Hang Tough

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought I'd try and get it going again with a quick picture of my latest purchase.  It's for a great cause:

 

http://www.hangtough6644.org/

 

AE

Historical Interpretation - Blind Review

Last week was pretty rough.  I had a 7-9 page paper due and I struggled at harnessing my thoughts; not to mention I didn't have the time I would have liked to work on the paper.  All that stress came to head, leading to another discussion about our goals with Mrs. AE.  I love her to death, and sometimes I feel guilty for taking on so many things in my life.  She never complains and always encourages me, but I know deep down she gets frustrated with my indecisions and over-activity!  School is getting stressful, I have opportunities at Engineering Company that I never thought I'd have, the job market for social studies teachers is poor, I just got a raise and I'm over-loaded with a multitude of commitments.  Despite all that stuff, I was able to turn in a decent paper.

Last Monday we brought copies of our paper to class without our names on them for doing blind reviews.  I was lucky enough to have my paper reviewed by four different groups... It received ratings from B+ to A-... It was the encouragement I needed for sure.  I feel pretty good about my work after reading some of the other papers as well.  I'm not trying to degrade my classmates, but a lot of the papers were definitely subpar.  I'm only saying that because it's nice to know that there are people in the same boat as myself.  The blind review exercise was great, but now it's in the hands of our professor...

I'm at work right now, so I'll either get my paper posted over lunch or before the Twins demolish the Yankees this evening!

AE

P.S. Moss is boss.

From Left Field

Yesterday was my 1 year anniversary at Engineering Company since my return. I was hoping for a pay raise and a pat on the back, so that I could get back to my desk, finish the day and then concentrate on my next paper. I came out of my review an utterly confused person - well more confused than usual I suppose. An 8% pay raise was more than what I expected, but a compliment and suggestion that come from left field is what really surprised me.

Our discussion turned to continuing my education. Engineering Company's owners know that I'm in school; they know that I attended Associate Community College to finish my general education requirements. They simply asked what my plans are now that I'm done. Of course I couldn't tell them that I'm now taking history classes at Bachelor State. Instead, I just told them that I was torn between getting an accelerated bachelor's degree in Industrial Technology and going the more lengthy route of obtaining my bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

What came next is what has placed me into an even deeper state of confusion. They flat out told me that they want me to pursue my mechanical engineering degree at whatever pace I deem necessary. They've even offered to increase their educational reimbursement and would allow me to drop to 30 hours per week, when necessary, while maintaining full time employment status and benefits.

My instincts tell me to take them up on their offer, switch course and get into an engineering program with the intent of achieving partnership in the company. If I did that, I'd be going against everything that has steered me towards a career change in the first place, and that is avoiding the attraction of money and opportunity to do something on a daily basis that I truly enjoy. A poor job market for history teachers also doesn't make going to school for it any easier. For now I think I'm going to stay the course... but I can't promise that I won't bring up the word "partnership" to my company's owners in the very near future.

AE

Proby No More

This weekend we're having a garage sale at our fire hall to raise money for the department, so last night I headed down to drop some items off and to help get everything organized.  To my surprise, I was greeted with handshakes and congratulations.

 

I missed our monthly business meeting because of school last Monday; it turns out that it was announced that myself and my four fellow probies were voted on as official members of the fire department.  This is a photo of my new helmet!  All five of us received new lids instead of previously worn ones.  Money does not grow on trees on volunteer firefighting property, so this was a very nice surprise.  I'm lucky to be part of a great department with great firefighters; I was also extremely lucky to have such a great group of probies to go through training with.

 

AE

Interpreting the Atlantic Slave Trade

Looks like this is the topic for module two of my Historical Interpretation class.  The book for this section is The Atlantic Slave Trade, edited by David Northrup.  Looks like I don't have a paper due for a few weeks either.  I'm kind of looking forward to the break.  I say break, but of course there's still work.  However, reading and then having good class discussions is hardly work.  Adios for now... Still recovering from my fantasy football draft last night...

AE

Not a bad place to write a paper.

My First Post Via Email

Figured I'd test this out as I'm taking a break from work.  This could be a dangerous tool!  I'm currently in the process of filling out my performance review at work.  It'll be 1 year on September 14 that I've been back with my original company (roughly 11 years total).  I left my current job about 2 years ago for more opportunity and more money, unfortunately it was for a defense contractor that lost a major contract last summer.  That meant a 3 month vacation for me.  I was lucky enough to have maintained good relationships with my former employer and they graciously took me back.

I'm struggling on the all-too-familiar sections titled, "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" and "What are your goals for the coming year?"

Here's how I would like to answer the former question:

"I see myself as a partner in the company.  If I gain a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, industrial technology or business, is that a possibility?  If not, I see myself as just another qualified social studies teaching candidate, painstakingly looking for work."

And the latter:

"I would like to be set up with a computer at home, because I can do my job without any issues from my home office.  I would also like to switch to a 20-30 hour work week, with health benefits intact of course, so that I can attend school on more of a full-time basis."

Time will tell if I have the courage to copy and paste this post into my performance review.... For now though, it's back to work.

AE

My First "Proby" Call

My venture into firefighting officially began on Sunday, October 25 at a meet-and-greet inside the fire hall. That same day I turned 32 years old and ironically received badge number 32! Getting used to sleeping alongside a 24-7 pager took some time; I didn't sleep well the first few nights. Now don't get me wrong, we only get about 150 calls per year, but there was some anxiety waiting for the pager to go off for the first time nonetheless.

I missed two calls prior to my first response because they occurred while I was at work. One was a call about a gas smell and the other was in response to a carbon monoxide alarm. They weren't high-excitement calls, but being that I was eager to respond to my first call I was disappointed.

My time came on Friday, November 6, 2009. My wife and I were selecting our dinners from Pei Wei's website. We had been planning a nice night in with Chinese food and wine. Just when my wife was about to submit our order my pager went off.

I looked at her and asked, "Can I go?!"

"Of course!" she shouted.

Of course I knew I had to go as well, but how else would you expect a proby to react?! I was especially excited because the call was about a possible grass fire in someone's yard. What great experience I was about to get! I rushed down to the station (obeying all traffic laws of course ;)) and joined about eight other firefighters in a scene that must have resembled a costume change at an SNL taping. I had about half of my bunker gear on when our training officer came begrudgingly out of the office to break the news to us that the call had been cancelled. Apparently some passerby spotted a large bonfire that seemed a bit too big, but the police deemed it within the city's size restrictions. An emotional roller coaster indeed, but there's always next time. Unfortunately the other bad news is that our training officer gave the probies specific instructions for next time, "Come straight to the radio room, don't change and get out of everyone's way."

I have a long way to go.

AE

Dear Erin

Dear Erin,

I’m a thirty-one year old student at a local community college near my home. A few years back I decided to make a career change out of the corporate world and into public service. Because of my desire to help people and my belief that impacting kids early on is so crucial, I decided to pursue a teaching career. I’m currently enrolled in a class that is devoted to the history of the Holocaust. I thought it would be a perfect compliment to my pursuit of a history degree. What I’m finding, however, is that it may end up playing an intricate role in defining my future teaching methods. After watching the movie Freedom Writers, I became even more excited about educating teenagers. Although it is not directly about the history of the Holocaust, it has broadened my view of how a catastrophic event can be used to better our world. Your story directly justifies that belief.

I have become a proponent of the sociological imagination. In today’s world we are often too quick to pass judgment on someone or something without examining the historical background. Along that same line of thinking comes the ability to use history as a tool used to craft our own behaviors. You’ve shown me that the Holocaust is the ultimate, historical tool we have to influence young lives. By utilizing all of the Holocaust’s historical elements you were able to unite a substantially diverse classroom. The benefits of a book like Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, can only get you so far. By implementing venues like the Museum of Tolerance and its artifacts, movies and pictures, you effectively complimented what a book has to offer. You did not stop there. By providing your students with the ability to sit and talk with actual Holocaust survivors, you gave them an experience that only a few people will ever encounter.

Just like the Holocaust should never be forgotten, neither should your story. Finding out that none of your students were aware of what the Holocaust was must have been shocking. I cannot fathom an entire class of freshman being entirely oblivious to Nazi war crimes. This frightening realization is exactly why we should remember your story. Room 203 didn’t forget about the Holocaust – their families did. Proof, that if we fail to teach our youth about crimes against humanity the crimes will be forgotten – if they are forgotten, they will get repeated. We cannot just simply tell our children that we must not discriminate; we need to tell them why we must not discriminate. The Holocaust is the epitome of prejudice in human history. Learning about it is depressingly effective. Seeing such positive life transformations, like those of the Freedom Writers, come out of such evil acts vindicates the teaching of the Holocaust.

As morbid as it sounds, I can’t help but ask myself one question. With the benefit of hindsight, can it be possible that the magnitude of the Holocaust was a good thing? Of course that is easy for me to say as I sit in my own home, buy my own food, vote in elections and go to my own job. But what if the Holocaust hadn’t happened – this tremendous educational tool would not exist. And if the Holocaust hadn’t happened in the 1930s and 1940s, would one have happened in the 1950s or beyond? The simple fact is that it did happen – it’s what we decide to do with it that will perhaps define its true purpose. Strictly sympathizing with the victims is an act of pity, but utilizing the horrific magnitude to influence our youth for the good of humanity is honorary. You motivated a group of hopeless teenagers to show us that there is hope. Erin, you’ve chosen to honor the victims of the Holocaust by using their experiences to enable our youth to grasp the consequences of discrimination. That very act is worthy of honor itself. Thank you.

Why study the Holocaust?

An easy answer to this question is that the Holocaust is worth learning about so that something like it never happens again. I totally agree with that line of thinking. However, I also think that is the most important reason to learn about all facets of history. To better our lives and the lives of those around us, we must be willing to learn from our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others.

With all that said, I think there is another important reason for studying the Holocaust and other atrocities of its magnitude. By studying the Holocaust we are able to put our lives into perspective. This will probably seem like a comical example, but I will tell it anyway. A few weeks back we received over 4 inches of rain in just over 24 hours. Earlier this summer we had a bonfire patio installed at the edge of a steep hill. Five large retaining boulders were placed along the back edge of the patio to retain it. During the rain storm we lost two boulders down the hill and our patio started to sink due to a major washout. This all happened while I was reading All But My Life. At first I was extremely upset about what had happened, but I couldn't help but relate my situation to Gerda's. The situations obviously didn't compare and I soon realized how much young Gerda would have loved to be dealing with a lost boulder or two instead of her own predicament. I soon realized that things could be a lot worse in life.

So let the Holocaust serve as a reminder about how inhumane political extremists can influence a nation into an era of genocide, but let it also be a tool used to show us how to treat others and how to put our own lives into perspective. Think about the victims of the Holocaust the next time your car breaks down or the next time you are rude to someone else. The next time you are angry, stop and think about the Holocaust and ask yourself, is this really worth getting angry about?

Intro

Hey everyone,

My name is Eric. I'm keeping my first post very short since I'm extremely short on time since I'm traveling for my favorite holiday today. I've wanted to start a blog for some time now, but I thought I'd wait so that I could make my first post on the Fourth of July. So here it is!

You'll come to learn more about me as time goes on, but for now I'd like to share with you a paper that I wrote a while back for school. It's fitting for the 4th of July and was inspired by all of our soldiers here and abroad, past and present. It was more specifically inspired by the men of Easy Company in World War II. Enjoy...