Already this summer, I have had some highs and lows as well as time to work and time to relax. One of my lows was that I had graft surgery. I had receeding gums, so they had to cut some gum from the roof of my mouth and reattach it to my gums were the gum line was too low. This was my first surgery ever! It was also the first time I have had stitches; so needless to say, I was nervous about it! I appreciated the Valium they gave me to relax, and while I felt some of the needles, the pain during the following week wasn’t too bad. However, my chin did bruise pretty badly. But now my gums, while a little swollen at first, are already starting to look better!
While surgery is never pleasant, it did give me an excuse to relax a bit. I got to finally sleep a lot, read, and watch some movies. But now since two days off for surgery, I have substituted every day at my old elementary school.
I have had a couple tough days with some really talkative classes that make me want to run for the hills. But for the most part, when the students are cooperative, I have truly enjoyed teaching. Now I am looking forward to having my own classroom, which would help eliminate some of the disrespectful talking that is nearly impossible to avoid as a substitute. Luckily, I will have a chance to get to know one classroom really well in the fall when I student teach! I had been waiting for a couple months to receive my MTEL scores, and finally, I heard back that I passed! I was so excited and relieved. Since receiving my scores, I have also received my placement for student teaching. I will be teaching in a first grade classroom in Mansfield. I am really excited to learn a lot more about teaching! This was definitely one of the highs of the summer so far!
Another exciting part of my summer is that I got a new car! I love my new car, a 2004 Dodge Stratus. I have to admit, it’s pretty sharp looking! Here’s a picture:
Having a new car has made getting to work each day a lot easier than having to coordinate sharing cars with my family. But even though I have worked a lot so far this summer, I have also had a chance to go to parties and do other fun things on the weekends. Two weekends ago I went to my cousin’s fiancé’s bridal shower, and two graduation parties. This past Friday, my boyfriend, Matt, visited. We went to see Angels & Demons and then over to my friend’s house for a party for her 22nd birthday. Matt met all of my friends from home for the first time! Then, on Saturday night, I went with my sister and two of her friends to Providence. We did some shopping, ate at Dave & Buster’s, and then we walked around at water-fire. Water-fire is exactly what it sounds like. They light fires on the water. It was a beautiful night and there were so many people walking around along the edge of the water just enjoying the atmosphere. It was the first time that it truly felt like summer to me! Here are a couple pictures of our trip to see the water-fire:
Tomorrow, if you can believe it, I am going back to Stonehill for the next two weeks for Orientation. That’s right, this week the Peer Mentors will be getting everything ready to welcome a class of 710 incoming freshman next week! Check back at the end of next week for my Orientation update!
