Learning to Live

If you know me at all, you know that I have A LOT of feelings. ALL of the time. I'm genuinely a pretty happy person, but sometimes I get sad or mad or frustrate and it overwhelms me. Here's a poem by Rupi Kaur that describes me to a T: When I read this poem it really resonated with me. I don't know what it feels like to live a balanced life. I'm happy and then I'm sad. And it changes SO fast.  I cried every single day last week. Sometimes they were tears of happiness, sometimes they were sad, and sometimes they were just tears of being overwhelmed. A student saw me after a lunchtime meltdown and asked if I was okay. "Yeah, I'm okay!" "Well, your mascara is not okay." And then he gave me a hug and chatted with me and suddenly the moment where I thought I couldn't do it all anymore passed and I was okay. I'm emotional and my students know this. Thankfully they are understand how vulnerable I am and they are kind about it. ...

Lately I have been trying to determine if the word "overwhelmed" has a negative connotation or a positive one. I think it started when my brother told me I have an "overwhelming" personality. I'm not arguing with him, I know I can be overwhelming. I just wonder if that's good or bad. Dictionary.com gives us the following definitions: 1. to   overcome   completely   in   mind   or   feeling: overwhelmed by remorse. 2. to   overpower   or   overcome,   especially   with   superior   forces;   destroy; crush: Roman   troops   were   overwhelmed   by   barbarians. 3.  to   cover   or   bury   beneath   a   mass   of   something,   as   floodwaters,   debris, or   an   avalanche;   submerge: Lava   from   erupting   Vesuvius   overwhelmed   the   city   of   Pompeii. ...

"Miss, sometimes you try too hard." I didn't really have a response for this student because I was trying to decide if it was a compliment or an insult. And what exactly he was trying to say... "Sometimes you try too hard to get us to like you." "Sometimes you try too hard to make us learn." "Sometimes you try too hard to make your class fun." "Sometimes you try too hard to make us think about the world around us." Well, I'm sorry if my students think that any of those are a bad thing. And I'm sorry if at this point in my life I pour my heart and soul into being a good teacher. But my apology is only for one person really- myself. My student was right. Sometimes I do try too hard. I'm trying my best to beat my best every day of my life. And not just with teaching. I'm trying hard to beat my best in every aspect of my life: teaching, running, exercise in general, relationships, writing, reading. I wake up...

I can't believe that 2015 is already over. It seems like just yesterday that I was struggling to remember to write 2015 on my checks in mid-March. I think the more that happens in one year, the faster it goes. Or maybe it always goes fast. Maybe life never slows down. Meh. I could talk about that all day and never get anywhere, so instead I'll just reflect on this crazy beautiful life and hope that it continues to stay that way- even if it does go by too quickly. Here's a list of my 2015 in number format (Thanks Kate Bjelde for this awesome idea!) Countries: 5 I finally got to put my Christmas gift from last year to good use! My passport now has several more stamps in it (and even a Work Visa!) than it did last year at this time. I was fortunate enough to visit Italy, Croatia, Germany, Greece, and Mexico! My travels have taught me that there is so much that this world has to offer us and it's up to us to take advantage of it. Flights: 18 For a girl who was ter...

I've been in Mexico for about a month and a half now and this week I had the chance to celebrate Mexico's Independence Day. It was mostly exciting because we had a day off of school, but it was also pretty cool to see people so excited about their culture. On September 15th the students had a short day so they could have a pep rally of sorts and it was honestly chaos to watch them all scream "VIVA MEXICO" at the top of their lungs while student council threw out candy. Definitely an interesting scene. But for me, the coolest part of the day came later when a few friends and I were out for drinks. The conversation had been all over the place, but somehow we ended up discussing how we all made it to CAT and Torreon. My friend Paola is actually from Mexico, but she had been teaching at a school in Cancun before she came here. She made a really good point that sums up why we are all here I think. Even though it would be easy to live in the same place forever and teach...

I have officially been a real teacher for a week and a half and it's everything I thought it would be, but it's also different than I ever could have expected. My students are wonderful. They are kind and intelligent and funny! And they are also sneaky... Just last week they tricked me into telling them how old I was by asking how old I was when 9/11 happened. And then they did the math. And realized I'm not much older than they are, "Miss, your outfit makes you look older, but you still seem very young. Are you 17?" For those who don't know, I am teaching 10th grade Composition and Ethics. I have two sections of Composition and three sections of Ethics this semester. My schedule is chaotic and different every day, but I get to spend the entire day working with 15 and 16 year olds and to be honest, it's pretty awesome. It's so fun to teach them about the world around them and hear what they have to say about life.  I love teaching Compositio...

Life has been too crazy to document on my blog for the past few months, but here is a quick recap: -Graduated from college in May with a degree in Communication Arts and Literature Education (Quite the mouthful) -I turned 22 (And my friends threw me an awesome surprise party-- I cried.) -I ran a marathon (I think I blogged about that, but I still like to say it as much as possible.) -I traveled Europe (Italy, Croatia, and Greece) with one of my best friends (This warrants a post of its own, but like I said, life has been busy!) -I had one of the best summers yet! -I moved to Mexico and started my first big girl job! The last one is probably the biggest thing in life right now- for obvious reasons. The months between signing my contract and actually moving down here were a rollercoaster of emotions. I would go from anxiety to excitement in a matter of minutes. Huge thank you to anyone who talked to me during one of these rollercoaster moments (mostly looking at you, Wendy!) bec...