It's The Final Countdown!

One week left!

I cannot believe that it's dead week already. The last few years have really flown by. It has recently dawned on me that in a year I will be graduating from college, getting married, and starting a full time job. I get excited and a little scared at the same time when I think about the very near future.

I am super excited to start mentoring next semester. I remember my mentors telling me to enjoy my time at Iowa State because it goes by fast. At the time I was thinking that four years was a long time, and I doubted that it would go by that fast especially concidering all of the assignments I had already. I imagine I will tell my students this fall the same thing I was told and hopefully they will believe me.

It has been a pleasure to work with all of my fellow mentors and I look forward to working with them in the future!

Last Wednesday

I thought going through the mentoring confidence inventory was very helpful last week. I think I remember doing something similar at the beginning of the course and I can tell I am more confident in my ability to be an effective mentor.

I was glad to hear that Jenna is still able to be in the group next fall. The group would defiantly not be the same if she weren't there.

Diversity Event- Reece Waters

So I went to a diversity event back in February and I've been forgetting to write a blog post about it. So I hope this isn't too late.

I went to see stand up comedian Reece Waters in the M-Shop. I thought that overall Reece was funny. At first I was a little uncomfortable he was making jokes about his race because I'm wasn't sure if I should laugh or not. Obviously the point of the joke is to get people to laugh but It it seems awkward because the jokes are kind of inside jokes. But I've realized that comedy is just another way to spread awareness of differences and the challenges that others face because they are "different."

This event would be significant to the students that I will be teaching next fall because I am trying to expose myself to diversity which is something that incoming students should also do. I come from a small agricultural community, there really isn't much diversity there. For the most part everyone looks the same and has the same beliefs. I imagine that many of our students this fall will be coming from similar backgrounds. It is important to embrace diversity because who knows where you will end up after college. It's possible that you may get a job in a different part of the country, or even outside of the United States.

Campus Resources

So before last night I thought that I was pretty knowledgeable about the resources on campus. Turns out, I didn't know as much as I thought I did. I was completely unaware that there is a shelter for physical abuse that has a secretive location. A lot of the resources on the list that we were given I knew existed, but I have never used them nor do I know where they are. It is good that we went over them in class as a refresher. Maybe in the future I will try to take advantage of a few of the resouces just to see how they work.

I am an adult! When did this happen?

So this last week I wasn't able to come to class because I was down in Wichita, Kansas interviewing for an internship. While in the St. Louis airport waiting for my connecting flight I decided to stop at the Chilies right across from my gate to catch lunch. I'm not a huge fan of eating in restaurants by myself, but I really didn't have a choice. While waiting to be seated the guy at the bar waved me over to sit at the bar. Right away I knew he didn't think I was over 16 years old, which if you have never experienced someone thinking you are still in high school it's awkward... He started calling me "honey"....a lot. When I told him where I was going and what I was doing there I saw the surprise on his face when I told him I was interviewing with Cargill. And then he asked me how old I was....

While this is happening I'm thinking to myself that I don't think I look that young! This time next year I will be interviewing for a full-time job, getting married, and buying a house. I am an adult. When did this happen?

I guess what I learned from this experience is to at all times treat my students next year as adults. I was a little upset and uncomfortable when I was at Chilies and the bartender made me feel 5 years younger than I am.

Joke of the Week:
What is a zebra?

25 sizes larger than an "A" bra