Vampires and Choices

Well, another leg of my summer has started. I got a job last week as a Lab Assistant (Phlebotomist) at the North Hawaii Community Hospital. And, since phlebotomists are known blood suckers, they are deemed "vampires". I'm going to go out and buy some Dracula scrubs. :)

I also started a tutoring job with a high school junior. She wants to improve her academic writing abilities over the summer so I'm tutoring her through the month of June. We've had two lessons so far. I can't even begin to explain how hard it is to teach academic writing and not creative writing. I feel that creative writing is a great way to find out your particular writing style and that in turn can help you in academic writing because it gives you your own voice. I, as a Debate coach, also feel that some of the basic fundamentals of speech writing are extremely helpful in writing essays and such and HOLY CRAP THERE'S A COCKROACH IN MY BED!!!

-(seven minutes later)-

Ahem. Excuse me, was having a small nervous breakdown. I'm back now.

I'm learning quite a bit about teaching as I'm trying to help this girl and this tutoring experience will also help me get some experience and ideas for the creative writing class I'll be teaching in July and August. So, basically in about a two day period I went from having no job and doing almost nothing to having two jobs (with a third later in the summer) and hardly any free time. I would like to find a happy medium between these two extremes, but upon reviewing my previous entry about that, I don't think it's likely...

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I have decided that I am a free spirit. I do not like being tied down anywhere, by anything. It's been almost two years since I've had a job and it's hard to know that I am now completely bound by the hours set for me. Even with school I could choose not to go to class on any given day. Granted, I don't skip class a lot, but it's the idea of having the option. I don't like not having the choice. I'll give you an example: In my Educational Technology class last semester, my teacher always took over our computer monitors so they all projected the power point. Now, she didn't do this so we all could see better, she did it so we would pay attention. First of all, in my opinion, any teacher who has to force attention by taking over your monitor or grading you on attendance is obviously making up for a lack of anything valuable. Second, and more pertaining to me, it's a violation of my personal freedom. Yes, I know it sounds like a silly and dramatic thing to say but it is. It is taking away my right to choose whether or not I will pay attention in class. Given the choice, I would probably pay attention more than if the choice was taken from me. I am more inclined to go out of my way not to pay attention if you don't let me choose. Whoa, this is sounding a lot like the two plans of Satan and Jesus. Go figure. So, this is one of the reasons I am a little apprehensive about the job thing. My supervisor basically said that I don't have any sick days and if I can't come in, even for emergency purposes, I'll be on thin ice. Basically. And this is the same way for me: I wouldn't purposefully not come in to work, or lie about being able to come in to work, and I'm not anticipating any emergencies. I just hate people telling me that I can't. Apparently I'm more of a rebel than I thought. If you tell me I shouldn't, then I probably won't. If you tell me I can't, then I will want to so bad that I just might.

Aren't I a messed up child? :)

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"If I had two faces, do you really think I'd wear this one?" -Abraham Lincoln

"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us." -Gandalf

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach." -Tom Robbins

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe, the horse was lost. For want of a horse, the rider was lost. For want of a rider the battle was lost. For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail." -Proverbial Rhyme

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Today's Featured Quote:

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." -Winston Churchill