long overdue

Alright, so I apologize for the lack of updates in recent times. Being a fully fledged adult with a full time job is much more exhausting than previously anticipated.

School has started! There's almost too much to say about the whole experience thus far. In short, however, I will say that teaching is as hard as I expected, more fun than anticipated, and much more lively than could be imagined. It's been truly overwhelming how quickly I've grown to really like my students and view them all so optimistically. One student might be a bit grating on the nerves, but I still am able to focus on how intelligent she is. Another might not be so academically inclined, but he has a wonderfully inviting and engaging personality. Granted, it's only been 8 days. I might not speak so positively in a month.

Memorable highlights:
-Being asked on the first day if I was my ex's ex-girlfriend. Word travels fast. In this case, it was the younger sibling of one of my ex-boyfriend's high school buddies. Said interrogator is also a student of mine. Awkward when I then had the realization that I spent my prom night at a student's house.
-Asking a student to give an example of a polynomial and the response I get is "decagon?"... I realized later he was thinking of polygons. Funny to me, but so far no one else has been amused by this story. Must be an inside math joke only math nerds understand.
-My students seeing my tattoo and thinking the morse code is cool and not nerdy. Glad I've got someone's approval for it, even if they are a bunch of 17 year olds.
-Being told by sycophantic students that they like my clothes. Points for me for not buying into the ugly teacher clothing syndrome!
-Three fire drills in as many days.
-Already being involved with the quiz bowl team.
-My students having class averages of approx. 61% on the quiz I gave Friday.
-The shocked look on my students' faces when I interrupted their debate over whether to go on Senior Week or go to France for the summer by saying "Hey, the difference between them is that what you'll do on Senior Week is LEGAL in France"... almost as if they thought I didn't know that students drink? Idiot children haha.
-Being asked out to lunch on the first day. By a student. Bahaha.

So, life is good. Today I went to my brother's soccer game. Exciting match, with most of the excitement provided by an obnoxious rival team fan section. I've never wanted to act immaturely as much as I did today. I was seething at the behavior of these parents. Cheering/claiming the kid is faking when a rival team member is injured, to the point of twitching on the field, and having to be taken off the field? Despicable.

Agenda for tomorrow? Bake, tan, clean. The young 20s future housewife version of Jersey Shore's ubiquitous GTL routine.

Note to self: buy stamps. Note to readers: Send me your address and I'll write you a letter.

working girl

For the past two days, I have been at work for the entire school day. Tomorrow is the first day for students. AHHHH. So so so nervous. I'm sure everything will be fine, I'm just a bit unsure of how exactly everything will pan out so I'm a bit on edge. I've laid out my clothes for tomorrow. I'm anticipating freezing in class, but I think it'll help keep me focused. My classroom is like an icebox. It's also incredibly bare. Guess my geometry students will have to make colorful fun constructions soon to decorate my classroom for me...

A great thing about living at home is the fact that I'll get to spend time with my brother. I just got back from a soccer scrimmage of his. I haven't really been to a game of his in years. I was in college for most of his middle school/freshman year games and the games before that, well, I wasn't interested in wolf pack style soccer games. He's grown into quite the young man and it's exciting to be around for his continuing growth. Which sounds weird, but it's just nice. There's a 7 year school gap between us so we don't really have that strong of a relationship. I'm hoping this year will change that.

School starts in 4 days...

I've been trying to figure out what it is exactly that I've been feeling lately. I think I've finally pegged the emotion gripping me- fear. I'm afraid of failing at this job. Not necessarily in the sense that I'm worried I won't do well and that I'll be at risk of being fired (I suppose that is a natural thing to fear, I hope?), but more in the sense that I'm realizing the greater significance of the work I will be doing. If I fail at this job, I won't be losing a company money but affecting someone's future. Teaching has an extra responsibility to it than just doing the job fundamentals. I am responsible for someone else's education. That's a lot of pressure.

I'm terribly glad I live at home, however. I would be so bored if I lived alone. I would have to have a roommate or something. A pet pig. Hah. I had forgotten how lonely it can be to have little human interaction after the work day is done. I more or less did that one summer when I lived with relative strangers who never really became more than such until after I had moved out. I may be young and living at home with all the disappointing stigma attached to "living with my parents", but at least I'm happy. It's going to be exciting watching my brother this year. I haven't been home for so long that my relationship with him is not very strong, unfortunately. My sisters and I have always been close, even if I tend to relapse into non-communicative status every month or two. My brother though? He's always been the little kid who it was a treat to see when I came home. Now he is growing up into a mini adult. I suppose in return I'm relapsing from adult to mini adult haha.

In other news, I entered a drawing to win a house today. I'd love to win; the house is amazing. A bit isolated on a mountain ridge, but if I won, and my family then moved, I'd have my own suite. Living at home would become that much more fun...

Exhausted

Alright, quick update before a much longer one tomorrow.

Yesterday, I went to the diocesan new teacher orientation. Incorporating Catholicism into the classroom as you will. The only thing I know I'll be able to do for sure is hang a picture of St. Hubert, patron saint of mathematics, in my classroom. St. Hubert is better known for being the patron saint of hunting interestingly enough. Quite fitting for the state.

Today, I helped out at orientation. It was a trifle overwhelming. I kept meeting new teachers and parents and appraising my future students. Should be a good group, but one can never tell.

Tomorrow, I get to help out with middle school orientation. Students who are smaller than me! Yay!

Sometime between now and Monday, I have to organize my classroom, double check my lesson plans, get a dress to the dry cleaner's, sleep, not stress out, pay my credit card bill, look into buying an external hard drive for my comp and get a birthday package in the mail. Lots to do.

eHarmony

So the other day when I was busy driving 80+ miles so my brother could spend a precious few hours with his new girlfriend, I realized how utterly boring my social life is, at least with respect to members of the opposite sex. Granted, I haven't really been "on the prowl" this summer. In any event, I embarked upon a self-pity party and texted my friends that I was considering creating an eHarmony profile. One of my friends responds and through the course of the conversation, she begins to create her own fake profile on eHarmony. I have always been interested to know what these "300 questions of compatibility" are and since my friend was making a fake one, I decide to too. Thus, I now have my own profile on eHarmony. I created it under a pseudonym, obviously, but honestly, it probably isn't that hard to figure out who I am should anyone try and find me.

This eHarmony profile however, has certainly been a worthwhile pursuit. I may not actually follow up on contacting any of my 12 potential matches, but I do enjoy guessing what these people may be like based off their profiles.

For example...

There is the gentleman who when asked what he cannot live without listed "laptop/blackberry, zagat restaurant guide, 24 hour gym" among other things.

The gentleman who listed Nickelback as one of his favorite music artists.

The gentleman who spends his leisure time playing cricket.

Tutoring

I am now going to be tutoring a future student of mine for the last two weeks of summer. I spoke with him on the phone today and it was unnerving to be called "ma'am". Guess I'll have to get used to it. I am, after all, teaching and hoping to be Southern someday. Both come with ma'am.

In any event, I start tutoring next week. Next week is my indoctrination into the world of official professional teaching. I have new Catholic teacher training (I think this will best be summarized as "How to Bring Religion Into The Classroom" aka "Teach Kids To Say Prayers Before Tests"), high school orientation (my first look at all my students or "Wow, They're All Taller Than Me") and middle school orientation ("Why am I not teaching these kids instead?!"). Time to bust out my professional clothing. Eeeeeek.

Why is it that now that I have to look professional, I keep finding deals on ridiculously awesome casual clothes? Like my wonderful brand new boots that I got from the children's section of Target. Child size three. I think it goes without saying, I have the smallest feet.

Other things to look forward to:
- Return to my school for a night which means dinner/drinks with a friend. I love saying that I'm grabbing dinner/drinks with a friend. Sounds so adult and that is a sensation that won't get old for at least six months.
-Wedding with another friend. Having not been to a wedding since the ripe age of four, I cannot say with any certainty, but I do imagine I love weddings. I'm considering this one my test drive for my cousin's wedding in December. Knowing my family, I can say with certainty there that that will be quite the shindig.

Well that's about it actually. Not too much going on to loof forward to. School is starting, but that's also bringing with it a slight sense of foreboding about the challenge...

Two weeks

In two weeks time, I will be in control of my own classroom. Crazy. I'm busy editing my syllabi as it is. Hah, I have syllabi. Crazier. Still not entirely sure how this will all go down, but I had a sort of confidence-epiphany yesterday. I was walking to my car from my bra selling job and it just sort of hit me- I can do this. I am older, wiser, and generally just such an adult compared to the kids I will be teaching. I had been nervous about the very small age gap between my students and myself that I hadn't been thinking about how I truly am an adult and they are truly just children. Which sounds so demeaning, but it's true. I'm an entirely different individual than I was as a senior in high school. College changes people. My personality is more or less the same, but amplified. I'm sure I sound insane right now. So just take me at my word when I say that I'm more "me" than I was in high school.

Anyway, I'm having fun editing this syllabus. I have a grading policy (daily homework/participation grade) and a late work policy (I don't accept any). I feel so teacher-like. The last time I got this detailed about teaching, I was 8. I had decided I was going to teach my little sister basic math/spanish (why didn't I realize my future majors sooner???). That little experiment didn't last too long. My sister went crying to my mother and the entire project was more or less forbidden after I gave the girl an F on her first quiz (in my defense, she didn't even try and I wanted her to realize that education was serious).

I have to go- younger brother's first girlfriend is here to visit. I want to play the role of protective sibling so I must evaluate.

Before I leave, a few last remaining thoughts:
- I refuse to shop at any store that you can smell before you see it. Decided this yesterday upon passing both Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch. Ugh.
- I told a girl about our special price on "undies" (the store's term, not mine). I was standing next to the very sign that listed the price and felt very silly. After all, she was looking at the sign. Imagine my shock when the girl was surprised by the deal. It was ON THE SIGN. People cannot read, apparently. Or, they choose not to. Idiots.
-Facial recognition software is ridiculous. And hilarious when it screws up. But technology is amazing.