Coming up for air...

So, this semester has stretched me beyond imagination, but the load is slowly but steadily lifting, and it appears that there is a light at the end of the tunnel! I have had a minimum of two exams every. single. week. since the beginning of September, with a paper or presentation due nearly every week as well, and at least two or three events for various organizations. Oh yeah, there is also my honors thesis, and then the whole applying for grad school thing....I just submitted one mega-application for funding, and I have a few more in the works. There is still a lot to be done, but I'm finally able to come up for air at least once in a while!

I truly cannot complain, though, because I really feel strongly about all of the things I am involved with (especially our chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology), and my classes (mammalogy, herpetology, entomology, plant-animal interactions, and a directed readings course in anthropology) are all a blast. I have just TWO assignments left, one short reading critique and a 20 page paper. Finals will be the least stressful time of this semester, actually, because by that time all of my assignments, presentations, etc will be behind me.

I have learned a lot of things in my classes this fall, but the most important thing I have taken away is renewed confidence in my career plans. I have been teaching a freshman class this semester, and I truly love it. I like sharing information on things that I am passionate about, and I like getting people engaged with new ideas and activities. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the wheels turning in a student's head as they pick up and process new information. I know that teaching freshmen is often seen as a chore, but I really like working with the "newbies." I have been a peer mentor for incoming freshmen through the Honors College for three years, and I never get tired of seeing people develop through their first year, it's amazing. They come in a little anxious, a little unsure of where they fit in, but very motivated to get involved and engaged in things. It is incredibly rewarding to get to act as a mentor to people as they start to search for their niche in the big wide world. My plan all along has been to pursue a faculty position, to combine research with teaching, and my experiences this semester have definitely helped me to assure myself that this is something I will be happy doing.

Next semester I'll get even more experience with teaching. (Plus, I will actually be getting paid for it in the spring!). This fall I am co-teaching a conservation biology-themed "success strategies" class with a professor, and a lot of what I do is mentoring and getting people involved in different organizations and events, lots of facilitating, etc. I have gotten to do things like designing assignments, finding readings, writing tests, etc, but there isn't much lecturing in the class, the curriculum is more based on projects and guest speakers. Next semester, though, I will be a teaching assistant for the freshman Organismal Biology course, I cannot wait! This will give me the chance to do more actual teaching, while still doing the mentoring stuff. And I'll be doing three sections instead of one, which will be great, because I really, really love working with people, I am endlessly fascinated by seeing how different individuals learn and process information in a million different ways. Maybe that's why I seem to have fallen in love with teaching, it's like a constant game trying to figure out how to explain information so that person X, Y, or Z "gets" it.

So, I know things have been slow around Pondering Pikaia lately, I have never before had a schedule that was so incredibly heavy. I had to move my alarm clock from my bedroom to my computer room, because it has become the routine for me to just work until I fall asleep on my desk. I have been itching to blog about several things, and I have a HUGE announcement to make soon, so I appreciate you bearing with me for this last home stretch of the semester. . .