The Semester That Wouldn't End

I [barely] survived another semester of college, which means I am a SENIOR. Wow, when I write that out I have two thoughts: “About time!” and “Where did the time go?” As I began my college career as a freshman at UK, I never imagined in only three short years I would make such sweet memories as a Wildcat, switch majors, fall in love, be physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally pushed to my limits, lose my precious Pappy, transfer home to be with my Sweet Love, get engaged, and complete my junior year of college with a 4.0. Wow, the Lord is so FAITHFUL. In the three years, I have grown in immeasurable ways and have seen how good God is too many times to count. He showed me His goodness once again by carrying me through my most academically demanding semester so far. Wow, it was tough. I have completely neglected writing a blog about the semester, because I was so burnt out by the end of it. BUT, a month and a half later, here is my reflection on my second semester at NKU…

This semester was BY FAR the weirdest semester of my college career. Oh my goodness. Seriously it was WEIRD. The semester started off like any other. Darin dropped me off on my first day of school and I was immediately bombarded with information overload as my piles of syllabi mounted.  As I sifted through the syllabi, I was completely intimidated, but also excited for the material I would learn. You see, this was my first semester of methods courses…AKA school finally had a point. Ha! After and EXHAUSTING first day of class from 9:00am-6:00pm, I walked out to find my sweet boy and we celebrated the completion of another first day of school (only 2 to go!). That whole day my stomach had been doing flips, but I assumed it was due to my first day of school jitters. The next day of class was short and sweet with only a two hours seminar. Again, my stomach ached but I chose to ignore it. Until that night when I couldn’t ignore it any longer.

Oh my goodness, the pain was unbearable. For seven days, I had random waves of unbearable pain, which eventually sent me to the hospital. My very first (and hopefully last) ER visit. After pumping me full of morphine and fluids and spending 6 hours in the emergency room, I was sent home. There is a lot I could say about my trip to hospital, but Brian Regan seems to say it best…

SO, that little incident put me two weeks behind in school. I had to email professors I had never met and attempt to convince them that my absence was legitimate. Geesh, it was stressful and the learning curve was intense. Who would have thought so much could be taught in only 2 weeks of class? Thankfully, my professors were kind and gracious and helped me catch up to the rest of the class.

Then there was the snow. SO MUCH SNOW. As I look outside at the beautiful blue skies and sunshine, I am so thankful that the winter has finally passed. There was a time I thought this was the second ice age. Ha! The snow days made it extremely difficult to get into a consistent rhythm, as I didn’t have a “normal” week until about 2 months into school. Seriously. It was ridiculous.

Our Iceman

Sickness, snow, and an insane workload made it a tough semester. There were so many days I would come home and cry because I felt so inadequate as a student and a future teacher. Goodness. As I look back on it now, it is somewhat laughable, however in the moment, I felt so swallowed up by deadlines and responsibilities that there were days I just wanted to run away and never return to the dread of the semester. Ha! But seriously. There was always something I could/should have been doing and I never reached the day where I was completely caught up. I constantly felt like I was running on empty and that my efforts were hardly recognized. 17 credit hours is not for the faint of heart, my friends. Especially when you are taking methods courses and statistics. Geesh! By the end of the semester, I had typed at least 200 pages of reports, reflections, etc. It was a little ridiculous. However, at the end of the semester, I looked back and saw the transformation I had made and was empowered by the newfound knowledge and experience I had gained. Although my professors expected A LOT, they were amazing and taught me so much. The saving grace this semester came in the form of two very sweet friends, Gabi and Abbey. My goodness, I wouldn’t have survived without my daily lunches and late night frantic texting with these two. Their love for Lord, their work ethic, and their constant encouragement seriously was what kept me going. Throughout the semester, our motto was, “It’s all about survival.” And it seriously was. I am so thankful that I had these precious friends in all of my classes and am excited to have identical schedules for next semester. Sweet girls, you are blessings and I do not take you for granted!

God also completely intervened and orchestrated my practicum placement. In a BIG way! Let me preface this by saying that we have ZERO say in where we are placed or who we are placed with. Zero. So, when I received the name “Lisa O’Connor” and soon found out that she was an incredible woman of God that had served in mom’s ministry, I was absolutely dumbfounded. Goodness gracious, Lisa was such an encouragement throughout the semester. Unlike the previous semester where I mainly assisted during lessons, I was responsible for preparing and teaching lessons solo. Talk about intimidation! Ha! I was placed with a brilliant and equally sweet group of third grade students and taught 7 lessons throughout the semester. This doesn’t seem like much, but trust me…IT IS. Lisa’s constant encouragement, helpful constructive criticism, and unyielding prayers helped guide me through the semester and through those lessons. Ha! I learned so much from the way she loved and led her students and am so thankful that God allowed me to partner with her this semester.

Throughout the semester, I also visited my sweet babies at Collins. They can’t keep me away. Ha! Seriously, I love those kids. When I was in need of 25 little hugs, I knew exactly where to go. Several times I retreated to Collins after a rough day to remind myself why I wanted to endure all the work and time it took to become a teacher. I don’t know why I fell so in love with these kiddos, but boy do they have my heart!

Obviously, the biggest highlight of the semester was Darin asking me to marry him. But you can read about that here.

After the semester [finally] ended, I was SO relieved and grateful to have finished the semester with a 4.0. To God be the glory! Unfortunately, that freedom lasted only four days. What a short-lived victory. Ha! Gabi, Abbey and I were quite ecstatic when we finished our last day to say the least!

When I transferred, I was told I would need to take a Health and Physical Education class in the summer to be completely caught up and on course. No big deal, how bad could those two classes be, right? Wrong. Yikes, they were by far the worst classes I have ever taken. The quality of teaching was embarrassing and waking up Monday-Friday to drive to NKU to sit and be talked at was extremely boring…even if it was only for three weeks. Thankfully, those three weeks passed by (fairly) quickly and I was FINALLY finished for the summer.

School was pretty much all-consuming this semester. When I wasn’t writing a paper, I was studying for an exam and when I wasn’t studying for an exam, I was thinking about the next paper that I should be writing. I dreaded the start of every week knowing it would result in a lot of late nights and exhausting mornings. Despite the constant stress, Darin and I managed to continue our Friday Fun Day’s and made the most out of our week day nights, even if they consisted of studying at Barnes & Noble. While it was stressful, there were definitely some sweet memories made, like… 

Valentine's Day

Road Trip to Columbus

Celebrating Linda's 25 Years of Ministry

at Bachelor Creek...

…and Seeing this Sweetie...

 …and Grandma

Celebrating the Life of Greyson Coleman

Sunday Muffins with These Two

Weekend Visit with Nanny and Rach

Kari Jobe and Rend Collective Concert

Zoe Joy's 1st Birthday

Over the Rhine and the Cincinnati Ballet

Easter

Bridal Showers

Wedding Planning

Mother's Day Date Night

It was a crazy semester and I still sigh with relief when I remember that it is over. Teaching is not for the faint of heart, people. The preparation is intense and most days I wonder why in the world I would choose this path. And then I remember that God has gone before me and is leading me down this road. I truly believe that I was created to teach so teach I will. As far as school goes…I can't wait for it to be over. Ha! I only have one…ONE semester left of class until student teaching. Goodness, that is so crazy and exciting! 

I plan on posting a "Bridal Diary" when I can. Wedding plans are certainly coming along and I am SO excited!!