Sometimes I just want to go back to kindergarten.

I realized that I haven't properly informed the internet about the joy that is kindergarten. I go on and on about it to anyone who will listen, and I think people have stopped caring. That's why people blog anyway, right? To post things that no one wants to listen to? Haha...

Anyways, for those of you who don't know, as part of my college classes this semester, I have to do an elementary school practicum. Basically that means I get to go hang out in kindergarten Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It is literally the greatest thing ever and I can not tell you how much I love it.

Actually, I probably can. Kindergartners are absolutely adorable. They call me Miss Anderson and give me hugs all the time. This one girl tells me she'll miss me every time I leave. One kid even told me he loved me today. Twice. I think my boyfriend's got some competition...

They're just at that stage where they're starting to learn how to read and write new words. They know all their letters already, but it's really exciting helping them learn how to read. Some of the kiddos are super smart, like the one who knew how to spell "snowboard" (I asked him to spell "snow" and he one-upped me). This is the same kid who raised his hand during stations and told me he was bored with making three-letter words. I love how unreserved kids are.

And yes, spelling "snowboard" is a big deal. They're still learning three-letter words and word families. Today we worked on "-it" words: lit, hit, sit, quit, etc., and some of the kids really have a hard time with it. A lot of them don' t know how to read "it" yet so I think it's awesome when they figure stuff out.

Today when I was leaving they all asked me if I could stay and come back every day. I really wish I could. Do you know how unappealing college is after being in kindergarten?

I'm not slacking off, I promise.

At least I'm not intentionally slacking off. I've just been really spacey lately. I just completely forget about important things that are coming up, like assignments and meetings and such.

Example A: I had this project and paper for one of my classes and I swear to God it was due on Thursday (aka tomorrow). This semester I have a lot of my classes with the same people, so a few of us were talking as we were waiting for the bus after our Monday night class and I find out that it's actually due Tuesday (aka yesterday). Keep in mind that I find this out Monday after my night class and I hadn't even started it yet.

Example B: Yesterday, I was pretty pumped because I didn't have anything going on last night. I remember checking my phone calendar, seeing nothing, and thinking "Wow I actually have a free night? That never happens." Anyway, after supper I was doing homework and all the sudden I was like "Oh efff, do I have a meeting tonight??" Yes, I had a meeting. And yes, I was late. I have a committee meeting for student government stuff EVERY Tuesday at 7 pm. You'd think I'd remember it right?

I blame my dependence on my phone calendar. And my inability to remember things, but mostly I'm going to blame it on the fact that it wasn't in my phone (which is still my fault because I forgot to put it in there...)

I'm a bit notorious for putting everything in my phone calendar: meetings, appointments, work shifts, lunch dates, weekend plans, etc. See if it's not in my phone, I will think I don't have anything going on then. I know I work Fridays for three hours as soon as I'm done with class, but if it's not in my phone, I will be making plans with someone, look at my phone calendar, see nothing on that date and be like, "Oh yeah, Friday after class works perfect" and then about two hours later I will remember that I actually have to work.

The only think I don't put in my phone are classes and assignments. I write those in my planner. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who writes things in my planner, closes my planner, throws it in my backpack and forgets about it. Hence, the spaced-off papers and quizzes and such. I'm really trying to get better at actually looking at my planner this semester.

I've figured out that I have to write things in my planner and on my marker board. Towards the end of last semester, I started to have a permanent to-do list on my marker board. It's perfect because it's right by my desk and I see it every day. I can all sticky-note it and it's magnetic so I can put other reminders and stuff on it. For some reason, I haven't been using it this semester but that changed yesterday. Now it's got every class on it and what I need to get done.

Before

Just a side note, I didn't draw any of that.

After
Much better.

I told you I'm still trying to figure this whole college thing out.

Football!!

I was talking to a guy from Iowa and he said something about how Nebraska girls were all obsessed with football and how weird that was.

To quote another guy: "That just makes our women superior."

Agreed.

I don't think I'm obsessed with football (I say that as I just got home from watching the NFC championship game--Packers are going to the Superbowl!--and the AFC game is on in the background right now). I'll admit I'm a die hard Husker fan and I've liked the Broncos since I was five, but obsessed? Nah.

Ok I do watch football even when it's not a Husker game. I don't know how many bowl games I watched this year, but it was definitely more than just Nebraska's pathetic performance at the Holiday Bowl. And I'll watch Sunday Night Football (and Monday Night Football sometimes).

I know what the Wildcat formation is and I can tell you the difference between a tackle and a sack. I understand the concepts of downs, holding, rushing, kicking, punting, running routes, and safeties. Mention Johnny Rodgers, Tommy Frazier, Eric Crouch, or pretty much any good Husker player in recent years and I'll know exactly who you're talking about. I know who Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler and Drew Brees are. Danny Woodhead, anybody? I remember the glory days of John Elway and Brett Farve, who is finally retiring, thank God. It pains me that Tim Tebow is playing for my Broncos, because I hate the Florida Gators, but he's actually doing pretty well so I suppose I should be ok with it.

I can hold my own in a room full of guys when a game is on and I can have an intelligible conversation about Superbowl prospects (Packers and the Steelers, but I'd rather have it be the Jets. The Packers are gonna get creamed either way because the AFC is tough this year). I have guy friends who forget I'm a girl sometimes, but you know what? I'm ok with that.

So maybe I care a little more about football than your typical girl, but I did grow up with a bunch of boys. I have two brothers, no sisters, my dad, all my uncles, and most of my cousins are guys. When there was Husker football going on, we watched it. It's kind of a way of life here in the Cornhusker State (Yes, that is our state nickname). I wouldn't say it's an obsession.

The Housing Conundrum.

For the past year and a half, I've been living in the dorms at school. Freshman year I absolutely loved it. It was a ton of fun, things to do, people to see, the college experience ya know?

This is our room. It's a pretty good setup.
I didn't notice my photobombing roomie until
after I uploaded this, so sorry Jess! Love you!

This year I feel like I'm just tolerating it until I can upgrade. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad. I like my roomie and we've got a cool room and it's still fun and all, I'm just a little bit sick of living in a 12 foot square. I'm tired of climbing a ladder to get to bed and sharing a bathroom with 30 people. I want my own bedroom and a kitchen.

So next year it's an apartment! Only I'm still not sure where I'll be living, or who I'll be living with. My current roommate is going to live in the on-campus apartments, which are really nice but really pricey. It'd also be nice because it's close so I wouldn't have to drive to class, and like I said, I like my roomie! Money isn't a huge issue, but I don't want to have to take out more loans just to pay for housing when I could live off-campus for way cheaper. Plus it'd be nice to have a little more freedom and not having to worry about moving back and forth between campus and home. And I'll be 21 next year, so....

The lottery for the on-campus apartments starts Monday, so I kind of need to figure it out soon.

Oh and another issue, my friend that I've talked about living with off-campus happens to be a guy. Not my boyfriend, but a guy that's a friend. I don't see this as an issue, but apparently a lot of people think it is. I talked to my mom about it and she actually seemed ok with it...at first. So now I'm waiting to hear back from my parents, because while I don't really need their permission to live anywhere, I don't want to make them mad. Plus they help me pay for stuff. It'd be really great if they would call me back in a timely fashion, since I do kind of have a deadline here.

Either place would turn out fine, but I'm just not sure what to do yet!

Health Insurance.

So today I was going to have some warm fuzzy post about my first day at Kindergarten (which was wonderful, I absolutely love my kindergartners and can't wait to go back), but then I read this article about what exactly will happen if the repeal of Obama's Health Care plan goes through. It's a letter specifically detailing the impact of repealing this act.

I've read several articles about this because it's been in the news a lot lately and the New York Times is my home page. For those of you that live under a rock (or just don't know), the Grand Ol' Party is supporting the repeal of the new health care initiative. It recently just passed in the House and is now going on to the Senate.

More info: House Votes for Repeal of Health Law in Symbolic Act
Senate fight looms after House health care repeal

Or you can just google it and I'm sure you can find a million other articles about it.

Anyway, I like the letter because it says exactly what will happen if the health care plan is repealed, and it's not pretty. Granted it is from the Democrats' House site, but it does a good job spelling everything out. It's got hard numbers backing it up, and you can click on your congressional district to see exactly how it affects you and other people in your area.

It's especially relevant because as a college student, I don't have a full time job. (Read: I don't have my own health insurance). Neither do probably most of you. Under the current plan, I will be able to remain on my parents' health insurance until I turn 26. So will most of you, if you're 25 or younger. If it's repealed, I'm going to be SOL on my own here pretty soon. So will most of you.

There are currently about 32 million uninsured Americans. The current plan provides them with affordable coverage. Repealing the plan would mean that they would continue to be uninsured. I personally do not want to be one of those 32 million Americans without health insurance. Nobody should be without health insurance.

So why do these people need health insurance? Why can't they just buy it themselves? Why do they need the government to provide it?

Well, in a nutshell, heath care is EXPENSIVE. I know that when I need to go to the doctor now, it's a $20 co-pay, and insurance covers the rest. Without insurance, it'd be a hell of a lot more. And then insurance itself is expensive. Honestly, I can't afford to pay for health insurance while I'm working part time and going to school, so until I have a full time job that provides it (which I won't for at least another 3 years or so) I probably won't have it (unless the current plan stays and I can still be on my parents' insurance). And with this whole economic crisis thing, unemployment is high and it's getting harder and harder to find jobs, especially for newbie college grads. So more people are unemployed and don't get job benefits, meaning less people have health insurance...and I think I already alluded to this, but if you're working some minimum wage job just trying to make ends meet, after feeding your family and paying rent you're not gonna have a whole lot left over for things such as, oh I don't know, insurance.

So people who can't afford it don't have health insurance. And they'll probably be fine. But what if their kids get sick? What if they're in a car accident and have to go to the hospital? It's not likely to happen, but if it does, then what? No insurance, you're pretty much screwed.

We're not becoming socialists. The government is stepping up to provide affordable health insurance as an additional option for people who can't afford it. Capitalism is all about competition and the market right? Well by providing government subsidized insurance, it helps keep prices down, and that's better for everyone. There will always be private insurance companies. The government isn't taking over, it's just helping out its citizens.

All three Nebraska representatives voted to repeal the health care plan. Why? Because the United States needs a more "common-sense" approach to health care reform.

What makes more sense than affordable health care for everyone?

Nap Time.

You know how when you were a little kid and you absolutely abhorred (yeah, that's a $5 word right there), anyway, when you absolutely abhorred your parents for making you take naps?

Now in college, naps are seriously the greatest thing ever. Unfortunately, I never have enough time when I'm in my room not doing anything to take a nap. I always have class and work and such. Sigh...

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a class on East Campus at 8-8:50 AM and another one at 10:30. I usually get to the Union around 9, have breakfast, and then have a little over an hour or so to kill. Perfect time to take a nap, except the East Campus Union (or probably any campus union) is not the best place for naps. Lots of people and plastic chairs at tables ya know?

Well today I found the perfect place. There's this little corner behind some stairs with two really comfy purple chairs and it's pretty secluded. I figured it'd be great because who would come back here and I can sleep all curled up in chairs. Andy says I'm like a cat or something.

This isn't the best picture, but I had to get it off the website. I took a
better one with my phone, but it won't send picture messages
anymore. It's kind of under the stairs in the left corner.

Anyway, I'm curled up in my corner chair with my iPod in, and some older lady decides to come sit in the other chair and starts talking on her phone in Spanish. Now she's just sitting here reading the newspaper, even though there's a million other places to go do that, and nap time is ruined because I think it's a little awkward to sleep in public places when there's other people around.

So instead of catching up on my serious sleep deprivation, I'm blogging about it.

Oh and she just left, but now I only have like 10 minutes left until I have to go to class.

Photo Credit: http://union.unl.edu/east/

Teaching.

Today I had orientation at my practicum school!

Practicum is basically a step down from student teaching. I have a classroom, but I'm mainly just observing and helping out and the regular teacher is still in charge and plans everything. I'm just there to get the hang of things.

Today was just kind of an overview. We met the principle and she told us about the school, then we went on a tour and got to meet our supervising teachers and classes. I have a kindergarten class and I only got to meet them all for about a minute today, but they're all adorable. It's a really small class too, maybe 15ish kids and Lilly the Rabbit so it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm super excited for this semester =)

Things are probably going to get pretty busy now that I have a bunch of kindergartners plus Ben the virtual child (who is now 8 months old and doing fine. I virtually went back to work so he's been going to daycare and it seems to be going well).

I should throw out that Ben is really not that much work, maybe 15-20 minutes a day. Definitely not as time consuming as an actual child. But still, I want to do it right ya know?

Parenting?

I've realized that as I've gotten into some major-specific classes, my assignments get more and more...what's the word...interesting.

I started raising a child today. His name is Ben and he is three months old.

For my Human Development class we have to raise a virtual child, from birth to age 18. Ack.

It tells you your initial situation (I had pregnancy complications and my baby was born way early and had to be hospitalized for a week) and then it gives you a bunch of situations and you have to decide what to do. My child is probably going to be really screwed up because I have NO FREAKING CLUE what I'm doing.

To paraphrase one of the questions, "You want your child to develop curiosity and interest in things, how do you do this? Pick one of the following:

• You deck out his crib with the latest baby gear, like red and white rattles, etc
• You hold him, talk to him, and interact with him as much as possible
• You give him lot of audio stimulation, like talking to him and listening to music"

Umm...they all sound pretty good to me. I picked B.

Another example: "Will you breastfeed your baby?

• Yes, he will only be breastfed
• Yes, but we will supplement with formula
• No, we don't see the need to"

Again...ummm...B?

Remind me never to be a single parent.

Hopefully this kid survives. We'll see how it goes. I don't think I'm quite ready for this whole parenting thing.

Not quite yet...

I know my last post was all about getting back into the swing of things, but it's a little hard to do when there's a three-day weekend already.

And while I should probably get started on some homework, I'm going to put it off a little longer. See I've a had great weekend so far full of stupid funny movies (Eurotrip and The Other Guys), Packers football (Go Pack Go!), late night sledding (Brrr!), sleeping in (sort of), and spending time with some great friends, and there's still a whole day left. I'm not quite ready to do school-related anything.

Some friends rented a cabin for the weekend and it was great to get out of Lincoln, even just for a night. Definitely an awesome way to spend some time off. I spent the weekend with, among a few other people, my boyfriend, an avid Packers fan, and a kid from Wisconsin. I like the Packers and they had a pretty fantastic game, but let's just say we all heard A LOT about it. Even when we all finally called it a night and went to bed, the two of them kept going on about Green Bay's 48-21 domination of the Atlanta Falcons. It was actually pretty hilarious. They were like girls at a slumber party, except they were two 20-something guys laying in bunk beds talking about football.

Even better was that we woke up at 8:30 and watched Tom & Jerry (I love Tom & Jerry, no joke), followed by Sports Center for more Packers highlights and then pancakes.



How am I supposed to handle homework after all that?

Back to the grindstone...

I actually think I'm going to enjoy my classes this semester.

All of them.

That's a first. I usually have a couple good ones and a couple terrible ones, but if the first day means anything, I think they are are going to go well. I haven't had my Monday-only class yet, since this Monday was a snow day (YAY!!) and next Monday is MLK Day (YAY!!!), so I don't know about that one, but so far all my teachers seem great and all my classes seem interesting.

Hopefully it stays that way, because I can not get up for 8 AM class if it's not going to be a good one.

Oh yeah, that's the crappy part of my schedule. I have to be on a bus by 7:30 three days a week or leave to go to an elementary school by 8 am the other two days. I'm going to have to become a morning person. I also get done at 4:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and have a night class on Mondays.

This is why I need my classes to be amazing.

But these first couple days of class were really encouraging because for once, I actually felt like I belonged there. I'm so excited for the rest of the semester. All of my classes are Child Development/Family Studies/Education something, so I really feel like I'm finally in the right major. I feel like I'm on the right track and taking my life in the right direction.

And it only took me a year and a half of college to figure that out!

Remembering Haiti.

Today is the one-year mark of the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, and the surrounding area, killing over 250,000 people. This summer when I went there, there were still nearly 1.5 million people still living in the "temporary" tent cities.

Not exactly the picture of success and recovery.

I don't want to focus on the negatives, I just want to take a minute to think of Haiti and it's people and what it's been going through the past year.

Earthquake, cholera, political instability...it's a lot for the poorest country in the western hemisphere to handle.

But amazingly, they are handling it. I saw nothing but faith, hope, and love among the Haitians this summer. They had so much faith in God, that he would get them through their struggles. They had so much hope for the future, that things would get better, that things already had gotten better. And they had so much love for everyone, even for all the people (like us) who came from the United States and only stayed a week.

I met some of the most amazing and inspiring people in Haiti.

One of the organizations we worked with in Haiti is called Wings of Hope. It's part of the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti, a group of homes and organizations for kids. Wings is a home for special needs children that was destroyed in the earthquake. Many of the children living there had been abused or abandoned, and Wings gives them the only home these kids have ever had. This is Wings of Hope, Haiti: One year after the earthquake.

This is Josephine, a girl who lives at Wings. She couldn't
walk on her own, but is one of the smartest kids I know.
She can speak perfect English. People in Haiti speak
creole, a mix of French and traditional languages.

And while Haiti continues to face struggles and still has a long way to go, life in Haiti goes on. It has to.

Resolutions.

Yes, I realize it's January 11 so I'm a little late jumping on the New Year's resolution bandwagon, but I'm finally getting around to making them and I figure by putting them on here it'll actually make me somewhat accountable so I actually try to stick with them.

That's the idea anyway.

I've never actually made a New Year's resolution, and this year someone told me that I had to make three. I can't remember what the categories were supposed to be, so here's three random ones that I think are good.

Resolution #1: Be healthier. I know it's vague and cliche, but it's a good goal. I'm running a half-marathon in May and hopefully going on another bike trip this summer, so I really need to keep my body up for it. This includes getting (and staying) in shape and eating better. I'm already a runner, but I need to step it up so I can run 13 miles without dying.

Coconut milk is healthy, right?

Resolution #2: Make this semester a damn good one. Another vague one, but I'm still a little bitter that I didn't get to go to France, so I'm going to milk Lincoln for all it's worth. I know it's not going to measure up to a study-abroad experience, but I'm at least going to have a good time.

Resolution #3: Be more spiritual. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm going to try to figure it out. I have pretty strong beliefs, but I've never considered myself a spiritual person so I'd like to become more so. I'm not really sure how to go about doing this, but it's definitely something to work towards. Suggestions are welcome.

Resolutions start tomorrow (maybe I should have made one to procrastinate less...?), but no resolutions start tomorrow with yoga class. I figure yoga is a perfect way to be healthier, have fun, and I'm sure it can be a spiritual experience. It's not the only thing I'm going to do for my resolutions, but I figure it's a good start.

The Rec has free classes all this week and they have one called Yoga for Runners. Yoga 101 is tomorrow, so I'm going to go to that and hopefully learn a little about it (I don't really know how to do yoga...) and ideally I'll be ready for Yoga for Runners on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

I'm BAAAACCKKK!

Hey everyone.

So this blog was originally intended to chronicle my freshman year of college, but I've developed a bit of insomnia lately so while I was laying in bed awake at 3 A.M. last night, I decided to revive Operation College. See I was going to start a new blog this semester because I was supposed to be studying abroad, but a series of unfortunate events have prevented that. So now that I'm stuck in Lincoln, NE instead of Besançon, France, I figure why not. And though the novelty of this whole college thing has worn off and I'm about to start my fourth semester, I don't know all there is to know. I am a seasoned professional when it comes to dorm life and navigating my way to class, but every day is something different. Everyday you grow a little and hopefully learn something new.

So here it is. The updated, improved Operation College, Version 2.0.

And since the first two days of the semester have been deemed snow days (YAY!!), here's the important things the blogging world has missed out on in the last 8 or so months since I posted last:

• I rode my bike across the state of Nebraska in a week with my Dad. Yep, 490-ish miles, 7 days. It was intense! It was in tents! (We camped).

• I spent part of my summer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti helping dig a foundation for a home for boys that was destroyed in the earthquake last January. With shovels and buckets. Easily the greatest experience of my life thus far.

• I got a boyfriend! Well technically two, but the first one didn't work out. The second one is great though!

• I changed my major. I'm now studying Inclusive Early Childhood Education. Just a little bit different from International Studies, but hey, I said it might change.
• I survived the first semester of my sophomore year.
  

So there ya go. I'm not a stupid freshman trying to figure things out anymore. I'm a stupid sophomore still trying to figure things out.

It's good to be back.