New House, Old Job

Trafton B.

May 21, 2010 - 1:27 PM

Before I begin, I should probably brief you all on the endlessly insurmountable load of course work I have to complete before the end of the quarter. I just calculated it all out and between my four classes I have four or five presentations to various professors, principals and board members and somewhere between forty and fifty pages of research papers, action plans and final reports to finalize over the next two and a half weeks. Long story short, there's no time for the "Week 8 Blues" this time around.

In the midst of all the insanity, I just heard tied of two other loose ends for the life after Spring Term 2010 - finding a summer internship and a new house for next fall.

For the internship, I signed on to teach another round of summer school courses in the Bay Area with Aim High. I've probably alluded to teaching at Aim High in previous blogs, but I forget if I've ever formally introduced the organization. Aim High is a non-profit, summer enrichment program with campuses located throughout San Francisco, Oakland and the South Peninsula. It's primarily an outreach program to serve underprivileged students and after 25 years in the business, they definitely know what their doing! The coolest part is that tuition is completely free and every single student has a tangible desire for being there and learning.

I'll be teaching 9th Grade Environmental Science classes, plus helping out with afternoon activities like drama, board games and field sports. Obviously my experience with the Climate Equity Team and ELP will come in handy this summer.

At first I was hesitant to return and I was legitimately searching for alternatives. Aim High was initially my fallback, but now I'm ready to get back in the classroom. Actually, I just received an email from one of my former advisees. She gave me a full report on her semester grades. "Straight A's and I think I worked really hard so I deserve it!" How can I not smile at that?

The other loose end is my roommates and I finally signed a lease on a new house for next year. Steven, Ross and I are trading out two of our roommates, Brian and Cam, for our friends Winston and Kevin. It's been a fun two years on 15th Alley, but it's time for a change of scenery. We're ready to move out of the West University neighborhood. It's a great place for a first home, but it's definitely meant for underclassmen. Now we're moving to 22nd & Willamette on College Hill. It's farther away from campus, but nothing too crazy. We'll just have to get used to riding the bus.

We're really excited, too, because the landlords at this new place really like us. Upon viewing the house, they actually lowered the rent because they wanted us to live there so badly. How awesome is that? ‘You like me, you really like me!'

We figure they liked us so much because our favorite parts of the house were the dishwasher and the laundry room - not the appliances themselves, but just the fact that they're there. Our current place has neither. Let's just say that hand washing dishes every day and making trips to the Laundromat for two years gets old....fast. Also, I was really excited about the backyard because it has serious potential to be turned into a garden. Later I found out that the owners both graduated with degrees in Landscape Architecture from the UO School of Architecture & the Allied Arts. I guess they agree.

If they want to have us, then we're more than happy to oblige - cheaper rent and one less thing to worry about. Plus, there's an extra room for a six person to move in. We're still deciding if we want to have even cheaper rent or pay a little extra to have a sweet lounge in the basement. Anyone need a place to stay next year?