Reflecting on the year that has been on New Year's Eve always evokes a lot of memories. Thinking back to last year at this time, I never could have foreseen all the changes that would come our way this past year. Here, I hope to recap some of the happy, exciting, dramatic, and heart-breaking moments of 2010.
(I'll try to do them in chronological order as best I can.)
1.) Megan Gets Accepted!
We were looking at purchasing our first home in March of this past year. We hadn't heard any news from the schools that Megan had applied to. We found a home that we were finally ready to make an offer on. It was over spring break, and the realtor that we had been working with was out of town with her family for vacation, and even though we were ready to put an offer in on the house on Friday, we decided to wait until the following Monday. It was during that weekend when Megan received her acceptance letter from Talbot School of Theology, and set off a chain of events that would shape the rest of our year.
2.) John Ledford
April 16th was one of those days that a teacher, or anyone for that matter never want to experience. It was lunch time, and I was getting ready for third period to start. I went to stand outside of my classroom, like I did so often, and I saw two students walking up the hill crying. They asked if I had heard anything about a couple of students, both students that I taught. Rumors had begun to swirl around school about something tragic. I immediately jumped online to see if I could find anything from the local news sites, since the rumors involved a car accident. I went down to the office, and the worst was confirmed. John Ledford, a sophomore that I had in my 3rd period class, was killed that morning in a car accident driving his girlfriend to school.
It was by far the most difficult class period I have ever had to go through, and seeing so many young students struggle and experience pain was difficult. I will never, ever forget the funeral service and seeing so much pain in the eyes of high schoolers, made it so difficult for me to get through. John wasn't the best student, but he was one that I liked. It doesn't matter for me how good or smart a student is, they are all my children. And what I would imagine a parent would feel, even when they do things that drive us crazy or things that are stupid, we still love them. John and I joked around alot in class and he was a good kid.
I'm sure at some point in my teaching career, I'll have to go through another experience like this, but I pray that not only I, but the schools and students that I work with never have to experience something like that.
3.) Decision to Leave
It was late April/early May when we finally had received all of the financial aid information from Biola. I remember that I had told Megan if they would cover half of the tuition expense, then we would go, that we could afford to cover the rest. Well, Biola came through with exactly half. It was one of the hardest decisions that I know I have ever had to make personally, but I knew that I needed to trust God and take the leap. I had to leave the comfortable path and jump out unto the unknown.
4.)AP Exam Day
The day of the AP Government exam was an exciting day for me. It was the culmination of something that I had been working on for well over a year. I started the year before trying to start an AP Government program at Chesnee to offer another AP level class. After a year of work, we finally got the class approved as a semester class. Starting in January, I had 9 students go through AP Government with me for the first time. With any of the "high stakes testing", I felt a little nervousness for my students. There is always that feeling that I could have prepared them better, but I knew I had some smart students. I brought them breakfast that morning and hung out with them a little bit before they started. Overall they did pretty well. I had a student get a 5, two others get a 4, and one other get a 3. Almost a 50% passage rate the first time you teach an AP class is pretty good.
5.) State Championships
When I was in high school, I was fortunate to go to a school where state championships were a fairly common occurrence. I thought it was something that everyone experienced. I realized that it wasn't something that everyone got to experience. Chesnee hadn't won a state championship since the early 80s, and in a three day period, won two team state championships. On Saturday, the boy's track team won a state championship with only 8 competitors. There were some awesome individual performances, Zack Miller winning the 100 Hurdles, Austin High winning two individual events, and Josh Jones' long jump of 24'8 that he sat back on were truly unbelievable. Then, the following Monday, the Eagles baseball team capped off their state championship with a win over Hanahan. Everyone at Chesnee was truly blessed to be able to see a pitcher of Brandon Henderson's quality. He finished his senior year with a 14-0 record, 0.30 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 88 innings pitched. He was drafted in the 15th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. Also, to see Coach Jones go out with a state championship after 47+ years and 730+ was very fitting. I always love to see students excel.
6.) Louisville Beta Convention
Over the past two years, Beta Club is one thing that took up a lot of my time. I loved working with the kids in Beta Club. Just like in athletics, these kids are so talented. This year's talent was Alice and Wonderland, and they did not disappoint. Frankie did an awesome job as well. One of the things that I will miss the most is working with Ritchie and Stephanie. I learned so much from them over the couple of years that I worked with them.
7.) Last Sunday at New Pleasant
As much time as I spent with the kids from Beta, I spent even more time with the youth at New Pleasant Baptist Church. They became my family. All summer was difficult, because it was a summer of lasts. Last time we would go to camp, last time we would (fill in the blank), etc. The last Sunday service at New Pleasant was so touching, to see how much Megan had impacted their lives, and how much they loved us. I love those kids with all my heart. We experienced so much together, and I am so impressed at how much they have grown over the past few years. I still miss them every day, and every Sunday morning I am reminded at how lucky I was to be apart of such a great youth family.
8.) Cross Country Drive
One thing I think everyone wants to do at some point in their life is go on a cross country trip. This August, I was able to drive cross country with my best friend and our dog Mo. We spread the trip over four days, stopping in Little Rock, AR, Amarillo, TX, Flagstaff, AZ, and ultimately arriving in La Mirada, CA. We took I-40 basically the entire way, and if we ever drive back to the east coast, I am pretty sure we will find another route. Nine states in four days is a great way to see the country. (Well at least the part along I-40)
9.) Getting a new Job
When we arrived in California, one of my biggest fears was not being able to find a job, much less a teaching job. Again, one of the many ways that God has truly blessed us this year. Once we got settled in our apartment, I was able to line up two interviews in a couple of days time and actually had a choice of jobs. The fact that I was able to find a job teaching AP classes after being in California for a couple of weeks still amazes me. Poly has turned out to be a great school, and the students are great.
10.) Trip to San Francisco
San Francisco is just one of those cities that everyone should go to at least once in their life. I compare it to New York City on the east coast, there is just a charm or feel to the city that is indescribable. We only got to spend a few days there after Thanksgiving, and I would definitely go back again.
One thing that this year has taught me is that while we can make our plans, we never truly know what God has in store for us. When we think we have it all figured out, God will show us what His will is for the next part of our life. One thing God has taught me through all the experiences of this year is that too often we are the stumbling blocks for God's will. It is easy to say that we want to do what God's will is, but it is another thing to truly make yourself available to that.
Honorable Mention:
Coaching My First Basketball Team
Presidents Game Marathons
Carmen's Surgery
Switzerland Trip
MC2 Camp
Mock Elections
Knott's Berry Farm Trip
News Stories That I'll Remember
Haitian Earthquake
Chilean Miners
Gulf Oil Spill
Obama Signs Health Care Bill
Vuvuzuelas at the World Cup (and Landon Donovan's Goal)
The Tea Party Movement
and who could forget Antoine Dotson (sad that he was one of the most searched/viewed "news stories" of the year... but it was a catchy tune.)
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