The Chronicles Of Nay

So I moved to Texas 10 years ago to teach. I moved right out of college and I didn’t know anyone here. Do you know how hard it is to make friends as adults? Being new to a new place when you meet people there are some questions that are asked of me pretty regularly. Here is a blog of some frequently asked questions.  In no particular order.

 

Q: What makes me happy?

A: lots of things: coffee, reading, friends and friend type gatherings to list a few. I love to play games, cards or board games!

 

Q: What are your future goals?

A: Honestly, what I am doing has always been my goal. As of right now I can’t imagine not teaching. I love what I do. If I do decide to leave the classroom though I would like to do child psychology and specialize in children of divorced families.

 

Q: Why did I decide to teach?

A: I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in like third grade. I had rough time in school, I didn’t enjoy going first and second grades, but I had an amazing third grade teacher and it changed so many things for me. I don’t remember why or how I decided I just know that I have wanted to teach since I could remember!

 

Q: Do you believe in love at first sight?

A: The simple answer, I don’t know. I think that we get a feeling of people and I think that we use that feeling to develop relationships with people. Is it love? I don’t know? But there is something that allows us to build a connection with people.

 

Q: Do you believe in horoscopes?

A: To some extent. I think that there is so much more to people, I do think that the alignment of the moon and the stars and the sun affect us in some ways. I don’t know if I believe completely in it like live or die by it, but I think there is some truth in it.

 

Q: What do you do to destress?

A: I spend time with people that are going to make me laugh! I enjoy laughing, but I also color or read or basically just do something that is going to take my mind off whatever is stressing me. My go to is usually do something to laugh!

 

Q: What kind of movies do you like?

A: I like comedy, sci-fi, suspense, action… but I love horror movies! Not the blood and guts kind but more the ones that make you sit back and think “aww damn… what!?!?” like silence of the lambs! The other ones I like are the ones that could actually happen, like the cable guy! Jk jk haha but really… that’s a creepy movie! But on a serious note. Saw, Think about it… creepy!

 

Q: What kind of books do you like?

A: good ones! Jk haha fiction, I don’t read a lot of nonfiction. I am not a big self-help kinda reader. I read a lot of young adult fiction because I like to be able to suggest books for my students. And because I am not a very fast reader and young adult books are easier reads!

 

Q: Who is someone you admire?

A: My grandma Cordy. She was my mom’s mom. She taught me many things. She taught me how to bake. She taught me how to get all the sticky stuff off a spoon without banging it on the side of the bowl! She taught me how to sew. She taught me how to pray and the thing that she never knew how much she showed me… but She taught me to trust in the lord always and no matter what. He didn’t say that he wouldn’t test you all he said is that he would go with you though your struggles. My grandma trusted that everything was in God’s hands and there was no need for anything but praying and an Aloe Vera plant!

 

Q: How did you decide to move to Fort Worth? Weren’t you scared?

A:  Well, FWISD offered me a job! Haha at the time New Mexico wasn’t offering jobs yet. They waited until like July to offer jobs. So, when I was at a job fair in April and a recruiter from FWISD was like “So… I think you need to come teach in Fort Worth. We will give you a signing bonus and a stipend to teach math you have any questions?” I was like “um… where is Fort Worth?” haha I talked it over with my parents and it just felt right. I wasn’t scared so much as excited and anxious. I didn’t realize all the things that were going to change at the time. When I moved and started working I realized I was in a new city, in a new house and starting a new career and I looked up and was like “damn! I’m like an actual adult!? When did this happen!?” but I never looked back! I definitely believe that I am where I am supposed to be!

 

Q: What has been the hardest part of being so far from your family?

A: A couple things 1) holidays! Not only the major ones but the little ones that we had family traditions for. 2) the fact that my dad can fix anything! My dad is a contractor and I am pretty sure that he has had every job under the sun! So my dad knows a lot about a lot of different things! When I moved in to my new house I didn’t realize all of the things that dad just knew how to do. I have learned how to do a lot of things, but I still know when I need to call in a professional! haha

 

Q: Do you ever get homesick?

A: yes, I do! No matter how old we get we still want our mommies! Haha I get homesick when I don’t feel good, when I am really stressed but sometimes the stupidest things make me home sick. Like I ate something that made me miss my family, or a commercial or smell. The good thing is with cell phones I can talk to my parents just about any time I want.

 

Q: Do you speak Spanish? Did you speak Spanish growing up?

A: yes, and kind of! I learned both English and Spanish when I was younger, but we didn’t speak Spanish much at my house. So, I am not very confident in my Spanish and I don’t consider myself fluent, but others that hear me speak do. I know enough to get by and I can understand pretty well. Usually if there is a word I don’t know I can find a similar word to replace it. We mostly spoke English in our house growing up but sometimes we would watch movies in Spanish. Shrek is pretty funny in Spanish! Haha

 

Q: Where is somewhere you would like to travel?

A: there are so many places, to list a few: I want to see the pyramids. I want to go to Greece, Ireland, Iceland, I wanna see the great wall of china!

 

Q: Given the opportunity would you change schools? Would you change districts?

A: As of right now, no. I believe that I am exactly where I need to be. The population of the students that I work with is mostly Hispanic and I feel like I can do the most good there. I am a Hispanic woman that has a college degree and I live on my own. I feel that a lot of my students need to see that!

 

Q: How did you get in to bowling?

A: Well we took a group of students to a bowling alley for a reward field trip. They had posters for bowling leagues up and that evening I was on my way home and I thought “self, a bowling league would be a great way to meet people!”. So I showed up to the bowling alley and was like “so how does one start in a bowling league?” the guy was like you come back next week and join a team.” He gave me some information about the different leagues and some insight as to what the fancy terms meant. So the following week I showed up and I was put on a team. They were super nice and helpful kinda showed me that there is more to just going up there and throwing the ball down the lane! It was a great way to meet people. Every week we played another team and there were always people just standing around talking! It was great! I made some great friends. I met a couple in that league that was super sweet and fun and when they found out that I didn’t have family near they started inviting me to family gatherings that they had. I got to know their family including her 2 sisters and their families.

 

Q: How did you get in to Pool?

A: One of the sisters that I met through the bowling family was super in to pool. One day they were like “hey wanna join our pool team” I was like “Um, I don’t really know much about pool other than like messing around at a bar!” They were like “no worries… we will teach you!” so I said sure and here we are!

 

Q: How long have you been playing sand volleyball?

A: About 9 years. A friend of mine was coaching volleyball at the time and was trying to learn more about it so her and one of her friends were playing and she invited me to join the team. That first year was a bit rough because we didn’t know the other people on the team but the following year I created my own team and it has been one of my favorite things!

 

Q: what is something you like to do in your free time?

A: I like to play games on my phone, read, take pictures, text or watch tv. During the summer I have so much free time, during the school year most of my free time is spent doing things for work.

 

Q: Do you collect anything?

A: When my grandma passed away I got her tea pot collection. So yes, I collect tea pots. I haven’t added many to her collection since I took it over but I have added a few.

 

Are there any other questions you have?