Monday, February 20, 2006

A collaborative poem of Nathan, Andy, and Myself

A single tree, solitary, stands against the cold, hostile wind.
The wind beats savagely upon its scarred and worn trunk.
Yet the mature branches refuse to give way to the breeze.
Her strong base stands as a centurion, guarding nature's last stronghold.
Rains begin to batter against the bark, threataning to scar [her] body.
But she continues to stand defiantly against the cruel [elements].
A tribute and testament to a world which pain and trials cannot destroy.

Changes in []

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Courage

Today the Middle Level class I'm in worked with Youth Frontiers, a non-profit group operating in the Twin Cities that teaches middle schoolers important values such as honesty and courage. We spent 5 hours with over 170 7th grade students and tried to instill the value of Courage in them and make a real difference. To begin I was really nervous, I didn't know if I would be cabable of leading a small group or engage with the students (including being wild and crazy). I even began to question if I really wanted to teach students; Do I really care about kids and if not why do I want to teach. however, once they came through the door, to our thunderous applause, I was assured that I had made the right choice. These kids were excited, scared, hyperactive, tired, and confused and this diversity made it all worthwhile. I had the chance to show kids that it didn't matter to me wether the student body thought they were popular. I also was able to show them that being yourself is a cool thing to do.
Today we taught them courage, not in the face of scary animals or heights but in the face of peer pressure, bullying, and following the crowd. I suddenly had this intense urge to get across to these kids that its ok to be yourself. I saw many students in anguish becuase they were so scared of being laughed at. I also saw many other students ready to laugh at others to make themselves feel better. 7th graders need to know, and we do too, that you are not living your life if you give into this kind of fear. You are letting others run your life in your place. I wanted to shake these students from their slumber. You are missing out... on yourselves!!! This is why we need great teachers. Yes, we need to have competent knowledge dispensers, but it much more important to have a group of adults who care so deeply about the future of each individual student that they will stop at nothing to teach them about being real, having courage, being virtuous, having opinions, and being passionate about.... something!!!

Thank you youth frontiers for teaching me about coruage, but more so for showing me why I should be a teacher.

This could make a great article if I wasn't so scatter brained.

Thursday, February 02, 2006

SAD

Ever heard of Social Anxiety Disorder? Of course, most people have. Well... I'm begining to think I may have it. I am often uncomfortable in social situations, I avoid parties or large group gatherings (unless faces remain nameless as in Vespers), and I don't enjoy meeting new people. So what does this mean? If I do have it I will, in one sense, be satisfied; I'd like to think that i am this way becuase of a disorder. Also, I have always had this "glamorous" view of mental instability. I suppose that I associate mental problems with genius so I need to have some sort of problem if I ever want to become one. However, I aslo want to be normal; I don't enjoy the way I feel around strangers and I don't enjoy the intense feelings of stress I get in an embarassing or potentialy embarassing situation. I was especially freaked out when once, during Vespers, I has extreme anxiety for no reason. I was unable to give anyone eye contact and had this weird urge to spin in a circle (strange huh?). Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter becuase I can't afford to be diagnosed. That and I don't necissarily agree with naming all human ecentricties as disorders. That doesn't mean I don't believe in ADD or Autism (these problems are completely legitimate); I just think that many people who are diagnosed with depression or SAD doen't really have a full blown problem. Kids especially are being spoon fed drugs to keep them in line when that's the last thing our culture needs. It just seems that we sometimes sacrifice our uniqueness to create order (once again this is not cut and dry).
Well that's enough of a tangent for one night. Hopefully I can get over whatever it is that is plaguing me.