Introduction...Again

Wow, volume three, and I still feel like it's a good idea to introduce myself. Ah well, c'est la vie.

This is me:



No, I don't usually dress that nicely. However, I always make an exception for picture day. Why? Because, years from now, I want people to remember me as someone who dressed fabulously every day. It's the same reason why, when I die, I want to be frozen in amber, a look of terror on my face, and in a pose of fleeing from something larger. In other words, playing around with expectations.

So, first, to meet expectations: I'm currently 25 years old, I live at blah blah blah blah & blah blah blah blah, and my social security number is ###-##-####. I've spent all but one year living within an hour of where I was born. I am fluent in English and Spanish, and survival proficient in English. In terms of education, I went 12 years at Oregon Episcopal School [OES], followed by four years at Willamette University, where I ended up with majors in Humanities and Economics, with a minor in Spanish that I was too lazy (and cheap) to fill out the paperwork for. I then spent that one year more than an hour away from home, came back and subbed for a year, then took at job at OES (see the above picture? Neat, huh?) while I also started grad school at George Fox University. I just recently moved out of my mom's house, got a new computer (the old one went down the hard way), and did my best not to blubber my way through the wedding of one of my oldest friends--that's how long we've known each other, and not actual age. Lastly, a fun fact: I have always been single. So, no, I don't know what it's like to be with someone, I don't know what a "first kiss" feels like, and I have no idea how much time, energy, and cash a relationship takes.

Now, to wiffle around expectations: that one year where I was away. I went to Japan to teach English. My youngest student was two and a half, while my oldest was retired. It. Was. HARD! It was also incredibly rewarding, and not a day goes by that I don't wish that I was back. However, the reverse culture shock was intense, so much so that I almost went back home after six weeks. But, I persevered--which was, bar none, the single hardest decision in my life--and grew so much because of it (for more information, see Volume 1: http://schockingcomic.blogspot.com/2013/08/introduction.html.)
After I came back, I managed to do what some people never manage to accomplish: I achieved my Big Goal Dream: I got a job at OES. I have wanted to be working in an OES classroom since I was a student there. Once I got it, and really enjoyed it...I had a moment of, "what next?" It's not like it's a small dream--I've talked to many people who tried to teach there in some capacity, and didn't get hired--but, here I was, 24 at the time, and my dream checked off. So, what next? I've slowly been coming around to the fact that, more than anything, I want to explore the world some more. I learned so much abroad that I use now that I'm at OES, yet I feel as though there is so much more that I could learn...

Wow, that paragraph got away from me.  Anyway, the purpose of this blog: tomorrow, again, is my last day at OES. I can remember exactly how I felt back then, and it's exactly the same now. However, being older and way more connected to my emotions, I can actually name how I'm feeling. I am as excited as a rabbit on caffeine, as terrified as an acrophobe thrown off of a cliff with a bungee cord tied to their feet (don't worry, it's attached to the cliff too), with just a hint of bitter sweet sadness, as I leave a place that I really do love in order to build a future that I'm excited for.
After tomorrow, I will begin my student teaching at Robert Gray Middle School. It's super close, and I've only heard the best things about it. I'm going to be in a Spanish classroom. It's going to be great, I'm going to be pushed out of my comfort zone (the best way to grow, I've found, but also one of the more uncomfortable--what can I say, I like order and routine), and I am going to make so many accidental mistakes that I may well break down and cry. And that's OK. I'm not going to be perfect--as much as I might want to be--and I'm hoping to use this blog as a journal of my journey. It will highlight my trials and tribulations, my successes and failures, my hopes and dreams, my triumphs and my failures. I know that the coming months will be hard, but also rewarding, and truly enjoyable, and I hope that by going into them with this mindset, I can better prepare myself for what is to come, and get as much out of it as possible.

Well, this has been another (slightly less than) exciting adventure in the Austentatious! If you liked it, tell your friends; if you hated it, tell your enemies; and if you didn't care either way, then tell everybody. Good night.