Good Old Spainish Friends

I’ve been thinking a lot about Spain recently.  It’s been almost two years since that flight to Madrid, and the more time that goes by, the more I think about it.  I didn’t appreciate it when I was there, and I think most of the people who were there would tell you the same thing.  I took for granted a lot of what was before me.  Cheap European flights, a host mom who genuinely cared for my roommate and I, and friends that would stay friends for years to come.

One of the things I always said to people when I got back that was great about Spain was becoming friends with people that I otherwise never would have met.  I had a roommate from a different school, and though we were very different people, we were each other’s rocks during those 3 and a half months.

And then you have the Porto group.  Those of us who had gone to Greece headed to Portugal at the tail end of spring break to revel in what ended up being a great few days in a country that is so close to, yet so different from Spain.  This is one of my favorite pictures from my entire trip (that is in the Gallery and I can’t figure out how to put actually in this post…)…we met up with some other amigos who had done some of the Camino de Santiago, and took a picture on the streets of Porto.  I remember thinking about this mini-reunion at the time, and loving the fact that we were all so different, yet such good friends at the same time.  Up until Spain, I’d only really had friends that were band kids or Honors kids, and then I met this great group of people.

I had the time of my life in Spain because of these people, and was too young and ignorant to realize it at the time.  I really wish I talked to them all more.  You always chalk up the lack of communication to just “living different lives” and in some respects, it’s true.  We all went our separate ways, some of us are graduated, and some of us are trying to finish school, envying those who are already done (just as they may be envying us).  But I like to think that we were forced together in Spain for a reason…and I blame myself largely for letting most of these friendships die out WAY too much.  Maybe it’s not too late to rectify some of these oversights, but if it is, I will always look back on these people as the people who got me through my first time really being away from home.  Sure, I go to school 3 hours away from where I live, but I was an ocean away with very little contact home.  That makes you bond with people.  And I’m glad I did.

 

A Return From Hiatus

I have not written in a very long time.  A VERY long time.  Like almost 4 months to the day.  I still have very little to really talk about, if we’re being honest.  My life is fairly mundane and I spend a good chunk of my time alone…which is sometimes nice, but often is not.  Classes are essentially over, with some random projects left for all of them, but very little face time with professors, which especially in regards to one particular class, is just fine with me.

The direction I’m going to go with this will be kinda random I think.  I’ll post about whatever I feel like posting about that day…try to throw in some pictures or something exciting.  Maybe I’ll even post another one in a minute…I think I’d like to write a blog about Spain.  It has been almost 2 years (which I can NOT believe) since I’ve been there, and while I wouldn’t necessarily want to study there again, I’m really itching to visit and see some things I didn’t see, and revisit some things I did.

So be expecting that soon.

OMG!!!

I haven’t posted in a while, mostly because I haven’t had time.  I was out of town for a week, then work, my sister’s grad party, more working and packing, and I leave for vacation tomorrow at 6 am.  I’m pretty pumped.

My real reason for posting is this fantastic bit of news.

http://www.slashfood.com/2009/07/09/first-peeps-store-opens-in-maryland/?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl7|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.slashfood.com%2F2009%2F07%2F09%2Ffirst-peeps-store-opens-in-maryland%2F

I am a huge Peeps fan.  I will make a trip to this fantastical place at some point.  And it will be great.

See you with a vacation update on the 19th!

Construction Art

Found this on AOL News today.  You should click the link and see how sweet it is.  Seriously…pressing charges on this kid is a waste of taxpayer money.  How about charging a rapist instead?  I get that he broke the law, but since when does that make a big difference?

http://news.aol.com/article/student-arrested-for-creating-barrel/529716?icid=webmail|wbml-aol|dl2|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fstudent-arrested-for-creating-barrel%2F529716

Blast From the Past

Ever since the local school district has been out for the summer, I’ve been going in to the high school with my sister (who is on the yearbook staff) to help them proofread their pages so they can get proofs, which will then be looked at again and submitted for the final product.  The teacher tells me I’ll be in the special thanks page…pretty sweet.

Walking those now darkened, empty hallways, I feel just about as at home as anywhere else.  When random teachers pop their heads into the classroom where we’re working, they know who I am and ask me what I’m up to.  I interact with the yearbook teacher in a way that I interacted with many of the teachers I had back in the day, making sarcastic jokes and doing my best to help them out.  And I think it made me realize why I want to teach high school.  Recently, I’d been questioning whether or not I’d rather move and try to teach elementary kids than potentially stick around and teach high school.  Mostly because part of me is scared I’m not good enough to teach older kids, and the other part just isn’t sure what to expect from kids who are only 4ish years younger than me.  But now, I’m pretty sure I know that high school is meant for me.

Sure, elementary kids will be grateful for the fun teacher.  But really, there are very few people who can honestly say the best teacher they ever had was in elementary school.  For one, most of us can’t remember back that far to remember whether the teachers were actually good or if it was just fun, and on the other hand, in comparison to what we learned later in our school careers, elementary school teachers seem to have it easy as far as content is concerned.  I definitely had some good elementary school teachers, and they gave me a good foundation for moving on in the world, but it was my high school and junior high teachers who actually molded me and taught me what I needed to know.  I would have learned 4×5=20 with or without an excellent 3rd grade teacher…but you can’t learn how to perform a z-test (stats) when you absolutely despise math unless your teacher is very very good.

Who wouldn’t want to be the exceptional teacher?  We all strive, whether you want to be a teacher or work at Burger King for the rest of your life, to be the best at what we do.  Using those two examples, you want to be the best at teaching your students about the content and preparing them for the real world, or you want to be the best at flipping burgers and making correct change because you want a raise.

Some of our motives are selfish.  Better teachers end up in better schools, making more money and working with well-behaved children in new school buildings.  The Burger King lifer wants to maximize the amount of money he or she makes without a college diploma so that maybe one day, he or she can splurge a bit and live like a college grad.  But you can’t have a job and be happy but solely having selfish motives.  Working for the paycheck might work for a summer job or for a year or two, but eventually, it will beat you down.  No matter how hard the teacher or fry cook tries, money just can not fill the void.

Lots of teachers teach for the summers off or to coach.  Both are definite bonuses.  But if you are in your field for the tangible bonuses and for no other reason, get the hell out now.  Take the money you’ve earned from your tangible bonus-filled job and go back to school/move/switch careers/buy an RV…do something.  Figure out what the hell you are doing.  And you still may not know, and maybe you end up back at Burger King.

But at least you tried.

To bring this full circle, I had somewhat of an epiphany reading through the mistake-laden yearbook pages.  I’ve second guessed myself from day one about being a Spanish teacher, more for the Spanish part than the education part.  This has bothered me since I started college, because I was afraid I should be teaching something else that wasn’t quite as challenging.  But I’ve never been one to back away from a challenge, so why should now be any different?

Notice I haven’t second guessed the education part…if I had, I would have switched my major.  I could have easily majored in something else that would get me more money, a cozy office and a name plate to sit on my desk.  But it isn’t about that.  It’s about the intangible things that education provides: the opportunity to share information with others in interesting ways, the chance to form relationships with people your own age and students, the ability to never stop learning, and the satisfaction of knowing that one day, you will get through to one person who, although they may never say it, appreciated the extra time and effort it took to make that student understand.

I was so tempted to sit down on the floor in the hallway and think for a second, but I’m sure I would have gotten some strange looks.  But, as corny as it sounds, high school is where I belong.

Summer Insomnia

Well, at least it’s better to have it during the summer than during the school year.  But while I was waiting for Photoshop to install (kudos to my sister for stealing it from our high school temporarily), I decided to look at wedding dresses.  Sometimes when I’m bored I’ll look, just to see what stuff looks like and what I’d like.  Here are a couple winners.

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=38&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=1000042&sort=

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=14&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=1000630&sort=

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=63&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=1000052&sort=

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49995498&currentIdx=87&subCategory=-49999486|-49995498&catentryId=2000231&sort=

A girl can dream, right?

Feeling quite old…

My “baby” sister Emily graduated from good ol’ Harrison High today.  We got there over an hour before the ceremony started so that my mother could have her pick of seating, only to find out that my mother had forgotten our tickets at home.  Luckily for us, my favorite high school teacher and two other teachers we knew were working the gate, and they let us in without any trouble.  So I sat in the hard plastic bleachers for over an hour, glancing around seeing old faces from high school and listening to the random and annoying questions and comments my grandma constantly made.

And finally the ceremony started.  I watched as all the teachers filed in, lingering a little longer on the teachers that I had loved, hoping that one day I would be one of those teachers for someone else.  After visiting with the aforementioned favorite teacher (a math teacher, of all subjects) yesterday, I found out that he very well may not be around much longer because of his wife’s job getting transferred.  I have been out of high school now for 3 years, and it was some of the most depressing news I have heard in a while.  This teacher was my second father in high school, someone who made my least favorite subject tolerable and encouraged me to take his AP Stats class because he knew I would like it and be good at it.  And he was right.  I visit him at least two or three times a year, and although there isn’t nearly as much to talk about now as there used to be, it’s still a great feeling to be back somewhere familiar, talking to someone you know genuinely wants to hear about what’s going on in your life.  But anyway, back to the story at hand…

As is customary at every graduation, after introducing the administration, the principal asks anyone in the audience who is a Harrison alumni to stand up.  And as people started to stand up, I paused.

I am an alumni, I thought.  And I stood up.

The fifteen seconds we were standing seemed like an eternity.  Time seemed to stop as I looked around, seeing mostly older people standing nervously, waiting for permission to sit down.  But I and another girl that graduated stood, looked at each other, and smiled.  We were alumni.  And as I looked down at the faculty, I saw my favorite teacher find me in the crowd and smile.

So yes, that moment made me feel old.  If all goes according to plan, I will be graduating college next year, feeling even older.  I watched the last of my “high school friends” move on in their lives, and soon, I will be moving on in mine.  But this is the first time I can ever say that I felt proud to feel old.  I have taken wisdom from many of the teachers that were standing on that floor, and I just watched the next group take their wisdom from these people and move on.  Getting older may be a vicious circle, but if there are more moments like I felt tonight, I am totally ready.