random student interaction

J, a 20 year old advisee of mine never really ceases to surprise me...

In the middle of a meeting...

J: Hey Kate, can I ask you a favor?
K: Sure J, what can I do for you.
J: (lowers his voice) uhh... will you be a reference for me so I can go to Prom with my girlfriend? (who is still in HS). They require references for dates not in high school.
K: (tries to show restraint, but can't help but laughing out loud). Sure J. I'll tell them that you should be allowed to go to Prom.

my last lecture...

Many universities have a program called the "last lecture" series. This is typically a monthly session in which a faculty or staff member will be asked to take an hour or so and give his/her "last lecture," or rather, a lecture on a topic of their choice. This is typically what he/she would choose if he/she knew if was going to be the final lecture of his/her life.

I was recently asked by the student planners to be the final speaker of the semester. Unfortunately, I didn't have a single evening free to a) plan it and b) actually give it. I have deferred this honor until next semester; however, it has really gotten me thinking. What would I speak about if I knew it was the last time I was going to speak to an audience? For nearly every speech/workshop/lecture I've ever given, I've always had a specific goal, topic or theme. This is utter and complete freedom and I'm really at a loss for what to focus on in this.

Do I pick a topic on which I'm very familiar and on which I have given many workshops? Do I speak about social injustices and use the time in front of a captive* audience to raise awareness? Do I get personal and talk about relationships/dating and other human social interactions? Do I practice my ever-evolving stand-up comedy routine? Do I talk about the benefits of travel and share stories from around the world?

Augh. It's somewhat overwhelming... but fun to think about. If you were asked to give your last lecture, what topic would you choose?

*I say "captive" because college students are never really captive, they are always multi-tasking. I would be competing for attention with facebook, instant/text messaging, email, web surfing etc.

today, yes.

Dear Legg,
This is, quite possibly, the funniest and most accurate blog post I've read in a long l-o-o-o-n-g time. I couldn't have said it better myself and it's basically what I would want to post today.

Thank you,
Kate

starting to get stir crazy.

Maybe its because it's April (read: ridiculously busy at work) or maybe it's because I have friends out gallivanting around the world, but whatever it is, I'm ready to get out of here. Get out of town, get out of the country - whatever. I want to go somewhere unknown, somewhere where I don't know the language. Anybody want to join?

No, this is not an April Fools joke.

there is hope.

In the past two days my faith in humanity and the true goodness of people has been revived. Additionally, I am thanking God for the true blessings He has recently rained down here in Oregon.

T, a loving and energetic woman who works for our campus dining company, has recently experienced a MAJOR family emergency. She is unable to afford a ticket to get home to the Philippines to be with her daughter (the injured party) much less afford to take the time off of work. The situation is dire enough, however, that she can't afford not to go.

The word about this went out to the students, faculty and staff and I am f.l.o.o.r.e.d by the out pouring of love and generosity from the campus community. Within a day and a half we had more than enough money to buy a ticket. And, as if that wasn't enough, the Lord helped someone step forward and donate an entire airline ticket through his frequent flier miles. More than $1300 has been collected and will be used to assist with the additional expenses and medical care. The money is still rolling in steadily and there has been the promise of more upon the return of many who are currently away for spring break. The abundance of God's work continues to bring tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

I often get frustrated about the politics and practices etc. at the university. However, this is exactly the type of community I want to be a part of in my job. I have fallen in love with the WU family this week and T is going to be with her daughter by the end of this weekend. It is really amazing what can happen when everyone gives.

Keep it up. Pay it forward. Thank you WU. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Can anyone say double standard?

I was faced with a big sister reality this week. We all know that I'll take off gallivanting around the world anytime and not worry too much about it. And I've discovered that when my friends or students head abroad I'm nothing but excited for (and somewhat jealous of) them.

However, when my "baby" brother Nick (20) announced that he was heading to London over his spring break, I instantly started to worry. I was happy that he had decided to start traveling as he's always been a homebody, but dang... those big sister instincts sure did kick in.

He left this past Friday and we had a nice phone conversation before he took off... I was giving him some last minute (solicited) advice and that led to an "in case of an emergency, here are some options for you..." speech. After I'd given a few examples he started laughing and pointed out the statistical likelihood of my "possible scenarios." Maybe it's because I do too much work with risk management, maybe it's because I've found myself in situations that were a little sketchy while traveling or maybe it's because Nick has always had a wild streak to him. In any case, I was feeling protective and worried.

Upon further reflection I remembered that I had those same feelings when Dan (my other baby brother, 24) trekked across the country this past summer to move to a new state (approximately 5 months after I did the same thing).

I am so grateful for both of my younger brothers and love them dearly. Even though they are intelligent and completely capable men, I still get protective. I can only imagine what it'll be like if I ever have kids... heaven help them.

My Car is Growing Moss.

Not kidding. My car has moss growing on it. It is official, I dwell in rainy Oregon where moss apparently grows on everything. Tree branches, roof tops, my deck, my car. After another year or so I'm thinking it will probably start growing on my back.

Who wants to come visit?

Seriously? Seriously.

College students. First I was one. Then, I studied them. Now I work with them and there are still some days that I just don't understand them at all.

Today I was cleaning up our front office area and was dropping some papers into the files when I noticed an application from a freshman woman for an upcoming program. This application was stuck in with a few other apps and there was a picture lying on top of it (not stapled or paper clipped). The app that she had filled out required 3 photos to be attached (for ID purposes).

Well, this freshman student decided that the best photo of her to submit for id purposes was one of her (in sunglasses that covered half of her face) holding a Malibu Rum bottle up next to her face. Oh, but it gets better. She is apparently in a CAR according to the background. Winner. Please, will someone tell me what world is this an appropriate picture to submit with an application? ugh. I will say, however, I'm looking forward to that teaching moment.

I think I might be related to the Karate Kid.

As I was getting ready for bed tonight I noticed a fly buzzing around my bathroom. I'm not sure where said fly came from, as it's about 30 degrees outside and I was under the impression that flies are more abundant in the summer months. In any case, I realized that I don't actually own a fly swatter. Well, I decided that fly was not going to cohabitate with me this evening and decided to catch it. I grabbed a piece of TP, waited until it landed and BAM. Got it. First try. I am apparently stealth-like at midnight.

Next time, I will attempt this feat with chopsticks. That might be more impressive eh?

TIREd AND cold.

So, last Thursday I got up at 4 a.m., yes, there is a 4 a.m. A time I thought only existed in the college and breastfeeding years. I got up at this time so that I could take a group of four twenty-somethings to a conference in exotic Spokane, WA. (Now, how's that for an exciting destination on what was started as a travel blog?)

We've spent the last 4 days going strong from 9 a.m. until roughly 12 a.m.- 1 a.m. at this conference. It was a good time and they were a great group, but I'll admit, we were all sorts of ready to get home Sunday. Everything went smooth with the flight and such and as we shuttled back to the long term parking we laughed a lot and got into an interesting ethical discussion (about a seemingly pointless topic) which entertained a number of the other passengers on the bus (and probably irritated a few as well).

Much to B's dismay, the car was still parked in the same spot, but, upon closer examination ... oh yay. a flat tire. Fabulous. (This, by the way, is my third flat in 2 months). We got that changed (thank you AAA) and set off to find someone to either patch it or get a new tire (I was definitely hoping for the patching option as it's much more affordable for this ballah on a budget).

This proved to be a more difficult task than expected, but eventually (2 hours, 2 stops, and 3 towns later) we arrived at a tire service that was open on a Sunday and that wasn't creepy.

We went for a late lunch across the street while the car was being serviced and were told that they'd call as soon as it was finished. Well, an hour and a half later we were still sitting at our table waiting for the phone call. We headed back over just to check in and lo and behold, it had been finished for quite sometime. Sweet. Thanks for the call.

We got back to Salem with no major highway difficulties (luckily) and I headed home (finally) after dropping the students off. I arrived at the house and was greeted by a slip on my front door that read "your gas service has been disconnected" dated Friday. No explanation. I didn't initially think this was a big deal, I wasn't going to be cooking anything and I figured I'd just call in the morning, right?

Well, the house is new to me and it took me a bit to remember that in this place, unlike the old place, the gas bone's connected to the HEAT bone, the gas bone's connected to the water bone... etc. How nice that the water heater only came to mind about 10 minutes after I'd applied a cleansing face mask. How fun to wash my hardening face with frigid water.

So I bundled up and hunkered down for a chilly night. I called the gas co this morning (they apparently had no record of my account, I'm 98% sure I called to set it up the same day I called the electric company). They're coming to fix it, sometime ON WEDNESDAY. Burr. Thank goodness for friends who have futons.