My Life as of NOW

Okay, start typing and see what happens.

This time of my life seems to be super stressful. Let's try to identify why.

My daily routine is as follows: Get up at six in the morning, be to work by half past seven, and work until 2:30. From there I have class Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-5, and from 6-8:30. Tuesdays and Thursdays I have class from 5:30-7:20. I also have a Saturday class that goes from 10:45 until 1:15. My only "day off" from school is friday.

So these are the classes I'm taking right now:

First and foremost, I am taking two classes at the Institute. I have a Scripture Study class and a class on the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church. I love both of those classes. They are fantastic. I have already learned a ton and we are only a few weeks in.

Next, I am taking a Communications class called "Writing for the Mass Media." That class is pretty cool. I am learning a lot about the media and different parts of society and all that good stuff. I also have to do a lot of reading for this class, including the New York Times Front Page everyday, so I feel like I am learning a ton and I am up-to-date on the happenings of the world. It's a sweet class.

My next class is a Digital Media Class. It's Digital Media Essentials 1110. It's a beginners multimedia class. I really like that class even though I am familiar with most of the things we are working with. It's a good class to have cause I get to brush up on a lot of the things I learned in high school. I'm most excited for the video portion, even though I'll probably know everything about it. That sounds really conceded, but remember, this is a beginners class. It is all about the basics, and I promise, I know at least the basics of video editing. I'm not as creative as I would like to be though. Good ol' creativity.

My final class is Spanish 3050. It's the advanced Spanish class at UVU. I really like that class too. It challenges me. It pushes me to get out of my comfort zone and learn more Spanish. I developed the language while serving a mission in Southern Mexico, but I feel like there are so many things I just don't know or understand, and this class is helping me overcome that. I am learning a lot each week.

So that's my school schedule. My work life is pretty crazy. A lot of people ask me what exactly I do because I work at a high school. It's an amazing job. I am part of the Support Staff at IHS, under the title of "Hall Monitor" or "In School Suspension Coordinator." The title of Hall Monitor is pretty self-explanatory. Watch over the halls. Make sure things are in order. "I.S.S. Coordinator." That's a good one. We have a no tardy policy at IHS, so if any student is late, they have to go to in school suspension for the rest of that class period. They are also sent there for behavioral issues as well.

I also work with the Assistant Principal, Boyd, working with student discipline. We work a lot with the students that have gang involvement, and work with gang prevention at the school. Needless to say, I have learned a great deal from this job.

This is my second year at IHS. Last year, I was able to help out with the basketball team. I was kind of a "co-head coach." Maybe that's not accurate. Either way, I split the coaching duties with an eager volunteer by the name of Josh. He has worked a lot to help these kids.

I think my favorite part (and, at times, my least favorite part) about this job is the interaction I have with the kids. It is my favorite because I honestly see a lot of good and a lot of potential in these kids. They are good kids, even if they are just trying to be tough, or gangsters, or whatever. I get along with nearly all of them, and it has been a great experience being able to be of some help maybe to these kids.

I also say it's my least favorite part of the job too because I can't stand to see good kids lose it and drop out, get pregnant or get someone pregnant, fail classes, stop caring, fight, or whatever else happens over there. It's hard to see that. It reminds me of my life as a missionary, seeing people know that the message we bring will change their lives so much for the better, yet they walk away from it. It was hard to see that.

So that's my life right now. It's pretty crazy. It's not nearly as exciting in word form though. But trust me, I have crazy moments. Things seem to be moving about a million miles an hour. The weeks just fly by and sometimes I feel like I'm just barely scraping by.

I like that time is flying though. My girlfriend Mary is serving a mission in Switzerland and she'll be home in November, so the faster time goes the better. I can't wait to see her again. Woohoo!