The Good:
Last weekend was my sister's baby shower, which was so wonderful! I headed home Friday after a long day of class and work, and while every train out of Philly was delayed due to inclement weather, mine left on time. Woohoo! I got home, helped set up for the party, wrote a paper that was due at midnight (turned in at 11:30 pm!), went to sleep, woke up, threw the party, and was preparing to come back to Philly on Saturday night. Mother Nature had other plans for me. It snowed in earnest pretty much all day, and roads were really bad by the time the party ended. There was no way I was catching a train back to Philly when we could barely drive a car down our street. Thankfully, my sister Steph was in town from Delaware and she got snowed in too! Steph and I live pretty close to each other, but thanks to having opposite schedules and lots of obligations, we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like. It was so much fun to get snowed in together! My parents were happy to have us home as well. The four of us actually carried out a pretty awesome prank together…
For Christmas this year, my Mom got an 8-foot tall inflatable Santa Claus. A few years ago, in the middle of October, my Mom's best friend put a giant inflatable snowman in our front yard, just for fun. Ever since then, my Mom has been trying to prank someone else with a large inflatable. The snow gave us the perfect excuse. My oldest sister, Jen, lives a few blocks away from my parents' house, so around 8 pm, my Mom, Dad, Steph, and I trekked over to her house with flashlights, an extension cord, and the inflatable Santa. Here's what happened:
Hilarious, right?! It was so much fun…I'm only sad that I didn't get to see my sister or her family's reactions when they saw the giant Santa the next day. I'm sure it was priceless. Anyway, I headed back to Philly the next morning, got to do some work, then stayed up waaaay too late watching the Oscars at one of my friend's apartment.
The Bad:
Then it was Monday morning. I was tired when I got to school, but I stayed up really late on Sunday night (the Oscars only happen once a year!), so I didn't think much of it. Some of my students were sniffling and coughing, but that's pretty much the norm during winter. Then Tuesday happened, and I started to feel pretty terrible. Two of our kids were out sick, which is a big deal. I taught a Math lesson and it was okay, but I felt like I missed a lot of points that i wanted to make. Thankfully my teacher chimed in to fill in the missing pieces, but I felt a little out of it. I headed to my evening class which consisted of a panel of principals. They spoke to us for two hours about their schools, what they're looking for in teachers, and what we can do as candidates to market ourselves and get ahead in the job application process. This is when the nervousness set in. Here's a peek into what I was thinking during that session:
How can I possibly think about what I will say during an interview when I haven't even finished a job application yet? And how can I possibly think about finishing a job application when I haven't even finished my Term IV assignment (which is due next Friday)? And how can I possibly think about finishing my Term IV assignment when I feel like I am coming down with the flu and I have lesson plans to write for tomorrow and I need to update my blog and my apartment is a mess and I've needed to make a dentist appointment for like a month and I have things I need to do for church, and I want to keep in touch with my family and friends and, and, and?!?!
The Ugly:
Needless to say, when I got home on Tuesday night, I was not a pretty sight. After venting to James and crying quite a bit, I emailed my Classroom Mentor and told her I would have to miss school on Wednesday on account of not feeling well. I slept for 11 and a half hours that night! Staying home and resting did me a lot of good, and while I wasn't feeling great, I thought I was getting better. I went to school on Thursday and was there for about an hour when my CM said I should just go home and rest. Friday morning I went to the Urban Ethnography Forum for two really interesting sessions, then came home and put in about four hours of work on Term IV assignment. Four Modern Family episodes later, the week finally came to a close.
The Point:
So now it's Saturday and I feel like I've learned a lot in the past week. I need to stay well-rested and healthy. I need to be patient with myself and take one thing at a time. I'm not doing this whole grad school thing perfectly, but that's okay.
Stay happy and healthy, everyone.
- Rachel
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