…and the semester has become extremely crazy! I scarcely have a moment to breathe, let alone look up graduate schools. I’m thinking I want to go for Library Sciences…. or eve a dual degree in Libary Sciences and English.

I’m over halfway through my observations (or field experience, as Professor LoMonico prefers to call it)l at high schools. My classmate and I carpool together. We do about five periods per visit… and if my calculations are correct, only three more left!

The class affiliated with the observations is insane- it provides far more work than my other three combined! I have a 5-day lesson plan, for instance- that’s going to take a while to finish.

American Lit: Paper draft due!

African-American Poetry: Reaction paper? I have to double-check on that. I’m still waiting for our first graded paper to come back.

Russian Lit: I have to finish Dostoyevsky’s The Gambler and read Winter Notes on Summer Impressions- we have a quiz coming up. Rereading dostoyevsky’s short story “Peasant Marey might be a good idea too….

The class I TA has a paper due Monday so I have lots of grading to look forward to. I’ve done a bunch of quizzes but this is my first actual paper. Exciting! Good practice for future teaching.

I finally got notified about my fee reduction for the GRE- I got it! That means I “only” have to pay 70 as opposed to 140. 70 is still a lot. My bank account is starving to death.I do not know what Im gonig to do come tax time. I have to warn you all that the federal and state governments for some strange reason only they understand regard academic scholarships as “income.” I wonder how people without jobs handle the hard hit of taxes?

This is the first weekend I’ve been on campus in about a month- yet none of those weekends were spend at home! Also, funnily enough, there was another blogger aside from myself present at both trips. Kaitlin was at the BASIC retreat in Syracuse, and Tia attended the FSA retreat. I’m supposed to have a Statesman artile about it coming out Monday. Either Tia or one of her fellow Stony Brook Press writers are writing their own version of the article. The Glen Cove Mansion was beautiful- I spent Saturday morning before breakfast exploring the grounds and taking pictures.,

Anyway speaking of hard financial hits… time to register for the GREs so I can get them done and start applying to grad schools.

I’ve discovered that freerice.com is a really good vocabulary study tool for the GRE, I don’t know if the rice is really donated, but regardless learning new words definitely has never hurt anybody! For those who do not know- not whollly impossible, considering I myself did not know about their existence until after I’d already started college- the GRE is basically the college version of the SATs, complete with verbal, math, and writing. I have to review math because I have not taken a math class since my freshman year, and am thus rusty in certain areas- especially geometry! I recall that was the bit of math that troubled me the most in high school, because it was not highly emphasized by the Sequential I, II, and III teachers. The Sequential was the form math took before Math A and B… in fact, the acceletated students of the Class of 2005 were the last Sequentials before it changed over to math A and B! We took a Regents every year.

Target updates: I got trained in the clothing area yesterday and Food Avenue today- I’ll be a ot more versatile when I return to the Riverhead Target Thanksgiving recess than I was when I left! The bike ride to work today taught me an important lesson: wear black pants when it rains and change when I get to Target. My khakis were covered in mud. Not fun! I turned in about five cameras last week… i’m sure my pictures are ready, but I cannot afford to pay for over 100 developed photos and CDs at present. I missed a lot of work the past 2 weekends, so I have to wait for a paycheck that has more than 60 dollars to pay for them! It’ll certainly be interesting making a slideshow for my (September 13) birthday photos, Salem, BASIC, and the SFS retreat belatedly! At least I have the landscape photos from my digital camera. I wonder if there will be any really cheap cameras Black Friday? I won’t have time to look though because I’m pretty sure Target will want me to work forever that day- it’s a nightmare for retail employees! This is my first time doing retail Black Friday.

My current digital camera takes pretty dreadful indoor photos. I might even have an example to produce when I finally find a few moments to make a slideshow. Loads of pretty landscape… and a very dark photo from an attempt to photograph President Shirley Strum Kenny- she’s a black shadow and th surroundings are dark and impossible to make out and just plain bad. The flashbulb does nothing.

XC/track update: I’m back in speedwork, and a normal running schedule in general! However, my times are pretty bad compared to last year in speedwork… I’ve started a very strict strengthening regimen on my own in an effort to help get faster! There’s a very strong sense of urgency because indoor track commences in December. I don’t want my times to be dramatically slower! I want to go out with a bang, not a burnout!

I ought to sleep because I have a 10 mile run in the morning, then Target, then grocery shopping with my suitemate, then my weekly geeking out via Dungeons and Dragons with my friends! I’m the DM, so I’m the one that creates the story. Our group is rapidly growing in number- two new people joined last week and one more is coming tomorrow! I’m getting up 8:15 so I can get all this done. I no longer remember what it is like to be able to sleep until noon… I never could even during the summer vacation.

So thanks to Professor LoMonico of EGL440 (Technology and Performance in the Classroom, also known as Methods II), I did an assignment that involved downloading and using Photo Story 3. As though I needed another means of procrastination! I ended up not only doing a story for what few Salem photos I have thus far- a lot of them are on a disposable camera that I need to get developed- but the Botanical Gardens trip mentioned in an earlier entry!

This is the Botanical Gardens video. I used a song by Within Temptation for it. Most people I know have never heard of that band, but I think their music is pretty. I discover a LOT of new artists using Lst.fm. On that site, you can enter a band they like and they play similar artists. One of my friends from the Library Club got me into a bunch of foreign music, so that right there was discovering new bands- and then I learned more!

Germany has some excellent music. So does Holland, as attested by Within Temptation. I believe I found out about them through the German band BlutEngel.

I digress. Here’s the Salem video:

In other news… I got accepted for student teaching next semester, and the FSA retreat! Something to blog about!

I also sent out my GRE registration today, complete with a fee waiver. I need to start studying… my suitemate might take it the same day as me.

And now, bed. I have to get up 5:30 for field experience! I’m really impressed with you high schoolers for doing this daily, and I’m amazed that I ever managed it.

I’m back! Salem was a lot of fun. I’ll give you a lot more information in my next post, when I do not have a mountain of work due the next day, but just wanted to say that it was as fun as I remember it last year! The main downside was that my group bad the worst possible luck with the entirety of the weekend. Seriously. All the other groups found spots even in Boston and Salem’s abysmal parking setups within ten hours, but my group kept finding ourselves circling around for over an hour!

I have a paper due tomorrow, as well as Field Experience… just finished my video project! I’ve posted it to youtube as well as my class portfolio. I’ll show you the sort of technology thing you might get assigned- I just hope my voice isn’t as bad recorded as I think it is!

For this project for Methods of English Instruction II, I read a passage from Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon, a tale of King Arthur told from the perspective of the women: Guinivere, Morgaine, Morgause, Igraine, and the like.

Off to bang out this paper for my African American Poetry class!

So, the Library Club leaves for Salem tomorrow, and I am ridiculously excited. Classes will probably seem to drag excruciatingly, but at least there is only two to be had- then my mother will be bringing me a paycheck from the library and we’ll enjoy a nice, tasty meal at Friendlys

Not going to lie, though… I’d rather we went elsewhere. Riverhead has a Friendlys, right by the infamous traffic circle! We don’t have a John Harvards, or a Cheesecake Factory, or a Red Lobster, or a Ruby Tuesday, or a Chilis, or a Green Cactus or Station Pizza, or a diner worth mentioning,,, why can’t we go to one of those, I wonder? I sometimes think she really needs to try new things. I’m constantly at either Friendlys or Applebees when I’m home- incidentially my friends and I were getting twofers at the latter last night-, because that’s all we have… the last place I want to go in Stony Brook is those two restaurants! I’ve never been muchof a creature of habit.

So those’ll kill time… I just have to pack. And figure out when on earth I’m going to do a 6-miler among all that.

So this has been a rather interesting week so far! Here’s why:

• I finally started working again, at the Target near campus! Huge relief considering my bank account is rather like a starving prson at the moment… lots taken out of it with nothing added! I worked 4 and 3/4 hours. I had this huge scare with almost losing my cell, but a little kid found it and his mommy turned it in. Seriously, I was restraining a bit of a panic considering how much of a pain it is to track down people and find numbers… I’m actually proud of myself for acting normal and excited about the new job and everything.The people at the Target Greatland seem really nice. You know… I’m still trying to figure out the difference between 347’s Target Greatland and my hometown Riverhead’s regular one… all I can discern is that theirs can hold two of mine. The breakroom is huge… I’m surprised my dropping jaw didn’t crack the floor! More fridges, more vending machines… Food Ave includes a Pizza Hut Express, which is another major difference… there’s about a zillion registers… well, if Greatland means it’s waaaay bigger… I just know that the Supertargets (never seen one; only know they exist from when I applied) have a bakery (YUM! I have this huge fondness for baked goods) and sell produce.
• I began field experience for Methods II of English Ed. I got up at 5:30 (how did I ever manage it in high school? I thought I was dying!) and my classmate and I drove to Huntington. We had some rotten luck with traffic lights, but the prettiness of downtown Huntington was worth it. I met some interesting teachers, and came very close to hitting the ATM just so I could try some of the delicious-looking salad bar in the faculty cafeteria. However, I’d brought a sandwich: buttertop wheat bread from Pathmark (my suitemate, two friends, and myself got groceries the other day before the Library Club party), peanut butter… and this delicious boysenberry jam from Trader Joes. I’ve never had actual boysenberries… just the jam. This sounds absurd, but when boysenberry was mentioned in the
  Pixar movie A Bug’s Life, I always thought it was poisonberry! It was good… too bad I was hungry again by my 2:20 class… breakfast 5:30, lunch 10:30… second lunch 2:20….
• My run was pretty nice today. I actually registered at 9 miles per hour going past the speed radar by Kelly Quad on my round about Circle Road! That was elating… just 2 weeks ago, it was six. Perhaps I might be on comeback from my various injuries at last! I’m down to only having to do rehab in the training room wice a week, which is a tremendous relief considering how hectic things are getting. *knock on wood* Here’s to an injury free senior year after the rocky preseason… *raises invisible glass*
• My student teaching application’s very nearly done! I have the athletic advisor looking it over… must pay her a visit tomorrow.
• Must call club lacrosse team members for a Statesman article. I’m starting a feature called “Club of the Week”… keep an eye out! Current students, leave me a note if you have a club to recommend… and here’s my most recent article.

I’m sure there’s loads more to write.. it’s hovering at the edge of my brain.. but as it is midnight, I’ve been up for over 18 hours. I’m going to pay a visit to the pillows and comforter and sheets, and hoping the tower of laundry does not tumble onto my head. I have a ridiculous amount of clothes. I will need to do laundry soon, though… or perhaps I’ll just buy more socks, haha. I’ve plenty of shirts and jeans left.

Well, my roommate appears to be going to sleep… I’ll do the same. I have to get up early though, to study for my Russian Lit uiz. I’ve also got my American Lit paper to revise, African American poetry to start… welcome to midterms season! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Seriously… it’s October already? September was FAST. One blink of an eye and it faded to the wind, like a piece of dandelion fluff in the breeze.

I’m excited about October for 2 *HUGE* reasons:
~Halloween! Tied with Christmas for favorite holiday! I love the whole ghost/witch/horror film/candy aspect of Halloween, and the giving spirit of christmas… I enjoy buying my friends’ presents to know end! Thinking through what to get them very hard… the rewarding excitement on their part- so worth the underweight wallet! =)
~SALEM! It’s a Library Club tradition that does not appear to stop with graduation! LC’s one of those clubs where the bonds of friendship are forged hard as steel- in fact, we just had a gathering at an alum’s Brooklyn apartment- my predecessor as president! We went to the Botanical Gardens for their Chili Festival, where I was nearly overcome by this one sample that was SO sizzling hot that I felt like I had just taken a spoonful of sulphuric acid , then ordered pizza and played Rock Band and enjoyed our time hanging out with the rest of the LCers.

Leaving Botanical Gardens

Time flies when you’re having fun- and when extremely busy. Between papers, working on my student teaching application, friends visiting, clubs…. everything’s been insane beyond belief! I cannt begin to describe what a reprieve yesterday and today is- although I’m working12 hours at my hometown library both days. Speaking of my library… it seems my break’s over! Meaning… Back to shelving in the 700s for Cher!

During my lunch, I did some reading for my Russian Lit class. Russians from the 1800s definitely seem to write very different than say, the British! They’re very detail oriented and seem to pay special attention to facial expressions/hues and the movement of the hands. Pushkin and his poetry… Lermontov’s Hero of our time… I find myself occasionally getting lost in the details of the story.

All right… back to doing my job. I’ll just close with a picture taken outside the Wang Center. Yes, I make silly faces in pictures for fun.

As I wind down before bed, I am browsing the internet searching for graduate schools. It’s hard to fathom; it feels as though I was just a high school student endeavoring to figure out where to go to school

I must confess, I was far more eager to start college than I am to leave. College is the bridge between the teenage years and the rest of my life.
Leaving means facing adulthood. I have about sixty years left of my life, on average- what if those sixty years were all the same? How tedious that would be! Same job? Would I enjoy any job for several decades? Am I making the right choices? It feels as though I were on a walk in a much larger forest than that little patch of woods behind West Apartments, or the hopital, or by Roth, or the Tabler Trails, and I drew near to a trail with many forks. Not just two or three. Many.

To make a science analogy… yes, I’m sure quite an astonishing action from an English major- You know how the aorta comes from the heart, splits off into smaller arteries, which then become even smaller ones, and ultimately capillaries? Well, I’m at the end of one of those blood vessels facing a large number of capillaries.

I crave adventure and excitement in my job. I want to see the world. I want to help people. I do not ever want to become one of those unhappy adults that feels stuck and trapped, ensnared in monotony, only looking forward to retirement so they can escape.

I need to stop being picky. I doubt there is a single job out there that fulfills all of my requirements. To be honest with myself… and something high schoolers endeavoring to select a major will wish to heed… prioritizing is of the essence.

I LOVED science labs in high school. I started off undeclared and certainly I would be involved in the sciences. Marine science! Biology! Biochem! Genetics!

…I am now an English Education major.

I love sciences, but the isolation aspect and the thought of being locked up in a lab praying to God I discover something useful does not appeal to me.

I’m writing a book. I’m up to chapter 7. Perhaps 8. On paper. On my laptop? Five. Six is in progress. I mainly jot things down and write out scenes on long bus or ferry rides, such as if I have a meet, or I’m traveling between Stony Brook and Riverhead as I did this weekend. That’s a hike. On bus from the campus to Smith Haven, another to Riverhead Railroad Station, a third to my home, which is more Aquebogue than Riverhead.

My town has a very large land area. Lots of farms. Lots of newly built developments. I moved to Riverhead 15 years ago, and it was all farms. We now have more stores, but at the cost of our Main Street. When chains came in, Main Street died. I heard that in a friend’s hometown, Sag Harbor, the residents are putting up a valiant fight. Much like some of ours. However, unfortunately, a lot of the adults of several years ago, when I was thirteen and couldn’t care less about politics, were complacent. They assumed the Town Board would uphold our tradition and identity.

Wrong. They sold out, and chains came to Riverhead. Furthermore, they did nothing to ensure that Main Street merchants would not be devoured by big businesses.

Stony Brook has chains on 347. There’s also a very picturesque Main Street. Port Jeff? Same deal.

I’m not sure what Brookhaven Town did to ensure that there could be both family-owned businesses and gigantic, ugly chains, but it seems they deserve a resounding round of applause. Excellent job. You look much better than my hometown =(

Digression number 3! My AP English teacher in 12th grade had one main criticism of my essays: I tended to fly off track and not have any obvious thesis. She said it was not a bad thing, but essays are more concise when your writing is not flying off in 20 different directions. “It’s great… you can see connections where nobody else can… but on the downside, your thoughts seem far less organized.”

Speaking of APs… Stony Brook is very generous with awarding credits for them if you do well on the exams. Credit-wise, I had sophomore standing.. and APs are the reason I’m graduating in 4 years even though I changed my academic track several times!

Study hard for those tests in May. =)

Uh oh, digression number 35345 in my life!

Anyway, chosen path for my undergraduate years…

In teaching English, I’ll KNOW that I’m helping students… or at least, trying my very best.

I hope I get a district with many low income students. Students that may think they can never possibly get to college. I used to think that. I was proved wrong. Luck and hard work combined to result in my comnig here. It’s a long, complex story that I shall not divulge here- everyone has one of those- but needless to say, I made it to senior year. And best of all? I’m not in debt.

Do your FAFSAs when it is January first. There’s no harm. The worst that can happen? You get no financial aid. The best? Lots of it, as I received!

Even if you think your parents make too much, fill out a FAFSA. There was no question that I fell way below the poverty line, but if your family has any financial difficulty whatsoever- do a FAFSA

.~*~*~*~

Back from the digression… as to my agonizing over senior year… honestly, I feel for seniors everywhere, high school or college. You’re perched happily at the top of a ladder, but you know subconsciously that in less than a year, you’ll be right back at the bottom of the pecking-order.

I feel teaching English is the best for me. I’ll certainly be helping people.

I really want to be an author. However, in case nobody ever purchases any potential novels of the future such as the fanasy one I’ve currently got going, I shall need a steadier source of income. I like learning new languages. I like literature, and writing. I love theater and films. I like drawing, although I’m pretty bad at it. I like photography… scratchboards… studying the evolution of languages…

I heard of a major called philology today that I could look into for grad school. I was beside myself with enthusiam. It basically involves linguistics and literature. Together. I can sometimes learn other languages with it.

PERFECT! Double that with library sciences, and there’s the entire agony of limiting myself to one thing, completely eradicated!

Next step.. find a school that offers both and allows for double majors in grad school.. is that possible? I hope?

GAH I feel so clueless! I guess that comes with the territory of being the first in one’s family to even do undergraduate?

And… does graduate have scholarship sort of deals as does undergrad, or do I have tens of thousands of dollars of debt to look forward to?

*scary thought*

Oh, and here’s a picture of me from last week with some friends celebrating my birthday! =)

And from a few weeks ago… Seawolves Invitational! Here’s me and some other injured athletes!

Well, it has certainly been a busy week.

Wonderful world of exrracurriculars
BASIC had its first meeting on Monday. A whole bunch of new students turned up, which was pretty nice. We lost a lot of people to graduation last year- more than usual., and a lot of them were student leaders. However, it always seems that there are new to replace the old. As our advisor Gene put it, we are in a state of transition. I’m actually going to be more active myself. I have always attended the meetings, but now I’m the “Flier Coordinator”. It will be interesting being in charge of one of the aspects of the club. I basically go all over campus hanging fliers where they are permitted for student clubs, and recruit members to help me out. I’m a rather shy person when not around my friends, so this will help me out in leadership and seeking help when I need it.

Statemsan: I covered an event during Campus Lifetime called “Guess the Straight Person” and wrote an article for it. Deadlines are definitely a crunch, but I made it! I found the event to be very interesting- several panelists went up and answered a wide array of questions posed by students, and then the audience had to figure out the orientation of the panelists. The one word I would use to describe the event is “illuminating”. There were a lot of stereotypes brought up that I did not even know existed! I hope that some of the students who only went for the free food came out having learned that you should never try to put people into a box- labels are for boxes, not people!

The article can be found on the Statesman website.

I also did some photography for the article on gas prices as well as the one I wrote. Neither photo made it into the printed edition, but they can be found online.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but there are several papers on campus- the Stony Brook Press, the Patriot, Blackworld, the Independent, the Statesman, and possibly some others. Among all of these, there is guaranteed to be a little something for everyone, and each paper has its own distinct personality. Some even tend to be oriented for certain groups. Politically aligned as liberal? Go for the Press. If you tend to take a conservative stance, the Patriot is a good choice. Don’t like to waste paper? The Independent is online. Blackworld is an excellent choice for African-American students, and those who prefer a paper that is smaller in size, but comes out more frequently, will like the Statesman.

Life in English Education

I acquired some new technological experience with my Methods II class, which centers on using technology as a learning tool as well as a performance-based curriculum in teaching Shakespeare. I’ve forgiven my professor for saying that we absolutely HAVE to use the version of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Midsummer Night’s Dream that he wanted, because there are some very interesting and useful ideas for lessons with future students. We use this site called Chinswing.com, and post discussions about the various Shakespeare plays, why we find various lesson ideas so useful, and listen to our classmates’ ideas. I must confess, I’m not overfond of recording my voice and having others hear my recorded voice- I feel I sound foolish- but I certainly see the usefulness of the tool.

I just saw a notice about student teaching applications for the spring, and felt my face go pale as it hit me- I’m a SENIOR. I’m nearing one of the biggest transitions of my life, one of far greater magnitude than even high school. It’s hard to fathom. I’m both extremely excited and extremely frightened. I’m right at the top of the ladder as a senior, but soon I’ll be the base of the ladder in the real world. That’s life for you- cyclical, ups and downs, tops and bottoms.

Student teaching… I hope it will be feasible for me to do a city school. Some tell me I’m crazy, that city schools are dangerous or bad for students, that the students are all “high risk” and that I will be taking undue and undeserved stress and other such shortsighted notions that I choose to ignore. I grew up poor, and look where I am- senior year in college! I hardly count myself as unsuccessful, nor unhappy. I want these so-called “high risk” students to know there is hope. There is always help, and resources out there if you know where to look. I’m in a very good position, in fact, I think I’m a very blessed woman- thanks to scholarships and FAFSA money, I have yet to be in debt. I have never taken out a student loan. My family could never have paid for school out-of-pocket- and we never needed to.

Weekend
This was my birthday weekend. One of my good friends also had her birthday, (Same day as mine!). We therefore doubled together- last year we did not know each other in spite of having a lot of mutual friends, so our celebrations were competitors. It was certainly a greater success for us both now that we know each other! We had a barbecue at my friend’s home just off-campus and then our friends relaxed and socialized in my common room back on campus.

Yesterday, I took the train from the station (on campus!) to New York City. I shopped, had a great lunch in Manhattan and a rather subpar dinner in Queens (Extremely overpriced buffet, poor food, impolite waitstaff), enjoyed the company of good friends, and then my “Birthday Twin” and I had the third part of the dual celebration at a karaoke bar near her Brooklyn home.

Today: Cross-country practice, lunch with some friends in Kelly Cafeteria, school work and blogging. But now? There’s a welcome back barbecue for student athletes, and I am HUNGRY!

Best of British luck in all! (I love that term, even though I am not British. My favorite authors all are.)

Heyhey! I’m Cher, and I’m a senior at Stony Brook! I study English and Secondary Education. Of course, you know that from the sidebar anyways. =o) What you don’t know is that if I had the time, I’d throw in linguistics, anthropology, medieval studies, and a few languages. I LOVE learning new languages.

My greatest, highest aspirations are to be a best-seller author and an Olympic racewalker. I also want to help make the world a better place. Naturally, I’m a long way from both, but hey, a chick can dream, right? Who knows? Maybe in a few years, if I work hard enough… everyone needs the dreams serving as the utmost pinnacle of all they can accomplish, I think.

I’m glad you’re thinking of coming here. This is a pretty good school, although I must confess that it was not my first choice- University of Rochester was at the time. However, I came to enjoy being here. It’s much closer to my home so my mom can come visit me and I can go back out to the East End when I miss it for a night if I can grab a moment. However, I have found so many niches and things to do that almost never happen. There’s loads of clubs and ways to be super-involved.

The key? Time management. You’ve heard that before, but it’s true.

Anyhow, I’m glad to be a blogger. I thought it would be a cool thing to do; I’ve blogged since ninth grade (seven years ago!) when I posted all of my 14-year-old concerns. Now I turn 22 Saturday… you’ll find time speeds up as you get older, and I’m sure it will only go faster and faster! I’ve been told so by my friends who are grad students and beyond.

Another thing with college… you’ll find that the age range of your friends expands by a lot. I have friends ranging from 16-year-old coworkers at Target to people in their 30s, whereas in high school my youngest friend was 3 years younger and oldest was three years older.

I’d write some more, but I have to get up for cross-country practice and taking some photographs for the Stony Brook Statesman, one of several papers on campus. I’ve also got an event to cover during Campus Lifetime (the 12:50-2:10 time slot on Wednesdays), two classes, TAing, and perhaps a Science Fiction Forum meeting and diner run as well. I’ll update some more quite soon!

~*~Cher~*~

Well, it has certainly been a busy week.

Wonderful world of extracurriculars
BASIC had its first meeting on Monday. A whole bunch of new students turned up, which was pretty nice. We lost a lot of people to graduation last year- more than usual., and a lot of them were student leaders. However, it always seems that there are new to replace the old. As our advisor Gene put it, we are in a state of transition. I’m actually going to be more active myself. I have always attended the meetings, but now I’m the “Flier Coordinator”. It will be interesting being in charge of one of the aspects of the club. I basically go all over campus hanging fliers where they are permitted for student clubs, and recruit members to help me out. I’m a rather shy person when not around my friends, so this will help me out in leadership and seeking help when I need it.

Statemsan: I covered an event during Campus Lifetime called “Guess the Straight Person” and wrote an article for it. Deadlines are definitely a crunch, but I made it! I found the event to be very interesting- several panelists went up and answered a wide array of questions posed by students, and then the audience had to figure out the orientation of the panelists. The one word I would use to describe the event is “illuminating”. There were a lot of stereotypes brought up that I did not even know existed! I hope that some of the students who only went for the free food came out having learned that you should never try to put people into a box- labels are for boxes, not people!

The article can be found on the Statesman website.

I also did some photography for the article on gas prices as well as the one I wrote. Neither photo made it into the printed edition, but they can be found online.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this, but there are several papers on campus- the Stony Brook Press, the Patriot, Blackworld, the Independent, the Statesman, and possibly some others. Among all of these, there is guaranteed to be a little something for everyone, and each paper has its own distinct personality. Some even tend to be oriented for certain groups. Politically aligned as liberal? Go for the Press. If you tend to take a conservative stance, the Patriot is a good choice. Don’t like to waste paper? The Independent is online. Blackworld is an excellent choice for African-American students, and those who prefer a paper that is smaller in size, but comes out more frequently, will like the Statesman.

Life in English Education

I acquired some new technological experience with my Methods II class, which centers on using technology as a learning tool as well as a performance-based curriculum in teaching Shakespeare. I’ve forgiven my professor for saying that we absolutely HAVE to use the version of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Midsummer Night’s Dream that he wanted, because there are some very interesting and useful ideas for lessons with future students. We use this site called Chinswing.com, and post discussions about the various Shakespeare plays, why we find various lesson ideas so useful, and listen to our classmates’ ideas. I must confess, I’m not overfond of recording my voice and having others hear my recorded voice- I feel I sound foolish- but I certainly see the usefulness of the tool.

I just saw a notice about student teaching applications for the spring, and felt my face go pale as it hit me- I’m a SENIOR. I’m nearing one of the biggest transitions of my life, one of far greater magnitude than even high school. It’s hard to fathom. I’m both extremely excited and extremely frightened. I’m right at the top of the ladder as a senior, but soon I’ll be the base of the ladder in the real world. That’s life for you- cyclical, ups and downs, tops and bottoms.

Student teaching… I hope it will be feasible for me to do a city school. Some tell me I’m crazy, that city schools are dangerous or bad for students, that the students are all “high risk” and that I will be taking undue and undeserved stress and other such shortsighted notions that I choose to ignore. I grew up poor, and look where I am- senior year in college! I hardly count myself as unsuccessful, nor unhappy. I want these so-called “high risk” students to know there is hope. There is always help, and resources out there if you know where to look. I’m in a very good position, in fact, I think I’m a very blessed woman- thanks to scholarships and FAFSA money, I have yet to be in debt. I have never taken out a student loan. My family could never have paid for school out-of-pocket- and we never needed to.

Weekend
This was my birthday weekend. One of my good friends also had her birthday, (Same day as mine!). We therefore doubled together- last year we did not know each other in spite of having a lot of mutual friends, so our celebrations were competitors. It was certainly a greater success for us both now that we know each other! We had a barbecue at my friend’s home just off-campus and then our friends relaxed and socialized in my common room back on campus.

Yesterday, I took the train from the station (on campus!) to New York City. I shopped, had a great lunch in Manhattan and a rather subpar dinner in Queens (Extremely overpriced buffet, poor food, impolite waitstaff), enjoyed the company of good friends, and then my “Birthday Twin” and I had the third part of the dual celebration at a karaoke bar near her Brooklyn home.

Today: Cross-country practice, lunch with some friends in Kelly Cafeteria, school work and blogging. But now? There’s a welcome back barbecue for student athletes, and I am HUNGRY!

Best of British luck in all! (I love that term, even though I am not British. My favorite authors all are.)