Life Update #234584950.6

Hello everyone. It is Sunday and Sunday means I have some time! Aw yeahhhh. I love Sundays. I joined my ward Choir and today we practiced this. It's going to be really pretty, and it gives me goosebumps when we sing it.It's about our Savior and the Atonement. If you have questions about what that means visit here.  I made a goal that I would do things that scared me this semester, things that put me out of my comfort zone. And yes that means joining choir....it also means joining a soccer team. I joined with a big group of people from home. The other night we also played against another big group from home. I'm so thankful to have so many people from home around me, it reminds me home still exists and people actually know where I'm from.

So this semester I am in a class called "Early Field Experience" and I go to the schools twice a week and I'll teach and help with whatever the teacher needs. I'm learning SO much. SOOO much! I'm really starting to picture myself as a teacher, and I'm starting to realize what it is I want for my future students! I'm so excited to have my own classroom one day, and the teachers at my University for the most part were those teachers who you always remembered as a kid. They are so passionate about teaching and changing lives it's so contagious! Teaching children gives me an energy you can't get anywhere else. Where else can you go to work and your "co-worker" (read:student) tells you their favorite food is "cheetos and bacon!!!" Come now.

On the other hand their is so much that goes into teaching that you never know about until you are on the other side. I work with children who for the most part live with people other than their parents and where some only come to school so they can eat and be in a safe place for a portion of the day. It really breaks my heart and it's something I'll have to work on not taking home with me one day when I do have my own classroom.

I'm really loving my roommates this semester. Something has changed and I am no longer the baby! I'm the old one now. Weird. Super weird. I'm not sure how to feel about it, but as for now I'm rolling with it. I think the reason why I don't have too much of a problem with it, is because I've been where they are now. I don't want to go back and I'm happy to be progressing along into adulthood and it means I'm that much closer to graduating. Only two semesters more after this. Life is a lot different now than it was before I took a break from school. I was such a terrible student before. Very irresponsible. Now I can tie my own shoelaces and everything. I don't remember anyone telling me that College is hard. Really hard. I feel like every time I talk to my Dad I have an ugly cry breakdown. His advice was "take one day at a time", and I've been doing just that. Sometimes I think my teachers must have forgotten that we're humans and can't stay up 24 hours a day doing homework, projects, lesson plans, etc.

I had to spend four hours in a wheelchair on Tuesday as  part of a simulation for my special education class. It's serves to help me have more empathy for future students who may have special needs. I was getting a long pretty okay, but we had a list of tasks we had to accomplish and one of them was going up and down a hill. I knew this was going to be one of the harder challenges and I came to the conclusion that I was very right when I was trying to wheel myself up a hill. I thought I was going to die to put it nicely. I was getting up but it was a very slow go. A few people walked past me,and didn't say anything but then this boy was walking by and anyone could see I was clearly struggling. He bent down and asked me if he could push me where I needed to go. He was absolutely kind. It was so strange because I recognized him, and came to find out that he was from home and was getting married that weekend and I had met his fiance before and we had a few different connections. It restored my faith in humanity that some people are just good. He didn't have to help me but he he could see my struggle. I committed myself that day to be a little better like the boy who helped me. It also gave me an appreciation for my healthy able legs.

I'm off for now..until another few months...au revoir.