Oh Hello There

Let’s be real. It’s been a really long time since I posted anything. Despite my best intentions sometimes I just don’t post regularly. Sometimes a really long time goes by before I’m even on my computer. Though, to be honest, those days are quickly fading into the past. Life is busy and is definitely demanding more computer time for research, for planning, for getting things ready for my awesome students.

Student teaching is going well and is keeping my busy. And by the time I get home and would normally be blogging, I’m tired. Like, really really tired. But my time management and productivity has been off for everything lately, and I’m working on fixing that. I’m hoping to start managing my time a little bit better, be a lot more productive, and actually really start blogging again.

Life is great and life is crazy, and I really want to share it with all of you.

BrittanyM

One Year Post Graduation

A year ago today I graduated from UConn. The whole day, especially the ceremony itself, is a big blur in my mind. That day I had to move out of my dorm, go to a luncheon, graduate, take a million and one photos, and leave UConn with the knowledge that I wouldn’t be moving back in come August. There were a lot of emotions tangled up in that day. I was so excited to be graduating and moving into the next stage of my life. There was a lot of love going around that day between myself, my family, my friends. There was a lot of stress because I had to move out of my dorm completely before I left UConn that day. And I was sad because for 4 years I had been a student at UConn and I had loved it. I loved so many of my classes, professors, the friends I made. I grew a lot while I was at UConn. I knew that the next stage of my life was going to be great, but at the end of the day, no matter how unexpectedly it was, I was sad to be leaving.

Since graduating so much has happened. I’ve continued to grow and evolve as a person. I’ve started grad school and my fabulous internship. I’ve made new friends, gotten a car that’s new to me, fully acclimated to living at home. I’ve blogged and not blogged, written and not written, exercised and not exercised. There was a very very long winter, a lot of new relationships made, and so much learned from my classes and internship. Here are some of the big things that I’ve learned in the past year.

1. It’s important to surround yourself with good people. I have an amazing family and some of the greatest friends in the whole world. In the past year they’ve loved me and supported me. They’ve helped keep me grounded when life got stressful. They’ve cheered for me when I’ve done well; they’ve told me everything would get better when there were bumps in the road. They provide me with the best support system I could have asked for, and I love them so so much.
2. Everything will work out in the end. My car dying. Submitting the wrong assignments to professors. Group projects. Crazy days at work. Taking my Praxis II. All of these are things that I’ve worried about and stressed over since graduating. And everything has worked out when all was said and done. These experiences have helped me to grow, have helped me to be more self sufficient, have allowed for me to grow and evolve as a person. Try to look at the bumps in the road as learning experiences that you’ll come out of victorious rather than as the be all end all.
3. Do things that you love. There are a lot of things in life that you have to do. You probably have to have a job. Pay bills. Cook. Etc. Etc. Many things in life are not negotiable. And that’s OK. But when there is time to do something you love, run towards that opportunity. For me that’s reading and writing. Lately I’ve been doing a lot of both, and it makes me feel great. Doing the things that make me happy balances out having to do the things that I’m not crazy about. Maybe for you that’s playing a sport or drawing or painting or dancing or playing music or acting or anything else in the world. Chase the things you love because at the end of the day everyone wants to be happy.
4. Chase your dreams. This is similar to #3, do the things that you love. I love to write, and I dream about being really successful at it. So I write a lot. I manage my two blogs. I keep a daily journal. I read a lot so I can learn and absorb information about writing. I’m so excited to be a teacher, but I also have a lot of dreams surrounding writing, and I’m making sure that I don’t forget about them but rather work actively towards them.

These are some of the big things that have really stuck with me over the past year. They’re things that I try to remember and remind myself of every day. I’m sure that in another year I’ll have learned so much more and will have so many more things to share with all of you.

BrittanyM

Visit to UConn

I mentioned last week that I would be returning to UConn this week. I haven’t been back to UConn since I graduated almost a year ago, and I was so excited to go back. Even though deep in my heart I had already known this, being back on campus reminded me that I had left a part of myself there and that it would be there forever and always. To spend four years in any place is a long time, and undergrad is certainly no exception. I grew up a lot in my time at UConn, and I evolved a lot as a person. This is something I’ll be forever grateful for as it’s helped me get to where I am today, and it’s led me to so many things along the way. Let’s not forget that if it weren’t for my time at UConn I wouldn’t have this blog (2 years next month!) or my much newer blog. This is just one small aspect of my time at UConn that I’m grateful for, an I’m sure with time I’ll talk about many other aspects of my undergraduate career that I’m grateful for.

But back to my time at UConn. I spent yesterday morning there, and I really don’t think the timing could have been better. The weather here in Connecticut is finally getting nice so it wasn’t too hot or too cold. The sun was shining, the grass was green, and unfortunately the trees weren’t in bloom yet. It’s been too cold for too long for that to happen just yet. I had plans with a couple of friends but before it was time for those plans I had some free time to wander around. I made sure I got a vanilla chai tea and was glad to see that it was just as delicious as I remembered it being. I tried to catch up with some of my professors but my timing was off and I hadn’t made particular plans so that unfortunately didn’t happen. It didn’t help that my visit was on a Monday morning, and I hadn’t made particular plans to see my professors. I’d wanted to go for the element of surprise and that didn’t exactly work in my favor.

I had lunch with a dear friend and then met up with another friend after that. The chicken parm grinders are just as good as I remembered as well. I’m glad to know that all my food memories and dreams can remain in tact right now. It was great to see my friends and have an opportunity to catch up. I’ve been so busy with grad school and all my responsibilities that I haven’t been the best at keeping in touch with people, so it was nice to have a chance to see friends.

The trip ended with shopping at the co-op but no purchases. Pickings for what we wanted were either slim or outside of my price range. Some things don’t change even after graduating from college. Of course it doesn’t help that I don’t have a lot of disposable income at this particular moment. All in all the trip was pretty fabulous, and I’m glad to have had the opportunity to go up. I know that I likely won’t be on campus again for some time what with my schedule and everything else that’s going on. I also know that part of my heart will always belong to UConn.

BrittanyM

New Endeavors

As many of you know, I’m currently in grad school and working towards becoming a teacher. It’s all very exciting, and I’m learning a lot and thinking a lot and evolving a lot. I’ll be student teaching in the fall, and I am so excited for that opportunity. Plus, through grad school I’ve made some great friends, taken some great classes, and learned a lot that I can’t wait to apply once I enter the working world.

The purpose of this post though, is to tell you about my other blog. Yes, I have another blog and have for about 3 months now. I created it as a final project for my ed tech course in January, and I personally am really in love with it. While with this blog I focus on a little bit of everything and share a little bit of everything, my new blog really focuses on education and teaching and the big wide world of English.

Much like almost two years ago when this blog was in its baby stages, my new blog is in its baby stages. I’ve only had it up and running for a couple of months, and I’m only now settling into posting on a semi-regular basis. I would love if you went and explored it and let me know what you think.

The blog is called englishnook and can be accessed here.

Have a great weekend!

BrittanyM

Some Exciting Things

Lately, life has been exciting. I just finished up a semester of grad school and have a nice break before my next round of classes starts up. Spring break is next week (at my internship), and I am SO excited to have a full week off with no responsibilities. I’ve been reading a lot and writing more. Things are going well at my internship. Overall life is pretty great right now. There are a couple of pretty major things that I want to focus in on though.

1. Spring Break. Did I mention that? A whole week where I don’t have to go to work or school? Instead I can do things on my To Do List, hang out with my mom, and see my friends? Yeah, that’s pretty awesome, and I can’t wait for it.
2. Trip to UConn. I haven’t been to UConn since I graduated in May – almost 1 year ago. Life has just been too crazy and busy to make the trip up. And while sometimes I miss it and sometimes I don’t, I can’t wait to be back. I miss my friends who are there. I miss the vanilla chai tea. I miss the classes and campus. I can’t wait to walk around and just enjoy being back. It’s going to be great, and I can’t wait to tell you some of the details.

To be totally honest, there were more things on the list when it was in my head. And then as I began to write the list I forgot some of them. That happens sometimes, especially if I don’t really think through what I’m going to write. But hey, that lets you see my thought process which has to be interesting sometimes, right?

That’s all for now. I promise to do my best to write more soon and to write more regularly. This blog is, has been, and always will be a work in progress.

BrittanyM

#snowday5

Do we see a pattern here? There’s a lot of snow and a lot of snow days. I feel like I could deal with all of that, but what I have a hard time with is the gray. I miss the sun and the warm and just feeling like the world was an interesting and inviting place. I’m a little over all the layers and weather appropriate footwear (which is something I fail at on a regular basis). I want to wear skirts again. I really want to see something other than gray when I look out the window.

I do love the snow, but there’s been a lot of it lately. I didn’t mind as much when I was at UConn, maybe because I walked everywhere and my world was basically contained in a nice little bubble. But my world is bigger than that bubble now, and the snow isn’t something I’m welcoming quite as easily this year. I’d really like for it to be spring. I’d really like for it to be warm. I’d really like a change of something because I feel as though it’s time for a change.

I am managing my snow days better at least. I’m getting lots of productive things done and I’ve been catching up on sleep. Today I’ve done homework and laundry and other chores and kept in touch with some of my very favorite people. It’s actually been a really nice day.

What I’d really like though is to be able to settle into a routine again because I like routines and function well in them. My weekend class is officially over so I’m getting back on track with the idea of a routine, and now it’s just a matter of managing snow days. At the rate we’re going we’ll be going to school up until the last minute.

How’s the weather in your corner of the world, and what are you doing to combat the winter blahs?

BrittanyM

#SnowDay4

Today, my wonderful readers, makes snow day #4. We had three full snow days last week, and another one today. With snow in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday of this week also, I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever have a full week at my internship again. I miss seeing my freshmen! Plus, we have a lot of snow on the ground, there’s a lot of ice on the ground, and all in all it feels very wintery. It’s certainly something I can appreciate while looking out my window, but I’m really not looking forward to having to venture out into the world tomorrow. Especially since tomorrow I have class in Griswold. Here’s to hoping that the roads are clear, it isn’t too icy, and I don’t fall down. Wish me luck!

BrittanyM

Fun Grad School Things

I’m a couple of weeks into grad school now, and in the midst of one of my favorite classes yet – my ed tech class. This is literally a class that’s all about learning how to do fun things with technology to bring into the classroom. I was excited about it from the start, and now that I’ve actually started the class (it’s only 3 weekends long) I’m completely head over heels about it. I spent my morning making a Prezi about To Kill a Mockingbird. Yup. That’s what I did this morning and had such a god time doing it.

I really like the idea of technology, but it sometimes intimidates me. I don’t always know where to start, and everything always just seems so big and scary. But you know what? It’s not. I thought Prezi would be big and hard, and it isn’t. It’s actually one of the easiest things ever. The templates are premade and fun and you just plug in your text and images. It really couldn’t have been easier.

I can’t wait to keep exploring the world of technology and figuring out how I want to bring it into my classroom. I know that it’s going to be great and so much fun.

BrittanyM

Happy Monday

I just wanted to write and say that I had a lovely Monday, and I hope that all of you did too. Last month ended on a bumpy note for me (Halloween was awesome though), and I’m happy to say that November is off to a really good start. I’ve been really productive; my semester is winding down and there are a lot of things to finish. My internship is off to a good start this week. I’ve been catching up with friends and spending time with family. All in all things are really great, and I hope that all of you can say the same thing.

BrittanyM

October’s Been Crazy

I’m sure that you all have gathered from my lack of posting that life has been crazy. Some days it feels like crazy is an understatement. My internship keeps me really busy during the day. And at night I’m busy with classes and homework. There’s so much homework! Luckily I mostly love what I’m doing so I don’t mind taking the time to do it. I really do love my internship and my coworkers. And most of my classes are pretty fabulous this semester.

All of this together though means that sometimes there isn’t a lot of free time. (And when there is free time I’ve kind of forgotten what I’m supposed to do with myself.) Which is how I’ve (kind of) fallen behind on blogging and letter writing and writing in general and just everything. Luckily I’ve been able to catch up on some things this weekend. I even got to do super fun things like paint my nails. (Because having pretty nails is definitely something that’s pretty awesome.)

How has October been for all of you? Laid back or crazy or somewhere in-between?

BrittanyM