the homestretch

one of the students who comes to the center always tries to convince me that not doing her homework every night like she is supposed to and then just spending one entire night working on all her missing assignments right before mid quarter grades come out is the best idea that anyone has ever come up with. although i can follow her reasoning, i cant agree with her. i remind her that while this plan works for now, she may not always be lucky enough to be able to finish all her work in one night and remind her that the quality of her work is probably not her best because of the very fact that there is so much of it.

ironically enough, tonight, i find myself in the same situation. i have put off updating this for about 2 weeks because "i havent felt like it" or "im too tired" or "i have too many other things to do" and i have come to terms with the fact that this probably means that what i am about to write wont do justice to what i have been up to for the past 14 days but i am going to do my best...

last time i blogged, we were finishing up our spring break, which i spent in minneapolis visiting erin and lizzy, the two lasallian volunteers there. minneapolis was a great little city and had some cool stuff. i kind of forgot that i was in the midwest while i was there. its much more urban than i expected. it was nice to have a change of scenery and spend some time in a new place, putting me one state closer to completing my goal of visiting all 50 states!

after spring break, it was back to work. i really did miss the kids while i was away although i didnt mind having a break! it was nice to get back into a routine and hear what they did while they were off from school. we got to celebrate cinco de mayo for our activity complete with a pinata!

desiree and i also spent a day in madison, which was a nice little trip. we went to the botanical gardens, the state capitol, an art museum, and spent some time just walking around. it was fun and it was nice to see wisconsins capital city.

today we had an end of the year celebration for the center. all the students, their families, mentors, tutors, and donors were invited to celebrate the success we have had this year and honor those students who will be graduating from high school in the upcoming weeks. it is always nice to see the kids with their families and i usually get a kick out of meeting some of the students parents after i imagine what they are like! it was a nice day and i could tell that the students and parents really do appreciate what we do at the center which is always reassuring.

as for the rest of the year...it is short! in only 3 and a half weeks i will be back on the east coast for summer. and i know that it is going to be a quick 3 and half weeks with all the things that are going on. next weekend is prom, which means that there is a giant parade for all the kids. its a big deal here... check it out! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World%27s_Best_Prom), the following weekend we have our final lasallian volunteer retreat with everyone in the program, and the weekend after that desiree and i are taking the kids mini golfing as an end of the year field trip.

in some ways i think this might be the hardest part of the year so far. i feel like i am so anxious for summer and being able to see everyone again, but at the same time i know that it can be super dangerous to be in that mindset when i have things to focus on and do here. i am trying my best to keep both my feet in one place but it is tempting to want to have one foot in the present and one foot in the future.

nothing too deep or insightful this time around...just a little update on what i have been doing these past two weeks. i promise to not be such a procrastinator for the next 3 and a half weeks when it comes to updating this. but after that im taking a vacation! :)