Hello dearest cohorts of mine.
It has been a little while since I have posted on the blog. Life has been moving a little too quickly this semester. What a journey it has been so far. For those of you who didn't know, I had lost my grandmother towards the beginning of March, so school and all of my lesson planning had to be moved to the back burner for a little bit in order to spend time with family. Though the loss of a loved one is always difficult, the experience taught me some very valuable lessons:
-Surround yourself with positive, understanding individuals if at all possible.
I sort of lucked out on this one. We didn't necessarily get to pick our mentors, supervisors, or cohorts, but somehow I ended up with the best of the best. My mentor teacher was more than understanding when I asked for a day or two to be with family. Dr. Shea said he'd go to bat for me if need be, and you all have been fantastic for sunshine and laughs.
-Understand that you can't do it all.
It is so okay to ask for help; to admit that you don't have it all under control; to feel like time has gotten away from you a little bit. I have always been the type of person who goes and goes until she can't anymore. I don't like admitting defeat and I tend to let things build up until they get to be too much for one person to handle. I think I have finally realized that's not the way you keep your head above water. I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle everything all at once when it came to going to the funeral and grading papers and planning lessons, so I just made sure to communicate that to all involved. Low and behold, everything was fine and everyone understood.
-You're a lot stronger than you think you are.
Life has thrown all sorts of crazy things my direction, but I was sort of hoping that the last semester of my college career could be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, we don't always get what we ask for, and sometimes we have to take a step back and accept that there is a grander plan. This semester has been all sorts of crazy with plenty of challenges. There have been early mornings that I have just not wanted to go in. There have been nights that I haven't been able to fall asleep because I'm too busy thinking about all of the odds and ends that need to fall into place. But here it is, the first day of April, and we are only a little over a month away from getting our degrees.
I think the key to all of this has been my incredible support system. I don't know how I would navigate some of these rough waters without the help of loving friends and family. I have also been extremely blessed to have such a supportive mentor and supervisor, as well as some kickass cohorts. Much love to you all. We're ALMOST THERE.
