Focus on the Good

Despite having a paper and an annotated bibliography due next week, let me count the positive things that have happened to me recently

1)Playing with clay and paint in fine arts. My fine arts professor likes to say, "I'm sure you don't get to do this in theology."
2)Being chosen to be an Orientation Assistant and having my workshop leader interview on Monday. I really want to be a workshop leader more,not just for getting paid, but also being able to connect with the same 25 students for 10 weeks. Experience planning lessons and leading a class is great for a future teacher! Unfortunately, I can't hold both positions as the training dates conflict.
3)Getting papers for my panel in NUCL--I'm going to be chairing a panel on female conflicts
4)Stress Reduction night (loved painting and getting a massage!)
5)Visit to the Portland Art Museum
6)Getting a B+ on my final short argument paper for lit studies
7)Living in Fields next year with my new roomie
8)Workshop leader interview (I'll know after Spring break if I got the position)
9)London study abroad meeting, and the possibility of going to Scotland, Ireland, and/or Paris
10)Meeting with THE best advisor ever, who tells me that I remind him of the importance of doing our best and hanging in there.

Well, off to dinner and then more reading. 2 more days!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry my blogs have not been the most exciting lately. Like most (if not all) college students, I have been extremely busy with the demands of classes. As an English major taking two English classes this semester, I have a TON of reading and writing. This weekend, I spent a good amount of time (2 hours tonight, and an hour yesterday) doing research in the library. For Brit Lit, I have to write a paper comparing and summarizing three critical articles about a piece of work we have read or are going to read (I'm doing Ben Jonson's poem "To Penshurst", which is the estate of another great Renaissance poet I have read, Sir Philip Sidney). I also have to do an annotated bibliography for my lit studies research paper. So far, I have found four out of at least eight sources I need, which is pretty good. Research can be tiring, but now that I know how and where to find sources, it's not too bad.

Despite it being February, the weather has been sunny. Yesterday four of my friends and I went downtown to the Waterfront (grassy area looking over the river not far from Pioneer Square) and had a picnic. Yesterday was quite windy, so we had hoped to fly a kite, but were unable find one. Today I had my choir concert, and we had a good turnout as this weekend was Junior Parent's Weekend. It was fun, but I was pretty exhausted as I had a lot to do. At least we have a week and a half until Spring Break!!

What's in a Name?

A few entries back, I wrote about my aspiration to be a high school English teacher. As someone considering this profession as a possible career, an issue I've pondered with is how I want my students to address me. Contrary to how most students (myself included) address (or have) their teachers, I really want my students to call me by my first name. Many of my friends respond with "I could never address a teacher by his/her first name." I plan to tell my students: "I really like going by my first name, but you can call me "Miss" with my last/first name. Don't call me anything rude, but I'm not going to force you guys to call me by my last name."

I think addressing teachers by their last names is necessary for elementary (and maybe, middle school) students who need to know that the teacher is in charge and don't yet know how to be "friends" while still respecting his/her authority. However, I believe that high school is a different story. High school students are old enough to get to know their teachers on a personal level while still respecting his/her authority. In my opinion, students often disrespect teachers not for a lack of understanding authority, but that they don't feel respected by them or know how to take advantage of the teacher. That said, I feel that at this stage, the teacher can (and should) chose how s/he wants to be be addressed. In fact, you can still be "friends" with your students while maintaining order in the classroom. Also, in college, professors choose how they want to be addressed. As students who are preparing for college, they should slowly understand the dynamics of academic life in college.

With the exception of my freshman year, I have always addressed my teachers by their last names. I am friends with four of my high school teachers, and have been on a first-name basis with them ever since I graduated almost two years ago. As a student at a small, private college where professors teach all classes, it has been my experience that majority of my professors go by their first names. Being able to call my professors by their first names makes me feel treated like an adult or colleague as opposed to a kid. In many cases, I feel comfortable talking to my professors more when I'm on a first-name basis with them (although I really liked two of my profs who went by their last names).

Yes, I know that the majority of my professors hold Ph.D's in their field and have worked incredibly hard for them. Many people think that the way to show respect for them is by addressing them as "Dr." I disagree with this. First of all, they are teaching at a college, so students know that they are accomplished in their fields. Second, I don't think they need to "hide behind some status" (in the words of Herman) to earn respect from their students. While professors (and everyone) deserve respect, calling them "Dr." is not neccesarily the way to do so. For example, I do not feel that calling Herman "Dr. Asarnow" is going to make me respect him any more than I already do. In fact, I feel strongly that I respect Herman more by being on a first name basis with him because he respects me not just as a student, but also as a person.

By allowing my students to address my by my first name, I feel that they will have more respect for me and feel comfortable coming to me for help. High school is a hard time for most, if not all, teenagers. That said, they need a supportive, caring adult (not a parent) who understands the struggles they face. What person would be more suitable to help teenagers than a high school teacher? It is my hope that my students will see me as a teacher who cares about them not just as students, but also as people.

An Afternoon at the Opera

Sunday afternoon I attended my first opera. Despite having an aunt who is wild about this type of performance, I have never been wild about seeing an opera. As part of my fine arts class, I am required to go to three events: an opera, the art museum, and a play in addition to two on campus events (music and drama). Although the music event in the past has been the symphony, people were apparently getting bored so the fine arts profs decided to have us attend an opera. When I found out that I would be going, I was actually kind of excited to go, just because I had never been to one.

The opera I saw this afternoon was Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte," which is about two sisters engage to two young men. The young men have an older friend, Don Alfonso, who makes a bet to see if they can fall in love with someone else. The men then disguise themselves as Albanians, trying to "court" the each other's fiancees.

While the show was 3 hours long (with a 20 minute intermission), my experience was better than my preconceptions as a young teenager that opera was people screaming at the top of their lungs. The beginning of both acts dragged, but the action came more toward the end. I also liked the costumes and sets, as they were very modern and colorful. Although musical theater is my performance of choice, I will say that my experience at the opera was not as bad as I expected.

Sorry for the late reply. This week has been very busy with papers and reading.

Wait, What Do You Mean I'm Really Twenty?

As most of you know, I turned 20 on Friday. While I have always made a big deal about celebrating my birthday, this year I was a little more quiet about it. The fact that I have left my teens behind and am slowly starting to enter the "adult world" is exciting, yet overwhelming at the same time. Just because I'm not into making a huge deal about my birthday does not mean that I did not have fun. Friday night my girlfriends and I went out for Thai food at a yummy restaurant called Thai Ginger, which is about 5 minutes from UP. After dinner, we came back to campus and had cake and played Apples to Apples, which was a lot of fun. Saturday night my friend Trever and I went to Mio Sushi, another excellent restaurant not far from campus. Not only did I not have to wait until I got back to CA to satisfy my sushi craving, but I got to enjoy eating non-Commons and non-Cove food. Also, both places were inexpensive! (a major plus for us college students)


The girls and I at dinner (Dana, me, Kenz, Megan, Traci, Cady, Kaelyn, and Sam)


Birthday girl!

I got some nice presents for my birthday, as well as flowers, which are a nice addition to my room. Like everything, all good things must come to an end. I had a few short papers I had to work on this weekend and a TON of reading. Like usual, I expect this week to be reading heavy. On Sunday I am going to the opera for fine arts. I have never been to one, so it should be an interesting experience. Until then.