Dear Blog,
I have not
written an entry for quite a while. I apologize for that. I hope to get back in
habit soon. Here is a miniature life update. And by miniature, let's just say there's a dash of school and the entirety of my summer.
I've
graduated! Huzzah! I graduated Cum Laude from Missouri State University with a
B.A. in Psychology and English. I'm actually proud of myself. I didn't care
about walking to get my pseudo diploma, or the incredible number of photo ops
and graduation decorations my mother had for me, but to be able to lay claim to
a college degree is definitely an achievement.
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| I also earned the "Graduated with Honors" hidden achievement. |
I'm not
heading straight into graduate school, though. I first volunteered with
the Waynesville VISTA Summer Associate AmeriCorps program. Essentially, I was a teacher's aide for
a Kindergarten class in morning, then a summer counselor of sorts for fifth
graders in the afternoon. It was all volunteer work with very minimum pay. But I enjoy
immensely. I've received several compliments on my skills with children. I was often asked where I got my teaching degree from. Because I guess being great with kids means I've received formal training? Who knows? But I definitely loved the month of June, full of aiding Kindergartners and guiding fifth graders.
July was a month of "other" work. I say "other" because all VISTA Summer Associates did different things. Some volunteered at churches, some to the gold course, and then there was me. It was Part II of our volunteer service and I really wanted to volunteer at the high school for a bit. There was AC and computer work (both things I enjoy in the summer). And I was chosen to go to the high school. But alas, because of my excellent work in June, my boss handpicked me to work with her at the elementary school that housed the kids doing Club TIGER (the afternoon summer camp). Then she went on vacation. So for the first week and a half, I built shelves and organized the storage room and painted the hallways and restrooms of the school. Nothing exciting, but at least there was AC and my fun work friend Shelby. When my boss came back, we were tasked with computer work and I excelled. I made a newsletter, an exceptional brochure, created interesting themes, and I was generally awesome.
That service ended July 31st and on August 1st, I started training as a full time volunteer for the district. Then time I will work for a year, essentially doing what I did over the summer. I imagine the experience will be great, the resume will get a boost, and I will earn some extra cash for my future savings. All in all, work wise, life hasn't been too bad.
I should mention that my dad had a double bypass on his heart early in July. That was a stressful time. I won't go into the details because, well, I don't want to. He was in the hospital for a bit, some rough patches at home, family tensions arose. But it's all good now. He's healthy and happy and doing great now. He no longer smokes and he's healing up just fine.
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| Simple bypass example |
My girlfriend and I have been doing rather well. We talk every day; we spend time with each other every few weekends. Our most recent weekend included seeing The Dark Knight Rises, plenty of arcade games (including Star Wars Podracing), eating at White Castle, going to the Saint Louis Zoo, seeing Goldfinger on Art Hill, playing Munchkin, hanging out with peers, and going to the Saint Louis Science Center. It was a lot of fun. I think a Six Flags trip is next on our list, mainly since I have training the whole month of August.
Other smaller things in my life include trying to rearrange my room, getting an awesome new computer, trying to motivate myself to accomplish my blogs and start vlogs, and more novel reading. I have so many books that I haven't touched or need to revisit. I just can't get myself to do the things I want to do. In a way, I've hit the doldrums of summer. I can't pull myself away from the TV or my computer. I feel like writing blogs would be fun, vlogs would be something interesting, reading would expand my writing skills, and hopefully I can write some fiction of my own and get something published once. And my room just needs a change. It's been the same for years now.
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| A treadmill desk would be awesome in my room, no? Photo taken from http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com/ and features John Green, an author and VlogBrother |
I hope that I can report back something of interest to you. As of late, my sporadic Facebook posts and Twitter tweets have been my only viable Internet footprints, so to speak.
Until next time!
-Daniel Golden
