One Step Closer To The Big 3-0

Tomorrow, sometime around dinner time, I will officially turn 29 years old. At that point in time, the count down begins to the big 3-0. Yes, I realize I still have all of my 29th year to live, but really who cares about that?

I don't know if it's a big deal for most dudes, but I'm pretty sure it's a big deal for most girls to turn 30. When that day comes (a year and a day from now) my plan is to cheer (Whoo hoo, 30 is officially an adult!) and cry (Boo hoo, 30 is officially the death of childhood!) at the same time.

In the meantime, I intend to ignore the fact that 30 is creeping up on me. I plan to shove my fingers in my ears and sing "la, la, la, la, la" so that I do not remind myself that I have yet to accomplish all the things that my 10-year-old self set out to do by age 20. 'Cause really, who needs that kind of pressure anyway?

I hope to enjoy year 29 as much as I have the previous 28 years. I will not consider how old I've gotten (or how fat). Nor will I ponder how much longer I have to live on this Earth (or how many more year's I'll have to keep working. That's even more depressing than thinking about death).

Instead, I will take each day as it comes and hope for the best . . . like a knock on the door from Publisher's Clearinghouse or meeting my very own billionaire sugar daddy in line at McDonalds. Aren't those quite possibly the best things to hope for?

Tutoring Update - Face-to-Face with Student

I met my student tonight at Liliha McDonald's. He was running late because of the bus and called several times to let me know. I appreciated that a lot.

Prior to meeting him, I was a little anxious and intimidated especially since he is an ex-con (according to the Hawaii Literacy people). When we did meet, I have to admit that he does look a little indimidating. As with all stereotypes of ex-cons, he's got tattoos on his arms and is pretty built. In my over-active imagination I could picture him snapping someone in two. However, he is also a reverend, which I am sure is not a stereotype of people who have been in jail. Giving in to my suspicious and cynical nature, I just Googled him and found him in a picture on the website of a church. Apparently he really is an ex-con preacher.

Anyway, I also learned that this guy is a former boxer. He said he is a former state champ and now trains other people. He is currently training a 16-year-old girl, who is really good. It's hard to picture a minister and a boxer in the same person, but apprantly they do exist.

We talked for a little over an hour and agreed to meet Mondays and Fridays at 6:30 p.m. He wants to learn to read his minister's manual so he can perform his baptisms, weddings and funerals better. I'm not quite sure how one becomes a minster without being able to read well. But, I suppose God has his chosen people or whatever. I was happy that he didn't go all preachy on me. I think it's enough to be reading his manual. I really don't need to be converted too.

This Sunday is my last tutor class. We're supposed to discuss our meeting with our student. I wonder who other people were assigned. I'm not sure how I feel about tutoring my dude yet. We'll see how things go. On one hand, you can't really hold someone's prior actions or physical appearance against him/her. On the other, it takes a lot for people to change their lives and turn them around. All I can say is, we'll see.

Tutoring Update - Contacted the Student

I contacted my student today, who was assigned to me by Hawaii Literacy. We agreed to meet at McDonalds on Thursday night to get to know each other. We'll see how it goes. The student is an older guy so I'm not sure how he'll react to a younger person tutoring him. I'm not sure this is a right fit, but I'll go in with an open mind and see what happens.

While I'm not at liberty to discuss him at length, I have to admit that I don't really know much about him at this point. I was told that he is an ordained minister and is interested in learning to read the Bible. I'm not sure how he can be a minister and not know how to read. I'll have to ask him about it. He has had some drug issues in the past so I hope they are resolved. I was also told that he has other health problems.

I'm a little intimidated about meeting him, but I guess it should be okay. I don't really feel confident about being a tutor after only four days of training. It all seems so unprofessional. How can you let an untrained person take control of someone else's education? I know we're just helping them to read, but it still seems pretty weird that we're not trained.