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
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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
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