My face in the mirror
isn't wrinkled or drawn.
My house isn't dirty,
the cobwebs are gone.
My garden looks lovely
and so does my lawn.
I think I will not
put my glasses back on
-Cary Feldmen
I don't even know where to begin. School is out of course, so I'm pulling extra hours at food lion. Most of my days are blah, but today was really good cause I think I did a really good job getting the deli clean. I really wanna go home and see my family, but we've got about two more weeks before vacation time. My grades were not great this semester, but were signifigantly better than they have been the past year. I did fail the Communications class that I stopped going to after the teacher made me cry. I do not consider this too much of a failure however, because I don't have to take that kind of stuff anymore. I can retake the class with another teacher, and the F wont even count anymore.
My other grades were a A, two Bs, and a C. Go me! If I work really hard I MIGHT be able to get more financial aid by the end of next semester. The current major is Communications with a concentration in Print Media. I'm probably going to go to graduate school to be a librarian, but I might go to graduate school for something else instead. The important thing right now is to get my undergraduate degree. I think this one will stick, but sometimes I miss the idea of teaching. And I really don't know exactly what I want to do. If not the library thing I'm thinking about either something nonprofit or, well just anything really. The skys the limit. Wes thinks I should start some kind of advice column, but he says the important thing is just that I keep writing. I'm going to try to do better. No promises though.
In other news, we have finally found a church, which makes me really really happy. I'm trying to pick up where I left off and grow closer with God, but I honestly think it would be 'easier' if I was a new Christian, instead of one that needed to be refurbished. My big hang ups right now are that I have the weirdest thoughts about religion. They wont even be thoughts that I believe, they'll just pop in my head. And I wonder if God will ignore those thoughts since he knows I didn't mean them, or if I need to do some special sort of penance. I also worry because growing closer to go obviously means I have to reevaluate some of my lifes choices. And I honestly don't want to think that I did anything too terribly wrong. Obviously that is human nature, but it is much harder to deal with than I originally thought. For example, I love living with Wes. He is the bright spot in my day and I think we make each other so much stronger than we are by ourselves. I don't feel that the fact that we live together is wrong. Then again, there are times I am unsure, because obviously I feel the need to write about it here.
Continuing on:
THIS http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18645623/?GT1=9951 makes me absolutely furious. I think all of those people involved should be severely punished. It would be bad taste at any point in time, but particurally in the light of the tragedy at VT. That whole ordeal absolutely broke my heart. I keep wondering why the doors in some of the classrooms couldn't be locked. I feel so badly for those who were lost, and I read their profiles several times because thats the most of those people that I will ever get to know and I think that forgetting their specifics just because we are strangers would be disrespectful. I also am very curious as to the posthumous awarding of degrees. I think it is a very respectful gesture, and I am glad they are doing it. However, there were some students that were freshmen. What will their degrees be rewareded in? I don't suppose that is particurally important but it is important to me. I also think it is important to keep the survivors in our prayers because just because time has passed does not mean the reprecusions are over.
But, back on topic. What the teachers did to these elementary school students in absolutely unexcusable. I can't think of any reason that you should tramatize your students in the name of education. Recent events have given officials plenty of time to 'discuss what they would have done in a real situation.' You can have that discussion without a role play. If you feel the need for such a thing, HAVE A DRILL. It's what we've been doing for years and years and years.
I leave you with this paragraph from A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, because I really enjoyed it:
...What excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Sampson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all sorts of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was...eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot tempered,Martha worried a lot, the Samaritaln woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. ...God used each of them...
My house isn't dirty,
the cobwebs are gone.
My garden looks lovely
and so does my lawn.
I think I will not
put my glasses back on
-Cary Feldmen
I don't even know where to begin. School is out of course, so I'm pulling extra hours at food lion. Most of my days are blah, but today was really good cause I think I did a really good job getting the deli clean. I really wanna go home and see my family, but we've got about two more weeks before vacation time. My grades were not great this semester, but were signifigantly better than they have been the past year. I did fail the Communications class that I stopped going to after the teacher made me cry. I do not consider this too much of a failure however, because I don't have to take that kind of stuff anymore. I can retake the class with another teacher, and the F wont even count anymore.
My other grades were a A, two Bs, and a C. Go me! If I work really hard I MIGHT be able to get more financial aid by the end of next semester. The current major is Communications with a concentration in Print Media. I'm probably going to go to graduate school to be a librarian, but I might go to graduate school for something else instead. The important thing right now is to get my undergraduate degree. I think this one will stick, but sometimes I miss the idea of teaching. And I really don't know exactly what I want to do. If not the library thing I'm thinking about either something nonprofit or, well just anything really. The skys the limit. Wes thinks I should start some kind of advice column, but he says the important thing is just that I keep writing. I'm going to try to do better. No promises though.
In other news, we have finally found a church, which makes me really really happy. I'm trying to pick up where I left off and grow closer with God, but I honestly think it would be 'easier' if I was a new Christian, instead of one that needed to be refurbished. My big hang ups right now are that I have the weirdest thoughts about religion. They wont even be thoughts that I believe, they'll just pop in my head. And I wonder if God will ignore those thoughts since he knows I didn't mean them, or if I need to do some special sort of penance. I also worry because growing closer to go obviously means I have to reevaluate some of my lifes choices. And I honestly don't want to think that I did anything too terribly wrong. Obviously that is human nature, but it is much harder to deal with than I originally thought. For example, I love living with Wes. He is the bright spot in my day and I think we make each other so much stronger than we are by ourselves. I don't feel that the fact that we live together is wrong. Then again, there are times I am unsure, because obviously I feel the need to write about it here.
Continuing on:
THIS http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18645623/?GT1=9951 makes me absolutely furious. I think all of those people involved should be severely punished. It would be bad taste at any point in time, but particurally in the light of the tragedy at VT. That whole ordeal absolutely broke my heart. I keep wondering why the doors in some of the classrooms couldn't be locked. I feel so badly for those who were lost, and I read their profiles several times because thats the most of those people that I will ever get to know and I think that forgetting their specifics just because we are strangers would be disrespectful. I also am very curious as to the posthumous awarding of degrees. I think it is a very respectful gesture, and I am glad they are doing it. However, there were some students that were freshmen. What will their degrees be rewareded in? I don't suppose that is particurally important but it is important to me. I also think it is important to keep the survivors in our prayers because just because time has passed does not mean the reprecusions are over.
But, back on topic. What the teachers did to these elementary school students in absolutely unexcusable. I can't think of any reason that you should tramatize your students in the name of education. Recent events have given officials plenty of time to 'discuss what they would have done in a real situation.' You can have that discussion without a role play. If you feel the need for such a thing, HAVE A DRILL. It's what we've been doing for years and years and years.
I leave you with this paragraph from A Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, because I really enjoyed it:
...What excuse have you been using? Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Sampson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all sorts of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was...eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot tempered,Martha worried a lot, the Samaritaln woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid. ...God used each of them...