A Very Lucky Girl

If I found out that there was a video camera in the Literacy room of the public library during my tutoring session today I would die. Today was my first official volunteering session with my student. She is a middle-aged woman from Mexico with very little knowledge of the English language. Which is where I come in. She wants to learn conversational English and I am doing my best to aid her learning process. I met her for the first time a week ago and it quickly became apparent that we would have trouble communicating. We sat and smiled at each other and laughed nervously. My Spanish vocabulary is extremely limited, I was proud of myself for saying good morning and her name correctly this morning. All week I stressed about being able to communicate a new language to someone when I couldn't even communicate with in their native language. I hated professors who taught me French when they knew little English.  I had a TEACHER book to page through and the whole time I looked th...

There's been an app floating around for probably a year or two now called Tinder. If you aren't familiar, I'll try to explain the basis for how it works. All users sign up through their Facebook account and the app reveals several profile pictures, the first name and age of the user, and their interests. Everything you've liked since you first signed up for Facebook in 2008 will appear on Tinder, including "Eating" and "Mama Mia." I do thoroughly enjoy both things, but I usually don't let strangers know right off the bat. On Tinder, I didn't have a choice. The language of my phone is currently in Portuguese, so I was even more at a disadvantage with how to navigate this new app. I eventually figured out how to set my preferences, and opted for people within 10 miles of me of the ages 21 to 25. If they couldn't buy me a drink they were automatically out of the running.  I added two more pictures to my profile, each user is allowed six,...

Have you ever had a day where your entire life just made sense and you knew you were right where you were supposed to be? That was Tuesday for me. I thought I would take the time to share a bit about my terribly thrilling 8 AM class every morning this summer. Thankfully, it's a short class and the final exam is on July 3rd, just in time for me to celebrate my freedom with the rest of America on July 4th. But until then I'm stuck in Dale Hall Room 107 every weekday from 8-10:10 AM. Those last ten minutes are especially excruciating. The class is overwhelmingly male, most likely due to the subject matter: The Ancient Art of War. Our textbook is actually called "With Arrow, Sword, and Spear." Riveting, right? The majority of the points are received for attendance and group participation and I find myself asking the other 4 members of the my group (again, all male) to explain the battles over and over to me. I'm hoping they continue to find it endearing/not ann...

Once upon a time (a week ago), in a city fairly close by (Norman) a girl and a boy woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:15 AM to begin the drive to Galveston, Texas in order to embark upon a dream cruise. Tyler and I met the rest of his family across from Riverwind Casino and fought the urge to get caught up in some wake-up slots. I settled into the front passenger seat as Tyler's brothers, Josh and Chris, slid into the back. I attempted to nap in a few unnatural positions, but to no avail and grew increasingly frustrated. My mood is often directly related to the amount of sunshine in the mornings and the pitch black night sky made Tyler's typically endearing air guitar tendencies begin to grate on my nerves. As the McKee brothers began to quote Arrested Development among each other, I jammed on my headphones and jabbed at the volume to wake up Carly Rae Jepsen. Could I get a girl to call me maybe? I knew the exact moment that we hit Houston, not only because of the HEB on ever...

I discovered an incredibly inspiring exercise through my friend Kelky's instagram. I asked her about it and learned that it's her way of recognizing all the good and happy things in life, no matter how small, especially when she feels like the world is pummeling her with hard experiences.  I've decided to follow her example and create my own list of happiness that I can update consistently. Because as cliche as I sound right now, and as much as I'm making myself cringe, there's little sparkly bits of happiness in a lot of minute details of life.  Without further ado, My Experiment in Happiness: used books with a stranger's thoughts in the margin random texts when someone is thinking of you Fat Amy days with no plans rainy afternoon naps tie blankets sparkles old pictures handwritten notes mail brown paper packages tied up with string Troy Bolton flawless cinema romance quick wit bold colors the euphoria after finishing a morning run putt...

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to regret the hold that sites like Facebook have on my life, despite how much I admire the purpose behind Mark Zuckerberg's idea and the other social media that have latched on, like Instagram and Twitter.  Paul sent me this link via email yesterday, the coincidence is seriously astounding as I had already written this post Personally, I think social media's designated purpose is to make it easy to share your life with those that live farther away. You have the prerogative to share written updates and pictures about what is important to you, whether it be a cherished person, a prized car, an unbelievable experience, or a beloved pet. But lately Facebook seems to have taken a more twisted turn, as most of my interactions involve my friends that I see more regularly.  I don't foresee any drastic action occurring soon, I still use Facebook for the more useful purposes of sharing this blog, connecting with my Gateway class,...

Did you know that guys in the early 1900's were scared to talk to girls? T.S. Eliot even elaborated on this lack of confidence in a poem titled "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock." He drones on and on, self deprecating with every syllable. He is searching for love but is convinced that women don't want him. He is having a middle age crisis. An identity crisis-but instead of focusing on who he is, he focuses on how out of his league these women are. Maybe he needs to adjust his standards? But my main problem with his mental block comes from his negativity, "Do I dare?....so how should I presume?...And how should I begin?..." He seems to be saying, who am I that this girl would say yes to me? Well, who are you that she would say no? You gain nothing by hiding from risky opportunities, but you could miss out on an inexpressible experience. There's no guarantee that life is going to give you roses in exchange for putting yourself out there in an uncomfor...