Seananigans

"The unexamined life is not worth living" - Socrates

I believe this is a true statement. I do these blogs to help me examine my interesting life :)

December has been an interesting and good month. December 1st marked my dad's 58th birthday. We celebrated by going to Los Cucos and ate of this giant platter of fajitas and toppings. That night was also very interesting in that we had a smiling moon. Two planets neared the moon - venus and jupiter - for a couple of days, and gave us a very interesting a beautiful view.

During these first few days in December I also participated in a dodge ball tournament, set up by my friend Clay Smallwood - Team Dominate. Although we failed to dominate, we did make it to the quarter finals, knocked out by a team that was likely less physically able, but played much smarter. They played back and not as aggressive. They caught our balls and didn't allow us to hit them by staying back. We tried to rely on our athleticism which had got us through the first through games successfully.


This December also brought three cool experiences. The progressive dinner, where we joined several other campus ministry leaders and went to their respective buildings and ate food together and got to know each other a little bit better. What a great idea! We need more interaction b/w our ministries. Also we had our yearly Snow Ball banquet at the UCM. I went as Sherlock Holmes. I got a neat jacket from good will and borrowed a pipe from my friend Austin Dykes (which I still need to return). Also Sights and Sounds, a yearly San Marcos event and carnival where they decorate with beautiful lights, have a live nativity scene, music, food, and rides.

December has also brought about my final classes for this semester and at Texas State University. Tomorrow I will take my last final! My final final, one could say. At least for my undergraduate degree. While I am not graduating until May, next semester I will be embarking on my student internship, which is another very important topic!!

I will be working at an elementary school with a program called Communities in School, or CIS. My placement will be at Rahe Bulverde Elementary school, under the guidance of Kyle Jankowski, who I am really exciting to be working with. Kyle is young, energetic, very good with the kids and staff, and has his masters in counseling which is a subject I am very interested in and wanted to learn more. He incorporates counseling and group play therapy sessions with kids on a daily level working on behavioral issues (character building), social issues and social skills, kids whose parents are divorced, etc. I am very excited about the learning opportunity this will provide. Kyle was apparently a former youth pastor and has a huge heart for kids.

What will I be doing? I will be working with all age levels at this school from Kindergarten to 5th grades! The kids in the CIS program have to qualify for the program which includes they are on reduced price lunches, have had significant behavioral issues and more. Basically kids they label "at risk" - which as one person asked a pertinent question, "aren't all kids at risk"? Other activities will be homework tutoring and help for all ages, 1st grade spelling, kindergarten divorce class, and lots of continual documentation. I am excited! I start on January 21st. The downside? The commute is an hour, and I have to be there at 7AM. This means I have to leave by 6 which means i need to get up around 5AM!! But this is when both of my parents wake up, so this means they will feed me breakfast! Got to look at the positive.

Ahh! And this brings me to another major point. Another transition... moving back in with my parents. As part of my awesome internship experience, I get $0 cash for a semester of work. This means I will have no income, as I will have to quit my actual, wonderful, paying job in order to have time for this 5-day a week internship, plus all the school work I have to do as part of my field class requirements. Fortunately I have parents who live so close. And I get along with my parents pretty well -- most of the time :) I will get to play a lot more tennis at our neighboring tennis courts, and get free and delicious home cooked meals. That is positive. And hopefully this will give me time to work out possible issues with parents and get to know each other and learn to care more for each other on a daily level. This will be new.

Tomorrow at 2PM I have my last final - Practice III with Gerald McKimmey - my favorite teacher at Texas State University, and likely that I have ever had. I will miss this class! I will miss being very plugged into the UCM-Wesley and getting to daily hang out with friends.

Tuesday, Dec. 16th, I leave to fly into Philedelphia where I will spend 6 days visiting New York, Washington DC, Baltimore, and surrounding areas. This will be my first time in that area. I went to DC as a kid, but remember little. I have never been to new york city. I am blessed with family and friends up there that will allow me to stay for free. Baller! I will likely spend 3 nights in New York and 2 in Baltimore.

I come back on Sunday evening, Dec. 21st. I will work, spend Christmas with my family, and new years in texas. Then January 5th I get to go snow skiing with a group of friends! Yeah! I am excited.