Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Decisions, Decisions

For those of you who know me well, you are aware of my chronic indecisiveness. While I am by no means cured, I feel I am making progress during my 8 weeks at SPU so far.

See???

When I came to school in September, I decided that I didn't want to be a teacher anymore and I swore off the Integrated Studies major. However, after a few more weeks, I decided that I did actually want to teach, and I was really excited about it. Ha. Decision made.

After that, however, I then faced choosing a concentration. A concentration is one of the six areas (math, science, language arts, social studies, arts, heath/PE) to take extra classes in, and to essentially specialize in. This decision was fairly easy considering I could transfer in 15 credits (one quarter worth of classes) into the Language Arts program. Decision made.

The chaos of Involve-O-Rama the first week of school (all the clubs set up tables and ask you to join) and Burst the Bubble (off-campus volunteer opportunities in Seattle) was overwhelming. There were sooooo many things I wanted to say "yes" to! My youth pastor, Chris, has been trying to teach me to say "no" to things. He knows me too well; I'll over commit myself in order to help out. Though there are lots of amazing opportunities and great causes, I limited myself to getting involved with ONE club and ONE volunteer project.
Club: Relinquish Prayer Ministry. There's a weekly event called Luke 18 when we gather together to pray for the campus and for larger issues in the world. I look forward to it every week.
Volunteer: Cultural Companions with World Relief. Once a week, I go to Kent, to hang out and spend time with a refugee family for a few hours. My partner and I visit the same family each week and help them with work from their English classes, hang out, learn, teach, and share life. It's only a quarterly commitment, so I can stop if my schedule is too crazy next quarter. The family is a lot of fun though! It's a husband, wife, and three year old son who fled Bhutan 20 years ago and lived in a refugee camp in Nepal for 20 years before coming to the US two months ago. I absolutely love it.
Decison(s) made.

YAY ME! Right?!

I then ran into a literal minor problem.

My minor.

I came to school intending to minor in French, but then learned about a unique program called Global and Urban Ministries. I figured that both programs would help me with my aspirations of teaching internationally (or more realistically, in high poverty areas within the US). Great right? Not so much. I can obviously only chose one, and this was harder than I thought.

[In case you haven't figured out, I'm not the most consistant blogger.... I began this post during the freak out, hair-pulling, on the verge of tears stage and have since (thank goodness!) moved forward. I started writing this post for the sole reason of being able to look back on it and laugh at how much I stressed over something that really wasn't a big deal at all. Mission accomplished.]

I'll finish the not-so-interesting story for you anyways...

I went into my advising session intending to minor in GUM but was told that "was the stupidest decision for a minor," by my adviser. Well crap. I cried to my mom and took her advice to not think about it for a few days to cool down and allow myself to listen to the Lord. My mom gives good advice. Not-so-final decision? Keep taking French classes. Wait to decide to minor in it. Not minor in GUM, but pick and choose classes from the program that I want to take (like World Religions). Decision made.

*Sigh of relief*

Up next on my decision list: Summer plans.
Real fast, here are my options as of now:
  • Spend the summer in Salem working
  • Spend the month of July teaching in India through SPU's Seattle Pacific Reach-out INTernational program (application due at the end of this month!!)
  • Spend two months working as an intern for Because Justice Matters in San Francisco
  • Spend two weeks in Bulgaria on a work and witness project with my church family (including my sisiter)
Decisions, decisions...

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