Thesis Done, Utah History Day Judge, and how I did History in High School

I turned in my thesis on Friday! It is SO nice to have that off my chest. I am excited to have some more free time this week. Now I just have to pass the thesis and focus on the job hunt. I have an elementary instructor interview tomorrow at American Preparatory Academy. I was a judge for the Utah History Day state competition on Friday too. It was so cool to see all the exhibits and topics the students chose. I know I definitely did not know how to do historical research, use primary sources, or even develop a good thesis statement in high school. It's a shame we did not learn more about that. Even DBQs on AP tests really did not teach us how to look at primary sources. Yesterday was Mom's birthday so we had brunch at the Cheesecake Factory. I will update!

Easter Memories

I am officially done with my thesis and am now just fixing formatting errors! It is also the end of Spring Break which makes me sad. I will miss sleeping in. Today is Easter. I have missed my grandpa so much and I think of him a lot on every holiday. I miss doing egg hunts and dinner up at his house. We would decorate our own bags to put the eggs in. He had a big backyard too and put money in the eggs. I liked that better than the initialed and hard boiled eggs that were at the Grandparents' Cressall house. Today I am picking up Leanna and she is going to church with me. We are then having Easter dinner with Mom.

Being a Twin

For this Sunday's journal, I thought I would write about being a twin. My twin sister, Leanna, is definitely my best friend. It was always nice having her growing up with her by my side every step of the way. Even when we fought as teens and tried to develop our own lives and identities. I definitely miss living with her since she got married and moved out. It helps that I like her husband, David, and view him as a brother. She and her husband are going through an intense personal tragedy right now. I feel so deeply for them. I wish I could take away some of the pain. I am going with her to the doctor on Tuesday. I just wish she could see the wonderful woman that she is. I am so grateful for all the fun things we got to do together like go on our cruise to Mexico and when we both went to USU. On another note, I am editing my thesis and hope to turn it in by April 25! It is spring break, so no TAing at Summit either! I am going to try to write more personal stories from my life on this journal from now on!

JNSLC

I realized I pretty much did no blog on working for JNSLC last summer. Better late than never! I was a team advisor for the U.S. History and Government program. I had a group of 8 students who were in middle school and going into high school for both sessions. I was able to teach the Congressional Simulation for both sessions. Students were able to write, debate, and vote on their own bills. We went to field trips to National Archives, the Capitol, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Mount Vernon, and the monuments and memorials. On my day off I finished off all the things I had not yet seen in D.C. like Ford Theatre, National Cathedral, Supreme Court, White House visitor center. We also did challenge courses in Maryland that I thankfully did not have to do as a leader. The students also had leadership sessions where they learned leadership skills and made a PSA video in groups. It was an amazing experience and I will be coming back as a team advisor for both history and government and stem this summer. I made a lot of great friends from around the country. I am so grateful to get to teach social studies and live in D.C. for the summer!

General Conference!

This weekend I have been hunkered down watching General Conference. I am really trying to be inspired this session. I just did a lot of revising of my thesis this past week. I will also be applying for more teaching jobs. Next week is spring break!