Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I don't see a rainbow, do you?

I feel like I'm treading water right where the riptide is the strongest.

"Death by drowning comes following exhaustion while fighting the river or ocean current...a swimmer in a strong rip...should relax and calmly float or tread water to conserve energy. Eventually the rip will lose strength and the swimmer can swim...away from the rip and back to shore." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riptide)

Huh, really? "Relax" really is the answer?!

Done! I think I can do that! After this Sunday.

Monday, April 25, 2011

How I'm feeling...again.

"It's knowing what they want of me that scares me. It's knowing having followed, I must lead. It's knowing that each person there compares me to those in my past whom I now succeed. But how can whatever I do for them now be enough?"

Luckily, the EQP and I kinda feel as though we've been prepared to serve together in this capacity. And, as he says, we're going to hit the ground running on this. We spent last night talking strategy and we're ready for the game to start. Tomorrow night we'll hit the court.

I just hope that I can be loving and compassionate!

"I know expectations are wild and almost beyond my fulfillment, but they won't hear a word of a doubt or see signs of weakness. My nigh on impossible duty is clear. If I can rekindle my ancestor's dreams, it's enough."

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Done. Finished.

I'm pleased to announce that I am finished with finals and with my undergrad coursework (with the exception of children's lit, which I am currently taking through independent study...)!

It definitely feels weird--I think it was just yesterday that I finished my first official day of college.
Yep! There I am, on my very first day of college!


And here I am on my very last day of finals. I'm leaving the BYU Cougars to becoming a full-fledged Orchard Hills Cougar! Wooohoo!

(I won't technically graduate until April 2012, so stay tuned for that...)

I have loved studying at BYU, and while I'm excited to teach this fall, I'm a little bit sad about leaving my school behind. But I've learned so much, and had so many "life experiences" that have been added to my resume...I'm grateful for my time at school.

And I'm ready to start this next phase of my life!

Saturday, April 02, 2011

The Little Boy by Helen Buckley

I am going to post a poem here, and it's a long poem, but it's worth reading. I'm excited to teach, but also feeling overwhelmed. But I know, I am going to do everything in my power to avoid being the first teacher in this poem.

Also, I think I am going to make a separate blog for teaching, and I'll probably make it a private one just so I will feel more comfortable posting about my experience as a teacher. Soooo if you want an invitation to that blog, seriously just let me know, because if I know you I probably trust you, and I'll not have a problem granting you access to that blog :)

And now...the poem.

"Once a little boy went to school.
He was quite a little boy
And it was quite a big school.
But when the little boy
Found that he could go to his room
By walking right in from the door outside
He was happy;
And the school did not seem
Quite so big anymore.

One morning
When the little boy had been in school awhile,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
He liked to make all kinds;
Lions and tigers,
Chickens and cows,
Trains and boats;
And he took out his box of crayons
And began to draw.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make flowers."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make beautiful ones
With his pink and orange and blue crayons.
But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And it was red, with a green stem.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at his teacher's flower
Then he looked at his own flower.
He liked his flower better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just turned his paper over,
And made a flower like the teacher's.
It was red, with a green stem.

On another day
When the little boy had opened
The door from the outside all by himself,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make something with clay."
"Good!" thought the little boy;
He liked clay.
He could make all kinds of things with clay:
Snakes and snowmen,
Elephants and mice,
Cars and trucks
And he began to pull and pinch
His ball of clay.

But the teacher said, "Wait!"
"It is not time to begin!"
And she waited until everyone looked ready.
"Now," said the teacher,
"We are going to make a dish."
"Good!" thought the little boy,
He liked to make dishes.
And he began to make some
That were all shapes and sizes.

But the teacher said "Wait!"
"And I will show you how."
And she showed everyone how to make
One deep dish.
"There," said the teacher,
"Now you may begin."

The little boy looked at the teacher's dish;
Then he looked at his own.
He liked his better than the teacher's
But he did not say this.
He just rolled his clay into a big ball again
And made a dish like the teacher's.
It was a deep dish.

And pretty soon
The little boy learned to wait,
And to watch
And to make things just like the teacher.
And pretty soon
He didn't make things of his own anymore.

Then it happened
That the little boy and his family
Moved to another house,
In another city,
And the little boy
Had to go to another school.
This school was even bigger
Than the other one.
And there was no door from the outside
Into his room.
He had to go up some big steps
And walk down a long hall
To get to his room.
And the very first day
He was there,
The teacher said:
"Today we are going to make a picture."
"Good!" thought the little boy.
And he waited for the teacher
To tell what to do.
But the teacher didn't say anything.
She just walked around the room.

When she came to the little boy
She asked, "Don't you want to make a picture?"
"Yes," said the lttle boy.
"What are we going to make?"
"I don't know until you make it," said the teacher.
"How shall I make it?" asked the little boy.
"Why, anyway you like," said the teacher.
"And any color?" asked the little boy.
"Any color," said the teacher.
"If everyone made the same picture,
And used the same colors,
How would I know who made what,
And which was which?"
"I don't know," said the little boy.
And he began to make a red flower with a green stem."