Merry, Merry and Happy, Happy!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! We are in the midst of our holiday vacation/work schedule at work, which allows for shorter work days and generous amounts of time off around Christmas and New Year's Days. It's all in anticipation for the onslaught of the Admissions Season, which will kick into high gear come January 7. I'm not too worried, though. It's a been a little weird to work in Admissions while I coach, but I am sure when cheerleading is over at the end of January, the extra time on my hands will come in handy in terms of what the work load will require. It's funny to me, 2 years after coming here, that no amount of stress here will ever compare with the Hades I endured at that other place where I worked before here. Oh, my, how I still feel sickened when I think about that.

I've come to a few realizations that I want to record.

1. I want to be an art teacher.

I want to become one very badly. It's all I can think about now. I am going to research schools and have some conversations with different folks about how to accomplish this goal. I know it will take some time, particularly if I want to work at a private school like Westminster.

The more I picture explaining art concepts to students, the more I know this is right. I would love to learn from other art teachers the ways they have gotten through to students. I want to break down the stereotypes that befall the art classroom and the poor kid in class who either hates it or bemoans his/her lack of talent. Those stereotypes: grading artwork based on "talent" and the quoted excuse "I can't draw a straight line." I have met too many people who hate art or anything to do with it because of how their art teacher(s) treated them. Others assume they have no innate ability, and provide the aforementioned excuse - to which I say, "well, I can't draw a straight line either! What do you think a ruler is for?" Besides, there aren't a lot of straight lines in art anyway.

Looking back from this point in time, and with the fire of my interest, I am deeply grateful to everyone in my life who has encouraged my creativity: namely, my father and my college art professors, along with a handful of school friends. I love that at our house, we just put a shelf (that was in the way downstairs) into the guestroom closet, thereby allowing me to create my art work supplies closet! It's too exciting for words, really. My dad gave me a new sketch pad, some replacement color pencils for my set, and some paint brushes. Now that our house is settling into our home, I covet the time that I can spend with all my supplies. I hope that I can paint or draw with my dad, too. It would be great.

If I become a teacher, I'll be joining my two sisters in the profession. Amy was the only one smart enough to actually major in education in college. Katherine's going to school and is one semester in. I think she'll be done in 2 more years.

2. It is okay to be an avid reader.

I am addicted to stories. I don't mean soap operas. I asked for books for Christmas, and was generously given books by Josef and his family members. I love to listen to audiobooks to fall asleep at night. I think I enjoy this pasttime so much because I will take any excuse to stop thinking about myself (yes, I realize that blogging is a bit ego-centric, but I am trying to validate my thoughts and move on!).

There is something so clever about books and their tales; the analogy I can draw is that in music, there are infinite possibilities of combinations of notes and rhythms and instrumental parts. It comes from nothingness, forms as an idea in the mind of the composer either in an intial air of its eventual self, or at times, it comes out the first time as it will remain, with no need of revision. It is the same with books, no matter the subject, whether fictional or not. I love the variations of the expression of possibility.

I guess my early love of reading is rearing its head an an important aspect of my life. I used to read at least 10 books a week during the summer while I was in elementary school. I would go to our local library and sit in the one-seater reading booth, where I was content to peruse a huge stack of books while my mother worked on homework for her classes to complete her teaching degree (See? There's that family thing again! Although, my mother never took a teaching job).

3. I can't live without tea.

It's true. I have grown to love tea and its history and traditions over the past two years. I love the way it smells, whatever kind it is. I especially love herbals and chais. For Christmas this year, I also received teas and books about tea. Very exciting! What I also love about tea is that others like it, too, which means it's a great excuse to hang out with some very fun people. Hooray for tea!