Arrows 2008

It's the time of year again for making lists, for looking both forward and backward as we mark the passing of time. And so, as usual, I make my annual evaluation.

↑ Graduate School
I'm now just one semester away from the completion of my masters, and I can't believe how much this program has changed me. I've learned so much in the last two years about what faith and community mean, about how to read, think, write, and speak, and about how to understand myself and others as children of God. This year, in particular, I learned to preach. In the process, I discovered that I'm beginning to get over my old fears of public speaking. Despite its trials, this year has been the best yet. I'm going to miss this place when I leave.

↓ Thesis
The only downside of this semester was the fact that, while I volunteered to write a thesis and had every intention of starting on it, I made almost no progress on in this semester. That is going to make next semester a whole lot more stressful. I think that signing up to write a thesis while writing my commissioning papers was a bit of a mistake.

↑ Travel
This year I had the experience of a lifetime traveling to the Middle East on the Middle East Travel Seminar. As I explained in earlier posts, I got to travel through 5 countries in the course of three weeks, alongside seminarians and professionals from across the country. It was a blast. When I returned from that, I got to go on a road trip from Georgia to Iowa to visit old friends, which was a lot of fun as well.

↔ Weddings
This year marked the beginning of the year of weddings. I watched a friend and my sister walk down the aisle, and next year several more people who are important to me will gown- or suit-up and make lifetime commitments. For the most part, I'm happy for those getting married. On the other hand, it's difficult to watch so many friends and family members pair off when I'm single.

↑ Work
I continued to work as a tutor for international students in my program. It is sometimes frustrating work, especially when I have to explain strange rules in the English language (even I don't know why we ride "on" a bus, but "in" a car) but the students are wonderful. I learn just from reading their papers, and getting to talk with them about life in Korea and living as international students is fascinating.

? The Future
2009 will bring many changes for me. I'm going to finish graduate school and go on to the work world. I'll face an interview that will determine my future and, hopefully, get my first full-time non-summer job. I'll move away, not just to school, but in a much more permanent capacity. I might even have to change my residency and lose my swing-voter status. I don't know what that will be like. I don't know for sure where I'll be or what I'll be doing this time next year. I just go forward with a prayer for all of us to have a peaceful and blessed 2009.