-
The “Not-Teacher” Who Taught
At one point during my elementary school years, I wanted to be a teacher, that idea soon fell away. It gave way to marketing, and even doctor for a really short time. Come high school and college I told everybody I never wanted to teach. Now the tricky part was differentiating myself from those who though I was going to be a teacher, probably mostly because that’s what my sister’s going to school for. So I calmly would tell them: “No, no, no, that’s my sister, I could never be a teacher.” Usually that was the last of it and I had convinced myself. Fast forward and I’ve helped in…
-
Have a Conversation – with the Hiring Manager
Last night was Praxis Wednesday, and it was a interview seminar with Johnny Roccia. Johnny is a hiring manager who helps us Praxians learn about how best to interview. He’s so down to earth while providing practical advice as well. The main takeaway I had from last night’s conversation was to have a conversation with the interviewer. The more you can show personality and “vibe” with them the better off you are. After all, they want to hire someone, they just need to know if you’re that person or not. You can add on to your conversation stand out questions, as well as personal questions for the interviewer. Something that…
-
It’s Finally Happened
I got severe writers block today. I don’t know what else to touch on today, but I have confidence I’ll have something else to say tomorrow.
-
Don’t Be Jealous of Good Influence, Be Inspired By It
I’ve had times in my life where I see others who I want to have a good influence on are more inspired by others. It’s been hard for me to see that in the past, but last night I realized that it can really onl help me in addition to those the good influences. There’s a big caveat to this concept though, the influence needs to be good, when I see mediocre celebrities or terrible news stations, I get frustrated by the influence they have, this is the kind of influence that I wish I could replace. It’s hard to see people get obsessed and to look up to “influencers”…
-
A Tale of Two Cars
I’ve been driving cars since shortly after I got my permit at age 15. I bought my first car from my parents at age 18. I bought my second car about a year ago now when I was 21. Cars have always been my primary mode of transportation between errands with my mom, trips to my grandparents, and family road trips. So, find joy in the journey down the road. My first car was actually my parents’ car first. It was a 1998 Saturn SL1. They bought it used from a Saturn dealer when I was about 9 or 10. We took trips to grandparents but its notable adventures were…
-
Coffee Drinker*
*Coffee is a wonderful drink best served with friends or to try a new flavor, not as much (in my case) for the energy it may bring. It also shouldn’t be an addiction. I enjoy coffee quite a bit, but I’ll be the first to admit I have quite a bit of energy already on the regular. Sometimes decaf is a solution but often times it’s not as good of a flavor, isn’t available, or a drink can’t be made with that kind of coffee. Coffee is more of an experience to me, not that it’s about how fancy the brew, its more about enjoying it with friends, family, or…
-
The Road to Emmaus is 55 MPH
I made a wonderful friend at camp while counseling. The bad news was we lived four hours away from each other. The good news is calling is easy. So for over a year we’ve been calling and texting. Plus, this past summer I was happy to get to her wedding. We had been trying to find other times to hang out and now its finally happened. So here’s to a wonderful weekend with my favorite Iowa native So what’s Emmaus you ask? Emmaus Bible College is the Plymouth brethren school in the town of Dubuque where my friend now lives with her husband. It’s named after a verse in the…
-
What’s Required for a Flower to Thrive
I heard a song the other day that inspired me to think about the trials we go through in life in a new way. Sometimes we may think all we want in life is sunshine, but we really need to rain to be complete people. Allow me to explain. Flowers look beautiful in the sunshine, you can stop and smell the roses for as long as you like when it’s sunny. But it’s almost obvious to remember that while that flower was growing it needed to be stuck out in the rain to thrive. It had to be around for the gloomy days. If a flower only knows sunshine it will…
-
I Like Facebook Best for Social Media
I know, I know, I sound old when I say this but please hear me out, I have some good reasons. I have enjoyed using Facebook since the summer before 8th grade. Facebook was the site most of my family was connected on already, and that my friends were getting introduced to as well at the time. It became a fun website where I could post fun, and funny pictures and text, simply “friend” friends and message friends for free, because texting wasn’t unlimited at the time. Facebook gets disliked by some younger people because the older generations are also interacting with it, but this is one of my favorite…
-
Read and Be Okay with Relearning
I got a new temp job this week, and while talking with one of my coworkers, I realized I had mentioned something twice and he replied with something that actually struck me as very valuable, even if it’s sometimes obvious – you should always be ready to relearn good lessons and read more. Relearning things can give us a new perspective on what we may already know something about. Relearning something you previously found valuable means your willing to invest more time into improving your knowledge on the subject and I believe that’s wise. Relearning can help us better understand what we thought we may have known. I think the best example…
