Hello all!! I hope you all had a wonderful week. I know I sure did. My week was full of excitement and catching up. On Saturday morning, I embarked on my 7 hour journey down to DC. I spent my weekend in DC preparing for my interview to teach at a charter school after graduation. I have not gone to DC for about 6 months so my visit was well overdue. I enjoyed staying with my ex assistant supervisor from my internship freshman year. We had an awesome time filling in the blanks of our lives. We ate at a wonderful West African restaurant. I could not help but to think about my semester in Senegal while at the restaurant. I had so much fun, I almost forgot that I went down to DC for business purposes. In my opinion, the interview on Monday went well. I interviewed with 3 principals and they seemed very pleased with my answers and knowledge about the school. I even read Quack Daisy Quack to a class of kindergardeners. I am suppose to hear back in 2-3 weeks so I will definitely keep you posted.

Besides my DC escapade, my week was filled with lesson plans and more lesson plans. I am enjoying my student teaching experience. My students have grown more accustomed to my teaching methods so that makes me happy. My co-op os very helpful and she is letting me take over next week so we'll see how that goes.

Next week there will be some interesting going on on campus and in the Scranton community. For starters, Royal Nights 3 is this weekend. I am part of the student panel so I will be present for the Sunday events. Also, for all you Soulja Boy fans, Souljah Boy will hold a concert at the Scranton Cultural Center which is within walking distance of the University. I am sure a lot of you will be present for that. Unfortunately, I can not attend but I am sure you will have fun in my name! Besides that nothing else is going on that I am aware of. If I find out about any other events, I will let you know. Enjoy the rest of the week and I will catch up with you next week.

~ Cynthia

Posted by Cynthia David at 10:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Before I begin to rant and rave about no longer having classes at the U, let me talk about my wonderful weekend with my apartmentmates. In celebration of Valentine's Day, we had dinner at our favorite Scranton restaurant, Thai Rak Thai. I love their authentic Thai dishes especially the Emerald Salmon. Many students and professors had dinner there on Saturday night too. It was just very nice to get away and relax even though the restaurant is just 2 blocks away from campus. I also forgot to mention that my weekend started off on the right foot. On Friday, I went to Kings College in Wilkes-Barre and finally met up with a co-worker from my internship Los Angeles last summer. I was so excited to see Johanda after 6 months!! On Sunday, I helped Andrew Davis from Admissions with the royal nighters. I was on the student panel with other exceptional students. We introduced ourselves and answered questions the royal nighters had. I thought it was a successful event and I am happy I got to encourage accepted student to make the right choice and come to Scranton.

It is official, I am free from classes and finals. I am a student teacher!!! I started on Monday at North Pocono Middle School in a 6th grade classroom. Because the school is set up in teams, I have 130 students. I should have fun trying to memorize all their names! The first day was a half day so I did not get the chance to meet all of my students. I had high first impressions of the school. The faculty, staff, and students welcomed me with open arms. Yesterday, I finally met Mrs. Hennigans class so I have now seen all 130 students! There was another half day today due to the inclement weather. The school is located in a high elevation so they get hit pretty hard with snow. I am going to start teaching reading next week so I am really excited about that.

Now its time for some good news...The Higher Achievement Program has offered me a position as a middle school summer enrichment teacher!!! I am very excited because I love DC and love teaching inner-city students. Of course I have not accepted yet because I am still waiting to hear back from other opportunities; however, I am leaning towards this opportunity. I am also getting ready for my interview in DC on Monday so wish me luck and keep me in your prayers. I can not wait to tell you all about it next week. Enjoy the rest of the week!!!

~Cynthia

Posted by Cynthia David at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hello there!!!

I hope you are all back into the swing of things, I know I am. This week is flying by and I am getting closer and closer to student teaching at North Pocono Middle School. Unfortunately, because of all the snow days last semester, I will have class on Monday. This just means have an extra day to get to know my 140 students. I went to visit the school yesterday, which is located in Moscow and I was pretty impressed by the facilities, students, and teachers. I know I am going to have a great time there and I am definitely looking forward to it.

I also had a mock interview in my seminar class yesterday. My professor, who also was a superintendant, interviewed me and another student as one. It was great practice for my interview in 2 weeks in DC. I am so greatful to have the opportunity to just practice and get pointers from a former superintendant.

Last night, the "Aint I a Woman" performance was amazing. The performance was a collaboration between the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Jane Kopas Women Center. The ensemble took us into the lives of 4 African American women throughout history. The music which accompanied the performance was also very good and added to the 1920-1960s mood. The actress did a great job performing and engaging the audience. I really enjoyed the performance alongside my fellow ISP El Salvador buddy, Breanne. Hopefully there are more Black History events to come. On the 21st, there's the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship dinner but unfortunately, I will not be there. I'm a bit upset about that, but atleast I got to see this performance.

That's it on my end. To all the lovebirds, enjoy the weekend and I'll blog to you next week!!!

Cynthia

Posted by Cynthia David at 2:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome back everyone!!! If you're a Steelers fan, congrats. I heard it was a great game so I hope you celebrated safely. It feels so good to see everyone back on campus. Like I said, intersession was lonely without all of you. This semester will definitely be bitter sweet. I'm graduating in less than four months!!! Everyone says, college goes by fast and it is so true. I'm excited to venture through the world, yet I am sadden to leave my second home.

I do have great news for you though...I am a Fulbright National Finalist!!!! I am one step closer to becoming an English Teaching Assistant to Cameroon. I know, I have been talking about this for a long time now, but the day finally came. I found out on Friday January 30th while I was home. I was running like a mad woman all over my house when my mom finally stopped me and asked me what was going on. I told her that I was a Finalist and the only thing that could come out of her mouth was "you're going back to Africa?" The only thing I could do was laugh but eventually she said congratulations. Now, what does this mean? There are only two spots so there are only three to four Finalist fighting for these two spots. Dr. Trussler, the Fulbright Advisor told me that the only thing left to do was pray because it is out of our hands. So thats exactly what I'm going to do. There are two other finalist on this campus. Do not worry, you will be the first one to know if I got it or not.

Wait, there's more! I also have an interview to teach at a charter school in DC in a few weeks. I am very excited about this opportunity. I can definitely see myself living in DC after I graduate. I have some prepping to do but I'm sure I'll do fine. I will also get the chance to see some of the people from Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts, which whom I interned with the summer after my freshman year. I'll keep you posted on this opportunity too.

Now back to the happenings on campus. February is Black History Month and to celebrate, on the 11th there will be a performance entitled “Ain’t I a women?" about prominent African American women in history from 6:30pm to 9:30pm in the DeNaples theater on the fourth floor. Please feel free to stop by. I am sure it is going to be a magnificent event. Also, if you haven't signed up to be a host for Royal Nights please do. Its a wonderful way to help the Admissions by giving up some of your time to host a prospective student. Plus, you will receive two free movie tickets. This is a deal you can not beat!

Well thats all for now folks. I have to continue working on my thesis. Have a great weekend. Hasta la proxima semana!!!

Cynthia

Posted by Cynthia David at 1:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)