Life is a Word Problem

Life is a Word Problem

Ok, so I’ve been student teaching for a few weeks now…


I love it.

Ok so now what.
Oh wait, that’s it.
That’s the goal.
I’m supposed to love what I’m going to do the rest of my life.
But there’s a problem. It’s kind of a first world problem too…


I love doing a lot of things.


Am I getting a teaching job after I graduate? No, probably not (Actually most assuredly not…but that will come later). It’s hard to think about delaying a long-time dream when you are so close to capturing it but if I have learned one thing in college, it’s that I love a lot of different things. There new things in my life that I couldn’t even dream of when I first started college. So, am I denying my dreams? Am I off point to do something else I love?

See, I told you it was a first world problem.

Ok, so it’s going to seem like I go on a massive tangent here, but stay with me as I bring it back to point.

I was teaching the other day (man I love being able to say that!) and as a class we were working through some word problems. I asked the students how many of them hate word problems. Every single student raised their hands. It wasn’t surprising…heck I used to hate word problems too (in fact, I still kind of do, please don’t tell my students) and I proceeded to tell the students, “You should love word problems!”
I asked the students a second question, “How many have asked your math teacher, ‘when are we ever going to use this in real life?’” Once again, ever single wide-eyed freshman raised their hands. Again, not a surprise.

So, I told them, “Life is a word problem.”

Ok, I confess. I didn’t realize say that, but you can’t deny that it would have been an absolutely perfect moment to say it! I did tell the students that word problems are classic examples of when they will use that information in their daily lives.
The point of telling you this story is that life really is a word problem.

This saying was on another math teacher’s wall and I was really inspired by it (in fact it inspired this whole post). Not only is this applicable to students everywhere when they whine to their teacher, “when am I ever going to us this?” but to everyone in general.

Life is a word problem.

Here’s how I handle word problems in step by step fashion (like any math teacher would show you):

When we read a word problem, we have to sort through the information and find out what
we know and what we don’t. This can be what is given or what we can infer, but when you apply it to life it means to learn about the world. Learn about other people, find out all you can so that you have all the information to solve your problem, to fix your situation, or to devise a plan.

The next step to solving a word problem is to sort through and pick out what’s important. Sometimes in word problems we are given extra information and we have to figure out what is essential for us to move forward. Life is the same, we have to figure out what’s important in order for us to move forward. Sometimesm we have to drop some extra baggage.

Now you should create a strategy or plan to solve the problem. We spend most of our life planning and making goals for ourselves. Sometimes you can even plan too much and miss the obvious solution.

The next step is to carry out the devised strategy or plan. This is where most people trip up when solving a word problem and where they trip up in life. In a word problem, it’s supposed to be fairly straight forward. You come up with an equation and solve, but sometimes you miss something that was supposed to be important or you screwed up an operation. You have an answer, but the answer is not what you thought it was. In life, you always make plans, but sometimes things happen unexpectedly or details fall through the cracks. It happens to all of us, and it happens to me frequently.

Finally, after you have an answer to the word problem you make sense of the answer you got. Does the answer make sense in the context of the problem? In life, does where you are at make sense from where you’ve been? If it doesn’t, then maybe a detail fell through the crack or you should devise a new strategy. Perhaps you just got off-track along the way and messed up in your “calculations” in that case you just go back and try to fix your mistake the best you can.

See? It’s amazing how applicable math is to real life.

So when I look at my own “Word Problem,” am I getting off track? Am I messing up a “calculation” somewhere? Do I need to devise a new strategy? Is teaching what I should be doing next irregardless?

I’m not sure, but then again I’m still working through my “word problem” and I’m not even close to an answer.

Meeting the Challenges!

So I haven't kept put with the blog like I planned to (surprise, right?). I guess life got hectic and busy (another big surprise). New things have happened in my life, wonderful and sad. Let's start with the good and wonderful. I have made my way over the ocean twice more, once to Italy and Greece and another time to the United Kingdom. These experiences are wonderful and now I forever have the travel bug! It looks like I also might get to work for a time in the United Kingdom after I graduate. Nothing is official yet, but things are looking very good. My brother got married (finally) and I am extremely happy for him and extremely blessed in my new sister-in-law. I got to spend another amazing summer as a SOAR leader and made some wonderful memories! I am extremely grateful for the wonderful experiences I have been given.

Now for the sad, my time at Northwest is drawing to a close; soon I will no longer be a student there. Most of my friends have left Maryville find went on to jobs and higher education. Some of those same friendships are now beginning to fade. Another sad fact is that I no longer feel like a college student. As I look forward to finishing my degree, I begin to think about things like retirement, benefits, buying a house car, finding the love of my life...most of which are very much in my control but not the average college age worries…

But…I no longer have much of a desire to be a college student, let alone act like one. I have moved away from Maryville and while I will probably move back, I definitely won’t be the same and it absolutely will not be in the same capacity.

The good news is that I am ready for this. Now, you might be saying, "Kirk, you have no idea what it is like to be a grown up with responsibilities." You'd be perfectly right, but that's what I am saying I am ready for. I am ready for the new challenges. I am ready to once again step outside my comfort zone and experience new things, to meet new people and to make new friends. I am ready. I don’t know if I am prepared, but I am excited for the chance to find out.

I start student teaching next week, and then I start a full-time job after that. These are going to be wonderful challenges and I know God has not given me any more than I can handle. So, after an already insane college career, let this crazy life begin. I am going to finish 2012 strong with a degree and then meet the crazy challenges that await in 2013. It’s going to be a fun ride and hopefully I’ll keep you more updated!

It will be worth it.

“Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it would be worth it.”

It’s been awhile since I posted, not because I haven’t been writing.  I have but none of the things I’ve been writing are ready to post.   I couldn’t help writing now. 

I saw this quote and to be honest, I have no idea who or where it came from but it struck me and struck me hard.   I’ve been looking to the future a lot lately with my college days disappearing rapidly. Over the last two months, I realize more and more every day that what has happened, happened for a reason.  I figured out that what I thought I wanted is not what I really wanted all along.  I discovered that I am scared of the future because of the change.  I’ve also learned that I am excited for the future for that change as well. 

I am a firm believer that certain events are placed in our lives because they are meant to change us and how we live.  There are multitudes of these events in my life and some seem more powerful than most.  One occurred 3 and half years ago when I came to college, when I almost failed to transition to college; I experienced the depression that many college students fall victim to.  I even experienced guilt for my depression because I saw no viable reason for it.   That event changed my perspective, my philosophy, and forever changed the way I look at others.

Another time came last spring, when I was experiencing the highest success I had ever had.  It showed to me that with hard work anything is possible.  I dreamed high and I still do.  It also showed to me that I can dream high for others. There are multitudes of these moments in my life.

Nonetheless, change is always waiting.  I’m a different person from 10 years ago.  I like the person I am, but I am scared to realize that change is inevitable. 10 years from now, I will also be a different person, but it is the person I am meant to be.  I guess I know, that by following His path for me, “it will be worth it.”

So, I guess the message is to realize change happens, let it happen, and become the person you were meant to be become.

As a reminder...

I posted this to facebook a long time ago.  I like it a lot and thinks it deserves its own blog post.

Here goes:

I care about those who don't have the money to feed themselves and get the healthcare they need, not about who is taking my money.

I worry about the person who doesn't have a job, not those that are supposedly stealing our jobs.

I believe that not allowing someone to marry the person they love because you don't believe in who they are is discrimination at its worse.

I think our planet is precious and should be protected against industry and no amount of money I have to pay will change my mind.

I think every person should have equal opportunity for a good education not just those who can afford it.

I believe that everyone has the right to believe what they choose to, and not be discriminated against for their beliefs.

I believe that the world must be taken with some evils for there are NO blacks and whites only varying shades of grey.

I think every opinion matters, not just those opinions that agree with me.

I think every person deserves kindness and respect regardless of who they are.

I am a liberal.


I see the good in the world around me, do you?

I have hope for the world around me, if people just open their eyes to the people around them, will you open yours?

I think putting yourself in someone else's shoes can have a huge impact; will you try on someone else's shoes?

I am not perfect and try to embrace imperfections, will you embrace mine?

The Last Days...

My last full day in Birmingham was great. Birmingham hosted a student leadership conference in hopes to get students involved at their respective colleges.We had Usman Ali, the Vice President of Nation Union of Students in the United Kingdom.He had quite an inspirational story about how hard work and determination and you can achieve anything.Stuart talked about the Student Academic Partners scheme at BCU and Paul had the students work on potential projects for their own colleges. I talked about Student Employment as a route for engagement and involvement at the Univeristy and the benefits getting jobs and being engaged at the university. It was really funny watching the crowd’s reaction to my speech.During most of my visit, no one had batted an eye at my accent. Birmingham is so multi-cultural that accents weren’t that rare, but these students apparently had not heard that many Americans speak.You could tell by the sporadic giggling and the delayed reaction to my words that the audience was listening to how I said something not actually what I said. Jokes did not work because the laughter was delayed.It was a little wierd getting all that attention, but I guess that is how the British feel when they visit Northwest Missouri

Usman and I at the conference

I felt like we made an impact that day with those students.We really sparked their interest to take charge of their education and future by getting involved.

After the day, we celebrated at the local pub and then hit up the German Christmas Market for my last night. For anyone’s future reference, German beer tastes delicious and if you are looking at woven hats at what looks like an authentic German stand, they still could have been made in Nepal. Anyways, the German market was fun!We stood around and had some brauts and I was introduced to some mini pancakes that were absolutely delicious!

It was a really fun night. I got to know Usman a little more and I liked hanging out with Luke, Luke, Stuart, Paul, Cully, and Gemma!It was just nice and really sad to see them all go but the night ended before I knew it.

Cully and Paul at the Hare after the conference


Luke, Stuart, and Luke at the German Market

Paul and Gemma at the German Market


Stuart and Luke at my apartment building

 
The next day, I had to get up bright and early to catch the plane ride back because I was flying out of London. Stuart drove me and once again he showed his aptitude for asking probing questions. It is truly strange how he can literally cut to down to the heart of the issue. Stuart then offered me fantastic opportunities for the future. The details aren’t worked out, but I figure I will be visiting Birmingham again.

It was sad saying goodbye to Stuart. It all started for me by participating on a student panel. With a few conversations and a trip over the pond, I had made new friends and now I was saying goodbye. I would talk about the trip home, but to be honest, besides reuniting with the family, nothing compares to the trip itself. I gained confidence, I gained new perspectives, I gained reflection, and most of all I gained new friends.

Thanksgiving - British Style

I love Thanksgiving. When I found that I was going to spend this holiday away from home, I realized how much that I actually love this day.Of almost all the holidays we celebrate in the United States have been sullied by commercialism and material possessions.Valentine’s, Mother’s, and Father’s days seemed to be about something or getting someone something and rather about the person were getting these thingsfrom or who we are giving them to. Christmas is the worse.When Christmas comes, we are all excited about presents, there are shopping deals and a huge deal is made out of Santa Claus, let’s be honest if there is anyone pulling the focus away from the true meaning of Christmas it is Santa.Anyways, I digress; Thanksgiving seems to me to be one of the few holidays that is not tainted by material possessions.Yes the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving but that really isn’t part of the holiday.What people do or should do on thanksgiving is indulge in a little too much food with family and friends and give thanks.That is one the most genuine experiences, giving thanks, this can be to God, family, friends, health, anything! The last two year I have made thanksgiving for my friends, partly because I like the food but also I want to give my thanks to my friends for being exactly who they are and for what they mean to me.

Enough about the meaning of Thanksgiving but as you can tell, I was kind of sad that I wouldn’t be spending it with my family.The British seemed pretty determined to make it special though and what a Thanksgiving I had.First, Paul, Stuart, and Marissa took me to breakfast and that was delicious.Then all the office had dressed as Americans!

Luke, Me, Oliver, Cully (sp?), Paul, and Luke

You might not be able to tell in the picture but whether it was hats, a Las Vegas Security shirt, or loads of bearcat gear, they are all wearing American clothing!

I had traditional Indian food for lunch…some beef balti! Then for supper, I was going with Paul, Gemma and a bunch of their friends. It was a good time! I had traditional fish and chips and I was just grateful for the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving with people in another country. I was thankful that I spent my holiday with new friends. I was just really thankful for all that I have. Afterwards we went to a pub called the Fighting Cock and we all talked and I got to know and make new friends. It was really nice. It really felt like and was a genuine Thanksgiving.

Mentoring

Mentoring. This is what my purpose seemed to be turning into at BCU. I was intrigued because I thought mentoring was one of my favorite things I do I really enjoy at Northwest. I was thinking of peer advising, SOAR, etc. As it turns out, however, apparently everything I do is “mentoring” at BCU. This includes things like academic mentoring, what we would call tutoring. 

Anyways, Luke Nagle and I were to develop some mentoring principles so that Stuart could use some money to develop mentoring programs for BCU and pretty quickly as in January. It was interesting and exciting to look at developing a new program especially as it was what I love to do. It is at this point, early the second week of my visit, that I found out that I would be coming back to Birmingham to continue to work with the University. The previous week there had been joking discussions and speculations that I should work in Birmingham. All these talks kind of scared me because of the big commitment that it proposed! But there were two reasons that the idea concerned me.

1. I get really scared by changes and I change slowly but I’ve live with the philosophy that you should take opportunities so what scared me about this one was that I knew I would say yes whether I was ready for it or not. 

2. When I came to college I discovered my passion. I loved teaching, but at the heart of things, my passion was helping other people. The biggest joy of my life was helping others and making their life a little bit better. This is why I like tutoring. I named this blog, “Just Smile” because besides being a happy person, I hope my smile makes someone else’s day better. I know that I would still be helping people in Birmingham; it just feels a little bit more indirect.

Nonetheless, I continued worked on the mentoring schemes with Luke with excitement. It’s a different kind of work and I hope I will find it satisfying. It’s definitely exciting to be developing these different programs and having the prospect of coming back for another visit. We met with a couple of other enthusiastic students who were excited to run and help develop mentoring programs. One girl even asked if she would get to go to America! She kind of reminded me of myself although I did not ask to get to go to the UK but rather just enthusiastically participated in any discussion that might involve me going!

I also had several memorable nights this week. Gemma and Paul had me over one evening and Gemma cooked me traditional Greek food. The food was delicious, and it was fun meeting their friends. Paul’s flat was really neat, and I think it would be a lot of fun to live in one of those. Another night I went out with Luke Nagle. We decided to go eat at Urban Pie which was absolutely delicious. You cannot go wrong with a warm pie with a hearty filling, mashed potatoes, and carrots all smothered in delicious gravy! We met his friend, Matt, there. Matt was Luke’s friend that lived on a boat in the canal. They had recently just moved it outside of town. I thought this would be a really crazy way to live for a while! After Urban Pie we went to the Victorian (see previous post) and to our delight there was a pub quiz for only one pound. Now thinking of the cheap price and that Americans know pop culture we thought would dominate (even though I told them that I did not know pop culture). We did not dominate, we lost and achieved the illustrious position of last place. I actually used the fact that I was American as my excuse…I did know two questions though. On Wednesday night, Stuart and Luke took me to the Old Joint stock where once again I indulged into delicious pies! 

Because of all the work and all the people, it is at this point I am getting attached. I may have been there for only two weeks, but these are memories and friendships that were created. There was one point at the Victorian when I realized that I was going to miss this place…a lot.

Taking London by Storm

London. That was the goal for the day and Paul and Gemma were going to help me do it! We had the hour long train ride from Birmingham to plan out our day and it was an amazing day! We decided that the best thing to do was to see as much as we could see and if we didn’t get to all of it, then we’ll have to hope I come back in the future!

We got into London, immediately got some maps, and headed to the London Museum. We decided to hit the exhibits that we were the most interested in which was the ancient Greeks and Romans along with British history (of course).

Next we decided to catch the tube and go Buckingham palace then walk up to the houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. We went to the Palace and took the traditional cheesy pictures in front, and then we were walking towards the houses of Parliament when an older gentleman started talking to us. After a few moments, Paul asked if he was a royalist and he vehemently replied, “yes.” I didn’t know what a royalist was but as the man continued talking it was clear what being a royalist means. For those of you that were like me, a royalist is someone who supports the monarchy, in particular constitutional monarchy, of a particular country as the best type of government. (On a side note there is a actually a royalist party of America that seeks to institute a constitutional monarchy here in the states…Google it). This royalist told us how great the queen was and how the recent marriage wasn’t proper but that it was a good family and everything would work out. It was just interesting because the man definitely had a different idea of what is good for the government than Americans. It seemed to me that we are trained from birth that Kings and Queens are something that we don’t have and don’t want to have (and yet who hasn’t dreamed of being a price or princess when they are little).

We also learned from the gentleman that the big ben was actually the name of the bell NOT the tower! As we drew closer to big ben’s tower we saw the queen’s soldiers and their unflappable nature. Of course I took the stereotypical photo!

Cheesy Picture with Queen's soldier

We went and took pictures of Westminster Abbey and listened to their fantastic bells. Here is a clip of the bells ringing

.

After we listened to Westminster’s bells, we then crossed the Thames towards the eye of London. The eye of London was huge and it was amazing how slowly it went and how big the carriages are of that massive Ferris wheel. Hopefully, this picture will give a clear idea.
We got tired of walking really fast and caught the nearest tube to St. Paul’s cathedral . This cathedral was beautiful and I wish I could have taken pictures of the inside. It was really special and kind of made me wish I would have gone inside Westminster Abbey. Outside St. Paul’s was the “Occupy London” movement and while I sympathize with their ideals at times, I would never be able to do what they do. Quite frankly, their whole camped smelled…bad.

We then took the tube to the Tower of London. This was one of my favorite places in London. I won’t give all the details but I could have spent hours looking around and reading about the history. There was one moment when we were standing at the land where many of Henry VIII’s wives had been executed and that era of English history fascinates me! It was really fascinating to see some the rituals. They have soldiers still living there and they still perform the same duties in the same manner that they did many years ago. They also had the crown jewels there and that was really neat to see. I wanted to take pictures but I wasn’t allowed to of the crown jewels. Gemma and Paul were a little disgusted by the crown jewels and the amount of wealth they represented; discontent among the British!

After taking some wonderful pictures of the tower bridge at sunset, we went to convent garden. This garden was a place for performers to hone their skills on the streets. We watched shows and singers entertain. We caught a drink at a pub and enjoyed the festive atmosphere. Finally we went and got some food…delicious pub food as always! We were exhausted and went to Leicester square (Kind of like our Times Square except for more theatres) and then caught the train home to Birmingham.

Tower Bridge at Sunset

I will never forget that day. Rarely do you get the opportunity to see so much in so little time, it was truly a memorable day of my life and has given me the bug to see and do more. I am beginning to crave those experiences for the richness that they are. Ever since I came to college, I had a clear purpose for my life, but it was a day like this and a trip like this to make me realize that there was potential in my purpose for travel and experience. More on that later!

I do want to say how thankful I am for Gemma and Paul showing me such a wonderful day. I do not think I could have had a better experience with anyone else!

Ta Ta for now!

Mary, Paula, and Rick left. We woke up bright and early to take them to the airport. It felt really strange having them leave. To really understand how weird it was for me perhaps a little background is needed. Ever since I was little, I have had a problem with being away from my family or just being away from what is familiar. I have come a long ways since I was five but in all honesty some of those tendencies remain. This is why I had never really gone for full-fledged study abroad experience because I knew that I would have a hard time being that far away from home for that long. That is why I little nervous about Mary, Paula, and Rick leaving because they were the connection I had from back home. I I think part of my nervousness also the switch from rural to urban. I don’t really consider myself too much of a farm boy but staying in Birmingham was like a fish out of water for me! 

I knew that I would be taken care of but, I was still a little nervous about being left with people I didn’t know very well. Stuart was asking me all kinds of questions about how I was feeling and about the others and that was sort of comforting because he cared enough to ask.

Anyways, Stuart took me back to the apartment telling me that he would pick me up later for a soccer game. Yea, that‘s right good ol’ English football. I was pretty pumped and was hoping to catch a glimpse of some soccer hooligans. If you are anything like me you need a little bit of an explanation of how English football works and let’s face it, I’m not the one to try to teach you even after I received my lesson. What I do know is that we were going to see West Brum (West Birmingham) and Bolton. Both of these teams were in the premier league, the top league in the UK. This game wasn’t necessarily a huge rivalry or a high stakes matchup, but as I found out ALL football games are attended as if it was a high stakes match. The stadium was packed and the fans were yelling and screaming the entire game. Stuart and I were joined by Alistair (one of the students who had visited Northwest this last summer). There was five things of particular note about the game: West Brum won, the fans were singing and as I found out later from Luke (another student that visited us in June) they have songs for almost every player, hatred for referees is universal, the lady behind me introduced me to the foul English vocabulary, and the crowd was extremely supportive of the players or rather just their team’s players.  

Here is a video clip for soccer game. As you can tell it is really loud but nothing was too exciting was really happening in the clip!

I think there is an interesting contrast in the support given compared to American games. The crowd at this football game would cheer loudly for a missed shot that was a well-executed play. The crowd cheered for failure, something that Americans rarely do. The British showed appreciation for the finer points of the game and showed appreciation for the entertainment given. Americans rarely show such appreciation for the game, let alone failure. Americans demand success or no cheer and I actually think that is rather sad and would be hard to play for. 

After the game, Stuart, Alistair, and I caught a train back to the city centre where we would be meeting Luke. We all met at a Starbucks near the Old Joint Stock and Stuart left the “kids” to what “kids” do on a Saturday night in Birmingham. While I might like to tell you that from this point, it gets a little blurry and that we partied until the sun came up, that is far from the case. I was way too tired and emotionally wrung out to do much at all. Luke, Alistair and I went to go catch a bite to eat. Our first stop was at the Victoria. It was a smaller pub and looked like a classic pub until you noticed the unique colors everything was painted and the strange pictures on the wall. I think it was more a mash of modern and older styles. I really liked it. It seemed to me to be a little more edgy but also relaxed. We found out that it was crowded and we grabbed a quick pint and soon realized that they were no longer serving food. We decided to leave and try our luck at the Mailbox (Please refer to earlier post). We decided to go classic American and ate at Gourmet Burger. Now this was pretty close to the most American that I had ate with the exception of the Italian food!

 After the Mailbox, Alistair decided to leave us and Luke and I decided to go to a movie (or cinema) at the Electric cinema. The Electric cinema was the oldest Cinema in Birmingham and don’t ask me how old because I have absolutely no idea! The cinema had special seats where you would sit on couches and be served in the theatre. Those seats are expensive, but I kind of liked the concept! We watched the Rum diaries. Luke liked it…Me? It’s been over a month and I still haven’t made up my mind. Then I went back to the apartment to catch some shut eye before my trip to London with Paul and Gemma the next day.