Chosen 2014

This past weekend (well, really it was Thursday evening and Friday) I was able to attend the Chosen Women's conference, which is through my church (Seacoast). I went with a fellow teacher/Seacoaster and we drove together to Charleston after school on Thursday. The conference was packed with amazing Christian women speaking about various topics, all on the main theme "For Such a Time as This".

Generally, I try to stay away from a detailed dissection of things I do, because it's generally not interesting to read (or write, for that matter); however, there was SO much good stuff packed into this 24-hour conference that I can't help myself. It's a good way for me to debrief, and a good way to fill you in on what went down (and maybe secondhand-inspire!).

So, here's the play-by-play and breakdown of what I took away from it all:

Thursday evening started with an amazing intro of music and a message to get us excited (see it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8cjdgzbBRc). Seriously, just watching it again on YouTube gives me chills and makes me want to go back.

Pastor Greg, the senior and founding pastor of Seacoast, delivered an inspiring message about Esther (specifically Esther 4:12-14), since the theme was "For Such a Time as This." He reminded us that God has a time for each of us, for whatever it is we were made for, and that even if we don't feel strong in His plan, He'll step in with His strength at just the right time. It was definitely something I needed to hear, and reminded me of the Jahreslosung (Bible Verse of the year) for 2012, which was "Mein Kraft ist in den Schwachen mächtig" (My power is made perfect in weakness). God uses us for things we don't feel capable of, because without Him we would be incapable. But everything is possible with Him.

Then came Mercy Lokulutu, a woman originally from Nigeria, who can be described in two words: passionate and strong. She was incredibly passionate, which was infectious! Her message furthered the idea of being here for a reason and at this time for a reason. She encouraged us to be tenacious in living the Word of God.

After that, we went to our hotel room to check in and then my friend showed me around Charleston, since she used to live there. She showed me the downtown area and some landmarks, and told me some stories about different places and the history behind others. Afterwards we got some yummy ice cream before heading back and calling it a night.

The next morning, the conference started again at about 9am. Jen Hatmaker, a woman who started a church in Austin, TX with her husband, delivered a funny and motivating message. She talked about how we should "desire to desire" to feel broken and hurt for those we're "desiring to desire" to help. There are so many broken things in the world, but they won't get fixed by us sitting around. We shouldn't feel ashamed or proud of the things we are blessed to have, but instead use them to help others. Just as Jesus "desired to desire" to die for us in order to save us, so should we "desire to desire" to help those around us.

After that, we had lunch and two breakout sessions. There were several to choose from, and I was lucky enough to go to Jen Hatmaker's and Mercy Lokulutu's sessions. Jen's was a heartbreakingly honest and raw session about "Embracing Honesty and Transparency." In order to walk in the light with the Lord, we need to be honest about our sins and whatever we feel shame/guilt/regret for. And "walking in the light" doesn't mean we are then always good and never doing anything wrong, but rather that we are always honest about the things we have done. She opened up the floor for us to share anything we felt we needed to be honest about, and some incredibly brave and inspiring women were audacious enough to share some really really deep and personal things. I'm pretty sure no one left with a dry eye. In Mercy's session, she encouraged us to pray God's Word powerfully and live it! It is so clear from listening to her twice how passionate she is about the Word and living it. She gave some tips and encouragement on diving in and soaking up everything He has to offer--because it's not what He once spoke; He's still speaking through it now!

Between the breakout sessions and the final group rally, we had a break for a few hours, where several of us from our church campus went out for coffee and got to know each other better. It was a great few hours, full of laughs and good conversation!

Finally, the conference concluded with Christine Caine. If you don't know her or haven't heard her speak, I encourage you to find anything you can from her on Youtube or iTunes! She was a pastor at the Hillsong Church in Australia for 21 years and started the A21 campaign to stop human sex trafficking! She is an amazing woman and a truly amazing speaker. She speaks really fast, so it can be hard to keep up to take notes (we need a pause button!), but she really knows how to work up a crowd in the best way! She spoke a lot about how life is risky and we only have this one shot, so we might as well take the risks in life to live it to the fullest, for Him and in all ways, instead of staying safe at home in a little box.

Throughout the whole conference, the theme of being here for a reason really resonated with me. Everyone is so different from one another and we each have our own reasons for being here. We may not know what they are, but God knows, and He's got big plans for us. We were all created for "such a time as this," and it's exciting to see what those times are, for myself and for those around me.

I feel so blessed to have been able to go to the conference and really hope to go back next year! Praise the Lord for an extra day off school and an amazing, spiritually-filling, refreshing conference ;-)

Happy.

Oops. It's been a long time since I last wrote. Since my last post, all I've found out is that they're reconsidering the German major budget cut idea, which is excellent, but we're still not 100% in the clear.

Since I last updated, here's what's been going on:

I spent Thanksgiving with my Grandma and Grandpa in sunny Sanibel Island, Florida, which was extremely relaxing and just the break I needed after such a long stretch between Labor Day and Thanksgiving. I met some really interesting and fun friends of my grandparents and enjoyed being with my grandparents, since I hadn't seen them in about two years!

The three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break went by extremely fast. I drove home the first Saturday of Christmas break and spent the next two weeks at home. I didn't plan my time super well to see friends and family, but I managed to see a lot of people. I did a lot of relaxing and sleeping in and knitting and enjoying my family...and SNOW. I missed the ridiculous snow storm by about 6 or 12 hours, but I still enjoyed a white Christmas and real winter temperatures.

And now I'm back in SC, a week after the break and charging full speed ahead as usual. Last week I felt extremely unprepared all week, even though things were prepared...I think it was just trying to get back into the swing of things. This past weekend was really fulfilling--a Saturday of nothing (just how I love to spend my Saturdays!) and a perfectly timed message at church about finances, followed by a walk around my neighborhood on a perfect and sunny afternoon.

It's no secret that I'm buried under a mountain of student loan debt (the subject generally makes me want to crawl under my bed and hide for a long time) and while I was home for Christmas, my mom helped me figure out loan consolidation and my monthly budget (I swear, she's a wizard with finances!). It's tight, but I know it's not forever, and thanks to the generosity of family and friends and the grace of God, I'm getting by fine with my head still above water.

After the message at church, I was feeling very uplifted and happy, so I emailed the senior pastor, who had given the message that day, about how much I appreciated the message and how well it connected to my life. He wrote a short email back saying thank you for the email and promising to pray for me, which in and of itself was unexpected and sweet. I wasn't even sure he'd get the email, let alone respond on a Sunday evening. And then this afternoon, right as I was about to start the last bit of grade entering for this quarter, I got an email from his executive assistant saying that Pastor Greg wanted to give me two tickets for the upcoming women's conference (one for me and a friend!) AND pay for my hotel room. I was overwhelmed (in the best way) to the point of tears and am truly feeling God's blessings in my life right now.

So, that's where my life is at the moment. Teaching is still dominating my life, but things are good and I'm feeling good and happy. And today I can't stop smiling, which is probably the best feeling.

The future of Calvin's German department

I wanted to go to bed about an hour and a half ago, but something has been weighing heavily on my heart and mind for the past few days. I discovered that Calvin, my alma mater, is considering cutting the German major. The German department would still exist, but would be so much less than it is without the major, and my heart breaks at the thought of it. My gratitude for the German department and for Calvin is indescribable, so I felt I needed to write to the president. The following is my letter. If it's on your heart, I ask you to pray for the decision makers at Calvin to change their minds, and maybe even for you to write an email or letter to the president as well. 

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven." Matthew 18:19.

Dear President LeRoy,
A few days ago, I found out through some fellow German department graduates that Calvin was considering eliminating the German major. I find this to be incredibly saddening. Without Calvin's German major, I have no idea where I would be. 

The same day I found out about the potential future of the German department, I happened to receive the Spark magazine. I opened it up, coincidentally, to the article titled "Through Their Own Eyes: Students reflect on global experiences." Allow me to reflect on mine.

I've always known I wanted to be a teacher, but it wasn't until I took German in high school that I discovered a deep passion for the German language and culture and knew I wanted to teach it. When it came time to look at colleges, I didn't know where to start. I received a large amount of mail from various colleges, but what I was mainly looking for, was a school that offered German as a major. I had never heard of Calvin until I received a mailer--my family is not Dutch, CRC, or from West Michigan. I grew up in public schools and never had a desire to go to a Christian school. After looking into Calvin because of the German major, I was drawn to the aesthetics on the campus, the friendly people I had met at Fridays at Calvin, the opportunities available as a student. But most of all, I was drawn to the German department.  

After beginning my studies at Calvin, I made some wonderful, lifelong friends, some of which I would not have made without the German department and German major that created our connection. My German classes were fun and challenging, and the professors were brilliant, cultured, and incredibly personable. I took full advantage of the study abroad opportunities. First, traveling around Germany in 2009 on the German Interim (which just celebrated its 40th anniversary). In the fall of 2010, I studied abroad in Vienna, Austria, which is a program through Central College but partnered with Calvin. These trips abroad brought my studies to life and gave me real-life experiences to bring into my classroom. All of this possible through my studies at Calvin. 

Yes, I could have studied abroad in any of the German-speaking countries through another college or university, if Calvin did not have a German major. But the people I met and experiences I had would have been extremely different. The one experience I've had--arguably my most life-changing experience--could not have come about from any other university or college but Calvin College, and would not have been even an idea without the German major. Last year, I spent the year in Winterthur, Switzerland. There, I interned at a small, but quickly growing, private school. My year in Switzerland was not from a grant or scholarship, nor was it through an organization. My year in Switzerland was made possible by Dr. David Smith, because he personally knows the people who started the school. Near the end of my studies, I asked if he knew of opportunities abroad, because I was itching for more experience in those countries and he connected me with the school. If I were to describe to you all the things I learned, amazing people I met and became friends with, and experiences I was blessed to have there, it would take up a novel. That year in Switzerland is invaluable to me, and was only possible because of my decision to go to Calvin, which was largely because of the German major offered. 

As a Fulbright Scholar and former Wheaton in Europe director and Central America Study Abroad director, there is no doubt in my mind that you understand the value and importance of language programs and study abroad opportunities.
German is an important language, as the most spoken language in the EU, and is growing in popularity in the US. I am one of two German teachers in my high school (Columbia, SC), and our program is booming and nowhere near extinction, but eliminating the German major at Calvin stunts the learning and potential experiences for so many high-school German students who wish to continue their German studies after high school. Please don't extinguish the possibilities for so many more future students. 

Thank you for your time. 

Blessings, 

Jessica Tucker 

Class of 2012 

On having a life.

Teaching is time consuming. Any teacher will tell you that--new or veteran. The job has no clear end in a day, because there are always meetings or after-school tutoring or lessons to plan or papers to grade or students to counsel or paperwork to do...I could go on. And it's not just the physical things to do that makes it so time consuming. It's hard to turn off the brain from thinking about teaching. I catch myself at all hours thinking about school, whether it's about students or the messy desk I need to organize or lessons I could do better or random ideas for future lessons--it even creeps into my dreams. At some point, I have to force myself to stop! It's well-known in the teaching world that it's important to take time out for yourself and to do things you like to do. Unfortunately, since I am in introvert, the things I like to do are to sit at home and knit or watch TV shows or something of the like, but in all of that, you can still think constantly about teaching.

So, I've been making sure to do some things outside of my apartment. I joined a small group at church and have been enjoying the new faces, fellowship, and discussions about God. I also volunteered with the church last weekend, which was fun. We taped up a house for women and children to prepare it for painting and then a small group of us went to do yardwork for an older widow. And tonight I'm going to see Catching Fire (the second movie in the Hunger Games trilogy, for those that are unfamiliar--I highly recommend the books!).

And next week is a two-day week and then it's Thanksgiving break--and boy am I thankful for that!! I'll be heading to Sanibel, FL to spend the holidays with my grandparents :-)

Clever (or not-so-clever) metaphors

Learning a foreign language was once described to me as a snowball--it just keeps getting bigger and bigger, the more you study the language, and if you lose a part of it, the snowball falls apart and there are problems because the snowball is then no longer a snowball. This helps when explaining to students why it's important to keep up on everything you have learned in the foreign language so far, and not let some vocabulary or grammar rules slip, since eventually you'll need those words/rules again and if you've learned them for the test and promptly forgotten them or just plain never learned them, you'll have problems later on. It's better to just learn it all at the right pace and keep up with it. Anyway, I love metaphors and I thought this metaphor was perfect.

Until I moved to the South.

I know it barely snows down here, but it never crossed my mind that IF these kids have seen snow, they've probably never even had enough to make a snowball (although the world shuts down, apparently, at the hint of snow...that'll be interesting). At the beginning of the year, I explained this metaphor to all of my classes, but I think they all just let it go in one ear and out the other. I was re-explaining this metaphor to my accelerated class (they're doing German 1 and 2 in one year, so I was emphasizing the importance of keeping up on everything we've done so far, since this is a faster-paced class), when someone interrupted me and said, "But Frau, we've never made a snowball. We don't know what that's like." I stopped dead in my tracks (probably mid-snowball mime) and really thought about that. Whoa. Poor babies. They've never had the joy of making a snowman...so many childhood memories not made!!

So I've been trying to think of another metaphor but haven't found one. I briefly considered explaining it like a recipe that needs all it's ingredients for the entire time you're baking, but my students are way too literal with everything I say and would probably find weird loopholes (like the one time their Grandma accidentally left out the butter but made the best cookies ever, or something unlikely like that) or they would retort that no one bakes anything for such a long amount of time.

I guess I'll just stick with the snowball metaphor for now and reminisce on my snowman days for my poor snowless students ;-)

The night of the parents.

Tonight we had parent teacher conferences, which meant it was a half-day, so I had a lovely nap in the middle there. Just what I needed! The break-less time between August (start of school) and Thanksgiving is extremely taxing (and always the longest/craziest, from what I'm told).

So, parent teacher conferences went from 5-8pm and parents were limited to 10 minutes with each teacher. Before tonight, I thought that if certain helicopter parents showed up, I would have trouble keeping them under 10 minutes, but it actually was not a problem. Mostly it wasn't a problem because very few people showed up, but also 10 minutes is a fairly long time when talking about a student. Apparently there was nothing listed on the school website and no automated phone calls were made. And although all of the students were informed, they stop listening after they hear the words "half day".

With eighteen possible slots for parents, I had only seven filled. But it was good. I had some good feedback and two parents that really impressed me. They said they wanted to come just to personally thank me for taking an interest in their child and taking time to help him, which for me is just an obvious part of the job and I'm happy to do. But it's nice to be appreciated as a teacher in a society where it's becoming more and more common for the parents to side with students and blame everything on the teacher.

Now it's 9pm and my bedtime. Being at school so late just throws everything off for the next day, so tomorrow will probably be long and tiring. But I'm surviving and counting down the days to Thanksgiving, where I will have almost a whole relaxing week off to spend in Florida with my grandparents :-)

Quarter One: Check.

The first quarter is over...on to the second. It doesn't feel like I should be a quarter of the way through the year already, although the idea of five more weeks until Thanksgiving break is admittedly daunting.

The past two weeks have been filled with testing and grading, which is quite draining. As I start the second quarter, I'm looking back on the first quarter and realizing what did or didn't work and what I need to do better. I'm still figuring things out, that's for sure--like how to teach this language without putting any attention on grammar. The grammar nerd and lover in me is in mourning.

The first quarter was good, and I feel good about what I'm doing, but I am seeing a lot of areas that I need to improve upon. That's good, since I should always be reflecting and trying to grow, but sometimes it's intimidating and overwhelming. And it's intimidating and overwhelming with helicopter parents and with the students comparing me to what once was (meaning, the former teacher).

Today in church, part of the message was "give people what they want, not what they think they want...because what they think they want is just a reflection of the past." The example along with that was if Apple had polled people and asked if they wanted the iPad, before it had come out, they would have never put it out, because it hadn't existed so nobody would have known they wanted it. And it's the same with things like iOS7 and new Facebook updates. After every new major update, everyone complains and whines how much they hate it and wants what they had before (many threaten to leave, yet they never do), but after a week or a month, the dust settles and people realize how much they love it and get over what they initially decided to hate.

And that really hit home for me. I know the students compare me to their old teacher a lot, and some students have embraced me, but some have openly not. And I know I focus on that more than I should. So it was a great reminder today to give my students what they want but not what they think they want. What they want is a fun class where they learn German. I can do that, but not in the way that they think they want it, because I'm never going to be their old teacher. And eventually, they'll grow accustomed to the change and life will go on as if nothing happened.