Bombshells

Sophia Loren.


One name. What a lady. I wish curves like her's were still appreciated today.

Let it Go

I want to write today about my students. I teach Composition 107 which is a writing course for students who struggle with the concepts and skills. They don't receive credit for this class but need to pass it in order to move onto Comp 110 (or freshman 1). So when I started teaching this course I expected to have students who were resentful for testing into this course, who don't enjoy writing and so will fight with the process the entire time, and who think it is a waste of their time since they aren't receiving credit for it. Fortunately, for the most part, my class is not like this. I do have a few who provide me with much to be frustrated over but I just let it roll right off. I try to remember that they are freshman and for the most of them this is their first semester. The student who already has 5 absences but who, once she found out that if she has 2 more absences I can withdraw her from the class, now attends every class. I can forgive that student. I can assume that the shock of freedom and having to learn how to manage your own time are the reasons behind her numerous absences. Then there is the student who has offered me every excuse in the book as to why she doesn't have her assignments and has only just given me the first assignment when we are already on the fourth. She I can not forgive. Get your act together or drop the class. She makes me want to scream. But I take a deep breath and then later, in the privacy of my home, I let it out.

Welcome

Welcome one and all to my blog. I decided to name it "Who Knew?" for a few reasons.
1. Who knew it was so hard to come up with a blog title? So much pressure. Should it be witty, clever, informative, straight-forward, sarcastic, intelligent, funny, noble, angry, catchy, politically correct, politically incorrect...? The choices are endless.
2. I intend to write about everything and anything that happens in my life as a student, college teacher, daughter, sister, cousin, 20-something, friend, single, Pennsylvanian, allergy-sufferer, lover of laughing, holistic chiropractor patient, trier of new things... everything. And so you will find out things you did not know about me and the world around me.
3. Who knows if anyone will read this and so when someone does I can say "who knew?"

Those are pretty much my reasons.

And now to introduce myself.

I live in the temperamental region of Pennsylvania known as the Philadelphia-surrounding-area. Aka, the suburbs. I like where I live except for many things (it might sound like I don't like it and in actuality (I'm still trying to figure that one out). I don't like the weather. I really don't like the weather. I don't like how dirty Philadelphia and the surrounding parts are. I don't like how rude we are to one another around here. I don't like the lack of people my age who enjoy doing the things I enjoy. I don't like having to drive everywhere. I don't like the weather. Did I say that one already? But what I do like is how my family all lives close by... I think that's it. Yup. Pretty sure. Oh, I guess I like how close I am to two major cities, Philadelphia and New York, although I don't take advantage of that as often as I should.

I'm a student. Again. I graduated in December 2008 from Penn State with a bachelor's in English and no one was hiring. So I worked as a pre-school teacher (I still don't know how I was considered qualified for that job except for the fact that kids and I jive with one another). I didn't particularly like the job except that I got to play with kids in between having to actually teach 3-5 year olds about science and social studies. Anyway, I knew that I did not want to do that and realized I really wanted to teach college. In order to do that I had to get my master's so in March of last year I started looking at schools and decided on The College of New Jersey. I went to an information session and found out they would pay in-state tuition (I owe the difference between out and in-state tuition since I live in Pennsylvania) if I became a Graduate Assistant. All I had to do was work 15 hours a week. Sign me up. Then I found out that after a semester I could apply for a teaching practicum with Bucks County Community College in which I would teach a beginning composition course. This is one sweet deal. I teach Comp before graduating with a masters, I get paid a salary, I am hired like any other instructor by Bucks, AND I get course credit for it at TCNJ. They didn't have to tell me anymore. I signed my name on the dotted line, handed them a check (and later my soul) and became a graduate student. I started in the Summer of 2009 and will be graduating either at the end of Summer 2010 or Fall 2010 depending on how much I want to stress myself out.

So now I teach composition at Bucks and I can guarantee you that will provide lots of content to write about. I like the job and I'm lucky with my class. They are all, for the most part, hard workers who want to pass this class so that they can move on to Comp Freshman 1. I also work for the tutoring center as a writing tutor (which pays mighty fine I might add) one day a week. That too will provide content.

So, like I said, I'm not terribly happy with where I am living and I am considering a move out West. Hopefully I'll be traveling there soon to scope out Seattle and San Fransisco.

That's about all for now. Hopefully I'll be better at writing in this than I have been in the past. I want to share all the funny things that come with being a graduate student, college teacher and me.