It has officially been 1 year since I started this blog! A YEAR!! I can't believe it has been that long. This year has been crazy, stressful, rewarding, and generally pretty darn good.
I can't believe how far I have come in a year. Looking back on posts, I am completely different than I was a year ago. I am more true to myself. I am more confident in myself. I have a better understanding of who I am. This year has been so important to me. I have had so many wonderful opportunities. I know I wouldn't be where I am now without the support and love from my incredible family and friends. I feel like I have come so far since I started this blog and I only want to keep looking forward.
Every day I am reminded of the wonderful opportunities I have had over the year from my internship, to starting school again, to preparing for graduate school, to the new puppy we're getting next month (HOLLA!). I am so thankful to have been able to share these wonderful moments with my family and friends.
This year has been a roller coaster and not a very fun one at times, but all in all this year was exactly what I needed. I needed to figure myself out. I don't think I would have been able to do that had I not had such a devastating blow one year ago. I'm weirdly grateful for the trials and tribulations I went through this past year because it made me stronger. I'm happy and I feel like I am in a great place in my life right now.
Thank you for sticking with me, and this cheesy post, for a year! Hopefully this one will be even better than the last.
Until next time!
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Where Were You?
Today is one of the most somber and infamous days in American history. Today marks the twelve year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. I was in the 4th grade.
We were sitting in Mrs Ilgenfritz's science/math class getting a lecture about a test that we were supposed to explain our mathematical answers, but none of us had really done it. She was telling us about the meaning of explaining our answers on tests. All of the sudden Mr. Elmore comes into the room, I remember his face looked very pale, and he told Mrs. Ilgenfritz to turn on the TV right now. His voice was very stern, more so than usual, and I got an immediate pit in my stomach. I didn't know what was happening yet, but the look on his face told me something wasn't right. What we saw when our teacher turned on the TV was something that no person should ever have to see in their lifetime. All we could see was the first tower burning. Mrs. Ilgenfritz said something under her breath, I don't remember what, and we all just sat there in silence trying to comprehend what we were seeing. We watched as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. We just sat in silence. Eerie, haunting silence. All of us trying inside our young minds to grasp what was happening. I don't think any of us really could. We were so young and, up until that point, we had lived our entire lives in a world where terrorism didn't exist. Shortly after the second plane hit, our principal came on the intercom and told the teachers to turn the TVs off. He understood that we didn't need to have this image in our young heads. He understood that this was a very scary situation to not understand, as many of us at Riverside Elementary didn't. Our teachers ignored it. We watched the towers come down. After that our teachers decided to listen and turn off the TV. We didn't need any more information.
I remember the rest of the day, as we tried to carry on with school and when we got home, there was just this eerie, unsettled feeling. I didn't understand what terrorism was. I didn't know what was going to happen next. I didn't know if we were safe because we lived, and still do live, very close to an Air Force base and I knew that this would probably involve the Air Force. I remember my parents tried to explain to me what had happened and why. I remember my dad coming into my room and explaining that we will be safe and those who were responsible will be sent to justice. It was in that moment, for the first time since we turned on the TV that morning, that I felt like things were going to be safe.
Recently, I was reading another blog, I don't know how I stumbled upon it. Maybe Pinterest? And the blog talked about how her children will read about 9/11 in their history books in school and how she'll tell them the story of what she was doing when she was a senior in high school on 9/11. She talked about how she remembered her dad telling her what he was doing as a senior in high school when JFK was assassinated. While I was reading, I realized this was such a huge parallel to my life. Not only will I also tell my children about what I was doing in the 4th grade on that day, but also my dad was just about my age when he experienced the Kennedy assassination along with the rest of the world. He too can recall that day just as vividly as if it happened a week ago. When I realized this, like the woman whose blog I was reading, I realized that both these moments taught us and our fathers just how big our nation's pride can be, and, like her, I hope that my children don't have to go through something as devastating as the assassination of our country's leader or a terrorist attack to feel that.
The attacks on 9/11 did many things for this country. It opened up a new sense of patriotism and a collective pride to be American. It changed the world that we lived in forever. It changed the way America runs. I will never forget what happened that day. As we remember the fallen and honor the heroes of 9/11, I am forever thankful for them. I am thankful for the men and women of the Armed Forces who continue to protect our well being and the freedom that we, as Americans, hold so dear. We will never forget.
We were sitting in Mrs Ilgenfritz's science/math class getting a lecture about a test that we were supposed to explain our mathematical answers, but none of us had really done it. She was telling us about the meaning of explaining our answers on tests. All of the sudden Mr. Elmore comes into the room, I remember his face looked very pale, and he told Mrs. Ilgenfritz to turn on the TV right now. His voice was very stern, more so than usual, and I got an immediate pit in my stomach. I didn't know what was happening yet, but the look on his face told me something wasn't right. What we saw when our teacher turned on the TV was something that no person should ever have to see in their lifetime. All we could see was the first tower burning. Mrs. Ilgenfritz said something under her breath, I don't remember what, and we all just sat there in silence trying to comprehend what we were seeing. We watched as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. We just sat in silence. Eerie, haunting silence. All of us trying inside our young minds to grasp what was happening. I don't think any of us really could. We were so young and, up until that point, we had lived our entire lives in a world where terrorism didn't exist. Shortly after the second plane hit, our principal came on the intercom and told the teachers to turn the TVs off. He understood that we didn't need to have this image in our young heads. He understood that this was a very scary situation to not understand, as many of us at Riverside Elementary didn't. Our teachers ignored it. We watched the towers come down. After that our teachers decided to listen and turn off the TV. We didn't need any more information.
I remember the rest of the day, as we tried to carry on with school and when we got home, there was just this eerie, unsettled feeling. I didn't understand what terrorism was. I didn't know what was going to happen next. I didn't know if we were safe because we lived, and still do live, very close to an Air Force base and I knew that this would probably involve the Air Force. I remember my parents tried to explain to me what had happened and why. I remember my dad coming into my room and explaining that we will be safe and those who were responsible will be sent to justice. It was in that moment, for the first time since we turned on the TV that morning, that I felt like things were going to be safe.
Recently, I was reading another blog, I don't know how I stumbled upon it. Maybe Pinterest? And the blog talked about how her children will read about 9/11 in their history books in school and how she'll tell them the story of what she was doing when she was a senior in high school on 9/11. She talked about how she remembered her dad telling her what he was doing as a senior in high school when JFK was assassinated. While I was reading, I realized this was such a huge parallel to my life. Not only will I also tell my children about what I was doing in the 4th grade on that day, but also my dad was just about my age when he experienced the Kennedy assassination along with the rest of the world. He too can recall that day just as vividly as if it happened a week ago. When I realized this, like the woman whose blog I was reading, I realized that both these moments taught us and our fathers just how big our nation's pride can be, and, like her, I hope that my children don't have to go through something as devastating as the assassination of our country's leader or a terrorist attack to feel that.
The attacks on 9/11 did many things for this country. It opened up a new sense of patriotism and a collective pride to be American. It changed the world that we lived in forever. It changed the way America runs. I will never forget what happened that day. As we remember the fallen and honor the heroes of 9/11, I am forever thankful for them. I am thankful for the men and women of the Armed Forces who continue to protect our well being and the freedom that we, as Americans, hold so dear. We will never forget.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Back to School!
The first week of school has been completed, so I feel like now is the time for a proper assessment of my classes and how I think the semester will go.
French: As always, this ever present demon looms large over my shoulder. I will never enjoy this class. I will never enjoy the subject matter. It is hard, and I do not take to it easily which frustrates me to no end. However, I think my professor is a thousand times better than the one I had last semester, so I think that will at least make it more enjoyable. This is a core requirement that I am really getting tired of but must keep pushing through it.
Emergence of Modern America: So far this class seems pretty interesting. I've never studied very much about this time period in America so I am excited to learn more about it. My professor has a rich speaking voice which makes the sometimes boring subject matter seem a lot less boring and a lot more like a story. If I let myself get too enthralled with how he is telling the story of America's past it is a little hard to follow his outline that he has at the beginning of the lecture. All in all I think this will be an interesting class at the very least. I can't tell if it will be very difficult or not yet, but I do think I'm going to enjoy it.
French: As always, this ever present demon looms large over my shoulder. I will never enjoy this class. I will never enjoy the subject matter. It is hard, and I do not take to it easily which frustrates me to no end. However, I think my professor is a thousand times better than the one I had last semester, so I think that will at least make it more enjoyable. This is a core requirement that I am really getting tired of but must keep pushing through it.
 |
| How I feel about French |
Choir: Choir goes without saying. I love this class. I love the people in it. I love our director. I feel like we are constantly being pushed to be better and it is so exciting. The repertoire we have this semester is challenging but wonderful. We have a ton of new opportunities that as a choir we haven't had in many, many years. I'm definitely looking forward to this semester and next in Schola, and I'm sure I will do some shameless advertising on here later.
History of Health and Disease: I'm very wary about this class. I love this professor, I feel like she is one of the best history professors on campus, but I also am pretty extremely squeamish and I know this class is going to get graphic. That being said, I am so far enjoying it. The subject matter and the readings are interesting. I think that the reward for this class will be greater than the risk of seeing something probably super disgusting at 8:00 AM. I think this class will be challenging but in a good way. Maybe it will help me be less squeamish... but I doubt it. I do think I will enjoy being in this class regardless of how gross it will get.
Intro to Criminology: This class seems very easy. We have a series of quizzes with each chapter which don't seem like they will be very hard. The professor seems like a fair grader and gives us many opportunities for bonus points which is always appreciated. I think this class will be fun but a little tedious with all the quizzes. It is hard to get a sense of this class because we haven't done a lot of work or note taking in this class, but we shall see.
Biological Anthropology and Lab: I think these will also be interesting but tedious classes. Anthropology will be interesting because it is science with a little bit of history thrown in there. What I like most about it is I am getting my university core credit for science without doing hardly any math. My professor for both the lecture and the lab seem like they are both pretty good teachers and fair graders. I can't say I'm looking forward to these classes, but at this point I don't think they will be completely awful.
For all of these classes, I think it will be important for me to stay on top of things. Most of them are pretty work heavy, and I will have a lot of papers and projects due this semester, but it all seems manageable. Over all, I have a very good feeling about this semester.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)