From Sea to Shining Sea

Well, it's been forever since I've been on here. At least it feels like it. The semester has gotten off to a hectic, but good start. I'm trying to become more disciplined and better with time management, but it seems like there are not enough hours. I'm going to my GA every morning at 7:30. I scan in kids ID cards who come to Math class in the math resource room aka MRC aka math lab (sorry I've been so slow in getting back to you about that, Nan!). The math lab is the new way they are teaching math these days which is on the computer. It is a complicated mess sometimes as you can imagine when technology is involved. They go to math lecture 2 days a week and then they come to the lab 2 days a week. I also check attendence and recheck attendence and check again. Then I email students who were absent to tell them that we know they were absent and if they miss 25% of class they will fail blah blah blah. It's a lot of mind numbing busy work that I really don't enjoy, but the people who work in there are pleasant and I get a kick out of watching freshman stagger into their 8:00 classes. Kind of weird, but it's my morning entertainment. At that point in the morning I've got enough coffee in me that I'm beyond the staggering myself. By the way, I've decided I'm a big fan of cinnamon, gingercookie kind of flavored coffees. Flavored coffees in general -- Delicious!

Then at 8:45 I take off from the math lab and go to class on M, T, Th, and Fri. On Wed. I don't have class, so I work longer in the lab. My classes are definitely more interesting and relevant this semester. Not as many tests, but more reaction papers and research papers and lit reviews. Aaargh!!! When class gets out at 11:45, I go to my new job at the Center for Children and Families and am there till 4:30 or 5. This job has been great so far. Secretarial work, mainly filing and data entry kind of like what I did at Herald of Truth. It's kind of nice because this work is mindless -- not mind numbing -- but it's a nice break from thinking about school stuff. As you know I king of enjoy having things organized and that's what this is about. There are tons of Marriage and Family therapy people who work there who have been through ULM or are there presently, and somehow, mainly from them I've been given the nickname Skidmo. Another nickname several people at school call me is potato/potatoes/taters and most recently sweet potato. ha Kind of weird. As long as I like the people, I don't mind nicknames and I like these people so it's all good. They aren't calling me Jessie and that's what counts. :) Back to the schedule. On Mon. nights I have class from 5-8. On Tuesday nights I'm in supervision (right now observing 2nd year MFT students do therapy at the clinic) from 5-8. Then on Wed. nights is church. Last semester I wasn't really disciplined about going, but I'm so encouraged and energized after going that I'm building it in to my week this semester. Right now they've just started a study through Colossians that's going to be good, plus the music is always great. So that's my week presently. I'm going to start meeting with the main counselor at White's Ferry Road for supervision each week (therapist mentoring?) and hopefully I will be doing co-therapy with his wife later in the spring and then eventually taking over her clients. Soooo, that's my life in a nutshell. Kind of detailed and probably more than you wanted to know.

Thinking about the potato nicknames has brought to mind something I've wondered about a lot since I've been here. What kind of stereotypes or things do you connect with certain states? With Idaho, people always say potatoes or the Boise State blue field, but many people don't know that Idaho is the home of fry sauce and many Idahoans don't know that other states don't have it. I'd say that Arkansas and West Virginia have definite hillbilly reputations across the country. I think sometimes the things that people associate with certain states are not so much what the residents of that state might say. And then again they might. So, I'm curious which states you have automatic thoughts or stereotypes that come to mind. For example with Montana, I think milita, unibomber, and the quote, "Montana: where the men are men and the women are too." When I think South Dakota, I just think Mount Rushmore and the reptile gardens. When I think California, I think San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge, and liberal. I'm especially curious about the reputation Louisiana has to you and things people think about this state in general. The more I'm here, the more interesting this state gets. It gets lumped into "the South", but the Southern states all have their differences. I'm hoping to do an EET article soon about the culture here. I love that each state has its own laws and culture and reputation and I love being in states where people have a lot of state pride. Some states definitely don't have as much pride as others, which I think is a shame. If I was a long-term native of one state, you can bet I would have some state pride. As it is, I'm just proud of all the states and their own unique characteristics. I could go on all night, but I'll stop now. :)