Another semester has flown by and my lack of posts is a bit depressing, but I'll try to sum up some of the cool things that happened this fall:) Classes and work have of course kept me busy, busy, busy. I started working as a tennis coach on Saturdays for A's and Aces 8 and under team which was really fun! The kids are all on a beginner level so our kids have the same starting experience as the kids lucky enough to be in the country clubs. I ended up taking time off as a lab tech due to general sleep deprivation and my classes have just kept getting harder, so I've just been trying to squeeze in hours when I can.
A's and Aces:
Working with A's and Aces since freshman year has made me realize that if engineering doesn't go well for me, I at least know I enjoy teaching! This semester was a little disappointing because the school I'm working at pushed back their after school program so kids don't get home from the buses until 6:30-7:00. Once daylight saving hit, my class has only had about 6 kids on good days! It is understandable, but not very fun when the activities I plan are only going to be done with such a small amount of kids. Regardless, I love being creative with the life skills I teach through First Serve. Sometimes some of the boys are a lot to handle (doesn't go well with stressful class work days) but I'm getting better at letting them sit in silence until they behave. I'm still working on the whole trying to be intimidating in any way thing. Tennis coaching on Saturdays was always fun and I'm excited for when it starts back up next semester. 8's and under can't even lose a point on a serve, if they miss both of their serves I get to throw it over for them -- too adorable! Here's a few pictures from class and outside fun :D
Working with A's and Aces since freshman year has made me realize that if engineering doesn't go well for me, I at least know I enjoy teaching! This semester was a little disappointing because the school I'm working at pushed back their after school program so kids don't get home from the buses until 6:30-7:00. Once daylight saving hit, my class has only had about 6 kids on good days! It is understandable, but not very fun when the activities I plan are only going to be done with such a small amount of kids. Regardless, I love being creative with the life skills I teach through First Serve. Sometimes some of the boys are a lot to handle (doesn't go well with stressful class work days) but I'm getting better at letting them sit in silence until they behave. I'm still working on the whole trying to be intimidating in any way thing. Tennis coaching on Saturdays was always fun and I'm excited for when it starts back up next semester. 8's and under can't even lose a point on a serve, if they miss both of their serves I get to throw it over for them -- too adorable! Here's a few pictures from class and outside fun :D
Semester FUN!
Despite my sometimes hectic school/work schedule , I definitely made some time to enjoy NOLA and my breaks this semester :) Fall break was awesome because I got to go visit Colin on Long Island. Although the weather was a little dreary I certainly had an amazing time. I was able to see my first musical on Broadway - SPIDER MAN and spend the night in the city (thanks Linda and Jamie :D)! It is definitely nice that Webb Institute is on the Long Island Sound so whenever I visit I can explore NYC a little. There were of course October activities including a pumpkin patch, Boo at the Zoo year 3 and of course, a quick trip to Bourbon on Halloween to see some crazy costumes. I had trouble figuring out what to be this year and then decided to be something in my closet - a laundry basket... more specifically a dirty one. It was definitely the cheapest costume yet since I never use that basket and it was a great hit downtown. The best comments of the night were "This girl's not ashamed of wearin her dirty laundry" "I'd fold that" and "Ummm what are you supposed to be?" Aubrey had a harp concert so I was able to watch my first harp playing ever! I told her she needs to bring the harp she practices on and play for me as background music while doing homework- she's up for it, I just have to carry it to our third floor :p Then it was Miss Kelly's birthday so we celebrated by going to an Ethiopian restaurant near campus. None of us had ever had it before and it was certainly a nice surprise! Eating with my hands always reminds me of all the meals I've had in Africa :) For dessert we went to Sucre- an expensive, but completely delicious dessert shop and shared yummy vanilla chocolate bread pudding. I'm slowly exploring all the restaurants of NOLA, but there are so many. It's hard to get out on a tight schedule and budget! A huge BME potluck dinner was arranged to further celebrate Kelly's 21st along with Thanksgiving and it was actually absurd how much food there was (check out the dessert below). It was a great start to break, and I love that our BME class has really started to bond after having every class together the past two and a half years. Flying home for Thanksgiving was quite an adventure when my flight got cancelled.... Luckily I had booked my flight through Orbits.com which gives me updates all the time. I knew my flight had been cancelled before everyone else sitting down and I ran to the service desk booking the very last flight to Buffalo that night. With a taxi voucher from the airlines, I had to transfer from Dulles to Reagan and happened to come across the other lucky guy with the ticket transfer as well. He turned out to be a Russian ballet dancer headed to Buffalo to perform the Nutcracker at Shea's! After watching the SNL version of Black Swan in the Taxi and eating lunch together, we officially became travel buddies! Unfortunately I couldn't make it to his Saturday performance that he invited me to- but it was awesome meeting him :D Thanksgiving of course was wonderful seeing my family (minus my sister- miss you!) along with having dinner at the Spillane's and meeting little miss Ayvah. I am so excited to be back longer for winter break and actually have relaxing visits with all of my friends and family. Amelia created a super cool event for AIDS awareness day on campus where a speaker came from Malawi sharing her HIV positive story. After we painted whatever we felt like on canvas- the artwork some of the attendees created were really awesome. The last two weeks of school were pretty darn awful/stressful but we all got through it and ended on some good cooking nights with friends and Kelly, Aubrey, and I's second year of the Celebration in the Oaks fun run (along with Gisele and Ellie!). So much fun! Looking back, I know these are the kind of memories I'll retain in the blur of all the school work.
Despite my sometimes hectic school/work schedule , I definitely made some time to enjoy NOLA and my breaks this semester :) Fall break was awesome because I got to go visit Colin on Long Island. Although the weather was a little dreary I certainly had an amazing time. I was able to see my first musical on Broadway - SPIDER MAN and spend the night in the city (thanks Linda and Jamie :D)! It is definitely nice that Webb Institute is on the Long Island Sound so whenever I visit I can explore NYC a little. There were of course October activities including a pumpkin patch, Boo at the Zoo year 3 and of course, a quick trip to Bourbon on Halloween to see some crazy costumes. I had trouble figuring out what to be this year and then decided to be something in my closet - a laundry basket... more specifically a dirty one. It was definitely the cheapest costume yet since I never use that basket and it was a great hit downtown. The best comments of the night were "This girl's not ashamed of wearin her dirty laundry" "I'd fold that" and "Ummm what are you supposed to be?" Aubrey had a harp concert so I was able to watch my first harp playing ever! I told her she needs to bring the harp she practices on and play for me as background music while doing homework- she's up for it, I just have to carry it to our third floor :p Then it was Miss Kelly's birthday so we celebrated by going to an Ethiopian restaurant near campus. None of us had ever had it before and it was certainly a nice surprise! Eating with my hands always reminds me of all the meals I've had in Africa :) For dessert we went to Sucre- an expensive, but completely delicious dessert shop and shared yummy vanilla chocolate bread pudding. I'm slowly exploring all the restaurants of NOLA, but there are so many. It's hard to get out on a tight schedule and budget! A huge BME potluck dinner was arranged to further celebrate Kelly's 21st along with Thanksgiving and it was actually absurd how much food there was (check out the dessert below). It was a great start to break, and I love that our BME class has really started to bond after having every class together the past two and a half years. Flying home for Thanksgiving was quite an adventure when my flight got cancelled.... Luckily I had booked my flight through Orbits.com which gives me updates all the time. I knew my flight had been cancelled before everyone else sitting down and I ran to the service desk booking the very last flight to Buffalo that night. With a taxi voucher from the airlines, I had to transfer from Dulles to Reagan and happened to come across the other lucky guy with the ticket transfer as well. He turned out to be a Russian ballet dancer headed to Buffalo to perform the Nutcracker at Shea's! After watching the SNL version of Black Swan in the Taxi and eating lunch together, we officially became travel buddies! Unfortunately I couldn't make it to his Saturday performance that he invited me to- but it was awesome meeting him :D Thanksgiving of course was wonderful seeing my family (minus my sister- miss you!) along with having dinner at the Spillane's and meeting little miss Ayvah. I am so excited to be back longer for winter break and actually have relaxing visits with all of my friends and family. Amelia created a super cool event for AIDS awareness day on campus where a speaker came from Malawi sharing her HIV positive story. After we painted whatever we felt like on canvas- the artwork some of the attendees created were really awesome. The last two weeks of school were pretty darn awful/stressful but we all got through it and ended on some good cooking nights with friends and Kelly, Aubrey, and I's second year of the Celebration in the Oaks fun run (along with Gisele and Ellie!). So much fun! Looking back, I know these are the kind of memories I'll retain in the blur of all the school work.
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