Wow! There I go again leaving you hanging for weeks without any form of contact. Shame on me. So, let’s take care of some housekeeping business. Two weeks ago, one of my freshman roommates, Jamie, got married. Yes, I said married! For the big event, my other freshman roommate, Jess, who we haven’t seen since freshman year, flew in from Utah and we all got to unite for the first time in three years. In a nutshell, that weekend was filled with laughter, tears, and a reality check that we are getting old. One thing that I did learn from that weekend is that the friends you make in college are there the stay. I mean, I haven’t seen Jess in three years and we picked up right where we left off. It was a comforting feeling.
In other local news, my basketball team lost in the first round of the tournament by one point. It was a heartbreaker, but they played the best game of their lives, so I was pleased. Oh, how could I forget? Last week at the men’s basketball game, Walsh was blasted with its first ever flash mob. About 40 students rushed the court to perform their dance to Tic Tock by Kesha. The president of the school enjoyed it, so it was a success! Other than that, the indoor season for track is officially done and I have one more week of student teaching at the elementary and then I’m off to the middle school. Talk about night and day.
Like I promised in my last blog, I will share with you a teaching moment that I have encountered whilst at Taft. So, since I am still on a flash mob high, my cooperating teacher and I decided to teach the dance to the students. During an assembly, when the other teachers least expect it, we would turn on the music and the students would start dancing. Before I taught the students the dance, I would explain to them the importance of keeping it a secret, so that when we start dancing it is a total surprise. Man did I eat those words. Turns out, students were telling their parents that they were doing a secret project that no one was allowed to know about and they were not allowed to tell. This just paved the way for parents to be concerned and the phone calls started coming. After several phone calls later, my cooperating teacher and I emphasized to the students that they could tell their parents, but keep it a secret from their teachers. Just another one of the many life lessons I am going to have to learn the hard way.
It feels good to be back on track. There is a lot going on and I needed to fill you in. Expect me to bust out blogs left and right.

P.S. Thank you for reading and commenting. I just got a chance to read your comments and it made my day.

P.S.S. Here is the link to the flash mob dance. Enjoy!

The semester is officially in full swing and to say that there is a lot going on is an understatement. Between back to school activities and rivalry basketball games, Walsh is booming more than ever. Unfortunately, with my “big girl” schedule, I have to miss out on most of the Walsh fun that is happening on campus. I do my best to get to different events, but since I am student teaching this semester, it is a rare occasion. It has been almost two weeks now since I have been in the field and I feel like I have been teaching for 10 years! A new respect has developed for teachers who have actually been teaching that long or more.

Throughout my day, I hear and see my fair share of bizarre events. If there is one thing I can count on while working with kids, it’s that things will never get boring. To give you a little taste of my day-to day routine, I decided to include a story from the week that I feel you will appreciate. Just to give you some background information, I am teaching physical education at Taft Elementary in Canton, grades K-4. So here we go…

It was my first week of teaching and I was doing a lesson on jump rope and scooters to one of the first grade classes. *Eric, one of the first graders, was in his own world. He had trouble listening, wasn’t on-task, and did his best to get the other students to follow his example. So throughout the forty minutes, I had to correct him at least 15 times. When class was over and I had the students all lined up at the door, I was teaching them how to clap in sign language. They ate that right up! About two minutes later, their teacher came to pick them up and as they were leaving, I felt a tap on my leg. It was Eric. If I’m being honest, he was the last kid I wanted to see. All of the sudden, he started making all kinds of motions and hand gestures, without speaking, that lasted a good 10 seconds. When he was done, I asked him what he said. With a sweet, innocent look on his face, he replied, “I love you.” My heart instantly melted and I forgot why I was ever mad at him in the first place. That’s how they get ya!

I’m sure this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to teaching stories. Let the journey begin!

So this is it.  The final semester of my Walsh career is underway.  I spent this past weekend at home celebrating my sister’s royal birthday and getting some last minute tips on student teaching and coaching from my parents.  Once I loaded up my car and scanned the house for random items to take back to school, I realized that this would be my last time traveling back to school to start a new semester.  Naturally, this got me thinking.

Since I have been at Walsh, I have made the hour and five minute trip to and from my house many times.  If challenged, I think I could safely make it back blindfolded.  After thorough research and intense observations, I discovered that when it comes to making the trip back to Walsh, I am like clockwork.  I realize that I go through a series of stages throughout this 65 minute car ride that are shockingly consistent.

It all starts as I pull out of my driveway and give a little toot from my horn.  I instantly reach for my radio (no iPod connector or CDs) and have a refreshed feeling come over me.  For the first 15 minutes or so I reflect on the weekend, have a sense of freedom, and am riding without a care in the world.  When this high wears off, I get stagnant for about ten minutes, where I basically drive like a zombie with my finger on the seek button, not even hearing the songs being played.  After this mental break, I start getting real deep with my thoughts.  This is the point of the car ride when any song could trigger my emotions and I will break out into tears for the next 20 minutes, give or take, depending on the reason why I am crying.  The reason usually changes every car ride.  For example, one time when I was driving back, I found out that my brother got engaged earlier that day and I was so happy for him and his fiancé that tears of joy were flowing with no control.  I’m pretty sure Amazed by Lonestar came on the radio, which put me right over the edge.

Once I regroup and dry the tears that have cascaded down my face, I channel my inner musical talents and get into the music video stage for the next 15 minutes.  I start performing anything from Nelly to The Temptations, incorporating dance moves in when necessary.  Just this past car ride, I performed Adele, Someone Like You, so hard that I almost convinced myself that I had an ex-lover who I was hoping to win back, only to find out that he is married and has no place for me in his life.  It took me a minute to come back to reality because I was so involved in this music video moment.

With only about five minutes left in the trip, I casually listen to the radio and start getting that excited feeling about being back at Walsh.  No one ever knows what a new semester will bring, which makes the possibilities endless.  As I pull into my driveway, I end my trip with a call back home letting my mom know I am safe and sound.  So with that begin said, let the final semester begin!

I am never exactly sure where the inspiration for my next blog will come from.  It usually develops from random events in my daily life that seem somewhat cool to share.  For this blog, I have to credit my sister for her insightful insight on the art of conversation.  We both work at the same golf course (along with the rest of our family) and have recently attended the annual Christmas party.  As we sat there making small talk with our fellow co-workers, I mentioned something about being witty when it comes to responding to the old time golfers who always appreciate a quality joke.  My sister, who is always looking out, said that I should blog about this conversation piece and this got me thinking.  I decided to take this conversation idea and twist it into a college-based setting.  What I mean by this is I am going to prepare you for conversations that you will experience for the next four years of your life. 

At every stage in life there are those classic questions that people get asked non-stop for a certain period of time.  For example, if someone is getting married next fall, the bride and groom to be will instantly be asked questions about the wedding for a good 18-20 months.  Even a thirteen year old who is preparing for high school will hear the question, “Are you ready for high school?” at least 250 times the summer before his high school debut.  Now I’m not saying this is a bad thing.  It is actually very considerate and nice to know that people care.  What I am focusing on right now is being able to withstand the same question for four years straight.

For the first year, when you come back home for holidays and special occasions, you will be excited to tell about your college plans and where you see yourself in the future.  You won’t even think twice when people ask you, “Where do you go to school?” and “What are you studying?”  It’s actually kind of nice to have that independent feeling of creating your own path in life.  At this point, it is important to establish your comfort level of telling people your career plans and creating a base for the next three years because the questions will expand. 

As your college years continue, you will notice that it is no longer socially acceptable to ask or even be asked, “What grade are you in?”  That is so high school.  The question now is, “What year are you?”  That, my friends, is something they do not tell you at freshman orientation.  Consider yourself prepared.  You will begin to notice that at family gatherings and hometown social events, people will lose track of your college status.  This is when you will add another built in answer to your repertoire, which will be to the question, “What year are you now?”  Expect to get a gasp, shocked look, or even a common eye roll suggesting that you are “just getting so old.”  If I had a dollar for every time I heard that one…

Now the trick to surviving these questions for four years is all mental.  Once you establish your conversation comfort, which will take about a year, give or take, you will be prepared to answer any questions that come your way.  This involves adding little random tidbits about your college status that not only keep you sane from answering the same question 1,000 times, but will also enhance the conversation.  For example, once I answer the school and major question, people will expand the question by asking me if I like Walsh.  This is where preparation and experience come into play.  I have the benefits of Walsh divided up into categories in my head and I will choose the one that best fits the conversation at that time.  For instance, if I am talking to my grandma, I will mention volleyball and the friends I’ve made and include that we have mandatory study tables in the library.  Her classic line is, “Study and behave,” so she is always happy to know that I am getting my library hours in.

This is just one of the many examples of how to become a conversation wizard.  It’s not easy, but someone has to do it.  With a little practice and creativity, there will be no question that you can’t confidently answer while keeping your sanity alive.  Good luck and God speed.

Just like that another Christmas season has come and gone.  When my family and I are driving home from my aunt’s house on Christmas, after a full day of family festivities, I can’t help but get that sad feeling in my stomach.  All the Christmas music, all the lights, and all the preparations are finally done.  Excuse the cliché, but you blink and it’s over.

This Christmas, like all the others, was overflowing with family, laughter, and food.  However, I slowly began to realize that our normal Christmas traditions were starting to change a little.  Before I even came home for break, I was hit with a truth bomb.  This would be my last Christmas as a Walsher.  I would never again pack up the Oldsmobile with half of the stuff in my room I really didn’t need and make the hour drive to a cozy, Christmas decorated house.  This kind of just set the tone for a different kind of Christmas.

As Christmas Eve approached and everyone was getting ready for church, my older brother was on his way out the door, about to go to church with his girlfriend’s family.  Although I supported his decision, when only six of us loaded the van and only six of us sat in the pew, I felt the missing piece to our traditional Christmas Eve mass.  He was there in spirit, though.  After church, we headed over to my aunt’s house and with all the little changes going on, one thing I could count on not changing (besides 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS) is the Italian tradition of seven fishes on Christmas Eve.  Wow!  For some reason, the lobster and smelts never tasted so good.

Now this brings us to Christmas morning.  I am a firm believer that a person is at their truest form on Christmas morning.  It’s early, you’re around family, and no one is concerned with looks at this point.  This could be one of my favorite moments of the Christmas season.   This year we went about our normal routine of opening gifts from Santa and just when we thought it was all over, we got hit with another truth bomb.  My oldest brother will be getting married in the summer and as we sat there opening the final gift, we all realized this was our last Christmas morning all together and things got real.  Needless to say, it was a moment I will never forget.

Even though Christmas is over, the fun still continues.  The week in between Christmas and New Year’s is one of the greatest weeks of the year.  You’re coming off a Christmas high and still have another holiday to look forward to.  It’s a win, win!  I hate to use another cliché, but holy cow, does time fly!  No matter what your plans are for the New Year, embrace it.  I’m sure I will come up with a New Year’s blog and will get real deep with it, but until then, enjoy your week and Happy New Year!

“If you had only one more week to live, what would you do?”  In some shape or form, we have all been asked this question.  I remember answering this question back in the day with my response being something along the lines of climbing Mount Everest or scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef; very extreme and generic.  For some reason, this question popped into my head the other day and my answer was crystal clear.  All I want to do is be with my family.  Period.

Since I am coaching basketball in Canton, I have to stay up at Walsh for most of the break because of games and practices.  I am free on the weekends, so that is when I go home and get my fill of the family.  This past weekend, when I was sitting at the dinner table, I was perfectly content.  Between the awesome food and random conversations, it all made sense.  I realized that if I had one more week to live, this is all I would want to do.  It’s almost like all that other stuff would just get in the way of my family time.

Maybe it’s the holiday season or being away from home that has me in this family mode, but regardless of the reason, I kind of like it.  This is one example of how college is a growing and learning experience.  The answer to this common question went from climbing the highest mountain to sitting around the dinner table.  It’s crazy to think that I might actually be becoming an adult.  Thank you, College.  You’re doing your job.

                I can go on and on about everything I have learned in college, but one lesson that has been consistent throughout my four years is, “If you don’t do it, it will not get done.”  This is pretty self-explanatory and is basically common sense.  Once you get to college, though, these words become almost too honest for comfort.  Here’s what I mean.

                It’s a Wednesday morning and you have a 9:10am midterm.  You have abused the snooze button, so now you are already running late.  Frantically, you pour yourself a bowl of cereal, accidentally spilling milk all over the ground.  Because of your current state of mind, you barely pay any attention to the milk soiling in your carpet, and you instantly move on to your next duty.  While you are brushing your teeth (not using the proper circle technique because of the time rush), you suddenly are attacked by the sneeze monster.  Within seconds, your mirror is covered with speckles of white foam.  As you try to wipe away the mess, your plan backfires and now instead of speckles, you are left with streaks of white foam covering your mirror.  With time moving faster than ever, you whip open your dresser drawer flinging clothes over your shoulder like it’s a salt shaker you accidently knocked over.  Through this tornado of clothes, you forgot that your knitting kit was in that drawer and a ball of yarn has been popped out of its spot and is now unwinding throughout your dorm.  Again, there is no time to pay attention to it because you have a deadline to make. 

                So you go about your day and after one thing leads to another, you don’t get back to your room until 10:00pm.  After a full day, you want nothing more than to hop in the shower and go to bed.  As you open your door, the sweet aroma of rotten milk fills the room and you are left with the remains of a dorm room tornado.  With your motivation below sea level, you simply get a wet paper towel and “soak up” the milk and wipe down the mirror.  At this point, you have had enough and throw out the classic line, “I’ll worry about this tomorrow.”  We all know where that leads. 

                The point I’m getting at is that college hits you with a nice helping of responsibility.  To fix your dorm room mess, you would physically have to go out, spend your own money, and buy carpet cleaner and Windex.  I know this example is very simple and basic, but it’s the idea of this process that I’m focusing on.  Just last night, I cleaned the light fixture in my kitchen and changed the light bulbs for the first time in 18 months.  Sad, I know.  It’s just that as a college student, changing light bulbs doesn’t seem to make the top of my priority list.  That’s when I go back to the lesson of a lifetime which is, “If you don’t do it, it will not get done.” 

                College is just the starting point for the main event.  With all the education, food, and fun college supplies you with, it also gives you a little taste of what most like to call “the real world.”  With anything in life, we are not sure what to expect.  With the random life lessons of college, though, we are equipped with the right tools and guidelines to lead us where we need to go.

                Over Thanksgiving break, I did something that I haven’t done in almost two years.  That, believe it or not, was updating my iPod.  Before you judge me, let me give you some background on the relationship between me and my iPod.   I own a Nano and basically only use it for working out.  For some reason, I don’t have the patience for downloading and dealing with iTunes, so my neighbor would usually help me out in this department.  The last time she helped me out was in February of 2010, when I was preparing for my trip to Rome.  This could be why I haven’t changed my music for the past two years.  I wasn’t ready to let go of the songs that instantly could take me back to a place where culture and simplicity ruled my life for two months. 

                It was the spring semester of my sophomore year when I traveled to Italy and lived there for two months.  I could easily go on and on about the experience, but I have a better idea.  While I was in Italy, our weekly assignments for school consisted of blogging about a certain topic and incorporating our experience and daily readings into them.  Our last blog, though, was a little different.  It was a reflection on the past two months and a response to our first blog that predicted how we thought we were going to change.  So instead of retelling you about my Rome experience, I figured I’d let you read my actual blog written on April 17, 2010, three days before flying home to the United States.  For your sake, I have condensed this blog, highlighting the main points.  Enjoy!

          As I sit here, staring out into the countryside of Italy, I find it difficult to write this blog. I don’t know why. I can’t figure out how such an awesome experience is leaving me speechless. I am literally writing exactly what I am feeling at this point. Excuse the random thoughts that might appear. I can’t control them.

          When I think about how I have changed during this trip, I struggle to keep my mind focused only on myself. There is a constant interference of you guys; Ben, Clint, Andrea, Carol, Nicole, Eric, Pammers, John, Professor, Sara, and Danilo. The eleven of you have taught me so much without even knowing it. I have learned about myself through you. Every excursion, every meal, and every conversation has given me insight into each of your lives and I thrive on that. Your personal stories and experiences have made me question certain things in my own life, helping me to see what is really important.

          When I sit here and think about the overall trip, I am stuck on the words “make an effort.” I have always tried new things and what not, but this trip has made me break out of my comfort zone even more than before.

          Italy has shown me how to attack life. There’s no room for pretty good; you have to be “Da best.” This doesn’t mean you have to be the strongest, smartest, or richest. The measurement of the best is within you. Clearly things are not going to be perfect, but with so many ways of seeing things, maybe it is better that way. It is through imperfections that we discover the most about ourselves.

          “You only get one first shot at Italy.” This is a line taken from my first 325 blog and to be completely honest, I would not have wanted my first time to be any other way. From Johnny sandwiches and Danilo sayings to Kemps and To-Lido, we have made nothing but memories. It has been a pleasure and a true blessing to have been given this opportunity. Thank you.

                Back in August, when I first found out that I landed the job as a Walsh blogger, I told many of my friends and naturally they had no clue what that meant.  So once I explained what being a Walsh blogger was all about, many of them asked if I would write about them.  I would jokingly respond, “Only if you affect my life in some way throughout the semester, then maybe I’ll mention you.”  Obviously, I have been affected greatly by my friends and many of them have been mentioned in subtle ways.  You know who you are.  This past weekend was the weekend before finals so things were kind of quiet around these parts.  That was until Sunday rolled around and me and three of my youthful friends got the opportunity to sit high class in the upper dog pound at the Cleveland Browns game.  Yes, you read it right.  I said the Cleveland Browns!

                I was notified Saturday afternoon that four Browns tickets, owned by a faithful season ticket holder, were up for grabs.  I immediately jumped on the offer and never looked back.  Before I knew it, my friends and I were in the midst of orange and brown, barking and chest bumping with no control, and slowly starting to lose feeling in our fingers and toes because of the rain and cold.  Besides the temperature and lack of preparation on our part, my first experience at an NFL game was everything I wanted it to be.  I credit a lot of the success of this game (not the actual game) to the spur of the moment notice.  Sure it would have been nice knowing that I was going to the game a couple weeks before, but where’s the fun in that?  When my friend texted me about the tickets on Saturday, I realized I had plans Sunday night that would interfere with the game.  So instead of cancelling the tickets, I made a couple phone calls, and before I knew it, I had my Sunday event moved to Monday night.   Having that obstacle in my way just made having the tickets even sweeter.  Making room for unscheduled events should always be on the schedule.  Think about that one…

                Looking back on my college career and reviewing my random events lists, I could honestly say those were some of my greatest moments.  With this “on a whim” attitude, I was able to experience things that should have come with months of planning, but happened with three days or less of notice.  I attended my first concert, which was Crosby, Stills, and Nash, took a road trip to Florida, and even got to white water raft for the first time.  I guess that’s what makes college, college.

                Even though sometimes it may not feel like it, at this age we are free.  The way I see it, college is a wild card.  Anything goes.  Filling these four years with random experiences is what makes it memorable.  Don’t take this advice and go crazy, though.  Living this way requires some kind of common sense and reasoning.  It is all about using the power of this freedom and running with it in the right direction.  College is primetime for this type of behavior.  Use it while you have it.

I have to admit that sometimes starting a blog is like pulling teeth.  I know what I want to write for the most part, but I struggle on how to get there.  My usual cure for this stagnant stage in blog writing is to grab a little snack to get me in the writing mode.  Once that snack fails, I grab another one and another one until I finally come up with something to “engage my readers.”  Trust me; I don’t understand that logic either.  So before I finish a batch of my mom’s homemade cookies, I have decided to embrace my inability to engage my readers in a timely manner and just go with it.  I’m just trying to keep this blogging gig as real as possible.  Sorry for the lack of attention getter and smooth transition.  You win some, you lose some.

Since we began this relationship back in August, we have shared some great memories together; volleyball season, how to become fearless, and the art of playing.  I realize, though, that I have never sat down and given you a play-by-play of an actual day in the life of a college student.  So to make it up to you, I am going to send you through my day, including details not shared with you during your campus tour.  It’s nothing bad, I promise.  Again, just trying to keep things real.

It’s Monday morning and my alarm goes off at 8:45am, and just like that, it’s the start of a new week again.  I roll out of bed, which sometimes seems impossible, throw on some workout clothes, and make myself a hearty bowl of oatmeal.  I don’t know about you, but I always think I have more time than I actually do and am always rushing towards the end of my morning routine.  You’d think I would learn by now.  So once I get situated, I hop on my bike and take an eight minute bike ride to the North Canton YMCA to catch the 9:15am aerobics step class.  I belong to the Y back home and it’s nice to be able to go the Y in North Canton for a little change of scenery.  After I bike back, I grab a little snack to refuel and get myself ready for my anatomy class at 11:30am. 

If I’m feeling like Lance, I’ll jump on the bike again and ride it to class.  It is so much more efficient than walking, especially since I live off campus.  I am pretty confident in saying that I am one of five people who have a bike at Walsh.  I get the occasional stare or bike joke every now and then, but nothing too bad that makes me quit riding.  Around this time, I will usually get a text from a teammate regarding lunch at 12:30pm.  I can never pass up a quality post up session in the cafeteria, which has the potential of lasting over 90 minutes.  Once that wraps up, I will head over to the library and get some odds and ends done for school for about the next hour and a half.

Since volleyball is done, I have moved on to basketball.  I am now an 8^th grade girls coach at Glen Oak’s middle school and have practice commitments from about 3:30pm-6:00pm every night.  This is my first time coaching and I think I love it.  Definitely more goes into coaching than meets the eye.  Since it is Monday, I have my work study job in the weight room from 6:00pm-8:00pm.  Time goes pretty fast in there and I am able to get some homework done, while smelling the sweet aroma of sweat and metal.  Mmmm….nothing like it!

Now my day is on the down slope.  After work, I usually hit a wall (not literally) and pound food when I get back home.  It feels like days since I have eaten.  The day is not over yet, though.  Dodgeball season is in full swing and we usually compete around 10:00pm.  During the dead period between work and dodgeball, I come home to my roommates congregating in the living room talking, eating, and attempting homework.  A recap of the day will take place and we have a heck of a time just wasting time.  When dodgeball is over, that is my cue to shut it down.  I get ready for bed and end my night with an episode or two of Friends. 

 Each day has its own twists and turns and I appreciate them.  As a college student, I like to stay busy but enjoy a day of nothing every now and then.  I wonder what my Mondays will consist of next year this time.  Who knows what the future holds?  Now that’s a whole other blog.  So to stay on track, there you have it; my life as a Walsher.