Weekend Recap {Conference}

Happy Monday, friends! This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Kentucky to attend an educational leadership conference with three fellow education students. We had the best time! We left Friday afternoon and drove through Tennessee and most of Kentucky and one thing is certain…I LOVE the mountains. There were mountains all around and tons of rolling hills once we reached Kentucky. I can’t get enough of the beauty of this region. Anyway, we arrived Friday evening and rushed right over to the university. We had dinner and then enjoyed a traditional bluegrass concert All so fun!

We woke up early Saturday morning to head back to the university for a full day of sessions. I’m so thankful I get opportunities to grow as a future teacher and be surrounded by other college students who share my passion for being in the classroom. I definitely learned a few new tools I can implement in my future classroom by being at this conference. I was just so “in my element” this weekend and it reminded me again that I’m passionate about pursuing this calling to teach.

Here are a few photos from this weekend…

Arriving at the hotel…I was just a little bit excited to start learning. :)

Even though it’s out of focus we were excited to begin the day!

I was anxious to start the first session. Wahoo!

We were a little tired by mid-afternoon if you can’t tell from my lifeless smile.

No worries though…I quickly perked back up. Ha!

And one thing I’ve learned is that teaching conferences will always have drawing at some point without fail. Always.

Hope your week starts out with a bang! I only have two weeks left until summer. Yay!

Two years in…

Working at the booth of the education club I’m involved in…trying to catch those future teachers as they walked by .

This weekend my school, Lee University, put on the biggest recruiting event of the school year for prospective students. As high school seniors flooded the campus with their parents, it brought a smile to my face. I’ve come so far since the first time I stepped on campus two years ago. I left my hometown of Tallahassee, Florida to move to a small town in southeast Tennessee where I didn’t know a soul. There were abundance of unknowns. There were many new faces I had yet to meet and many adventures yet to be taken. I was excited. Nervous. Anxious. Curious. Receptive.

Now, I’m almost half-way through college. I have sweet friendships that I cherish. I have a job that stretches and grows me daily. I’m pursuing what I’m passionate about. I have the sweetest intimacy with my Savior.

I couldn’t have imagined all that was to come when I was a prospective student just like the ones I watched explore campus today. This season that I’m in right now is one that I’ll never get back and I want to live it with purpose. With the busyness that comes with being a student, I can easily forget how special this time is. The exams, quizzes, group projects, presentations, and papers pile up and suddenly my thankfulness becomes swallowed up by stress. But even in the midst of that I’m so privileged to be able to pursue an education.  I’m thankful for where I am today.

My heart is in the classroom.

A little hard to read, but I’m so thankful for encouraging professors…”I tell ya Sam, kids who are assigned to your classroom are going to be very blessed indeed!”

If you’ve been around me for any short time it will be easy to see that my heart is to be in the classroom. I have a passion for teaching that continues to grow and gets me fired up. Ever since I first spent time with a class of second graders, education has buried itself deep in my heart. But here’s the thing about pursuing elementary education...it’s so much more than what people think. I’m not going into teaching because it’s easy and I get to “play with kids all day, I’m going into teaching because it’s going to be one of the hardest things I ever do and hopefully I’ll positively impact one of those kids’ lives that I’m with day after day.

I’m convinced that I’m meant to be a teacher and I’ll continue to pursue that wholeheartedly. I’ll be faithful to the calling that wedged itself in my heart.

P.S. To any teachers out there, you have my highest respect. Your job is the farthest thing from being easy, but you continue to pour yourself into your kids. In a society where teachers are generally undervalued, know that there are many others who do value you! I appreciate the example that you set for me and other future teachers. Thank you for walking into your classrooms day after day with passion and purpose!