normal.

Watch this

"Normal is safe. Familiar. Warm and comfortable. Normal is the thing you know. It is what is. But normal isn't great. It isn't fantastic. Normal can never be amazing."

I love this ad. I know it's good to think about the 'normal' in my life. I don't want to be normal :) I will be extraordinary. I want to feel like the person floating on the end of the huge clump of balloons. Or just be crazy! Like the dude surfing on the high-side of the mini cooper. or like the man in a horse mask that pulled up next to me at a stoplight tonight. Yep, that really happened.

Basically, I'm really happy with how things are going. I wore a huge smile all day today for a couple of reasons. I got to work at the elementary school and we talked about dreams/goals/future occupations with the 1st/2nd graders and they said what they wanted to be. I told them that I think i want to be a teacher. A little girl said, "But Miss Ashlie, you are already a teacher." It made my day. I love be surrounded by the kids and teaching them things :) then I went to work, which is always a great time. I was thinking about it today--the seniors will be graduating in just a few short months. It's wild to me how attached I've gotten to them since I've started working there. so fun. 

Ah, it's all so mind-boggling to me. I remember (very vividly) a conversation I had with my dad. We were driving up to Weber State for a student gov thing in the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of college. I was 19. It was one of many what-are-you-gonna-do-with-your-life-talks. We'd hit that area where it gets super windy, and there's all the 1-84 and S. Weber on and off-ramps, by the hotel and the deck/playground/fence place. (I don't suppose that detail's important, but that's ok.) He was telling some things that he thought I'd be good at. Lawyer, teacher and some other choices. I was unsure about law school, and I did not want to be a teacher. I pretty much yelled at him, "I DO NOT want to be a teacher!!" and that was really the end of the conversation because those talks were so upsetting to me. I'm glad they're behind me :) It seems that a lot of things I originally think I don't want, are what I gravitate toward later in life. Now I can't not take reverse psychology crap that people pull with me seriously! Anyway, I've stopped *really* planning life, which is a total flip-flop of how I used to be. I'm excited to see where life takes me!

xoxox,

ash

summer plans

 LSA 2013 in Ann Arbor this summer is a go for this girl! So stoked! 

I loved it when I went to Boulder in 2011, so I'm even more stoked now; now that I've more fully realized my interests in Ling. I love doing education and I'm excited to be a teacher, but I think I'll always love linguistics and language the most. 

Plus, I've never been to Michigan. Always down to go to states I've never been. I really want to travel in America more. Should be fun :) So, LSA 2011/U Ling friends, who's headed to Ann Arbor?? 

Walt Wolfram AND Noam Chomsky are giving presentations. Wooo. That is awesome!

xoxox,
ash

valentines day/education.

Valentines was super fun this year! Thursdays are my practicum days with Ms. Brown and it was great that a holiday fell on this day. It was fun to be in the classroom, and I wish I had pictures, but I haven't quite figured out if taking pictures of the kids is creeper status or not.

This was quite different from any elementary holiday day than I know, from my own school experience or those of my siblings. I noticed that there wasn't a room mother throwing a party, which is all I know, and it wasn't until I went to visit my family and talked to my mom about this observation that I started to think. The school I work in is title one, serving a diverse economic population. Where I went to elementary school, there was never a shortage of volunteers, supplies, etc. I doubt that my teachers ever had to worry about paying a lot out-of-pocket for extras around the classroom. We had class lists of supplies that they asked parents to contribute, and parties or extra things are funded by volunteers. I have yet to ask Ms. Brown about the logistics of this, but I'm guessing that that type of thing doesn't happen at Washington.

I know there is a lot of money funneled into title one schools, for extra programs to help kids with reading, etc., which I think does help, but I think there's something to be said about parental involvement. It's sad to me that some parents don't have time to care (working multiple jobs, etc.), or just don't care at all by their own choosing. For the reading intervention part of my TESOL practicum with Mrs. Hlady, there's more evidence of this. It's heart-breaking to work with a kid who struggles with reading and is getting NO help at home. There's only so much time that can spent with them in a day! I know I'm not a teacher yet, but the little time I've spent in classrooms have made me desperate to be able to fit in as much time and as many exercises as possible. It makes me...stress! because I'm becoming attached(! that didn't take long at all--wonder what I'll be like with my own kids) and want what's best for them, and I also wish there was some way I could make time for their parents to spend time working on subjects where they are struggling. For me and peers who grew up with similar backgrounds, we learned to read at home and the classroom work was more supplemental. The situation I'm dealing with now couldn't be more opposite. I can't imagine how teachers who see this year in and year out feel! I think it'd be a little crazy, unless you learn to desensitize from it a tiny bit. 

Then there is the interesting discussion of how property taxes are distributed across the school district.We've talked about this a little bit in my education class and people have some very interesting viewpoints. It's hard to solidify an opinion because there is so much information to take in. Sometimes I think, yes, I do want my money that I pay from living in a certain area to go to their schools. Other times, I think that it would be better if things were more evenly spread. When my family lived in Layton, our school boundaries changed (just as we were moving over to Kaysville) and we were assigned to a school that most people thought was inferior(?) because a portion of the population was very low-income and that the mixing wouldn't be as good as the current elementary that students were attending. It's a completely different school district, but there is also the example of East and West High. A lot of my friends who were in East boundaries went to West because of the academic opportunities that are there! There are great things offered there, I see it every day with my job. Granted, I've never looked into things that East does or does not have, but a lot of material I've read on West says that it is very well known for its programs and people want their kids to go there. So this example isn't really based on location/surrounding demographics. I'm trying to wrap my head around all of this. It's a lot to think about, but I like hearing what people have to say. Thoughts??

xoxox,
ash

PS. I think this is up next on my to-read list:


Has anyone read it? We should start a bookclub!

a realization.

 

I agree with this, 100%. I've learned a lot about true friends in the past little while.

I finally realized that I don't need anyone who doesn't need me.

because I know my true friends do need me. and they help maintain a friendship, not a convenience-ship. 

Same with boys. Even though it sucks right now to like guys who have no interest, and having ni interest in guys that like me, I'm done chasing. 

With either friends or boys, if they want to stay in my life, they will make an effort. I've always been one who worries about quality of friendships and fixing things that aren't just-so. This first aspect hasn't changed a bit. Still the same aspect of not needing a ton of friends, just a select few that I can trust and open up to, which is fantastic, considering I'm a closed book unless you know me well. 

This new-found knowledge has served me well so far this week :)

xoxox,

ash