Graduation...You may now call me Master Erin

Happy Monday!  To all my teacher friends, remember one more week, one more week!

To all my SPED friends who have recently become employed:  CONGRATS!!!! Your students are so lucky to have you!  I'm beyond excited for y'all!

To all my SPED friends who are still job hunting:  Chase the dream!  Don't give up on yourself and don't get down about rejection!  I was rejected twice last week and I'm still alive...eating more chocolate, but still alive <3  Remember, everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for us all.  *This is the mantra I repeat to myself after every mini break down:)*

This girl is allllllll done!

Graduation was about a month ago and let me tell you it feels so weird to be a graduate!  When I graduated last year with my history degree, it wasn't really graduation.  Yes, I was done with history, but I still had one year left of grad school.  Also, my summer research class started 4 days after graduation.  Total buzzkill :)

Graduation Day was beautiful!  It was amazing and emotional to be sitting among 37 ladies who have gone through your same journey and have been with you for 5 years.  We've built a pretty beautiful sisterhood and I wouldn't trade it for the world.


One of the beautiful things about going to a small school like TCNJ is that everything is personal.  Your professors know your name, your abilities, and your strengths.  It was awesome to see them all cheering for us and clapping for us because they know us.

One of our advisors created a PowerPoint movie featuring us teaching throughout our practicums.  It was so moving to watch all of your besties glowing in their pictures.  I've heard it said that if you want to find a time when someone looks their most beautiful, just watch them do what they love.  That is so true!  My fellow SPEDS were just incredible to watch in the video!  I can truly say that all of the students we get to teach will be lucky to have any of us.

I loved my time at TCNJ and will forever hold the friendships I have made close to my heart.  There's a beautiful quote from Wicked that says, "I don't know if I've been changed for the better, but I have been changed for good."  This is one of my favorite quotes because it is applicable across so many scenarios.  I use this as a break up mantra, too--I don't know if I'm better, but I know that I am good.  I think it is also a great friendship quote.  I've become a better person because of my time at TCNJ.  I have really become and embraced myself because of TCNJ.  I have met friends who have pulled out the very best in me and have showed me that it's okay to be a little weird ;)

TCNJ is a great school!  I've loved my time there and I have learned way more than I ever could have imagined.  There has not been a question on an interview that I have not been able to answer.

More TCNJ pride here than in any other place!  

Graduation started early, around 8:30 am.  While we were all waiting in the hallway, I took a minute to look around and really soak in everything we have all accomplished.  We earned a Masters degree at 23, we've student taught around the world, we've overcome obstacles both personally and professionally, and we all did it because of each other.  I credit my personal and professional success to Wednesday Girls Nites.  Thank you Applebees!  It's nice to know that you are not alone and that you have such wonderful people who are going through exactly what you're going through.

Pre graduation pics at the house!  TCNJ Balloons for the win<3

During the ceremony, we performed an ASL version of Whitney Houston's The Greatest Love of All and it was very moving.  It was even more moving because our beloved advisor, Dr. Cohen, was retiring.  We are his last group of SPEDS...God knows he won't forget US :)

After the ceremony came 100s of pictures and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.  YUM!

Later that night, we had our main ceremony.  I was surprised at how many people did not come back for the ceremony.  In their defense it is very impersonal because each school has their own graduation ceremony similar to our SPED ceremony.  It rained for exactly 3 minutes...and I mean down poured for 3 minutes.  Then, it was sunny again as we all processed in, listened to Dr. Fisher speak (TCNJ's speakers are all in house speakers...I had Dr. Fisher and he is one of the only professors who gave me a B and I felt like I earned that B more than I earned any A.  He's a toughie--but he's brilliant!!)

After graduation we went home and just relaxed.  The next day I went to work and then went to see Brad Paisley kill it in concert.

Me, Beth, Jaclyn, and Julie before graduation!

Molly, the nicest human on the planet<3

The best part of school are the friendships I have made

The bride-to-be!! So many pictures with this girl because we couldn't get any together last year  :(

Look at dem sleeves!

Dr. Cohen and his favorite blonde troublemakers 

Blonde friends best friends

Dr. Rotter and her girls

Dr. Rotter and more SPEDS

Most of the crew

Dr. Cohen, me, and Mrs. Cohen my advisor

Celebrating life in Lilly<3

My fellow Bachelorette buff

My better half<3

Da Brudder

Sans caps and gowns

"Yourself" with Dr. Cohen

Mia Familia

Huge Thanks to these two for all that they have done for me!!

Besties!

JESSS!!  The adopted SPED and one of my favorite humans

Brad Paisley the next night (in the rain) with Corinne<3
Also, shout out to my new TCNJ hat!  Happy Graduation Erin!

To the class of 2014, in the words of Elle Woods, "We did it!"  Congrats to all of us!  We worked hard and great things will come!

xoox,

E

When Classroom's Attack and Other Grad School Problems

Hey.

How was your Monday?  Were you as disappointed in the snow as I was?  Yes, I liked my snow day, but TCNJ didn't cancel so I still had class.

Today I was a total brat about having to go to TCNJ

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Not that bad, but kinda in the same vein.

As my time with grad school is coming to an end (I really do like school but I just want to be done and working), I am having a much less tolerant attitude for some nonsense and shenanigans than I previously have had.  

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Sometimes I also think my lecture hall is out to physically harm me...just a theory but an accurate one.

1.  Leave your trash on your desk.  What's the matter with you?  Do you think I wanna come in to class and sit behind your used coffee cup?  No.  No, I do not.  Do I want to sit behind your left over sandwich and orange rinds?  Nope.  The previous class' food du jour?  PIZZA!  SIX PIZZAS!  

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cower to the trash

2.  The Bang-Your-Shin-Chairs.  My classes this semester have confusing chairs!  I can't sit in them.  They swivel independent of your body control choices.  First you have to pull them sideways? 

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Next, you have to pull it back.

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Third don't wear a dress or skirt.  You will look like an heiress circa 2006 and be flashing people.

Fourth (there should never be 3 steps prior to you having to sit in a chair), you have to slide into the chair  like a classy lady

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Fifth (again, toooooo many steps) you need to make sure you follow preschool sitting rules:

• fold your hands
• feet flat on the floor
• do not kick your feet.

Why?  Oh, because if you so much as lift your feet off the ground you will send your shins colliding into the painful half desk and welp

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3.)  Being assigned readings that you have already read but can't remember the jist so you have to reread them.

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4.)  Not getting to park in the New Ed lot.  Ok, this is a real life first world problem right here.  Sometimes I don't get parking in the close lot and I have to walk half a mile to my class.  This annoys the bejeezus out of me.  Mostly because I feel like as a grad student I have the natural right to park in this lot.  I paid my dues.  This is the same logic that dictated the elementary school bus rules.  The 2nd, 5th, and 8th graders get to ride in the back of the bus because of Divine Right.   Usually I think Grease and use the whole The Rules Are There Are No Rules mantra and go the wrong way in the lot.  Rude?  Absolutely.  Necessary for sanity?  100%

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5.)  Not sitting at tables.  We now sit in a lecture hall with killer desks with equally malicious chairs who are undeserving of the soft cushy connotation previously held by those contraptions of demonic terror listed in number 2.  This girl likes her tables.  I like sitting with 4-6 of my closest friends discussing life, current events, family stuff, eye rolling, and fellow classmate people watching.

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Don't deny me my happiness, desks!

6.) When one of your friends is absent.  I'm not going to lie, I need all my people around me in class in order to function.  I feel like John Legend what would I do with out your smart mouth (ps that song is amazeballs and I'm guilty of jamming to it in my dorkily in my car) because we function better as a unit.  As I said before (in a delirious moment brought on by an annoying barrage of questions from The Questioner aka the person in your class that just asks nonsense questions for the sole purpose of prolonging class) This group runs on good looks and wit.  We just work better as a cohesive unit!  Like when one of your favorite sitcom stars goes away to shoot a movie and they say that they went on a work trip or something.  The show is still great, but it's not the same.

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7.) Non-Stop Question Asking.  I like a good question.  You know, breaks up a lecture, enhances my knowledge, gives me more questions.  I do not like 1005426260206 questions...from the SAME person.  Do not ask questions about your own personal life.  Do not district bash.  Be happy you have a job.  Your questions are annoying us all and we all want to cry when you speak.  A good way to self-assess?  Did I ask 25 questions in 10 minutes?  If the answer is yes, then yes you asked too many.  

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8.)  People who do not understand that the last 5 minutes of class is not the time to start asking all of your questions.  Class ends at 7:20, think like a deli-the grill closes 15 minutes before.  Grill is a euphemism for your questions.  7:05 end of questions.  Some of us girls have lives.  Some of us girls have The Bachelor to watch.  I need a full 40 minutes to get home.  Do not carve into my The Bachelor time.

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Anyway, complainy rant is over now.  In 2 days it will be TCNJ's Spring Break and I will get my nights free to do work.  

xoxo,

E

Why Grad School Is The Worst Boyfriend Ever

So grad school is...kicking my butt.  I'm 100% over it.  I'm not having a good time and I feel like the life is being sucked out of me.  Not fun.  Not even a little.  Not even at all.  Here's a list of the ways that Grad School is the worst boyfriend ever.

-You will leave your boyfriend's house (aka grad school) in tears at least once a week.  Not just little glistening ones, but full on waterworks.
-Your boyfriend (grad school) is difficult.  He's not very nice and he doesn't care.
-Your boyfriend (grad school) wants all of your attention.  You can't hang out with anyone else because all of your time is consumed with making them happy.
-Everyday you question why you two are together.
-You can't break up with him (grad school) because your cd's are in his truck (jk I just heart Dane Cook)!  You can't break up with him because you want him and he will be so attractive on your resume.
-You now owe him money. You wonder how you bought the $125,000 con and now realize that you owe him your life)
-He (grad school) keeps promising that next week he will be better.  He just has a lot on his syllabus (plate) this week.
-It doesn't get better next week...you just realize you have a whole different relationship (more school work) problem to face.
-No one is sympathetic to your situation because you chose this misery.
-Your friends, when grad School permits you to see them, are tired of hearing you complain about him.  -You are emotionally exhausted from staying up late with your grad School boyfriend and figuring out all of his problems.
-Grad School has made you ugly so that no one else wants to hang out with you.  You never knew that your eyes could have such big bags under them.  You never knew that you would have crazy stress induced acne again.
-You have nightmares about your boyfriend (grad school) all the time.  Seriously what happened to dreams about being a princess and eating all the candy you want and not gaining weight?  Where did those dreams go?
-You personally identify and dress like Carrie Bradshaw circa the depressing Mexican Best Friend Honeymoon in Sex and the City Movie.  Not exactly the kind of SJP fashion statement you were going for?  But your boyfriend (aka grad school) likes your new tired chic look.
-Your boyfriend (aka grad school) will constantly compare you to your other grad school friends...right. in. front. of. you.  You will be judged in front of your peers publicly.  You will then be expected to take it and use it to make yourself better.  You will feel bad about yourself and you will resent grad school because it is comparing you to your friends.  And you love your friends!!!
-Your self-esteem will be hit--HARD.  Your boyfriend (aka grad school) will destroy your self-esteem by giving you a B because your super awesome college self is just a drop in the pail in the grad school world.
-Your boyfriend will keep you up at night with worrying for COMPS, papers, work, projects, failing, passing, time...and the list goes on and on and on.
-You will become dependent on things like chocolate to get you through the day.
-Your boyfriend (aka grad school) makes you understand what Beyonce's delicious break up lyrics really mean.  You personally identify with Irreplaceable now more than ever.
-You wonder when you will feel like you are doing something right again.
-You and your boyfriend (aka grad school) don't have fun anymore...ever.
-You wish you weren't attracted to the pretty glow that is Grad School's attractive face.
-When your not with your boyfriend (aka grad school) you feel guilty and begin doing grad work.

The BONUS!  You become so close with your fellow bad relationship friends (aka grad school friends) that you bond over the most inane things.  I.E. You all now easily identifiable with your identical Zombie stares and are collectively rocking tired chic!  High fives for yoga pants and messy buns!

All in all you realize that Grad School is something you love and want but you just weren't prepared for how all encompassing and life draining this would be.  You are now a Dementor of fun and everyone knows to steer clear of you.

xoxo,

Dementor of Fun, Erin

Sunday Funday

Heyyyyy!!

      Happy Sunday!  Raise your hand if you don't want it to be Monday tomorrow!  *This girl is raising her hand*  I'm actually on Fall Break now from TCNJ.  However, Fall Break in grad school means you still have to edit a paper, read three articles and six chapters, and collect your thoughts for your jigsaw.  Plus, it means I still have to go to work.  I do love working though so that doesn't really count.  Anyway, enough complaining, my life's pretty fab.

    Today our family continued the long lasting Kitley Sunday Tradition of attending 10 am Mass, brunch, shopping, and concluding our day with some shopping.  Last week we discovered The Robin's Nest in Mt. Holly and we are hooked!  Last Sunday I had oatmeal raisin pancakes with strawberries and a mimosa.  The place is adorable!!  Think Victorian mixed with country.  Today Deb and I had Nutella Waffles.  O.M.G. Foodgasm!  I loved every minute of them.  They tasted like what I envision happiness to taste like.  Fantabulous, y'all!!

Deb & Me & Mimosas!

Nutella Waffles...OMG

Daddy In The Big Chair.
We may have done a little 3 Little Bears here...


Next, we went to Target for a little Halloween candy shopping and came across THESE GEMS!

Geishas Anyone?

I talked myself out of buying all of these Christmas Albums...
Self Control is Only Buying Michael Buble's Christmas Album

I have a confession to make.  For the past two days I have been listening to Christmas Jams and watching ABCFamily Christmas Movies on Netflix.  I also may or may not have added the ABCFamily 25 Days of Christmas lineup to my Lilly Pulitzer Agenda...

Then I saw the 2013 version of Skipper.  Skipper was blonde in my day kiddos.  Chelsea's name was also Kelly....hmmmmmm Mattel.....Is the 2013 Skipper gothic?  Idunno but in my day Whitney had brown hair...Skipper was blonde...P.S. Midge was also randomly at Target.  Midge, whereyabeen the past 40 years?

After Target Funday I had to return to reality because App Reviews won't write themselves honey.  I also may or may not have rewarded myself with ABCFamily's Holiday in Handcuffs.  :)  Pretty fab day!

Alrighty, I'm getting ready for bed so I can watch Hocus Pocus and The World Series.  Go Cards!  Have a Happy Last Day of The Weekend!!

xoxo,

e

Grad School and I: A Love Story

Once upon a time there was a blonde girl from South Jersey whose favorite childhood activity was teaching her American Girl Dolls the elementary school curriculum whilst wearing a tutu and matching tiara.  Longing for her students to actually answer her and DO their homework, she decided to turn her childhood passion into a career.  She decided to be a special education teacher.  Special Education was always a passion of the little blonde girl and since her mother was in the special education field, she decided to adopt this as her raison d'etre.  At 18, the little blonde girl gleefully accepted a spot in TCNJ's 5 year master's SPED (SPecial EDucation...aren't we creative at TCNJ where the "T" stands for The) program. Well, undergrad work was challenging but fun because I was enamored with all of my classes and professors.  This little blonde girl had found her niche!  She found the friends she was always meant to have (Type A compulsive planners!  Is there any other kind of friend?!), learned the things she was meant to learn, and laughed a LOT along the way.  All in all things were looking rosy for the little blonde girl.  Then, the evil cackling of Maleficent came thundering down...okay no wait, that's a different little blonde girl's fairytale.  In reality what happened is this little blonde girl and her cohort have to go to summer class.  Wahhhh!

Summer class is no fun.  Summer class is not for me.  Summer class is a boring research session.

Summer is supposed to be a compilation of bikinis, books (that are NOT for school), pools, sunscreen, and country music playing 24/7.  Summer is NOT supposed to be full of school, research, and notebooks.  No.  Just Stop.  This is a research class where we learn to use, read, and create qualitative and quantitative research.  Are you sleeping yet?  I am!  There are only 6 weeks of classes so it shouldn't be that bad, right?  WRONGO!  This is NOT the class to compress into a summer session.  This class needed 14 weeks because the workload is intense. On top of the increased workload, the class is group work heavy.  Being a social lady myself I enjoy group work.  I like everyone in my cohort so this shouldn't be a problem, right?  FALSE!  This would not be a problem if we were all still living at TCNJ.  Most SPEDs are moving home for their fifth year because we wanted student teaching placements that were closer to our respective houses i.e. future job market/prospects.  None of us live near each other making group work very difficult.  We all work/live/play about an hour away from here in different directions so meeting up will prove to be very challenging.  Oh well. 

The only bonus of this class is that I get to see my bestest friends twice a week for the next six weeks!  

Will the little blonde girl make it through the world's most boring class?  Will the prospect of reading readings about research methodology make her go crazy?  We soon shall see, we soon shall see.  

Here's to living happily (research free) ever after,

Erin

First Day of Grad School!!

Well, we're NOT in Kansas anymore ladies!  The first day of grad school was terrifying!  The best analogy I can concoct is that the first day of grad school is reminiscent of the first day of middle school. You go in feeling like a pretty confident and secure 6th grader...then you see all the "other, older 8th grade girls"and you freak out inside.  All these girls are older than you.  All these girls are more mature than you.  All these girls have more experience than you.  And suddenly you are transported back to walking through the doors at Delran Middle School wearing your Scooby-Doo overalls in a sea of actual teachers who are married, have children, actual careers and lives.  They pay big people bills, wake up early to feed their children, and have far more worries/cares/fears than I do.  Sooooo, what is one to do during the first day of 6th grade grad school?  CLING TO YOUR FRIENDS FOR DEAR LIFE!  I've said it before and I'll say it again, the girls in my cohort are seriously the best people in the world.  Truly the face of NJ teaching is blessed to have these women.  Truly the most caring, generous, creative, hilarious, sweet people of all time.  So my friends and I all huddle together in the back of the classroom.  We all exchange anxious glances and sideways eyes and get ready to buckle up because it's going to be a rough ride.  

The atmosphere was completely different than my regular undergrad classes at TCNJ.  In our regular classes the atmosphere is jovial and light and 22.  Last night's class was fun but more mature.  I have the feeling that no one will be bragging about their weekend being too rough in this room.  There was fear coursing through our veins last night.  Legit fear.  Not like my fear of rodents or cats, but real fear.  A fear that makes you sit up and realize that you don't know an ounce of what these people know.  

This class will make me work.  REALLY REALLY REALLY WORK!  I'm not saying that I don't work my butt off now, but I will be working harder than I've ever worked before.  It's usually pretty easy for me to get an A in a class but I have a feeling that I'm going to have to work overtime/extra long  and hard to get the kind of grades that I want.  

Our professor is awesome.  She is very knowledgeable and approachable but tough.  I know that I will learn an insane amount from her and I am blessed for that.  I also know that I will know what it means to work hard after having her as my professor.  She gave our class a very strong talking to and bestowed upon us a great amount of responsibility.  I'm sure this speech is given in 10000000's of classrooms and lecture halls around the globe and I know it's just to separate the girls from the women but it was still scaryHORRIFYING.  We had to do an activity with a partner, luckily my partner was my friend (phew), and our prof handed us a paper with 12 boxes on it.  The boxes all were filled with legal jargon and requested more concentrated answers then we knew.  We knew the meat and potatoes just not all the trimmings.  Everyone else seemed to know exactly what she was referring to.  The SPEDs just looked around like "holy crap, what have we gotten ourselves into!"

I am still excited about grad school, but I have my reservations about what it will actually be like once syllabus week is over.  Oh Lord I'm scared already and it's only syllabus week!  God help me the rest of the semester!  LOL  So long story short, I'm terrified but in a good way.  I still love my program and know that this is the best possible career path for me.  I am excited and can't wait to be a teacher.  I know that passing through this scary grad class full of real life grown ups is just a stepping stone towards being Dr. Erin Kitley, EdD.  I keep repeating Dori's mantra...Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming. 

xoxo,

Er