Monday 8 September 2008

Progress

While I love my room here at school and everything that came with it, I couldn't help but wish I had a few room hold amenities to make it perfect. For example, some room decorations would give my room some color, and a towel hook would be convenient for a number of reasons. I can manage without these however. What I really needed for my room was a mirror. But then just the other day, while I was sitting in my room after my day at the library, three school employees with an assortment of power tools knocked on my door and asked me if I needed a mirror. Now, Wendy had told us before that she had arranged for us to have mirrors installed in our rooms,; but I wasn't really expecting to see these mirrors anytime soon, if at all. Now as soon as I had told the three men that I did indeed need a mirror they asked me where I wanted it drilled in. After three tries, I finally decided on the perfect place for my mirror, and, within ten minutes, one of the three men drilled it into my wall while the other two sat and observed my Glass House visitor cards. Now I can comb my hair in the privacy of my own room and not feel like an outsider for needing sunscreen.
Not only is my room making progress here but also the school's community service program. The other day at school meeting a student announced that the school would be having a coin drive to raise money for the King Hussein Cancer Foundation. Coin boxes have been placed all over campus and are already starting to fill up. Then, a few days later, Tiffany Norman also made an announcement at morning meeting. She asked the school if anyone had ever heard about an organization called Locks of Love. Many members of the audience raised their hands and one student, when asked by Ms. Tiffany, gave a basic description of the organization. Ms. Tiffany then went on to tell us that, while Locks of Love requires a minimum donation of about twelve inches, another organization, affiliated with Panteen shampoo, only asks for eight. Ms. Tiffany asked that students with eight inches of hair seriously consider making a donation. But to inspire the student body, she announced that she was going to make a donation right then and there in front of the entire school. After asking a student to come onto the stage to assist her, we had both inspiration and entertainment. Hopefully helping to encourage the students are the daily complements that Ms. Tiffany is getting for her new haircut.
But of course the greatest progress I've seen is in my internship. After a week of working in the library, I decided that the work I was doing just wasn't right for me. While I was perfectly happy labeling the first season of Gilligan's Island with stickers and bar codes, I just didn't feel like I was helping the school. With some encouragement from Rehema and a little research on my part, I found what will hopefully be my permanent home in the Office of College Advising. Today was my first day, and my first assignments are 1. to compare and contrast the Common Application and the Universal Application and 2. To research schools in the UK that accept AP's from their applicants. I think I'll be happy with College Advising because I'll really know that my work is helping the school.
There are still a few matters to be resolved, however, The junior fellows are still waiting for our classes to start, and I still need to finish The Three Musketeers. But for the most part things are looking up.

1 comment:

ngt said...

John, what's the food like? What classes are you taking?