Story of my Life: School

Phew!

Well everyone.... I have great news! My toughest week of the semester has passed! Finals week for me has come and gone. Granted, I have a few things here and there to finish out the semester, but for the most part, I can rest.

AND IT FEELS GREAT!

I am not quite sure how I survived it all and with little amounts of coffee I might add. Let me tell you a little bit about how this past week went for me. It began on Monday with a little stresser that I need to attend every chapel except one from here on out to make sure that I pass. It then went into apartment drama for the summer. Last week, Liz my future roommate and I went apartment hunting for the upcoming school year, and God provided a miracle for us to live at an apartment complex resort for only $1200 a month. This price was unheard of for Kirkland from all of our findings earlier that morning. Not to mention, they added on one month's free rent and a discounted move-in fee. But the catch is, we had to get all of our paperwork in and processed by Sunday. 4 girls, and one with a mom living in California. :) Our situation turned out to be more complicated than we thought because we are all in school and in need of parent support. I'll keep it short, so just trust me when I say that it got complicated, stressful, and busy. Although I had all paperwork turned in, thanks to my amazing mother, the lady at the resort got a hold of my phone number to call me to get my roommates going on things. I soon found myself juggling just about everything with the apartment, standing as a mediator amongst all roommates. Approximating 10 somewhat lengthy phone calls a day, just for apartment issues was filling up my plate. At some points during the week, I felt like I was crawling from place to place.

Then, on top of that, I had my teaching final. The night before my biggest teaching final, I lost all of my documents for the assignment... the 8 page lesson plan, the SMART Board presentation/teaching slides, the worksheets, the game boards, the notes, and more. Right about the time I found out that I lost everything, I also was reminded that this final was going to be video taped and placed on my online web portfolio for teaching. The web portfolio acts as a resume that all school districts I apply for will view.

Add on a few more small stresses that aren't worth writing about, and it makes for a busy week. However, throughout this week, it was comforting to see the maturity that has grown in me since I first came to Northwest. I handled situations by grabbing hold of God's peace, comfort, and wisdom. Maybe sometimes God takes us through situations so that we can see where we are now, in comparison to where we once were. Being able to see my own growth amidst busy situations inspires me and encourages me. God is faithful always and he loves to see his childrens' faith grow.

Let's celebrate the closing of a school year!

And She's Back!!!

Hi everyone!! Looks like I'm back again! Its Spring Break and the loads of school have been lifted for a short time, so I've decided to use this as a catalyst to get me back on the blog! I don't even know where to begin. My life on a usual weekly basis consists of Children's Choir, Meetings, Homework loads like you wouldn't believe (including projects, writing lesson plans, and teaching), keeping up with my 3 amazing roommates, keeping up with other great girl friends, Youth Group, Small Group during the week, Worship Practice, and church on Sunday mornings. On top of that I throw on the three important things of keeping up with my family both in California and Washington (and Mississippi!), growing in a healthy relationship with Stephen, and most importantly, keeping in close relationship with the Great Lord Almighty.

Although my life is almost insanely busy, I love every minute of every day. I love what I do in school (even my homework, yes). Each day I become more and more excited about my future. And every day I become closer and closer to God. Its amazing to have a man in my life that strengthens my walk with God every single day and keeps me sane during my crazy Thursdays. The Lord has filled this semester with so many blessings. I am so grateful.

Tomorrow and all this week, I will be giving you updates on what's going on here in the land of good 'ol Turlock (including pictures). Also! Tomorrow is Wednesday, so I'll bring a small word from the Lord to my blog as well. When I get back from Spring Break next Sunday, then I will go into more detail of all that I listed above and what's been happening this semester at school. For now, I'd just like to focus on where I'm at now, and that's with my family at home, sweet home.

PS- HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!

Little Teddy

This was a story read to me in one of my teaching methods classes at Northwest University. I have read it several times and have cried every time. I know that it is long, but please take the time to read it. It will truly warm your heart.

There is a story many years ago of an elementary teacher. Her name was Mrs. Thompson. And as she stood in front of her 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told the children a lie. Like most teachers, she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same. But that was impossible, because there in the front row, slumped in his seat, was a little boy named Teddy.

Mrs. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he didn't play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. And Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X's and then putting a big "F" at the top of his papers. At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child's past records and she put Teddy's off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy's first grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners...he is a joy to be around." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student, well-liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best but his father doesn't show much interest and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren't taken." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is withdrawn and doesn't show much interest in school. He doesn't have many friends and sometimes sleeps in class."

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy's. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a bottle that was one quarter full of perfume. She stifled the children's laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist.

Teddy stayed after school that day just long enough to say, "Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to." After the children left she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, and writing, and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children same, Teddy became one of her "teacher's pets."

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, second in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in his whole life. Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he'd stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honors. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had in his whole life. Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor's degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stollard, M.D.

The story doesn't end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he'd met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom.

Of course, Mrs. Thompson, did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. And she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together. They hugged each other, and Teddy whispered in Mrs. Thompson's ear, "Thank you, Mrs. Thompson, for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference." Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you."

Chickens on the Porch?

You may be wondering what these are... Its not everyday that you see boxes of chickens on your back porch. Yep! That's right! We have chickens on our back porch.

This week is what our school likes to call Screaming Eagles Week. Its a week of competition and outrageous games among all the different floors. Since my roommate is the Secretary of Activities at NU, she has helped put on the main event which occurs tonight, called Floor Olympics. And this year, it involves....chickens. So we're storing them on our back porch until the event tonight. Last night, I watched Krissa (my roommate) feed them apples before bed. I go outside to say hi occasionally, and they politely bawk back. I'm not so sure that I'll miss those little smelly ones on our back porch, but it sure is a treat to have their company for a short while :) Here are two pictures from my past participation in Floor Olympics.

Survivor TV show theme

Dr. Suess theme

A New Blog

I have added a new blog as a requirement for my Technology in Education class at Northwest called "Miss Williams' Spot." It will most likely be a of no interest to you, but I thought that I would explain the new add just in case you were wondering. This blog will log my progress in the class, and hopefully will be a strong portfolio of work in the future. You are welcome to check in on the blog; however, it probably won't be very exciting yet, being that I am just learning about all of the new teaching technologies. When something exciting comes up in the class that I have posted on the blog, I will attach a link to this blog site. We will be doing all sorts of creative and fun things related to teaching. I'm very excited for this class.

Miss Williams' Spot

Get the wheels a-rollin

This week is a huge week for me and it leads up to a huge weekend and that huge weekend leads up to a wonderful trip home!! This weekend I am going on a leadership retreat for Timberlake Church. I have been trying to discern now for the past couple of weeks of what I want my involvement to be here at this church with the youth group. I have been helping out with worship and being a leader for the 12th grade girls. This weekend is a chance to get to know all of the leaders involved in this youth mission, and its a great way to see what this place is all about! I am so excited for this retreat. Its at a cabin with snow, tons of food, and great fellowship and games! But since I have committed to this retreat, it means that I will be gone from Thursday-Saturday... meaning 3 days of homework gone. So that is what makes this week a busy busy week. I was up until 3:15am last night finishing up the last touches of my geometry project and finishing up my UPG paper that is due on Thursday (I'll send it to you soon Linds). Today I have already written another paper and when this blog is done, I will start working on the next one. I am so proud of myself and my diligence with my homework lately. Because of it, I will have ZERO homework to take home over Thanksgiving break! Woo hoo for the strength of the Lord to push me on even when all I want to do is sit down and watch an episode of Friends :)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! laaa la laaa la laaaaa.

The Emblem!

Aside from all the papers I've been writing I've also been working on my final project for geometry. Yes, that's right... final project. The last one. Woot! We were told to replicate Northwest University's emblem for the celebration of our 75th year.

I worked on it for quite some time. Here is a picture of when it was a complete mess.

The clear spot in the carpet is where I was sitting. My work completely surrounded me. Glue was stuck to all of my fingers. Scraps of paper were floating about on the floor everywhere. And ideas of how to construct it were still bouncing off the walls.

Now I am happy to present to you the final product that was inspired by the Cylindrical Shell Method from Calculus and the Polyhedra that we made in class. Explanation of how these mathematical concepts correlate with the design of the project are on the back of the board... but that's probably not of interest to y'all, so I'll keep my blabbing to a minimum. :)

PS- Happy Birthday again grandma Margie :) Love you.

Papers and papers galore.

Woo hoo!! I just finished a 6 page paper on a book that I read in relation to teaching strategies. I am so happy that I was diligent in getting that done. I'm proud of my work, and it feels so good to have one more paper down! Now I'm starting on my next project/paper for my Church in Missions class on what is called an unreached people group (a group of people who have yet to hear the gospel). This paper, although long, will be very interesting to write because I chose my people group to be youth in Panama, and specifically in the city of Colón. In this project we must research the history and cultural distinctives of the people group. From our findings, we are then told to brainstorm and write about effective ways to reach them. Being that Panama is always heavy on my heart, I am hoping that this paper will not only go quickly, but that the topic of discussion will be well addressed. Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how it turns out!

Apology

I apologize for not writing very much over these past 2 weeks. I have stuck to Wednesdays in the Word and Sundays in Seattle, but as for the rest of my blog... there hasn't been much more. This is because school is burning me out at the moment. Any form of writing has been a complete turn off for me, being that I've been writing several 8 page papers over the past 2 weeks. So when I've thought about blogging, it has seemed more of a burden on me rather than a release. But, I'm feeling less and less swamped each day, so as the days go by, you'll begin to see me writing more and more. Again, sorry for the lack of updates lately. I hope you can understand.

A Happy Halloween

Every year for Halloween, I like to get creative with my costume to cut down on the costs of purchasing one. So this year, like every other year, I decided to piece together my own costume. I was the purple Ninja Turtle! My roommate Krissa was Mormon and my roommate Rachael was pregnant Barbie.

For a fun Halloween night, we went to our school's basketball game in costume. It was so fun and we won 64-59! Great game. Be looking on the Northwest University website because our school photographer took our photo and our names at the game! Then us 3 roommates went out to Pagliacci's for some incredible tasting pizza! Then we ran to Safeway to pick up some candy to munch on while watching a chick flick back at the apartment. We didn't actually end up watching a movie because by the time we got home we were all exhausted from the night and wanted to wake up for church early this morning. Church was great by the way. My friend Laurel from my Saturday morning Bible study was baptized today! Praise God! And the pastor brought a great sermon from the book of Revelation. I love Sundays. Rather than today being a day of rest, today will be a day of diligence. I am committed to my homework today, being that yesterday was all relaxation and fun. Happy Halloween and Happy Sunday everyone.

Class canceled!

One of my classes got canceled tomorrow and I just wanted to share my excitement with everyone!! More time to do homework now. Yay! And tonight was a great night... went and worked with the children's choir again. We brought out the Christmas songs tonight and it was such a joy. I absolutely without a doubt love and adore children. They are so precious. Then I went to a youth church service that I always go to after children's choir... and that was a great time as well. Goodnight everyone! Thanks for listening :)

The Adivising Appointment!

I'm going to get straight to the point. It went great!!! So I took much time in the morning praying. I wanted to go into my advising appointment feeling at peace with any possible solution. And I was. I truly was at peace. I was going to be ok if they told me that there was nothing they could do and that I would have to transfer for a semester. I was going to be ok. So I prepared well for the meeting. I went in with having typed up every possible option... even if chances of the option happening were slim. I walked into her office and said... "I'm organized but I'm confused." And I gave her a calm smile. I said I'm willing to transfer... I understand that there is only so much you can do. And she said, with a voice a hope that I almost thought not possible... "No you're not transfering... we'll get you a full schedule somehow." She told me that I've worked too hard and fought for this for so long that she was just going to pretty much sign me off on any class that I needed (even though this hasn't really been done before). Whoa. I couldn't believe my ears. We walked around to different professors and got personal permission and signatures for me to take these classes.

So what's happening is... I'm taking classes next semester that I should have been taking in the fall. These classes are supposed to be taken while student teaching, but they said they would make any accommodations necessary for me. And in the fall, I will be able to finish my math endorsement because during that semester, the classes will be offered. So praise God... because I have a full load of 17 credits next semester. People... prayer works.

Today is a big day...

For the last... oh I'd say 4 semesters here... I've had difficulty getting the credits I need each semester. This is because I am getting a math endorsement and there are very few teachers in the math department, being that I go to a small school. Thus, the classes I am required to take for my math endorsement are only offered every couple years. I could have taken the easy way out and gotten another endorsement, like English or History, but math truly is the smarter way to go for 2 reasons. The first is obvious... I'm a math person, not an English person, so teaching math would be much easier and I would be more effective as a teacher. The second reason is that math teachers are almost always needed, so to be endorsed in math would do great favor to me in the future if I were to get a job as a junior high teacher. But like I said, its been a fight each time I go to schedule classes because teachers have to make accommodations for the classes I need. If I don't take a full load every semester, then I don't graduate on time. And if classes aren't offered so that I can't take a full load, then I have to take classes elsewhere and have them transfered in. Problem is... that's more money. So each semester its been a battle to find ways to complete my education here at northwest.

All that being said... I have my advising appointment today at 3:10. This is where I meet with my academic adviser to plan my class schedule for the spring semester. We are supposed to go in with a pre-planned schedule of classes that would all fit together, and then the adviser looks it over, and marks her approval. This is an easy process for most people. But for me its not... especially this time... because NONE of the classes I need to take to fulfill the requirements for the math endorsement are being offered. Well I'm now in the education program and once you're in the education program, they pretty much map out the rest of your time at northwest. This next semester they have me "completing my endorsement." But like I said... none of those classes are being offered. And the odds of them letting me take Fall '10 classes a semester early are not good at all. So... again... I run into the same problem that I've ran into every semester. I could go on and fill you in on more information because it gets very complicated... so I won't. :)

But maybe just prayers lifted up on my behalf would be great. I've spent time in the Word and in prayer with the Lord this morning. I've prayed that he gives me patience and a peace about all of this. And this He has done. I know that God will provide... for that is His what He has promised. However, He didn't promise that getting there would be easy. :) But today I have chosen not to worry. I have chosen to be calm. I'm resting in God. Please pray for this appointment today, and I will update you on how it goes...

Taking Time

Lately I have been very busy. Its just that time of year during school when midterms hit and final projects are beginning. Each day of the week is non-stop. Fridays are such a blessing because I don't have any classes on that day! Yesterday I was extremely productive. I ran time-consuming errands that I needed to run and wrote papers that needed to be written. Usually I see Saturdays and Sundays as a time to be productive as well. I see them as days of work to get ahead for the next week. But this means that when Monday comes around, I'm already feeling burnt out. Well recently I have really been learning that we are to have a day of rest. Just as God took a day of rest on the 7th day, so are we to take time to unwind. God created the world and then told us to continue this process of creating. Whether we are creating people (like new baby Jackson!) or whether we are creating work and productivity. But the weekend, or at least one day of the weekend should be a day where we just sit and reflect on the week and all that we created. We should relax and look back and be able to say that it was good as we let our physical body and our mind unwind. I'm realizing that if I don't take time for myself to relax and recharge, then I am ineffect for the Kingdom of God.

So today is Saturday and I am sitting on my couch with my Panama blanket on my lap, watching A Goofy Movie. I am thanking God for a great productive week last week, and I am getting excited for what is to come next week. Now that I understand the true importance of relaxing, so that I don't burn out, I can truly allow myself to sit and relax. My mind is not worried about the week to come. I'm not letting myself worry about all that I will have to do in the coming week, but I am content in fully letting myself unwind. I fully content with sipping on some tea, with a blanket, while watching a movie. But when Monday rolls around, I am back up on my feet, so as to not get lazy. God is good.

Busy, yet phenomenal.

So first I need to apologize for not writing in so long! Oh boy its been almost a week. Not ok, but let me tell you why and all that has happened here in the last 6 days!

My roommate Krissa's best friend from Florida came to visit us this weekend. It was the perfect weekend for her to visit because we didn't have school on Monday. Our school calls it "Reading Day." Not sure how it came about, but we have it, and I'm certainly not going to complain about having a day off from school. :) So her friend came and we made many fun plans to go into Seattle. We walked around Seattle center (where the spaceneedle is). We went to the Fremont Troll and many other very fun adventures! But also this weekend... I had to study for 3 midterms and a quiz. I had to prepare for a presentation, write 4 book analyses, read 30 pages each day from a painfully boring book, prepare for my Chapel audition, and finish my geometry line-art project. And all of this had to be done while entertaining a guest. Can I just say that the Lord is so faithful? He is just so good. At 3 in the morning, when everyone had gone to bed, but I was still up doing homework, I found myself singing, "It is well with my soul." Although I was tired, I did not allow myself to stress out or miss out on any fun. I still attended my early Saturday morning Bible study and still went on all of the outings to Seattle with Krissa and Britt.

I learned this weekend that happiness is choice. I could have been in a sour mood all weekend, complaining about all of the homework I had. I could have missed out on the fun. Yes, maybe I was exhausted, but I chose to be positive at all moments. Even moments when the thread from my geometry project got tangled into a million-gajillion knots. I chose to wait upon the Lord, and he met me there in my moments of weakness.

72 Pencil Structure

What you see here is a structure made of 72 pencils. Mmhmm... 72 pencils. And I was told to make this for my college geometry class. Were we given instructions on how to build this? Nope :) So for the past 5 days or so, I have pretty much been holding my breath because if I breathe too hard, all the pencils will fall over. Can we use glue? Nope. Rubberbands? Nope. This has been very difficult for me because of my unsteady hands. BUT! I think I have finally figured out how to do it. After 5 days of frustrating moments, I've got the solution! It should only take me about 10 minutes. I just need sand in order for this to work. So tomorrow morning I am going to go down to the water to build this 72 pencil structure. :) Its going to be great! And I'll let you all know how it goes.