Professional Chaperone

Twelve months ago I was frantically making Frappucinos (which is much more difficult than it looks) and now I am trying to figure out how to live out of a suitcase for a month in Texas. If you have any ideas on that, by the way, please send them my way! Knowing my tendency to over-pack for weekend trips, I’m definitely going to need some guidance on how to operate hundreds of miles from home with only two different pairs of shoes in 100 degree weather. The next month or so has my mind pretty occupied at the moment, but what comes after is also giving me a little anxiety. This is the time where I have to start making decisions, whether it is to actually go with my degree and find a teaching job at the conclusion of next year vs try out grad school and send out some applications.

Contrary to what I had myself convinced of earlier this year, I’m excited to come back in the fall and finish up my time at Everett. There are a ton of things I’m going to do differently, but I think wisdom and experience will work in my favor this time around. And when I say wisdom and experience, I’m talking some failures and mistakes I made during round 1 of college advising which I will not be doing again in the final year. It’s unfortunate that we only have 2 years to work in a school and implement change … in my case, it took a while to make sense of the ever-changing structure of our school, get to know the students, and then figure out what was truly needed in terms of creating a college-going culture and access.

The big successes of this year were taking college trips, classroom presentations, and working closely with individual students. I’d like to do a lot more with all students next year, meaning assemblies, information nights, and SAT prep Saturdays. Another thing I’m also considering implementing is a monthly newsletter given to all the students during their advisory period. Online ventures have been less than successful here, so a published, bendable, foldable, tangible paper pamphlet will give seniors and juniors updates on what they should be doing during that month, list student acceptances as we’re notified, and also contain upcoming event information about Guidance Office happenings. It’d be great to figure out how to get the Everett community more involved on the interweb, so perhaps I will be exploring that as well.

Back to the present: our school is going to be under some hefty construction and asbestos (sp?) removal this summer (glad I’ve been breathing that in for a solid 8 months) and so I have to get all of my stuff out by the end of next week because we will not, I repeat, WILL NOT be allowed back in until August. It’s been difficult to work under the consistently inconsistent conditions of Everett, whether the changes are administrative or concrete to the building… something is always amiss! Sooooo, it seems as though I have to pack for TX and also pack for my entire working summer. No big deal, except that I do happen to be the worst packer of all time, aforementioned in the first paragraph of this rambling session. I guess the question is, to remove the Ryan Gosling Valentines Day tribute, or keep the RG Vday tribute and hope it is there when I return???? Of course, we’ll also be leaving the office officially come December because of construction. Another fun event… I love packing. It’s totally my fave thing of all time.

I leave you with these pictures from the Baltimore field trip… any ideas on how to be a professional chaperone? Trying to figure this one out for a while now.

Decision Day/Week

10th grade Jeopardy, Alumni panel event, Pitt/La Roche trip, and the big event: Dday! 

 

The Mayonnaise Jar + Two Cups of Coffee

Here’s a story I found via the interweb that I feel is appropriate for graduation season… 

When things in your lives seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else–the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”

Twenty-somethings

This serves more as a note to myself than anything, but maybe other people will find it interesting as well (thanks to Kevin’s kick-off-the-week email).

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

“The unlived life is not worth examining.” – Sheldon Kopp

When do we stop examining and just start living? And when should we pause to begin examining what we’ve done? Overanalyzing can leave you paralyzed, but living without reflection leaves you no direction or insight. I’m guessing the best way to go about life, no matter what your age, is to find that happy medium. Everything in moderation?

… How about those Flyers?

Pennsylvania Career Guide

What I learned from Pennsylvania’s Career Guide:

• Traditional skilled trades, such as auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians, and dental hygienists will still be in demand in the future.
• Skilled jobs requiring less than a bachelor’s degree comprise almost half of today’s job market.
• Pennsylvania is the “Mushroom Capital of the World” – producing 60% of the total mushroom sales in the nation.
• On average, workers will change jobs about seven times during their careers. Nearly 80% of all jobs require some sort of postsecondary training.
• Nearly 200,000 people work in the manufacturing industry in PA (welding, die makers, machinists, computer-controlled machine tool operators, industrial machinery mechanics, etc)- you can expect to see 2,600 job openings for this field each year.
• The odds of being a professional ice hockey player are 1 in 1,100.
• The total annual openings for Fashion Designers in PA are 9.
• The total annual openings for Psychiatrists in PA are 41.
• “One of the biggest misconceptions about green jobs is that if you are
  trained to do a job in this sector you are losing out on the training for more
  traditional jobs. This simply is not the case. The overwhelming majority of
  green jobs are similar to traditional jobs, but with the addition of a special
  work component or additional skill set. It is for this reason that pursing a
  career in a green job will make you a stronger candidate for employment,
  now and in the future, than someone without the specialized training.”

Don’t Call It A Comeback.

It’s been ages… officially the worst blogger ever, but when life hands you stuff to do, you do it and don’t ask questions. You “say yes”, if you will (words I will probably never live down). Glad that catastrophe is behind me and we can move forward onto bigger and better things, like a recap of Marine Corps Educator Week 2012 on Parris Island.

The Marine Corps is the most selective branch out of all of the United States Armed Forces, enlisting only an average of 1,500 recruits a year. Compare this to the army, who enlists thousands upon thousands of people per year – the selectivity speaks for itself. Marines are a rare breed and for good reason… why, you ask? Well let me tell you about my experience on Parris Island while attending Marine Corps Educator Week and I think you’ll be able to answer that question yourself.

Day 1 – We arrive and are debriefed at dinner after our travels. I’m pleased as punch to find myself with a nice roommate and a beautiful view of palmettos and “wetlands”. What’s even better is that we were served peach cobbler on the first evening… I wanted to get a taste of some delicious Georgia peaches while I was in the area, so mission accomplished! After dinner, we were shown what appeared to be a promotional video of sorts all about the Marine Corps. It went through the different aspects of being a marine, from training to service to job opportunities, and pretty much made me want to sign up. Clearly, I regained my sensibilities and did not do such a thing, but they sure know how to talk a good game. Which brings me to the first learning experience I had during our trip: one of the commanding generals (keep in mind that I could be mixing up the rank/titles of people, so just take it for what it is) asked the guidance counselors what they say to a student who tells them they want to be a marine. There were a few answers, from “Have you looked at any colleges instead?” to “Why do you want to do this?”, but he felt the best thing to do was to ask two questions:

1.Do your parents know that you’ve been looking into the military?

2.Have you spoken to the other branches at all?

He felt very strongly about encouraging students to talk to EVERY branch, from Navy to Army to Coast Guard, in order to ensure the student is making the most educated decision they possibly can in terms of exploring opportunities and benefits. Already, one of my preconceptions about the Marines had been challenged – I always thought they were starved for recruits and would take anyone who showed the least bit of interest in their program. Welp, I was wrong.

Day 2- Wake up call at 4:45 AM… do people (besides Starbucks baristas) really wake up this early? I struggled my semi concious and not nearly close to coherent self through a shower and breakfast, and then boarded the bus to Parris Island. At this point, I realize there are to-go cups available for coffee, and my decaffeinated self curses my inability to be observant at 5:15 AM.  The trip takes about twenty minutes and upon our arrival, we are asked whether or not we want to “fully participate” in the yellow footprints experience. Most of us agree, and with our consent, we are then ushered off the bus, yelled at to sprint to the rows of yellow footprints in front of us, and then ordered to be silent. Once we all find a pair to place our feet upon, drill instructors materalize from within the darkness (again, this is 6 AM, if you know me at all it’s pretty apparent that I don’t function normally until around 7:30 AM at the earliest, and thus it appeared as though they came out of nowhere) and begin yelling at us. What were they yelling? I have no idea because I couldn’t understand a single thing they said. This is what I will refer to as dilemma #1.

…to be continued…

Defending America…

One strong helping hand at a time. Stay tuned folks!!!