Angelica's World

So this whole blogging thing is completely new to me. I'm pretty excited about finally getting one up and running!

Let me begin this adventure with some information about myself to get the ball rolling. From there on out I'll be open to questions, comments, ideas and suggestions!

Anyway, my name's Angelica Conway. I'm 20 years old and traveled all the way to the Big Apple from Long Island! As a junior here at NYU in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development (our schnazzy new name that was introduced last semester), I have a major in Childhood/Special Education (I'll be dual certified to teach grades 1-6) and a concentration and minor in Spanish (probably the most difficult part of this year). As far as my school involvement goes, there's been LOTS! As you'll quickly learn, I like to be involved in way too many things and I usually overextend myself by miles...fortunately, I have fun in the process--otherwise I wouldn't be doing it. But I do get called crazy quite often!

So you can see what I mean: I'm currently the Coordinator of OutReach (a community service program for incoming students), Vice President of Steinhardt's Undergraduate Student Government, Secretary of the 7th St./Alumni Hall Council, an employee at our gyms through Event Staff (setting up events, etc.) and a student blogger!!! That's just for this year though. Oh, and I'm student teaching 1.5 days a week at PS 10 in Brooklyn (2nd grade) while taking 16 other credits to learn about Education and Spanish...but it's great!

Hmm, what else have I been involved in that might peak some interest or create some questions? I studied abroad in Madrid, Spain this summer for six weeks and then spent another four weeks traveling! I went to a bunch of cities in Spain plus a day trip to Morocco with my mom as part of an organized tour, I went to Lisboa and Fatima, Portugal during the study abroad program, and then I met up with two friends when mom left and we continued on to Paris, Amsterdam, and Munich--AMAZING! I was a two-year member of NYU's Dance Team--I'm sure you'll be reading, on multiple occasions, about how much I miss it. I've been involved in various student governments around campus since freshman year as well as an America Reads tutor (INCREDIBLE experience) at Greenwich Village Middle School and a team leader for Jumpstart in its inaugural year at NYU. And, I love doing community service as much as possible.

So basically, that's me in a somewhat small nutshell as I relate to life in NY! As I said, I'm looking forward to this blogging experience and hearing what people have to say. Feel free to check out the links of whatever you're curious about--my hope is to make things as accessible as possible. Thanks for joining me on this journey and I hope to keep you entertained along the way!

So we got rid of some more kinks and I think we're ready to roll. I was hoping to have some exciting news to report but the past few days have been consumed in reading a lot about education and making sense of my Spanish readings so I could write a logical paper--that was quite an experience.

I wish my skills in learning the Spanish language (and being able to have a fluent conversation) matched my desire to become a fluent speaker. I've always loved Spanish and I've wanted to be proficient for ages but for some reason it's one of the most difficult things I've encountered academically, ever. Any suggestions?

I was hoping that after spending two months in Spain this summer I'd come home ready to converse with any and every Spanish speaker I came across--unfortunately my self-confidence wasn't at a high point in that field and I shied away from some opportunities in Spain that I should have taken advantage of. But, I'm hoping that after spending tons of time on Spanish homework this year and hopefully spending a few weeks in another Spanish-speaking country this summer, I'll be in a better place next year! I'm thinking about going down to Latin or South America to possibly do some volunteering this summer, maybe with the Special Olympics (that'd probably be ideal). Obviously I still have lots of time to figure it all out which is good because it will probably take me that long to research everything.

So that's pretty much my frustrations with Spanish, in a nutshell. I love it, I want to be good at it but something has yet to click!

On another note, I absolutely love my student teaching placement! I love 2nd grade, my class is great, and I get to teach my first lesson next week! My cooperating teacher is giving me free reign over the lesson--I can choose any topic from a specific unit and teach the class on Wednesday. Hopefully next week I'll have some good news to report back...I'm really excited but I'm waiting for the nerves to set in!

I wasn't going to write until later tonight when all my homework was done and I was settled in for the night but I'm currently sitting outside on the 2nd floor of Kimmel, our Student Center, and I couldn't resist!

I love it out here. It's so relaxing. The weather's beautiful and I just couldn't bring myself to sit in my dorm room doing homework all day, so I relocated to Washington Square Park--one of my favorite homework spots...just sitting in the fountain taking in some sun. Then I needed to use the computer and due to a pretty horrendous glare, I came up here...another great homework spot I found freshman year when I lived at Hayden and needed a change of scenery.

Being out here is great--you get a beautiful view of the park, the arch, and the Empire State Building...all while listening to the trees blow in the wind and whatever craziness is going on in the park at the time--there's currently some performance I think (I hear lots of cheering--I think it's the twin brothers performing again). I don't really know my complete purpose for this entry except for the fact that I wanted to share with someone, right at this moment, just how amazing it is. It sounds crazy and cheesy, I know, but I'm just enjoying the peacefulness out here and didn't want to be experiencing it alone...check it out some time!

For now I'm going to get back to my homework--more Spanish which shouldn't be a surprise--but I'll definitely be writing again soon.

From the time of my last post I feel like so much has happened. On Sunday I was obviously quite relaxed and enjoying the gorgeous weather and beautiful views and loving living in NYC. I was spending a ridiculous amount of time on my Spanish homework but I guess that wouldn't come as any sort of surprise to anyone.

Monday was great. I went in to student teaching from 8:30-12:15 and really enjoyed it. My students had been asking me to go to lunch/recess with them and I finally was able to go and I loved it. I sat at the lunch table with them and they asked me questions about myself and shared stories with me and I got to learn a little bit more about them, and see them in a less structured environment. It put me in a really good mood and reminded me of why I'm going into this profession. When I used to work with America Reads I went to lunch, by student request, quite frequently and I enjoyed it but it's been a while since that. When I left PS 10 I headed over to campus to my Special Education class and we spoke about a very moving film that we watched last week about the horrific activity that occurred on Staten Island back in the 60s and 70s. (Any interest in Special Education and what this film was all about? Shoot me a comment and I'd be happy to share, or even write an entry about it.) Then, BIG SURPRISE...I spent tons more time on my Spanish homework/presentation, went to some student government meetings, and continued my homework...let's just say I did an extremely minimal amount of sleeping Monday night/morning.

Tuesday I was up early with more homework (I don't know where it all comes from) before I headed down to New York Sports Club for an interview. I FINALLY HAVE A JOB!!! Starting Friday I'll be training to become a personal trainer at the NYSC on Mercer Street. I'm really excited about that because I've been wanting to do it for a while and it's finally panning out. Once I went to class it was just a whirlwind of a day...no more countless hours of Spanish homework this semester. I've switched into a class about Caribbean culture that's taught in English through the Spanish department. I went today for the first time and I REALLY enjoyed it. I'm a lot more excited about this than attempting my very unsuccessful hand at analytical reading.

I was hoping to have a really good post today about my very first experience teaching a lesson that I created all myself but due to some last minute changes, I won't be teaching until Monday. I'm soooo excited. This whole experience is so surreal but so cool at the same time. Look forward to an update about that early next week.

So ever since 4:15 yesterday I feel like my whole semester has changed. This huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I feel like I'm going to have the great semester I came back hoping to have. There's so much going on and now I think my head will be totally into it. I am still going to attempt that class next semester and I still plan to go to Latin America this summer but for now, I'll stick to another class taught in English.

Can't wait to see what the rest of this week has to offer...