Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Letter

It has been a long wait. First, I had to wait four or five months to find out that I was accepted into the program. Then I had to wait for a letter from my region in order to go on with Visa Processing. Now I have a lot of work to get done and a few more waits.

The Spanish Consulate in Houston will not return my emails. Their office opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 1 p.m. I go to work at 7:30 a.m. and get home at 5:30 p.m. I tried to leave a voice message and it says there is no room. I do not know if I have to have certain documents so I will most likely have to wait

But hopefully those waits won't be as long. Hopefully I can get my visa processing done soon.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Busy Week

This was a busy week! Starting Monday I had very little free time. I posted on Facebook that I wished every day were like that Monday was. I got one comment back from a friend that disagreed and thought I was crazy. But working from 8-5, Monday through Friday, and sitting in a cubicle bored is no fun. I rather be busy.

It was nice. I took photos. I took video. I edited video. I edited stories. I posted stories. I edited photos.I attended meetings. In one week, I was using pretty much everything I learned.

And, I received my new diplomas that had Cum Laude on them. Things are going good. I love my internship and definately hope that they have an opening sometime in the future.

The worst part is living so far from Asuka and all of my friends. Hopefully, I will be visiting next weekend.

I am still waiting to hear from Spain. I would really like to get it wrapped up. If I don't hear anything by mid to late June I will just have to give up and start searching for a regular job or see if I can get my internship extended.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Returning Home

I had a great weekend. I went to Jonesboro and spent it with my girlfriend. I got to see her and some other friends while I was there. Friday night I was exhausted and went to bed fairly early (11 p.m. or so). The next morning my body kept telling me to get up at 7 a.m., but I ignored it. Saturday afternoon Asuka and I went to the mall to shop for her a new phone. We ran into Johannes. Later, Asuka and I cooked. The two of us and three other friends had dinner together, had some drinks and sang some karaoke.

Sunday, Asuka and I went to lunch at a Mexican restaraunt then to the park for a little bit. Then it was time for me to leave. It was not any easier this time than it was the first time. I feel for my friends who have to leave girlfriends in another country. Asuka and I are only three hours apart, for now. I hate not being able to see her more than two weekends each month. Yet that is a lot. It is hard to leave.

On the drive home I was thinking and praying. Then a thought came to my mind. When we aren't seeking God--when we are going a different direction, away from him--it is like my situation. If it huts me so much when she and I are having to part ways for a few weeks, can you imagine what it is like when we turn our backs for just an hour from God? The same God that created us in his own image to worship and praise him. The same God that loved us so much he sent his son to die on the cross for us. I am sure the pain is far worse than mine.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Senior Year

Senior year came and went. Of course I remember it the best because it was the most recent, but a lot of noteworthy stuff also happened.

After spending the summer in Washington, D.C., I looked at the credits I had. When I returned to ASU, a week before the semester started, I talked to the Department of World Languages and Cultures. I finally, after three semesters and a summer semester of Spanish classes, declared a second major. It would actually show up; I would get a second diploma.

I would take all of my classes but one, each of my last two semesters, in Spanish. That was 15 hours first semester and 12 the next. One of the classes my last semester was an internship.

In November, I applied for a program in Spain where I would help teach English for a year. By April, I knew that I would be going. I have been working with that for a while and continue to work on the requirements.

In February I began dating Asuka. And in May I graduated with both degrees, from ASU.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Skills

Reading, Writing, and Arithmatic... Thats what they say in school, although I may not be the greatest or have the greatest need for the last part. However, I am already using the skills that I learned during my four years in college.

Graduation was one week ago, tomorrow, May 7, 2011. I began my internship at Heifer International's Headquarters in Little Rock, Ark. on Monday, May 9, 2011. The first day I spent in orientation sessions, and when I was not in those, I worked on writing scripts for a video series our team is making from stories from the field.

The second day was better, as was the third. The fourth, Thursday, was probably the best because it was busy. But my responsibilities this far have been editing stories, posting them to the web, writing those scripts, and other tasks. I may have the opportunity to help with multimedia projects as well. I have already used photoshop to resize images for the web and add background color to graphics.

Although it is Internal Communications, I am using the skills I learned at ASU. Although it is Internal Communications, I feel like I am making some kind of difference.

Junior Year

Junior year I was also in NPQ. My Mom and Stepdad had moved back to Arkansas from New Jersey so around the new year sometime, we had a bonfire and karaoke night in Sheridan. We also did a Snipe Hunt. During the summer I participated in an Internship in Washington DC, along with classes at Georgetown University.

My second semester I met a girl who I began to develop feelings for. You might be able to guess who that was, especially if you read my blog in February.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Freshman Year 2007

Four years ago I left high school and dreaded my first year in college. It is funny how things changed. My freshman year I would go home at least once or twice each month. By sophomore year I would go home every other month, until eventually I didn't even go home long on holidays my senior year.

I have so many great memories from all four years in college. Here are some of them from my freshman year.

One of the most memorable is the fire alarms. We had a record-breaking semester with more than 40 fire alarms. Most of them were around 3 in the morning. We had one real fire. Another time the building flooded. During one alarm we went to Waffle House and I asked an employee if our fire alarms helped their business to which she responded, "You're going to pull our fire alarm?"

In another experience, my friends and I were sitting in the cafeteria having breakfast on a weekend morning. It was a day after a shooting on campus. Derrick gets a phone call saying "Go outside the cafeteria and accept a package from the man in red and no one gets shot." After several calls they called the number back to see who it was. Later the police came in and we filed a report. The police answered the next time they called, "If you know whats good for you, you will quit calling," the caller said. UPD responded, "This is the police" and the caller hung up. Eventually the number was traced and a friend knew who it was-- his coworker...

First Day

Today was the first day of what I consider my working life. I am working full time as an intern at Heifer International in Little Rock. The first day was a little slow, but I look forward to seeing what I will get to do during my time there. I know that I am not directly affecting poor and hungry people but I am still helping in the bigger picture which is really cool.

In addition to the normal blogs, I am going to try to write some memories in the upcoming weeks. I may divide them by year-- freshman through senior. Some may have more than one post, others might be sweet. BUT it is very likely to be the weekend before I get any time. Even then, my time is going to be limited because I am still in the moving process.

Alumnus

The almost 3-hour drive from Jonesboro to Sheridan seemed to take forever. Normally it isn't fast, but it isn't slow either. Although, I haven't driven it alone since Deccember. This time, Asuka couldn't come with me. I am here until Spain and begin my internship at Heifer International in 8 hours.


It is always hard to leave for the summer. But I know I will see my friends the next year. However, this year it is a little different. Saturday I received my bachelor degrees in Spanish and Journalism. This time, I know I will not return to ASU to study. I completed my four years.

Now I just really hope that God allows all of my friends paths and mine to cross again.