Hey y'all,
Here I am - back finally - after a horrendously long hiatus. I'm sensing it might be more difficult to keep this thing updated this year, but I will do the best I can.
Anywho, I've been back in Austin for just over 2 weeks now and things are finally settling into a bit of a routine.
Tomorrow marks my last day of training at Citizen Schools, and Tuesday we start our full program and meet our kids. Can I just say, that I am so totally stoked about this job?! Granted, I know that I was crazy excited about CF this time last year, but something seems to fit about Citizen Schools that didn't with CF. I don't think I ever would have quite expected this, but I think I really am cut out specifically to work with middle schoolers. It's funny, because the whole time I worked with middle schoolers at St. Luke's and Asheville School, all I wanted to do was work with high school students. But now that I've done it, I realize that middle school is absolutely my thing.
At CF, it was always this struggle to keep your kids motivated without being so into it and excited that you seemed lame. High school students seem so set on being too cool for everything. But it's different with Citizen Schools. We have these cheers and games and language - this whole culture really - that's all about being excited and fun and positive and I find that I'm buying into it completely. There have been so many times in the last 2 weeks that I've thought to myself "oh man, I'm so cut out for this." It's such a great feeling... I've missed that.
I found out that my team will be 14-16 6th graders and we're called Team Respect. All of the teams are named after the core values of CS and what's really cool is that I was assigned Team Respect because my boss, Leanne, believes that that is the value that I most fully embody. It may not be flashy, but it's such a strong thing. And I've realized that it really is one of the things I value most in life. Respect. So my team's cheer will be: "Team Respect" (I say that part), then "You, me, everybody!" (the kids say that). I came up with it myself and I'm super psyched to implement it. I've also decided that I really want to give my kids a sense of ownership about that value and why they're on this particular team. So I'm going to tell them that they're meant to set an example of respect not only in our program but in their school day too. And I want to give them opportunities to report to me about times during the school day when they observe their teammates showing respect to others. The best part is, since I have 6th graders I think I could really get them to buy into it and maybe that will shape the lens through which the view and encounter their middle school experience. It's going to be great! And of course we'll start off our time together with the classic Aretha song! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!
Meanwhile, I also found out this week which apprenticeships I'll be working with and proposed my Discovery Time idea. So basically, I have my team for 45 minutes everyday during AIM (Aspire, Invest, Make the grade) which is scheduled homework time and also on mondays for our Academic support program. Then for 90 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday I help a community volunteer lead an apprenticeship about their job that kids from the program can sign up for according to their interest. So my Tuesday apprenticeship is going to be with a farmer named Travis who is teaching about gardening and permaculture. It's going to be so awesome because our kids are going to design and begin to implement a garden on their school campus that will last for years to come!
And my second apprenticeship is with a woman teaching graphic design and I'm meeting with her tomorrow to figure out what totally awesome project our kids are going to work on. PLUS! On wednesdays our kids have discovery time - which is lead by team leaders (ie. me) and is just a shorter term (3 week cycles) and less intensive activity. I am going to be leading improv class which is going to be so much fun! The best part is, I'll benefit too because improv was something I always enjoyed but struggled with.
So far CS seems like it's going to be great. I like my coworkers and I can't wait to meet my kids. My only worry is that they seem to expect much more of a time investment than they're paying us for. But I have the benefit of having learned from last year the importance of setting strong boundaries and personal limits so I'm going to try and stay on top of that.
Meanwhile, I also started training for my second job this week, at a restaurant called Galaxy Cafe. It's this cool counter business that has really unique twists on somewhat standard food and it's locally own which is totally in keeping with Austin's whole ideal. It's definitely just a job, but that's kind of nice and everyone that works there seems really cool. Plus I'm catching on pretty quick. I just can't wait to finish training so I can start getting my cut of the tips.
The housing situation is pretty great too. I love all of my roommates (duh, since they're my friends) but we're all busy enough that I don't think we'll get too sick of each other. SO that's good. And I've been finding a lot more time to hang out with Anna which has just been so so so good. And Lila and I have both pledged to make more effort to visit each other so I'm excited about that too. I honestly think it's just going to be the kind of crazy fun you can only have when you're 23 and unsettled. I finally unpacked my room a few days ago and I really really love it. It's so wonderful to have my own space in this town. It's feels like I can breathe again.
I'm also trying to start eating and acting a bit healthier. It's been a struggle and a slow start but I'm excited about what it'll mean for me in the long run. I look forward to the day when being healthy will feel like second nature. Once I save up some money I'm definitely going to join a gym and sign up for some cool classes.
Money is the one thing that's really got me stressed out. I managed to deplete all my savings by leaving town this summer and I don't think I planned it well at all. This is the riskiest position I've ever been in financially and it is very scary and against my natural tendencies. But scary as it is, in some ways I think it's really good for me to have to face the reality of learning to spend wisely and truly manage money, rather than always having enough in savings that I didn't really have to worry about it. I'm determined to turn this into a learning and growing experience.
Another scary but exciting thing is that I've finally gotten serious about applying to grad schools. My first app is due in less than 2 months which is intense and hard to believe. But it's good to have a catalyst for action. That's UCLA, and I'm also applying to USC (due Dec. 1), and Chapman (due Feb. 1). I've decided not to apply to any other film schools because those are the ones I really want to go it and I feel like if I'm going to spend that much money on a degree of such limited marketability - I should really want to go there. But I'm contemplating simultaneously applying for some teaching abroad programs and maybe even some alternative grad programs. I think it can only be a good thing to keep your options as open as possible for as long as possible.
The only other big thing in my life right now (but it is big) is that I met a guy. And it's so super early right now that it seems foolish to bring it up but it's been different enough to warrant mention. We met on a dating website and finally met in person this past friday. We were out with some of his friends and Lila and my roommate Lauren and we just all had a blast. He was super cute and funny, and laid back and sweet. But the best and most striking part was that we just felt "in sync" with each other - if that makes sense. I've felt a lot of things about a lot guys, but I don't think I've ever felt quite "in sync" with someone. We've talked everyday since and we're going to watch the GA game together on Saturday and I'm so so excited. I just find myself feeling giddy, but not scared, and hopeful in this rare, awesome kind of way. I can't wait to see where it all goes. Th e only bummer is that he lives in San An, but it's close enough that I think we could make it work. So I promise to keep you updated on all of that.
I think that's pretty much everything. I finally finished reading Ishmael and while I sort of hate the author for being a pretentious self righteous [fill in the blank], and I don't by any stretch agree with him entirely - it got me thinking on a level that I haven't really at least since college, and probably longer. And that's very good. Thinking is very very good.
Also, all my shows start coming back soon with the premiere of Supernatural kicking it off next thursday! And fall football kicked off tonight! Woo! AND my house and I just watched the entire Freaks and Geeks series and it was unbelievable. I will write great television like that, and it will not get canceled.
It will be stupendous.
Love you all!
- L
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