Diving Into the First Week of Classes

Wow, it's here! The semester my 2014 cohort has been waiting for with mixed anticipation. Excited to be finally preparing for our Spring 2014 Student Teaching experience, I also felt a bit nervous coming into the semester. Before I even entered my first class Monday morning, I realized how important the success and dedication to the classwork this semester directly related to the success of my student teaching experience and ultimately my career.

On the personal side of things, the whole weekend before classes started, I had attended a national level  riding certification in Maryland with my two main horses. I have been riding and competing since I was very young and have been going through the certification levels, aiming to complete my final and top certification. The certification is incredibly rigorous and meticulous, making the certification itself very prestigious if one happens to pass the two day subjective test. Of course I've been working my whole life towards this goal, but I REALLY focused and trained this summer in every way I could, with every coach and instructor I could.

I was ready... I had this...and... I didn't pass.

I arrived exhausted and upset Sunday night into State College with my horse and trailer, unloaded my horse at the local boarding stable, and attempting to get a bit of sleep before my first Monday 8 am.

A week later, my emotions had time to chill and I've really thought about how this experience added to my first week of school. To date, I felt this was my most important test I had ever taken...and I failed it. Of course I was incredibly upset, frustrated, and had a little bit of anger thrown in there (although if you know me in person, you would probably have no idea), but these type of experiences make you want to WORK EVEN HARDER! I now have that inner angst to really keep training and riding with even more effort to become the absolute best I can be, but I also pledged to keep that same feeling through this last semester as I prepare for my student teaching experience. It goes back to the saying, "Good isn't good enough."

I walked into my 8 am class that Monday morning, AEE 412 Methods of Teaching Agriculture, with the most well-timed content matter that could possibly be presented in class, with activities based on positive mindset and success. I'd like to consider myself an optimistic person to begin with, but that couldn't have been timed better!

The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

~Vince Lombardi

What has impacted me the most this week? The incredible drive for success and progression towards perfection, being able to turn the failures into positive energy and come back running with even more speed. This pertains to every aspect of life, whether it's your sport of choice or your career preparation.

I'm really looking forward to making this semester a great one as I       prepare to be the best ag teacher (and rider) that I can be!