It's Gonna Be Okay...

Last week we had our Chapter Officer Leadership Conference in Sebastopol. My kids are rather "energetic" and "lively" at conferences where they get to see old friends and make new friends. For lack of a better reference they are like flippin caged animals being let out for the first time! 

While at times it's incredibly frustrating to maintain their focus and make sure that they are absorbing everything from the conference to bring back to the chapter. For the most part they really appreciate and understand the importance of conferences and really value what they learned. I personally don't think that's a skill you can really teach to kids. 

Being energetic.

Being engaged. 

Being willing to step outside their comfort zone.

Being respectful. 

Being appropriate. 

Being there for others not part of their chapter. 

I seriously could not teach all of these things to my chapter officers. I was extremely impressed with their commitment and dedication while we were at COLC. And yes they totally make me furious sometimes! But they really do try to take in everything that is given at conferences-- which I wholeheartedly appreciate! 

My officers with the CA State FFA Officers

The best part is when we come home from conferences and they really take on those leadership roles that they learn about. I figure I've taught them and given them the tools they need, but it really takes the individual kid, to want to do a good job and want to be a leader. I've been so lucky this year to have kids that take the initiative to text me and find out if they should contact everyone for activities and how they should go about it. It's refreshing to have kids take ownership of committees and meetings, plan what they will present, games they'll play, and ideas want to discuss. 

It's times like these I have to remind myself to breathe, because it's all going to be okay. I need to remember that the kids are capable little creatures and when I start stress, I need to delegate those responsibilities to them because they are more than able to handle it. 

I can't take all the credit for the great job that they're all doing... But I can say that I set high expectations, train them and instill a little fear... A little, very rare, and on point craziness goes a looooooonnnnnggg way! Hahaha... 

Times like this and kids like these are the reasons that I am so happy and pumped to be an Ag teacher. I really love my frickin job... It rocks my socks! 

And a bonus today... It was Greenhand Conference! Little baby freshies doing fun, new stuff! Can't wait for them to continue in the FFA! 

What does it take?

In school, meaning high school I was pretty average... I got decent grades, that I had to bust my a$$ for, I played some sports and I did for 4-H and FFA. I was not a star athlete, a star student or ASB president. And magically I got into college... Even a couple of them! 

Now that I'm a teacher and I feel like I consult kids on a daily basis about college, why they should go (not all but most) and all the awesome things about college. I feel HELPLESS.

Helpless?! Yup! 

I feel like I know even less about how to help kids get to the college they want to go to-- financially, academically and emotionally. Although I only graduated five years ago I feel like so much has changed in the college system compared to when I was there. 

College and getting into college has now consumed the lives of high school freshmen and sophomores. And unfortunately by the time they get to their senior year I feel like they are even less prepared to go to college, then they really should be and they're not getting it. 

College is just such a focus for so many teachers, administrators, counselors and parents and even students. Yet, these star athletes, star students and presidents of every club on campus are not getting into college. I have kids with a ridiculous amount of AP classes, playing multiple sports, involved in multiple clubs and leadership and I hate to tell them that they might not get in the college of their dreams. 

Our school even had a girl last year who was a "ideal" well-rounded student and ideal candidate for college and that she didn't get into the one University that she wanted to go to. It's not like she was shooting for the moon or anything, it was a UC in California for jeez sake. How is that even possible?! How are 4.0+ GPAs and "involved with everything" type kids not getting into universities?? 

Kids no longer get to enjoy the great things about high school, because they are so consumed by these high-end classes and being involved with everything that they don't know how to balance anything. We are almost creating ADD kids. They can no longer focus on one thing or aspect of school and do it well. They have to do everything, they have to do it over the top, and they have to do it all at once. And that is only to MAYBE have a chance at the college of their choice (the realistic one).

Kids no longer take their time, do high quality work every time or really absorb information... They are so slammed, they rush through work just to get it done.

It's just crazy to me that so much emphasis is put into "being awesome and getting in". Kids need to be able to set goals and work hard to get into college but also enjoy the road getting there.

This is now my students on a daily basis... 

I'm not a Runner

Labor Day weekend I did something I never thought I could do. I ran... In a race... For a few miles...

Now, my entire life I have always said, "Do you see this body? It's not meant for running or cardio!" I've also said that if you see me running, you should probably start too because something is most likely chasing me. Running, and exercise of any kind, is not my forte.

So what the hell did I run in a race for? Well for starters, it was at Disneyland! Most amazing place ever! Freaking love that place! Secondly, I figured why not?? I mean really... What the hell was I waiting for? I decided it was probably best to start being proactive and the first step was some running.

I also decided a weekend with my crafty bitches would be so fun! Especially in The Happiest Place on Earth! So I signed my a$$ up and started preparing and did some training.

I trained and even got a treadmill to keep motivated. I will say it wasn't the easiest thing to stay focused for, mostly because I have never been a runner. But....

Going across the finish line was one of the most personally rewarding things I have ever done. It was such a rush of awesomeness! Then somebody handed me a medal... Pretty bada$$ to get a medal after doing something I thought was impossible. It was equally awesome that I did it with my soul sister, Jill. Our other crafty bitch, Alyssa, was with us too, but she smoked us and just ran her tushy off the whole time!

It was something that I'm pumped to do again... Like real soon... We already registered for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon in May!

Some days I still do things that amaze myself... The Disneyland 10K was definitely proof of that. I learned a little about myself in the process too. Mostly that I am the one that needs to believe in myself. I need to think more about what I can do rather than what I can't do.


Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.

The finish line!!!! 

Running in California Adventure... 

The crowd at 5:30am! Crazy that 8,000 people ran with us! 

We enjoyed the parks after our much needed showers!