Hello to ALL!!!

Well, I haven't blogged since this summer (mainly because I've honestly just been LAZY), BUT I do get on VOX every week or so to check y'alls updates. I am enjoying school despite the excessive amount of work that comes from taking 18 hours and being in season AND I am so upset that I won't get to come back this summer.

Instead of being "The MTC Intern" I will be going to GeRmAnY to learn GeRmAn!!! A really wonderful opportunity came along for me to study abroad and so I could not help but to take it. I am really excited but scared at the same time BECAUSE I HAVE NEVER BEEN OUT OF THE COUNTRY!

Anyways, I hope all is well with everyone (the school year is almost AlMoSt over) &&& I will continue to make my weekly check-ups. FYI one of the new first years (class of 2008) goes to VaNdY and is on my track team!!! AlSo, I have been in touch (by email) with a couple of the incoming interns for summer 2008 and I think that they are GRREEATT! (but they will never live up to me of course--->& Molly too!) lol j/k!!!

                                                                'til next time!

                                          <3 Lauryn

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So much has taken place over the past week and a half that I don't even know where to begin....

Welp, you are now reading the blog of someone who is CPR/First Aid Certified!!!! Yes yall I passed my written test and can now breath air into the mouths of adults and children worldwide (I can save them from choking too!)<<<At least for the next year!

OoO I also got a chance to sit in on a panel session for the SuNfLoWeR cOuNtY fReEdOm PrOjEct and it was AWESOME! I got the chance to give personal feedback and answer questions (and i think that they actually listened!)

I also got to attend MrS. mOnRoEs BaBy ShOwEr!!! (yaay GeOrGe!) <<<Congrats by the way on your new 8lb baby boy!

The LaSt DaY oF sUmMeR sChOoL was this past Friday and the students didn't look that sad (neither did the teachers for that matter), but i KnO that they will miss it! I did get a chance to take pictures of everyone that would let me though...

SaTuRdAy was a LlLlLoOoOoNnNnNgGgGg day! Got to work at 10:00 and did>>> camera stuff, verifications, awards, meeting (took notes)<<< left at 6:35 so that I could rush home, get dressed and make it to the banquet by 7:00. (aHh!) The banquet went well and there was a ton of food! The Annual Teacher Corps Awards were handed out (some of them questionable), but it seemed like everyone had fun and enjoyed themselves. Hey it just hit! I might not see most of them anymore...TeAr.<<<miss you good luck!

SuNdAy we had our last volleyball match before everyone left (sad face), but it was FUN!

AnD tOdAy...
I have been basically getting everything in order from  sUmMeR sChOoL! We (mE, bEn, WhItNeY, dR. mCcOnNeLl, ShAnNoN & mIcHeLe) went out to eat @ Downtown Grill for my "end of the summer lunch" and.....

I GOT AN IPOD SHUFFLE! <<<AND ITS HoT PINK!!! (yEs! thank yall!)

mmmk ill post pics later...

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MoNdAy & TuEsDaY

Evaluations take FoReVeR and that is exactly what I did all day (Monday), except for my mini-break walk with BeN & WhItNeY to the library and student union...the walk "race" is ON! (and Ben, you have absolutely NO chance) <<<By far the most ExCiTiNG event of the day!!! ;) On Tuesday I got to do more evals...YaAy! And I ate lunch with BeN, RuSsElL & ChAsItY @ that new MeXiCaN restaurant on the corner of Hawthorne and Jackson (yummy, yummy, yummy!)

WeDnEsDaY & ThUrSdAy

WeDnEsDaY=SaD DaY: my roommie left me to go to NOLA to attend a conference for her middle school...TeAr! (she needs to get her priorities straight: ME first, then work, then whatever else...j/k) But ThuRsDaY was so much better because>>> I FINISHED THE EVALS (and the physical confrontation surveys)!!! I also go to go to hShS and sit in on the last day of CrIsEs MaNaGeMeNT (eek a gun!)

FrIdAy:

i.heart.ben <---He let me come in to work at 10!!!

So now i am here and don't really know what to do...hehe! What I did do though is "steal" some of KaRl'S pictures so I could scan & upload them, and add them to my SmUgMuG & FaCeBoOk!!! (Thanks KaRl...you're my hero!!)

mmmk back to work now...ShA PoW!!!!

PS. Congrats to Mr. & Mrs. EcOnOmIdEs on their NEW ADDITION....ZaYa!!!

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WoO wHo for the week of the FoUrTH!!!

DSC03338

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the William Winters Institute for Racial Reconciliation Civil Rights Summit and man what an experience. Having the opportunity to hear Dr. John Hope Franklin speak was the highlight of the day... hands down. As he shared his thoughts and experiences everyone immediately began to question their own beliefs. Even though I was kicking myself for not bringing pen and paper, I managed to grasp two quotes that really stuck out...

"Why in a democracy did we have to have a civil rights movement in the first place? To live in THIS country is a birth right of all Americans of ANY descent."

"Anyone who thinks that slavery was not part if the civil war needs to reconsider their weak position"

In all this was an insightful experience and i really enjoyed myself.

This past weekend I got to travel to GrEeNwOoD, MiSsIsSiPpI with Ashley and Ben to shoot scenes from my "Intern" movie (all Ben's idea) and I had SO much fun. We left Oxford at about noon and got there a little while later (I don't exactly remember the time because I was sleep the whole way). After arriving we met up with Ashley at Greenwood Middle School (where she teaches) and went to see her apartment (very nice). Then it all began....

First we went to see the black neighborhoods (the very bad and run down part of town), then we saw the "white" neighborhoods (the houses looked like mansions). The funny thing about this area is that both sides are separated by a body water and the only way to get to either side is by a bridge... equal but separate, right?

We then went to MoNeY, MiSsIsSiPpI to see the site where Emit Till whistled at that women (yes the store is still standing after all of that). I also got to meet a man by the name of Mr. Wille. He's lived in Money for eight years and has his own farm that "he planted with just one hoe" (including squash, cucumbers, okra, peppers, watermelon, cantaloupe, butter peas, sweet potatoes, cotton <<<yes, i said cotton, and more!)  He was such a nice and generous man that he gave us a TON of food directly from his farm. I dont know how to cook, but i'm sure someone can use em.

Finally we went back to Greenwood where we had dinner (and dessert) at The Alluvian Hotel (5 STARS)!!! It was great! I had such a good time in Greenwood (despite the fact that on the way back, I went to sleep again)!!!

Over the last few days I have been introduced to lots of new people, things, and ideas...its all been WoRtH iT! This is truly what the MTC experience is about!!!

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So yesterday I was hanging out with a couple of locals (my name for those who are basically not in teacher corps, but have lived in Mississippi their whole lives), when we somehow got on the topic of Mississippi public schools. The guys I was with openly admitted to having "bad teachers" while growing up, and joked about the fact that the kids at their schools "just didn't want to learn." So were the "bad teachers" ultimately the cause of them not wanting to learn or the opposite? I don't know but it got me to thinking and whatever the reason may be, something must be done....NoW!

On Another Note:

I Thought this was pretty cool I received it in an email.

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be
in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

cute huh?

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What do you absolutely refuse to eat?

              A FLYING ROACH!!!
(They seem to be a huge problem for me here, and I am terrified of them!)

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WoW! A full week has passed and lots of work has been accomplished. Despite the fact that i wrecked my car yesterday (yes yall, i ran into a pole...) everything has gone pretty well. Last week I spent three (or four) days over at Holly Springs High School helping out in the office. Everything is finally starting to settle down over there and the students seem to really be enjoying classes. I have contributed to starting the registration process for the July session, making signs, phone calls, and watching DeTeNtIoN!!! And from that I have determined that there is a reason I never got detention, it is not for me.

The first years started to teach on Thursday so everyone was out of the office observing them and I was left in charge. It all started when Mr. Z, the regular detention teacher sent a note to the office for someone to watch the students while he went to pick up his lunch and well since I was the only one in the office I got to watch 'em it shouldn't be a problem....right??? WRONG well I went in and sat down at the desk and as soon as Mr. Z left the room, the kids started giggling and laughing! So I said "Hey Stop!" Then one kid replied "are you a teacher?" and I said "No" (my first mistake!), He then turned around and started laughing some more and to make it even more interesting he started taking these tiny bites of his apple (from his lunch)... it ended up taking him 20 minutes to eat it because he didnt want to do his detention work...wow! I need a "mean face" or something that looks intimidating because whatever i have right now is just not working!

I really want to go sit in on a couple of classes that the first years are teaching (which I will probably get to do this week) because i find it so exciting to see someone you know teaching students with various different methods! I was also talking to Grace last week who told me that her Ed Law class is really interesting and some of the cases are kinda crazy so I think that i might need to check that out as well :)

Oh! I got to watch the online videos that Ben has been recording and posting to youtube (and um I seem kinda corny),  and they have actually turned out to be really nice. All of the first years are listed as well as the "thank you" video to Morgan Freeman's foundation who gave MTC laptops!

I have still not been out of Oxford but am really looking forward to going somewhere, I think that I just might take a trip to Jackson this weekend with my RoOmIe!....maybe ;) (she does not know yet) It is really time for me to see another part of Mississippi!

                                                                   ~LaUrYn~

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FrIdAy, SaTuRdAy, SuNdAy & MoNdAy

I spent my Friday at Holly Springs helping out with registration. We advertised summer school classes to just about everyone in the whole town but for some reason barely anyone came. I don't quite understand how you can forgo a class that determines if you are in the next grade level (or possibly even if you graduate). Well once we realized that we were not getting as many students as we wanted Joel assigned Torsheta and I the duty of calling everyone student that failed a class in Holly Springs and the surroundings areas to encourage them to come out and sign up... despite the few that just said no (due to no funds), this plan was actually successful. Saturday Reggie Barnes came in to speak about life experiences as a teacher/administrator/superintendent & the movie LaLee's Kin (which I still haven't seen). He was very insightful!!! I am still in awe at the fact that racism and segregation still exist (visibly). He said that CURRENTLY in Greenville, MS the private school consists of all the white students while the public schools have the rest (and did I mentioned that their communities are still separated by railroad tracks...hmm). Its very hard for me to fathom that people are still that much in denial!!! I will get to visit this area sometime during this summer and I really don't know what to expect...

Sunday was actually pretty laid back. Thanks to Chimaobi, Sam and Robert ( and campus walk apt.) I was able to wash my clothes and my my car for free...yaay!!! Later on we went to the lake to celebrate Steven and Wards birthday...free food and fun!!! Then I went to Brads to watch the NBA finals :) And as for today, I am currently on my way to Holly Springs again to participate in registration again. Tomorrow is the first day of classes for the teachers, so i guess the best is yet to come...

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ThUrSdAy...

After driving for a total of eleven and a half hours I finally arrived on Thursday in order to pick up my
student ID, unpack and move in... I was tired. After meeting and greeting all of the "need to knows" in the School of Education it was finally time for me to go home and get some rest. I live on campus in the faculty housing (which scares me) and the apartment is HUGE!!! My roommate is "the WoNdErFuL tOrShEtA bOwEnS" who I am very happy to have (due to the fact that we seem to be "clicking" really well). The first night I ate dinner with Crystal Stewart (who I know from the Ole Miss track team) at Obys, then Torsheta and I hung out with Keila (an MTC grad) and had a pretty good time. We ended up getting back to the room kinda late and both of us were very tired (we didn't even finish unpacking before going to bed).

FrIdAy & SaTuRdAy

Well on Friday my day started out pretty early (7:30am) but I was plenty excited...and kinda nervous. I started by getting a grand tour of Guyton Hall (The School of Education) and ended with the key TO MY VERY OWN OFFICE (yesss!!!). Then he fun began....copies, meetings, copies, class, copies, lunch, goggle docs, copies, home, unpack, sleep, unpack, office (1 pm), copies, meeting, minutes, google docs, copies, assignment, home ;) So as you can tell my first couple of days were filled with lots and lots of fun! lol! OH I forgot about the brand spankn' new computer that i get to use this summer (complements of Sam, thank you very much). I think that its pretty snifty and personally I think that the camera makes the whole thing... to cool. I have been taking pictures and disfiguring them since i figured out i could...FuN!

SuNdAy

This was my day to finish doing whatever i needed to get accomplished at home and buy food for the house...UNSUCCESSFUL! I was so lazy!!! All that I basically did was eat, sleep and bother my roomie :)

MoNdAy &TuEsDaY

All of the first years arrived on Monday and the second years came on Tuesday. I believe that by now I have introduced myself so much that I have my intro memorized..."Hi my name is Lauryn Smith I and a rising junior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville Tennessee, I am majoring in The Communication of Science and Technology & Engineering Management, I am on the track and field team and I run anything under a 400 and also do the long jump" :) During this time period I met Molly (the intern from last year who is now a first year) who let me know that if I need anything to just let her know (whew, thank goodness), she is a really sweet girl. Monday I also went on my first trip to Holly Springs to "flyer" the city. Torsheta, Elizabeth, Jake, Joel, Chimaobi, Jassmin and I took the summer school flyers to Holly Springs, split up into groups and basically papered the city!!! Our summer school goal is 300 students but there is a rumor that if 400 students attend then all administrators get a free computer (oooooo). The rest of my work day was spent back at Guyton getting information and documents ready for this summer. On Tuesday I did the "normal" office work stuff then after work everyone went to the park to play UlTiMATe FrIsBeE (which I offically suck at...but its okay). I chose to be on the team with the second years and we lost, but thats okay because it was still fun!

WeDnEsDaY & ThUrSdAy

Wednesday was spent making sure that all of the registration forms were completed and that all of the first years information was in. I also made a few more copies, created a couple of spreadsheets and formed an address book. Oh and i got off work an hour early!!!! Everyone met up at the park again to play but this time I when I played I chose to stay with the first years, but we lost. So i figure that maybe it's just me, I am probably the "not so good" luck charm. :)! Today is Thursday and everything has been pretty normal so far. I met a MTC alum named MoNiCa who will be on the staff in July. She teaches at Holly Springs so she seemed pretty excited! Welp, I can't really write about the rest of the day because I cant see in the future, but if anything CrAzY happens i'll tell.

As FoR nOw...GoOdByE!!!

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