Always be Prepared

Old cliched sayings actually have truth behind them. A couple months ago I was forced to attend 7 hours of SAMA (Satori Alternatives to Managing Aggression) training. Essentially this taught us how to deescalate a potentially explosive situation by identifying with and finding a "win-win" situation with the student. Most of the verbal training was pretty common sense crap, but learning how to take down a dangerous student was pretty exhilarating, if not a bit awkward to practice.

I was in a class full of middle-aged men and women and these techniques required a lot of very in-your-face grabbing and throw downs. When I had to come from behind and slide down a woman's arms to grab her wrist, I just prayed I didn't do anything inappropriate or hurt her. At the time, I never really thought I would realistically use any of these strategies in school, so I ignored the trainer's recommendation to keep practicing the strategies every couple weeks.

A couple days ago, one of our quieter students refused to enter school when his mom dropped him off. my 2 co-workers were checking in students while I was watching the classroom with some other students. Over the radio I heard one of them say that they were "containing" the student in the hallway. Apparently he had been trying to run away and escape, but when the teachers were physically escorting him back to our class he began kicking my coworker's shins and struggling.

After 5 or so minutes, an Administrator got radioed to provide backup and documentation and the student was brought into our class. We rushed the other 2 students in the room to the other room so they would be safe. I was told to take my co-teacher's glasses, walkie, watch, and various other objects and put it in a safe area. He then motioned me over to get the student's feet to assist in the containment since the student was ramming himself into the door and resumed kicking my co-worker's shins. I grabbed the blue padded mat from the wall and set it up next to the student and then my mind went blank.

I couldn't remember whether to grab the kid's shins or his feet. After a couple seconds of deliberation, I grabbed his shins and waited. My co-teacher looked over and told me to grab the ankles, not the shins. I silently called myself an idiot for forgetting; especially with my assistant principal documenting what we were doing. As I steeled myself for my very first real-life containment, I felt a rush of adrenaline but also a sense of fear because my memory was still incredibly fuzzy on the positioning.

We ended up taking the student down quickly but gently and I had the kid's legs in a loose bear hug. For such a little 6th grader, the kid was surprisingly strong. I actually had to use a decent amount of pressure to keep his feet still, and I got rewarded with a jab to my jaw when an unexpected leg jerk caused my elbow to hit myself.

The first 5 minutes were fine because my blood was pumping and any pain was masked by adrenaline. Unfortunately since one of my arms was resting under his legs, there was some crazy blood-constriction going on and I was soon finding myself shifting positions to try and keep from losing circulation. After 20 minutes, my coworker took a break from talking w/ the student and looked at me. He let me know that the proper positioning was having both hands on top of his legs cupping his bottom knee. Once again, I was exposed in my lack of knowledge. I sheepishly thanked him and did what he said.

Well, that position was a bit better, but the pain was no longer caused by blood loss, but cramping in the shoulders and upper back. I had to keep pressure, but make sure to keep loose enough to prevent the student from hurting himself from my weight so my arms were partly lifted to provide room to breath. Altogether, we spent 40 some minutes talking him down until he was calm enough to take his carrel.

The experience left me with the realization that no matter how unlikely we feel like we'll need to show our proficiency in something, if it's even a chance of happening, we need to keep sharp by preparing and honing our skills. That day I felt like the event really challenged me to re-evaluate even how ready I am to share my faith with people. Am I so close w/ him at this moment that I can share with conviction and relevance or is my faith the faded and almost-forgotten faith of the past?

Don't be jealous

Yesterday in February it was 77 degrees in Austin, TX. Just sayin'.

Thankfulness

I realized that this is going to be my 100th post. Just skimming back on my previous posts the past month, I couldn't help my but notice how completely depressing they've been. Hahaha. Before you think that I'm on the brink of depression, let me assure you, I am lovin' life. God has been doing great and amazing things in my life and in Austin. I would not trade any of my experiences both good AND bad for anything. (well, maybe to have Gambit's hair)

So to commemorate, I'm going to give God a quick shout-out for all the things I am thankful for stream-of-conscious style.

I'm thankful for...

I'm thankful for the beauty of creation,
I'm thankful for music that inspires us to dance,
I'm thankful for men and women who serve as role models for me,
I'm thankful for the sense of freedom I feel when I get to run barefoot outside.

I'm thankful for friends: both newly made ones and cherished old ones,
I'm thankful for a family that accepts me even despite my many flaws,
I'm thankful for community that spans distance and time zones,
I'm thankful for people who can speak into and encourage me.

I'm thankful for the salvation that I didn't have to earn,
I'm thankful for Love that is perfect and unceasing,
I'm thankful for the privilege of playing a part in His work,
I'm thankful that we can experience joy in the midst of suffering.

Feeling Old and Outdated

It's hard to really pinpoint the first time you start feeling old. One of the first warning signs starts flashing when your body takes an extra day or two longer to recover from an afternoon of sports. That warning light gets a little bit brighter when your same body can't do what you swore you could do a year ago.

Even if you're able to ignore the physical effects of getting older, it's a lot harder to deny the glaring signs when you interact with students 5-6 years younger than you. Case in point: I recently went to a free Swing Dance lesson on UT campus. Each time I met a new partner, we would exchange pleasantries and we would start asking questions as we practiced the moves.

"So what year are you?"
Ummm, I just recently graduated actually. I'm workin in the area.

"Oh that's cool, how old are you?"
How old do I look? (hoping desperately to switch subjects)

"Oh I don't know... 21?"
*nervous laughter* yeah that's pretty close. imactuallytwentyfive. Have you figured out what you wanted to study?

*uncomfortable look* Yeahhh... I'm thinking about X....

Most of the time when I meet undergrads and they find out how old I am, they always go, "Wow! You look like you're 18! I never would have guessed!" I guess that's a compliment, but it still feels weird when you realize they were just born in the late 1990s when Ace Ventura was funny.

Even things I used to hang my hat upon are no longer cutting edge. I recently saw all the videos that the Ann Arbor Undergrad Lifegroups made and wow... they are amazing. They were incredibly well planned, well shot, and well edited. Everything about them put my creations to shame.

It's a depressing feeling when you are no longer able to hang with the next generation, especially in something you used to take pride in. Maybe that's why old people always talk about "becoming mature". It gives them an excuse for not getting owned in the things they used to do all the time.

Overheard in the Classroom

Some of the kids were talking (without permission) to each other, sharing Yo Mamma jokes. Most were ones I'd heard before or were kinda lame, but one of them almost got me to laugh out loud.

"Yo mamma so fat, even the Lord can't lift her spirit"

Back from Retirement

Doing the whole creaming/pieing someone for their bday had grown a bit too immature for me the past couple years. Seeing the fun in assaulting someone and dirtying them up on their birthday had lost its appeal. Maybe it was maturity, or maybe it had gotten too easy... whatever the case, I had stopped masterminding such endeavors.

Now this February, there was such a glut of birthdays that the topic of creaming naturally came up. I got to relive the glory days of hunting ECho @ Palmer Field with supersoakers, cream, maple syrup, and various other kitchen goodies in a pseudo- Serengeti safari hunt. Also great were the back-and-forth ambushes while living at E. Ann between the different apartments.

When the idea was proposed to me to cream Yeoh for his bday, I chose to pass. 1st of all, a couple hours was far too short to plan and execute a proper creaming. Rookies think it's all in the moment the cream hits the face: no, it's the thrill of the chase and the look of fear in their eyes that a great pranker lives for.

Secondly, I had thought he had already been creamed before, so the novelty of getting creamed is no longer an excuse to do it. I've been called a jerk before, but not that big of one.

Anyways, as a bunch of people were celebrating's Yeoh's bday last week, Karen happened to mention she had never been creamed before. That piqued my attention, and I had half an ear open while we were playing around with our indoor basketball hoop (one of those nerf ones). Long story short, she had never been creamed, was extremely proud of that fact, and was bragging about how she was able to avoid them all.

At that moment, I decided to come back from retirement and help her REALLY celebrate her bday. All day, Jorgy, Holi and I tried coming up with a good plan, but nothing seemed like it would work. School was comin to a close and still nothing was flowin. It was lookin like things wouldn't work out.

That was until I had a vision on the drive home. I saw bums, cotton puffs, and tea. Earl Grey Tea.

THE PLAN
- Jorgy would be posted in the girl's apartment to serve as stalling/ decoy.
- camera set up facing doorway in bushes to record the scene.
- Holi would text us when Karen heads back from her meeting.
- Me (dressed as a bum) would be waiting by the dumpster across the street and slowly approach.
- After I cream, cotton puffs and sprinkles would be doused over her and then we would offer to help her clean (with a towel).
- We would then help her back to the apartment, asking if I could use their bathroom to wash up.
- Using that time in the bathroom, I would fill their showerhead with Earl Grey Tea (originally wanted chicken bouillon cubes) and as she showered, she would be covered in tea.

ACTUAL EVENTS

*my favorite part is listening to Tou Fue's breathless play-by-play commentary. Priceless*

The girl she was meeting with actually forgot to text us when she left so we totally missed her at the outside of the apartment. The video is what we had to do to salvage the creaming.





UPDATE ON TEABAGGING

- that night we never received any texts or calls regarding the shower so we were worried it didn't work. After testing the teabag in our apt, we realized we could only fit one teabag (rolled up tightly) into the showerhead, which ended up causing the shower to spray every way but where it was supposed to go.

A couple days later, KOk told us she thought the shower was broken so she had been using Jenny and Michelle's. FAIL

RESULTS and Lessons
1. Don't rely on girls. They will always mess things up.
2. Try untested ideas ahead of time. (teabag). Great ideas without proper execution will always backfire.
3. I have the hunger again.

True Colors

Just did an online color test from an article shared by P. Dave that is supposed to gauge a person's possible career paths based on his color choices. I was skeptical when I checked it out, but looking at the results below, it looks pretty legit.

Best Occupational Category

You're a CREATOR

Keywords

Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

2nd Best Occupational Category

You're a DOER

Keywords:

Emotionally Stable, Reliable, High Energy, Practical, Thrifty, and Persistent

These adventurous types prefer action-oriented, concrete problems rather than dealing with thought-provoking, ambiguous, abstract dilemmas. Fields of interest include mechanical, construction, and outdoor careers. They might also enjoy working with machines, tools, and equipment to repair or build something.

"Consistency"

The buzzword for today's teacher training session: consistency. Consistency in teachers leads to predictable students. Personally, I thought that was pretty hokey, but I get the point behind it.

When students know what to expect every day (rules, routine, etc) there is a sense of security. I've sat in on teachers who are amazing at developing that rhythm. Everything just seems to flow seamlessly into the next event and there's minimal disruption.

As I sat w/ some other teachers, we kinda realized that sometimes you develop that awareness of timing and rhythm through experience. Keep things simple, have clear expectations, and be consistent in all that you do.