7:00 Wake up. My iPhone alarm shouts me out of bed… and, at that, the day’s similarities with Western/American life end. 7:30 Set up and prepare the prayer room. I unlock the storage closet and set up the Yamaha mixer and amp, hook up the many meters of mic cords and speaker cables, and prepare […]
Life
Millennials (Pt. 3): Passion Tea and Passing Trains
This generation—we’re all on a train, really. The conductor on the intercom said the next stop is Destiny . . . but mile after aimless mile meander by the window, and the passing grass looks browner every minute. Well, while we’re both seated here, let’s talk. Okay, barista, I know working at Starbucks is not […]
Millennials (Pt. 2): Take a Step Way Back
Life in the 21st century is hard. Meet Grant (no, not the guy in the picture). Grant is a 25 year-old millennial. Six years ago, he turned away from an engineering career to follow his heart and work with children. Now after two years of teaching in a public school district, he’s struggling hard to […]
Millennials and “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy”
A recent CBS article reported millennials are more educated but less skilled than their predecessors. Last year, I read a poignant yet hilarious article on WaitButWhy.com called “Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy.” Thinking of the trajectory of my career as an educator and my personal journey as a young millennial, it’s prompted me to do […]
4 Tips from Veteran Teachers on Finishing Well
The hallway was misty dark. A lone security light shone. I walked into the front office of my school to clock in. It was quiet, too quiet. It’s odd how empty a school can feel without the familiar, raucous noise of children. On this teacher workday, though, what needed cleaning more than the walls of my […]
What’s Your Life Shaped Like? Thoughts on the Universe, Part II
To introduce our unit on cells and mathematical powers of ten, I showed my class the 1977 video “Powers of Ten.” The film shows the relative sizes of objects ranging from galaxies to protons and electrons. It’s astounding—Charles and Ray Eames created such a good film that it’s still relevant almost forty years later. In […]
Shouts, Stairs, and Tear Stains
“Where’s my phone? . . . Ugh, I left it in my car.” Relief would elude me a little longer at the end of this 11 hour day of teaching and a trip to Whole Foods. Having just gotten back to my apartment, I turned right around and exited the door. There was a racket […]
What’s your Life Shaped Like? Part I
1. 2. Which is your life shaped more like? Is it the Christmas ornament box, or the solar system planetarium? Choose wisely. Now it’s time for some thoughts on our universe. The two books theory says you can learn about God in two ways: (1) what he explicitly tells man; and (2) what He created. […]