This summer went great! I had a fun time meeting new counselors, making new friends and of course building relationships with our campers. The kids were great this year and so much fun. I was excited to go to work every day and if i was ever feeling down seeing the kids always made me happy. I was able to become close with a lot of the kids and I hope I get to see them around Rochester since I will be home this year. Unless something crazy happens this year i am defiantly going back to RARA for a fifth summer. It is honestly the best job in the world.
This past Friday I went to Webster to help Mrs. Knapp set up the classroom. I was able to talk to her about anything and everything that popped up in either one of our heads. She is so helpful and so nice. It is going to be an amazing year. She reminds me a lot of my mom, which they must be around the same age because she has daughters around my age, which I met one of them, Kelsey, because she came and helped set up too. The classroom looks very inviting and defiantly a place I feel comfortable in. We have 29 students, which is 6 more students than Mrs. Knapp had last year, so just about every seat in her classroom will be filled. It is a little intimidating to have that many students in a room, but then I remember I've dealt with groups of 30 and 45 kids during the summer this year. I found out that Mrs. Knapp likes to use music in her classroom, which got me really excited because I have always wondered how I can incorporate music into my classroom. Music really gives me an energy boost and can bring my mood up if I'm feeling a little off. I just can't believe how helpful Mrs. Knapp has already been this year and the school year hasn't even begun! I feel so comfortable and ready to dive into the school year.
Yesterday I went to the internship meeting in Detroit. I'm not going to lie, the drive was pretty stressful and the sad part is, there wasn't even that much traffic. There were just a lot of signs, lanes popping up from out of no where and streets are not labeled very well. It was nice to see some of the people from my past classes at the meeting. I found out that I actually know everyone in my school already. Our field instructor is new, but she is very nice and has been through the MSU program, so she understands what we are going through. The meeting was basically an overview of the meeting I went to on St. Patrick's Day, but I did learn a few new things, such as I have to join a group or committee in my school or create a new one. I also was able to see who my instructors are for my classes and they seem very nice. I also found out what books are required for the classes and I have already ordered them : ) I feel like those meetings should stress me out, but I actually feel more excited and more confident that I am ready to start when I leave them. I guess that's a good sign?
A little off topic, but while I am home I've decided that I want to start getting used to having a routine and understanding what it would be like if I were living on my own and what my life would be like. By this I mean that I want to make dinner sometimes when I come home, even though I'll be tired it's something I'll have to learn to do if I get a job somewhere. Other things I want to do is go grocery shopping, get a workout schedule/routine going or helping out with housework/chores. I want to get a better feeling of what it would be like to have an actual teacher job and what my entire life would feel like. I may sound a bit too ambitious right now because I have not even started classes or teaching yet, but it's something I want to try. As a side note, I also what to learn from my grandma how she makes her delicious cakes, but I'll save that for breaks and weekends.
I am excited to get the year started and feel pretty prepared to get going. I'm hoping to start the year on the right foot and I cannot wait to meet the students that I will be working with all year. I hope I will learn all about them and their experiences and in the end build a strong relationship with them. I want to impact every single student's life one way or another and I hope to make that impression on the first day of school.
