Waiting

Here's my one page autobiography. I chose to write about a specific moment in my life rather than a more in depth autobiography. Hope you like it and can get to know a little more about me!

Waiting

I started to hate the smell of doctors’ offices; they’re all the same—disinfectant mixed with sickness and loss of hope. Granted this one was new, but that didn’t matter. And I hated waiting rooms; why should I wait to go somewhere I don’t want to? My right leg started to shake out of nervousness; Mom looked just as worried. 

“Kristen, I can take you back now.” Used to preppy nurses’ voices in doctors’ offices, I was surprised to hear Mark Darnell, Beth Noffke’s boyfriend, call my name. Little did I know that he would forever be associated with the day that changed my life. I was getting used to the pre-doctor checks: height, weight, blood pressure; all of which Mark Darnell would check this day. Blood pressure: normal; height: same; weight: down another nine pounds since last week’s doctor…that can’t be a bad thing, right? I sat down on the uncomfortable doctor’s table with the paper that crackles with every slight move you make to wait. Mark Darnell left and it was just me and Mom. Waiting. 

“I’m sure it’s just the birth control; it says one of the side effects is rise in blood sugar.” That’s what Mom was good for—reassurance that nothing bad was really happening.

“Yeah. That has to be it.” Even though we both said it, a part of us knew that it wasn’t true, but we chose to continue ignoring the giant elephant in the room. 

There was a knock on the door. At least this doctor’s faster than the rest. A small Indian looking woman, no older than thirty-five walked in and introduced herself as Dr. Suri. Time to find out what an endocrinologist is.  She started saying things I no longer remember, but I do remember her addressing the question Mom had about the birth control pills—“they wouldn’t raise blood sugar levels that much.” And I do remember her checking my blood sugar after not eating for over five hours and saying, “Right now you’re at 412. I’m sorry to say you have Type 1 Diabetes. I’ll have a nurse walk you down to the Children’s Wing in the hospital. You’ll have to stay there a couple of days to learn about a few things concerning Diabetes Education and I’ll be down to see you and check up on you in a couple of hours.”

Dr. Suri left and with tears in my eyes, I looked over at Mom; tears were welling in her’s too. Again we were left waiting. Crying and waiting.

November 1=Christmas?

I feel like Christmas advertisements start earlier and earlier every year. Last week I noticed sections in stores with holiday decorations, Toys 'R' Us commercials selling their popular Christmas items, even Sears has a commercial telling you how to be "Sant-abulous" this holiday. Back when we were younger, I feel like this didn't start until the week of Thanksgiving--at the very earliest.

Now, apparently, society has decided to take the glory away from Thanksgiving and skip right to Christmas. My roommates and I decided to wait to put up decorations in our apartment after Thanksgiving break--a tradition we all thought was common. Our House Mom in our sorority has already decorated our chapter house and before meeting tonight we took a chapter Christmas card picture. I'm all about the celebration, and Christmas decorations do make me happy and excited to see my family, but it just seems too soon. Granted it's kind of hard to advertise items for Thanksgiving, other than turkey sales at HyVee, but I still feel like I'm losing the entire month of November and most of December the way stores are selling Christmas.

Thinking about Christmas now makes me feel two different things: 1) I'm excited to go home and have a month off of school but 2) It makes me stressed to think that final exams and projects are coming up.

So in light of stressing out about finals, I want to remind myself and all of you that even though it may feel like Christmas is right around the corner, there is still over a month and a half until that happens. No need to stress out too much yet :)

Now since Christmas is on my mind, here is my favorite holiday song. Enjoy!

Portfolios Creating Culture

As I glanced through the Content list of TPS, Miriam Dempsey Page’s Freedom and Identity: Portfolios in a Puerto Rican Writing Class stuck out to me, so I turned to page seventy-seven and began reading. Dempsey Page taught a writing course at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez where she had her students create portfolios. Dempsey Page says “Any final collaborative role in evaluation or assessment will mean more if students are free to choose their topics” (Dempsey Page 77). Even though she used this technique for native Spanish speakers, I believe it can be incorporated into any classroom, much like her other methods of using portfolios. 

I’ll admit that I had difficulties when writing my memoir; I found it hard to figure out how I should write it. A part of me wanted the dreaded rubric just so I could have a better idea of what was expected from me. While it was hard for me to get going on it, the broad guidelines allowed me to do whatever I wanted, and whatever made me proud of my final piece. As a future teacher, I will definitely use this technique for my classroom. Not only will it give my students the opportunity to be creative, it will give me the chance to gain a better insight to their lives and opinions. 

            Miriam Dempsey Page says how the students’ portfolios were a representation of their culture. She says that students typically blur the lines between genres and they typically incorporate “life experiences, background, and culture. As a result, students develop portfolios that explore and reflect not only rhetorical variations and purposes but also the nuances of Puerto Rican culture” (Dempsey Page 77). Each student would write about different topics related to their own life or topics they were passionate about. The completed portfolios gave a greater insight to the Puerto Rican culture; students wrote about traditions from parades and celebrations to different religions, like Voodoo and Espiritismo.  And even though every essay was different, no essay was done “incorrectly.” Each was a part of a whole.