3 realizations this past week: 1) Teaching is definitely something I need and want to do in my future. 2) College is not the time to satisfy my shopping addiction. 3) It will be a miracle if I make it through the year without dying on the MetroTransit bus system.
I started volunteering this Monday at a local middle school for an after school program designed for students who don't speak English as a first language. It is for a few hours every Monday afternoon, and there are about twenty 6th-8th graders (most speak Spanish, a few speak Russian, and a few Somali) who get together with the school Spanish teacher, the Spanish interpreter, a Somali interpreter, and now me! to work on homework and speaking English in a comfortable environment. I spent the afternoon revisiting the Pythagorean (?) theorem and reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with a 6th grade boy who speaks very limited English. (It was actually quite surprising how little English some of these kids spoke, especially for living in a big American city.) We read for a while, then talked for a little bit in Spanish. I had only ever spoken it with my teachers or other classmates, so it was extremely cool to actually be having a conversation with a native speaker, especially a 12 year old boy. This experience I'm sure will only continue to motivate me more and more to become a Spanish teacher, it's like bridging a gap between languages! So cool...
Mall of America last week. Didn't NEED the boots, but now that I have them, I'm meant to own them. Of course I couldn't buy these amazing black heel boots without getting an outfit to perfectly coordinate, so 3 different shirts and a black skirt were also added to my wardrobe. (Oh-and a rockin' pair of earrings.) Even the bookstore. Did I NEED a baseball hat with an "M" on the front? No. But there was a sale and I don't have any hats that look good on me (I have a bad "hat head") and this one looked cute! The grocery store. Really Kayla, do you need Werther's Original Hard Candies? Yes...along with cheese in a can (it was on sale and it's fun to draw designs on the Ritz before you eat them) and chips & salsa, and Apple Jacks. (The Honey Bunches of Oats were too expensive...I was even being frugal.) I should start tapping on the streets for money.
I hate the bus. I don't think I will ever enjoy it nor understand it. I especially hate it when the crabby bus drivers are too preoccupied with themselves and getting done with their shift to help out a confused, panicked, blonde college student find the right bus stop. Is kindness that hard to show? Didn't think so. Long story short, en route to the middle school I kinda got lost in the middle of uptown Minneapolis and had a mini panic attack. I mean, I guess all's ell that ends well (meaning I didn't get kidnapped or mugged or murdered), but I'm not looking forward to trying to figure this out every Monday. I miss the Tahoe :(
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