I graduated high school in 2000, started college and graduated in 2005. I got my first grown-up job as a teacher in 2006 and moved into my own place, by myself, that same year. I've experienced some heartache, but came out on the other side every time, knowing someday, when things are right, "It" will happen. I watched my sister and my brother get married, and have watched my nephew grow up into a little man, although most of that has been through webcams, an invention I am thankful for more and more everyday.
In the last 3 years of the decade, I've come to know what a true friend is and have made some great friends along the way. Without those friends, I would never have been able to make some of the toughest decisions I've been faced with.
I've experienced a lot of career related changes: I've taught at 4 schools in 3 1/2 years, but have learned to roll with the waves that come toward me. I went from teaching 5/6 year olds to handling the trials and tribulations of 10/11 year olds. I've found that I have the same level of fondness for 5th graders as I do for kindergartners. I learn as much from them as I hope they have learned from me. They were also my inspiration for making the biggest life change I've encountered so far. They inspired me to move across the world and teach because how could I tell my "kids" to follow their dreams if I didn't do the same.
After I was transferred the second week of school to Feeser, I thought it would have an awful year because I didn't really like 5th graders. Plus, I hadn't been in a 5th grade classroom since I was a 5th grader, but I decided that I had to make the best out of this year. And was it a great year, maybe the best year so far. My "kids" and I learned together, both academically and in life lessons, and I hope they got as much out of their year with me, as I got out of a year with them.
Feeser also brought me a group of friends who have come to mean the world to me. They are the friends I email when I am homesick for "normal" and who respond with a plethora of encouraging words. They were also the friends who convinced me to help coach basketball, who helped me celebrate the upcoming year abroad, and who helped me see that I needed to move on for my own good.
Last January, I knew I wanted to change things in my life, I just didn't know what form it would take. I applied for jobs in Indianapolis, and then found the opportunity to come to Taiwan for a year to teach English. I filled out the application, asked for reference letters, and hoped for 3 weeks that I would be accepted. I didn't think about what would happen if I actually did get accepted. My family was incredibly supportive, as were my friends.
Saying goodbye to everything I knew and traveling, for the first time, to a foreign country was completely out of my box, but it has been one of the best experiences of my life. I've met some really great friends, including my roommate, Monica, who, after my first roommate moved back to California, offered me a place to live. I also met an incredible family, the Aquinos, who have come to be some of the best friends I've made here, and who have some of the best kids I've ever met. I've lived through a typhoon and a couple of earthquakes, and know that sometimes, the unknown of Mother Nature is really scary.
I always thought it was interesting when my parents would say "I remember where I was when..." My first occurrence of this was September 11, 2001. I was walking through the Union after class on the IU Bloomington campus. I remember the prayer vigils and the feeling of not being safe, no matter where you lived. Then life moved on, but never in the same way after that day.
Seeing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and the outpouring of help from all over the world, watching the inauguration of Barack Obama with my 5th graders in January 2009, knowing that the choices of today affect the future generation I was amongst that day, and watching the media-hype of Michael Jackson's death, were all things we experienced in the past decade.
As we move into this new year and new decade, my hope is that I will continue to learn more about myself and who I am, become more generous with my time and talents, and enjoy my family and friends even more. I guess you could call these resolutions, although I don't really agree with the idea of resolutions. Maybe it's more of a life plan or a code to live by, I may not really be able to put a title on this. One of my favorite quotes that I've heard in the past year was "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans." From then on, I decided to stop planning as much as possible, and just enjoy what comes my way. May you all enjoy what comes your way, and plan a little less!
