Modern Day Matriarch

I wrote this over a week ago with the intention of posting it on here but I managed to get distracted and I forgot.

12/18/2008

Today was my last day at West Junior High and it was hard. As hard as it was, I left the school feeling incredibly high. I am so thankful for my experience there. I'm thankful for my mentor teacher Yvonne. I'm thankful for Tessa and chips and Salsa at Chile's. I'm thankful for Amanda, my fellow student teacher. I'm even thankful for Amanda's mentor teacher. I'm thankful for my experience on team, for the library ladies and the special ed teachers. I'm thankful for everything I learned and all of the positive experiences I had there. And of course, I am so incredibly thankfull for my students. I am going to miss them for a very long time. They have made a permanent imprint on my heart. I really, deeply, cared for each of them and what's really great about that, is that I know that when I left today, they knew that.
I cried every periord except fifth and then a good portion of fifth came to visit me after school ended so I cried then:) And I'm completely O.K. with that because I'm a cryer. I'm sure each year it's going to get easier, but the truth is, I don't want it to. I always want to care this much.
I am graduating now in less than two days. Technically I was done with school last week, but I wanted to stay as long as I could. I guess I'm a college grad now, or at least almost. It's so weird to say that! It's going to take some getting used to. I have been in college for 5 and half years!!!!! I'm finally done! At least with my bachelors. Boise State has yet to see the end of me though. In fact, they're getting another grand out of me next semester for a 3 weekend workshop to finish up my reading endorsement. I'm still not quite sure where we're going to come up with that grand, but I guess we'll work it out: ) With me graduating on Friday I almost feel compelled to make a list of amazing/funny/great/memorable college memories. In fact, I think I will.
Our first apartment (Ours, as in Sharlee and I's, that we had our freshman year).
Thomas. The experience of meeting him when I walked into class and it was just him and he had that funny accent and we went to the Flying M.
Thomas at Shari's.
Sharlee pretending to be me on the phone with Thomas.
Thomas talking to Angie.
"The last thing I want to do tonight is fight with the two of you."--Thomas
Sharlee seeing Thomas in the computer lab years later.
Scott's poetry class.
Friday lunches when we used to eat healthy (Sharlee and I:)
Friday lunches when we stopped eating healthy (Sharlee and I:)
Reaing poetry from other classmates during Friday lunches.
"Scott's going to be a little late for class."--Sharlee
Julius in Bio
Bio in general--except for me failing it.
Juluis in the elevator years later.
My Prufrock paper.
Falling in love with Prufrock.
Rashmi!!!!!!!
Reading notes in Rashmi's class and laughing uncontrollably while we sat in the front row and Rashmi was teaching (Sharlee and I:)
The John Mayer Concert and then staying up till like 4 am writing our papers for Rashmi's class and then somehow getting an A.
Sharlee and I reading off the incredibly corny lines we wrote in our paper.
Michael in Rashmi's class.
Not watching eated R movies:)
Michael years later.
That dirty, creepy, poem that Michael wrote.
Ryan.
Jason.
Meeting Derek in that first Ed class and him saying that line about MLK that we will forever laugh about.
Me telling Ken about that weird guy in my Ed class that said the line about MLK and then me walking into Ken's apartment and Derek being there and me not knowing they were even friends until that moment.
Ken.
Sharlee coming to Ed class just for fun.
My multi-media project for Bruce.
Writing "Losing Seventeen" and "The Grocery Store Diaries".
Susan's class despite how it dragged:)
Bruce's class last semester and my Sci Fi unit plan that I DID NOT want to do but then ended up loving and growing so much because of it.
Working in Mrs. Gratton's class.
Realizing I had made the right choice in regards to my major.
Realizing I was actually good at teaching-- Huge relief.

I know there are more memories. At some point I may edit this so that I can add to it. Or course, one of my biggest highlights of college has been student teaching. These have been some of the best four months of my life. I have so many memories. I am trully blessed. Sometimes soon I need to make a list of those too. Sometimes they're hard to explain. Sometimes it was just a look, or a laugh. It was finally breaking through to a student I've worked hard at cracking all semester. It was a poem that was shared by an otherwise shy student. It was two boys in my classroom every break and every lunch, playing the computers and storing food in my cupboards. It was all the students that hugged me as they left today and all of the students who came by to do it again after school. It was seeing myself in a student. It was laughing at myself. It was an amazing four months. I am extremely grateful for every moment of it.