Year Recap (part two)

"      In order to understand this blog, please go back to part one of the year recap and read it.

      Second semester. The part of the year that really starts the countdown of going to my dream school, East Texas Baptist University. Of course, that was probably evident in my other posts. During the semester I took the following classes in random order; History 1302, English 1302 (composition), Bowling, Texas Government, and Federal Government. The schedule is correct. I did all of these classes in the same semester; yes it was tough, but I got through the the semester. I averaged B's throughout the year; which is decent for the first year of college. I had three of the same professors as I did in the fall semester, so I went in to that class already knowing the way the professors worked and what to do about papers. The only negative was the fact that I wasn't able to go to BSM and SLI due to the times in my schedule.

                                                           

     When the end of the second semester came about, I was thinking that I only had 23 credits; due to the fact that I didn't count a certain class. I didn't know that the class that was required for all North Lake College freshman would transfer or not. With that class in the back of my head that probably wouldn't transfer, I signed up for a class for a short semester. This short semester is called a May-mester, or winter-mester; depending on whether or not the class is taken in the spring or winter. The class that I happened to sign up for was Beginning Jogging. Yes, I know. I'm probably not the kind of person that would sign up for a jogging class, yet I happened to like it quite a bit.

    Now during the summer, I had many things to do- WAIT. I want to pause and say that yes, I finished the year with an average of B's.  Now back to the summer. Since I had been living with my grandparents during the school year, I decided that I would stay at my grandparent's house for a few weeks in the summer, and live at my parent's house for the other weeks. During the weeks that I would live with my grandparents, I would hang out with a few friends that I had met at North Lake College, along with go to dinner with my grandparents. I just have to say that I have a pair of pretty cool grandparents. I would not trade them ever! I know that I always can rely on them to put a smile on my face; no matter what goes on during the day. It is almost as if they secretly know if I was needing some lifting up. I love them like crazy. The same goes with the rest of my family...

               

    During the parts of the summer that I was living at my parent's house, and I was plenty busy with all of the activities that I was involved in. For instance, I helped out with VBS, or Vacation Bible School, along with Mission Trip to Lubbock, Tx. The theme for Vacation Bible School this past year was Agency D3; which happens to be secret agent themed. I think that the theme for this year's VBS is truly the best it has ever been. For one, the curriculum that was provided to be taught was top notch. The way they had written the curriculum allowed the children and teachers to really think about the evidence of the good news of what Christ has done for us. This year's theme was based off of the verse 1 Peter 3:15. Yes I know, you are probably wondering what 1 Peter 3:15 is, so I will save you a trip to your Bible or another site. Here, my friends is what the verse says. "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect." I bet you are wondering where I went for Mission trip. Well... Birdville Baptist Church went to Lubbock, Tx for the second year in a row. There, we helped out the Buckner homes and recreation center by multiple activities. A few missions fields that went on this year were painting walls in one of the Buckner buildings, fixing up the back part of a house that has homed several children/teens with special needs, there were also murals being painted and pillowcases being sown for all of the Buckner kids. Buckner is an organization that helps families that are broken or the children are orphans of some kind. It is a great organization that should stay strong.


                         


     As August started up, things began to get a little hectic. Not only did I have my room a mess with possible items going to ETBU, but I was also moving my stuff out of my grandparents' house in order to get everything in order to be ready to move in. I also managed to get my scholarships, loans, and all financial issues worked out. With leaving on the third Sunday of the month, I had limited time to complete all financial issues fixed, and have everything ready to go. I am sorry, I am repeating myself. I guess I want to make sure that my readers understand how difficult it is to get everything ready to attend college.

     Of course, I had to take a break from packing, cleaning, and figuring out what would be staying or coming with me to ETBU. Here is how I took my "breaks;" I went and watched my High School Marching Band a few times at their night practice. I have to say that I am VERY proud of my high school. Yes I know, I graduated from there, but still... They are AMAZING. When I watched them, it was the second Friday of August, and they were marching and playing a part of the show. I didn't realize how much I was really going to miss "my babies" until that last night that I was watching them march and play. I consider all of the band kids my babies even though they are anywhere from a year behind me to several years behind me. I honestly miss them already so much. I know that they will do great this year.
   
                                                              

     After going to watch them perform, I went back to my room in order to finish packing. I was making sure that I had everything that I would need for living at a place four hours away. Now. this is hard work, I must make sure that I am packing items that I will use all semester. To be honest, I didn't finish getting everything packed until 1 in the morning. At this point, I am going to tell more about my travels in my next blog.

                     

Year Recap (part one)

     I know... I disappeared from the blogging site for a while.  I plan on working on my blog more, in order to practice getting used to writing more. As a reminder, this is where I plan on keeping my updates through college and maybe my future classroom. There will be anything from the successes of school, to random activities that I do during this time. Now, let's get started shall we.

                                              

     I am in the process of getting all of my things ready to move-in on Sunday. I have my room covered in boxes and items that I will be taking to East Texas Baptist University. I even have a list- WAIT. I am getting ahead of myself. How about I back up some in order to really fill this in.

    As I entered into high school, for the first time- WAIT. Too far. Let me try this again.

    In the last blog, I talked about the first week of school (Syllabus week) and what adventures awaited me. Well I am here to tell you that after the first week, I started getting acquainted with becoming a college student. True, it was hard work, but I loved it all the more. In the first semester, I became familiar with the writing method, my way around college, and becoming better equipped with life lessons that I will be using more often. As the semester wore on, I became involved in SLI, BSM, and C.o.C. I enjoyed being in these programs along with being in the classes that I was in. These classes happened to be English 1301 (Composition), History 1301, Speech, and an Education class that taught the basics of taking notes.

                                         

    I know; you are probably wondering what SLI, BSM, and C.o.C are, so I will tell you now before I forget. SLI or Student Leadership Institute is a group that helps students become better leaders for tomorrow. I joined it halfway through the semester and went to as many meetings as I could. BSM is called Baptist Student Ministry, and there happens to be quite a large group at etbu; which I will check out. Now C.o.C happens to be Christians on Campus. This organization is similar to BSM yet different. BSM meets on Wednesdays and has one person read from the Bible, and talk about it. Christians on Campus meets on Mondays. Instead of one person reading and talking about the Bible, the group would go around in a circle; each reading a verse of the chapter. Once the group had finished the chapter, then we would talk about it. This group would have Christians from different denominations that would come together, so it was interesting to see the different views.

                                        

     Of course, after that semester came Christmas; I had a great, long break. I went on a retreat with the college group (barefoot ministries) along with an indoor snowball fight. WAIT. I bet you are probably wondering how I could possibly have a snowball fight inside. Well here's how; have snowballs made out a felt like product.

    I will have the second part in the next blog.

Syllabi Week

Think about this. That moment of the very first step into 

college causing a wave of excitement, and nervousness. Will 

the professor be nice? Will I know anybody? Will the class         

 be hard? I hope I don't get lost. All of those questions ran

 through my head this week and they all got answered. Yes my 

professors are nice, and yes the classes are hard. I didn't know   

anyone, but I did meet new people in each of my classes. I 

did get a little lost, yet not for long. I felt very accomplished

 and prepared  for class this week, and not just because I 

didn't get lost too bad. I feel accomplished because I got most

 of my books (don't have to get one book until October)

 and I have turned in all of my homework so far. 

I will have to say that it will be taking some time to get used to 

     only four days of class, with two to three classes a day. I don't 

even see my professors each day. I mean, whoa this is unreal. I 

do, however, enjoy the feeling of all of the freedom that I have. I 

don't have to be in class by six minutes, and I don't have to worry 

about students being rude to the professors. Not only that, I don't 

need passes of any kind to get from place A to place B. 

Three floors at Haltom have nothing compared to the up and down at North Lake. From the parking lot, it looks like multiple buildings only two floors. It also looks as if the only way to get inside each building is to walk outside a while. I couldn't have been more wrong. Almost of the all of the buildings are connected from one of the levels. The only buildings that are required to go outside to get there, is the Library, G building, and F building. Yes the buildings are labeled with letters and it makes it that much easier to figure out where to go and to stay. Even though there are elevators throughout the campus, I choose to take the stairs, so that I can get exercise and get places faster.

 

Even though I already have multiple assignments, I honestly can not wait until this next week. This is going to be a good year. I can already feel it.

College is here! College is here!

Tomorrow is the first day of college. I am excited and a little nervous as I always am on the first day of school. I haven't been up early in quite a while and it is going to be a little adventure tomorrow, trying to find my classes. I'm ready though. My classes this semester include, History, English, Speech, a "learn to study class" and a lifetime fitness class. Classes with mostly writing, should be fun for someone who is just now getting used to writing.

                                      

I brought home my first set of groceries as a college kid. I feel so mature, even though I just got the very necessities for this week. Since I will be up before my grandparents, I will have breakfast by myself, and sometimes lunch. Dinner will be with my awesome, hilarious grandparents.

                          

As the year goes on, my blogs should get more detailed and longer. I might even include revisions of older posts from my other blog, which is a great place to check out my ideas of being a teacher. This blog is mainly for my college life and perspectives. I can't wait to see what is in store for me as a future elementary school teacher.
            

This is just in...

I am officially moved into my grandparents' house and I start college in a week. WHAT? This is crazy to me. I can't believe what is on. I mean, don't get me wrong, I am excited about being a college kid, yet I am terrified to death. My main concern is not to get lost at North Lake. However, if I could make my way through Haltom, then I should be somewhat okay.

                

On a side note, the high school marching band at Haltom is amazing. School hasn't even started yet and they already have almost their whole show on the field. You are probably asking why I even care/know about the marching band. Well it just so happens that my brother plays the alto sax in the marching band and I am very proud of my brother.

       

Woah. Wait what?

Well. It's official. I am a freshman at North Lake! I got my school id today and have my classes registered. Now all I have to do is pay for tuition and get my books. Oh and wait for school to start. Quoting a great movie, "I'm officially a college student!!!" 


                 
The next thing that I must do is move in with my grandparents. I must say that it is the weirdest feeling in the world, figuring out what to pack and what to keep behind. I just can't get over the fact of moving away. I have lived in this current house for literally half of my life.

                                                                           

August First!

It is officially the first of August and I have to say this week has been pretty busy for me. From getting my state id changed to registering for college, I have to say that college is already stressful. Don't get me wrong, I am very excited for college. I just didn't realize that it takes a lot of different kinds of trips to get everything settled. This is what I did this week.

                                                

Monday, I went and got my transcript from Haltom first making sure they got everything right. Yes I did open one, but I ordered two for a reason. I then had to return back into those hallowed halls to get my transcript "fixed." I can see you now. You are asking either one, two or three questions.
                                       1. Why did I open one transcript?
                                       2. Why did I need the transcript "fixed"?
                                       3. Isn't it illegal to open a high school transcript?
Well here is the thing. I opened one of the transcripts to see whether or not certain items were on there. The reason why the transcript had to get fixed was because there was another girl's name and scores on there. Her name happen to be really similar, so it is easy to get confused. North Lake told us that we could bring them an opened transcript as long as it has the official seal. After all that I did get another set of transcripts.

                                                                                                   
On Tuesday I went with my mom and granddad to the DMV to change the address on my Texas Id and to finally get my permit. Yes, you read it right. I just got my permit. I, however am not going to go through that story.
                        
Today, I went to North Lake to turn some of the necessary items needed for registration and tomorrow I will be going back to finish the registration process. I am a hop and a skip away from becoming an official college kid!