Reflections
It seems that by far, 2013 has been my slowest year with regards to blogging. But otherwise, it has been my busiest year with regards to the work-school cycle. On top of that, I am fortunate enough to add that this has also been my busiest year with regards to travel. To briefly recap an otherwise exhaustingly extensive life story: I resumed working two jobs in March, went to San Francisco and Portland in June, continued working and commuting between both jobs throughout summer, visited New York in September, started job hunting in November (to no avail thus far, but that's okay), visited Seattle and road-tripped back down to LA two weeks ago, and turned 22 last week. Turning 22 actually has nothing to do with anything, because it feels like I've aged so much in the last few years anyway.
With regards to school, I was doing relatively well until about week 7, when I got tired of keeping up with all the readings for my two education classes and one English class. And I suppose that's how I ended up with lower-than-desired grades in the two former classes that were supposed to be easy A's. On that note, I'm kind of scared to check my English grade. This school year was supposed to be an attempt to raise my grade point average enough to graduate with honors. But I suppose that in the end, there's not much of a difference between graduating with a 3.5 and a 3.69. Nonetheless, I shall try, even if only for the pride aspect of being able to say that I graduated with honors.
My parents have been trying hard to push me to go to graduate school, and I have been telling them that I haven't completely ruled it out--I'm just so tired of and from school that I want to take at least a year off of it to determine whether I really want to go back. Meanwhile, my mother does not cease to remind me of the days that I was determined to earn a Ph.D in English or whatever else, and persistently asks me what happened to my ambition. Obviously, I don't tell her this, but I've been wondering that myself since sophomore year of college.
One of my education classes this quarter was a community internship course, where I "tutored" at University High School in West Los Angeles. While I often saw it as a joke because my co-interns and I did nothing but observe the class, read on our own, or talk amongst ourselves, there were class periods when I felt like I was close to making a difference. On one of my last days at the school, the third period AVID class had a substitute, and the only thing the regular teacher wrote on the agenda was "SAT prep." Really. Just "SAT prep," as vague as one can get. Understandably, the sub did not know what that meant, and as my friend and I tried to explain to him what to do on collegeboard.org (ha, remember the days that we used this site?), he just asked that we take over. So I did, and before I knew it, I was leading the class in SAT prep via the questions of the day. Thankfully, all of those questions just happened to be language arts/ reading comprehension, so I was able to really explain not just what, but also why to the students. In the midst of explaining, with underlying exasperation, the difference between it's and its, one of the students yelled out, "You're so smart! You should be a teacher." Really, everybody should know these basic differences by elementary school, which I had no trouble reminding them of, but I took the statement to heart. That one was of the best days I had at Uni High, because I was able to really teach the kids something.
Speaking of teaching, Project WILD was just amazing this quarter. Although I didn't attend the social events outside of Saturday sites, I felt considerably more involved this quarter than the last two, and therefore enjoyed it that much more, as well. I was able to establish relationships with my students and teach as well as communicate with them. While they received review or new lessons about metaphors and alliteration, I learned about their lives at home and at school, and it was altogether so rewarding. I loved that they enjoyed telling me about not being allowed to eat candy at home, about being scolded to taking a toy from their baby sibling, and the like. One student even basically implied that I'm not cool because my favorite Pokemon is Pikachu, as opposed to all the new Pokemon that fly and do all these other special things. I miss my P. WILD children and can't wait to see them again!
With that said, the most rewarding aspect of the past few months as been education--specifically, being on the giving side of it (while simultaneously still being on the receiving end). I've been rewarded a student's "Ah!" of understanding, a student's somber nod in response to a life lesson, and even a teacher's many thanks for dealing with her difficult class. It's been wonderful. I wish I had time to return to Uni High next quarter, but I'm glad I can at least continue with P. WILD. I think I could really make something out of this teaching experience.
On a different note, my recent trip to Seattle was just splendid, notwithstanding the $100 extra I had to pay to change my flight departure date by 24 hours. The entire week prior to departure, I was anxious about the prospect of 16 degree weather, but when I saw the forecast of a week of 40's, I was relieved. It turns out that 35-40 degrees isn't so bad when you have a sweater and a coat. And boots. Toms just didn't work well for my feet up there. Clothing aside... I love Seattle. It was gloomy for most of the time, but it was a nice getaway from the "winter" heat of SoCal, and it's a much more laid back environment than LA. People don't seem to constantly be in a rush, drivers are extremely calm (and slow), everybody is friendly... I loved Seattle Coffee Works, Pike Place Market, and Chihuly Garden and Glass. What was most amazing was the Seattle Public Library, housing 10 floors of heaven, i.e. books. Turns out I never knew a public library until I stepped foot into this one. Another thing I like about Seattle is that even in traffic, you still go at least 35 mph. Meanwhile, traffic here is essentially a parking lot.
It seems that the more cities I visit, the less I like Los Angeles. There are so many places with so many aspects that trump LA, and yet, LA will always be home. No matter how much I love London, Seattle, Shanghai, or San Diego, I could never make a home outside of Los Angeles.
I have so much more that I've been wanting to write--because this is what happens when I don't write regularly. But it's once again nearly 3 a.m. and I must sleep, as work awaits in the morning. I really hope to do more writing, though, because not writing is like losing a part of myself a little bit at a time.
Happy almost-end-of-December!
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| The view from my mom's friend's home, where we stayed in New York |
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| On the ferry to the Statue of Liberty |
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| New York Grand Central Terminal |
My parents have been trying hard to push me to go to graduate school, and I have been telling them that I haven't completely ruled it out--I'm just so tired of and from school that I want to take at least a year off of it to determine whether I really want to go back. Meanwhile, my mother does not cease to remind me of the days that I was determined to earn a Ph.D in English or whatever else, and persistently asks me what happened to my ambition. Obviously, I don't tell her this, but I've been wondering that myself since sophomore year of college.
One of my education classes this quarter was a community internship course, where I "tutored" at University High School in West Los Angeles. While I often saw it as a joke because my co-interns and I did nothing but observe the class, read on our own, or talk amongst ourselves, there were class periods when I felt like I was close to making a difference. On one of my last days at the school, the third period AVID class had a substitute, and the only thing the regular teacher wrote on the agenda was "SAT prep." Really. Just "SAT prep," as vague as one can get. Understandably, the sub did not know what that meant, and as my friend and I tried to explain to him what to do on collegeboard.org (ha, remember the days that we used this site?), he just asked that we take over. So I did, and before I knew it, I was leading the class in SAT prep via the questions of the day. Thankfully, all of those questions just happened to be language arts/ reading comprehension, so I was able to really explain not just what, but also why to the students. In the midst of explaining, with underlying exasperation, the difference between it's and its, one of the students yelled out, "You're so smart! You should be a teacher." Really, everybody should know these basic differences by elementary school, which I had no trouble reminding them of, but I took the statement to heart. That one was of the best days I had at Uni High, because I was able to really teach the kids something.
Speaking of teaching, Project WILD was just amazing this quarter. Although I didn't attend the social events outside of Saturday sites, I felt considerably more involved this quarter than the last two, and therefore enjoyed it that much more, as well. I was able to establish relationships with my students and teach as well as communicate with them. While they received review or new lessons about metaphors and alliteration, I learned about their lives at home and at school, and it was altogether so rewarding. I loved that they enjoyed telling me about not being allowed to eat candy at home, about being scolded to taking a toy from their baby sibling, and the like. One student even basically implied that I'm not cool because my favorite Pokemon is Pikachu, as opposed to all the new Pokemon that fly and do all these other special things. I miss my P. WILD children and can't wait to see them again!
With that said, the most rewarding aspect of the past few months as been education--specifically, being on the giving side of it (while simultaneously still being on the receiving end). I've been rewarded a student's "Ah!" of understanding, a student's somber nod in response to a life lesson, and even a teacher's many thanks for dealing with her difficult class. It's been wonderful. I wish I had time to return to Uni High next quarter, but I'm glad I can at least continue with P. WILD. I think I could really make something out of this teaching experience.
On a different note, my recent trip to Seattle was just splendid, notwithstanding the $100 extra I had to pay to change my flight departure date by 24 hours. The entire week prior to departure, I was anxious about the prospect of 16 degree weather, but when I saw the forecast of a week of 40's, I was relieved. It turns out that 35-40 degrees isn't so bad when you have a sweater and a coat. And boots. Toms just didn't work well for my feet up there. Clothing aside... I love Seattle. It was gloomy for most of the time, but it was a nice getaway from the "winter" heat of SoCal, and it's a much more laid back environment than LA. People don't seem to constantly be in a rush, drivers are extremely calm (and slow), everybody is friendly... I loved Seattle Coffee Works, Pike Place Market, and Chihuly Garden and Glass. What was most amazing was the Seattle Public Library, housing 10 floors of heaven, i.e. books. Turns out I never knew a public library until I stepped foot into this one. Another thing I like about Seattle is that even in traffic, you still go at least 35 mph. Meanwhile, traffic here is essentially a parking lot.
It seems that the more cities I visit, the less I like Los Angeles. There are so many places with so many aspects that trump LA, and yet, LA will always be home. No matter how much I love London, Seattle, Shanghai, or San Diego, I could never make a home outside of Los Angeles.
I have so much more that I've been wanting to write--because this is what happens when I don't write regularly. But it's once again nearly 3 a.m. and I must sleep, as work awaits in the morning. I really hope to do more writing, though, because not writing is like losing a part of myself a little bit at a time.
Happy almost-end-of-December!
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