Progress and the future.
The past couple days have been very nice. Wednesday, I went to Szechuan with Mom for lunch then hung out at home for most of the day. I phone tutored that night (boo) and got to talk to Jessica (and various other people at her house) for a good while. I also watched an entire two-hour final table of the World Poker Tour, which was fun and interesting. Yesterday, I had lunch with Amanda Winter, which was very nice. I took Mom to Vinton to pick up a prescription, and we grabbed some pizza from New York Pizza, which I later had for dinner. I got to talk to Israel on the phone for an hour which was wonderful, then I phone tutored for an hour, then I talked to Jessica for an hour. It was a busy phone night - but fun/productive!
Oh, speaking of productive, I made up a sample Hoos Studying Torah webpage -- something that a student might be able to find from the Hillel website each week with the upcoming HST content. If you're interested in reviewing it, lemme know!
Also speaking of productive, I'm clipping along in Belgarath the Sorcerer. I've just gotten to a dullish part (it's like 60 pages of transition), but I'm sure I'll be able to plow through and move on. There has to be some downward action after the thrilling episode of stealing the Orb of Aldur from the City of Endless Night. (Nerd alert.)
Today's also been very nice. I had a great meeting with Rabbi Cohen, during which we discussed my co-teaching two Hebrew classes with her. This'll be a great way for me to gain experience with non-Bill adult education (Bill is my adult student that I've had for like five years) and with this whole side of being a rabbi. We also talked about Kayitz (the summer camp) and how it'll be working this year. The theme is Sing a New Song, and I'm fairly excited about it. Perhaps more exciting is that Rabbi Cohen has offered to study with me over the summer about an hour a week whatever topic I choose. So, after this meeting with the rabbi, I got two hours a week of Jewish enrichment plus more knowledge about the two weeks of summer camp - I'm feeling a lot better about my summer now!
The dilemma of what to do after I graduate continues to be a major source of consideration for me. I've been spending the last couple days thinking a lot about AmeriCorps. On the one hand, I would be gaining experience about "life." That is, how communities work, what different people's life circumstances and experiences are, what America looks like, etc. On the other hand, I wouldn't be speaking Hebrew for a year, who knows how easy or difficult it might be to practice Judaism, and I would hardly have time to continue studying anything at all.
See, here's the thing: Recently, I've been reconnecting with the idea of being a rabbi. I wrote before about the rabbi's sharing her rabbinical perspective on something. Nicole's going to rabbinical school, and that is just. so. cool. On top of that, Rabbi Cohen joined Mom, Debbie, and me for lunch today, and I got an opportunity to talk to her about being a rabbi a bit when Mom and Debbie went to the bathroom. She was sharing some advice about how to effectively be a leader in a congregation and the unavoidable politics a really good rabbi is going to have to deal with. So, I've got thoughts about actually achieving my dream in my mind, and my question is: Can I postpone it? Well, of course I can.... But I don't know that I want to.
So, I figure it's only fair: So many people around me don't know yet what they want to do. It's only just that I should get a taste of uncertainty as well, right? :)
Anyway, that's what I'm thinking about. Other considerations for this summer include Hillel stuff, travel plans (including Gatlinburg!), and prepping for next school year and beyond (buying books, figuring out the GREs, etc.). But, all that can wait for another day because not only is tonight Shabbat, but tonight's also my first Magic tournament in months and months! I'm packing blue-white control to Friday Night Magic tonight, and Ed and I are meeting before and also probably after for casual play. Rockin'. I don't know if I'm going to be able to bring UW Control to the Amateur Challenge (if we can go) because I think it just gets rolled by certain aggro decks ... so I might start trading for one of said aggro decks as soon as tonight. Wish me luck on all of that!
Tomorrow morning is Daniel Schlossberg's Bar Mitzvah. SOS! ;-) Tomorrow night is Bethany's dance recital - that'll be fun. And who knows what next week will bring?
Until next time, friends!
QotD:
Rabbi Cohen to Debbie: "Have you responded to the guilt I've given you?"
Debbie: "Which one?"
Rabbi Cohen: "Good answer."
SPDWotD (dedicated to Jessica Kirzner):
agonise* - to agonize
* - not recognized by LJ spellchecker
Oh, speaking of productive, I made up a sample Hoos Studying Torah webpage -- something that a student might be able to find from the Hillel website each week with the upcoming HST content. If you're interested in reviewing it, lemme know!
Also speaking of productive, I'm clipping along in Belgarath the Sorcerer. I've just gotten to a dullish part (it's like 60 pages of transition), but I'm sure I'll be able to plow through and move on. There has to be some downward action after the thrilling episode of stealing the Orb of Aldur from the City of Endless Night. (Nerd alert.)
Today's also been very nice. I had a great meeting with Rabbi Cohen, during which we discussed my co-teaching two Hebrew classes with her. This'll be a great way for me to gain experience with non-Bill adult education (Bill is my adult student that I've had for like five years) and with this whole side of being a rabbi. We also talked about Kayitz (the summer camp) and how it'll be working this year. The theme is Sing a New Song, and I'm fairly excited about it. Perhaps more exciting is that Rabbi Cohen has offered to study with me over the summer about an hour a week whatever topic I choose. So, after this meeting with the rabbi, I got two hours a week of Jewish enrichment plus more knowledge about the two weeks of summer camp - I'm feeling a lot better about my summer now!
The dilemma of what to do after I graduate continues to be a major source of consideration for me. I've been spending the last couple days thinking a lot about AmeriCorps. On the one hand, I would be gaining experience about "life." That is, how communities work, what different people's life circumstances and experiences are, what America looks like, etc. On the other hand, I wouldn't be speaking Hebrew for a year, who knows how easy or difficult it might be to practice Judaism, and I would hardly have time to continue studying anything at all.
See, here's the thing: Recently, I've been reconnecting with the idea of being a rabbi. I wrote before about the rabbi's sharing her rabbinical perspective on something. Nicole's going to rabbinical school, and that is just. so. cool. On top of that, Rabbi Cohen joined Mom, Debbie, and me for lunch today, and I got an opportunity to talk to her about being a rabbi a bit when Mom and Debbie went to the bathroom. She was sharing some advice about how to effectively be a leader in a congregation and the unavoidable politics a really good rabbi is going to have to deal with. So, I've got thoughts about actually achieving my dream in my mind, and my question is: Can I postpone it? Well, of course I can.... But I don't know that I want to.
So, I figure it's only fair: So many people around me don't know yet what they want to do. It's only just that I should get a taste of uncertainty as well, right? :)
Anyway, that's what I'm thinking about. Other considerations for this summer include Hillel stuff, travel plans (including Gatlinburg!), and prepping for next school year and beyond (buying books, figuring out the GREs, etc.). But, all that can wait for another day because not only is tonight Shabbat, but tonight's also my first Magic tournament in months and months! I'm packing blue-white control to Friday Night Magic tonight, and Ed and I are meeting before and also probably after for casual play. Rockin'. I don't know if I'm going to be able to bring UW Control to the Amateur Challenge (if we can go) because I think it just gets rolled by certain aggro decks ... so I might start trading for one of said aggro decks as soon as tonight. Wish me luck on all of that!
Tomorrow morning is Daniel Schlossberg's Bar Mitzvah. SOS! ;-) Tomorrow night is Bethany's dance recital - that'll be fun. And who knows what next week will bring?
Until next time, friends!
QotD:
Rabbi Cohen to Debbie: "Have you responded to the guilt I've given you?"
Debbie: "Which one?"
Rabbi Cohen: "Good answer."
SPDWotD (dedicated to Jessica Kirzner):
agonise* - to agonize
* - not recognized by LJ spellchecker