I'm Falling In Love...

I think I may have mentioned something about service learning in a previous post, and I am back to tell you more. I just got back from my second afternoon volunteering for a program called Kidstop, and I'm even more in love with it than I was on Monday. Pretty much what I do is arrive at an elementary school around 3:30- just in time for snack- and then I hang out with kids for the next two and a half hours. We do two rotations, during which the kids can pick to go work on homework or read, play games in the big gym or different games in the little gym with counselors, or do arts and crafts. Around 5:00, the numbers start to drop, and we all gather back into the cafeteria for free time until about 5:45, at which point we clean up and go back to the office area for quiet games until the kids are gone. Monday, I did the first rotation in the Homework/Reading Club and the second in arts and crafts, and today I started in the HW/Reading Club again, but during second rotation I played partner tag and colors colors in the little gym with a few kids and Paul. I had forgotten how much fun it can be to run around with little kids and just laugh, so that was a GREAT refresher :o) I have to do 15 hours for my class, the program we're working through requires 20 hours, but I would guess that by the end of the semester I'll be at close to 50 hours because I doubt that I'll be able to stop going.

Oh how I love kids! Hope your week is going well, love Rachel

The Point of No Return

To quote a song from one of my favorite movies, I have reached the point of no return: today (about an hour ago), I officially became a member of the graduating class of 2011! Although I've known for a few months now that I wanted to graduate next May, and although I got the go-ahead a few weeks ago, I had not yet made the official transition of telling the school that yes, I am planning on graduating May 2011, so please put me on the list and send me the application for degree next month. This afternoon, I went to the Registrar and changed my status and am now listed as a junior.... and I'm really excited about it :o) It's finally real; I'm really doing it. There is no way to turn back now, since by choosing not to apply to a major I have no other option. Wow, I almost can't believe that this has finally happened. It's been about three months in the making, and it's almost unreal that I have nothing else that I have to do for it.

That's all for now folks! xo

Three Weeks Down

Well, I've been in classes now for three weeks, so I think that any judgments I make of them at this point shan't be snap judgments, even though I know that it's entirely possible that my opinions will still change. That being said, here's my opinion on my classes so far.

My Language, Gender, and Culture class is.... interesting. It's very discussion based, which I like, but even though I'm quite interested in the topic, I feel like the discussion isn't that interesting. Everyone seems to offer variations on the same ideas and the conversations don't really go anywhere. Plus, that class is at 8 am at SJU, which makes it a little tougher to appreciate.

My Theology class (Biomedical and Health Care Ethics) is probably my favorite one at this point. I thought I was signing up for something completely different, but I've discovered that I'm really enjoying this subject. This class is also discussion based, but we have such a range of people (from Catholic to Muslim, from Bio Majors to Math Majors, from believers to non-believers, from American descent to Chinese) that the class is fascinating. The topics we're covering throughout the course are things that I've never really thought about, but are ones that I think that I will enjoy having a knowledge-based opinion on them. My professor for this class is one that I thought I would really not like, but she's starting to grow on me. She's doing a nice job of pulling on all of the different backgrounds we have and making us question each other.

Math is math is math is math. I say this every semester, but it's still true. The class itself is probably not my favorite in terms of content, but I like my prof and the way he's set up the course, so I think that I will hate it much less than last semester's math class.

Mass Media and Children is my least favorite class at this point. It's a night class, which does not bother me in the least. However, I don't really get the feeling that the professor and I mesh well, and I feel like there's a lot of random things going on. Plus, I think that everyone in the class is once again coming from drastically different backgrounds, but instead of making the class more interesting, I get more of a feeling of everyone trying to one-up each other.

In other life, I've been busy, but I'll catch you up on that later. Love you all!

Thoughts, Thoughts, and More Thoughts

Well, I thought I had more thoughts to share for today, but apparently I don't; just new classes and old friends. Huh. Well, I hope that everyone is enjoying these lovely days and that all the college students out there are settling back into a routine. Talk to you when you contact me!

Oh Yeah!

This year has been a little difficult for me to adjust to. I haven't been feeling very sociable and I feel like there aren't many people that I actually enjoy spending time with. I've been spending a ton of time with Matt, and sometimes I get the feeling that he's the only one that I ever see, which is pretty much fine with me. However, on Monday I ran into a friend of mine and made plans to hang out with him last night after my night class. For most of the semester, I've been making plans with people and then being rude and coming up with an excuse to get out of the plans at last minute, but I decided to actually go and spend time with my boys last night. And it was a good thing. I obviously forgot that there are people here that I actually like, so it was kind of an aha! moment. Sad, huh? Anyway, I had a great time hanging out with Jordan and Nick last night, and I've also had a chance to spend some time with Molly and Laura and Brittany since I got back to school, and it's been kind of nice. Who knows, maybe this semester will be better than last semester...

Snap Judgments

So I've been looking through my old posts on here and I've realized that I make judgments about my classes after the first period of each one, only to change my mind a few weeks in. This semester was no exception. I got done with my first day of classes and thought that I would hate them all. I'm once again one of the youngest in each of my classes, and I only like one of my professors so far. However, I am now half way through my second day of each of my classes, and I think I might actually like some of them. I am taking Language, Gender, and Culture; Biomedical and Health Ethics; Algebraic Structures; and Mass Media and Children. Other than math, they all seem very interesting, and for my Mass Media and Children class I get to work at a local Kidstop or Boy's and Girl's Club. That is definitely something that I'm looking forward to; I've really missed working with children. The interesting thing about this semester will be my schedule. I have three classes every other day, and a night class on Tuesday. This means that I only have class every other day and three day weekends every weekend. Yay! On my off days, I will put in some time in the office for Campus Ministry and work at either Kidstop or the Boy's and Girl's Club. I anticipate that it will be slightly difficult to adjust to this type of schedule, but we'll see how it goes. Here's to a good semester, I guess! love lots.

Time Is A Funny Thing

Let's all pretend like it hasn't been two days short of a month since I last updated this...

Well, not too much has been going on in my life. As of today, I have been home on break for three weeks, and I've really just been hanging out around the house for most of that time. I've spent a couple of shopping days with my mom, and gotten together with my girlfriends from high school once. I have done a major amount of reading and am half way through the third season of the Gilmore Girls (the box set of seven seasons was my Christmas gift to myself). I had a wonderful Christmas, spending time with the family and eating lots of great food, and 2010 was rung in by watching Harry Potter on BluRay, while babysitting my favoritest little cousin, Becca.

Today has been a blast from the past. I'm working on a quilt that will be made from my favorite old t-shirts, and sorting through my old clothes makes me smile and remember how attached to certain articles of clothing I was. Then, I took Nikita, Steven, and Nina to a JV Basketball game at my high school for their Christmas present. It was very odd to be back there, since I've been gone for close to three years now. I ran into an old friend, and we caught up on our lives since graduation, and it's just funny how old I felt. I'm graduating from college in 16 months, and that's kind of scary. I feel like it was just yesterday that I was going to class in that old school, but at the same time, it feels like a million years ago. Now, instead of worrying about where to go to college, I have to start looking for somewhere to live, and a permanent job. Yikes. It's exciting, but sometimes I don't really feel ready for it.

I head back to school on Sunday for my second-to-last spring semester. I'm looking forward to most of my classes, and I can't wait to see some folks again. I've been missing my roommate quite desperately; it's harder to go to sleep without having someone to talk to for an hour after I crawl in bed. I also miss work and my friends there, so it'll be nice to go back. Luckily, the weather looks like it will warm up a bit for the move back in.

I hope that all of you are well and enjoying the first couple of weeks of 2010. xo.