The ME Generation: Advances in Entitlement
They come in countless forms:
- The fifteen year-old neighbor whose parents bought her a car for raising her GPA to 3.0
- The principal’s son, who thinks he knows everything
- The group of 20 somethings out on the town that walk in front of your moving car in a gaggle and then gesture rudely at you when you slam on your breaks
The Idiozation of America
Yesterday I finally fulfilled my only remaining requirement for my education specialist credential: I was re-certified in CPR and First Aid. While taking the class and watching the new videos put out by the American Heart Association, I couldn’t help but notice that the informative gentleman in the polo shirt on the television kept referring to two awkward-sounding terms: inside bleeding and outside bleeding.
Now I never went to medical school, but I’m fairly sure that that’s known as internal bleeding and external bleeding.
Doubtless one doesn’t need a college degree to attribute the correct meaning of these terms. But I learned that the American Heart Association has recently begun using the terms “inside bleeding” and “outside bleeding” for their CPR and First Aid classes, finally replacing those pesky academic terms “internal bleeding” and “external bleeding.” At long last! Who wants to memorize age-level appropriate words when they could just use words that a four year-old would use to describe such things (I apologize to many four year-olds in saying this)? Read the rest of this entry »
Keeping Up With This Generation.
“Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind” – King Solomon
I oft get caught up in the notion that people today are unlike any other generation regarding the insane demand to keep up with their crazy schedules. In one sense it’s true, because from cell phones, the internet, the ease of travel, the seemingly constant interconnectedness of everything at all times, our hectic schedules can meet a level of frenzy like never before. Sometimes there appears to be no “off” button.
Yet this passage gives me a pretty clear picture of the hustle some people had even way back then (somewhere between 970-928 BC). Read the rest of this entry »
Volition
“It is good that everyone may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his toil – this is the gift of God.” – Solomon, King of Israel, a VERY long time ago
I am a person prone to bouts of fitfulness. I love change, adapting to a new situation, working through a challenge. I always feel a bit restless and so, after reading this I immediately thought, “This is what I want.” As soon as that thought was concluded, I heard the Lord say, “You can have it.”
In much of what will happen in our lives, we are utterly powerless. There’s nothing you can do to affect change. Situations, people and more will fluctuate in and out of your life and you really have no control over it. But there is one extremely powerful word in this quote that I think sheds light on this passage: volition. Volition is defined as “the act of willing, choosing or resolving.” As I was growing up, my father would often say to me, “Everything is a volition, Amanda.” He was right. Read the rest of this entry »
The Best Compliment Ever.
I’m not very creative. Occasionally, I fool myself into thinking that I’m witty and original, but the harsh facts are these: whatever I’ve said, it’s been said before; whatever I’ve done, it’s been done before. End of story.
However, I did have a really cool moment in student teaching yesterday. We’re in the middle of state testing – not a fun time for anyone – and I was helping proctor the test for a small group of kids. Well, they finished and we gave them papers to colour, legos to play with, the whole nine yards. I got out my laptop because, let’s face it, that California English Language Development Test (CELDT) paper is not going to write itself (see how unoriginal I am? Perfect example!). With one eye on the kids and the other on my screen, I tapped away, pushing through the paper.
But this time of uninterrupted productivity did not last. Read the rest of this entry »
Or I Could Be a Rolling Stone…
I’m weary of school. I’m tired of writing papers. I don’t feel like being meticulous in the corrections of my work. I don’t want to give 10 references for an 8 page paper.
Yet that is where I am and what is requested – nay, demanded of me.
Sometimes I get jealous of where others are. Jake is traveling this year, Rachel is going on a six month mission trip and Randy is going to be setting foot on six different countries in the next 2 months. Helping out churches, playing guitar, meeting people and being…free. Read the rest of this entry »
Red Light Camera Tickets: Where Does the Money Go???
About a year ago, my brother was living in Phoenix. He was offered a job fresh out of nursing school, in the CV-ICU (cardiovascular intensive care unit) at Good Samaritan Hospital. Working on the CV-ICU floor is an intense job to step into directly after graduation. It is so intense that the roof of the hospital has an elevator that went straight to his unit. Moving away from family, friends and fiancee was very difficult for him and since I’m quite close to my brother, I found myself constantly searching for opportunities to visit the always sunny, often scorching, city of Phoenix.
During one of the many trips I made out there, I noticed that there were cameras along the side of the highway to catch people going over the speed limit. Okay, whatever it takes to keep people safe. But as we drove down the freeway I noticed how frequently (not to mention drastically) the speed limit changes were. They changed every few miles. 75 MPH. 55 MPH. 60 MPH. 50 MPH. Are you kidding me?!? Read the rest of this entry »
Finding My Way – Manic Style!
I am consistent in a few things in life:
1) My love for God and those He’s placed in my life (though I do fail at times)
2) My coffee consumption
3) Wasting time on facebook
4) My tendency to debate for the sake of debating (or boredom…)
5) Persistently, perennially, planning my forthcoming prospects
6) Love of change
Without a doubt there are more, but these are the few that come to mind. I’m just going to expound upon the last two. Right now I am exhausted, but I feel I’ve been neglectful of this site so I’ll tell you what I’ve been thinking about the past five days. I’m working through my student teaching and as I do I find myself continually planning for the imminent future. I’ve been looking at schools, advanced degrees, fellowships and various career paths. This was how my week played out.
MONDAY: I decided that teaching was not a field for me to be involved in for more than 10 years. I am just past my 10 year high school reunion mark, so it is still fresh to me how quickly a decade can pass. That being the case, I decided I had better pull it together and come up with an exit plan, to be meticulously implemented sometime within the next 10 years. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sasquatch Soul: wandering, searching deeply, and avoiding photos. 