A Lee Bit of Life Updates :)

Hello all.

I write to you with no true intention as to where this blog entry may go. It has been some time since my last post and figured I would put another one out there. Try your best to follow along - I apologize if it is scattered in thought. Okay, here I go.

Life has been grand. It has been a mixture of emotions (per usual) ranging from pure and utter bliss to uneasy restlessness. The anxiety seems to stem from the fact that I am attempting to apply to graduate programs to further my studies in social work with a concentration in international/global studies. Researching schools, filling out forms, contacting references for recommendations, and all that necessary nonsense has been exhausting. Doing this all on a shoddy computer with a temperamental internet service does not make it any easier. As draining as the process is, it is invigorating at the same time. The thought of moving on in my studies of a field that I love, and to focus my work on an international level, makes me giddy. Yes, giddy. Who knows what the result of application process will be - Boston, St. Louis, Chicago, or New Orleans - but I just have to keep the faith in knowing that in nine months from now I will be where I am meant to be.

Over the past few weeks I have started to scare myself. Why? Well, because I have had moments where I stop myself and think, "Holy crap, I sound like my middle school teachers! Stop now!" I guess this was bound to happen when trying to teach a classroom full of 10 to 12 year old boys a girls. I cannot even begin to count the amount of times I have the urge/actually follow through to say "Alex and Stephen, stop talking. You are not only wasting my time but the time of your fellow classmates." I mean really, do they even care? I doubt it.

Though at times I am made to feel like my 7th grade 70 something year old geography teacher who had a strange obsession with the country of Russia, my little devil/angel (depending on the time of day) students continue to bring such joy to my time here. As exhausted as I may be at the end of the day, I ride my bike home accompanied by my students happy as ever playing over in my head the hysterical little moments from the day...

This past Monday I was eating lunch with one of my favorites, a seven year old boy by the name of Everett. He turned to me with a mouth full of rice and beans and said with such great emotion, "Mr. Pat, I really wish that Michael Jackson was not dead. Sometimes, I pretend that he is still alive. I listen to his music and I dance. All I wanted to do was meet him." And to this I say with such great sincerity, "Me too Everett, me too."

I am so grateful for the way in which my job placement has turned around since leaving SEO last May. I am happy, rejuvenated, and purely inspired in my work. I am continuously reminded of how blessed I am to be able to have two years of my life to live and work amongst the people of Belize. I still have a hard time fully grasping what this truly means, but perhaps some day I will.

Perhaps.