The Lighthearted Wanderer

Here's Part 1 if you missed it:  http://claudelaine26.blogspot.com/2016/04/extended-about-me-part-15.html My love for reading stemmed from both my desire to shut out the world around me, as well as learn about characters and places beyond my own experience. I am unsure whether my affinity for reading contributed to doing well in school, or the other way around, but I know that the more I read, the more I learned and the easier school became. Throughout elementary school, I became known as the “smart” girl, an identity that I wholeheartedly embraced because it focused on something positive with which I actually resonated. In addition, I found that one of the few things my parents could agree upon was that I was especially smart, so of course I did everything I could to provide them with examples of how this was true. This worked out well for me, because through my books, I learned about new worlds and experiences I wanted to have once I left California.  In third grade, m...

Hi Blog-world!  I found one of my first grad school papers in my google drive, simply titled "Story" (I'm guessing the prompt was to write a mini-autobiography?), and it provided some great Friday re-motivation, as well as some good material to kickstart the blog. Basically, it's a more in depth look at my story and how I came into student affairs, and for some reason I feel like it's a good time to review and acknowledge my history. Without further ado, here's part 1 of 5:  The beginning is always tough to read...but I'm a big believer in that our past and trials have significant impacts upon each person's development.  Next parts over the next few days :)  Many people are surprised to hear that I am an only child, and yet I feel that my status as an only child made a profound impact upon my life and how I developed into the person I am today. Perhaps due to being born on December 26, I always had to share my birthday with the excitement of the ...