This I Believe

Every year I tell myself I’m going to keep up with my blog during the chaos of volleyball season, and every year I fail to keep that promise. I tend to forget just how crazy my schedule is at the start of the school year, and blogging is without a doubt the first thing to go. And I wish I could say I was busy doing all these crazy exciting things, but I’m just trying to keep my head above water with all that I’ve got on my plate. I’m not sure what has prevented me from getting a firm grasp on my schedule this year, but I've definitely had a tougher time of it.

And I plan on – one day in the near future – writing a whole post that gives an update on how my fourth (my first year kiddos are seniors!!!) year of teaching is going,

the whole point of logging back into my blogger account is to share what is, without a doubt, my favorite essay of the year: This I Believe. I have posted about it before, but I think this year’s due date came at the perfect time. I love that this essay is our first big writing assignment of the year because it allows me to get a glimpse into my students’ writing skills, yes, but even more than that, it allows me to get to know them in such a way that I learn what matters to each one of them. It offers them the opportunity to share with me a story or an experience that has led to that belief. And man, do I get some incredible stories. They are real and raw and vulnerable and funny and passionate and every year I am truly humbled that they are so willing to share their stories with me. Because their stories matter. I was grumbling about the nearly 130 essays I wanted to finish grading before the weekend ended, but at the end of the day, I cherish the opportunity to provide feedback to every one of my students. And shout out to Google Classroom for making that back and forth conversation SO incredibly easy. 21^st Century Learning, for the win!

Anyway, I told myself that I would write a new This I Believe essay each year to share with my students as we began this project. Last year I wrote about running in the rain as a means of conveying the belief that the magic happens outside of our comfort zones. This year, I took one look at my overflowing letter basket to know that handwritten letters would be my vehicle to talk about the idea that it’s not necessarily the words we say that mean the most, but the time given to physically writing them out.

I believe in handwritten letters.

In a world that is so laden with technology, the seemingly simple act of a handwritten thank-you note or birthday card tends to be replaced with a quick text message or a Facebook post. Sure, the ease with which we can type out a text is a definite convenience in our jam-packed, busy lives, but there is something about putting pen to paper that makes whatever is being communicated even more personal. It’s the loopy way she writes her L’s, or the way his handwriting is only legible if we close our left eye that forges a connection more special and long-lasting than opening a Snap.

Both of my grandmothers were (and are) big on the art of handwritten letters. My dad’s mom lives in Philadelphia, and at the start of each new month she sends me a simple note, often written on a piece of scrap paper, wishing me a happy month. She has never missed a birthday, nor a holiday. And I’ve got a whole basket overflowing with 25+ years’ worth of notes and cards scribbled in her thin cursive.

My mom’s mom passed away a few years ago, and she was without a doubt my favorite person on this planet. She lived just 10 minutes down the road and I saw her virtually every day, but she never overlooked the simple joy that came from looking through the pile of mail in the entryway and seeing a card personally addressed to me. Now that she is no longer with us, I cherish every word she ever wrote even more so than I did when I first read them.

Maybe it’s something about the older generation that has the insight that some of us “youngins” may be lacking. We grew up in a world of instant gratification, multitasking, and never-ending to-do lists. They grew up in a world that required patience and cursive and taking the time to do things right.

It’s not even what the letters say, as many of them are variations of the same message. It’s the time a person took to write me a tangible birthday card filled with sweet words as I celebrate another trip around the sun. The time a person took to encourage me through a tough season. The time a person took to congratulate me on a job well done. The time a person took away from doing something for his or her own benefit to do something that would make my day. I believe in handwritten letters, and I believe in taking the time to brighten someone else’s day by letting them know that they are more than worth a couple minutes of my precious time. It’s not the message that we remember; it’s the time and energy that went into it.

Many of my students’ essays unsurprisingly blew mine out of the water, and some of them have stories at 14 and 15 that I still can’t quite wrap my head around at 25, but I think if I expect my students to be vulnerable, I can do just that by modeling it for them. And I more than needed the reminder that came from reading these essays that teaching is such an absolute privilege, no matter how trying some of my days may be.

Oh, and how about those ASTROS! 27 outs to earning history. This World Series run has been nothing short of thrilling, and it could not have come at a better time for this city. Just like Jose Altuve, I literally love Justin Verlander, and here’s to hoping he can seal the deal tomorrow night!

Changes Made

In my head, this was a short snipped for a “Things I’m Loving Friday” post, but then I started writing, and I realized that I just have far too much to say. I’m not sure why I feel so compelled to write this, except for the fact that, as an educator, and as someone who works with high school students on a daily basis, I really can’t keep quiet about these standardized tests that we are forced to administer each year.

Let me start out by saying that this post is mainly for my educator friends. So, some of you may want to stop reading right here. But for those of you who are interested in the thoughts of a relatively new teacher, read on.

There is so much that I love about teaching, but if there's one thing that kills my soul, it's teaching the STAAR. For those of you not familiar with the Texas public school system, the STAAR is a curriculum-based standardized test that every student, beginning in the third grade, takes in order to “advance to the next grade” or to be eligible to graduate high school. There are STAAR tests for math, reading, writing, science, and history, depending on the students’ grade. And before I go off about the absurdity of these standardized tests, let me state that I understand the need for them, and I also recognize that many professions require you to take and pass some sort of exam, so it's pretty important that our students are exposed to a test-taking environment. I had to take two tests to become teacher certified. If I decide to go to grad school, which I would one day like to do, I'm looking the GRE square in the face. My medical school friends studied for the beast of the MCAT, and have also taken some pretty grueling exams over the past couple of years. My friend in law school is about to sit for the BAR exam in a couple of months, and another one of my friends sat through this seven-hour CFA exam in which they weren’t even allowed to have water in the testing room. I get it. These tests are a thing. And teachers and students both need to be held accountable. Otherwise, who knows what might go down in the classroom. There have to be standards, and I have no problem with that.

Do I think it makes sense that the English 1 STAAR test, taken by 14-and-15-year-old high school freshmen, is longer than the SAT or ACT? No. Do I think these kids are over tested? Yes. Do I think the STAAR is necessarily the best way to see that our students have mastered the English 1 curriculum? Not really. In a perfect world, students could showcase something that they’re proud of. Something that they’ve been working on that combines their talents and interests with reading comprehension and writing skills. I’m not much older than many of the students that I teach, but it’s a completely different world from when I was in high school. These kids are true 21^st century students, and we’ve got to cater to that. If my students could turn in some of the things they’ve produced – their Adobe Spark This I Believe Essays, or their Hero Research Projects, for example, I think these TEA people would be more than impressed. My students have some really incredible skills, and I don’t think they’re properly measured by a 26-line expository essay and multiple choice questions over some pretty inaccessible passages.

Anyway, the reason I’m going on this rant is because we received word yesterday morning, as my students were busy writing a short answer response, that there will be no short answer responses on this year's STAAR test. I told my kids to recycle the lined boxes I had just handed each one of them, as they will no longer be needed.

My first thought when I saw the email about the fact that the short answer responses have been taken off the test? Pure elation. For pretty selfish reasons, at first. See, I really don't like the short answer responses. I struggled with them when I was in high school, I don't feel as though I teach them very well, and I loathe grading them. Give me a stack of essays to grade any day of the week. My second thought was that, hey, it's January. This test should already be written, printed, and locked in a warehouse somewhere, right? My second-and-a-half thought was that, okay, it's JANUARY. This would have been nice to know in, say, August, when we were mapping out the year. We have already written quite a few short answer responses, and as I mentioned above, my students were in the process of writing one when I checked my email. Is all of that just time wasted? And honestly, I really don’t think it is. I absolutely believe that the skill of reading an article or passage or story or poem and being able to think critically about it, back up that thought with textual evidence and then analyzing or explaining it is an extremely valuable skill to have. In my opinion, that shows true understanding of a text. My problem is not with what the short answer response is asking us to do. My problem with these short answer responses is that our students were limited to a TEN-LINE box in which to complete this analysis. And if they write outside the box, forget it. The graders won’t even see it. I told my students this when I was first introducing the concept, and one students raises his hand and says, “But aren’t we always told to think outside the box?” Touché. And I don’t find ten lines to be enough room to truly think outside the box. Especially when the titles of the stories alone take up an entire line.

It’s the fact that we were asking our students to make these deep connections, but you better write small if you want your brilliant thoughts to fit inside the box. It’s the fact that if our students took a risk by not giving the “cookie cutter” answer the graders are looking for, they risk receiving a poor score.

And I understand that it’s a matter of time and money. If I let some of my kids have all the paper their hearts desired, they would write pages and pages and pages. The graders don’t have time for that. And they probably don’t want to sit through hours of recorded video about what these kids believe in. Or who these students look up to and why. They should take the time to do these things, but I get it. There’s not enough money to pay people to read and grade more than they already do. And I don’t have a solution to this, but what if the way our kids were evaluated and deemed “ready” changed?

My first year of teaching, I was absolutely terrified to open the email that said we had received that year’s STAAR scores. I knew how hard I had worked that year, and I knew how hard (most of) my students had worked, but as that was my first year, I figured this document was going to tell me how good of a job I had really done. The last thing I wanted was to feel as though I had failed my kids by not teaching them the skills they supposedly needed, and I really didn’t need to feel as though I was a worse teacher than I already thought. Though no one ever said these words to me, I felt as though my job was riding on how my kids did on this test. And that’s a horrible feeling. Because I see growth in so many of my students that may or may not shine through on this one five-hour test.

These tests are a bummer. They place so much emphasis on how a child performs on one test, on one morning (and afternoon because we’re talking about five hours, here) of the school year. It doesn't take into consideration the fact that the student may not feel well. It doesn't take into consideration that a students’ parents had a huge argument the night before, and he or she is carrying that into the test. It doesn't take into consideration a lot of factors that really could affect a child's ability to do his or her best. And the reality is, that could happen on any number of important days. But to put that much pressure on a high school freshman?

I don’t know how many of you have seen this article floating around the Interwebs – if you’re friends with any teachers on Facebook, my guess is that at least one of them probably shared it – but it hits the nail on the head. This author had two of her poems appear on the 7^th and 8^th grade STAAR test, and she couldn’t answer some of the questions about her OWN poems. No one consulted her when it came time to write the test questions. No one asked her why she wrote it. And we won't even talk about the fact that it wasn't what I would call the most uplifting poem (the author says so, too!) But hey, this is just the most important test you'll take, but do you really need any extra encouragement?

There are some really cool materials and applications out there, but sometimes I feel as though I have to pass them by, or say, “Maybe after the STAAR I can experiment with that,” because I feel as though I’ve got to get my kids ready to take this test. And we try and make it as fun and engaging as possible. But come on. Above all, I want my students to love learning. I want them to be curious, and I don’t want them to see reading and writing as something boring, or something that is only done while sitting at a desk. I don't want them to ever not know the joy of reading something that you want to read. I don't want them to see writing as a formula. But I can see it in my students’ faces when I hand out yet another multiple choice practice packet, or when they sit down to write yet another 26-line expository essay. And you better not think write outside the box.

The Blog

Happy Sunday, guys! I’ve only got a short post for you today, but let me just give you a quick Saturday update. First and foremost, a workout. I was up late (later than usual) on Friday night, as Sarah and I met up to F I N A L L Y do a Christmas and birthday gift exchange, and, more importantly, catch up on the past month or so since we've seen one another. You would think that living in the same city would lend itself to regular hangouts, and normally it does, but school - on both of our ends - has just been crazy lately. But we braved the crazy Houston weather and ended up sitting and chatting over burgers at Ruggles Green for about three hours. Sunshine on a very cloudy day.

So, I let myself sleep in a little bit this morning, finally getting out of bed around 9:45am. I ate a light breakfast of cuties and a mini Luna bar, and then headed out the door to squeeze in a swim at the MAC. It was relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that I got there (and even snagged my own lane!) and realized that I had left my goggles at home. Shout out to the lost and found bin for saving me on that front.

After my workout and a  quick shower, I made my way over to City Centre – Seasons 52, to be specific – to celebrate the bridal shower of my setter half, Hayley. Remember when she got engaged? Well, she’s going to be a married lady in just 83 days. #macandchurch.

After an enjoyable afternoon, filled with delicious food and great friends, I headed home to get in a little bit of work, before making my way up to school. School? On a Saturday? Yes, it is true. But this time it wasn’t anything school work-related. I had agreed to chaperone Bellaire’s Sadie Hawkins Dance, and though I was cringing at the memories of my own high school dances, and how silly we all must have looked to our chaperones, I had a great time chatting with some of the other teachers and principals. As a student, I always found it funny when I saw my teachers outside of school. Now, I find it funny seeing students outside of school. How the tables have turned.

All dressed up for Prom (which I secretly hope I get to chaperone)

And speaking of seeing teachers outside of school, I ran into one of my all-time favorite former teachers at Randall's on my way home from school - Mrs. Watson. Though we were on the block schedule at Stratford, I was lucky enough to see her every day, as I had her for both government and psychology. I loved chatting with her (and meeting her husband), and she assured me that she is a faithful reader of fitnessandfroyo. Because I know she'll be reading this - Hi, Mrs. Watson! You really were one of my favs, and I hope I can one day have the impact on some of my students that you had on me.

Now, without further ado, here's your weekly dosage of Survey Sunday!

1.  How did you come up with your blog name? 

What got me into the blogging game was my constant reading of healthy living blogs that focused on both quality workouts and healthy recipes. But with a little bit of pleasure thrown into the mix. I knew I wanted my blog to be much of the same, and for a couple years I was absolutely obsessed with frozen yogurt – eating it at least twice a week – so a combination of fitness and froyo seemed like the perfect choice.

2. What is your favorite thing about blogging? 

I have two favorite things about blogging. Okay, maybe three. One, I love getting my thoughts down on paper (or Web browser), and the chance to work through some of the many thoughts that cloud my mind. I also love that it’s something I can look back on at any time, and remember some of my most favorite and random memories. From time to time I reread through different posts, and I laugh at some of the things that made a fitnessandfroyo appearance. I am just glad that my photos have gotten a *little* bit better from when I started. And lastly, I love the reaction that I get out of other people. Call me self-absorbed, but when people tell me that they love my blog or they resonated with a certain post, or even that they read my blog, those comments go straight to the heart. They bring a (pleased and embarrassed) smile to my face every single time, and maybe my blog isn’t the most enlightening or deep or useful, but hey, if even one person is reading what I write, then I’ll keep trucking along.

3. What is one thing you have discovered because of blogging and now can’t live without? 

I love writing. It sounds silly, but in high school I thought I hated writing. Probably because I saw it as a means of passing a state or national test, and it all seemed so formulaic to me. And literary analysis is not my favorite genre of writing. Though once I actually learned how to do it in college, I disliked it a little less. But now, writing is one of the most therapeutic things I can do. And the fact that so many people enjoy reading what I write? I love that someone can possibly take something away from the nonsense that I put into this blog.

Not my favorite type of writing

4. Facebook or Twitter? and why?

Twitter, for sure. People are sassy, insightful, funny, and sentimental, all in 140 characters or less.

5. If one celeb read your blog who would you want it to be? 

What a question! Can it be a blog celeb? Because I think we all know the answer to that question – Peanut Butter Fingers. She is the blogger who inspired me to start my own blog, and though I can only dream of becoming as much of a success as she is, to have her take a look at my blog would be a dream.

6. What is something you want people to know about your blog?

I hope you guys know that it means the world to me and more when y’all read this blog. And while this blog certainly leans toward the light-hearted side, your support on some of the more serious posts is also something that means more to me than I can put into words. This little blog is me in my entirety, and it’s also something that I hope to (one day in the far, far future) turn into a career of some sort. When I was younger, I wanted to grow up and write a book. But I think I like the direction my passion for writing has taken.

And that's all I've got for y'all. I'm thinking of turning this Sunday into one that is both relaxing and productive. There's going to be no school work happening over here!

Student Quotes

Two days in a row. I’m on a roll. But, what else is there really to do? I’ve been sleeping in later and later each day – the real world wears you out, and setting an alarm doesn’t sound very appealing – and I need to feel like I’m doing something productive.

I did manage to finish a 400+ page book this morning (yes, that I started just two nights ago) – it was a very quick, dumb little read, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I may have majored in English, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good “beach read” every now and again. Anyway, football in Texas is always something I can get behind, even if the school in this book had a big rivalry against my very own Longhorns. Hook ‘em Horns, by the way! I’m hoping Charlie Strong will get to bring home a final 2014 victory, before rocking 2015 with all of these new recruits we’ve locked up.

 

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I also went for a run around my neighborhood, followed by some very pointless wandering of the Houston Galleria. I made zero purchases, but there are quite a few good sales out there. I followed up my shopping expedition with lunch at the new Whole Foods on Post Oak, where I enjoyed a delicious salad filled with lots of protein and veggies. I also stocked up on a few ingredients for a new recipe that will hopefully be making an appearance on the blog sometime tomorrow. It’s not a Kelli original, but it should be delicious (and dairy-free!) nonetheless.

And for a little end-of-the-year humor (because who doesn’t need some of that with the post-Christmas sadness?), here are the top 10 best quotes from my students in the fall semester of 2014. Many of them are face-palmers, some are sweet, some border on inappropriate, but I guarantee all of them will make you laugh, or at least smile. So, without further ado:

10. “Miss, your eyebrows are on fleek!”

Once I received this compliment, I knew I had made it.

9. “My favorite character is Katniss because she is very brave and very hot.”

I asked my reading students to tell me who their favorite character was, and why, in the book that they were reading, and this particular student had a thing for Katniss from The Hunger Games. Can’t blame him, to be honest.

8. We were reading The Odyssey, and I was talking about how money can’t buy love. One student responds with, “Yes it can! You can buy strippers, and that’s love!”

7. Thunder sounded one day, and we were experiencing quite the rain and thunderstorm. A student asked me, “Can I go home? My hair don’t like this weather.”

6. A fellow teacher walked into my room and asked a student, “Oh, your teacher isn’t here yet?” This isn’t uncommon – I am often mistaken for a student. But this time a dear student of mine replied, “I know, she’s too cute to be a teacher, isn’t she?” I won’t lie, I was flattered.

5. Because I teach both reading and English, I have some of the same students twice a day. I have one student first period, and then again fourth period. He wasn’t in first, but he sauntered into fourth. When I asked him where he was, he said, “You know I was hitting up Chick [Fil-A] for the free breakfast.”

4. Again, while reading The Odyssey, a student remarked, “See, you women just marry us for our money.”

They learn the ways of the world early.

3. Please, just Urban Dictionary what ‘THOT’ means. And as a student advised me, “DON’T say that in reference to your mother!”

2. When I asked a student where she had been the day before she replied, “Oh, I was getting my hair done!”

Thanks for the honesty.

1. And finally, while taking an exam over The Odyssey, a student asked me this, “Miss, is Odysseus a boy or a girl?”

And I thought I was doing an okay job.

 

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Like I said, my students constantly keep me on my toes, and while they frustrate me to no end sometimes, they also keep me laughing, and remind me that I truly, truly love my job.

Until tomorrow, and Hook ‘em Horns!  

Lazy Days

I am not going to lie to you guys. Being done with school is really one of the best feelings out there. Though I did just receive an email with my student teaching syllabus, I am choosing to put that one on hold for a while, or at least until after Christmas. Until then, I am going to fully enjoy some much-needed time with friends and family in one of my favorite cities. I am sure I will have many adventures to share with you guys, but some of the must-do's on my list are:

• River Oaks Christmas lights

• Houston Zoo Lights

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• Top Golf
• Pleasure Pier

These days few days in Austin haven't been anything too exciting. I've been doing lots of shopping (oops!), quite a bit of hanging out with my sweet roommates (PTL for the fact that after six cold days, our heat was fixed), catching up with some friends whom I don't get to see as much as I would like to during the semester, 

A very true bag seen at Whole Foods

some reading (for fun!), and of course, keeping up with my regular workouts. I have also been trying to get myself organized, but so far I have succeeded in accumulating a huge pile of clothes that remain on top of my bed during the day, and move to the floor at the foot of my bed at night. I'm laughing at myself for how much I am just absolutely going to need when I am in Houston, because my car is going to be packed to the brim for my ride home. Once an overpacker, always an overpacker!

Anyway, tomorrow is my last full day in Austin for the year, and it also happens to be Dylan's 21st birthday, so I am excited to get to take him to dinner to celebrate a very special birthday, and what is the first of our two birthdays. It looks like I can finally order a drink or two at dinner and not feel silly for drinking alone!

And lastly, I must give a HUGE shout out to the SHS football team. They are playing in the state semi-final game at Reliant Stadium tomorrow night, and the winner of this game plays for the 4A State Championship in Arlington next weekend. We haven't won a state championship since 1979, and I don't even know the last time we made it this far into the playoffs. One of my roommates told me that as a going on 22-year-old, I have the most high school loyalty of anyone she knows. It's true, I do love Stratford, so I certainly can't deny it, and though I should probably feel ashamed, I have to admit that I feel a little bit proud. Once a Spartan, always a Spartan.

Have a great rest of your evening!

Challenge Nation Urban Adventure Race

Happy Saturday, everyone! It is an absolutely picture perfect day here in Austin, Texas, which almost makes me feel bad about not attending the UT game tonight. Almost, but not quite bad enough to guilt me into going to the game. But hook 'em, right?

Anyway, I believe we left off with my cousin's art show in downtown Austin. I made my way over to Congress Avenue and found parking easily (and surprisingly), before meeting up with my uncle, my cousin, and his friend. You will have to excuse me if any of my terminology i wrong, as I know next to nothing about art, especially contemporary art. Anyway, we went inside The Contemporary Austin, which is quite the swanky art gallery. My cousin led us upstairs so we could see the piece he had been working on, alongside a woman named Marianne Vitale, for the past few months. It is a sculpture, very similar to her 2012 piece, "Burned Bridge," 

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but this one is a "large-scale sculptural structure of two intersecting bridges." Though I was a bit unimpressed with the actual piece of art upon first seeing it, I quickly became more impressed upon looking through the photo album of the making of the sculpture. There was a lot of burning and welding involved, and it was really cool to see all that went into the creation of the sculpture. Like I said, I am the farthest thing from knowing anything about art, but it was cool to see so many people react in such a positive way to it. And, of course, it was great to see my cousin, tattoos and all.

My art show debut

After the opening, I made an appearance at my friend Alex's 22nd birthday celebration. I didn't stay very long, mainly because I was feeling exhausted from all the events of the day, but I got to catch up with two of my good high school friends, as well as chat with a girl who is currently in her student teaching semester at Westwood (what I will be doing next semester), and it was so reassuring to talk to someone who literally knows exactly what I am going through, and telling me that I will survive this year, and that I will even have fun doing it.

Sam, me, Alex

Sarah and I stayed up late talking, so when I woke up this morning, I was not especially feeling like crossing a run off of my list, but I knew I would feel so much more productive if I got it done early in the day. The temperature and weather were so perfect this morning, but because I didn't want to run through the mud from last night's downpour, so I settled with six miles on the treadmill, promising myself that next week is the week I will run nine miles. Hold me to it!

Challenge Nation Urban Adventure Race

And now I have some exciting news to report. Megan from Challenge Nation reached out to me about promoting an urban adventure race that is coming to Austin next month. Though I will not be able to participate due to the fact that I will be exploring San Francisco, I thought it sounded like an awesome race, so I was more than happy to promote it.

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The Challenge is an "Amazing Race" style team competition that has you running all over the city using your brain to solve tricky clues, exploring and discovering new parts of Austin, and getting a little bit of exercise along the way. This race requires a blend of speed and smarts in order to have a shot at winning any of the cash prizes. But don't worry, even if you don't win the race, you will be met with fun food and drink specials at the finish line, and there is even a costume contest. I am all about dressing up in fun and ridiculous costumes, so that alone would entice me to sign up!

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Though I don't watch the Amazing Race, I have friends that do, and I think it would be really cool to participate in the actual Amazing Race. So, for all of you who have dreams of being on a reality television show, this race is great practice for it. Sign up here before September 25th to receive earlybird registration prices!

And now I'm off to get started on that essay that I have been putting off. Have a great Saturday!

Catching Up: September Edition

I didn't want this to happen, but it was inevitable. And it's really not even school that made me fall so far behind on blogging this time. Friday evening was the start of the Hills YoungLife area retreat, and we met up at a park in Tarrytown, where we enjoyed a delicious Chick-Fil-A dinner, and engaged in a friendly game of kickball. We intermixed teams, so I was reunited with some of my Murchison teammates, while at the same time getting to know my new Anderson teammates. 

After an hour or so of kickball, we were told that the next part of our retreat would be going to The Friendly Savages and Penny & Sparrow concert at Stubb's. All the girls went back to the house of one of our area director's friends and changed, and we all re-met up outside of Stubb's. The concert was incredible, though I honestly don't know if I ever stopped sweating. At least until I escaped the packed-in crowd and made my way to the back of the room and talked with some of my Murchison teammates for the remainder of the evening.

After the concert, Team Anderson went back to a house in Northwest Austin and half of the team went to Whataburger for a 1:00am Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit run, while the other half of us went to sleep. Just guess which category I fell under. The next morning we had our big area meeting where we talked about the calendar and hopes and dreams for this semester in YoungLife, and it was honestly probably the first time I left that meeting feeling encouraged and excited for the year as opposed to feeling overwhelmed and anxious. Our area director is incredible and I am so excited for this year to get going. And while it is hard to jump onto an established team as a new member, I think this year is going to be great. My new team is full of incredible people who are goofy and full of big ideas to get new kids to experience the gospel.

On Sunday, after a 9:15am church service and a little bit of homework, Taylor, one of my best friends from high school, picked me up and we drove to campus to go watch the Nike Big 4 Volleyball Tournament. The tournament featured the Texas Longhorns, the Penn State Nittany Lions, the Stanford Cardinal, and the Florida Gators. Mary Ellen, one of our other best friends from high school, plays for Stanford, so we rearranged our schedules when we found out she was coming to Austin to play. 

Because she goes to Stanford, and her family moved to West Virginia, we don't get to see her very often, and we jumped at the chance to see her, even if for ten minutes after the game. Lindsay also drove in for the game from Houston, and it was such a great start to my week being reunited with the Stratford volleyball dream team. 

Taylor, Mary Ellen, Lindsay, and I

And though I was wearing my burnt orange (as hard as it was to put on after the abysmal performance in our football game on Saturday), Lindsay, Taylor, and I went crazy when Mary Ellen took the court. We may have gotten a few stares, but it was well worth it.

Stratford America

After the game I went on a relaxing walk around Town Lake, where I was met with a beautiful sunset to end my weekend.

And now it's back to the books. School is really starting to pick up speed, and it's only going to get busier once I start going to the high school (hopefully next week). Have a great Monday! And GO TEXANS!

P.S. Here's a very special shout out to a great roommate - Natalie - for holding me accountable and posting this blog post. Once I get too far behind, there is no hope for me to catch up. Thanks, Nat! Hopefully some new workouts and recipes will be making an appearance on the blog soon!

Return To Sophomore Year

The excitement of finally getting your drivers license, and anticipating all of the freedom (or not) that comes along with it, the chance to host the big Sweet Sixteen dance, the much-talked about sophomore research project, the no-longer-a-freshman, but not-yet-an-uppeclassman feeling. At least, that's what sophomore year was all about at my high school. In a way, it was the most "lost" year, because, like I said, you've lost that freshman feeling of "Oh, I'm in high school and I'm so excited!", but you have not yet hit the big junior year, which is consumed with standardized test preparation and college visits. And of course, you are nowhere near being the big man on campus. 

Race For The Cure

In all honesty, my sophomore year didn't really have any "stand out" moments. I was in the usual algebra II, chemistry, world history (easily my least favorite class of my high school career), Spanish, English II, the required technology class, and of course, volleyball. Volleyball was fairly mediocre that year, in both high school and club. I will never forget the day we gave our coach her first district loss ever as either a coach or a player. So that happened.

Spirit Sisters

But I did get my drivers license on my 16th birthday, and though my mom wouldn't let me drive on the freeway by myself for months, it was so nice knowing that if I needed a new tube of Burt's Bees, I could drive myself on up to Walgreen's and get it. That's the definition of freedom right there. And speaking of 16th birthdays, sophomore year was the year Stratford girls got to choose to become a host of the annual dance called Sweet Sixteen. Basically, it's a formal dance hosted by the sophomore class, and each girl is allowed to invite one freshman girl, the junior girl who invited you, and one extra invitation (that usually goes to a senior). Each invitation is good for a girl plus her date, and the sophomores who host get to have professional photos done, get to wear beautiful long dresses, get to arrive to the hotel hours early to have a sit-down dinner, and get to leave with the satisfaction that you got to be such a big part of such a fun night. 

Volleyball

Long live the MATH journal

This dance, because it is an off-campus dance, is traditionally a little bit more fun than the on-campus dances, mainly because there is no real restriction on the music that gets played. I remember loving my Sweet Sixteen experience my sophomore year, despite the fact that I had to leave to go to San Antonio at 4:30am the next morning for a volleyball tournament.

And the whole point of this post? To tell you guys that I will be interning in a sophomore English II classroom at Westwood High School this semester. I could not be more excited, because ideally, that would be the level I would want to teach. I remember really liking the course content (despite having to read Animal Farm, and unfortunately, they still read that book), and it is really such a fun age to be around. My cooperating teacher (CT) is also a UT grad, and I cannot wait to meet her. Both my UTeach professor and my observer have told me that they think I'll just love her. And I really can't ask for much more than that. I am so excited for the opportunity to learn from her and work alongside her.

Spring Game

Fun fact: He was drafted to the Chicago White Sox in the fourth round

Football games at Tully Stadium

So, here's to my return to sophomore year. I can't wait to share this journey with you guys.