Derek-sitting

Derek is the boy that I've been babysitting for about 2 years now. He's 11 years old now, and every day that I work with him, he never ceases to amuse, frighten, annoy, or impress me. His mom mentioned that I should write a book about my experiences with him, and although this is not a book, I figure a blog is a good place to at least 'publish' my thoughts and experiences.

Derek is a special boy, and I really have a connection with him. Sometimes he's like a little brother to me, sometimes he's one of my best friends, and sometimes he's my pseudo-son. Derek is one of the most intelligent children I have ever met, but homework with him is another story. Derek is definitely not a homework kid. He has a passion for learning, and he really likes school (for the most part), but his creativity and ingenuity outstretch the confines of the 8 x 11 worksheets that are sent home with him.

For example - today he had a reading assignment to pick out difficult vocabulary from the book he's reading and look up definitions in the dictionary. After an hour of story-telling, knock-knock jokes, and countless reminders from me to stay focused, all he had managed to define was one word with a 3 word definition. Oh, I forgot to mention he also managed to express himself artistically with a sharpie on several of the pages in the dictionary. Luckily, another one of his assignments was to draw pictures of scenes from the book, and that was a little more suited to his mood. Anyway, after 2 1/2 hours, and probably about 15 minutes of actual work, he had completed his homework for the day.

So after some homework, what better thing to do than to quiz me on my knowledge of Hamlet, right? He asked me if I knew the play; I said yes (not mentioning that the last time I read it was over 6 years ago in high school). He asked me if I had seen the play; I said no. He asked me if I had ever seen the movie; I asked which one. His quick, annoyed response was: "The Hamlet one!!!!" Having seen one of the filmed versions of Hamlet (also in high school), I said yes. I didn't know what I had gotten myself into. Then came the real doozies. "Who said, 'this above all: to thine own self be true.'?" No clue. Polonius, duh. Then I was informed that in their class production of Hamlet, Derek gets to be Hamlet now, instead of some less-interesting character whose name I have now forgotten. Cool. ...Why doesn't he have theatre homework again?

Derek also knows how to make me laugh. From his own original jokes (Q: Why was Piglet looking in the toilet? A: He was looking for Pooh.) to his constant inquiries about how to say different words in German, he keeps me laughing - no matter how terrible of a 'homework day' we've had.

Derek will also tell it to you like it is. There's no beating around the bush with him. If you're doing something stupid, he will let you know. If he's getting frustrated, he will definitely let you know. That also means that when Derek tells me, "I love you", I know that it's from the heart and the honest truth.

This is just the start of me writing my experiences with Derek - I may have more things to share later, but for now I just wanted to briefly explain what I do on many week-day afternoons. This has been one of the most rewarding jobs I've had to date, and it's really opened my eyes to what parenting will be like. It has also made me realize that I definitely want to wait a long while before having kids of my own, but it also has me looking forward to the day that I can have the honor of calling myself a mother.

Introduction

Hello, internet!

Today I've been inspired by several things to start a new blog. Earlier I was reading a blog that I kept from junior high through freshman year of college, and it was really nice to go back and read old posts. I would have continued writing in that blog, except that I can't remember the user name, password, or email that I used to create that account. Alas, I am starting anew. A second reason is that I'm going through some pretty major changes in life right now, and it would be nice to write things down in a place that I can go back and look at later when my life is possibly a little more boring. A third reason relates to the aforementioned life changes - I'm moving overseas. During the first go-round of living in Germany, it didn't occur to me to keep a journal or a blog, so since I am doing it again, I will try to keep track of my adventures. Also, I just wanted to start blogging again.

So, a quick summary of things going right now and in the near future. I finish my last undergraduate final in exactly 5 days from now. I graduate from college in 10 days. Like any graduating senior who only has a vague outline of what she wants from life, I'm very anxious. I've got plenty of goals, I just am a little intimidated about the ways to go about reaching these goals. I could always settle with something - I'm not worried about finding a way to get by - but I expect more from myself.

I'm actually pretty bummed to be done with school. UT probably wasn't the perfect match for me school-wise, but I've met a lot of amazing people here, and I have learned a lot about the world and myself - inside and outside of the classroom. In retrospect, I would have preferred majoring in Political Science and German and French, but I'm not disappointed with my History degree. I'm really regretting not starting French earlier, because I'm loving it. Plus multilingual people are always in demand in almost every sector and job market around the world. One of my best decisions of my college career was to major in German because: firstly, I am passionate about the language, and secondly, I've received my internship opportunity as well as many other job opportunities and scholarship money as a direct result of studying German.

Anyway, I'm moving to Germany on July 28th. I'll be working at the Thüringer Landtag in Erfurt, and I'm very excited about the experiences I will have there. I think I will grow professionally and it will definitely be a step in the right direction as far as preparing me for a career in the public sector. I'll be working with a politician from Die Linke directly. No matter what happens, I know this will be a very good experience. (For those of you who don't know what the Landtag is - the best comparison would be a U.S. state government, but with more involvement in the federal government).

I have also applied to the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy to get a Master in Public Policy. I'm still waiting to hear back from this program. As I sent my application in on April 30th, I'll probably hear back within the next 2 months or so (hopefully sooner!). I'm anxiously awaiting to see if I've gotten accepted into the program or not. If I do get in, this will put me in Erfurt, Germany until August 2012. The program will also connect me with various internship opportunities in the Middle East, EU parliament, and Germany's federal government. If I don't get in, I will probably be coming back to the states in October, look for a job state-side, and apply to the Fulbright teach abroad program for 2011 as well as the Peace Corps.

Until July 28th I'll be working at the Austin Nature and Science Center summer adventure camp again! I'm very excited for camp. I've worked there for the past 2 summers, and although it's a lot of work and responsibility it's also a lot of fun. Getting to work 9 hour days outside in beautiful Austin definitely beats sitting in an office.

All in all, these past four years at UT have been very good to me. I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to study here, to meet the wonderful people I have met, and to be successful in my ventures thus far. I'm very excited to see what the summer brings, and what awaits for me in Germany. I plan to update this blog sporadically throughout the summer but more regularly once beginning my internship on August 2nd.