A New Adventure...

I told you I was taking a Zumba class for school, right? Well, a few weeks ago, my instructor, Kelsey, asked me if I'd ever considered getting certified.

See, we had to choreograph and "teach" a routine in her class; my group basically said they didn't care and I had experience choreographing from my hip hop class, so I picked the song and made up a simple routine. I love an audience, so when our group got up, I did my best to imitate an actual instructor.

Anyway, Kelsey told me they are really short of Zumba instructors both at the Hyslop (the classes taught for credit) and at the Wellness center, and that she got a full time job somewhere else so she was leaving as well. She told me if I got my certification this summer, she would let her supervisors at both places know that I was getting certified, that she's seen me instruct a few times, and that they should give me the job(s).

I signed up to get my certification in Fargo on June 13th. On June 14th, I'm going to put in my application at both the Wellness and the Hyslop. Did I tell you that I can make BANK teaching Zumba? As an undergrad, I would make $400/month per class section teaching at the Hyslop (which jumps to $600 once I graduate). I would only make minimum wage teaching at the Wellness, but that's okay because I would LOVE the job.

Plus, if I were to get jobs at both of these places, I could try to open up a PiYo section at both the Hyslop and the Wellness center. I realize my degree is in communications, but I would absolutely love to have a career as a group fitness instructor! I'd basically be getting paid to work out....my dream job is getting paid for working out (and blogging!). It totally fulfills the phrase "find a job that you enjoy so much you never work a day in your life" (it's something like that, anyway). Maybe one day I could even open my own fitness studio...

Back to reality, though. I didn't want to apply for a job with nothing prepared, so I had my friend Andy, who got me into Zumba in the first place, teach me about 5 of his routines so I'll have some stuff ready to go when I get these jobs.

I'm so excited! However, if I somehow don't get either job, I'm going to be horribly, horribly disappointed..and also out about $350 for training.

Nah, I'll get them.  :)

What is my Life About?

To answer that question...

I have no freaking idea.

When I decided to go back to school in 2013, I'll be honest and say I was doing it purely because of the societal pressure to have a college degree; my family sure put the screws to me when it comes to having a degree that they even know I have little to no intention of using (I was hoping to apply for that "well educated house wife" position I heard might be opening after Ethan graduates from law school).

Something has changed, though. First of all, this is the first semester at UND that I've actually enjoyed. My first semester was terrible and last semester wasn't much better. I didn't take any classes for just my enjoyment last semester, and that was a huge mistake.

However, I ended up LOVING my Interpersonal Communication class, particularly because of the teacher. Dr. Kalbfleisch was so interesting and she actually ended up offering me an undergraduate teaching assistant position for this semester that I eagerly agreed to....I'll get back to that in a minute.

I'm really enjoying almost all of my classes, with the exception of two. I had to take another math & science credit. Although I really enjoyed the two math classes I took at Northland, I think that had a lot to do with the teachers that I had there. They were excellent and the tutor at the math lab was super helpful and I think that had a lot to do with my enjoyment and good grades. I didn't want to take a class that I wouldn't do well in, so I instead elected to take Astronomy. I literally couldn't care less about it, but it was a two credit class and a coworker had taken it and said it was pretty easy and it fit into my schedule. The teacher is really nice (he did use the word "irregardless," though), but it's so boring....ugh. But, I have to do it so I will. Which is the same philosophy that I apply to my Media Writing class. I should enjoy that class, but it's awful. Maybe I should have had a different teacher? I don't know, but that class is required for Communications majors, so I didn't have a choice.

On a brighter note, my other classes are SUPER interesting. Surprisingly, one of my most favorite classes is my history class. It's "World Civilization," and the professor lectures in an interesting and funny way; which is good, because a history class at 9 am on a Monday morning sounds like a recipe for a nap. But nope, I am sitting with full focus forward.

I'm taking Intro to Linguistics, which is so interesting and basically heaven for a grammar nerd like myself. The teacher is really nice, and I'm legitimately interested in what we're being taught. It's a lot more difficult that I was expecting it to be, but I like it enough to try really, really hard to understand it.

For fun, I decided to take hip hop and Zumba classes. Zumba hasn't started yet, but I've already done it before at Choice Fitness where my coworker also teaches. But hip hop...people, I have two dance styles-"drunken jellyfish having a seizure," and "'ho at the bar." I'm also the only not skinny person in the class. Despite all of that, I'm still one of the more coordinated people in the class which is shocking. But it's so much fun! I love to dance and I don't get embarrassed easily, so I all of the above doesn't bother me.

But getting back to that TA position; I really like working with Dr. Kalbfleisch. I'm taking a different class with her in addition to the class I'm the UTA for. I've enjoyed her classes so much that I am actually considering going to graduate school. Although my GPA isn't where it should be for graduate school, I think I would do really well. I know I could get excellent letters of recommendation from Dr. Kalbfleisch, Dave Kiefel, the head of the Communications department who also happens to be an old friend of my mom, and I'm sure my general manager at Perkins would also write me one. I think if I write a stellar letter of application along with the recommendations, I think I would get in. Ideally, I would like to study under Dr. Kalbfleisch; that's honestly a major reason I want to go to graduate school is to work with her more; in my application, I do get to suggest a professor to work under. I'd also really like to get a TA position.

I haven't told anyone besides my husband and best friends that I'm even considering graduate school. Very few people read this blog, certainly not my family. I don't think I will even tell them until I get in. If I heartbreakingly don't, then they never need to know.

Maybe I'm not just in it for my piece of paper. Or maybe I just want to make people call me Master Sonterre. Ha!

Mixed Feelings About My Education

I was hoping to graduate in the spring of 2016. I was required to meet with an academic advisor on Tuesday. I found out that if I am able to get into all the right classes, I can actually graduate with a degree in communications (with a focus on journalism) next December. WHAT.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one had, regardless of what anyone else says, I am embarrassed to still be an undergraduate at the age of 25. It's the truth, and in that regard, I am ecstatic to be able to graduate soon. Laurel asked me how I felt about the degree I was getting, which is where the mixed feelings come in. My answer to her was "I will have my piece of paper that marks me as a 'normal,' productive member of society." People (read: FAMILY, both relation and in-law) will stop giving me a hard time about school.

The last two semesters have been pretty miserable for me; I have not enjoyed my classes at all. I am bored to tears by what I'm being taught in my communication classes. So why am I taking them when I'm more interested in sociology or psychology? Here's the thing: at this moment, I have very little interest in going to graduate school. A degree in sociology or psychology is essentially useless unless you go further than a bachelor's degree, so even if I'd enjoy the classes more, I'd have a basically useless degree. While communications classses bore me to death, I can get a job with just a bachelor's degree and I honestly think the jobs available with that degree would be enjoyable to me. I love to write.

I have to do an internship of some sort. Studio One is well-known, especially on the UND campus, and they are taking applications for the spring semester. While it's not my first choice as an internship, I have a friend who has worked at WDAZ for about two years; if I intern at Studio One and have my friend put in a good word, I could theoretically (and hopefully!) get a job there in the future.

What I really love to write is poetry, blogs, and short stories. The problem is, those fall into the "not very practical" career category. I really do love to write short stories, but I also read a lot, and I know my writing is not very good. I think I have promise, but my writing is missing details; I can't seem to finesse them in. I know I'll get better if I work at it, but it's still highly unlikely that I could make a career out of it.

My favorite, by far, is the blogging. I've been doing it for two years and it's SO cathartic. Again, not likely to be a career; I've been writing my health and fitness blog for almost two years now, and I'm pretty sure my only regular reader is Laurel. If I could bring myself to promote my blog, that'd be great. But I can't do it; I made a facebook page twice and twice I deleted them. For some reason, I'm just fine sharing my struggles with complete strangers, but the idea of my family and friends reading it makes me uncomfortable. Why? No freaking idea. It's not like they don't know about it. It's probably because I am completely, transparently, honest in those blog posts; probably more honest than I am in "real life." I started and continued the blog for me. I didn't start it with an audience in mind.

I think I've said this before, but Mari once asked me "If you weren't worried about money, what would you do? What do you enjoy?" I love working out and writing. That's what I would do with my time if I didn't have to work. The ironic part? Blogging is my favorite thing that I wish I could make a career. Blogging in no way, shape, or form (at least the blogs I write) needs a degree. Figures.

Summertime

I plan to keep writing, but I've been busy enjoying the summer!

 I ran a 5k and my very first 10k!

Mrs. Greta Tetrault and myself

 My boyfriend's brother got married.

Andy and I on his birthday

I've been hanging out with my friends....

Mrs. Erin Nagle and me

and attending more weddings!

my boyfriend, Ethan (who cannot take a good picture to save his life!)
 and me at the lake last week

I just got back from a week at the lake with my boyfriend's family.

And next week I leave for London!! I'm starting a separate blog for my travels, since I'm planning on making traveling an annual thing :) Check it out here.

Have a great rest of the summer! :)

About Blogging

Funny that this should be a topic. I am having the HARDEST time figuring out what I want to do with my life. I was originally going to be a dietician, but I'm not entirely sure I'd actually like the job itself. So I did what my best friend suggested; I thought about what I'd do with my life if I didn't have to worry about money. Well, I would do the two things I love most-I'd work out and I'd write.

I would love to be a full-time blogger. I've been writing my health and fitness blog, Getting Healthy in 2012, since...well, 2012. In retrospect, I should have picked a different title, as it's now 2013. But that's where the journey started, so I guess it'll do. Unfortunately, that blog only gets about 10 pageviews a day. That's not enough to make that a career. I really wish I could get it there, though. I used to post every Friday, after my weigh in at Jenny Craig. This year, as my diet and exercise has been badly stalled out, I only wrote about once a month. I've started updating every day; if it was my job, I could keep it up, too! But since I have school, work, a family (my boyfriend, roommate, and dog count as a family, right?), housework, and 2381209312 other things to do, I probably can't keep it up. BUT IF IT WAS MY JOB, I could totally do it every day.

So if you have time (and aren't offended by swearing), show me some love and check it out :)

I hope to keep up this blog as well, for just other personal things. I really love to write.

Sense

I think the best sense of all is taste. I love to eat, which is apparent. I recently lost my sense of taste when I was sick last week and it was miserable not being to taste anything. I love cooking so I can combine different flavors-salty and sweet, savory and sweet, spicy and sweet, etc. I love discovering new flavors and combinations. I'm also not currently enjoying the disgusting chemical-like taste of the tap water. Damn you, flood season!

Story Sketch

I read an add in the classifieds about a young 20-something woman seeking a rich man who was out of town a lot...WHAT?! Who would actually respond to that?!! But if I were going to write a story about that scenario, I would try to spin it and make her some kind of good-hearted person who wanted his money to help the poor, and wanted him out of town so she could do volunteer work or something. I'd want to make it a twist. She SOUNDS like a gold-digger, but really, she's a wonderful person. Unlikely, yep. But that would be so much more interesting, wouldn't it?

Aw crap. Now I actually want to write this story. I think I'll work on it over the summer. I don't want to stop writing just because I'm no longer in class. I did write a new poem, The Apology, even though it wasn't required for anything. It's actually pretty good, too (I think). I wrote a really great story scene, but I don't have any other background for the story, so it's kind of useless at this point.