It's Friday!

Before I started subbing, I was simply hanging out doing nothing
(since mid-December when I graduated) and I didn't appreciate the
weekend- all the days felt the same- Saturday, Monday- it didn't
matter. But now, I appreciate the weekend. It's a great time to pause
and take stock of the week and gear up for the next week if waking up
at 6am. Next week, I will begin working as a full-time sub for
highschool students in north Nashville. It will be worth it, but
draining at the same time. Waking up early, encouraging kids who don't
want to be there or learn the material, and the 20min drive will all
add up to one tough semester.

Today however, I'm teaching PE still and the kids are wonderful.
Yesterday was valentines day, and many kids were bringing valentines
for the teacher I am subbing for this week. I would tell them thank
you and I would make sure she got it. Then, one kid brought ME a
valentine! I was pretty excited because it was shiny and had a sucker
inside of it. Later in the day, I opened it up, and I saw that the kid
had actually written To: Mr. Baxter in the card- wow! I was pretty
stoked. Small acts of kindness go a long way-especially when the
receiver has had a long day. So go perform a random act of kindness
today!

Tonight is Brad Paisley at the Sommet Center. Tara, James and I will
be going; it should be a lot of fun!

Further, Ishmael Beah is speaking st Vanderbilt on Monday at 5:30pm st
Ingram Hall at Blair. You should go see him and listen to his
incredible story. He wrote a book called "A Long Way Gone" that
detailed his family's capture by the rebels in Sierra Leon and his
transformation into a Boy Soldier in the civil war that broke out
there in the 90s. Its a chilling novel that will make you ask yourself
" if we didn't have any authority, would we all turn to savage living
and go crazy like these boys did?" Think Lord of the Flies bad. On
steriods. Or "brown-brown" ( a mix of gunpowder and cocaine that the
boys would snort during the war). Luckily, Beah was rescued by UNICEF
and they started the long rehab process that eventually brought him to
New York for college and gave him the chance to write his memoir.

Have a great day!