The summer before my senior year of high school I started volunteering through a business called Aging Services. Each week I would go over to an elderly person's home and read to them. The woman that I got paired up with is in her 80s, is legally blind but still living on her own, and is the only member of her immediate family still alive. Her name is Kay.
Kay and I got along very well from the start. She took me in just like she would a grandchild. Each week I would sit in her living room for an hour or so and we would chat, or I would read something for her. Eventually I started taking her to run errands and she would occasionally treat me to lunch. I would also be treated to her specialty cakes that she loved to bake for her church as well as for my family. We developed quite a relationship.
Now each time I go home for break and visit Kay, she tells me oh just how much she misses me, and that I better not forget about her. She continues to amaze me at how well she is doing considering her health history and that she can't see much at all. This past week when I visited her, listening to her current problems really made me thankful for all of my blessings. I have family close-by, I have my sight, I'm pretty agile and don't have to worry about getting light headed upon standing, and I have so many positive things in my life. It just takes someone like Kay to help me put my life in perspective and to be thankful for what God has blessed me with.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Action, Relaxin', Break Time
It's almost here. I can feel it. Things are looking up because Thanksgiving break is only 2 days away! Count it, one-two! That's it! I am very excited. Fall Break seems like it was forever ago with so many assignments, tests, and cross country races filling the weeks. I am looking forward to a couple of days where I can take a break from homework and stress, some time to just relax.
But I can't let myself relax too soon because I have one more test to get through before my brain will officially be on break. It's hard to make that final push of thorough studying when I know that break is so close. I would love to be on break now, but this test is keeping me tied to my books. At least I can take comfort in knowing that tonight is the last night that I'll have to spend studying. Just one more night, just a few more hours.
I have to admit that these past 3 or 4 days haven't been the most productive due to my relaxed state of mind. On Thursday night the local movie theater was showing three free movies for Luther students who have a student activities card. The theater has a deal with Luther so that there's a free movie night about once a month. So I went with a few friends to the new James Bond movie. We had to stand in line outside of the theater for about 30 minutes because so many students showed up and the doors didn't open until 9pm, with movies starting about 9:15. That got to be pretty chilly, but a nice alternative to studying.
That was the first time I've gone to one of the free movie nights and I thought it was worth the time of waiting in line. I didn't understand much of the story line in the 007 movie, but the action was really cool. I think if I would've seen Casino Royale I would've known more of the story line, but I enjoyed feeling like part of the real world instead of always staying in my Luther bubble. I'm looking forward to a few days of break outside of Luther, but I know I will be ready to come back to my dorm, my friends, and my routine.
But I can't let myself relax too soon because I have one more test to get through before my brain will officially be on break. It's hard to make that final push of thorough studying when I know that break is so close. I would love to be on break now, but this test is keeping me tied to my books. At least I can take comfort in knowing that tonight is the last night that I'll have to spend studying. Just one more night, just a few more hours.
I have to admit that these past 3 or 4 days haven't been the most productive due to my relaxed state of mind. On Thursday night the local movie theater was showing three free movies for Luther students who have a student activities card. The theater has a deal with Luther so that there's a free movie night about once a month. So I went with a few friends to the new James Bond movie. We had to stand in line outside of the theater for about 30 minutes because so many students showed up and the doors didn't open until 9pm, with movies starting about 9:15. That got to be pretty chilly, but a nice alternative to studying.
That was the first time I've gone to one of the free movie nights and I thought it was worth the time of waiting in line. I didn't understand much of the story line in the 007 movie, but the action was really cool. I think if I would've seen Casino Royale I would've known more of the story line, but I enjoyed feeling like part of the real world instead of always staying in my Luther bubble. I'm looking forward to a few days of break outside of Luther, but I know I will be ready to come back to my dorm, my friends, and my routine.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Looking Deeper
This semester I'm taking my first education class since I'm planning on majoring in secondary education. This class focuses on the diversity of students that I will potentially be teaching in the future. I have learned a lot so far about laws that exist for helping students with disabilities, as well as programs that are available for gifted students. I have had to think from a totally new perspective- one in which I'm not the student focused on my own needs, but the teacher figuring out how I can reach out to all of my students with different needs.
This week we started looking a little closer into our personal backgrounds and culture since our personal backgrounds could influence how we deal with future students. We started by discussing our ancestry and how much our families know about where we came from. That was a lot of fun hearing how some of my classmates have connections to people who signed the Declaration of Independence or who fought in the civil war.
This week we have an assignment to look up definitions of culture and explain our culture. One of the definitions that I found talked about culture being one's beliefs, social forms, and material traits. So then I had to think about my own beliefs, social forms, and material traits- which wasn't as easy as it sounds. It was fun thinking back to some of the values and rituals that I picked up from my family. One example of a ritual at my house when I was younger, my dad would teach night classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and my mom would make my 2 older siblings and me 'silly suppers' on some of those nights. These silly suppers often included popcorn, apples, crackers and cheese, or pancakes with green food coloring. We always ate dinner together as a family and this was just one memory that sticks out as special, and something that I would want to continue with my own family in the future.
After putting a lot of thought into what I believe and how I formed those beliefs, it was pretty clear that my family and my experiences greatly influenced me. The next part of the assignment now involves comparing my culture with someone with a different culture. I love seeing how everyone is unique and has different beliefs and attitudes based on our experiences growing up. Everyone has their own story to tell, and each of us should take the time to examine our own lives to gain a better understanding of where we come from and why we believe what we do.
This week we started looking a little closer into our personal backgrounds and culture since our personal backgrounds could influence how we deal with future students. We started by discussing our ancestry and how much our families know about where we came from. That was a lot of fun hearing how some of my classmates have connections to people who signed the Declaration of Independence or who fought in the civil war.
This week we have an assignment to look up definitions of culture and explain our culture. One of the definitions that I found talked about culture being one's beliefs, social forms, and material traits. So then I had to think about my own beliefs, social forms, and material traits- which wasn't as easy as it sounds. It was fun thinking back to some of the values and rituals that I picked up from my family. One example of a ritual at my house when I was younger, my dad would teach night classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and my mom would make my 2 older siblings and me 'silly suppers' on some of those nights. These silly suppers often included popcorn, apples, crackers and cheese, or pancakes with green food coloring. We always ate dinner together as a family and this was just one memory that sticks out as special, and something that I would want to continue with my own family in the future.
After putting a lot of thought into what I believe and how I formed those beliefs, it was pretty clear that my family and my experiences greatly influenced me. The next part of the assignment now involves comparing my culture with someone with a different culture. I love seeing how everyone is unique and has different beliefs and attitudes based on our experiences growing up. Everyone has their own story to tell, and each of us should take the time to examine our own lives to gain a better understanding of where we come from and why we believe what we do.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Pleasure in the Small Things
It's amazing how much stress can be relieved just by rescheduling an exam. This past week I was supposed to have 2 exams on Friday, and not in easy classes by any means: Organic Chemistry and Human Physiology. On top of that my last cross country meet, a JV-only meet at St. John's College, was on Friday afternoon and the team was leaving at 11 AM. This meant that I would have to take both of my exams back-to-back starting at 7:30 and ending about 10:45, then quickly get down to the vans to leave for the meet. Thankfully, I didn't have to do that.
I arranged to have one of my exams on Monday, which left me a lot more composed and confident in how I could manage to do decently well on both tests. It also gave me a weekend in which I was able to have some fun and revisit some of my favorite things to do:
On the 4 hour drive to St. John's on Friday I cracked open the book Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) that wasn't assigned for a class! Someone had loaned it to me before Fall Break, and Friday was the first time I actually felt ok sitting down and getting started on it. I love to read. It was so nice being able to lose myself in a book and not be bogged down by real-life responsibilities- or the traffic jam we were stuck in.
On Saturday afternoon I gathered up some friends and shot hoops for a while. Basketball was my first love and getting a ball in my hands always brings on feelings of excitement and comfort. Since it had been a few months since I'd even touched a basketball, I can't say that I was shooting anything but bricks, but it didn't matter, it was fun. After shooting around, I managed to do some cartwheels, round-offs, handstands, and back walk-overs without pulling or straining anything. My muscles had to tap into memories of when I used to do gymnastics in 2nd grade! That running, flipping, and jumping brought a nice adrenaline rush and made me feel like a little girl again, practicing my gymnastics moves all over the house. How I would love to have that care-free feeling more often!
Sometimes doing those small things, like reading a book or doing a cartwheel, can bring just as much pleasure as running with my teammates or doing well on an exam. Small pleasures make life more enjoyable and help to remind me that life is so much more than how I do on a test.
I arranged to have one of my exams on Monday, which left me a lot more composed and confident in how I could manage to do decently well on both tests. It also gave me a weekend in which I was able to have some fun and revisit some of my favorite things to do:
On the 4 hour drive to St. John's on Friday I cracked open the book Nineteen Minutes (Jodi Picoult) that wasn't assigned for a class! Someone had loaned it to me before Fall Break, and Friday was the first time I actually felt ok sitting down and getting started on it. I love to read. It was so nice being able to lose myself in a book and not be bogged down by real-life responsibilities- or the traffic jam we were stuck in.
On Saturday afternoon I gathered up some friends and shot hoops for a while. Basketball was my first love and getting a ball in my hands always brings on feelings of excitement and comfort. Since it had been a few months since I'd even touched a basketball, I can't say that I was shooting anything but bricks, but it didn't matter, it was fun. After shooting around, I managed to do some cartwheels, round-offs, handstands, and back walk-overs without pulling or straining anything. My muscles had to tap into memories of when I used to do gymnastics in 2nd grade! That running, flipping, and jumping brought a nice adrenaline rush and made me feel like a little girl again, practicing my gymnastics moves all over the house. How I would love to have that care-free feeling more often!
Sometimes doing those small things, like reading a book or doing a cartwheel, can bring just as much pleasure as running with my teammates or doing well on an exam. Small pleasures make life more enjoyable and help to remind me that life is so much more than how I do on a test.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Conference Meet Trick-or-Treat
On Friday the cross country team loaded up 2 charter buses and headed off for Storm Lake, IA where Buena Vista was hosting our Conference Championship Meet on Saturday. From Decorah it was over a 4 hour trip, so we made sure to have plenty of movies along. The mood was one of excitement, not only for the Conference Meet on Saturday, but because of the feeling that Halloween brings to everyone who has memories of dressing up as a youngster and getting loads of candy to either hoard, share, or consume in record time.
We arrived at our motel a little after 10pm. I think that most of us were surprised to see that it was actually a motel, not a 5-star hotel with a pool and hot tub. As I walked into my room that 3 other girls would be sharing with me, 2 of my roommates exclaimed, 'It smells like my grandma's house!' And surely, it did. Never the less, it served the purpose.
At our coaches' direction, the team dressed up in whatever costumes we stuck in our meet bags on the way out the door and went trick-or-treating at the rooms of our fellow teammates. It was a ton of fun since we were at a motel and able to go door-to-door outside in the dark of the night. Some of the costumes were pretty creative and the stash of goodies wasn't bad either.
Some people might not have gotten much sleep Friday night depending on how much of a sugar high they had or how nervous they were for the upcoming race, but Saturday was a successful day never-the-less. The race was held on a golf course that was as flat as a pancake (no complaints about that!) on a day when the weather couldn't have been better. A slight port-a-potty toilet paper crisis occurred early on, but not even that could distract the runners from focusing on the race.
The men raced first at 11 and the women followed at 12. The times were ridiculously fast thanks to the outlay of the course and the level of competition. The Luther men won first place as a team in the varsity race and also in the JV competition. The Luther women took 2nd place to Wartburg in the varsity race, and took first place in the JV competition. It was a successful day all-around, leaving the Norse runners feeling proud of their efforts and excited for things to come. Perhaps we should try to combine Halloween and Conference every year!
We arrived at our motel a little after 10pm. I think that most of us were surprised to see that it was actually a motel, not a 5-star hotel with a pool and hot tub. As I walked into my room that 3 other girls would be sharing with me, 2 of my roommates exclaimed, 'It smells like my grandma's house!' And surely, it did. Never the less, it served the purpose.
At our coaches' direction, the team dressed up in whatever costumes we stuck in our meet bags on the way out the door and went trick-or-treating at the rooms of our fellow teammates. It was a ton of fun since we were at a motel and able to go door-to-door outside in the dark of the night. Some of the costumes were pretty creative and the stash of goodies wasn't bad either.
Some people might not have gotten much sleep Friday night depending on how much of a sugar high they had or how nervous they were for the upcoming race, but Saturday was a successful day never-the-less. The race was held on a golf course that was as flat as a pancake (no complaints about that!) on a day when the weather couldn't have been better. A slight port-a-potty toilet paper crisis occurred early on, but not even that could distract the runners from focusing on the race.
The men raced first at 11 and the women followed at 12. The times were ridiculously fast thanks to the outlay of the course and the level of competition. The Luther men won first place as a team in the varsity race and also in the JV competition. The Luther women took 2nd place to Wartburg in the varsity race, and took first place in the JV competition. It was a successful day all-around, leaving the Norse runners feeling proud of their efforts and excited for things to come. Perhaps we should try to combine Halloween and Conference every year!
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