The end.

The semester is done. It was a bad one as far as grades go, but I don't regret the classes I took. I love what I have learned.

• World Religions - I gained an appreciation for all religions and understand more of the eastern culture that accompanies many of those religions. I love seeing God's hand in the beliefs and lives of all of His children. I know better how to represent my own faith tradition because I now know how it compares to others.
• Korean History - I love thinking about how little I knew of Korea compared to what I now know after my modern Korean history class. It's cool to go from total ignorance to at least some understanding. I'll spare you the details though because I could go on forever about that class.
• History of Science - I love the perspective I've gotten from my history of science class. It has been really cool to map out the evolution of thought and argumentation in everything from the systems in the cosmos to the workings of human brain. It's crazy to think of the intellectual development that we inherit just by being socialized into our culture at this time. It's incredible to then realize that what we know is very little to everything that God knows. It's even more incredible to think of our own potential to become omniscient through God's plan.
• World Geography - I loved the professor's stories. I could probably still fill out the various map quizzes for as long as my short-term memory holds out. Yet, I don't feel like I've learned many new ideas. I did like the professor's perspective on the Israeli-Palestinean conflict, though, very interesting.

My grades will be bad, though. I'm getting burned out on school. It was easier to be motivated for school when I worked somewhere that didn't satisfy my career desires. It has been harder to stay focused on school this semester since I'm already doing what I want to do. But I know that school is important and I will finish it!

On the positive side, I have learned sooo much at Summit. I learn so much every single day. Today I said goodbye to two of my students. They were happy goodbyes since one girl gets to go live with her little brother and the other guy has straightened up enough to go home to his family. I'm going to miss them. I'm also working with another teacher to track down one of our students that was relocated. We're going to see if we can visit him together.

Every day I pray that I can make some difference in my students' lives, and it is so amazing how Heavenly Father just fills me with love for them all. They can swear at me, hit on me, flip me off, ignore me, hug me, listen to me, or completely blow me off, but I really care for all of them. Some of them are really genuine and others are really good manipulators, but I still love them. I have grown so much, I am definitely not the person I was before this job. The only downside is that I am completely desensitized to swearing. I don't use profanity myself, but I hate that I hear it so casually.

Family, Isn't It About...

Time. Family Time!
I'm lucky to have my family live so close. I get to see them a lot. I also have the chance to be a part of a few pseudo-families trying to fill the needs when blood relations aren't readily available. So here are some of my family updates.

- The Wood Family - 

October included general conference in Holden, Mom's birthday, a cabin trip with Sierra and Harper, cheering Mom on at the Provo halloween half marathon, the Wood family halloween dinner, a traditional halloween visit to Grandpa and Grandma Burnett, and plenty of family dinners and afternoons doing laundry at the parents' house. Lots of fun!

- The College Family - 

Some of my roommates and friends have little or no family in Utah, so we build up little networks of pseudo-families to help fill the need. A roommate needed help recovering from ACL surgery and needs rides to work, school, and physical therapy. A friend needs someone to vent at. Another friend needs someone to go get treats with and unload their frustrations. One of my roommates is in a family science class and needed to do a family tradition and write a paper about it, so all 6 of us roommates went out to eat and celebrated all our birthdays at once. The family tradition was everyone saying what they loved about the birthday person, so we took turns telling what we loved about each other. Great tradition! Mostly college students can get wrapped up in work and school and the loneliness sets in. Even though they call, facebook, or skype their family, it really helps to have a support network nearby to call on when life is hard.

- The Summit Family - 

Where to even begin? For many of the students, they see their teachers and classmates more hours in the day than their foster or proctor families, and certainly more than their actual families. The learning at Summit doesn't start and end with standard curriculum. Some impromptu lessons this month? Let me see... interviewing skills, accountability, substance abuse, respect for women, mending relationships, proper theatre etiquette (at Thriller), valuing other people for who they are (at school campout, music class concert), and how to have fun (Chess tournament, Halloween faculty flashmob, Halloweiner roast). My students also like to ask me about what my life is like. I think the most attentive and behaved they ever were was when they asked me about what my life plans are and what I value in a relationship.

Sometimes the lesson works the other way. Today my students taught me about family. Tony walked into class, buried his head in his hoodie, and was silent for the first part of class. Lorenzo pops up out of his chair like usual (I swear I'm going to duct tape that kid down). He goes over to Tony and asks him why he's sad on his birthday. Tony mumbles out that he misses his family. Lorenzo then takes up a quick cash collection and gets a note from me to go to the vending machine. He comes back with chocolate for Tony and leads the class in the birthday song. Then he tells Tony that he'll be his family and gives him a big hug. It's really sad to see what happens when families fail and kids end up in the system, but sometimes we have small moments of success like this one.

I also love the faculty I work with. When I need teaching advice they are full of good ideas that work! Then there are the school's counselors and administrators who psychoanalyze my life and give me dating advice, whether I want it or not. Haha, I love them too. One of the school activities coming up that I'm looking forward to is a Girls' Night Out. All the girl students are invited and asked to bring a father figure with them. I don't know what's planned, but I'm sure it'll be good since the invitation asked the father figures to wear pink, haha!

I'm so lucky to have my family, my college family, and my Summit family!

My Music Moods

A picture is worth 1,000 words, but I don't currently have a camera. SO a moving picture with lyrics and music must be worth much more. Here are some current favorites.

Penguin: Christina Perri

Someone Like You: Adele

(Also Set Fire to the Rain, Make You Feel My Love, and Turning Tables all by Adele)

Hold Me: Jamie Grace

Did You Know?

It only takes an 9.5 minute walk from my front door to my M-W-F classes, but 17 minutes to my T-Th classes.

It is possible to spend all day hiccuping, even in the silent library and between sentences while giving FHE tours at the BYU Museum of Peoples and Cultures.

It can take up to 3 visits and loads of phone calls to accomplish a 15 minute paperwork and fingerprinting process with Alpine School District. I love my home district, but it can be messed up sometimes.

It is possible to win in the game of roommate roulette. I went into a 6 girl apartment without knowing the girls, and I love them all!

It is also possible to love all your classes! I have Comparative World Religions, Modern Korean History, History of Science, and World Geography.

Did you know that God puts people in our life who genuinely care? I have the best bishop, the kindest principle/boss, the most positive co-workers, and supportive roommates and friends.

Sometimes I wonder why I was even hired to teach math, especially to my type of students, so I asked the ones who hired me. The principle said he liked my coaching experience and my positive attitude. The assistant principle said I've got that "It" that you can't teach a teacher. The supervising math teacher said she knew I could think on my feet and really care about my students. After a rough class I have to remind myself of those things. After a good class I am just walking on cloud 9 and start believing what they said.

It's also very possible to take on more than you can handle, or not handle your stress properly and develop stomach pains and complete loss of appetite and nausea and find yourself threatening to get emotional over the stupidest things. However, just when things were building to an unforeseen breaking point my friends, roommates, boss, and bishop all happened to want to talk to me about life. Solid counsel and healthier stress management has led to a return of appetite, easing of the stomach pains, and a more level-headed me - all in one week!

Hike to the Summit

After only 2 days of classes so far, I LOVE MY JOB!!!
I love the students. I do have to remind them to keep their language clean and respectful. I also have a new rule "No War Stories." Gang affiliations and bragging about criminal pasts are not part of our math curriculum and don't make for a positive learning environment. The shocker is that they actually listen to me! That may wear off as we get further into the year, but for now there's some respect in there.

Favorite snippets: 

One kid asked me before class, "If you go to BYU does that mean you're religious?"

On Wednesdays we are supposed to push reading, no matter our subject. I was surprised that these kids have done some good reading already. We discussed some quotes about reading, and it was a really good discussion. Like really good. They even had some good book suggestions for me.

I know that things will get really hard, but I instantly love all my students, even the punks. To be honest, they are really awesome and have real character potential.

I feel like our school emblem perfectly describes the challenges of faculty and students in overcoming huge obstacles to succeed:

Interesting Inservice

Last week I got a position teaching math part-time at Summit High School.
I'm still in shock that I got it; here's why: over 60 people applied for my type of position, including certified teachers and a district employee of the year. Out of those 60 only 4 were hired, including me.

I'm only teaching algebra so that's manageable, right? Well I'm also floored that I got the job because this isn't just any high school. My students are wards of the state in group homes, foster care, and proctor care, or termed "at-risk." Wow, um no big deal, I can do it, right? Aaauugh!
 
Fun Facts I learned at Inservice:

1. Don't have blue or red pens, notebooks, or school supplies. A shipment of personal whiteboards had to be sent back because of color association. If it's an offensive color, the students refuse to touch it.
2. I learned when and how to use an epi pen.
3. I am supposed to pay attention to which students are consecutively sick. If a student is always sick then we have to call their proctor/guardian to make sure their health needs aren't being neglected.
4. I'm supposed to integrate technology with the school's sets of Ipads and Macbooks, but I can't assign internet or computer-based homework. 
5. No Parent-Teacher Conferences. Issues are to be taken to case-workers, proctor parents, or foster parents. 
6. Kids raised in gangs, abusive homes, or such like that don't usually just give out respect. I have to earn their respect before they'll even listen to me.
7. The hardest thing about Summit, that I've been warned about, is caring too much that it swallows up my life.

The school is tiny, but I've never seen such dedicated faculty. I mean, really, these people I work with are phenomenal. Just think of those tear-jerking inspiring teacher movies, those are the people I work with! They seriously love these kids. Sometimes they are the closest thing to family for them. That bond is shared between staff members too, instead of a faculty room we have "the family room." I'm terrified that my students will eat me alive, but I know that every staff member has my back, if not they wouldn't be working at Summit. I'm so grateful to have gotten this job. Like my new principle said, "If you can teach here, you can teach anywhere." My next blog post will probably be me venting about how overwhelmed I am once things get underway. Please be patient with me if that's the case, and if you have any suggestions I'd love them!

Un Partido de Futbol

Since we have a lot of Hispanic friends, we have been watching some of the Copa America soccer tournament. Colombian Chris wanted us to witness a game with his very patriotic mama so we made an evening of it. First was eating Arepas Colombianas from a vendor in Sandy and latin dancing in the parking lot while waiting for the food.

It was fun to use Spanish again! Chris told us we had to wear Colombian colors of red, blue, or yellow. I just used the shirt from the freedom run even though it looked like it was from Chile. The game was really rough and intense between Argentina and Colombia, but it ended 0-0. Apparently this was good for Colombia and bad for Argentina.

The Freedom Run

The Wood Family 5k runners this year were Mama, Jake, Me, Rebecca, and Andrea. Long-legged Becca had the fastest time for our family. Jake pulled off another "I think I'll run it in my normal clothes and shoes. Why not?" Mom ran it like the trooper she is and did well in her division. Corry woke up sick that morning and couldn't come. Andrea and I had run the course 2 days before to get used to the uphill finish. During the practice run I had to pull her along. During the real race she pulled me along. Since Andrea was my running buddy, I only have pictures of us.

 The little gazelle with her iPod.

 Before the run.

Finishers! The 5k was surprisingly fun. Friends and neighbors and pre-parade watchers cheer you along. Occasionally there would be music blasting along the parade/run route. Lots of fun!

Summer So Far

 Lacrosse with Becca, of course. I'm also working to put together a Utah Valley Girls Lacrosse community network to start and maintain junior league teams to feed into all the high school teams, to get Utah Lacrosse Association clinics in the public school P.E. classes, and to get all of the Utah Valley teams on the same page as far as communication and growth is concerned. I've had really good response so far, exciting! American Fork, Lone Peak, Orem, and Timpanogos are all on board so far!

 Hanging out.

 Work.

Orem Summerfest with Kayla.

 Playing with this kid and Garrett and Evelyn.

 Hiking.

 Hiking.

 Hiking.

 The snow tunnel below Stewart Falls.

 We're going in there? Please don't collapse in the warm melty weather...

 More of Stewart Falls.

 Andrea and Lila at the Carillon Bells Concert.

 This is how the little boys enjoyed the Carillon Bells Concert.

 Sometimes I just love all the random things that the Orem/Provo/BYU area has to offer.

 Evelyn and her big gorgeous eyes!

 Bean Museum yet again, just because Lila had never been before. It doesn't matter how many times I've been; it's still classic.

Benjamin and Garrett planted their plastic cows in their little garden plot. It's a different sort of dairy farm.

Decisions, Decisions

I don't like making life-changing choices. Right now I'm thinking about whether to serve a mission or not. That means I'd have to take Fall semester off to work to pay for it. Taking Fall semester off and then deferring for a mission means postponing school, which means I'll be in school forever. When I get back everyone my age will be done with school and moving on with their lives. That sounds selfish though, I want to be a missionary, and I want to make sure it's for the right reasons. I also need to know that I can afford it because I still want to maintain my goal of graduating with no debt. So far, so good. I still don't know what to do though. There's also the small matter of the fact that my mother would like more grandchildren. She informed me that "the Spirit better knock you over the head before you decide." Choices, choices.

Hello World

It's been awhile.

School 
School was not so bueno this semester. Even though I was only taking 9 credits, I spread myself too thin on other things and didn't give my education the attention it deserves. Why am I so irresponsible?!

Work
We started new quality teams at work, and I have been one of the team leads of the scripting team. I love the extra responsibility, but sometimes I bring work concerns home which isn't my favorite. I also am on a company-wide service committee. It's good yet scary, because it pushes me out of my comfort zone to  coordinate with other businesses and organizations for a big day of service in July.

Coaching
Coaching the lacrosse team has been a blast. Our win-loss record is 7-2, so we've had a good season thus far. Yesterday we had one of BYU's former defenders work with the team. The girls' defensive fieldwork looks so much better! Now we need to jumpstart our offensive plays. Tonight is our team barbecue and retreat, and I'm almost afraid to sleep over with the team. I just know someone will try to pull a prank on Coach Maggie and me. I just know it.

Museum Tours
My favorite tour at the museum so far was for Alpine School District's literacy program. None of the kids (or their parents) spoke any English. It was an adventure trying to explain the exhibit: "Anthropologists say... Oh blast, that word is too big." I also loved working with the families, boy scouts, activity day groups and students that come through the museum.

P.S. - Our new exhibit on Mayan textiles opens on Tuesday, wahoo!

Whoa. That's Crazy.

Even though I have grown up in the era of fast-changing technology, sometimes it makes me stop and say, "Whoa. That's crazy."

This morning in Spanish class, my friend asked me if I heard about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that just happened. At the time I thought it was crazy that we already knew about it halfway around the world. Then I checked msn.com for the story. They already had not just photos and video footage, but interactive tools and maps, with links connecting to anything you could want to know about it. I mean that's expected of online news sources, but still that is crazy to think about the photographers, reporters, editors, web designers, programmers, and management that worked to give me credible information so quickly.

One of the side stories on msn.com just blew my mind - Google's crisis response page. Holy cow. It includes updated government alarms and warnings, bulletins and message boards, transportation information, power-outage information, and get this - a person finder! The idea isn't totally new, but it's nuts to see technology in action like that.

Just so you know, as of the time of this post, the Church reports that in 5 of the 6 missions in Japan every missionary is safe and accounted for. The last mission they are waiting to here from is near the epicenter where communication systems are down.

To me it seems like the best application for the speed of information that the internet gives us is so we can respond faster and better in order to save lives and aid in the recovery of infrastructures, which also keeps governments and economies stable, which makes the world a safer place.

I expect that the next wave of information will be ways that we can help. So let's help.

Spring Fever

All it took was a few days with tropical 40 degree weather, and now all I can think about is kite-flying, walks up the canyon, picnics at the park, frisbee games, and my favorite flowers - tulips and daffodils.

 (Here is also one of my favorite Wordsworth poems about Daffodils)

What is really going to get me is when Macey's puts out the cheap plastic kites, big rubber balls, bottles of soapy bubbles, and the rainbow-colored jump-ropes in their the seasonal section. And once they put out their Easter stuff, I'm totally done for.

I can't wait until Spring!!!

January Happenings

So it's about time I post, with or without pictures.

Hmmm. Where to begin?

Let's see, I am only taking 9 credits this semester since I am working about 30 hours per week.

• As far as school goes, I love my Spanish class, now that I switched into the right level. I especially love that class because my teacher is a fellow Orem girls lacrosse player and is friends with some of my favorite people! 
• My Doctrine and Covenants professor was a missionary back east when my mom's family lived in New York. I think my grandpa was a counselor in the mission presidency so he got to know the Burnett's and was thrilled to see the grandkid of Reid Burnett in his class.
• My Utah history class is definitely a favorite. The professor is incredibly good. He has the fun job of dealing with a topic that is absolutely loaded with biases at BYU. Although, a majority of the students who go into that class have a narrow opinion of Utah. For those of us from around here it is a bit disheartening. Personally, I like my state. It's home. It's beautiful. I love how much geographic variety there is. I can even make it through the winter when I remember how much I love the summer. And I happen to love the people here.

So what have I done this January?
I finally watched all 3 Bourne movies. I was reluctantly converted to watching Avatar: The Last Airbender. I started coaching the Timpanogos girls lacrosse team. It's been fun to be Becca's coach. She's going to be a great player, especially since she has an amazing attitude at practice. I helped put on my best friend's bridal shower. The best part is that we brought together our old ring of girls from the good old days at Canyon View Jr. High. It was so good to see them all! And of course we had loads of fun at The Soup Kitchen (our apartment). Our place has an uncanny ability of attracting people. Whether it's for sharing dinner, watching movies, P90X, morning scripture study, impromptu game nights, homework help, or ukulele jam sessions, our door is always open and our couches are usually full. You would think that it would be annoying sometimes, but it makes our apartment a home.

Well that is all, so ta ta for now!