8 Final Observations

I have had an incredible experience at St. Joe's this year and cannot believe that my freshman year of college is over! I have made some of my best friends here and cannot wait to come back next fall. However before I can celebrate I have eight final observations to make.

- The Food: One of the things that I am looking forward to most about going home is not having to survive only on chicken patties and grilled cheese.
- Not as Much Construction Sorta: I noticed that there is a lot less construction on campus now that the library is finished and most of the new freshman dorm is almost finished.
- The Strange Year of Weather: The most snow we recieved this year was on halloween? It's also weird this year that we had hot and sunny days around 90 in March but April was in the 50s and 60s everyday.
- I'm Broke: I spent too much money here and now get to look forward to working all summer to earn it back.
- My High School: In general my friends from back home and I agree that my high school did a terrible job preparing us for college. Learing to actually pay attention in class was a big adjustment.
- I Love LaFarge: If it were up to us my suite mates and I would live in the same suite in LaFarge again next fall.
- It's a Mile From Lancaster Courts to Campus: I'm going to have to leave Lancaster Courts so early next year to get to my classes on campus next semester.
- It's a Mile Back: Not only is it a mile to campus but its a mile walk back to Lancaster Courts.

What Frustrates Me About Service

There are not very many times I get truly frustrated at service. My learner and I usually get along great and I don't have any real complaints. However, it is a little discouraging when I assign homework and it doesn't get done. This is because I feel like my learner didn't care enough about the assignment and then when we meet the following week, we have to spend the first thirty minutes together doing the homework that should have already been done. I don't get too frustrated though, because I don't really know what is going on in my learner's life so something could have easily come up that takes greater priority. There is nothing else that frustrates me in reguards to my learner.
The only other time I have gotten frustrated in service is on the two occasions when our group arrived at service to see known of the learner's show up. It is bittersweet because I like not being at the center for three hours but it is a complete waste of time for all of us that did show up. Hopefully this will not happen again for these last few weeks and we can finish the semester strong!

What do I feel called to do?

Throughout high school and even now in college I have always wondered what it is that I feel called to do. I ask God often to show me everyday what it is I feel called to do and trust that at some point here at college I will know exactly what it is that I have been called to do in life. I feel like my strongest subjects in high school were business related classes and I took a special interest in marketing. I have also always had in interest in sports which is why I chose to study sports marketing here at school. I am not exactly sure what I want to do as a job but having one that I enjoy will be most important and am sure I will find something that I love in that area. I look forward to spending the next few years at St. Joe's trying to figure out what I am called to do in life.

First Service this Semester

I do not have much to write about service so far this semester because my learner was not at service this time. She was not there as I arrived but did stop by to tell me that she could not stay this week and was unsure whether or not she plans to stay at the learning center. Hopefully she decides soon because I think time would be spent better if I had a learner I could work through the entire semester with.
On the way to service however, I felt much more confident than I did when I went for the first time last semester. It was much easier going back to see familiar faces and already knowing what to expect. I am looking forward to the rest of service this semester even though there is a sense of uncertainty of who my learner will be I am confident things will go quite well.

Service this Semester

Service this semester has been a wonderful expecience. At first I was not really sure what to expect and I did not have a learner for more than two weeks until recently and could not be happier. It feels great to know that I helped someone else learn and helped them to feel better about themselves.
I started off this semester wondering if service learning really would be the right thing for me. I was nervous the first few times I went to service because I have no experience tutoring others in the past so it was something completely new to me. The first few weeks were rough. I had a new learner every week for the most part or Scott from CFL would call me and say I would not have to come because my learner is no longer part of the program and that he would be sure to assign me with a more serious student next time.
It was not until a few weeks ago when I was matched with my current learner now, Delores. She is a student who is also in a night class Scott teachers at the CFL. She is at the intermediate level and so far we have been mostly working on word problems and basic algebra problems. She is already a fairly good writer and reader so for the most part we have just focused on math related problems. We also spend a lot of time working on fraction and percentage problems because she tends to struggle with them even though I have seen her improve over the last few weeks. It is a great feeling to see your learner improve because it makes you feel like the time we are spending is productive and that we are making progress. Delores is also a very nice lady who usually brings in a snack for all my other classmates to enjoy as service is winding down.
Service has been a great experience so far this year and it is something that I would recommend to any freshmen next year. I look forward to service next semester and know that Delores and I would continue to make progress everytime we meet.  

Blog post #7: "The Object"

If I had to choose an object from service, I would choose the clock. There is one located on the back wall of the room we tutor our learners. I chose this object because the time is always on my mind and I structure my lesson around it. For example, every half-hour I like to do something different so both me and the learner do not get bored. Honestly I look at it sometimes to see how much time is left but the more I look at it, the slower it moves so I find it best to check as little as possible.
To me the clock represents time which does not mean a whole lot to me other than how much time my learner and I have spent on a particular subject or how much time is left at service. I suppose it means a similar thing to my learner but I am not exactly sure because I get a new learner pretty much every week and will be getting a new one this monday so we will see. I know they check the clock at least periodically as well because last time my learner asked if it was almost over and I pointed at the clock and we still had another hour. I must have not done that great of a job because she seamed in a little of a hurry to get out of there and also now she cannot come mondays anymore. It is alright though, because I enjoyed the time I have had so far and hopefully will be able to continue to help people.

Midterm Reflection

For the most part I think I am the same person I was before college. However the biggest difference for me is that I work much harder now than I did last year at this time. I have a higher priority on my grades now than I ever had before.
In high school I was never the hardest worker to be honest. I procrastinated all of the time. I almost never did homework outside of school, instead I usually did it in math class. Overall I do not think my high school did a good job in preparing me for college. Nobody ever called me out on my bad habits except for my parents but I did not take their advice seriously. After all, I was getting by with As, Bs, and Cs so what was the point to do anything differently?
After I arrived at college, I soon found out that my old high school habits would not fly in college. I really started out not so well but I slowly have been pulling up my grades. I have started to get the hang of things lately and now take my work more serious than ever.
My interests have been all pretty much the same thus far in college as they were last time. I still love sports and chillin' with my friends and I do not think that will ever change. I am glad college has made me a harder worker in school and hopefully my positive recent trends will continue to get better and better throughout my college career.