My first years as a college student I was an education major. I loved the classes, the professors were encouraging, inspiring and real. I could just imagine my future as an educator, until one day my dreams came tumbling down. I saw how corrupt our education system has become. The day I realized that educated was about teachers making high rank in the passing of TAKS rather than the accomplishment of our students, I quickly decided that if my job was no longer about the kids, I was not going to teach a manual instead of an education.
As stated by Forbes contributor, Erica swallow, America's "lackluster education system" is showing to be more true each year. Hearing that teachers have to tip-toe around students and parents so that they are not offended, is ridiculous. While in college I was told that even if a students fails a test or homework paper, we are only allowed to give students the lowest grade of a 70. As I a teacher, if I give a students a 70, it is because they earned a 70. If we teach students that they don't have to try and still pass, what motivates them to do well on anything? Just as the old proverb says, "give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will eat for the rest of his life. " Why can we not have an education system where we teach our children responsibility? The longer we- as a society- put if off, the harder it will be to change what we have instilled - laziness.
The sad prospect of Texas education is that all of the districts are concerned with money instead of the kids education. The only ones who suffer are the students and eventually the economy. Right now we are raising and teaching students the mediocrity is ok. I can only hope that the next graduating class is not the future of McDonald's serving as complacent cashiers and hamburger flippers. That's not a bad thing, it's really not, but not having a desire to be more than that is.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Monday, June 4, 2012
What's next?
Well, 3 weeks have passed since I graduated college. I am proud of all that I have accomplished, and have a desire to continue on accomplishing more, but as of now I sit in an oversized chair doing nothing. The air-conditioner reminds me that the next time I leave the house I will have to battle the heat and even less exciting, I know that I will have to battle the bees and wasps.
Recently I have come to a realization that I have an irrational fear of bees, considering that I have never been stung out of aggression, it was by change that I stepped on one when I was 7years old. These things are, let’s suppose, half an inch to an inch in size and less than 1/300 of an oz., but they conjure up such an enormous amount of fear! The buzz alone makes me jumpy. My family has harassed me about that over the past few weeks, but one day I'll get them back. Revenge is better served cold - and in Mom's case, in the form of a scorpion!!
I have enjoyed being home, but I also miss the life I used to live. The friends, the family, and the freedom to leave my house and be at the mall in less than 3 minutes have all been left behind in a wonderful place known as Wichita Falls, Texas. I never thought I could miss anyone as much as I do. My church, Life Tabernacle, became my family, a gesture I never expected, but something I value and treasure most of all!! Thank you to all who were there for me though the longest, but most enjoyable 4 years of my life. You all taught me how to love unconditionally, seek God's will and live happily.
For now I will continue to search for a job and seek God's face. There's really nothing more for me to do. Until next time...
-Amy
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
The impact we have!
Yesturday at work I had to deal with a lot of bullying. Each time I heard one kid say to another, "you're stupid", or call names, I was reminded of a girl who teased me when I was younger. As an adult, the 5 year old in me is still terrified of being made fun of, so when I heard this I automatically defended who ever was being teased, whether they started it or not. There was not going to be that type of treatment on my watch.
We finally sat down for snack at about 3:30 pm; I was sitting at the end of the table talking to some of the kids as I ate my Triple Berry Trix nyogurt, which I found to be pleasantly good, when I heard a child sitting directly to my right call another child an awful name. The two adults I had been working with had been sitting at the table next to us. I'm not sure if they didn't hear or if they didnt know how to handle the situation, but I had had it! I finally looked at my female coworker and asked her as loudly as possible how she felt about bullying. Her reply was, " I think it's awful and we've had a lot of it today". She was a bit stunned in my abrupt asking, but quickly took on the role of helping me in my attempt to stop what had been going on all day.
It wasn't long before I had all 20 of their attention, and I said, "enough is enough!". I found a definition of bullying and read it aloud to the entire group, then asked if anyone felt if they had been treated in that manner. All but a few hands went up and I decided then and there that if I was going to get these kids to understand the impact they have on one another, that I was going to have to be real with them.
Earlier in the day they weren't listening, so they owed me 7 minutes of their time, and I felt this would be a great time to talk to them about what an impact one person could make. I set my timer for 7 min and told them not to say a word as I spoke. I began with a story of a girl named Christina. She made fun of me for nine years. From kindergarten to the day I left Haltome City in the eighth grade, I was the object of this girls' bullying. I told them everything that happened as she made fun of me and told me that no body liked me. I told the "cafeteria monitor", an old biddy that didn't care. I told them that as a five year old I should have never been told that I wasn't worth anything, and because no body cared, I was told that for nine years. That kind of impact reeks havoc on anybody, and that 20 years later I still have a hard time looking in the mirror believing that I'm worth more than nothing.
Every child in that room was silent and I could see that I had their attention. Chrissy, my coworker spoke up and told a similar story; that she had been the victim of bullying, but then became a bully herself. I felt like the kids understood what we were talking about, but hadn't yet really felt what I was trying to say. I felt it more important to show them that it doesn't matter how old you are, bullying never stops hurting.
It was silent. All eyes were on me and I told them that within the past three or four months, I have had two, count them, TWO "friends" tell me that I am "nobody" and that what I say has no value to them. Tears blurred my vision and my voice crackled with hurt. With my head bent, ashamed of having to say this, I put my pride to the side and told them that people I call friends don't care about me enough to listen to what I have to say or consider me more than just a nobody. I looked up and saw tears in their eyes. Some more than others, but I finally knew they understood what I had been trying to tell them. That it doesn't matter if you're ten or if you're twenty-four, people just want to be loved and cared for, not put down or dismissed, no matter their situation. As soon as I finished the timer went off. It was quite perfect, actually.
Quickly I had to change the subject, I was telling a bunch of nine thru twelve year olds more than I had told adults. I told them their trash needed to go in the trash can and we
needed to clean the cafeteria. They all stood from their seats and I started to fold one of the tables when the child who had been sitting on my right earlier calling names came up to me and asked where William was. I told him and continued with what I was doing. About a minute later I saw Logan talking to William with tears rolling down his bloodshot face. I knew then that being honest with these kids and showing them what happens to people who are treated badly was worth it. Maybe I made a difference for an hour, but maybe I spoke to someone's heart. I guess time will only tell.
We finally sat down for snack at about 3:30 pm; I was sitting at the end of the table talking to some of the kids as I ate my Triple Berry Trix nyogurt, which I found to be pleasantly good, when I heard a child sitting directly to my right call another child an awful name. The two adults I had been working with had been sitting at the table next to us. I'm not sure if they didn't hear or if they didnt know how to handle the situation, but I had had it! I finally looked at my female coworker and asked her as loudly as possible how she felt about bullying. Her reply was, " I think it's awful and we've had a lot of it today". She was a bit stunned in my abrupt asking, but quickly took on the role of helping me in my attempt to stop what had been going on all day.
It wasn't long before I had all 20 of their attention, and I said, "enough is enough!". I found a definition of bullying and read it aloud to the entire group, then asked if anyone felt if they had been treated in that manner. All but a few hands went up and I decided then and there that if I was going to get these kids to understand the impact they have on one another, that I was going to have to be real with them.
Earlier in the day they weren't listening, so they owed me 7 minutes of their time, and I felt this would be a great time to talk to them about what an impact one person could make. I set my timer for 7 min and told them not to say a word as I spoke. I began with a story of a girl named Christina. She made fun of me for nine years. From kindergarten to the day I left Haltome City in the eighth grade, I was the object of this girls' bullying. I told them everything that happened as she made fun of me and told me that no body liked me. I told the "cafeteria monitor", an old biddy that didn't care. I told them that as a five year old I should have never been told that I wasn't worth anything, and because no body cared, I was told that for nine years. That kind of impact reeks havoc on anybody, and that 20 years later I still have a hard time looking in the mirror believing that I'm worth more than nothing.
Every child in that room was silent and I could see that I had their attention. Chrissy, my coworker spoke up and told a similar story; that she had been the victim of bullying, but then became a bully herself. I felt like the kids understood what we were talking about, but hadn't yet really felt what I was trying to say. I felt it more important to show them that it doesn't matter how old you are, bullying never stops hurting.
It was silent. All eyes were on me and I told them that within the past three or four months, I have had two, count them, TWO "friends" tell me that I am "nobody" and that what I say has no value to them. Tears blurred my vision and my voice crackled with hurt. With my head bent, ashamed of having to say this, I put my pride to the side and told them that people I call friends don't care about me enough to listen to what I have to say or consider me more than just a nobody. I looked up and saw tears in their eyes. Some more than others, but I finally knew they understood what I had been trying to tell them. That it doesn't matter if you're ten or if you're twenty-four, people just want to be loved and cared for, not put down or dismissed, no matter their situation. As soon as I finished the timer went off. It was quite perfect, actually.
Quickly I had to change the subject, I was telling a bunch of nine thru twelve year olds more than I had told adults. I told them their trash needed to go in the trash can and we
needed to clean the cafeteria. They all stood from their seats and I started to fold one of the tables when the child who had been sitting on my right earlier calling names came up to me and asked where William was. I told him and continued with what I was doing. About a minute later I saw Logan talking to William with tears rolling down his bloodshot face. I knew then that being honest with these kids and showing them what happens to people who are treated badly was worth it. Maybe I made a difference for an hour, but maybe I spoke to someone's heart. I guess time will only tell.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
God still works miracles!
As I close my college career, with respect that my audit goes as planned, I have had some trouble making sure that all is well with my degee plan to insure that I can graduate. Back in my community college days I took a sophomore level psych class in which does not count as an upperlevel class here at at MSU. Because I could not get the Chair of Psychology to sign off on my course subsitituton for the same class, I needed to enroll in a new class for undergrads called Clinical Psychology. Clinical Psychology is a 4000 level class which means it requires more tedious prerequisites like, General Psych, Human Behavior and Abnormal Psychology. Fantastic, I had 2/3, but I had not taken Abnormal. I was very concerned about not having all three prereq's. During the process of obtaining all of the signatures I needed, I walked around campus for 2.5 hours searching for the right people, only to find out that I needed to find "so and so" in building A across campus, 4 doors from where I originally started. I knew that everything was going way too smoothly; Something had to go wrong. I walked across campus only to find that the people I needed signatures from had just left for lunch and would not be back for another 45 minutes. I was almost in tears. All I needed was to get into this class, otherwise I would still need another psych class to complete my minor and Tim was quickly running out!
I was frustrated beyond belief. I thought some retail therapy would truly help me relax and find some structure to the chaos I was living.Around 1:15pm I headed back to the MSU Psychology department. I notice the secretary was still not in, oh but wait, the Chair's office is open and there's people in there! With the knowledge that I did not have Abornal Psychology, I wad very nervous that this Professor and Chair was not going to allow me to enroll. I desperately needed this class to graduate. Nervously I walked toward the laughter coming from the office, and saw an office full of professorsand grad students. They excused themselves so that I could speak with the Chair. He was shocked that I wanted into this class, at the time when they opened the class they expected very low enrollment. He took my add/drop submission form, signed his name and just below that wrote, "ok if no prereq's."
I was in shock! I had not mentioned that I didn't have Abnormal. How did he know?! This was a sign from God letting me know that he has my life in His hands. No matter what I need, He will supply. Going into this semester I was scared, but now that I know God is with me, standing by mt side, I can make my ( potentially) last semester the best semester ever! I won't say I'm am a graduating senior just yet, but I will say that I can see the light from a very long and dark tunnel! Thank you God for reminding me of who you are and what you can do!
I was frustrated beyond belief. I thought some retail therapy would truly help me relax and find some structure to the chaos I was living.Around 1:15pm I headed back to the MSU Psychology department. I notice the secretary was still not in, oh but wait, the Chair's office is open and there's people in there! With the knowledge that I did not have Abornal Psychology, I wad very nervous that this Professor and Chair was not going to allow me to enroll. I desperately needed this class to graduate. Nervously I walked toward the laughter coming from the office, and saw an office full of professorsand grad students. They excused themselves so that I could speak with the Chair. He was shocked that I wanted into this class, at the time when they opened the class they expected very low enrollment. He took my add/drop submission form, signed his name and just below that wrote, "ok if no prereq's."
I was in shock! I had not mentioned that I didn't have Abnormal. How did he know?! This was a sign from God letting me know that he has my life in His hands. No matter what I need, He will supply. Going into this semester I was scared, but now that I know God is with me, standing by mt side, I can make my ( potentially) last semester the best semester ever! I won't say I'm am a graduating senior just yet, but I will say that I can see the light from a very long and dark tunnel! Thank you God for reminding me of who you are and what you can do!
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