Learning to Live

As I sit in the airport, by myself, after a few weeks of relaxing at home, I’m pretty excited to take off on my next adventure-- excited and also incredibly terrified. On one hand, this is a great opportunity and I’m sure it is an experience I will cherish forever. I get to take a break from the norm. I get to spend a significant amount of time across the country surrounded by people who are presumably fun and outgoing (I’m making this assumption based on the fact that we all want to spend our entire summer hanging out with kids). I get to try new things. I get to eat fresh lobster. I get to try logrolling. I get to hang out with kids and play volleyball on the beach of a gorgeous lake. Not only is Maine supposedly breathtakingly beautiful, but it’s different from everything I know. It’s outside of my comfort zone.   On the other hand, leaving your comfort zone is a terrifying thought. I’m leaving everything I have ever known. Although it is only for two months, this is tw...

2 posts in 1 day because I finally have free time. As this academic year comes to a close, I find myself thinking about how it was the best year yet. Granted, I say that about every year, but I'm so thankful for the people I met this year, the fun times I've had, and everything I learned. Even though it's difficult to say goodbye to some of my wonderful senior friends, I know this is their time to shine and they are going out to do wonderful things. I'm really just happy I had the opportunity to get to know them all. I wish there was a way I could show everyone how happy I am that I came to Concordia three years ago. But I think the only way to understand it is to experience it for yourself. And it's not Concordia for everyone (obviously), but I think everyone finds that special place that feels like home. I am so happy that it is Concordia for me. Without this wonderful school and the opportunities it provides, I would never have had the chance to get to know a...

This semester I had to take an Advanced Public Speaking, and I was dreading it because I hate public speaking. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to take this class from one of the greatest professors Concordia has and although I learned a lot about public speaking, I learned more about life. Mizzo has the reputation of being a badass professor-- for good reason. Her enthusiasm is contagious and she cares deeply about what her students are learning. Another major plus is that her energy level is through the roof. In her class I learned how to use my voice effectively and how to slow the f down when I'm speaking in front of people, but like I said, there were some important lessons about life as well. Anyone who knows me knows that I have the tendency to be an emotional person and there was a moment when I ended a speech in tears because I felt so passionately about what I was speaking about. I apologized profusely and I was angry with myself for letting my emotions get in the w...

"You go to concerts a lot." I do. I've decided that I need to go more concerts. I'm recovering from a shopping problem- like my credit card is taped to the wall- but I still make the decision to spend money on concert tickets. Why? Because I work hard. And concerts are awesome. I fully believe that I will never regret spending on money on these awesome experiences. I go concerts to enjoy the music of groups and people that I enjoy and I go to concerts with people I enjoy. All in all, it's a pretty great combo. I guess what I'm trying to say is I've decided that it's more important to collect moments instead of things. Sure these concerts might cost money, but there are other things I can focus on rather than things. Collecting things will not get me anywhere in life because no matter what, someone will always have more. Moments are more important. Moments will make me happy, and things will too, but only temporarily. In the mean time, I will co...

As a future English teacher I'm supposed to tell people to read books. It's my job. But we all had those English teachers that made us read books that we hated and that ruined reading for some of us. I hope I'm not that English teacher, but I know it can sometimes be unavoidable. As a reader who just finished my latest book in tears I wish that I could make everyone love and appreciate reading as much as I do. For those of us that read regularly, we understand the connection that we can make with characters. We understand how easy it is to lose ourselves in the text. We can become a part of the story. We can spend hours and hours reading. The English teacher in me wants to argue that reading is important for a lot of reasons; specifically, helping improve information literacy, understanding important elements of literature, developing critical thinking skills, and so many more. Although I agree with all of these reasons, I think there is more. We should read to lose o...

In my eyes, my grandma is the most wonderful human on the planet. Today was her birthday and I am using it as an opportunity to express my love for her.  As you can tell, my grandma is one of my favorite people ever. Not only does she make AMAZING french toast, but she makes it for me every time I come home, and then she just listens to me ramble on and on about my life while I gobble it all up. She has been making this french toast for years and it has never changed, and neither has she. She is the greatest listener of all time and she also offers great advice. However, she gives advice in a way different from most people because she's not telling me how to live my life; she is simply offering suggestions and they are so wise I usually have to take it. I have learned countless life lessons from her and I am so blessed to have had her by my side no matter what I am going through.  Although she gives me great verbal advice, she also sets an example for me by the way she ...

This past week was our Spring Break and I was lucky enough to spend it with a wonderful group of people on a Habitat for Humanity trip to La Porte, TX. This trip was an amazing experience and it taught me some valuable lessons about life. The first thing I learned is what happens to a random collection of people when you throw them together on a bus for 25 hours, make them sleep in the same space, and force them to build a house together. All of these things might sound like they would make a person go crazy, but the reality is that it creates a bond that lasts forever. Our entire group came from different parts of campus and we did not know each other well before the trip, but I can assure you that this group of people now has a secret language that definitely corresponds to late night games of Charades. And I can tell you with certainty that we learned things about each other that we may not have ever cared to learn (IBS). There were also countless hours of laughter, followed by ...