Monday, September 24, 2012
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Week of September 16-22
(Edited on 9/20/2012)
When I initially wrote this blog at around 11 p.m., I was having a hard time falling asleep. It was somewhere around midnight that I could even do so, meaning that I had around 5 hours of sleep, probably even less. An hour later, I caught the 6:15 bus, transferred to another one, and arrived somewhere before 7 a.m. I bought some breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, having only had a cup of coffee at home. Actually getting through security at the County Courthouse wasn't too bad, and I had filled the necessary form within 5 minutes of arrival, as I was to be there by 7:30. Within the hour, my group had left to go to the City Court. We then met with the judge, the plaintiff (a Tucson Police Officer), the defendant (who was convicted of a D.U.I. with Blood Alcohol Content over the legal limit), the Prosecutor, the Defense Attorney, and the Bailiff (there might've been someone else, but I can't remember). Of the potential jurors, we were narrowed down to a final six--the rest were either dismissed or asked to be part of a different jury. As far as names of the Plaintiff and Defendant are concerned... I probably shouldn't release that. Long story short, the defendant was found guilty of being over the legal limit (above 0.13, and our legal limit is 0.08), but we couldn't technically find her guilty of driving while impaired. It was over before 4:40, and my Struggle for the Presidency class would have been over by then.
Wednesday afternoon, I had a Study Session for Exam One in POL 206-- the class I'm a Preceptor for. Yes, I know I've mentioned that Preceptorship fact before... I guess that's a habit of mine. Anyhow, I figured that 10-15 people would show up, we'd just have a question and answer session, clear up a few things, and it'd all be good. There was around 40 students, at maximum, who came--we had to move from the prescheduled 3rd floor room in the Main Library to near what's called Manuel Pacheco Integrated Learning Center, or the ILC, which is basically a huge computer lab/part of the library. Though I completely forgot to go over the actual exam before I did all this, I knew from my experiences from spring semester and what we (Teacher's Assistants and Preceptors) discussed two days ago what to expect--the fact that the multiple-choice part of the exam wasn't that long was also very helpful. Once my mind shifted gears from "Oh, it's just questions and answers." to "They're looking for more details!", I gave them an overview of what'll be on the Exam and what all to expect without giving away too much. Admittedly, during that time and when it was over (even when I was trying to sleep, no less!), I was nervous over the idea that I said more than I should've. (On the other hand, when I was in this class as a student, I didn't even bother to show up to the study session, if there was one. Didn't hurt, though.) I have no idea how the other Preceptor, Kate Worland, fared. I'll try to remember to ask her how it went, and the exam itself for that matter.
As for my current writing project, Rosethorn, I'm hoping to have Chapter 4 done by the end of the week. As much as I hate to say this, it'll probably be shorter than the other chapters so far. This one is where the main characters--Alexander, Erin, James, David, and another character yet-to-be featured--and the rest of the first years are Sorted. I hadn't planned on who all those would be, aside from Katie Bell and Cormac McLaggen (both canon characters), the four I already mentioned, and the "dog pack"--Lucas Thompson and friends. As there's typically 40 in total, that's 30 more I have to figure out and 30 more that'll be there permanently. Yesterday, I started to write down some idea for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor; in Harry Potter, ever since Voldemort/Tom Riddle was denied the job, there was supposedly a curse placed on it that no teacher would be there holding that job for more than a year. So, in other words, the line of succession went like this (warning: spoilers ahead--read at your own risk):
(Character I need to make up [tentatively named Gérard Macmillan]) --> Quirrel --> Lockhart --> Lupin -->Moody Crouch, Jr. --> Umbridge --> Snape (Slughorn was the Potions Professor in Half-Blood Prince) --> Amycus Carrow. After the Battle of Hogwarts, with the death of Voldemort, the "curse" is broken. I should also state for the record that, yes, the Rosethorns and the Carrows are related by marriage--adding to what I said in Chapter 3, Flora and Hestia (the Carrow Twins) are third cousins to Alexander and Leo. Given what I have right now for the full story, I can't say too much about it but the Rosethorns are not proud of Alecto and Amycus Carrow (both of whom are Death Eaters); they love the rest of the family, though, and they feel likewise.
When I initially wrote this blog at around 11 p.m., I was having a hard time falling asleep. It was somewhere around midnight that I could even do so, meaning that I had around 5 hours of sleep, probably even less. An hour later, I caught the 6:15 bus, transferred to another one, and arrived somewhere before 7 a.m. I bought some breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, having only had a cup of coffee at home. Actually getting through security at the County Courthouse wasn't too bad, and I had filled the necessary form within 5 minutes of arrival, as I was to be there by 7:30. Within the hour, my group had left to go to the City Court. We then met with the judge, the plaintiff (a Tucson Police Officer), the defendant (who was convicted of a D.U.I. with Blood Alcohol Content over the legal limit), the Prosecutor, the Defense Attorney, and the Bailiff (there might've been someone else, but I can't remember). Of the potential jurors, we were narrowed down to a final six--the rest were either dismissed or asked to be part of a different jury. As far as names of the Plaintiff and Defendant are concerned... I probably shouldn't release that. Long story short, the defendant was found guilty of being over the legal limit (above 0.13, and our legal limit is 0.08), but we couldn't technically find her guilty of driving while impaired. It was over before 4:40, and my Struggle for the Presidency class would have been over by then.
Wednesday afternoon, I had a Study Session for Exam One in POL 206-- the class I'm a Preceptor for. Yes, I know I've mentioned that Preceptorship fact before... I guess that's a habit of mine. Anyhow, I figured that 10-15 people would show up, we'd just have a question and answer session, clear up a few things, and it'd all be good. There was around 40 students, at maximum, who came--we had to move from the prescheduled 3rd floor room in the Main Library to near what's called Manuel Pacheco Integrated Learning Center, or the ILC, which is basically a huge computer lab/part of the library. Though I completely forgot to go over the actual exam before I did all this, I knew from my experiences from spring semester and what we (Teacher's Assistants and Preceptors) discussed two days ago what to expect--the fact that the multiple-choice part of the exam wasn't that long was also very helpful. Once my mind shifted gears from "Oh, it's just questions and answers." to "They're looking for more details!", I gave them an overview of what'll be on the Exam and what all to expect without giving away too much. Admittedly, during that time and when it was over (even when I was trying to sleep, no less!), I was nervous over the idea that I said more than I should've. (On the other hand, when I was in this class as a student, I didn't even bother to show up to the study session, if there was one. Didn't hurt, though.) I have no idea how the other Preceptor, Kate Worland, fared. I'll try to remember to ask her how it went, and the exam itself for that matter.
As for my current writing project, Rosethorn, I'm hoping to have Chapter 4 done by the end of the week. As much as I hate to say this, it'll probably be shorter than the other chapters so far. This one is where the main characters--Alexander, Erin, James, David, and another character yet-to-be featured--and the rest of the first years are Sorted. I hadn't planned on who all those would be, aside from Katie Bell and Cormac McLaggen (both canon characters), the four I already mentioned, and the "dog pack"--Lucas Thompson and friends. As there's typically 40 in total, that's 30 more I have to figure out and 30 more that'll be there permanently. Yesterday, I started to write down some idea for the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor; in Harry Potter, ever since Voldemort/Tom Riddle was denied the job, there was supposedly a curse placed on it that no teacher would be there holding that job for more than a year. So, in other words, the line of succession went like this (warning: spoilers ahead--read at your own risk):
(Character I need to make up [tentatively named Gérard Macmillan]) --> Quirrel --> Lockhart --> Lupin -->
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Grace Outreach: The GO Center is almost ready to open!
As a bit of background information, my current Home Church (Grace To The Nations) was originally known as Grace Chapel starting from the late '60s (where the current Small Chapel is today) up until the late '90s. Beginning as a church that strove to reach not only the unsaved/those that had fallen from the things of God but the sort of people the average church at that time wouldn't necessarily associate with (hippies and the like), it became one that reached out towards literally dozens of nations and the Hispanic community. For a while, however, we had a dream of not only reaching the International Community outside of our border, but the one in Tucson. Soon, that dream will be realised.
In a partnership with Tucson Refugee Ministry (along with a bunch of of other groups and churches that I can't remember off the top of my head), we will open the GO Center in a couple of weeks!
In a partnership with Tucson Refugee Ministry (along with a bunch of of other groups and churches that I can't remember off the top of my head), we will open the GO Center in a couple of weeks!
- Our primary goal is to reach out and help two groups: Refugees and similar internationals, and local students (6th-12th grade, for the moment) that need tutoring.
- For the refugees, we'll be helping then with their English skills, how to find a job, helping them understand our culture, and other essential tasks. Likewise, I for one hope that the other volunteers here will be able to learn something from this group. Also, while we hope that those who don't know Christ will eventually become a Christian due to our influence, this is something they will hopefully choose on their own--we will not force this on them. For some, however, this conversion is precisely why they've had to leave their homes--something we're obligated to take into account.
- While we already have a thriving Youth Ministry, and from what I understand we had a school of some sorts here, we don't/no longer have dedicated tutors for our children. With this, they can have a place to do their homework, find people to help them, and (provided their work is done) can have a place to play and relax.
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