It's spring semester?

So... I'm not sure how this happened, but it's spring semester! It's FEBRUARY. January was over so fast!

We're 2 weeks into spring now, so I guess I should post an update about all the things going on! There's a lot going on.

I'm taking 4 classes again, which is a lot of work but so far I'm managing. They are:

• Second Language Writing: As a writing tutor, I am really excited about what I'm going to learn in this class! So far it's been really interesting.
• History of the English Language: I love the super linguistics-focused classes, and this one is no exception! It's a night class on my longest day of the week but it's so worth it. I love this class!
• Practicum II: This is basically student teaching. I'm splitting mine between a Spanish 1100 class and an ESL Academic Writing class. Both very different experiences, so I'm excited to learn what I can from them!
• Capstone: This is basically preparing my portfolio. Which is a lot of work! If I could give advice to anyone in the program, it would be to get started early. Work on it over breaks. It's a lot. But it's kind of interesting too, and it's cool to think that this could be what I show future potential employers! It's a good way to reflect on how much I've learned in the program and how far I've come from just 2 years ago!

In addition to school, I'm presenting at two AL Talks this semester (February 13 and February 27). AL Talks are hosted by the Applied Linguistics department, and they're just sort of extra-curricular opportunities to learn a little more. Sometimes we have visiting professors or speakers and sometimes it's students in the program and sometimes it's other things. On February 13, I'm part of a student panel on technology in language teaching. On February 27, my classmate (also named Sara!) and I are presenting something about our curriculum development project from last semester.

On Valentine's Day, we have the Hawaii TESOL Conference... How romantic, right? The student panel on technology is presenting there, too. I'm so nervous! I've never presented at a real conference before. But it's exciting, too! 

That's about it as far as spring semester so far. Between four classes and work and everything I'm pretty busy! But I'm also so aware that this is my last semester and I want to enjoy everything Hawaii has to offer, so look out for some fun-stuff updates this semester as well :)

Speaking of fun stuff updates, I have two big ones to make about winter break! I got to visit Maui and Kauai, and I had a BLAST. Coming soon, I promise.