Leaving on a jet plane...

Two Weeks and Five days!!

Studying Abroad

So, I applied in December 2009 for the opportunity to study abroad for the spring semester in Maastricht, Netherlands. I found out the second week of January that I would be going. Since it was so surreal to me to graduate from high school, and then even more astonishing to be accepted at Grand Valley State University, I have been ecstatic to have this opportunity. And the full effect has yet to fit me. I have my passport, travel insurance, the fight schedules, and I still feel blocked, I think that would be the right word to describe how I am feeling, from the full range of emotions that this opportunity should provide. I think I have just a little longer before the wall falls, and I am hit with the full impact.

Today we have our first mandatory informational meeting, so everyone that will be going will be there. I believe there are 16 other GVSU students who will be led by 2 GVSU faculty members, Pat Bloome and Laura VanderBroek. As of right now, I know we will be staying in the International Dorms at the University of Maastricht. I also know we have some sort of role in the local grade schools there, I am thinking we will be tutoring for the English Language. I am hoping to work with at least fifth graders, if not middle school.

Learning and Teaching

SO it's my senior year, definitely not my last year but close, and I am just feeling like I have it figured out. BUT, if there is anything I have learned from studying the English language it's this: There is always an exception. And really it holds so much truth and meaning for my life all around. I may feel like I am adjusting to the rigor of college studies, but as my usual self, I continue to question my ability to excel in the ART of teaching. I have been working with two students this semester and it has proved to me how much will be expected of me as a teacher. It scares me because I know the retention rate of new teachers is low and I don't want to forget during my first years any of the small and large reasons for choosing this profession. I know it will take me a while to get into the swing of things and figure out the class will run. An each time I get a new class I will be better at figuring it out. I just hope it doesn't take too long. I want to figure it out before I become the stark-raving, screaming, ornery teacher (like the ones I have run across recently).