Closer to Graduation

I am coming to the end of my junior year of college, and the closer it gets to completion, the more nervous I get about graduation! When I started at Bridgewater I was worried that I would never finish all of the classes I needed in the time I wanted to, and here I am three years later with only one more year left to go! Two semesters is not a long time, and since I will be student teaching for one of them I expect it will go by extremely fast. I thought high school flew by, well here comes college right behind it!

Yankee Candle

Throughout my whole life I have been surrounded with the familiar scents of Yankee Candle. When I smell their candle, "Home Sweet Home," for example, I literally feel at home sweet home. I love lighting the candles in my house and in my room, and even hanging their air fresheners from my rear view mirror in my car. Products of the Yankee Candle Company have become like a tradition to have in my family. They are familiar and provide comfort. This is an amazing aspect for a company to acheive. Not only do they provide people with relaxing, invigorating scents, but they reveal a certain tradition with their work. I highly recommended their products!

Priorities

Oh priorities! They are a difficult thing to maintain while in college, and in everyone's day to day life. With so many tasks to accomplish, we find ourselves stretching for too thin. Or at least I do! If I am not in class at school or working on a paper in the library, I am at work trying to scrape up enough money to pay my monthly bills. On my down time, when I get any, I try to see my friends and family regularly, making promises to each of them that I cannot always keep. There is not enough time in the day! So, while I am in school I have to pull myself away from things I want to do, like hang out with my friends or go to a party, because I have work to do. It can be stressful and depressing. The life of a college student, I'll tell you!

Money vs. Happiness

Last night I was at work at the nursing home I work for part time, and I was doing some homework on my break. There was a new nurse on, and she asked me presumptuously, "Oh, you're going to nursing school?" I responded, "No, I am in school for Elementary Education." She was so surprised and continued to ask me why I would settle for a teaching job when I had my foot in the door with nursing. I told her, "It is what I have always wanted to do, that's why." I was a little annoyed by her comments, but that is not the first time I have gotten a reaction like that about my career choice. Sure, nurses make more money than teachers for the most part, but I am going to be doing what makes me happy. Isn't that what we should all strive to do?

Full college experience

I know a lot of people say that you won't get the full experience of college unless you live on campus. I have commuted to Bridgewater State for all of my three years here, and although I have gained the knowledge that I wished to gain, sometimes I feel like I could have benefited more socially if I lived on campus. However, if I did lived on campus I don't know that I would have been able to focus like I can living at home and being away from the temptation of going out all of the time. The distractions in a college setting are numerous and unavoidable, so it is often difficult for young adults to focus on their schoolwork. There are so many other obligations, involving friends, work and family that the stress of balancing it all can become overwhelming. Maybe this is why college is becoming such a neccessity for people; so that they can learn to balance their obligations in life, without going crazy!

MTEL crunch time

For my education major at Bridgewater State I have had to take several liscensure tests, commonly called MTELS (or Massachusetts Test for Education Licensure). In order to graduate with my degress in Elementary Education I have to pass three different MTELS. So far, in my third year at the college, I have passed two, and will have to retake one more to finish up. The cost of the tests can be high, especially if you have to take a test more than once to pass it, which has happened to me once. It is stressful to have a limited amount of time to pass the tests, and the content is often difficult. I am glad that I am two third's of the way done with the tests, but I am also worried about passing the last one in time for graduation (hopefully in May 2010).

Learning beyond the books

During my spring break I vacationed with some of my family to Paris, France. It was an incredible experience to see the sights and explore, but it was also an eye opener. Hardly anyone over there spoke English, so it was extremely difficult for us to communicate, which got very frustrating. This made me realize how essential it is to explore the world beyond books, and surround yourself with different cultures. It is like how they say the best way to learn a foreign language is to jump into a community that speaks it. The best way to really understand the way that other people around the world really live, is to experience it for yourself first hand.

The French live very differently from us, but you never really understand why this is until you travel there. I have also been to England, which is different from here as well. Europe and America are almost opposites, but it is wonderful be able to see that and experience it, rather than just learn about it from a distance. From my experience, travel is one of the absolute best ways to really learn about yourself and about the world.