Change the Voices in Your Head

So I've used interim break to catch up on some things...like episodes of Glee. I've stayed up to date with the music (3 free songs a week on Freegal through the KDL library? best thing ever!) but I kind of conked out after the 2nd episode of the season. Anyway, I'm back on track, and ever since hearing Kurt and Blaine's version of "Perfect" by P!nk, I absolutely knew I had to have it. I've been playing it quite literally nonstop and I absolutely love it. You can find the lyrics and the clean version of the music video near the end of the post.

This song very succinctly sums up much of what has been occupying my head recently. I was really looking forward to a five-day weekend (aka interim break) before student teaching, but as always, I forgot what all that time off means: time for Andrea's mind to wander and go haywire and start worrying! Every freaking time. That's what the last several days have been full of. Mainly just me freaking out about student teaching and how nervous I am about it.

Let's just say that I'm not very confident about my ability to teach.

I'm good on the whole Spanish thing. I can speak it, I can understand, I can read and write it, but can I teach someone else how to speak/understand/read/write it? I'm not so sure. No, scratch that, I'm completely not sure. Student teaching will be the final test for whether or not this will become my career. I like to think that something else would have tipped me off sooner that I shouldn't pursue teaching, but who knows - maybe I'm just really good at faking things. I'm fairly sure that you can't fake student teaching, though.

I was Skype IMing with a great friend the other night about these exact feelings and when I said to her, "Everything that I've been working toward for 4 years could go up in flames," she responded with

"you're right."

That was SO not the answer I was looking for.
I was kind of upset with her and didn't respond, and then she had to leave and I didn't even say goodbye to her. I feel kind of bad about that. But I'm glad she said that to me, because she's right. I could find out that, after four years, several tests, a freaking lonely semester in Spain, and an entire semester of student teaching, maybe God has a different plan for me. I'm sincerely hoping that this is NOT the case, but if it is, I don't really have a choice, do I? It's not me who should be in charge of my life. I should really start learning to trust the One who sees everything at once and isn't constantly plagued by self-doubt.

This all brings me back to my original thought: no matter what happens, no matter if I am a success or a failure, there will always be someone who thinks I am perfect. Well, no one is perfect, but you know what I mean.

Perfect - P!nk (lyrics)

Made a wrong turn, once or twice
Dug my way out, blood and fire
Bad decisions, that's alright
Welcome to my silly life

Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood
Miss, no way it's all good, it didn't slow me down
Mistaken, always second guessing
Underestimated, look, I'm still around

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing you are perfect to me

You're so mean when you talk
About yourself, you are wrong
Change the voices in your head
Make them like you instead

So complicated, look how big you'll make it
Filled with so much hatred, such a tired game
It's enough, I've done all I can think of
Chased down all my demons, see you do the same

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me

The whole world stares while I swallow the fear
The only thing I should be drinking is an ice cold beer
So cool in lying and we tried, tried, tried
But we try too hard, it's a waste of my time

Done looking for the critics 'cause they're everywhere
They don't like my genes, they don't get my hair
Strange ourselves and we do it all the time
Why do we do that? Why do I do that? Why do I do that?

Ooh, pretty, pretty, pretty
Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me
You are perfect to me

You're perfect, you're perfect to me
Pretty, pretty please if you ever, ever feel
Like you're less than, less than perfect
Pretty, pretty please if you ever, ever feel
Like you're nothing, you are perfect to me

The Hope For These Times Project

Read through these lyrics first.

"These Times" by SafetySuit - Released January 10, 2012.
Lyrics:

These times will try hard to define me

And I'll try to hold my head up high

But I've seen despair here from the inside

And it's got a one track mind

And I have this feeling in my gut now

And I don't know what it is I'll find

Does anybody ever feel like

You're always one step behind?

Now I'm sitting alone here in my bed

I'm waiting for an answer I don't know that I'll get

I cannot stand to look in the mirror, I'm failing

I'm telling you these times are hard

But they will

And I know there's someone out there somewhere

Who has it much worse than I do

But I have a dream inside, a perfect life

I'd give anything just to work

It's like I'm only trynna dig my way out

Of all these thing I can't
And I am

Sitting alone here in my bed

I'm waiting for an answer I don't know that I'll get

I cannot stand to look in the mirrorI'm failing

I'm telling you these times are hard

But they will pass

They will pass

They will pass

These times are hard

But they will

These times will try hard to define me

But I will hold my head up high

Sitting alone here in my bed

I'm waitng for an answer I don't know that I'll get

I cannot stand to look in the mirror, I'm failing

I'm telling you these times are hard

But they will pass

And I know there's a reason

I just keep hoping it wont be long til I see it

And maybe if we throw up our hands and believe it

I'm telling you these times are hard

But they will pass

They will pass

They will pass

These times are hard

But they will pass

Now, watch the music video. 

The first time I saw this video was today. I was going to do a little bit of commentary on this song, but I don't think I need to anymore. 

As you saw in the video, people are reaching out to each other by stating their struggles, owning them, and declaring their hope for the future. These times will pass. I was inspired by that, and I want to start a bit of a social project: the Hope For These Times Project. Write down why these times are hard for you, take a picture of it, and email it to me. Then, write down the phrase "They will pass" on the other side (or another piece of paper), take a picture of it, and then email that photo to me too. (You can find my email address on the right-hand side near my picture, under the picture of the Eiffel Tower). My goal with this is to put these pictures in a post at a later date, provided that enough people participate. I'm sure there's a law somewhere that says I need your permission to post your photos online, so if you do participate (I very much hope you will), you'll need to let me know you're okay with me putting your pictures in my blog. While I would love to see your face in your photo (it lends so much credibility), I will understand if you keep your face out of your photo. I am 0% interested in knowing everyone's secrets. Hello, I put my OWN secrets online, I'm not digging for dirt. We can LITERALLY put a face on these universal struggles like they did in the video. This is what community is all about. 

So let's recap:

1. Send me 2 pictures: one of your struggle, and one of "They will pass."

2. Copy this phrase into the email: "I give Andrea the permission to use my photos." (or something similar)

3. Stay tuned for the Hope For These Times Project debut. :)

I'll even get you started:

S/W/F, 22, ISO BF w/ MP: Single in the Heart of the Calvin Bubble

Let me tell you, the Senior Scramble is in FULL SWING.
For those of you that are unfamiliar with the concept of the "senior scramble," it goes a little like this: In theory, this means that long-established couples tend to get engaged (or even married) during their senior year of college. In reality, it means EVERYWHERE YOU TURN, IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYONE IS GETTING ENGAGED AND MARRIED. Relationship changes appear daily on Facebook, engagement photos are everywhere, and save-the-dates arrive by the truckload.

What on earth is the single girl to do?!
a) Scream in frustration.
b) Find a man post-haste.
c) Repress feelings of abject loneliness with several gallons of ice cream.
d) all of the above

Yeeeaahhhh I know the REAL answer is secret option (e), "be patient and wait because God has a plan." But do you know how hard that is? I know some of you do. But some of you got married right out of high school. Or have had a steady boyfriend or girlfriend for the past several years. Or you're so high on single life that you'll probably close out this tab after this paragraph.

But for those of you that feel even remotely the same way I do...I promise this won't be a complain-fest. It will be a touch more sophisticated than that.

My heart is cleanly torn between two feelings. In one corner, I have a deep longing for a boyfriend/husband. Someone to be safe with, someone to alleviate this loneliness. But in the other corner, I am constantly reminded of the famous feminist saying: "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." And that almost makes me feel guilty for supposedly being so needy (at least, according this the standards of this highly individualistic society in which we live).

I can at least take comfort in knowing that I was created to have these feelings, no matter how unpleasant they are at the time. God created marriage specifically for the purpose of bringing two people together so that they wouldn't have to be lonely anymore. It's a relationship that goes so deep that you can only share it with one person. I long for that experience, that adventure of spending the rest of my life getting to know one person and trusting them with my whole self.

I'm aware that outside of the Calvin bubble, it's pretty rare to have these feelings at 22. Most people my age are focused on just having FUN. Dating casually, living day-to-day, maybe getting a college degree, but certainly not keeping their eyes peeled for their future spouse.

Ever since breaking up with my previous boyfriend, whenever people have asked, I've always said, "Nah, I'm too busy right now to have a boyfriend." And that's partially true. Calvin is a lot of work, especially heading into student teaching, and studying in Spain certainly would have been even more difficult than it already was if I had a boyfriend to miss on top of everything else.

But the other truth is that I don't have time to have a boyfriend like the ones I've had before. I can't be in a relationship that demands all of my time and all of my heart. At least, not at first. That was the problem with my last relationship - we pulled each other under far too quickly and we invested too much of our heart and emotions before it was wise to do so. Then, before either one of us realized what had happened, we were in too deep and didn't know how to come back to the surface without hurting ourselves and each other.

Being single is no longer a neutral state of being, at least for the female population. After the break-up, I spent hours upon hours thinking about what had happened and analyzing exactly what went wrong. Once I had sufficiently figured all that out, I knew how I would approach the next relationship and what behavior I would avoid this time around. But here's the thing: How long do I have to wait for this next relationship? The longer singlehood lasts, the more intensely I worry about WHY I'm single. Is it my schedule/lack of social life? Is it one of my personality traits? Or, heaven forbid, does no one find me attractive? (Be honest. No matter how much those inspirational one-liners try to convince you that beauty is all on the inside, you often wonder this too).

Again I come back to the discrepancy of how easy it is to believe the lies and doubts (like the ones I mentioned above) and how hard it is to remember the truth: God DOES have a plan. He's got my whole life mapped out and even though it seems like I am an eternity away from being married, He tells me to be patient. Be patient, I'm leading you two toward each other. Be patient, you'll find each other at the time that I know is best. Be patient, I got this.

It's so hard to remember that. But if I don't, I'd probably go (more) crazy with worrying.

I pray every night that God will reveal to me my husband. Not immediately, because I know THAT'S not going to happen. But I pray that anyway, possibly for my own peace of mind, that God will not make me be single for my entire life. Kind of like how, for a friend of mine who absolutely loves children, I pray that God would protect her and keep her safe and never allow anything to happen that would make her unable to have children.

I like to think that God wouldn't do this though. Maybe that's too arrogant of me, to think I know the mind of God, but God loves us and wants to absolutely shower us with blessings, right? Why would He want to keep me single when being married is one of the deepest desires of my heart? He'd better have a pretty darn big and awesome blessing headed my way if I don't get to be married.

So for now, I have to wait. And stop analyzing everything. Way easier said than done. :)
Thank you for reading through all of this agony. If it helps at least one person, to know that maybe you're not the only one feeling the way you do, then this has been worth it. If people would just be more honest, we'd all find out a lot quicker that most human experiences and emotions are universal. :)

Stories from Growing Up: My Parents Must Have Gotten Quite a Kick Out of Me

After an afternoon spent in the baby books, I have unearthed a number of charming, adorable, ridiculous, and alarming things that I did in my childhood and of which my mother managed to capture photographic evidence. Here, for your reading pleasure, are a few of the highlights:

- Sleeping sideways in my crib with my legs sticking out through the bars (8.5 months)
- Offering my right index finger to a baby cow at a petting zoo (18 months)
- Combing/pulling my Aunt Jayne's hair with a doll hairbrush (2 yrs)
- Helping Mom pay the bills (2.5 yrs)
- Riding the "alligator" (elevator) incessantly with Grandma while Dad visited Mom in the hospital during her pregnancy with Matthew (2.5 yrs)
- "Helping" Dad cut down the Christmas tree in 1992 with a saw that was as tall as I was (3 yrs)
- Reading a 9-month-old Matthew my favorite book, Milk and Cookies. (3 yrs. DEFINITELY NOT old enough to read)
- Drawing and coloring while on the john. The birth of my gift for multi-tasking. (3 yrs)
- Allowing myself to be bathed outside in a bucket while camping. (3.5 yrs)
- Sunbathing completely nude at Dad's cousin's cottage. In my defense, though, my suit was full of seaweed and sand and it was icky. (3.5 yrs)
- Wearing my birthday crown from preschool for an entire week. (4 yrs)
- Sledding down the porch steps on my very own custom-made sled run built by Dad. (4 yrs)
- Eating lunch at the kiddie table with Matthew and Grandma on Memorial Day 1994. (4.5 yrs)
- Losing my first pair of glasses. Found them three days later in Matthew's closet, where we had been playing House. Mom and Dad were not pleased. (5 yrs)
- Performing tests and operations on a 6-month-old Drew after he got back from a stay in the hospital. We had to make sure the real doctors did their job properly. (5 yrs)
- Ruining my perfect Kindergarten attendance record by staying in the hospital for a few days with a severe case of croup (viral infection of the trachea). I remember enjoying it though because I got lots of presents and I had a TV in my room. (6 yrs)

Beyond 6 years old, I couldn't find pictures of me doing weird things. I think it's because my mom couldn't snap the picture fast enough. It certainly wasn't because I stopped doing those weird things. :)

The Single Most Effective Youth Group Meeting I Ever Attended

7th grade was a pretty tumultous and exciting year for me. It was the first year of middle school and also the first year of youth group at my church. I absolutely LOVED going to youth group. My whole group of friends went to the same youth group because we all want to the same church and for us, it was just another excuse to hang out (as if we needed MORE of those). We had great leaders that liked to have as much fun as we did, and we played such great games. Plus, we thought the 8th graders were pretty awesome.

I'll always remember the Sunday night in which youth group became so much more than a social event. After playing a few games, the youth leaders ushered us into the sanctuary to explain what we would be doing that evening. They asked for 2 volunteers and they gave those students a set of slips of paper. Each slip stated the same three facts and the 2 volunteers had to come up to the rest of us and try to convince us that these three facts were true. If they were able to convince us, we would receive one of the slips of paper and we had to join the original 2 in convincing the others. If we refused to be convinced, we could tell them to go away and they had to try on someone else.

Now, these three facts were OUTRAGEOUS. I don't remember exactly what they were, but they were completely fictitious facts that no one in their right mind would believe. Things like, "If you brush your teeth with pickle juice 3 times a day for an entire year, you will receive special superhero powers," or "The sky is blue because a fleet of Smurfs wanted more blue in the world and decided to take a paintbrush to the sky and paint the whole thing blue." These are facts that no 7th grader would EVER believe.

I was not only a 7th grader, but a 7th grader that was far too smart for her own good (and secretly took pride in it). I allowed one of the volunteers to read their facts to me, but after hearing them and determining that they were completely ridiculous, I told them I wasn't convinced and to go away. Not a single self-respecting 7th grader, most especially myself, would embarrass themselves by deciding those facts were correct, I thought. I spent the rest of the activity avoiding the people holding the slips. I thought I was being pretty smart and cool and superior to those idiots falling for the trick.

The activity came to an end, and one of the leaders said, "Okay, now, all of you who managed to avoid the people with slips and not fall for the trap of those crazy facts should come over to this side of the sanctuary and follow me out to the Fellowship Room." I was pretty proud of myself and normally, the Fellowship Room is where we have dinner during youth group. I figured we were the first to go for dinner, but instead, our leader led us through the Fellowship Room and into one of the hallways. A few people started asking where we were going, but the leader wouldn't respond to us. We finally stopped at a dark classroom and once we were all inside, the leader locked the door behind him and told us that we wouldn't be leaving.

The classroom normally had a table and some chairs, as well as a bookshelf and a chalkboard. Tonight, though, all of the furniture was removed and the room was completely bare. The leader parked himself in front of the door and there was no way we were going to get around him or get his keys or anything. He had even duct-taped the light-switch so that we couldn't turn it on. A little bit of light came through the small window near the ceiling, but for the most part, it was pretty dark. There was nothing to do except sit down and wait.

We sat for a little while in silence, but we soon figured out that the leader didn't care if we talked. We tried to very subtly make a plan to get the leader's key away from him and unlock the door and escape, but hello. We were in a tiny classroom, it was dark, and the leader could TOTALLY hear us. But anyway, we hatched our plan in a corner of the room, which involved one of the 8th grade girls faking a searing stomach ache, which would ideally draw the leader over to her, at which point another 8th grade girl would try to jump on him and the rest of us would try to find his keys. It's a good thing we never managed to carry through with our plan because it surely would have ended up in injury and sexual harrassment claims.

It's hard to say how long we were trapped in that room since none of us had watches (and this was before every 10-year-old had a cell phone, of course). I like to think it was several hours, but the leaders were adamant that it was only 20 minutes. It probably seemed like so long because there was nothing to do and we were getting pretty edgy. When they FINALLY let us out, we were led to a section of the Fellowship Room that was cordoned off with the big metal curtains. It was mostly dark, just a lamp on, and we were served our dinner there. I'm 800% sure that we received a different dinner than what was actually provided by the parent volunteers that night. I mean, seriously, what loving parent is going to make a youth group dinner of bread, butter, cheese slices, and unsalted potato chips?!

Once we had finished eating (or refused to eat, as was the case with a couple of the mouthier girls), we were led back to the Fellowship Room where the rest of the students and leaders were waiting. Thankfully, the REAL dinner was waiting too and those of us that got the less-than-satisfactory dinner eagerly filled up our plates and sat down. The leaders started out by reviewing what the activity was and what it was all for. Even this way-too-smart-for-her-own-good girl didn't see this coming:

It was a role-play of what happens when a Christian witnesses to a non-Christian. The students that agreed to the facts that were read to them became "Christians" and got to go to "Heaven." Those of us that stubbornly refused, like me, where relegated to "Hell," or that dark classroom. Those facts from the piece of paper seemed completely ludicrous to me, the facts of Christianity seem completely ludicrous to someone who hasn't grown up hearing them all their lives. A man that came to earth who never did anything wrong that went on to die on a cross in exchange for all the bad things that every person in the world had ever done? And then he ROSE from the dead and now lives in a place called Heaven? And has a father who is also part of himself, but sits in a separate chair in Heaven? And who is everywhere at once? AND KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT I'M DOING AND THINKING AT EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY?!

Girl, please.

My first reaction was "How did I not see this coming?!"
My second thought was "Whoa. That was pretty cool."
But my third thought was "Uh oh, how do I know if I'm going to Heaven or Hell when I die?"

The rest of the night was dedicated to answering our questions about the implications of the activity we had just participated in. I was too chicken to ask them directly how I'm supposed to know where I'm going, but thankfully, other students had the same fears as I and were much braver. I'll always remember that youth group meeting because it cut me to the spiritual core. I'm hoping that someday I'll have the opportunity to do this activity with future youth group kids. It was so simple, yet so intense.

Stories from Growing Up: Cabin

When I was about 8 or 9 years old, my neighborhood/school friend Amy and I became OBSESSED with playing a game that we called "Cabin." The cabin itself was actually just the space below my deck, but we brought some plastic chairs underneath and Amy found this old plastic tube-ring-thing that became our firepit. Sometimes there were blankets for beds (but we weren't allowed to bring our pillows outside), we had plastic sand pails for our sink, and we even took special care to bring our afternoon snacks outside so that they would be that day's meal. And remember, this is all taking place under my deck, the floor of which was all rocks. Every day after school we would start Cabin up again and each day we played became part of the title. So the fifth day would be Cabin Part 5, the sixth day Cabin Part 6, etc. I'm fairly sure we made it all the way up to the 70 or 80s. Any day that we couldn't play Cabin was like the worst day ever.

Cabin brought with it daily chores. We gathered sticks and pieces of wood for our fire. We "cleaned" and "painted" the Cabin with these old paintbrushes that my dad gave us. We scrounged around in the woods for vaguely edible-looking plants that would supplement our afternoon snack-meals. Dad caught on to this pretty quickly though and made us promise that we would never ever EVER put any of our pretend food in our mouths. Apparently, some of the berries were moderately poisonous. My brothers inadvertently became our part-time slaves (who is going to say no to a pair of scary 9-year-old girls, one of whom could out-shout anyone in the neighborhood and the other who had tattle power??). We may have even forced Drew, the youngest one, to be the cabin's dog from time to time. He was a good sport about it, though. At 4 years old, he just liked to be included.

At one point in the Cabin saga, Amy and I set off to "explore" the woods that had come to be the source of our food and firewood. After wandering for many minutes (surely in circles), we came to an area that contained the remnants of an old treehouse. This thing was legit. It was actually in the tree. But before the idea of climbing into the treehouse even crossed my mind (I was not very brave as a child), I remembered another piece of advice my dad had given me: "Don't touch things in the woods. They're dirty, they might be broken and you could get hurt, and animals live in there." Had I been a braver soul, like Amy, that old broken-down treehouse might have become Summer House: Part 1, but I was far more content to stay on the ground and return to the Cabin.

I'm not exactly sure why we stopped playing Cabin, but I think it had to do with winter and snow. I'm definitely a sissy when it comes to playing outside in cold temperatures, so we put the game on hold for awhile. Once spring rolled around, we picked it up again from time to time, but with considerably less enthusiasm. I'm sure we had something else cooked up in our minds, so it was all okay.

Two things reminded me of the importance of imagination today, and one was the pile of dry sticks that I found in a corner of the area below our deck. I was about to go back into the house, when I decided to take a quick look around underneath. I saw those sticks and it felt like yesterday was Cabin: Part 78 (or however far we got). Why was I outside in my backyard in the middle of January? I heard our next door neighbor twins shrieking and giggling and yelling at each other as we were finishing up dinner. I put on my coat and gloves and went outside to say hi. Within ten seconds I was pulled into some strange 3-year-olds' land in which I was declared the dad because "your voice sounds like my daddy's." (thanks, Lilly...) I only lasted in the Arctic conditions for about 15 minutes, and luckily the girls had to go inside for dinner, but for 15 minutes, I was operating in imagination. I didn't have to worry about how much homework I still had to do, what insane task would be set before us in class the following day to be completed in not enough time, my upcoming student teaching, doctor's appointments, or any of the other things that plague the minds of those of us who do not dwell long enough in our imaginations.

So thanks to my 3-year-olds next door (and a pile of sticks), I remembered this: Imagination is a "use it or lose it" concept. Imagination is never boring. And you are the only one who can set the limits on imagination.

Tips and Advice for the Spanish OPI

If you're one of my regular readers and aren't seeking advice for taking the OPI, you may as well just turn back now. I promise I'll post again soon. :)

I was looking through my statistics and page traffic, and quite a few people have stumbled across my blog because they typed "spanish opi help" into a search engine and my blog showed up. So I figured, why not write a post that they can actually use instead of them just clicking their 'back' button in frustration?

These tips and tricks and advice aren't in any particular order. I just wrote them down as they came to me. I took the OPIc (computer version) in May 2011, but I never took the phone OPI. If my advice is only applicable to the OPIc, I'll make sure to note that at the beginning.

1. If you need an Advanced Low for the OPI, the two biggest things that you will be evaluated on are your ability to use the preterite and imperfect tenses correctly and the ability to maintain the tense you're speaking in. Making errors in the preterite/imperfect is what separates Advanced Lows from Intermediate Highs. Reverting to an easier tense (often the present) is common for speakers when they get nervous or flustered while in the middle of answering a question. This will separate the Ad Lows from the Int Highs as well.

2. Descriptions are key. They don't have to be lengthy, they just have to be grammatically correct. Make sure that you can consistently match your adjectives to your nouns (in number and gender) and that you maintain the verb tense. You may have a question asking you to describe something in the present, and then another question asking you to describe the same thing in the past. Practice describing objects or events with words that would make the listener picture the object or event clearly in their head.

3. Evaluators aren't going to mark you down for individual errors, like saying "las chicas buenos." But, if you continue to get your agreement wrong (combining masculine nouns with feminine adjectives, etc.), it becomes a pattern of errors and they WILL mark you down.

4. If you do make the occasional error, DON'T DWELL ON IT! Forget about it and move on. I know this is easier said than done (I could still tell you the individual errors I made on my OPI), but you have to do it. Otherwise, you'll lose your focus and possibly commit more errors. It's okay to correct yourself if you misspeak, but do it RIGHT AWAY ("vi a dos chicas buenos - em, buenas"). Going back to correct errors is going to reflect badly on your score and you'll end up getting lost in wherever you were in your answer. Remember, you won't get knocked down for stand-alone errors. Even native speakers trip up and misspeak from time to time.

5. For the OPIc (the computer version), you will be asked to select a few items that you are interested in (such as sports, activities, hobbies, etc) and they will generate your questions based on what you chose. That being said, choose things that you know how to talk about. You may know everything there is to know about a certain sport, but can you talk about it in Spanish? It might be better to choose things that you know a lot of vocabulary for instead of interests. I chose traveling because I knew how to talk about it, not because I was interested in it. Keep this in mind when it comes to that section of the test.

6. OPIc: You might get questions that have nothing to do with the items you chosen (computer programs aren't perfect). This happened to me, but you just gotta roll with it. Don't panic, just breathe. Even if you don't know anything about the topic, there are still things that you CAN say so that you don't end up just sitting silent for the whole question. There is a certain amount of wiggle room when it comes to the questions. For example, if you were asked how to perform a certain function on a cell phone (true question from my friend's OPI), you can straight-out say that you are technologically illiterate and haven't the faintest clue of how to use your phone. But don't stop there. Go on to say that you would consult a friend who's good with technology and describe the questions you would ask him about the function. Just make sure that you don't get too far away from the question and that you stay within the time limit. Remember, they're looking for grammatical accuracy, not necessarily truth.
----> A lot of #5 and #6 is applicable to the phone OPI as well, but your interviewer can't ask you about things you don't bring up in the conversation. So when they ask you what you're interested in, remember to say something that you can talk about, even if it's not something you enjoy.

7. OPIc: Speaking of time limits...make sure that you stay within them. Finishing a question before the time runs out is ALWAYS better than having the time run out on you. Practice completing sample questions in a timely fashion. If you're asked for a narration, make sure you fit in a beginning, a middle, and an end to your story before the time runs out. This just improves their perception of your ability to use the past tenses and maintain the verb tense. Babbling on and on to fill the empty space should be avoided at all costs.

8. If you don't know a certain word, circumlocute. Talk around it. Describe it. Try your very best to NOT say the word in English. That will get you marked down.

9. You are being evaluated on your ability to speak Spanish, not on your ability to tell the truth. So if you're faced with a question to which you don't have a true answer (like a trip you took in an airplane or something), MAKE SOMETHING UP! That said, it IS more difficult to make things up in another language, but it's better than sitting silent and wracking your brain for memories. You may just have to start an answer and see where it takes you.

10. Always speak clearly and with a good pace. Nervous speakers will tend to speed up, but if you have the space left over in your brain, continually tell yourself to slow down. People always speak faster than they think they do. If the evaluator can't understand you because you're talking so fast, your whole answer goes out the window.

11. Another popular question type is the situation with a complication. One question would ask you what to do in a certain situation and then after you answer, the next question will say that that solution didn't work and it will ask for another one. This tests your ability to think on your feet. Your answer doesn't have to be creative or witty, it just has to apply to the question and be grammatically correct. For example, let's say that you finished your meal in a restaurant and when you went to pay, your credit card was denied and you don't have any cash. You offer to wash dishes to make up the debt, but the manager doesn't accept your offer. Now you have to think of a new one. To practice, come up with a bunch of scenarios and have your partner introduce a complication so that you can practice thinking quickly.

12. Most people that receive Intermediate High know how to use the preterite and imperfect correctly but they didn't provide sufficient examples of their knowledge. Time markers are key in these types of questions. Commit to memory a list of time words that belong specifically to one tense or the other. Like "ayer" would go with preterite, whereas "cada dia" would go with imperfect. Another good idea is to fit in one or two instances of sentences that have both tenses (just make sure you use them correctly). The most common is where you have one action interrupting another action (preterite interrupts imperfect). Try to use as many distinct examples of preterite and imperfect as you can, even if you have to make stuff up.

13. Try to use as many verb tenses as possible where appropriate. Preterite/imperfect is hammered pretty hard, but it's not a bad idea to use present, future, conditional, present perfect, and past perfect if you can make it natural. Just make sure that you know where each tense falls on the timeline (past perfect before preterite, present perfect before present, etc.)

14. Practice telling stories (even if it's only to yourself, still do it out loud) that have a clear beginning, middle and end. 

15. In the weeks leading up to the OPI, watch TV and movies in Spanish. More and more DVDs are equipped with Spanish dubbing these days, so switch it to Spanish and don't put any subtitles on. If you have access to Spanish-speaking television channels, watch an hour or two of news programs or shows that have lots of dialogue and conversation. It'll help more than you think.

I hope this list of tips has been helpful to you and best of luck on your OPI!

A DeVries/Campo/Barnhill/Fisher/Guinazzo Christmas

Not much to report. Just your typical, wild, loud, rowdy family Christmas party. 

Oh, and the first legit snow of the new year. My lovely cousin Kari took a few photos of me frolicking in my new pink coat. :) If you want to see larger versions, just click on one of the photos, and a slideshow will appear where you click on the little thumbnail photos across the bottom. 

Happy New Year. :)