Friday, November 19, 2010

School Pride

Tonight I stumbled upon a new TV series called School Pride and I was shocked, saddened, and also slightly hopeful. In this series, the School Pride team is going to different schools around the nation and renovating them. The schools that they are showcasing are so run down that it is hard to believe that they are still in operation! I dont know when America is going to wake up and realize that the majority of our problems that this country has can be directly traced back to the state of our educational system. We cant move forward as a country without a proper education system to produce smart, innovative, intelligent, critical thinking, 21st century literate graduates.

On the other hand, I know that there is at least one other show out there with a similar mission: to shed light on the biggest problem our nation has. Shows and specials like this that highlight our schools abismal state give me hope that one day America will wake up and stop taking money and resources away from our education system and start funneling more money, more resources, and more time into it.

Education is one of my main passions. I firmly believe that a good education will get you wherever you want to go. I hope that some day the rest of our country recognizes this and puts stock in something that can save us.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

100th post, and its a grad school update... woooo....

Ok, so maybe this isnt so exciting, but oh well, what can I say?

Grad school is crazy. I somehow managed to skate through the summer and think that this program was going to be a breeze, but boy was I wrong! Let me give you a piece of advice, if you ever EVER go to grad school, never NEVER take five classes in one semester. Granted, my program dictated that I take said 5 classes, but it isnt a good idea. I wonder what these people were thinking?

Just to give you a little insight into my life: I have a 12 page paper due on Friday and I am still looking for sources. I havent even begun to write this paper yet and I have a VERY pitiful outline, if it even qualifies as an outline at that. This thing is due at noon on Friday, meaning I have roughly 72 hours until it is due. I have 5 hours of class between now and then, cutting it down to 68 hours. I will spend about 8 hours at the high school, cutting it down to 60 hours. I have about 8 hours of driving (to Greenville back and forth, to the high school back and forth, etc) in there, cutting it down to 52 hours. I am supposed to be in Raleigh on Thursday night after class and any work I hope to accomplish between Thursday night class and noon on Friday can be forgotten, cutting it back about 15 hours, making that approximately 38 hours. Now 38 hours sounds like a lot of time, but when you factor in things such as sleeping, eating, and normal life activities, it is cut down to virtually nothing. Then why, do you ask, am I sitting here BLOGGING? Everything that I need to move forward is in Greenville and I am not leaving for another hour to go. So I am stuck and decided to fill you in on the joys of grad school life. We shall see how this thing turns out, I am sure it wont be a pretty show.

On top of this paper, I had a mini freak out for all of the work that I need to get done between now and the end of the semester. Its a lot. I have a writing portfolio that I need to put together, an activities folder that I have to put together (and that will be extensive work), a Mock Thesis Prospectus (whatever the heck that is), a semester project (needs research and writing), a unit plan (this thing is massive), and a "serious" revision of this paper that I just discussed way up there ^ that hasnt even been written yet and he is already calling for a major overhaul. The next 39 days are not looking pretty.

I mean I am doing well so far. I currently have all A's and I made it into some fancy honors society thingymajig that I am pretty stoked about, but these next few weeks are going to be a true testament to my strength, or they will be a true testament to how I crack under pressure, we shall see!