I started the year six grad credits shy of getting my teaching license renewed, so I took two classes winter semester. One was a joke, required by the state for every teacher, and the other legit and very enjoyable. I wrote a twenty page paper for that class that I’m pretty proud of, and when I went to pick it up from my professor, I learned I had finished the semester with the highest grade in the class. It had been more than a decade since I’d been in a college class when I started my courses in the fall, so it felt good to know I could still hack it academically.
At the same time I was taking classes, I was challenging myself vocally by taking part in our community theater’s production of Evita (and singings As and Bs above the staff). It was a chance to work with friends (and make new ones) as well as get my dance on. And I continued to get my dance on by taking a beginning tap class in the summer.
Thinking back, I don’t know how I did it, but I also managed to chair the missions committee at my church and conduct a job search all while working my tutoring job. I ultimately had that job for 19 months, and it was a joy. I really liked my students, and this year I hunted my second turkey with the younger one.
And while I didn’t make it to any new countries this year, I did make my other travel goal of visiting a new state. In fact, I moved to one. I focused my job search on the D.C. area and landed in northern Virginia. I could talk about successfully giving up pop for five months before falling off the wagon when summer hit and the $1 32 ouncers at McD's beckoned with their siren song. Or about preaching on Rahab. Or seeing my first real-life cockroach. There's much more I could say, but you know most of it if you've been following the blog this year.
Since no post of this kind would be complete without a vision for the year ahead, here’s what I’m hoping to accomplish in the upcoming 12 months: travel to Cote d’Ivoire, submit my manuscript for publication (for reals this time), run a 10K at the Highland Festival, and meet someone to share my adventures with.
You’ll notice I refer to goals rather than resolutions. Resolutions carry negative connotations, I think. Resolutions are set in stone whereas goals can be tweaked as needed. Resolutions suggest stopping doing something bad whereas goals suggest starting doing something good. So, what are your goals for 2015?