| There's no reason for me to be posting here, but... |
[Apr. 2nd, 2012|07:58 pm] |
...for some reason I feel compelled to drop in every year or two and give a quick update.
I married Corinne almost two years ago. We have a dog named Jake now, and absolutely love him. We live in Chicago. Life continues to be good.
Carry on, interwebs. |
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[Jan. 28th, 2009|09:11 pm] |
Poor LiveJournal. I have neglected you so.
The other night I was reading all of my past entries, and there was a lot of stuff in here that I'd forgotten about. I would never have remembered thinking or doing any of this if I'd not written everything down in what I'm sure had to have been a fit of boredom in several instances. It's hard to say if I'm writing now out of boredom or out of some strange need to try and preserve how the last several months have gone, so future me can read this several months from now and wonder the same thing after several months more of negligence.
Anyway, since my last entry, a lot has happened.
I finished my student teaching at Holt, completed the program at MSU, and set off on my long job search.
I worked at Crystal Springs again last summer, and had even more of a blast than my first summer there. A lot of our shenanigans and tomfoolery are documented on YouTube. (This reminds me, I took some video of our recent Christmas party that I have to edit together and put on YouTube as well.)
During the summer, I applied for math positions at over 30 different schools. I got interviews at about 20 of them. I got job offers at none of them. Why? Because "you interviewed great, and you'll make a great teacher someday, but we have another candidate that has a couple more years of teaching experience than you." So much for MSU grads having an advantage in the teaching market. When they told us, "because you went through MSU's program, you'll have no problem finding a job," they forgot to add, "if that job is in South Carolina, or Arizona, or Georgia." I calculated that the amount of driving to and from interviews I did over the summer was the rough equivalent of driving from here to California and back, and then down to Florida. Plus gas hit $4 a gallon last summer. Ugh.
I did pick up a job back in Sturgis though, albeit not as a full-time teacher. I'm currently an educational aide at Sturgis High School (the official job title is "Student Advocate"). Basically what I do is work mostly with kids who are failing in the traditional classroom setting. They take classes online through a program called NovaNET, and have the opportunity to earn some of those credits while working independently and at their own pace. A lot of the kids we get really take well to the program, and seize it as another way to have success in school. Most of the students on NovaNET are taking Algebra I, which is right up my alley. I really enjoy getting to know these kids and helping turn their high school careers in the right direction.
I've also gotten to do some other stuff on the side. I've been tutoring a few students in different areas of math for a good price. I also helped run backstage at the musical, and am currently getting paid to be the assistant director of the winter play, which is an awesome and fun experience. I also supervise the one-hour after school detention room every Wednesday, and have helped watch doors at the basketball games a couple of times. A few weeks ago, I also helped some students start up an anime/manga club. I think this club is really awesome, not just because I personally like anime and manga, but because it caters to a part of the student body that is almost completely uninvolved with after-school activities. We've had roughly 20 kids show up for each meeting so far, and it's great. I hope it continues for the rest of the year and beyond.
So yeah, life is good.
Oh, and Corinne and I are engaged. That's pretty cool too. :-)
I've been visiting her every weekend since school started, and have popped up there in the middle of the week on a couple of occasions. We spent almost my entire Christmas break together, including over a week with just the two of us in East Lansing. I proposed shortly after New Year's, and we've been happily planning our wedding since. The date is not exact yet, but we're looking at May 2010. It will likely be in the Chicago area too, as that's where we're planning to move in the fall.
Well, that about sums up the big details since last April. My job is going well, I have a wonderful fiancee who I'm incredibly happy with, and we have plans for the future. Everything is going pretty darn good right now!
Now if the Cubs would just win a World Series, life would be perfect. |
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[Apr. 5th, 2008|11:35 pm] |
CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!
Today was great! My dad and I took my brother to Wrigley Field to see a Cubs game for his birthday, and they won 9-7! Here are a few of the day's highlights:
- Dad went to get hot dogs in the third, and the Cubs scored a run.
- I went to get hot dogs in the sixth, and the Cubs scored a run.
- Skip went to get beer in the seventh... and the Cubs scored FIVE runs.
- In the third inning, I yelled "IMPRESS ME OR I'LL KILL YOUR FAMILY!" to Derrek Lee. He immediately hit a home run, and went 4-for-4 on the day.
- Chanting "FU-KU-DO-ME!" when Kosuke Fukudome doubled in Lee and Ramirez in the seventh to give the Cubs the lead.
- Watching Kerry Wood notch his second save of the season.
It was a great day, and I'm really glad I got to spend time with my dad and my brother. What a wonderful start to spring break! |
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[Apr. 3rd, 2008|10:38 pm] |
I'M DONE WITH LEAD TEACHING!
I'M ON SPRING BREAK!
I'M GOING TO A CUBS GAME ON SATURDAY!
I'M GOING TO SALT LAKE CITY ON TUESDAY!
Oh happy day! :-) |
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[Mar. 18th, 2008|08:02 pm] |
I found this video from "Garfield: His 9 Lives." I can't believe I forgot about this. It's really moving.
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[Mar. 17th, 2008|05:29 pm] |
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Death Note has found a place among my favorite animes in recent weeks. It's a great psychological thriller, really good storyline. Although I'd be terrified of having a notebook that could kill people just by having their names written in them. |
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[Mar. 12th, 2008|10:48 pm] |
These are my preseason predictions for the 2008 baseball season. I'm too lazy to write out why I think everything will shake out this way, so blah.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
EAST
1st - Boston Red Sox
2nd - New York Yankees (Wild Card)
3rd - Toronto Blue Jays
4th - Tampa Bay Rays
5th - Baltimore Orioles
CENTRAL
1st - Detroit Tigers
2nd - Cleveland Indians
3rd - Chicago White Sox
4th - Minnesota Twins
5th - Kansas City Royals
WEST
1st - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
2nd - Seattle Mariners
3rd - Oakland Athletics
4th - Texas Rangers
NATIONAL LEAGUE
EAST
1st - New York Mets
2nd - Atlanta Braves
3rd - Philadelphia Phillies
4th - Florida Marlins
5th - Washington Nationals
CENTRAL
1st - Chicago Cubs (GO CUBS!)
2nd - Milwaukee Brewers
3rd - Cinicinnati Reds
4th - St. Louis Cardinals
5th - Houston Astros
6th - Pittsburgh Pirates
WEST
1st - San Diego Padres
2nd - Arizona Diamondbacks (Wild Card)
3rd - Los Angeles Dodgers
4th - Colorado Rockies
5th - San Francisco Giants
We'll see how brilliant/stupid I look come October! |
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[Mar. 11th, 2008|09:40 pm] |
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Hey! I'm subleasing my apartment for the summer if anyone's interested. |
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[Mar. 1st, 2008|07:12 pm] |
You know, after posting that entry, I started reading through all of my older posts. I haven't read any of them in a long time. I found myself thinking, "Wow, I was way happier a year ago than I am now." And that kind of made me sad.
BUT... then I got to thinking, I still have things to be happy about! Life just seems such a downer right now because I'm busy all the time. But there's a lot of good things to think about!
1. I'm going to not one, but TWO Cubs games this spring, and maybe more! I'm going to Wrigley on April 5th to watch the Cubs and Astros with my dad and my brother. I'm really excited for that, because I haven't been to a ballgame with either of them in a very long time. I'm also going on May 15th with Corinne to watch the Cubs and Padres, a game we have excellent seats for.
2. I'm working at Crystal Springs again this summer! I absolutely can't wait! Last summer was just perfect, and it'll be just the thing I need after a long year of student teaching. (I've had fleeting thoughts of wondering what it would be like to do camp ministry instead of teaching... but I don't know how good I'd actually be at that.)
3. I'm going to Salt Lake City for spring break, to the NCTM annual meeting! Now, that might sound boring, but I'm looking forward to the trip. I've never been to Utah, and haven't been west of the Mississippi in many, many years. It'll be right when my lead teaching ends, so I'll be in a very celebratory mood.
You know, my mom always tells me "chin up" when times are tough. She's right, as moms tend to be. I've been teaching for 24 weeks, including lead teaching for the past 6. 4 more weeks of lead teaching left to go, and the "hard part" as I see it is over. I'll make it. I just need to keep remembering that. |
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[Mar. 1st, 2008|06:59 pm] |
I haven't written on here in a long time. This may or may not be coherent.
I don't know how I can aptly describe the past several months. It's been hard. Challenging. I don't think I've ever been pushed so hard in all of my life. This is the quintessential "duh" statement I've been making and hearing over and over again, but teaching is hard. So very hard. How hard is it? I haven't even finished writing this paragraph and I've already used the word "hard" five times. Well, that makes six actually. But you get the idea.
I never had a true appreciation for all the work and preparation my teachers had to put in every day. Planning, choosing assignments, writing assessments, grading, paperwork, e-mails and phone calls to parents, meetings, so very many things. When we were in school, we didn't see a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff that teachers did. Even those of us, like me, who has a parent that is a teacher. I never truly knew the work teachers did until this year. And it's so very tiring, exhausting, and... hard.
I'm not going to lie, there have been several times this year where I cried. Yes, I cried. And I never cry for anything. There have been many late nights, very stressful weeks, little sleep, general anxiety, and occasional feelings of hopelessness and wondering if I'm really going to make it through this year. I've found myself wondering if I can really do this teaching thing. It's so overwhelming when you're new to it all.
Thank God I've had my friends and family to support me through this. I've talked to my mom and my dad on the phone many times when I was feeling down, and they made me feel better. My friends, especially Corinne, have been there for me too. And of course, God is with me through all of this. It's comforting to know that; at the same time however, it makes me sad because I just haven't made time to spend in prayer or dialogue with Him. My life is so consumed with teaching. I know I should be setting aside time for God, but I just don't know how to handle life the way it is right now. But I know He's there, and He's listening, waiting, sticking with me through thick and thin, and ready whenever I need to talk.
I guess if the internship year doesn't kill me, it'll make me a stronger person. I don't know how people make it through this! But they do somehow. And I'm almost there. It's been over six months. Just two more to go.
I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to asking for help, but please pray for me, everyone. For sanity, for tranquility, for peace, for wisdom, for leadership, for making a strong finish, and then for finding a job in a couple of months. Man... a real, honest-to-God, real world job... exciting and scary all at once.
God bless you, my friends. |
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farkomania's journal