Wow. It's been quite a while since I've found myself on this page, sharing my experiences up here at the good old GMC. But I'm back! And with plenty of odd pictures, to boot.
I certainly couldn't pass up the following photo opportunity...no one actually knows who wrote in the snow on Zach's car... not even Zach himself...
Last semester ended with a bang, what with the craziness of exams and all. I was especially nervous this time around because of my Calculus exam. I was on edge until I got my grades in the mail, only to discover that I got an A in the class overall (which inspired a short, but very sweet, victory dance).
Shortly before I left, I also got the opportunity to decorate some Christmas cookies over my mentee's house! I wasn't the only one invited--- a group of her friends came over (I had a fantastic time playing hide-and-go-seek with them), and a group of her mother's friends from the neighborhood came as well. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the locals (and to try out their delicious cookies! Yum!) I just can't get over how welcoming the people in Poultney can be; they're so willing to accept you into their community. I'll certainly miss this place when I'm gone.
Speaking of which, I'm still in a great deal of shock over the fact that I will be graduating from college in a little over a year. Where did all that time go? Only two more semesters to go, then student teaching... and then what? Scary!! Can't I just stay in college forevvver?? Pleassse?
But enough of these ramblings, back to break. I spent a good deal of the first two weeks with family and friends, mostly socializing, eating entirely too much delicious home cooking, and relaxing overall.
Here's a picture of my dad passed out with my nephew/his first grandchild. Oh the cuteness!
Among other things, I managed to score some money to Barnes and Noble and a Zen Buddhism page-a-day calendar for Christmas. The gift certificate certainly went to good use--I purchased some gifts for my friends and a book for myself that I didn't even know existed. It's Sylvia Plath's journals from when she first entered Smith College to when she moved to a flat in England (shortly before she died). I'm rather excited about picking this up, as I've always been fascinated by her work. Unfortunately, I'm currently in the middle of Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, not to mention all the other reading I have to do for the classes I'm taking... so I haven't had the opportunity to actually read it yet. Oi! There is certainly not enough time in the day! The Zen Buddhism calender has been quite enlightening, too--My favorite quote so far (attributed to the alleged founder of Taoism, Lao-Tsu) is: "The scholar gains every day; the man of Tao loses every day." Certainly something to think about.
The last half of my break was spent mostly working as a substitute in one of the many schools near my house. We had a LOT of snow over break, so I spent a good deal of my mornings groggily, yet anxiously, sitting on my living room couch, waiting to see if school was canceled or not. The entire experience certainly made me feel like a kid again. (I even responded in the same manner with assorted "yippies!" and "I'm going back to sleep, suckas!") haha!
Speaking of teaching, I forgot to mention that I took Praxis II over break. OOh. Shudder with me, will you? I seriously don't know what to think about it. I did a number of the practice questions to prepare for the test, but they were all disturbingly easy... so I was still quite anxious upon entering the room (I took them over at UNH Durham). The test was rather odd... I feel like each question was either so easy that I was confused why an English major wouldn't know something like that, or they were so hard I was confused as to why a future English teacher would need to know something like that. The latter types of questions usually involved a quote of some kind from some novel (most of which I had never heard of?), and one would have to identify the novel it came from or the writer. Now, I realize that some people go around memorizing quotes from novels and plays and such (in fact, I've done some of this myself), but how would one know exactly which plays and novels to memorize in order to prepare for Praxis II? That's what really boggled my mind. I mean, how could they assume that people would be able to identify a specific novel from a single paragraph it contained? If it had been some such classic as Shakespeare, it would have been entirely different (and I probably would have known the answers!) Ahhh, but I must not let it get to me too much. Before the test was done, I managed to look over all my answers, and while doing so, I estimated how many problems I got wrong. Based on this estimation, I then calculated out what my score would be, and according to said calculations, I passed in both the state of New Hampshire and Vermont. But, who knows, I could have estimated incorrectly... so we'll have to wait another couple weeks before I get my official scores. But, to any and all future English education majors, I highly suggest that you find as many prep tools as possible before taking Praxis II. It certainly will seem worth it when you realize that you didn't fail a $130 test. (Can I say yikes! for a moment?)
On that sort of note, a moment of motivation to all future education majors and/or teachers: although it may seem that you have to jump through a number of federal hoops to get to your dreams, remember, it'll be worth it in the end. Those kids need you! So keep up the good work!
Well, then. I think that's about the majority of it. My next entry will hopefully detail some of the side projects I'm currently involved in, such as the Spanish Search Committee, the Saturday movie mornings I'm trying to organize for kids in town, and the Vagina Monologues performance I'm helping with. Phew. Lots o' work ahead!