As you may have guessed from the title, this is my first attempt at blogging...unless you count the website my cousin created for my classroom that had a blog available.  I never used it, so I'm not going to count it. 

If you know me, you might be wondering why I haven't started a blog before.  After all, I'm not a stranger to technology and I like to tell everyone what I think, whether they want to hear it or not.  My main objections to blogging were that I didn't have time for it and nobody would want to read it.  But so many of my friends have blogs that I've decided to try it...yes, I'm actually following the crowd!  (And, no, if all the bloggers decided to jump off a cliff I wouldn't follow them!)

If you are one of my conservative Christian family members or friends you're probably wondering why gaia.  If you're a member of gaia and just read the last sentence you're probably wondering the same thing.  Well...honestly...bluntly...transparently...I'm planning on applying for the scholarship and the information stated people who are members of the site and keep a blog are more likely to be considered.  Maybe it wasn't stated exactly like that, but that's the message I read.  Now that I've weighed the pros and cons (I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks now) I can see the benefits to blogging and I like some of the ideals this group stands for.  Not all of them...but that's fodder for a later blog.

So, some questions I have about blogging.  How long should each blog be?  Does spelling count?  If people want to respond to my blog, can they?  Will anyone care about what I say?  MLA or APA?

That's all for this entry.  I'm an organized individual so I'll keeping my entries separated by subject.  You may see a few more entries today.

I submitted my answers to the scholarship "survey questions."  I'll admit it was the most informal scholarship application I've ever completed.  A far cry from the Flinn Scholarship application I completed when I was in high school...but then I wasn't awarded that one so maybe it's a good thing.

The first question about my purpose in life was the most difficult.  Not because I don't know my purpose.  I'm just beginning to know my purpose quite well.  Would you believe I could only use 25 words??!!  I managed to pare it down to 21 words (according to word count in Word), but it was the extremely abridged version.  I've decided to write the unabridged version below.

First, an introduction...I have been trying to find my purpose in life for my entire life.  For me, it's important to have a REALLY GOOD reason for what I'm doing.  I've known since I was quite young that the "chief purpose of man is to glorify God," but living that is a lot harder.  I was sure for 10 years of my life (ages 15-25) that I was going to be an overseas missionary.  Then, 2 years ago I started down a difficult path of change and growth.

In the fall of 2006 I started meeting with a mentor for Soul Care (part of Journey Companions - see journeycompanionsministries.org).  There were some intense times as I met God and learned to enjoy and experience Jesus Christ and His love.  In the end I learned that my identity and purpose is not defined by what I'm doing.  Rather, my identity in Christ and my purpose of glorifying Him define me and guide what I do.  It's a paradigm shift that I'm still processing.

The conclusion...I am a uniquely created, chosen, blessed child of God.  My purpose is to glorify Him in ALL that I do.  He's created me with certain gifts, skills, and passions.  Mainly, I am passionate about Truth and justice in education.  Is it fair for students to be overlooked because they aren't proficient at "doing school?"  Is it right that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is creating a high stress environment for children that centers around standardized tests?  When will we stop teaching evolution as fact and present all the possible theories for the origins of the universe (intelligent design answers more origin questions than evolution but it only receives a short paragraph or two in most biology textbooks and it's treated as a religious crutch instead of the viable scientific theory that it is!! - more on this later)?  Shouldn't there be someway to utilize the strengths children already have when they enter the classroom to help them overcome their weaknesses?

I'm also passionate about math..that's right...algebra, geometry, statistics.  I LOVE TO DO MATH!  For years (basically ever since junior high) I decided that math was fun as a subject in school but wouldn't help me serve God.  I thought the only way to serve God was to give up everything I enjoyed and find the poorest, harshest country to live in so that I could tell the natives how to love God.  Not exactly the best way to reach people for Christ!

After the MAJOR disappointment of learning from God that I wouldn't be moving to Africa anytime soon, He filled me with His joy and peace and has shown me that my passions for math and education are also for His glory.

If you've made it this far in the blog, I applaud you.  I'm getting to the "punchline."

What do you get when you take a love of math and a passion for high-quality education?  A teacher going back to school to become a researcher who dreams of going into education politics, teacher education, and/or curriculum development.

What can I say...I like to be busy and DREAM BIG!