Reflections on 2017

So here is the cliche 2017 reflection blog post. 2017 was a mixed year but here I am going to focus on some of the positive aspects of the year. So… here we go!

1. I changed my major.
   This was a decision that was incredibly hard for me. It took a lot of prayer and trusting God but also trusting myself and what I wanted for my future. I ultimately ended up incredibly happy with this change. I feel like my new major is a much more fitting place for me and I was only able to recognize that through growth and maturation.
2. I had a kinda crappy summer job.
   This was something I originally thought would not be something that I would look back on with gratefulness. I worked in a warehouse job that was incredibly repetitive and tedious. The work itself was really boring but I met a lot of people. Through these people, I began to see the world in a new way. A couple people I was able to have really good conversations with and I began to see the world differently because they shared their experiences with me.
3. Sophomore year…
   Sophomore is known for being kind of the worst. A lot of things change and get harder. This was definitely the case for me. I cried more this semester than I think I did my entire freshman year. However, through all this I found people who truly care for me even when I am not my normal upbeat self that I want to be. So here is a shout out to my people (if you are reading this, you probably know who you are)! Thank you for praying for me, crying with me, hugging me, reminding me why I do this crazy thing called college, and just being my support system. I love you all and I have no clue what I would do without you.
4. Anti-Human Trafficking
   This year I was able to get more involved in the fight against human trafficking than I ever thought possible. I have prayed with and for people and I have grown so much through this. I have seen God do cool things and heard countless stories of how God is moving through this fight. I’m not sure exactly how this will fit into my future but I know that God has given me this passion for a reason and he will bring it to fruition.
5. (Last and probably the biggest highlight of my entire year) Sophomore Field
   In the sophomore level field experience for non-ECE majors, you are placed in a school and you have to teach four lessons and stay engaged in the classroom for 35 hours in your semester. Going into this semester, I was very nervous about this. I knew it would be a lot of work and I wasn’t sure what to expect from a middle school. This placement ended up being amazing! The teacher and I ended up getting along incredibly well and I was able to teach my lessons and connect with the students. I was incredibly blessed in my time at this school, in this classroom.

These are only some of the really cool experiences I had this year. As I reflect, I realize how much I have grown and matured this year. It has not always been easy, but I have made it through (by the grace of God and the support of a LOT of people). I am looking forward to 2018 both with excitement and nervous anticipation. I don’t know what next year will bring me, but I know that God will be with me through it all!

Why I Changed My Major

Like quite a few other college freshman in the world, I changed my major this past year. A lot of people have asked me why I changed and I’ve tried to condense the story into a few sentences but that doesn’t fully explain everything that went into my decision. Here is my attempt to explain my reasoning for changing.

The thought of changing my major first came during orientation the first weekend of freshman year which was before classes had even started. I came into college as an Early Childhood Education major and I was in one of the breakout sessions for all the education majors. The professors who were leading the session asked us to raise our hands based on our major. When the ECE majors raised our hands, the majority of the room raised their hands. I remember thinking, “There’s a lot of us… surely there aren’t that many jobs.” While it seems a little superficial, that was the first time the thought of changing my major entered my head. This was especially important because I had never even considered a field of education outside of early childhood.

Throughout a lot of the first semester I wrestled with wondering if I had chosen the correct major. In my first education class, during a lot of the projects I saw myself with older students a lot more than I could with younger kids. During the fall, I also got involved with a local youth group that was mostly middle school students. They were overwhelming at first but they grew on me and I found a love and passion for that age group I hadn’t found before. After talking to some professors, fellow students, and other mentors, by the end of the fall semester I was seriously considering changing to Middle Childhood Education.

In the spring, I had my first field experience. At the end of the fall when I was still on the fence about my major, I had prayed and asked God to use this field experience to help me make a thoughtful decision. For my field, I was placed in a kindergarten classroom in a school about a ten minute drive from campus. While I enjoyed my time in the classroom, I found that I struggled to explain concepts in a way that a five or six year old understood them. I was also quite overwhelmed with the thought that one day I might be in charge of an entire room of six year old students all by myself. After several weeks in the classroom I made the decision to change my major.

I am now a Middle Childhood Education major with concentrations in Language Arts and Mathematics. While my classes will be a bit harder now, I am excited for this change. I am especially excited because with my gifts and passions I think I will be much better equipped to use my teaching as a ministry in this age group. While so much of the future is uncertain, I am excited to see where God leads me on this crazy amazing journey that is life.