A lot has happened in this last month, and yet it blows my mind that it’s been a month already. I guess most of it has been training and preparation, but the last week has been so crazy with students here that it’s hard to remember the first three weeks. When I first returned I was very happy to be back. It took most of the month, however, before I became fully re-adjusted to being back at Prairie. Many different things have happened throughout this month and I shall now reflect upon them.
I’ve already written an entire paper on the river trip so I won’t spend too much time here, but for one quick point. It was very fun and full of laughter, and it made me realize how blessed I am to be in this program working with such wonderful people. Kyle and I have gotten along really well, although more recently we haven’t been interacting very much at all. I want one of my priorities this year to be maintaining good relationships with the staff team, because I know that will ultimately be the best thing for the students and everyone else we serve.
After the trip we began reading through the Role of the Instructor, discussing it and establishing our groundwork for what it means to be an intern. I’ve found this book to be just as good the second time through, because this time I can connect it to experiences as an intern last year. Needless to say, I’m still learning tons about being an instructor. I’ll get back to that later. At some point we went on a retreat with most of the staff and faculty of the school. I loved this! I love talking to people and building community, so this was my ideal setting.
In addition to training, we were/are also planning and preparing for the year. We sat down as a team and went through our program design process for the Weekend of Welcome. Most of us were stoked to be finally getting into the practical aspect of planning and implementing stuff. The planning went well enough, and the implementation was wonderful. It’s actually kind of mind-blowing how well I feel like this year is going. During the weekend Keryn and I led our first impact group. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it, and they all are on board with the idea of the close community we hope to form over the year. It’s interesting how my team has quieter guys and more talkative girls.
Having guy students has been a new experience for me. It was kind of weird at first, but I quickly began feeling comfortable with it. I’ve already gotten to talk to a student who wanted guidance. I feel like this aspect of the job is very easy for me. The main thing, seems to be simply making myself available to people by stopping by their rooms every once in awhile, and making sure I’m not always out and off campus. I’m sure as the year gets busier the simple choice to be available will become increasingly difficult.
I’m also getting back into being responsible for getting a bunch of different things done. I’ve got constantly changing “to do” list. The loose summer feel of things is fading away. I’m finding it difficult to take the time to read my bible and pray. I had a crush on every girl I saw for a couple of days, but I think I’m past that. I led some of the discussion groups. That has been a blast. They all have really cool thoughts, and I’m excited for all that they will learn this year. I have to be careful not to feel “beyond” the topics that they are concerned with. I know I have much to learn from their perspectives. I’m looking forward to next week when I get to start classes and get into a normal routine.
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