Big Return

Uh, yes, I'll take "Blogging as a Means of Procrastination" for $200, Alex...couldn't resist. My friend Adam had me watching bits and pieces of SNL tonight with a "Celebrity Jeopardy" skit tossed in the mix. Gotta love it. I just considered it research in preparation for heading to the sketch comedy group meeting afterwords.

Alright, children, gather 'round for story time. Now turn off your voices and turn on your listening ears (yes, that does work on my preschoolers). This might get lengthy, but bear with me.

This entire school year has found me spending a lot of time and energy thinking about what the future holds. Where will I be after college? Where will they send me for student teaching? What state will my family be in a few years from now if things go like they're planning? When do I get to get married and have kids? How will those first few years of teaching go? Can I really see myself teaching forever? I think student teaching has consumed a lot more thought as May gets closer and closer, though, because it's right around the corner now, no denying it. People are either getting sent out soon or starting to figure out where they prefer to go next year, and I honestly have not had a clue as to where I wanted to go. I just knew I wanted to go someplace I'd probably never go again or get the chance to live...especially because my ideal teaching location would be someplace back home near my family. Within an 8 hour radius would be nice. Being in NE has shown I can handle that. Anyways, Monday morning somebody came up to me talking about how they want to student teach in Texas, and since we get sent out in pairs, she needed to find someone. My response was, "Well, I have nothing tying me down anywhere, so what the heck, I'd go with ya. It sounds like fun!" So hey, there's an option. Hmmm, Texas. I've never even visited that state, so that's really intriguing!

I have a class that is 6 credits and has a name with literacy somewhere in the title because it deals with (get this!) building students' literacy. Aside from spending 2 hours three times a week in this class, we also do teacher aiding AND a project where we spend three full days in the classroom of our choosing. We teach a unit over the course of those three days (literacy-related, of course) and then spend the reminder of the time at the teacher's mercy (grading papers, making copies, helping the students, etc.). The point is to really get a feel for what to expect for the ol' student teaching experience. Our proposals are due Friday, and I was freeeaaaking out about it because I really had no propects. I contacted my kindergarten teacher (really one of my favorite teachers of all time), whom I've gotten lucky enough to go back and work with before and had a great time. Part of the problem is having such an irregular schedule compared to typical school hours -- the few that I do have are used for teacher aiding. Makes it kinda hard to contact schools, eh?

I decided to do myself a favor and skip my GS 401 (Ministry in a Changing World) class today to give myself some time to do it. I called a few schools around the WI/IL border, got sent to the voicemails of various principals, had one nice conversation with a secretary who took a message for another, and sent a few emails. I was kinda discouraged that nothing immediately fell into place, and I was really worried about that proposal. I said a quick prayer and continued on with the day.

When I got home from work, I had a voicemail from one of the schools near my dad's (although not my little cousins' school like I'd hoped, any news was good news) discussing their policy and such. Basically it was a yes, just a lot of paperwork/technical school security things and needing more details...not a definite answer. While I was making dinner, my phone rang again with a number from close to my mom's. I answered, and it was a school back there with a principal who happened to be extremely willing to take me on and even guaranteed that I could come in. What a relief! But the saga doesn't end there. She made a comment about student teaching and asked me to keep them in mind for that because they're very open to having them come in but don't get them too often. Wow! That brings the options for places to go up to 2. The irony is this is merely hours after my mom had tried convincing me to find a place near home to student teach and me convincing her that pretty much half of the point of my student teaching experience is going to be seeing a new place. Ohhh, life is funny sometimes.

Basically things are falling into place pretty well right now...and I'm getting more and more excited for both of these big teaching experiences! Between that and getting excited about getting free teacher resources for teaching handwriting, I can honestly say that this must be the career for me. :P

~"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of thes is roots, the other, wings." [Hodding Carter]~

Sand-Like Time

I've heard love compared to having a handful of sand: the tighter you squeeze it, the faster it falls away. I've come to realize time's the same way. We're already about a quarter of the way through the semester...how did this happen?! I still have yet to get my footing.

My Student Teaching application appeared in my mailbox yesterday. Waves of anxiety, fear, and excitement (mostly the first two, not gonna lie) rolled over me when I read it...and the first two grew as I read the details of how much of my life for next school year I'll be signing away with that application. Well, what better time to be sent to who knows where than when I have minimal things tying me to any specific place?

Sooo I had my first clubbing experience Saturday night. That was interesting. Lincoln's a college town; this was a college bar. It was mobbed. We went to this specific place because the cover was cheap, the drinks were cheap, and the second floor was a dance floor. It was just a loft that made me feel slightly claustrophobic, actually. The group was 3 girls and a guy. That was a great combination, though. It started off slow and pretty anticlimactic, but it was great once the dance floor filled up and we just let loose. We danced with a few guys who are now known as Blackshirt/Sir Humps-a-lot (named in honor of his dancing style...awkward), Random Asian Man, Striped Shirt Guy, and (most recently named...) Swine Flu. We were there for a few hours until Swine Flu decided it'd be a good idea to take one of us girls downstairs...the rest of us were NOT okay with splitting up at all and put the kabosh on that pretty quickly; we leftly shortly afterwards.

Summary:
Having at least one good guy friend in group: Wonderful.
Dancing: Great.
Drinks: Yummy (except the Starburst shot).
Random men: Umm, okay?
Messin' with my friends: Ha, good luck!
Willingness to go dancing again: Highly probable.

The Superbowl on Sunday was enjoyed in the company of a large group of friends at a pizza place in a neighboring town which is owned by the godfather (such a sweet and fun guy!) of one of said friends. When I say "enjoyed", I mean the commercials. During game time I was working on the blanket I'm currently crocheting (almost done!). It's kinda ceased to be as big of a deal to watch the football part when a) it's not my team and (especially) b) I'm not with my family.

On the list of other new experiences is the fact that I'll be starting to apartment hunt very soon for places in town for summertime and the fall semester. Yikes! I've been asking around about some of the things I need to keep in mind, but I still barely know where to begin. This is another adventure, and I'm pretty excited about it. It's just another step forward. :)

~"This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force." [Dorothy Parker]~