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.
  

Finishing the First week

Day 5

This was the big day!  We presented a workshop on the importance and value of student employment.   Rick likened it to having a big test later in the day and just wanting to take it now.  I kind of agree with that. I seemed to be more relaxed than Rick or Paula, but then again my part was just talking about what I do and what it does for me which is pretty easy!   We went through the presentation and it went fantastic!  Later on Stuart, Luke, and Paul shared emails of skeptics that were now converted to the idea of student employment!

Mary, Paula, and Rick are leaving in a couple of days and I’m a little nervous but I know that everything will work out great!  I’m amazed at the sense of confidence I am building while I am here.  Already I feel that my public speaking and presentation skills are improving.  At the end of the day, we had a meeting to discuss how to take the partnership between BCU and Northwest in the future.  It was exciting to listen about the possibilities of continuing partnership!  It was a little sad because there was still a sense of finality to the meeting!

There was even discussion of me returning to Birmingham which perhaps got me too excited!  That night we celebrated by eating at an Italian restaurant.  It was really good, but it definitely felt the most American of all the things that I had been eating up to that point!

Day 6

This was the last day for Paula, Mary, and Rick.  We all had the day off to explore and enjoy sights.  We went to Stratford-Upon-Avon which for those of you that don’t know was Shakespeare’s birthplace.  We took a train out to Stratford with Luke and Paul as our guides! I made one Harry Potter reference about Platform 9 ¾ and no one got it…so much for the Harry Potter jokes! It was fantastic to see the English countryside but to be honest it didn’t look that much different than what you would get in Missouri. The town was smaller (Still larger than Maryville!) but it was quaint. There were a lot of tourist shops and older buildings.  We looked upon Shakespeare’s birthplace and then went to an inn to have a drink.  The inn was really old.  Some of the beams holding the ceiling up looked like they were tree branches.  We then went down the street and saw where Luke used to live and went into a chapel that had been built in the 1200s.  It is really crazy how something like that can be still standing that is that old.  That was by far the oldest building I had ever been in!  We then went and took a gander at the Avon and ate at the Dirty duck…which had delicious food!  However, as we were sitting in this old English pub looking over the Avon, Taylor Swift came over the radio and ruined the whole scene!

It was this day when I literally looked around and thought, “Holy crap, I’m in another country!”  I still can’t really believe I went.  I suppose someday I might!

 We took the train back and Paul helped some American tourists with the train and told them to check out the German Market.  It was really interesting to meet other Americans and it happened so randomly on the station platform! We also went to the German market to say good bye to Mary, Rick, and Paula.  The German market is an annual thing in Birmingham when the Germans “invade” the city center and set up shops where you can get food trinkets, and play games.   It had a really fantastic atmosphere even though it was packed.  That had sausages there made fresh and they were delicious.  I also had this butter cake with cherries that was absolutely incredible!  We all talked and met up with Beccy who visited Northwest last summer.  It was a great atmosphere and it was kind of sad realizing it was the last night for Paula, Rick, and Mary! 

Paul, Paula, Rick, Me, Stuart, and Mary at the German Market

I think the whole experience has been good for us as a group.  We have really reflected on our processes and developed new and fresh ideas for our university. 

Birmingham...the first couple of days!

The Birmingham City University (BCU)Trip has been full of amazing discussions.  In addition to showcasing our student employment program, many of our discussions have centered on mentoring, academic support, and student involvement.  With great pride, I think of all the student engagement we have at Northwest but it is hard for me to dissect how that comes about.  I think it is a combination of pride, involvement, and isolation that encourages our engagement.  However, you can never have enough engagement! Over here they have Students’ unions where this independent entity protects and works for the student population.  They seek to involve students in all aspects of the University from employment to curriculum design.  I think this could be a model to further our student engagement!    I am consolidating some ideas to take back to Northwest about mentoring and student support, but I doubt that you want to read my boring notes on that!

The people that I have come with and the people that we have been working with are absolutely fantastic!  Paula is amazingly organized and very talented at what she does!  Mary is like a queen!  She is truly impressive!  Rick is also amazing and probably the most intelligent person I have ever met!   Paul, Luke, and Stuart have really bent over backwards for us!  They keep things lively, interesting, and fun!  They all have excellent insights and I can hardly do them justice in writing!

I have also got to experience my first Indian food and I must say it was amazing.  We went to Pushkars and got a sampler of just about everything.  Most of it was really delicious but there was a mango dip that was one of my favorites and the red sauce dish.  One the students from BCU that came to Northwest this summer, Luke, was also at dinner and it was really good talking to him again! 

The next night we went to a real English pub called the Wellington.  It was really musky but a fun atmosphere!  Conversation at the Wellington turned to  the mentoring and different things they could do  in the future.  It looks like an exciting future!  After the Wellington we went to the  Old Joint Stock which was another pub but it had some traditional English food.  I had a shepherd’s pie and it was absolutely amazing!! 

Well, I know that is a short post.  I have taken notes on each day so I will be able to write about them as I find the time.  Cheers!

First day in the UK!

I’m not much a flyer but honestly the flights were not bad at all.  In fact, I would say that the flight over the ocean was really enjoyable! 

Birmingham is great and Paula, Rick and Mary are all great too, we got into Birmingham at 7:30 AM (1:30 AM Central time).  Stuart, Paul, and Luke were all waiting for us.  We relaxed a little bit at the airport with coffee and soda.  Then we were off.  The first thing I noticed was the smell.  Birmingham ha a nice moist smell which is a nice change up from Missouri right now!  There was a loud cloud cover but you could tell that it would clear up soon and sure enough it was bright and sunny the rest of the day.  According to everyone we met it was unusually warm for this time of year so I was comfortable in a light jacket.

After watching Mary get into the “wrong” side of Luke’s car, Luke, Mary, and I were headed towards the city center with Stuart, Paul, Paula, and Dr. Toomey in the other vehicle.   It was interesting driving through Birmingham.  There were roundabouts everywhere and besides Luke driving on the “wrong” side of the road, Mary noticed that for such a large city there was actually not that many stop lights. The architecture was a little different.   There are old buildings right next door to new ones.  n the city center where we are staying is  a marketplace and mall (It is called the bull ring.) with a cathedral right next door. I also noticed that shingles looked different, like they were more ceramic shingles.   Everything was really pretty. 

Luke also gave us some information about the city.  Birmingham has around 1 million people with about 2 million people in the surrounding area. Birmingham is very diverse and that the white population would actually very soon become the minority but there is actually very little racial tension in most parts of the city.  That with Birmingham’s acceptance of the homosexual community, I think parts of the US could take a leaf out of Birmingham’s book.

We explored the city center for many hours.  I really can’t begin to describe what we saw but I’m going to try.  There was a lot of beautiful architecture and coffee shops.  There was a canal running through the center with boats on it that served breakfast.  We went into the symphony hall where there was services gearing up for the United Kingdom’s remembrance day.  It is kind of similar to our veterans day and Birmingham had a small parade with lots of people and solemn silence. Then Paul took us a church that had absolutely beautiful stained glass.  The church wasn’t as old as it looked but still was really pretty.

We then went to a coffee shop and I had my first taste of English food.  I had a fruit scone and cappuccino.  It was really good!  To kill some time, we went to pub to grab a pint, so then I had my first taste of British beer and it was pretty good!

Then we got into our apartments.  They are one bedroom apartments with everything you would expect in an apartment!  We all rested up before we went out to eat in the evening.

We were ready to go back 5:30 and we walked to the Mailbox.  Paul was with us with his girlfriend, Gemma (I hope I spelled that right!) and they were telling us the Mailbox used to be the royal post office.    It had some beautiful restaurants and decorations up and there was also a waterway in this part.  We went to another pub and sampled some more brew while we waited to go to supper.  We then ate at a Spanish restaurant. 

I had to keep reminding myself that we were eating at a Spanish restaurant and not Mexican.  As you would expect, there was some similarities between Spanish and Mexican, but they were very different.     It was all very good.  We then made it back to the apartment and crashed.

That’s all for now. Please excuse any grammatical errors.  I plan on going back through and fixing some! I haven’t had time to really write much and I’m still trying to adjust and catch up on sleep but please stay tuned!

Before I go...

So the United Kingdom.

 It still doesn’t seem real to me and I’ll be leaving for the airport…way to soon.  I just never imagined getting to participate in such an amazing opportunity having grown up near a small town of less than 300 people in the Midwest.  This kind of stuff just doesn’t seem to happen, least of all me.

 If you don't know, I have got the opportunity to go abroad to promote Northwest Missouri State University's student employment program.  You might be asking, why me?  Well, I asked myself that too...a lot.   It’s kind of a long story so bear with me.

 What is a British university doing in Northwest Missouri looking at a student employment program?  That's a question that runs through a lot of people minds every time delegates come from their university to ours.  As incredible as it might seem to those at Northwest, Birmingham City University has very little in the way of a student employment program and they see something very special in our student employment program.

The delegates from Birmingham first heard about our student employment from Dr. Hubbard, the former President of NWMSU, at a conference they all attended together. Stuart Brand, Paul Chapman, and Luke Millard the delegates from Birmingham City University visited Northwest for the first time in January 2010.  Ever since then there has been a lot of travel back and forth.  Northwest first sent delegates in July 2010 and they stayed for three days.  Stuart, Paul, and Luke then came again in April 2011 to observe and meet with students, staff, and faculty to further discuss student employment.  It is during this time period that I enter the picture.

I was in the spring semester of my Junior year which was actually just last semester even though it feels like it has been much longer.  Early in that spring semester, I found out that I had been nominated for Student employee of the year again.  I was excited and pleased for the honor especially since I had felt that I had not been producing the highest quality of work.   Even more, I found out that I was in the top three candidates and interviewed for the highest honor, Student Employee of the Year.  I was pumped!  It was around this time between interviews and the student employee recognition ceremony that Stuart, Paul, and Luke came to visit and Paula asked me to participate in a student panel with the delegation to discuss student employment. 

I was pretty excited about the student panel, but I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to participate because of class conflict, but luckily my class got out early.  I was on that student panel with some big names on campus, Kelsi Jo, Molly, Carli, Quentin, and Joe.  To be perfectly honest, I was intimidated and didn’t really feel like I should be there participating, but I did and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.   As the panel concluded, Stuart asked us if we’d like to go to Birmingham and of course we all said yes.  I was really excited.  Even the mention of going to another country sounded like a dream.   As we left the panel, we all gave email addresses to the delegation so that Stuart, Paul, and Luke could contact us with more questions.

Maybe a week after the student employee recognition ceremony, I received this email:

Hello Kirk,

Firstly I hope you received my previous message of thanks and will forgive this further intrusion. We were particularly interested in your work in peer support for Maths and admire the way in which it was described to us. We are interested in discussing these ideas further back home. So, I hope that you will not mind if when back in the UK next week I bombard you with a few more questions?! We would also hope to get a delegation of folk from NWMS to visit with us in Birmingham during the fall. I hope that you may be able to join that delegation.

Finally, I believe you may have received good news recently? If so, our congratulations!
Best wishes

Stuart

Stuart was of course talking about the student employment recognition ceremony where I received the amazing honor of Student employee of the year, but perhaps equally amazing to me was that I had received a personal email asking for possibly more information.   I tried to not let my excitement grow about the possibility of going to the United Kingdom, but it was really hard not to!

Stuart then sent more emails asking how I got into my work at the Talent Development Center and other peer support positions.  I tried to answer the questions to the best of my abilities and Stuart thanked me and hinted at the possibility of me coming to the United Kingdom.  The excitement level could no longer be contained.
Birmingham then sent student delegates to shadow our student employment program in June during SOAR (another highlight of my summer!) and at the end of July, Stuart and Paul came to visit Maryville.

During the first day of their visit, Paula (Coordinator of student employment) called me in and explained what was planned.  Paula, Mary (Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Effectiveness), Dr. Toomey (an Associate Professor in the Chemistry department) and I would be going to the United Kingdom in November.  Furthermore, Paul, Mary, and Dr. Toomey would be staying one week, while I would be staying a full two!  I was ecstatic and still am.

I still didn’t quite understand why they wanted me.    Student populations in Birmingham City University are unengaged because of their eight different campuses across Birmingham.   So I think what Stuart, Paul, and Luke see in student employment is engagement and that it enriches the educational experience.  In many ways they are definitely right, I feel more connected to the university and possibly I have learned more skills and information from working on campus than I have in all my classes.   The trick is selling this message to Birmingham City University.   That is where I come in.

Whether or not it is true, I think Stuart sees me as a model for how student employment can seriously impact students.  While I have held a wide variety of jobs on campus, I think the real value I hold is my transformation.   Mom said to me tonight, “In high school you were social but you were a big fish in a little pond.  When you went to college, you were a small fish in a big pond that almost drowned.”  She’s right.  She went on to tell me how student employment probably kept me from “drowning” and the employment gave me more confidence and assurance.   She’s completely right and therein lies my value; I went from an unsure and timid young adult to confident and assured young man largely because of student employment and the belief of my supervisors, Dr. Galbreath and Linda.  If they hadn’t stuck with me, I’m not sure where I would have ended up!   I’m not alone in my transformation.  In my three years here, I have watched fellow employees grow and develop in the same manner that I did.   There is something special about Northwest’s student employment; it’s just that sometimes we are too close to see it.

From my perspective, it is these transformations that Stuart and Birmingham City University  is interested in, and that transformation ultimately shows the value of student employment to the student.

The rest is history; I’m staying up late hoping that I will sleep on the plane in a few short hours. Wish me luck and stay tuned for new posts!

Interviews!

Tonight we interviewed potential ambassadors for NWMSU.  It was an absolute ball!  It is great to see all the students that are enthusiastic and passionate about Northwest!  I look forward to working with some of them this coming spring!

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Kasha, Bryce, & Shelby getting their "glasses" on!

I started ambassadors this summer so I haven’t been doing it for very long, and I can vividly remember being in the applicants’ shoes because I had been there two times and I failed.   I became an ambassador by chance and connections.    I love doing it and I think I’m pretty decent at it, but nonetheless it hangs over my head that I failed and I shouldn’t be there.  I assume I had some deficit in my answers during my interviews and I hope I have overcome that weakness.

As a person who can speak volumes for the transformative power of student employment, it killed me to think about turning away applicants that potentially would be great ambassadors if given the chance.   I look at my own jobs on-campus and I think of how they transformed me.  I grew into a more confident person with better communication and problem-solving skills.  I think that student employment has the potential to do that for any student.  I think that is the problem with interviews, they give great impressions, but you miss out on the people that would grow into the position and make it their own.



Interviews can sometimes miss the hard worker or the determined candidate that would make a great employee.  This is not to be said that interviews don’t find good candidates too, but they miss out on some excellent ones.

For ambassadors, interviews are probably a great way to determine who will be good because those are the skills that you will need on tour.  Interviews have their place such as the case of ambassadors, but I’m not sure that so much weight should be put on them.  

Nonetheless, I am glad that I got the opportunity to be an ambassador and I love sharing my passion and knowledge with prospective students.

Newbie!

Well, I've always toyed around with starting a blog, and now I have decided to do it.  I suppose I wanted to share my thoughts with the world, I asked myself, "Who would really read that?"

The honest answer is "I don't know."

So, I guess my thought process is that if one person reads my posts and likes what they see or if it broadens their perspective by just a little, then it was worth me writing.  I want to share my experiences,  my thoughts, and pictures regardless of whether they get read.

So this first post is kind of introductory, I am a senior, undergraduate mathematics education major with a psychology minor.  Kind of a strange combination, right?  With this combination, you can expect a lot of posts about emotion and math...and maybe the combination of the two.  Other than that I live by moments and experiences.  I am not sure what I want to do in the future, but I am positive that I will love where I go and what I do.

Since I am getting ready for my student teaching and I would like to record my experiences and ideas this blog will often contain references to that.  In addition, I am getting to experience some fantastic opportunities and in less than a week will become an international traveler!  This will be partly a record of those experiences!

So, stay tuned and I hope you enjoy!