Geography Awareness Week Anyone?

So....this blog isn't exactly about my work in Student Affairs or as a student, but nonetheless I feel like it is worthwhile, lol. In addition to my other responsibilities, I just took on the role of the Geography Awareness Coordinator for the WV Geographic Alliance. Yes, I am a glutton for punishment, but this is an effort that I am very passionate about, so I couldn't pass it up. Last week I went to a conference in Savannah to receive some training about how to implement an Awareness Week in WV. I am trying to get the word out, and I thought my blog would be a good way to get started.

Launched in 1987, Geography Awareness Week is an annual opportunity for schools to engage in fun, educational experiences that draw attention to Geo-Literacy and the importance of geographic understanding. This is necessary in ensuring our nation's economic competitiveness, national security, environmental sustainability, and the livability of our communities in the 21^st century.

The theme for Geography Awareness Week this year is “Freshwater”. Water is one of the defining issues of the 21^st century. Of all the water on the planet, less than 1% is available for human use. Issues such as having adequate freshwater to support our growing global population, as well as how climate change will affect access to freshwater around the world are serious issues that we must confront. The purpose of this week is to explore the fascinating geography of Earth's most precious natural resource through activities, multimedia, quizzes, and more all in an effort to move students to action, both globally and locally.

If you are interested in participating, please let me know ASAP! It doesn’t have to take much of your valuable class time to be effective; and the activities can be integrated into the Social Studies standards of most grade levels, as well as other subjects. I have access to tons of resources to get you started. Also, all participating teachers will receive classroom materials and/or a membership to the National Council on Geographic Education. :)

Think about it! Without geography, we would be nowhere! ;P

I Am the Fun Nazi

Disclaimer: As I am writing this post, I have been awake for 35 hours straight, so I deeply apologize for any errors or anything that sounds completely unreasonable. ;)
As some of you may know, I am a Graduate student at Concord that is working an assistantship as a Resident Director to pay my way through school. Although I sometimes have to convince myself that I am not working slave labor, I enjoy what I do. It has been a great way to pay for my education as well as gain invaluable work experience in Student Affairs/Higher Education. Being a full-time student is stressful, but to put a full-time job on top of it almost pushes me to my limits. Adding to the challenge is the fact that Residence Life is not like any other job out there. It simply has no end. There are no scheduled hours; it is a 24 hour, 7 days a week gig. It is not abnormal for me to be awake dealing with a situation all night long, only to head to class and then the office. In the residents' eyes, because I live in the residence hall, I am their mom/nurse/therapist/servant at all hours.

Working in residence life is also difficult because our job description is so broad, and in a way vague. I am an administrator, mediator, janitor, corrections officer, tutor, mom, friend, etc. I simply never know what I will encounter. I have seen it all in my 6 years of experience...several things that I would have rather never had to. I have trudged through floods and have evacuated buildings as they burned.I have had to hold students up to prevent them from aspirating in their own vomit when they drank too much. I have had to break it to a girl that her mother had passed away. Once I even held a girl as she passed in and out of consciousness when she tried to end her life. I have been cussed, spit at, pepper sprayed, and thrown up against walls.

These are just a few of the things I have experienced, most of which occurred when I was a scared undergraduate. Still, as an adult, I get scared. For all of the things my staff and I deal with, you think we would be heroes, or at least respected. But, the truth is, it is the exact opposite. To outsiders, we get paid to do nothing, we are know-it-all goody-two-shoes, and fun wrecking Nazis. Honestly, it hurts. These people don't see the hours we have invested, the sacrifices we have made, the tears we have cried. Sometimes they are the same ones we end up taking care of. How ironic...

I suppose I am on this rant because of an incident that I dealt with in the wee hours of the morning. The details do not matter even if I could share them, however I believe it points to an overall issue, APPRECIATION and RESPECT. You probably do not live in a dorm, so these principles don't affect you in that way, but I ask that you remember all of the men and women that sacrifice so much to keep us safe. Our law enforcement officers, fire fighters, military, teachers, housing staff...they all give so much that we just cannot comprehend because we do not see everything that they do. Take a minute to thank them. They deserve it.

Here goes...

So...I am new to this whole "blogging" thing. For a long time now, I have watched as everyone around me seems to be "Tweeting",  "blogging", and "Skyping". Besides sounding technical and sometimes painful/disgusting, I was left wondering about all of the technological possibilities that exist for my personal life, as well as the implications for my future classroom. But, there was/is a BIG problem. I am probably the most technology deficient person of my age that exists. So, I went on living my life thinking I would leave all of the "cool" kids to the fun computer stuff and I would continue living in the Stone Age. Well, that was until I found out that as part of my Graduate studies, I would not only be reading about technology, I would be USING technology. Now, I am in the midst of learning how to "glog", "podcast", and "wiki". Just getting the terminology down has been challenging enough, but so far, technology has proven to be fun. I will keep you posted about my progress (unless I break my computer or make the Internet crash...).