Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Faith in the Future

at 9:00 PM 0 comments
Now is the time of our lives to choose who we want to be. I know, I told my students that last week, right? I think it's true for them, but also for us. Middle school is the time you start deciding who you want to be. Picture it like a big maze you drop all the kiddos into and then shake and shake and shake. After two years of this, we hold it still, and watch closely to see who walks towards which exit. They're making decisions about their future, and they're starting to head in that direction. But the journey isn't over. How can it be? That maze is huge. Prior to middle school you have teachers holding your hands and guiding you through the maze, in straight rows. Yea, a few lost souls disappear down the wrong hallways, but most people make it to the goal. And then the shake happens. But even as they're walking towards to place they think they want to go, things can and will still happen to change them. You meet other people. You see things happen that change your opinion. The maze is long, and there are many right answers. At least throughout high school nobody is shaking that box, and mostly you're around the same people. College, too. Maybe you found a portal that transported you to the complete other side of the maze, but you still ended up in a crowd.

It's now, though, that matters. Not instead of then, but also. The maze seems to be thinning out. People are farther away. Some people have entered the final stages, and found the paths they belong to. It's hard not to stick together with people just because you always have. It's hard not to want exactly the same things they have. But we can't. It's time to be independent. It's time to live our lives. It's time to learn who we truly are, on our own. And maybe that's not the person you used to be. Maybe it's not what you grew up picturing. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to let go of those castles in the sky.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Diary of a Relapsed Runner Part Deux

at 5:50 PM 0 comments
On Monday I left Tucson around noon. I landed in Oakland around 5 pm. My mom picked me up and drove me back to Fremont, where my car was. I went out to dinner with my parents before driving home, and didn't end up back in Salinas until around 9:30 pm.

Tuesday I had an afterschool program. Wednesday was Open House. Thursday was a staff meeting. and Friday I held my normal Thursday After School Tutorial. While a couple of days I did get home before dark, it was fairly chilly and very windy this week as well. However, The Weather Channel said it would be perfect beach weather by this weekend, so all week I told myself "I'll run this weekend. I will run this week. I will run this weekend."

Totally Awesome To-Do List Summer 2013

at 1:59 PM 0 comments
Summer is coming! It's in the air. The kids are squirrely, the air is getting warmer, and we have only about a month left of class.

This is the first summer in a very long time where I haven't had whole-summer plans; between working, volunteering, and attending day camps; summer jobs; summer classes; and study abroad, it's been a very long time since I'd been able to anticipate a summer off. I am so excited!

Going along with my New Years resolution to start enjoying life, I've been working on creating awesome summer plans. Ok, so my resolution was supposed to focus on less planning, stressing, and preparing for the future... but I figured a little bit of planned fun couldn't hurt. Also, I do have some commitments already, such as trainings and conferences for work. There are also some things I enjoy, that happen around the area during the summer, that I wasn't able to do the past year. And it is beyond sad that the past two summers I went to the beach a total of once (and that was for the Boardwalk with my students last year).

So I scoured Pinterest and blogs to find a printable Summer To-Do Checklist. And I found a ton ...mostly aimed towards people with small children. Using my own ideas, and ideas from various other blogs, I decided to create my own.


Friday, April 19, 2013

Faith in Humanity

at 6:47 PM 0 comments
When bad things happen, especially terrible things, my mind's response is to pull away, ignore it, pretend it didn't happen, and move on with my life. I try not react. But I do. My heart aches and reels. Which is why my body's defense mechanism is to block it out.

Our history teachers scared our students by talking about North Korea in class. I had to calm them down by finding maps of how far their bombs could reach. I spent classroom time, reassuring students that our town was highly unlikely to be a target, no matter what.

With the news and social media spamming the internet with news about the Boston Bombings, I didn't want to bring about that paranoia again. However...

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Diary of a Relapsed Runner

at 10:45 AM 0 comments
Running isn't a hobby. It's a lifestyle. It's the way you eat, the way you move, the way you think.

I became a runner my freshman year. Lizzie dragged me over to the Cross Country sign-up sheet and told me I was joining. "I am?" I asked. "You are," said my dad. And that was that.

I stopped running after a series of excuses in college. After getting bronchitis two years in a row, I cracked and sprained a ribs from coughing. My allergies were getting worse each year. And I got out of shape.

But my soul is a runner. My heart longs to run. I kept sporadically attempting to, but while my legs adored the movement, my lungs rebelled.

This time, I'm not giving in to them.


 

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