Working Life

Well today was my first full day at work. Yesterday, Celeste and I went to First Calvary Church at 8:30am, but it turns out that we wouldn't have to go there until June 22. Instead, we would meet our coordinator at 2pm at another location. So we went back to our apartments and I passed out for three more hours, ate some lunch, and went to work. The kids are really adorable and friendly. I already know that I like some more than others. The girl that none of the kids like is disliked for good reason. I really like the John family (John, Johntaye, and Johnae). Johnae's so cute, but she's going to be so spoiled. John's a funny guy but he's totally going to be such a pimp when he gets older (he took a picture of himself on my phone today, and he's always hitting and poking girls. Johntaye's pretty thoughtful and encouraging, but she's definitely a handful. Torian's a great big brother to Zipporah. Mikhi is such a character; he kissed my hand yesterday trying to bribe me to type for him. He will be such a handful... he likes to ask questions...

This morning, I went at 9am to babysit 4-year-olds. They're so adorable. I got along really quickly with Janet, and she's probably my favorite. She made me the bead bracelet, and she likes to teach me spanish (orange juice - hugo; strawberry - fraissa). Her and her friend (Corina) are really cute together, and I wonder if they'll always be good friends. Today was family day, and their parents didn't show up. I really wish I took Spanish instead of French; I didn't realize how useful Spanish could be until days like today when the parents would be muttering Spanish to each other and I would just blankly smile at them. Sue/Dorian is probably one of my other favorites. He's so little! Two of the other kids have the oddest food allergies, but it's so sad that they can't eat these things from such an early age. One of the kids can't eat pork, but I think it might be for religious reasons because his dad is from Sudan. 

I can't believe my memory for names has deteriorated so much... I used to be so good at it before college and right when I need it the most, it just dies on me. 

Camp Calvary itself doesn't seem to be too structured... the coordinators just tell us that we can choose what to go to, and that in the next three weeks that we have before the camp actually begins we'll be organizing the camp supplies and thinking up ideas. I don't even know what they want from us.

Death

Last night I found out that a girl that I grew up with recently committed suicide. It was a pretty big shocker, I mean... she and I are pretty similar when I think about it. She was a good student, went to a great high school, had similar expectations of herself, and wanted to become a doctor. So why would she take her life away? 

I don't really know the details, in fact, I don't even know if she's Christian, but I would like to believe that she is with the Lord now...

I always thought that I was okay with handling death, I mean... I want to become a doctor, so eventually, I'm going to see a lot more people dying than I planned on seeing. Her suicide, however, was just a complete shock to me, and I don't think death has ever felt so real before. I mean, my grandma died a few years ago, but it was kind of expected; she was old and she had a stroke a few months before she passed. And when you hear about people committing suicide, it's never someone that you actually know. Someone that you talked to, laughed with, grew up with... but this case was different and it was such a wake-up call for me.

I can't believe I know who the funeral is for... we're too young for this.

End of the Semester

My goodness. This past week has been insane.

Wellll, finally done with exams and Freshman year! 

First off, I can't believe everyone is leaving, and that it's going to be so different next year! No Marketplace to conveniently meet in, and no more constantly taking the C-1 back and forth. No more knowing who's actually part of your year and who isn't! My mind is boggled and anxious and excited for next year. 

A few things that I wonder about...

how I will grow spiritually

how easy it'll be to keep in touch with everyone during the semester

who will change after the summer

who I'll end up being closer to after fall semester

if I'll ever learn to manage my time and strike a balance between church, school, friends, clubs...

what the new Freshman will be like

whether I'll be closer to my hall than I was this year

if DukeEngage will be a great experience

This year was amazing <3