I literally mean that. I slept in, talked to Jared on the phone, watched five episodes of The Office and now I am at Katie's apartment about to watch more. It's been a weekend full of pretty much everything and yet nothing that exciting...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Yesterday
was a good day. Today, however, is turning out to be quite strange and unexpected. But I will write about that later. I would rather dwell on yesterday instead of having to think about today...
Sunday night, I went over to Chelsea's house at like, 11:00 so I could spend the night and her mom could us back to Tucson in the morning. Chels and I didn't get to bed until about 1:00, and then we woke up at 5:00 to get ready to go to Tucson. I realized that morning that I had to present one of my biggest projects of the year for ASL that morning at 9:00 and I had completely forgotten about it. Basically we had to perform a five to ten minutes long children's story completely in sign. I worked on it for about 15 minutes in the car to Tucson and then I was like, "Dude, I'm tired. Screw that, I am taking a nap." So I napped the rest of the way to Tucson, helped Chels get unloaded and sent off to her chem lab, and then I went to sign language. Another guy in the class went first and he was pretty good. I was sitting there going, "Whatever. I don't even care about this anymore. If I fail, I fail. Whatever." So I get up and sign my story and guess what? 100%, plus extra points with the teacher for the being "the best so far." Sheesh. I amaze myself sometimes.
Afterward, I had Writing Systems. Lectures are the most boring thing in the world. Good thing I have a bunch of people in that class to talk to. We pass notes and I think all of us are getting to be really good friends. I hope we still hang out after this semester because they're all super cool and we have really bonded through boringness... Afterward, I had astronomy...I was seriously falling asleep...I have no idea what he was talking about, to be honest. Jupiter, I think. I should probably go over the notes online... Then, I had lunch with Alysa and Chelsea, which was kind of awkward and aggravating. Perhaps I will update in my LiveJournal about all of the negative things associated with being a "turtle," but here, I will just stick to the less cynical things. Then, Chelsea and I went to our anthropology class and both of us were struggling to stay awake. That class is insane. Our professor is hilarious and really intelligent, the thing is, she's TOO intelligent. She knows everything there is to know about everything and so when she lectures, she talks about things that go completely over our heads. She talks about these complex things and it is difficult to find the main points we need to know in the midst of her lecture. Thankfully we have a discussion section for that class every Friday where we cover what she is actually talking about. I really like my TA that leads the discussion section, too. She's hilarious and puts things into ways I can understand them; Daninian and Allisonese are similar languages, I think. OH! So on Friday, I don't remember what we were talking about (something to do with Hunter-Gatherers and Genetic Drift or something) and Dana said the funniest thing ever: "It's not like, 'Man, I've got some yams. Now I'm gonna yo ass.'" I cracked up. She was like, "That was nice. I think I might write that down." Basically, she's just really cool. :)
After class, Katie came over for a while and we hung out. After she left, I took a nice nap. Then Lys and I watched The Office (satisfied sigh). Then I went to Ballroom and pumped out the Cha Cha. I am pretty excited...pretty soon Corrie and Jake are going to start putting together competition teams. Blake, our instructor, has to work with the guys first to get them ready to train and then they are going to start finding girls who match their height level to be their partner. I think I have a pretty good chance of being picked because I am at average height with most of the guys and Corrie and some of the intermediate students know who I am. I think they know I am willing to work my butt off for competition if I do get picked. I would have Ballroom on Mondays, Wednesdays (maybe Thursdays, but we'll see), partner practice on Sundays, and possible training work on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Basically my life would be taken up by Ballroom and I don't mind in the slightest. In fact, it makes me even more stoked. I want to compete so badly! Keep your fingers crossed and do some serious praying!
That's about it for yesterday...Sarika and I hung out after Ballroom. I love her and I love us. God is so good. I am so blessed. Yesterday was a good day...today, not so much. But it's only half over, so we will have to see how it plays out. I don't suspect it will get any better, only weirder, but one must have hope...I may post about today, but I think I would just like to ignore it and hope it goes away. My grandparents drove up from Sierra Vista to take Katie and me out to dinner, and Katie is outside right now waiting for me so we can meet them, so...
Sunday night, I went over to Chelsea's house at like, 11:00 so I could spend the night and her mom could us back to Tucson in the morning. Chels and I didn't get to bed until about 1:00, and then we woke up at 5:00 to get ready to go to Tucson. I realized that morning that I had to present one of my biggest projects of the year for ASL that morning at 9:00 and I had completely forgotten about it. Basically we had to perform a five to ten minutes long children's story completely in sign. I worked on it for about 15 minutes in the car to Tucson and then I was like, "Dude, I'm tired. Screw that, I am taking a nap." So I napped the rest of the way to Tucson, helped Chels get unloaded and sent off to her chem lab, and then I went to sign language. Another guy in the class went first and he was pretty good. I was sitting there going, "Whatever. I don't even care about this anymore. If I fail, I fail. Whatever." So I get up and sign my story and guess what? 100%, plus extra points with the teacher for the being "the best so far." Sheesh. I amaze myself sometimes.
Afterward, I had Writing Systems. Lectures are the most boring thing in the world. Good thing I have a bunch of people in that class to talk to. We pass notes and I think all of us are getting to be really good friends. I hope we still hang out after this semester because they're all super cool and we have really bonded through boringness... Afterward, I had astronomy...I was seriously falling asleep...I have no idea what he was talking about, to be honest. Jupiter, I think. I should probably go over the notes online... Then, I had lunch with Alysa and Chelsea, which was kind of awkward and aggravating. Perhaps I will update in my LiveJournal about all of the negative things associated with being a "turtle," but here, I will just stick to the less cynical things. Then, Chelsea and I went to our anthropology class and both of us were struggling to stay awake. That class is insane. Our professor is hilarious and really intelligent, the thing is, she's TOO intelligent. She knows everything there is to know about everything and so when she lectures, she talks about things that go completely over our heads. She talks about these complex things and it is difficult to find the main points we need to know in the midst of her lecture. Thankfully we have a discussion section for that class every Friday where we cover what she is actually talking about. I really like my TA that leads the discussion section, too. She's hilarious and puts things into ways I can understand them; Daninian and Allisonese are similar languages, I think. OH! So on Friday, I don't remember what we were talking about (something to do with Hunter-Gatherers and Genetic Drift or something) and Dana said the funniest thing ever: "It's not like, 'Man, I've got some yams. Now I'm gonna yo ass.'" I cracked up. She was like, "That was nice. I think I might write that down." Basically, she's just really cool. :)
After class, Katie came over for a while and we hung out. After she left, I took a nice nap. Then Lys and I watched The Office (satisfied sigh). Then I went to Ballroom and pumped out the Cha Cha. I am pretty excited...pretty soon Corrie and Jake are going to start putting together competition teams. Blake, our instructor, has to work with the guys first to get them ready to train and then they are going to start finding girls who match their height level to be their partner. I think I have a pretty good chance of being picked because I am at average height with most of the guys and Corrie and some of the intermediate students know who I am. I think they know I am willing to work my butt off for competition if I do get picked. I would have Ballroom on Mondays, Wednesdays (maybe Thursdays, but we'll see), partner practice on Sundays, and possible training work on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Basically my life would be taken up by Ballroom and I don't mind in the slightest. In fact, it makes me even more stoked. I want to compete so badly! Keep your fingers crossed and do some serious praying!
That's about it for yesterday...Sarika and I hung out after Ballroom. I love her and I love us. God is so good. I am so blessed. Yesterday was a good day...today, not so much. But it's only half over, so we will have to see how it plays out. I don't suspect it will get any better, only weirder, but one must have hope...I may post about today, but I think I would just like to ignore it and hope it goes away. My grandparents drove up from Sierra Vista to take Katie and me out to dinner, and Katie is outside right now waiting for me so we can meet them, so...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
I am trying to update more frquently
so that Tom isn't overwhelmed with the amount of information I put on here when I do post and so that all of you will have something constant to occupy yourself with in times of procrastination. :)
Today was fine. Had ASL first thing in the morning, as always. I was definitely going to come back to my dorm first thing and write this long, passionate post about my hatred toward that class, but I resisted. I think I am going vent a little now, though. I. HATE. ASL. 1) I have already learned all of the material being covered in the class last year. I am bored to freaking tears. Even Sudoku and Word Searches can't help me. It's wretched. And I have SO MUCH work to do for stuff I already know. Sheesh. 2) I think my teacher hates me. She hates the fact that I know all of the answers and don't have to work for it. What does she expect? She knows this is a complete review for me. I think she hates that the students are learning more from me one-on-one than they are learning from her, the professor. Wow, sounds exactly like Wheel's class to me. 3) Probably the thing that is bothering me the most...My professor is an idiot. Really, she is. She keeps correcting me on things that I KNOW are correct. She reprimands me and other classmates for things that are regional sign (there are multiple signing styles and various ways to sign the same thing dependent upon regional change). She's freaking from the Midwest, so she can't possibly have the same signing dialect as we from the Southwest. Also, she's not even deaf; her parents are deaf. So yeah, she's been involved with the Deaf Culture all of her life, but still, SHE IS NOT DEAF, so who is she to say that the things that my previous teacher who is DEAF is wrong? She is trying to convert me to the wrong way of signing just because she thinks it's the right way. The more I sit in class, the more I can feel my perfect, virgin signing being corrupted by The Idiot.
Ah. Nice rant. After ASL, I went back to the dorm to study but Sarika came over and we had a musical escapade. Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Pat Benatar, NSYNC, and Ruthie "Pigfaced" Draper. Oh, and Teddy Gwams. Yup. You're jealous. Then I went to Psych to take my test, which took me about twenty minutes to complete. It seemed really easy and I am really confident I did well, which is refreshing. I came back to the dorm room and I did my laundry and helped Lys with hers, did my dishes, took out the recycle, and cleaned up a bit. I was seriously productive. Alysa told me later that her boyfriend is coming down for the weekend when I am gone, so it's a good thing I was doing some cleaning. I think Brandon is going to be staying the night...he's going to be sleeping in Alysa's bed and Lys will be sleeping in mine. Interesting...hey, at least he won't be sleeping on an air mattress while I'm sleeping next to him five feet overhead...not yet, anyway. Anyway, then Lys went to the gym and I had some nice alone time walking around campus. It was so breezy and cloudy and just altogether wonderful. God is so good. After Lys got back, we went to the student union, got food, and went to Intervarsity. It was good, but really long. We finished our roommate agreement that our RA has been bugging us about FOREVER...it was the stupidest thing ever; we made the biggest joke out of it. Basically we just filled it out with things that would appease Jen and the rest of the VDP staff, but we mutually agreed that we would continue to do exactly what we have been doing because things are going extremely well between us right now and that if a problem ever arose, we would sort it out rationally like mature adults. Why can't the rest of the world be as smart as we?
Discussion section for my "linguistics" class first thing in the morning tomorrow, followed by Writing Systems. I have a quiz like I do every Friday in that class that I should be studying for because last week's quiz was insane (even Jose who had the notes with bolded words right in front of him on his iTouch didn't know any of the answers), but I don't want to. Lys is already asleep so she has no say whether or not I go on Facebook. :) After Writing Systems, I have my dreaded astronomy class. Thankfully it's only lecture day tomorrow...Should be leaving some time in the afternoon to drive home to Phoenix with Lindsey--pretty excited to be going home and definitely excited for the sweet drive with Lindsey. I am so making a fun mix cd before we head out tomorrow! :D
And I thought my posts were going to get shorter...sorry...Well, I think I am actually going to study...who does that in college, honestly?! ;)
Today was fine. Had ASL first thing in the morning, as always. I was definitely going to come back to my dorm first thing and write this long, passionate post about my hatred toward that class, but I resisted. I think I am going vent a little now, though. I. HATE. ASL. 1) I have already learned all of the material being covered in the class last year. I am bored to freaking tears. Even Sudoku and Word Searches can't help me. It's wretched. And I have SO MUCH work to do for stuff I already know. Sheesh. 2) I think my teacher hates me. She hates the fact that I know all of the answers and don't have to work for it. What does she expect? She knows this is a complete review for me. I think she hates that the students are learning more from me one-on-one than they are learning from her, the professor. Wow, sounds exactly like Wheel's class to me. 3) Probably the thing that is bothering me the most...My professor is an idiot. Really, she is. She keeps correcting me on things that I KNOW are correct. She reprimands me and other classmates for things that are regional sign (there are multiple signing styles and various ways to sign the same thing dependent upon regional change). She's freaking from the Midwest, so she can't possibly have the same signing dialect as we from the Southwest. Also, she's not even deaf; her parents are deaf. So yeah, she's been involved with the Deaf Culture all of her life, but still, SHE IS NOT DEAF, so who is she to say that the things that my previous teacher who is DEAF is wrong? She is trying to convert me to the wrong way of signing just because she thinks it's the right way. The more I sit in class, the more I can feel my perfect, virgin signing being corrupted by The Idiot.
Ah. Nice rant. After ASL, I went back to the dorm to study but Sarika came over and we had a musical escapade. Michael Jackson, Kanye West, Pat Benatar, NSYNC, and Ruthie "Pigfaced" Draper. Oh, and Teddy Gwams. Yup. You're jealous. Then I went to Psych to take my test, which took me about twenty minutes to complete. It seemed really easy and I am really confident I did well, which is refreshing. I came back to the dorm room and I did my laundry and helped Lys with hers, did my dishes, took out the recycle, and cleaned up a bit. I was seriously productive. Alysa told me later that her boyfriend is coming down for the weekend when I am gone, so it's a good thing I was doing some cleaning. I think Brandon is going to be staying the night...he's going to be sleeping in Alysa's bed and Lys will be sleeping in mine. Interesting...hey, at least he won't be sleeping on an air mattress while I'm sleeping next to him five feet overhead...not yet, anyway. Anyway, then Lys went to the gym and I had some nice alone time walking around campus. It was so breezy and cloudy and just altogether wonderful. God is so good. After Lys got back, we went to the student union, got food, and went to Intervarsity. It was good, but really long. We finished our roommate agreement that our RA has been bugging us about FOREVER...it was the stupidest thing ever; we made the biggest joke out of it. Basically we just filled it out with things that would appease Jen and the rest of the VDP staff, but we mutually agreed that we would continue to do exactly what we have been doing because things are going extremely well between us right now and that if a problem ever arose, we would sort it out rationally like mature adults. Why can't the rest of the world be as smart as we?
Discussion section for my "linguistics" class first thing in the morning tomorrow, followed by Writing Systems. I have a quiz like I do every Friday in that class that I should be studying for because last week's quiz was insane (even Jose who had the notes with bolded words right in front of him on his iTouch didn't know any of the answers), but I don't want to. Lys is already asleep so she has no say whether or not I go on Facebook. :) After Writing Systems, I have my dreaded astronomy class. Thankfully it's only lecture day tomorrow...Should be leaving some time in the afternoon to drive home to Phoenix with Lindsey--pretty excited to be going home and definitely excited for the sweet drive with Lindsey. I am so making a fun mix cd before we head out tomorrow! :D
And I thought my posts were going to get shorter...sorry...Well, I think I am actually going to study...who does that in college, honestly?! ;)
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