2014 Goals and Wishes: Life Update

WOAH! It's been way too long. I'd like to start blogging regularly and thought I'd start by responding to my 2014 goals and wishes, as that was my last post.

Back in January of 2014, I wrote a list of goals and wishes that I had for 2014. As I reviewed the list, I was proud that I've actually accomplished a few of the items listed (though I'm still working on a few in 2015).

You can read the original post here:
http://lifeisfunnyexceptwhenitsnot.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-goals-and-wishes-for-2014.html?showComment=1397779987100


As for my 2014 Goals, I managed to become a substitute teaching (#6). I also started my career as a 10th Grade English teacher at a charter school (#7). And sadly, that's about it, from my list of 9 goals--I have no driver's license or car. I haven't eaten any healthier or exercised much. I haven't done the best job of staying in touch with friends due to my crazy new teacher work hours. Nor have I truly thought about grad school as I should.


As for my 2014 Wishes, I did go visit a friend in Boston (#1). And that's it. Sigh... wishes seem to be even harder than goals to come true.


For 2015,

• I'm saving up money for a car.
• Planning to use the summer break to explore my city more; hopefully I can fit in a Broadway show, concert, and some dancing, as well as catch up with old friends.

Bye for now! Hopefully, I'll be back to posting more than once every year and a half.

Best,
Fatuma
 

My Goals and Wishes for 2014

Screw, New Year's Resolutions! I never accomplish those things anyway. Taking the advice of a good friend, I'm instead going to share a list of feasible goals for myself. But why stop there? I'll also like to share some of my deepest wishes for this year. While a few may be unrealistic, I think it's important to maintain a bit of the dreamer in oneself even as one grows up and is forced to face the realities of adult life. *shudder*

Goals for 2014:

To be accomplished in 364 days, 52 weeks, 8, 736 hours, 524, 160 minutes, 31,449,600 seconds (let's stop here, shall we?):

1. Get my driver's license
2. Get a car so that said driver's license can be put to use
3. Start working out and maybe, just maybe, I'll stop feeling as if I'm 22-going-on-ancient
4. Apply to grad schools (whether or not I get in is up to the stars)
5. Read 25 books this year (I miss the days I use to go through 6-7 library books every 3 weeks. Those were the days.)
6. Apply to be a substitute teacher in NYC
7. Start my career as a teacher with my own classroom OR continue to get my Master's as a Literacy Specialist (depending on the stars)
8. Stay in touch with college friends (now that I've graduated, more effort is necessary to stay connected to those I care about)
9. Start eating healthier by eating vegetables at least once a month (No judging allowed! It's called baby steps, people!)

Wishes for 2014:

If wishes were fishes and I knew how the hell to fish, these are what I'll like to catch:

1. Travel! A road trip across the United States, backpacking across Europe and Asia, visit at least ONE new locale and have a bloody adventure!
2. If I'm forced to marry this year (parents are breathing down my back now that I've graduated), I hope to fall in love as well
3. See another Broadway show
4. Go out dancing--wildly and freely
5. A special, secret wish for a little brother (this one'll remain hidden in my heart, but writing things down, even cryptically gives them power.)
6. Feel more settled/comfortable with my culture and religion; no longer feel at odds or on the outside looking
7. See a play
8. Attend a concert for the first time

Well, that's my list. So far. I'll probably add to this continuously as I think of what it is that I want out of life this year.

Until next time, 

Fatuma

My Year: 2013

2013 was a pretty good year for me: full of stress, exhaustion, laughs, accomplishments, and joy. Want to re-take the journey with me. This time completely out of chronological order? =)

• Led the Pace University Vox Arts and Literary Magazine as Managing Editor in the publication of the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 issues

     

• Interned at Little Village Playhouse (June - August) during the SummerStage program, a theatre day camp for all school-aged children (5-18)

• Graduated from College with a 3.88 GPA and a dual Bachelors in English and Adolescent Education (December)
• Chosen as a recipient of the Grace M. Dell Award for Exceptional Graduating Seniors (May)
• Crashed the May Graduation Ceremony and fed my fellow Ed majors Gummi Life Savers Collisions and Ferrero Rocher chocolate during the speeches (May)
• Attended best friend's graduation (so damn proud of her) and she attended mine

• Survived student teaching full time at Valhalla Middle/High School (September - December) and even did pretty well
• Passed my last teaching certification exam (November)
• Learned to put on make-up (mostly)

• Discovered Bitstrips and Buzzfeed and Candy Crush (which I abhor)
• Started researching grad schools (November)
• Locked my coat in at work (in the cabinet that my boss clearly told us is usually locked and so to not put anything in there) and was forced to go home with a borrowed hoodie . . . in the rain (January)
• Maxed out my first credit card, then got another one

• Used holidays (and pretty much any occasion) as excuses to spend the day at BFF's house drinking Chai, eating yummy Desi food, and watching movies!
• Getting the chance to fly to Portland, Oregon to present my paper at the Sigma Tau Delta (English Honor's Society) 2013 Convention! (Also, staying in a hotel room for the first time.)

      

• Went hiking for the first time (and didn't die)
• Played UNO (passionately and aggressively) with co-workers instead of working
• Several fun outings with said co-workers, including a great Holiday party and Secret Santa gift exchange
• Saw Wicked on Broadway for the first time with some of my most FAVORITE people (aka the aforementioned co-workers)

• Little sister graduated from elementary and moved on to middle school, while baby sis started Kindergarten
• Ate a scrumptious Pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting that I'd received as a thank you gift from a pal (It was that good that I can still remember it like it was yesterday.)
• Got a great haul from the Pleasantville Fall Library Book Sale

• Started wearing contacts for the first time

I'm sure I'm missing a ton of things because it's those little moments, those that help you get through each day, that are what's really special (and that you never remember): the inside jokes at work, the coincidences that work in your favor, delicious food, chatting about an episode of your favorite show, and typical craziness of life. Think of it as collecting little stories of your life. The more stories you collect, the more you're living life. 

Yet, the most important criteria for a great year is accepting yourself and your life as it is while striving to make it as exciting and enjoyable for yourself as possible. Sounds a little contradictory, but I still think it makes sense. Love thy self and want everything and anything for thyself and you shall be happy, I think. 

Happy New Year! 

May this upcoming year be better, or at least just as good as this one, for you and me both!

Sweet Freedom of Soon-To-Be-Recent College Grad

It's really happening guys; I'm graduating. And I'm not referring to my crashing of a graduation ceremony like I did last May, but I will have completed all of my course work and will soon receive a diploma acknowledging that I have earned a B.A. in English and Adolescent Education.

So, what are my plans after graduating?

1. Finally get my driver's license.
2. Visit and apply to grad schools and decide where to go next Fall.
3. Catch up on my Korean dramas! See my To-Be-Watched list here.
4. Find short term employment, preferably in the field of education.
5. Get a gym membership and actual visit regularly (?)
6. Full-body checkups to make sure I'm not secretly dying.
7. READ for pleasure! Already started this one with The Memory Keeper's Daughter. See To-Be-Read list here.
8. Watch TV shows on my To-Be-Watched list, including American Horror Stories, Dexter, Homeland, Supernatural, Once Upon a Time, The Originals, and more!
9. Eat lots of popcorn and Gummi Lifesavers Collisions.
10. Clean my room.
11. Catch up with friends.

I'll have nine months to accomplish it all. Let's get started! Whoop, whoop!

Things I Google: How Do Camels Sleep With Transparent Eyelids?

I've always been fascinated by the camel. I mean, it's such a cool animal--humps that store water, feet that don't sink in sand, transparent eyelids, and major fans of the middle day of the work week.

I was riding the train home after a long day and I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep so very badly. However, I was wearing my contacts and trying not to sleep for fear of my contacts drying up and causing my eyeballs to fall out of head. At the time, I had recently gotten my contacts and wasn't used to them. Now, I know when eye doctors say don't sleep with your contacts in, they are not referring to 20 minute naps and that eyeballs don't easily fall out of heads (unless you're a zombie, which I am fairly sure I am not).

ANYWAY, my anxiety over sleeping with contacts led to me thinking how nice it would be if I had transparent eyelids like a camel that would allow my contacts to be oxygenated while I slept. I know, I know, it made absolutely no sense, but I did mention that I was exhausted right? How could I (and camels) sleep with transparent eyelids. There are very few things worst than trying to sleep with the sun in your eyes. I turned to my God of Extensive Wisdom, Google, for the answer. "How do camels sleep with transparent eyelids?" I asked.

 

Apparently, they have three eyelids and they're not the only ones. Dogs and many bird species have three eyelids as well--lower, upper, and an additional transparent one. So, that's how camels sleep. They use the transparent one when walking through the desert to protect their eyes against flying sand, but then bring down the normal one when they to sleep. Come one, say it with me, "Niiiiice!"