Dreams.

August 29, 2010

Earlier tonight, I was rummaging through some of my sister's stuff to clear out her desk when I found an envelope full of Journals that she had yet to grade.  We shared the same group of middle school students throughout this summer - my sister taught them Math, and I had them for English, but regardless they were all required to write Journals everyday.

I began to browse through some of the entries out of curiosity and found this:

Topic: Imagine that your biggest and most impossible dream has come true.
Student's Response: My biggest and impossible dream would be to be the nicest person in the world.

This particular student had struck both my sister and me as someone who is mature for her age, but this entry really distinguishes her as someone different.  I was touched and inspired by her selfless thoughts.  Her journal entry goes on to state that if she was the nicest person in the world, then she would be a better representation of what being a Christian is; as a result, the world would have more Christians and thus would be a better place.

It's nice to know that the newer generation ISN'T all filled with "Oh-My-GOD" teenagers who are stuck to their iPhones ;)

Oh, and I found this other entry that made me giggle:

Journal Topic: Imagine you are sixty right now, and you are one of the most successful people in the world.  Write your autobiography. (typical of them to incorrectly modify journal prompts...)

Student's Response: (read the last sentence)

"When I was 20 I went to harvard and I got a mastery degree".

WHAT A CUTIEPIE. This particular student and I have a complete love-and-hate relationship. I yell at him nonstop during class, but he is my baby outside of the classroom. "Mastery degree"...haha. ;) I love how the kids just pick up things from here and there and put them together!

The past week has been the roughest week so far of summer 2010, and I've been struggling. A few things throughout the week cheered me up, namely one skype date with a friend who makes me laugh constantly and a short hangout with another friend who was in LA for a layover.  These journal entries from my students just added onto the upward momentum as they are quite inspiring!

On a different note:
(Pardon the awful image quality)

I came across this picture while flipping through a magazine today and instantly wanted to have this in my future home. We currently have a ton of books just piled up in one of our closets because of a lack of bookshelf space, and I always thought that there must be a better way to display them. Voila!  I would love to have a library in my future house - a room dedicated to books, where my friends/future kids/their friends/relatives, etc etc can just come and read. I have a thing where I don't like borrowing books from the library - I just end up buying all the books I want to read, so it seems that I will have quite a collection in a few years.

This is going into my bucket list!

Elisa's Bucket List (so far) - in no particular order
Last Updated 8/29/2010

1.   Fall in love & never, ever let go.

2.   Go to an H.O.T. concert

3.   Go on a short-term mission

4.   Go skydiving

5.   Hike the Half-Dome

6.   Fish a shark

7.   Learn to swim

8.   Go swimming with dolphins

9.   Watch a solar eclipse with someone special

10.                 Go on a road trip

11.                 Donate to a university in the form of a scholarship

12.                 Open a bakery

13.                 Travel around Europe

14.                 Visit a pyramid

15.                 Go to the Great Wall of China

16.                 Have children

17.                 Cook a Thanksgiving meal

18.                 Finish the BBC 100 book list

19.                 Be in a musical

20.                 Play the piano at a church

21.                 Study abroad

22.                 Pet a baby tiger

23.                 Have a library in home