Let's switch subjects

After such a long and rather depressing post on Sachsenhausen, I thought perhaps we should change it up a little. Okay, maybe a lot in actuality.

Here's ten things that are on the ground right now for me:

1. Americorps finally contacted me. Now granted, it was about a new program I had applied for, but it's still super exciting to be going through a formal application process. This particular program requested more material from me, a sample of my writing style, two more references, a resume with cover letter, etc. I'm really excited, and already have my new references lined up, so life is looking good for the next few days. Maybe I'll have plans within a couple of months!

2. My internship is going awesome. It's lot of data, and number crunching right now, but I'm just loving the logistics of everything. I also love the fact that what I'm doing could have a lasting effect on the way things work at William Jewell. That may be the most exciting thing for me.

3. My piano recital is in T-six weeks! I'm faltering a little on some of the line up in repertoire, we're just the slightest bit short right now, but I may have figured out a solution to this problem, so check back in. I'll be announcing the date formally in three weeks, but the unofficial date is March 10th, at 5:30 pm.

4. If the piano recital is six weeks away, this means I only have 13 more weeks in which to write, assign, and rehearse everything for my composition recital. On that front, things are coming together slowly, but surely. My quartet has been assembled (yay, thanks Peter for agreeing to be my tenor!) and I have high hopes for the choir to come together soon. I have a reading for my strings piece two (three?) weeks from now, and we're *this* close to being ready to turn things in! I think my next composition lesson should take place over coffee. I plan to suggest this to him. No more stuffy classroom. :)

5. At the end of the second week of classes, I've switched my art history to pass/fail, which has lightened my homework load. The professor for this class tends to uncommunicative on my research topic choices, but that's okay, there's not as much pressure.

6. Speaking of that homework load, I think I've settled into the rhythm. Most of my classes have a fair amount of homework, which is slightly worrisome for my sanity, but if I just don't fall behind, ever, at all, with no exceptions, then I should be fine. Uh-oh, I think I'm already behind....

I think that's all for now, but it's enough. I'm still muddling through. Check back soon for final plans on the recitals and further travel updates!

Americorps Essay

Part of my application to Americorps requires an essay, or "personal statement". Most of the time I hate that  sort of a thing, but after mulling it over and talking it through with several "academic" types of people, I think I'm ready to write the statement. 


"We would like to understand more about you and your reasons for applying to AmeriCorps. Take a few minutes and consider those experiences that have made you the person you are today. Please share with us one of these experiences and how it sparked your interest in community service."

Right before my nineteenth birthday I chose to take what is referred to as a gap year and put off pursuing a university degree for this period of time. I was working as a nanny at the time and the mother of the family was pleased enough at the prospect of having me work for her for another year, that she was willing to give me time off throughout the year so I would have the ability to travel. The first trip I took was the biggest, I went to Italy and France for two months to couch surf at my sisters and at my brothers. While I was traveling through Southern Italy, my eyes were opened in a whole new way to the poverty of the world. I had grown up in a comfortable middle-class family and I had not  seen face to face the needs that are out in bigger world. I had always been involved in community service, with my parents, from a very young age, but for the first time I was confronted with true absolute poverty, people begging to have one more piece of bread. I felt my heart break inside of me. I would continue to labor under the misconception that this was simply a European problem until I came home and began traveling in my own country. For the first time I saw all around me people who were in a far worse place than myself, and I was astonished. When I did pursue a university degree I found myself wishing there was a way to be purposeful and organized in service work, and I ended up pursuing, and founding, a university-based Rotaract International chapter. That organization is the true pride of my undergraduate career, not my grades, honors, performances. What the organization now does is reach into the international community, where my eyes were first opened, raising funds, and serving as much as possible in the local community. 

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Not that my family celebrates a lot of holidays, but it's still my favorite by far. I think I appreciate the spirit of the holiday, the family time together, the way everyone sort of unwinds and is just happy to have the day with each other. We don't do other projects during the holiday, we just try to spend as much time together on that day together, doing things everyone wants to do, working to make each other happy.

This Thanksgiving was especially dear to me because I was away from the family core last year (ie my parents), and I'm fairly certain I will be away again this next year. Last year was a fabulous alternative, since I got to have a different family thanksgiving with my brother's family and my sister. But Thanksgiving is not only MY favorite holiday, it's also my Mom's favorite holiday. And the ability to spend it with her, is a blessing. Next year I hope to be in Maine, and I have no idea if there is enough of a break for me to afford the flight home for the holiday. I will be entirely on my own next year, and though I am  sure I will find friends, church family, etc, it will still not be the same without my mother. And the rest of the family too.

It's not that we do anything special. Much of the late morning was spent in Wii bowling tournaments (I mean, that's still rather novel to my family, video gaming systems and all), after that we did a lot of cooking. This was the first time in three years I got to A. help cook, and B. could eat everything. My mother worked hard to make it an entirely gluten-free meal, and that was really meaningful to me, since it was the first time in three years I had had a full Thanksgiving meal. None of the food is anything incredibly gourmet, lots of traditional favorites; turkey, dressing, my mom's potatoes, you get the idea: not a lot of adventurousness. But that is what makes it so special. We don't make a dressing except once a year, and it's an incredible recipe, so we savour it when we have it. I don't mean the food isn't incredibly tasty by saying it's not gourmet or adventurous, I just mean, we're fairly run of the mill on the menu choices.

Much of our afternoon and evening after we ate our early dinner feast was spent again playing Wii (need to work off those calories) and then wonderful board games, wrapped up by movie watching (Clue!). It's not the activities, the games, or the movie choices that make it special though, it's one full day of everyone checking their stress at the kitchen door, enjoying great foods together, working together (we figured out that every single dish in the kitchen was a collaboration of some sort), and just being silly. More threats to spew drinks because of raucous laughter happen on this day than on any other day of the year. Me? I like watching them,  I enjoy the sense of love that hangs in the air. Sometimes the idea that stress isn't necessary for a few short days while we play, laugh and enjoy each other even lasts as long as the leftovers. Sometimes it doesn't last as long as the leftovers, but we're a real family, with all the failures and mistakes that go along with it. Maybe that sounds cheesy, but I really don't mean it that way.

This year, above all else, I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful to be home, to have a home, to have emotional shelter from the rest of the big, bad, ugly world, to know I always have a place, emotional if not physical, to return to. I'm so incredibly blessed I'm ready to tear up right now, and I'm not a crier.
God said he would never leave us alone, and yes, I know that He meant He was sending the Holy Spirit, but I think God works through means, and I see family as one of his incredible means of communicating His love for us.

CSA 2010

As promised, the weekend was really a great time to be a celiac. I live tweeted the whole conference (my handle is traveling_girl) met lots of new friends, and even got to meet one of my favorite twitter friends: GlutenFreeDee. She and I have been communicating for quite some time through twitter, I found her while I was in England, and she kept me up to date on happenings on the Gluten-free front in America, and I shared all of the joys and pains of traveling gluten-free in a foreign country with her.
Folks, she's even cooler in person. As awesome as she is on twitter, facebook, and her blog, she's even more amazing when you get to stand there face to face and chat with her.

I also met this amazing dietitian and nutitionist, Bruce Homstead. He lives in Massachusetts, but is originally from Maine. Considering the Americorps option I want, I picked his brain for a bit, and then we talked longer and he helped me figure out some great strategies for dealing with being hypoglycemic.

I'm so full of joy right now. Inexplainable joy. These people (every single one that I can't sit here and list because this post would be too long) that cared, honestly cared, made me feel normal. All these "normal" people running around eating gluten-free food.
Oh, and the food.
The food was simply incredible. Salads, entrees, dinner bread, foccacia, biscuits, shortbread, strawberry shortcake, BBQ ribs, amazing side dishes (not JUST RICE!) and that's not even counting the samples from the vendor fair. I came home with a bag full of samples, giveaways, and two gifts from my two favorite companies, Glutino and Pamela's. I got to talk to both table for a bit, and told them how they saved my life, figuratively speaking. They made me love food and look forward to cookies and baked goods again, and I really wanted the companies to understand the service they perform. They made me a person, normal again. They didn't just provide a product, they provided morale and happiness. They both shoved a lot of free stuff in my hands because of it. In retrospect, I have to say, well played.

I also won a contest. I never win anything, so I was beyond shocked when they called my name at Saturday's lunch that I had won a drawing. I got a free bag of flour and a cute little tote bag that says "Celiac Sprue Association" on it with the logo. Sweet.

I am overwhelmed with medical and dietitian and nutritionist info. I was also one of two 20 somethings there, so I got my brain picked a lot (the other 20 something was staff). A lot, a lot. Everyone from Dee, to the nutritionist for the University of Kansas to the staff nutritionist for CSA wanted my opinion on how to reach the 20 something crowd. I gave out my contact info more times than I can count, invited phone calls, emails, etc.

I'm just fired up. I'm proud to be a Celiac now. It's not something I need to slink away from, it's who I am, I should just own it and go on with my life. That's right. I'm the cool one. :)

What the future holds - Part 1

Not that I have necessarily on this,  but I'm really beginning to hope for it now.

AmeriCorps was suggested to me as I was looking for plans that would involve... non-academics for next year. It's a US federal program (think Peace Corps, but for America!) created by former President Bill Clinton in 1993. The work accomplished ranges from environmental outreach and cleanup, to community development. I've looked and looked and looked through the programs, and found one called: VolunteerMaine VISTA. Being picked for this program would be awesome, I'd be working with establishing a Service Learning program in Maine, especially focusing on schools.

So ducks in a row: Basic profile created.
Still to do: Oh so much.

Brand New Thoughts

I've been reflecting recently on where life is sending me next year. Americorps, Oxford, graduate school and programs galor, I have no idea how to get where I want to go in the next few years. I've discovered some fresh thoughts, perspectives, outlooks may be in need. These are the musings of a girl deciding to hunt for the new perspective, the untrodden viewpoint. Join me while I keep things fresh, and try to figure out what life after Jewell looks like, or what it doesn't look like.