SU + Service

I started school this week!

It has been fun. I am going to be very busy and possibly tired, but I am excited about my classes.. Especially the service learning portion of my Intro To Social Work class.

Seattle U is a Jesuit school, which means that they are really into social justice and giving back to the community, etc. So a lot of classes have a service learning component. Since I am a Social Work major, I am required to do the service learning option in my class. This means volunteering at a social service agency for 20 hours during the quarter. I worked out my service placement this weekend and I am going to be serving at Providence Hospitality House, a shelter for homeless mothers in crisis. I will get to do a lot of activities with the kids and whatever other jobs they give me, like cleaning, etc. I am so excited to start working there! I feel a little Mission Year-esque talking about "my service site".

I am also excited about the Social Work program in general. Next year I will be doing my practicum.... 400 hours of service at an agency. The profs are nice and very knowledgable... Basically, I am excited. And challenged. And scared.

Also, this week I am going to the first rugby practice and info session! Yes, I am a little nervous. However the president of the club assured me that most of the rugby players have never played before, so I should fit right in... Maybe I will get a black eye! That would be interesting.

Listening to: Lakes - Lifting Me Up

Sisters

I just want to say:

My sisters are amazing. I love them.

We'll start with Karla. Since being home form Atlanta I have been able to hang out with her a lot. I am so glad that she moved back out here a few years ago. I probably need to tell her that more. Also, now she has a little dog. And it is cute. But my main point is that I have been very very blessed to get to know her in the past couple of years, and to be able to see her change and grow and learn how to deal with her disability. She might not admit it or agree with, me but I think that she has become so much more loving and less cynical/bitter since moving back to Seattle... She actually has taught me a lot about finding simplicity and joy in life, even after difficult experiences. I love her.

Then there's Janna. What a weirdo. I love how Janna and I are friends, and that we have the same friends and it's not weird. We just get along well and know each other so well. I love that she wants to come out to Seattle and hang out with me every week. And I love how she wants to study some kind of medicine. I would love to see her out of all of us end up as a crazy successful doctor! Seriously, she is super smart and very passionate and loving... and surprisingly more similar to me than I thought in the past, while also being enough different that she can challenge me. I also love that she wants to live with me for the rest of her life... although I might have made that one up.

Anyway, I was just thinking about how much I love them both.

More than a month since MY ended.

Now the new teams are at their orientation. Kelly met the new East Point team and said that they are great. That makes me happy and sad. I want them to have a great year in our neighborhood.... but I want it to still be OUR neighborhood, you know? But really, it is very exciting for all the 10-11 teams. I remember when I was starting and how crazy and awesome and hard and fun everything was. Mission Year is so great.

I have moved in with Scott in Seattle! I really like living here, besides the noisy neighbors... but they aren't worse than the trailer park. Actually sometimes the light that comes in my window from their porch reminds me of the light that came through our bedroom window in East Point.... But maybe that's just me being sentimental! It's quite possible.

I have been more sentimental and emotional lately than I used to be. I think I have probably cried more since being home than I did all of Mission Year (excluding the last week, which was the ultimate cry-fest for me...). I get teary about all kinds of things... mostly books and movies and church and anything I read... It is funny actually. It doesn't bother me much. It's really kind of nice to let out emotion (if any of my team is reading this I hope that makes you gasp! Rachael especially haha). I think I am working on letting out all the emotions from Mission Year. They are still very confused, but they are coming out. Oh processing, why must you be so hard for robots like me?

All that to say, the crying isn't bad! And neither is being sentimental. Which I am. About everything that reminds me of Mission Year.

God is good. And life is good.

Peace.