As one of my AP Lang class’s first assignments (part “getting to know you,” part “writing about specifics of your life”) I asked them to write a top 10 list…of anything. As an example, I made one of my own, and I thought it would be fun to share it below:
10. Housekeeping at a local gym. You don’t know hard work until you’ve had to provide washed and folded towels for the morning rush of Zumba moms. You don’t know crap until you’ve cleaned an elderly woman’s … accident in the shower.
9. Reporter for an independent college news site. My favorite story was when I investigated a flaw in the campus alert system after a small campus shooting incident. It was invigorating to interview sources and challenge the system.
8. Fitness Instructor at a Trampoline Park. Every Saturday morning for 6 months, I led classes of middle-aged women jumping and squatting and planking on trampolines. I woke up extra early just so I could drink enough coffee to muster the energy to motivate them. And I had some sweet playlists, too.
7. Online tutor. There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of students walking around in this world who I’ve impacted in a small way in an online tutoring session through Tutor.com. I’ll never know them, but we shared an experience together once of working through an essay, talking about an assignment, or maybe even just reassuring them that they won’t be overcome by their stress and workload.
6. Wedding DJ. When a friend gets married and asks you and a friend to play the music and entertain the crowd at their (very loud, energetic Colombian-American) wedding, you can’t say no. You can say no to the third drunken request for the Macarena.
5. Camp counselor. My favorite wake-up song for my campers: “I’m alive, alert, awake, enthusiastic” sung to the tune of “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” Yeah, it’s as annoying as it sounds.
4. Administrative Assistant. I was that person in the office who makes everyone else’s life easier. Coffee and catering? Office supplies? Event planning? I’m your girl.
3. Stock photo model. I participated in a few photo shoots for a family friend who took pictures for stock photography websites. I can be seen on various brochures and business sites as a face in a crowd, including with fake tears streaming down my face at a funeral.
2. Mission Trip Leader. All the ministry trips I’ve led have been in the United States to cities like Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Las Vegas. You gain a new perspective for your own hometown when you experience living on mission in another town.
1. Teaching English at Fremont Christian School. It is not an overstatement when I say this is my dream job. I believe I am living in the center of God’s call on my life.
Heart in Pilgrimage 