On the Fast Track

I had my one and only Fast Track class today: Storytelling, 8am. I've only been in school for 2 semesters, and last semester's Fast Track weekend wasn't so exciting. This one, however, was pretty cool. We each had to pick a story to tell from memory this weekend. The class was divided into 2 rooms and there were about 15 people in each room. I heard 14 different tales, and they were all unique and interesting. Most had some element of humor and it was a great stress reliever to laugh along with my classmates to some of the stories. It also made the nerves a little calmer when it was someone's turn to tell their story. One woman in our group told a heart-wrenching personal story about domestic abuse--many of us were practically in tears by the end of the story. It was so great though, to see how sharing a personal story such as the one this woman told, can aid in the healing process. So powerful!

After class, I went (along with many of my classmates) to the puppet show that was performed by 2 MLIS students in the SIS library. It was pretty good! The girls made some great voices for their characters, and the play (which they wrote themselves) was funny and well performed. I even got a free puppet kit, so now I can make my own puppet!

When the puppet show was over, a group of us--about 10 girls--went out to lunch. We ate a Lulu's Noodles, and it was so good. I love Thai food, and their Pad Thai isn't too bad. The girls I went to eat with are a pretty rowdy bunch, but it was amusing nonetheless. Then I had a hot hour ride home and more homework to look forward to.

I didn't sleep much last night either, so I am pretty beat. I couldn't fall asleep and then couldn't stay asleep, and all night I had dreams about storytelling! I wasn't too nervous to tell my story...I think I was more nervous that I wouldn't get the ending right...but I have been having trouble sleeping for some time now. I'm not sure if I'm just stressed out from school and work or if it's just that my sleep schedule has been really crazy the past few months. Whatever it is, I hope I get it figured out by August so I can rest up before another crazy semester starts!

And one last comment before I start working on some assignments...I went to the library in town today to find out if I could do a field placement in their children's library. I talked to this really nice old lady who works in the children's library, but she couldn't really tell me what I needed to know. She was so cute though, and talked to me for a long time about the library and was interested in the MLIS program at Pitt. I'm going to go back on Monday to talk with the library director. I hope they are able to give me a field placement! It would mean a couple less days traveling into Pittsburgh in the Spring, and would give me some public library experience before I (hopefully) get a job in the real world!