There are lots and lots of new things in my life since the beginning of February. For instance, I have some paperwork to turn in, and as long as it's done correctly, I'll be set to graduate on time next May! I have to take two classes this summer, but that is only for the first half. The second half I will hopefully be teaching an online version of Women's Studies 201 (intro). For the whole summer, however, I will be working at DMACC in Ankeny as a part-time advisor/helping with orientation. I'm really looking forward to all of the new experiences I am going to get this coming summer! It will be stressful, however, since there is so much.
I have also been working part time at ACCESS as a night time shelter advocate (NSA) to earn a little extra money and help pay for my new car! I'm not entirely sure if I'm going to be able to keep on working there a whole lot over the summer, but I'll try to take as many extra shifts as I can to continue to make extra money. I really like the work there when the phone actually rings or when clients need help or want to talk. The thing with working overnight is that people are sleeping, which makes it difficult to interact with them (just a bit).
Not only will I be getting lots of new experiences this summer...I am doing lots of new things just this semester! I am teaching a section of a class called Gender Justice that serves as a 1-credit, half-semester course that introduces students to things like patriarchy and gender roles and gets them thinking about how to talk about differences in a way that means really listening and trying to understand other points of view. I'm not sure if any of them are truly getting anything out of it at this point, but it seems like they are from their papers. They seem to be seeing a lot of things that they didn't really see before in their daily lives, and that's what I went into the class hoping for--that they would have a little bit more awareness so they can talk about it with other people and help to make them more aware.
Another thing I am doing through my assistantship is team-teaching a section of a class called Psych 131 which is about academic skills like time-management, test-taking skills, study skills, and many other things to help give students tools to be successful in college. The only unfortunate thing about these classes is that, in general, students are taking them to continue to be full-time students rather than because they really want to take the class. It's disheartening to think about that at times. I only hope that they start to really enjoy the class and don't treat it as though it's not a real class just because it's only one credit. Many students take the credit and never show up because they are willing to get a failing grade to keep full-time status, scholarships, insurance, etc. (which is all important, of course). It is something I don't think I will ever fully understand, though. I know the reasoning behind it, but neither of the classes really requires a whole lot of work in general!
Life right now is pretty enjoyable. I just have to get my butt in gear to finish up the semester strong. I just have two papers (plus one smaller paper) and a couple of projects (one bigger, one small) and I'll be done for the semester. Luckily, this semester is much more spread out than then end of last semester, so I don't feel (right now) like I'll want to die. But we will see.
Until next time!
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