staying strong

it's been a few days since i last posted. my last ten days can be summarized into the following.

NELA (new england leadership academy)
falling on ice
school
looking for children's books
major realizations
Rotary confirmation (country unknown)
snow!


NELA
Corps members can apply for the New England Leadership Academy for extra leadership experience/opportunities. I applied, along with everyone else on my team, but because it means that you are out of service (aka out of school) for the days of the leadership academy, not everyone can go. i got super lucky, because i feel that everyone on my team was qualified and got to attend nela last week. it was eye-opening, looking into how teams work and how to address them as a living, breathing organism. i really enjoyed it and even though i'd had a lot of opportunities to lead projects and teams, i have a much more defined leadership style now that i hope to put into practice. its called the new england leadership academy because corps members from rhode island and new hampshire came up and down to boston as well, so it was nice to see some fresh faces. we had lots of great presenters from HQ come and do their thing for us and we got to see some higher ups in city year. it was really eye-opening for me, being able to look inside the organization and the strategies for running a successful team. we also went candlepin bowling! and it was pretty hilarious because most of us had no idea how to do it. i also figured out a way to avert crisis on the team and it worked out well.

falling on ice
so for the first time in a long time, i went outside for recess two thursdays ago because it was snowing and i was excited. way too excited. i ran outside, after lending my gloves to one of my students because he didn't have any, and my kids jumped on me saying my name and grabbing my arms and pulling me in every direction. i guess you could say that me going out to recess is a major event. so there i am, enjoying their signs of affection when a girl from matt's class comes up to me and says, somebody is bleeding and she points over to where a large group of kids are standing in a big circle. and i start to run. bleeding! snow! (thats my thinking right there) and somehow i managed to run over the only icy spot that had gotten covered up by snow. and that's when i had a movie-like fall and my head bounced off the hard ice, saved only by a ponytailm, my thick hair and a fleece hat. and i laid on the ground thinking something was broken with snowflakes accumulating in my sleeves and on my face. my eyes were closed and i felt kids running/shadows around me and i could hear them. and one of them was like, yo, let go of my teacher!!! it turns out it was the one kid i thought i hadn't even been able to connect with. and then that kid is like, grab her arms, sit her up! they're like in my face saying my name and asking me if i'm ok and all i can do is fall back over. onto my back, closing my eyes and letting snowflakes fall on my frozen face.

then i had to go to the school nurse to get an ice pack.

school
i didn't really go that much because i was at NELA. i went on thursday last week and then again today. today only 9 kids showed up to class. about half. not bad for a massively icy/snowy/rainy weekend that made all sidewalks dangerous to pedestrians.

looking for children's books
i spent a long time looking for children's books with lilli online about education and poverty. its tough, let me tell you. they just dont make children's books like that at all.

major realizations
i have a lot of goals that i am striving for in my personal character. and its nice to know that i am only 22 so i have time to get myself together. but at first i was sad because i thougth 22 was old and i cried a lot. like i do usually. i am not afraid to say it either. i cried/cry a lot.

Rotary confirmation
got confirmed. still don't know where i am going. orientation is in NC in january. and i have to use some of my vacation days from work to go.

snow!
it snowed a lot.