Wednesday, September 29, 2010

The romantic seaosn

I'm ready for it - the weather, the boots, the sweaters, the crispy crunch of leaves under my feet when I run, everything pumpkin. Fall is a romantic season to me... I can't pin point it but it just is.

Speaking of love there is this boy (the same one who introduced himself to me several weeks ago but we never see each other). He came and sat next to me and we chatted about life. He's invited. He paid me a sweet compliment in frout of the table of people we were sitting with that made me blush. Wanna know the first thing I noticed about him... his lips. The first time I've ever noticed lips- they're alluring. just sayin! One day, maybe.

Monday, September 27, 2010

crying in target


I went to target today and as I behind a girl who was buying the following:

Tampons (for some reason these are hard to miss)
deorderant
popsicles


I was there in my own world not thinking anything of it. She gets up to pay and the nice older guy checker asked her how her day was and she said fine. He said no it looks like its been a crappy day, has it been a crappy day? And she started to cry. For some reason it was comfortable. He asked if it was a boy and she shook her head yes while he comforted her with simple words and we laughed and talked about how it will get better. It was weird and great! It honestly wasn't the least bit awkward. It made me want to be friends both with her and the random nice old guy.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Leather Satchels and Friendship

Tonight I hung out with a pair of best friends who both own leather satchels. I want one. One that will fit my laptop. One that I can love and wear out and carry things like books and paper in cause I'm gonna teach forever.

That was just the side note. On to friendship. This pair of best friends has a lovely relationship. One where they know each others secrets and could finish each others sentences and yet they never have enough time to talk about everything they want to. They love being together. I miss and crave that kind of friendship! I have been lucky enough to have that kind of a friendship several times- its wonderful when you have that kind of a friend. I miss it. To old friends: I love you! Thanks for being a part of my life and shaping who I am today. To my future best friend(preferably male): Please come quick... my heart aches for you. I have life I need to talk out with you, secrets to share and lots of love to give.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

chopped my hair





Sam said "its okay Meg, you still have a good personality" needless to say the men in my family hate it. It's giving me a complex. I liked it until then. O well... it can grow and its not that ugly right?

Challenge Day

I had a life changing experience at Challenge Day. I am a second year teacher, and it was my first time to participate. The students arrived through a tunnel of faculty and parents cheering them on. They didn’t know they were stepping into an emotionally charged day they will never forget.

We played games that helped us recognize how many similarities all of us have. We moved back and forth between activities and talking about being “real.” We talked about how people identify us compares to an iceberg. The above the water part (our image and how we’re perceived) being only 10% of who we really are. Then they broke us up into small groups (5-6 people) and each person answered the phrase “if you really knew me…” for 2 minutes. I was amazed at the depth of these students and what they had been through. It gave the students a safe place to talk about the underwater “real” things they would normally not talk about. We supported and celebrated each person as they finished talking about who they really are. I was overwhelmed by the things these students have gone through. They have experienced parents with drug addictions, deep depression with attempts at suicide, not feeling safe or loved at home, extreme pressure to succeed, death for parents, family member and friends and deep feelings of inadequacy.

I was amazed as the day continued and they opened their hearts and arms to each other. We ate lunch together in our new small group families. At this point we felt like a family, we knew some of the real feelings and circumstances of each other’s lives. We couldn’t help but love each other after sharing some of the intimate feelings of our lives.

When we came back from lunch we did the “across the line” activity that required everyone to be completely quiet for twenty five minutes. Asking 100 + teenagers to be quiet for that long and then for it to actually happen was powerful. The facilitator asked questions like: “Who has experienced ___ in their life?” Then those that crossed the line and turned back to face the group hadn’t had that challenge in their life. Those on the side who hadn’t experienced it sent them love by holding up the sign language sign for “I Love You.” Connections were made and breakthroughs were occurring..

We finished and spent the rest of the day processing what we had learned. I watched as a popular “jock” made a public apology to another student in the room. I watched in awe as a girl shared, “I’m not going to sulk anymore. I’m going to make friends this year. I’m going to be the change.” I watched new friends with their arms around each other in love and support throughout the day as emotions were high. I teared up with overwhelming feelings of love for these students challenging each other to be the change. Some of the challenges put forth were as simple as to say hi to each other in the hall. Another student challenged them to accept and love themselves.

I won’t forget the courage and bravery they displayed ad to share and open up to each other. My only wish was that more students would get to participate. No doubt about it, there will be more love, more acceptance, and more friendship in the halls of Lone Peak High School this year not only from the students but also from the newly opened eyes of this teacher.

** If you really knew me is now a TV show on MTV. If you want to watch an episode click HERE