I Wish I Had Been More Ambitious

Seeing as I have little else to do at the moment, I figure I'll toss a quick update on here. I am currently in South Jersey at the Wittwer house, spending quality time with the family and the North. I am hoping to get at least one interview while I am up here so that when I do leave South Carolina I have an income to look forward to. I can not imagine spending more than another month or so at the Aquarium working with some of the people I do. I feel bad for my boss and a couple of competent employees in my department, but other than that I can not wait to make my escape.
When Abby was here the other night, we were trying to explain the Wittwer side of the family to her, which was a silly idea on our part. There is no explaining the Wittwer side. However, this attempt led to my Mom breaking out the genealogical research she has been doing. It's fascinating. I've actually learned a lot of things I never knew about my family, specifically my Dad's side. I hope we can continue to trace the lineage beyond what we have now, which is the mid-1800's on both sides.
The reason I'm up here this week is for Michelle's graduation from high school. I can not believe how old my siblings are. It's surreal to see Chelle come home with a cap and gown or to have Ken drive me around. Chelle will be starting at Cedar Crest College in the fall, and I am very excited that she gets to live on campus and get the whole college experience that I missed out on. At the same time, I am urging Ken to consider applying to a variety of places. I feel like I was not ambitious enough in my college application process. I applied to Temple, West Chester, Elizabethtown, and Neumann and ended up going to Rowan and eventually Temple. I feel like I should have applied to schools in NYC or DC, gone somewhere regardless of how many people I knew there or its proximity to me. Knowing now how much debt I went into while trying to stay close to home and affordable, I think I could've spent a similar amount of money and actually gotten my money's worth. Therefore, I have been nudging Ken in that direction, because with his talent, grades, and work ethic, he can go places.
The reason Abby is up here is that she has an interview in Pittsburgh and the Crouch family is in PA. Unfortunately, I do not think I'll be able to see the Crouches as Abby is visiting them on the same day as Chelle's graduation. I will be able to join Abby in Pittsburgh for her interview next week. Hopefully we'll be able to get together at some point before Sunday (Chelle's party) so I can see the Weiss family and Abby can spend a little more time with my family.
I would really like to get together with some friends this week as well. I got to hang out with Deb this past weekend, which was cool. I have to get in touch with others and see what we can arrange. I am without a vehicle, which is putting a little hiccup in making plans. I was able to borrow Mom's car yesterday, and went to AP to visit some teachers. We were able to catch Mr. Rayer on his last ever day of teaching, Mr. Lauginiger, Mr. Morretta, and Mrs. Farr. Coincidentally, Mr. Farr was also at AP to drop something off for Mrs. Farr, and that had to have been the first time we saw him since our post-Europe BBQ at their place. I was quite pleased to see everyone we did. I still have a strong urge to get a degree in education, and if I were to do so, I would model my style after the aforementioned teachers and Mr. Poynton. Now, more than ever, I realize that I grew up in a low-income school district, but I also had some of the best, most dedicated teachers a student could ask for. Having heard a lot of horror stories from Abby and other friends in education over the past year or two, I don't feel like I made the right choice in changing majors. Instead, I feel a sense of obligation to take what I learned from my teachers at AP, and apply it to my own classroom. I feel that I should continue trying to get a higher-paying and more respectful job for now, but in the near future I should look into getting my Master's in Education.
I think that will do for this entry. I'd like to spend as much time with my family as I can while I am up here, because I don't know when my next opportunity will be. In the meantime, have a snazzy day and be good to each other.