Holy Cow! what a week it was last week!
Having six kids, I have learned how to quickly abort missions, be flexible and most of all breathe. But last week I was having a hard time navigating life. After a few dear baby infant Jesus prayers and lots of good old fashioned ingenuity, I got through it…. but not before I considered having a wine party……. with wine…… and a side of wine.
The good news is, the finance class I had to RETAKE after MY GRADUATION was successfully passed after having to learn 15 weeks worth of finance stuff over the course of 5 weeks. As a non-science major (which means literally only ONE math class needed….) math is a sore subject (Ha, see what I did there?) for me. But I was determined not to let it get me down, so after having to take a hardship withdraw the last semester of school because of shoulder surgery a certain professor had zero empathy for (See last blog about professors we don’t like) I registered for a short session finance class that I only needed a C in for all graduation requirements. I am ECSTATIC to tell you all that going into the last exam I only needed a 40 to get the required C in the course and this girl ROCKED a 43.4 before the 25 point curve. That’s right. I am completely and 100% satisfied with my 43.4 because it means I did 3.4 points better than I had to. And I must say, after six very long years at this institution for higher learning, I was completely on board with making a C and being done. With that being said… I waited with fists clinched and sweated brow (did I mention I have a flair for the dramatics) to receive my grade. We were on #gradewatch2017 for 48 very long hours (I may or may not have been that student that emails the professor saying, “Dude….. I need an ETA on this grade bruh”) and when it came to an end I received my long awaited highly anticipated C and I couldn’t have been happier. Thank the dear baby infant Jesus I am finally done.
Then, we had a emergency with one of my service learners, who right here at the end had to EXTREMELY RELUCTANTLY drop out of the trip due to a situation that requires her to stay in the country…….. no……. she is not a wanted criminal…….. just someone who encountered some very bad timing on behalf of our justice system in a civil case she is a witness in. SMH. Don’t these people understand I have business to tend to in Belize?? So, quick in action, I started calling on everyone I knew to see if they could help me find a replacement, now that we are less than 30 days out………. It seemed like an insurmountable task but you know who not only found one person….. but two!!??!! This girl. That’s who.
I mean what else can go wrong right? HA! The dear baby infant Jesus was testing my patience and resilience level last week yo! My daughters car dropped a compressor right out from under it…. (thank you boyfriend to the rescue) I was late to a birthday party that my 11 year old HAD TO ATTEND because it was the BFF so I got a “good talking to” about that from said 11 year old and to top it all off I think I gained 6 pounds from the fast food I was eating between trips to and from gymnastics for the 11 year old and school from 8:30 P to the M until 10:40 P to the M. CALGON!! Take me away!! ….. Wait……. you guys are too young for that.
I slid into the weekend needing some well deserved R&R so I found myself at my happy place (in the mountains) sleeping in until 9 a.m. LOL yeah it’s whatever that’s my sleep in time. I own it. The bright side to all of it is, I filled the spot and then another one, I passed the class, The boyfriend rescued the damsel in distress daughter, and the baby child 11 year old still got to ride the go carts twice upon getting to the party late….. so in my best estimation, the week was actually a success. But I am forever the optimist.
What makes you stress the most? How do you deal with it when it happens? Are you the dear baby infant Jesus prayer type or do you throw hands at the universe saying WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU????!!! When you are feeling all of the stresses of life is there a happy place you go to to unwind?
The students that we work with in Belize face life stresses every day. But not first world stresses, no, they are what can I do today to keep from contracting HIV stresses or how far will I have to walk to get food today stresses maybe even will I be able to safely walk somewhere to get food without someone offering me a needle with heroine in it. There is no happy place for them to escape to. This is why it is so important to me that we have students in place who want to go learn how this community deals with these stressful situations for their young people but also to assist them in any way in finding solutions. This is why when I found out one couldn’t go, I was faced with much stress.
We would love for you to come and learn with us how to alleviate some of the stress on these fabulous kids as well. We are looking for awesome students such as yourselves, to come learn this fall. We will be working with students in the classroom and in the community. Come help us relieve some stress in sunny Belize this fall!! We are always looking for students who want to have a BLAST.
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unitl next time…
~~~Jennifer