Well with the never ending Decade in Review section taking up most of these past few months I wasn't able to keep all of what was happening in the here and now up to date on here. But with the Decade in review past us I can finally bring the blog up to date.
So much has happened since I last left off. This semester has been a rough one that truly pushed me further than even I knew could go. Grad School is much harder than I first gave it credit but I survived my first full year, now only have 2 more classes and the Thesis and I'll be done. It seems like just yesteday I began this amazing journey.
This semester really challenged my preconceptions on homeless, poverty, and the American welfare system. After almost 16 weeks of studying it I have a much deeper understanding of it and I now know (I love how the second word here is just the first word with an extra letter, isn't that nifty!) that our current welfare system is failing the people it was created to help. I don't have the answers but I now know what the answers aren't.
My Social Theory class reintroduced me to a term that I have been intrigueed with since my first semester as an undergrad. Way back then in 2002, God it seems so long ago!, I was introduced to the term 'post-modern' and instantly fell in love with all that it was. This semester I was finally able to dive into the realm of the postmodern and truly find my niche within it. It was amazingly freeing experience, not only researching this emerging social theory but then being able to share with others what I had discovered in my search. I hope to go forward with a continually expanding conversation within the realm of post-modern sociology.
I also took a not for credit course on teaching that truly expanded my understanding of both learning and teaching. I hope to one day, hopefully soon, be able to use the amazing tools I learned in this class in my own classroom.
In all these classes I met new friends and grew the friendships I had from last semester. I am going into the homestretch now with a large group of new friends, many of whom I know will be lifetime friends and aquatiances. I look forward to being in contact with all these great as they themselves going into the world and redefine it. Last night many of us met for drinks at a rooftop bar in downtown Orlando. Just like many other times these past two semester I was surrounded by people who called themselves my friends, a feeling that most of my life I had never experienced. There on top of that roof with the skyline encircling us I was just of the crew, not the outsider, not the other, but truly part of the group. Everything was just right. Afterward we all went to a 24hr pizza joint and shared a snack to sober up with, all sharing stories of our lives, no one judging, no one separating themselves from the group, everyone was real. I think I finally have that thing I have longed for for so long, that acceptance. I am truly becoming all that I ever imagined myself being and doing.
On the personal side things have been very tough this semester. Maggie arrived back in town and we began seeing each other almost every weekend. This became the norm most of the semester but recently she has decided that we should take some time apart, a decision I fully support even as it hurts me. We have now seperated from each other and seeing where it leads. I still hope that it will lead us back together but I also am coming to understand that it may not.
Maggie was the first person I ever dated and this is the first heartbreak I have ever experinced. This has all happened within the last few weeks and up until today I have just filled my time and thoughts with finishing out the school year. I now am forced to truly come to grips with all that has happened recently and will have to go forward from here.
Other than that not much else has happened. My roommate and I are getting along great, another new truly amazing friendship is blosoming there.
I am adjusting to life in downtown Winter Park. Its by far the most urban place I have ever lived and it still seems to overwhelm me sometimes. It has confirmed though that urban life is for me but also given me a keen appreciation to the more rural life that I was raised in. Living so close to where I was raised has been a constant issue for me, trying to define myself amongst all the reminders of my past. I meet my parents for dinner on a regular basis now and have grown closer to them. I do miss being in a new place, discovering it for the first time, but with the constant growth that Orlando has I can constantly rediscover this always changing place just as easily.
Well I'm sure I've already said more than some people would want to know about me so I
guess I go for now.
Like always, Thanks for Reading!
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