songofjoy02 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
songofjoy02) wrote2005-02-15 07:48 pm
songofjoy02) wrote2005-02-15 07:48 pm
Old Journal Bio
Hi, I'm a 21 y.o. full-time college student with a part-time job. I live at home with my parents and seven younger siblings. I'm also a Christian...I would have mentioned that first, but I hope that it's apparent. I did not attend school at all until I was 20, when I began college (Fall 2003, at a community college). I graduated from home school in 2000 and began Telos courses at the beginning of 2001, taking one course at a time (as I worked part time to pay for each of them) the entire year. I finished three courses: BLP101, BLP102, and CNS101. Although these twelve hours do not count in most places (certainly not where I'm going to school), I do believe they were beneficial...even if I'm not totally gung-ho about IBLP anymore. (Our family dropped out of ATI in 2002.)
I had been working in a doctor's office as a part-time receptionist since late 1998, so it was quite a change when I found out that the clinic would be closing at the end of 2001. At the time, I had already given a great deal of thought to what I believed the Lord desired me to do with my life, so I started looking for employment opportunities that I thought would help me prepare. But it was not to be. I had not even called a potential employer before my parents came to me with the announcement that they would like me to stay home for a year, working on home skills and studying. I am ashamed to say that I spent very little time studying and not as much time as I should have working. In spite of that, I did learn how to cook, I improved my sewing skills, and I developed closer relationships with many of the younger children.
I actually spent the last few months of that year (2002) here on LJ...well, not "on here," but I had a journal during that time and I did share some of my struggles. [Today, incidentally, is 05/25/2004.] In a lot of ways, that year at home was hard. I had spent enough time away from home to escape many of the recurring struggles we have had on a daily basis. Even if we were more perfect than we are, being with people 24/7 creates a lot more friction than most people can imagine...although it also has the potential for creating great unity if the people involved desire to achieve it. At any rate, the year at home certainly brought out many negative aspects of my character, the main two being pride and laziness. Those were good things to see because they made me think about my life and how it needed to change...
I also discovered that my "opiate" is books...in order to escape some of my questions and all of the turmoil of wondering how to fill my days profitably, I often spent a great deal of time reading. I'm not sure the reading was all bad and I still do that in spurts, but I know that the amount of time spent was not justifiable, especially because it kept me awake far longer than it should have...and I ended up getting up late without having had enough sleep.
At any rate, that's all my effort to make a short story long. The year was good, though. I got my fill of myself and decided that boredom was not the way to go. That was a wrongheaded approach, I'm afraid...despite many other proper motivations. I prayed long and hard about the next step. One thing I considered was law, but the Lord gave me a clear "no" (at least for now) on that, so...
But this is getting too long, so I'll edit it later.
Suffice it to say that I'm presently in school and enjoying it very much, although sometimes my life seems like a huge contradiction because who I am and what I'm doing seem so incongruous! Hard to explain while I'm falling asleep, though.
11.05.04 Update
I'm currently working two jobs and I spend about thirty plus hours on them each week, in addition to spending about twelve hours in class each week. Additional commitments are usually church-related (in the sense of the congregation I meet with regularly as well as involvement with other believers that I know), so I'm staying very busy. My journal entries are somewhat sporadic, and I post to whichever group of friends I feel would be most appropriate. Although I'm very opinionated, I do my best to avoid alienating people by avoiding coming across as if I intend something personally...even if I do.;-) Just kidding! (Well, maybe not.) Anyway, I try to be discerning in what I share with whom, but if anything bothers you, please let me know--in public or in private.
I'm having a hard time with life right now...not because of any special problems or circumstances, but because I'm generally overwhelmed with all the time commitments I've made. I'm not sure that my thinking is very clear (actually I'm pretty sure that it isn't) and I've struggled with a lot of negative thoughts lately, so I'm not in a very good position to share much of what goes through my mind on a regular basis, but I'm looking for something more positive. The Psychology and Sociology classes I'm taking right now have not had an entirely positive effect in this area! All that to say...um, I don't know what to say. Anyway, I hope that tells you a little about where I am right now. I'm here to challenge your thinking, to have my own thinking challenged, to encourage others, to be encouraged, to share details of everyday life, to read everyday journal entries, and to hone my writing skills.=D
I had been working in a doctor's office as a part-time receptionist since late 1998, so it was quite a change when I found out that the clinic would be closing at the end of 2001. At the time, I had already given a great deal of thought to what I believed the Lord desired me to do with my life, so I started looking for employment opportunities that I thought would help me prepare. But it was not to be. I had not even called a potential employer before my parents came to me with the announcement that they would like me to stay home for a year, working on home skills and studying. I am ashamed to say that I spent very little time studying and not as much time as I should have working. In spite of that, I did learn how to cook, I improved my sewing skills, and I developed closer relationships with many of the younger children.
I actually spent the last few months of that year (2002) here on LJ...well, not "on here," but I had a journal during that time and I did share some of my struggles. [Today, incidentally, is 05/25/2004.] In a lot of ways, that year at home was hard. I had spent enough time away from home to escape many of the recurring struggles we have had on a daily basis. Even if we were more perfect than we are, being with people 24/7 creates a lot more friction than most people can imagine...although it also has the potential for creating great unity if the people involved desire to achieve it. At any rate, the year at home certainly brought out many negative aspects of my character, the main two being pride and laziness. Those were good things to see because they made me think about my life and how it needed to change...
I also discovered that my "opiate" is books...in order to escape some of my questions and all of the turmoil of wondering how to fill my days profitably, I often spent a great deal of time reading. I'm not sure the reading was all bad and I still do that in spurts, but I know that the amount of time spent was not justifiable, especially because it kept me awake far longer than it should have...and I ended up getting up late without having had enough sleep.
At any rate, that's all my effort to make a short story long. The year was good, though. I got my fill of myself and decided that boredom was not the way to go. That was a wrongheaded approach, I'm afraid...despite many other proper motivations. I prayed long and hard about the next step. One thing I considered was law, but the Lord gave me a clear "no" (at least for now) on that, so...
But this is getting too long, so I'll edit it later.
Suffice it to say that I'm presently in school and enjoying it very much, although sometimes my life seems like a huge contradiction because who I am and what I'm doing seem so incongruous! Hard to explain while I'm falling asleep, though.
11.05.04 Update
I'm currently working two jobs and I spend about thirty plus hours on them each week, in addition to spending about twelve hours in class each week. Additional commitments are usually church-related (in the sense of the congregation I meet with regularly as well as involvement with other believers that I know), so I'm staying very busy. My journal entries are somewhat sporadic, and I post to whichever group of friends I feel would be most appropriate. Although I'm very opinionated, I do my best to avoid alienating people by avoiding coming across as if I intend something personally...even if I do.;-) Just kidding! (Well, maybe not.) Anyway, I try to be discerning in what I share with whom, but if anything bothers you, please let me know--in public or in private.
I'm having a hard time with life right now...not because of any special problems or circumstances, but because I'm generally overwhelmed with all the time commitments I've made. I'm not sure that my thinking is very clear (actually I'm pretty sure that it isn't) and I've struggled with a lot of negative thoughts lately, so I'm not in a very good position to share much of what goes through my mind on a regular basis, but I'm looking for something more positive. The Psychology and Sociology classes I'm taking right now have not had an entirely positive effect in this area! All that to say...um, I don't know what to say. Anyway, I hope that tells you a little about where I am right now. I'm here to challenge your thinking, to have my own thinking challenged, to encourage others, to be encouraged, to share details of everyday life, to read everyday journal entries, and to hone my writing skills.=D