Pure Delight
I am so happy I had my camera out at the perfect time to capture this expression! Dominic was so thrilled about his momentary triumph of climbing onto the table.
Journal
Looking Towards Spring
Around this time of year, I love looking at a table of sunset times to see how much daylight we are gaining each day. Celebrating the small victories over winter always helps me get through till spring. I just started noticing a little extra light in the evening, so I checked the sunset times for the month of January. A whole half hour of daylight has been added onto the afternoon since the beginning of the month!
Miscellaneous
My college has an interim course that only lasts three weeks in between Christmas break and the new semester. My class is really easy, so it has been rather like an extension of the break. It is really nice before the whirlwind of classes begins again in February. I will be starting biochemistry/organic chemistry, latin, anatomy, religion, and choir.
The cold snap at the beginning of the month broke and we had some temperatures above and around freezing before getting really cold again. I am in awe of the chickens who are able to take such cold temperatures! We did give them a heat lamp on the night that was going to be -20 to -25, but they took the rest of the frigid weather in stride and still give us around 4-5 eggs a day from eight chickens. They are really big homebodies this winter, and don’t like to go outside the coop unless the temperature is pretty warm.
I am teaching three ballet classes this year, and they are going really well. This year teaching ballet feels a lot more natural. Around this time last year I was just starting to feel the rhythm of the balance between fun, discipline, and learning, but this year it didn’t take nearly as long to get used to it. Around this time of year we start preparations for both ballet exams and the spring recital. I really enjoy picking out the recital music, costumes, and choreographing the dances. I have a new source for new pieces of music to use for my classes-the Augustana College Symphony. I heard them playing Danse Macabre at the fall concert in October, and the string-led theme was so beautiful I knew instantly I was using it for a ballet class.
January is moving by fast, and I’m trying to resist thinking about little green seedlings. There’s still a lot of winter to go. In the meantime, the other kids and I have been making the most of it by going ice skating at an outdoor rink nearby. This has been a lot of fun, and I hope to go several more times before it gets too warm.
Socialization and Homeschoolers
The socialization scene replayed constantly my first month at school. At times this became somewhat repetitive, and I was discouraged to find how deeply this stereotype was still rooted in the academic world, but I believe this ended up as a positive part of my first days as a college student. While frequently conversations don’t go much farther than “what’s your major?” and “where are you from?”, I got to know quite a few people that I wouldn’t have otherwise when they asked about my high school and the conversation took a drastic turn.
Socialization Concerns from Professors
Faculty at the college were very concerned about my ability to socialize. Early in the semester, doted on the freshmen, asking the routine questions: hometown inquiries, dorm room conditions, etc. When they learned that not only had I been homeschooled, but was still living at home, their faces displayed surprise and concern. They were sure I must be entirely socially incompetent! I could often allay their fears by telling them I had made a few friends and joined both choir and attended meetings run by the student nursing association. As we parted, though, I could still sense apprehension in their voices.
Socialization, Texting, and Modern Students
Ironically, these same staff seem to not have noticed the crippled social skills of many of the other students. They would only have to peek their heads into a classroom on the first day of class, or visit a student get-together to see that something is dreadfully wrong. Times and places that should be filled with introductions and conversations have been transformed. Students have traded actual face to face interactions for the virtual world of texting and Facebook.
This has been my greatest impediment to finding new friends at school, and other students in my class over and over again. For example, at a post-choir practice party, I wanted to get to know girls I see every day at rehearsal but haven’t formally met. It was hard to find someone to introduce myself to, however, since over half the choir plopped down with their cell phones and texted. It was a very quiet ‘party’.
Lest I sound like an anti-progress ranter, I must state that I use texting frequently. It is a great way to send a quick note to a friend you might not have otherwise called, or for Mom to ask me to pick up groceries without interrupting homework. A line has been crossed when it’s acceptable to have a conversation while holding your phone in your hand and glancing at it in between sentences.
‘socialization’ during a break in class
Beyond Brutal
Brrr! This forecast shows the extreme temperatures that have been over us for the last few days. School starts up today, and the -50 degree windchill is less than welcoming.
Fortunately, there is a break at the end of the week to look foreword to!
From Photography Class
The college photography class I took this semester was a challenge. The teacher’s personal tastes were very different from my own, so sometimes I had to ignore my own favorite pictures, and try to figure out what pictures she grade highest. But, some of the assignments produced some really nice pictures.
This is from the first week of class, when it was still really warm and flowers were blooming.
Light painting at the end of October:
Dad helped me set up this picture, and I really like it.
The self portrait assignment was the hardest of the year because I had to set the camera on timer and run around to sit in the photo. Landon helped me get in the right place in this photo:
This was the last assignment of the year for finals, and it was on of the hardest. The goal was to spy on people and take pictures when they didn’t know it, and I felt really strange hiding behind things to take photos of other people. Nevertheless, these ended up being some of my favorite photos for the whole year.
These are in the college commons lounge:
In the library:
This picture of my friend from Vietnam was my favorite, and it received really good comments in my class.
Three and a Half Big, Full, Months
Despite (or perhaps causing) the way the semester flew by, I have never conquered so many experiences in so little time. New events seem to come one after another!
I got my first car back in October, which has been really nice, but it is also the first time I have driven such a light vehicle. Winter has already thrown a fair amount of precipitation here, and I have had to learn what I can and can not do in the snow. For example, if we get a couple inches and the snow plows go by, my car will get stuck in the pile of snow they leave at the end of the driveway! Also, if there’s a couple inches of snow on the road at rush hour in the morning, the typical 10 minute drive to college takes 45 minutes.
December 8 found me riding on a tour bus for the first time with the rest of the Augustana Choir, and we sang in Rapid City and then came back in the same day. Fortunately, my first class was at 11 am because we arrived home at 4:30 in the morning!
I have now lived through finals, though it definitely was a lot different for me than some of my fellow students. Not only did only 3 of my 5 classes have a cumulative exam, but since I was good at keeping up on my assignments for the rest of the year I didn’t have to worry too much about my final score. So, I actually had a pretty relaxing finals week. However, I am slightly concerned that I might be missing out on the Full College Experience, since I never pulled an all-nighter and lived on coffee the next day. In fact, the latest I ever stayed up doing homework was midnight. I hear other students talking about being up to 2 or 3 am.
I shadowed a nurse at the hospital for the first time yesterday morning. It was a very interesting experience, and helped me get a much better idea of what my job will actually look like when I graduate. I got a good look at how many facets there are to the job, which involves both medical knowledge and interaction with many different sorts of people.
Now the year is nearly over, and I am sure that the next semester will bring a whole new set of exciting experiences! I am slightly torn between enjoying my break, and excitement for the next year to begin.
Winding Down
Except for a few final exams, the semester is finished. Where did it go? Having my days full of one scheduled class or activity after another really made me lose my sense of time-I have never known it to move so quickly. I glanced at my calendar yesterday and counted the days to Christmas with disbelief. Isn’t it still November?
But now I can sit down and take a deep breath. After Thursday morning, I won’t have to think about another school assignment till January. I will be able to pull out my kindle and read again, knit again, bake again, blog again. I am looking forward to a few weeks of stillness after the whirlwind of the semester.
Tutu Claire
I took this picture a few weeks ago for my college photography class, and now that I am on Thanksgiving break I finally have a chance to share it.
Claire had just learned to sit when I took the picture, and now she is fully mobile, crawling around like crazy. She even has pulled herself up to standing a couple times!
Yummy!
This adorable picture makes me laugh. It pretty much sums up Claire’s philosophy of life right now: everything is edible.
In Which I Heave a Sigh of Relief
Whew!!!! I just made it through my first set of midterm tests. Finally, I can breathe!
Lots has happened in the last few weeks. I have finally gotten the swing of college time management. The two commandments: Thou Shalt Study Hard on Weekends if Thou Wanteth to Survive, and Thou Shalt Not Ever Fall Behind in the Reading.
The biggest difference that I have had to adjust to in college is that homeschool can maneuver around life events. If I catch a cold and don’t feel well, I still have to make sure to do homework and attend class. Johnathan had his appendix removed ten days ago, and
I spent a night in the hospital with him. I didn’t get all of my reading done that day, and it took me several hours each evening for the next four days to just catch up.
Life is moving fast at home as well. It seems to race by now that I am not around for a good chunk of the day, and I end up missing out on major happenings around the house. I glanced in the small aquarium where we keep our two little frogs one evening. “Oh!” I cried. “One is missing!”
“Oh, yes, didn’t you know?” Mom said. “He died about two weeks ago.”
Clare is making great strides in her skills. She is sitting up almost perfectly for long stretches of time and pushes herself up onto her hands and knees. She hasn’t crawled forward yet, but she can really move backwards.
Dominic is going through the language explosion, and frequently surprises me with his vocabulary. Because I haven’t been around as much to hear him speaking, it catches me off guard when he says something that sounds like it came out of a three year old. He also knows his colors and almost all of the letters and their sounds, thanks to a Leap Frog movie.
Kansas City
In September we took a trip to Kansas City to show the family the Steamboat Arabia exhibit Landon and I saw in February. While we were there, we went to Powell Gardens. It was beautiful.
There was also hundreds of butterflies flying around, including kinds I had never seen before. I had to look them up when we got back.
Great Spangled Fritillary:
South Dakota is just barely in the range of the Buckeye Butterfly, but I have never seen one.
Zebra Swallowtail-these don’t live in South Dakota!
Question Mark Butterfly:
Everything’s bigger in Kansas! We saw a large number of the biggest grasshoppers, caterpillars, and spiders we’d ever seen.
This ended up being the joke of the day.
I have been commenting for years that every time we go on a trip, we end up having to stop at a Lego store. In Florida, Chicago, and Minneapolis the boys made sure seeing the Legos was a high priority. It seemed the boys thought we took trips just for Lego stores!
I protested. “No more Lego stores on trips!” I said. “Everything in the store is on the internet, so why do we have to spend time in the store when we always walk out with three kids crying about what they couldn’t get?”
But the Legos apparently have a sense of humor, so they followed us when we visited the destination I had picked out.
When we were planning to go to Kansas city, I didn’t realize that the trip would include an airplane flight. Mr. Wilson (tales of our adventures with him here, here, and here) lives in Kansas City now, and he met us at the airport. He is a pilot and was one of Dad’s flight instructors a long time ago. He had a small Cessna there at the airport, and Dad took everyone from Daniel to Mom on a ride over beautiful downtown Kansas city. The plane only seats four, so it took four separate flights to give everyone a turn. Mr. Wilson accompanied Dad for the first couple flights in a while Dad became accustomed to the new digital dashboard in the airplane.
Downtown Kansas City is really beautiful, and seeing it from the air gave a really cool perspective:
I was especially fond of the patterns the train cars and train tracks made.
My favorite picture of the day:
Familiar objects were scattered around the hangar where we put the plane away- the wings of the Gentle Lady I crashed once, the little Cessna, and the Keebler, which was put away in its unbelievably small case. Looking to surprise me, Mr. Graham said, “There’s a hot air balloon behind you!” With a grin I replied, “I’ve ridden in it!”
A few more KC pictures:
College Update
I have been a college student for an entire three weeks now. (Wow!) School is great, and I enjoy walking amidst the large buildings on campus. It is a really nice place, too, with beautiful trees everywhere and nice brick buildings. I am just getting to the point were I recognize quite a few of the people I see when I’m walking around outside of classes, and I’m getting to know a few of the other freshman students, especially the other members of the choir.
I had to audition to see if I could make one of the three choirs on campus, and found out my official singing category when the choir director told me I have the range of a low soprano. I was placed in the women’s choir, and it’s truly an amazing experience to sing in such a large group. I was amazed at the beautiful sounds we produce as even as we warm up our voices.
Classes are going fairly well, though I’m still trying to figure out how much study time I need to put into each one. I really like my teachers, who are very approachable and willing to help if you have questions.
Of course, there has been a few difficulties in transitioning from a home environment, and since I promised I would show the world exactly what happens when a poor, unsocialized homeschooler finds themselves in college, I must be honest and tell all of the challenges I have had to face in the last three weeks:
The Backpack
I have never had to carry more than one book at a time in my backpack, so it has taken me a while to get used to carry it loaded with three thick textbooks and several notebooks. I have improved my back stamina a lot since the first day of classes, when I thought I was going to die from the load before I’d crossed half the campus!
The Drinking Fountains
Since I have been living within a 15 seconds of a glass of water my entire life, I have never had to learn how to drink from a fountain without dripping all over my face and clothing. This challenge took about two weeks to overcome.
The Language Barrier
I have found that students who came from a school environment have a language of their own. Last week, I got up the gumption to answer a question Chemistry, and a girl next to me raised her fist in my direction. Maybe she had wished she had given the answer? Not knowing what she expected me to do, I just smiled at her sheepishly. The girl lifted her other fist and demonstrated (with some exasperation) that she expected me to bump her fist with mine.
Stay tuned, as I’m hoping to devote a whole post to the socialization myth as soon as I have time!