And the Winner is. . .

This is suppose to be a joke. We don't think of ourselves as that important. But we have had our choice after a lot of prayer and thinking, and we feel like the Lord wants us to be in there.

A Little White Lie

Is it bad to lie to your students. The class just earned goldfish as a class pet on Monday. Today, one of them died. The students were pretty good about the fact that it died (many of them had pet death stories of their own). So I decided that during lunch I would throw the fish away. I didn't want the kids to know that I am insensitive, so I wrapped the sucker up in lots of paper towels and throw it in the trash can. Of course the first student to notice the fish gone, asked what happened. I simply told him I buried it (buried in paper towels right). He looks outside and asked if I buried it in that rock garden, since the rest of the area outside is cement. Sure why not, so I told them that was the place. The kid raced outside and started upturning the rocks to find the dead fish. They are so gullible, even when they didn't find him, they still believed me. Hopefully that isn't a too big of a sin.

No joking, ten minutes after I threw away the first fish, the second fish died. I tried to explain to the class that it died of a broken heart. The student feel fed them this week felt like he killed them and started crying for the next 15 minutes. I am just grateful that I am not in first grade. We would have a lot more tears.

Mark's Birthday

Last week was Mike's younger brother's birthday. His parents were going to be out-of-town, so we were in charge of throwing him a party. I wanted to make Mark a cake, but Mike said I should have Nicole Barber's supervision if I wanted to attempt any thing in the oven. I was pretty impress with the outcome. It is a devil's food cake with peanut butter cups inside. Instead of frosting, we made Gnosh (I have no idea how to spell that), but it is more of a chocolate fudge. Very, very good and rich.



I didn't want to ruin the top with all the peanut butter cups, so Mike and I thought it would be fun to put the candles around the candle like spokes on a tire. We didn't think about putting wax paper underneath it, so we had a colorful master piece of wax on the table after wards. Oops!

Journal

I know that this won't be as funny as it is when you know the student, but today is Friday, meaning that I get to read one journal entry that the students mark for me to read. There is a girl in my class is constantly doodles on all her papers. I wouldn't mind, but it is distracting her and she is falling behind. Well, I told her on Thursday that if she went the whole day without drawing, I would give her five class dollars (I big deal). Well this is what she wrote in her journal that day. . .

"I've been thinking about why I want to be a mega artist. It's good to be a strong writer, but the arts are important too. To get to be a stronger artist, I practice a lot on all my papers, but I'm getting paid to not draw. I want the money, but I really want to make my dreams come true. Well. . . I'm going to read now."

Isn't a teacher suppose to be a dream builder and not a dream crusher? Oh well, she didn't draw once that day so she got her five dollars and I got her attention. Maybe she will become a writer someday and look back how grateful she was for her fifth grade teacher to crush her artist dreams and secretly paying her to be a writer. Time can only tell.

Maturation

Mike doesn't like it when I do a post without pictures, and I would agree. However, if I waited until I had pictures to post to blog, then I would never blog. I love it when friends post even the simplest thing because it gives me something to do during my lunch break.
Well, one reason why I was so excited about teaching the fifth grade is because if it maturation year. Now, don't think I am some creepo. I just get a kick out of how nervous and grossed out the students are about this. So, it is that time a year again when we get to talk about the birds and the bees (I was thoroughly disappointed to find out a nurse teaches it, but I think that is for the better. I would be giggling during the whole thing). Yesterday, I passed out the permission slips to each of the students. I just told them that they needed their parents signature for a special event that we are having next week. "Special event" opens a can of worms of "what is it?", "are you going to tell us", "when next week?" and so on. Well, in my most mature voice. . .okay I was so excited that I sang my response to the students. . . I told them that maturation was next week. Most of the students didn't know what that was. I told them it was the time of year that when we talk about how they are maturing into beautiful young men and women and the changes that occur during this time of life. Oh, their responses were a choir of "gross", "sick", "yuck", "I don't want to go."
All I can say is that I can't wait for next week and see all their faces as they walk out of the gym.

Can it be football season yet? Pretty Please?!?

I found these gems on the internet and have been watching them 2-3 times a day. I love football. Enjoy!

http://vimeo.com/12768214

http://vimeo.com/10419372

Medical Schools and more Medical Schools. Where should I go?

Okay, so after spending about a bajillion hours and dollars getting in my medical school applications this summer, I finished up this week and am ready to start thinking about where I should go. Here's a list of my view of each school with some pluses and negatives to each one. Let me know what you think.

UTMB. Galveston, TX.

This school, located on a small island off the gulf coast, is very hot and very humid. I interviewed there last week and the school is great. It has a very laid back student body and curriculum (no classes past noon the first two years!) and tuition is remarkably inexpensive.




But, being an island off the gulf coast, you always run some risks during hurricane season.


Texas Tech. Lubbock, TX.

I have an interview scheduled with these guys in September. Good things: football team. And that might be it. All I hear about is how terrible of a place Lubbock is, and I haven't heard great things about the medical school either.



The Ohio State University. Columbus, OH.

I thought I was special when the dean of admissions at OSU personally called me up, but then I learned that he does that with everybody who gets interviews. I have an interview set up in October with OSU. Pluses: I hear great things about the school there, and there is a large young LDS population in Columbus. They love Mormon kids. Also, I'm sure that cheering in a stadium with 100,000 + people for football wouldn't be that bad. Negatives: Its cold, and far away. From what I hear its not too close to any outdoors anything.

University of Utah. Salt Lake City, UT.

What can I say? Its close to home, in state tuition, I get to keep living in awesome Utah.

However, I would also be forced to be a Ute.
Oregon Health and Sciences. Portland, OR.

I put this picture of Katie up so that if we end up here, you all would know why.

University of North Carolina. Chapel Hill, NC.

UNC actually is really appealing to me. I have had a few friends from NC, and they all say amazing things about how awesome it is. Chapel Hill is the perfect sized city for me, Its quick to get away into the beautiful Appalacians, the beach is close, and their basketball team is great. I haven't heard much about the medical school, but I'm really hoping to get an interview there to see what its like. Negatives: out of state tuition and distance from family.


Loma Linda University. Loma Linda, CA.

This is a Seventh Day Adventist School, and being such, the library is closed Saturdays, but open Sundays. They are a lot like BYU in that they promote spirituality in their curriculum. Katie's extended family lives in the area, which is always good (Sunday dinners!!). However, I really grew to dislike southern California on our trip there last year.


Washington University. St. Louis, Missouri.

Washington University was my long shot, my Harvard if you will. Their average GPA entering is at least a 3.9, and their average MCAT is a 38, which is above the 99th percentile (I got a 34). About 2 years ago, I listened to a presentation given by somebody in the admissions office at Washington University, and I was sold. It just seems like a place I want to be.

Medical College of Wisconsin. Milwaukee, WI.

If Katie thinks that Utah is unbearably cold, she has another thing coming to her with the winter average high of 28 degrees. Medical College of Wisconsin I can honestly say is one of my "safety" schools. They seem to like BYU students a lot, which is why I applied. Good things: Green Bay Packers games are close, and um....well, I'll have to get back to you one more.

UT Houston. Houston, TX.

One thing I learned by going to Texas last weekend is that the Houston area has to be the food capital of the word. You can't drive a block without seeing some unique restaurant, which for me is great. Other great things: the school is located in the middle of one the biggest and most advanced medical centers of the world, and its known for being a great school; also, some family such as Katie's brother Josh and my aunt live within driving distance. Negatives: have to live in Houston, which is way too big of a city for me.

Texas A&M. College Station, TX.

Here you get the Texas experience without the Houston experience. College Station is a smaller, very conservative city where I think I'd fit right in. Also, it has the famous low tuition prices of all Texas schools.

Alright, this post has gone way too long. It won't let me put more pictures. My thought is that if I'm only going to post once a year, I might as well make it a good one.