People ask me, “So, how do you feel?” If I say depressed, that’s a bit melodramatic, but I wouldn’t say that I’m jumping for joy that I’ve entered into a new decade. Don’t misinterpret what I say though. I feel very lucky for all the people and things in my life right now, but I don’t think I was ready to turn thirty just yet. I can’t help but look back at how far I’ve come and realize just how much I still want to accomplish. I’m getting older, time is flying by, and I can’t make it stop.

I went from pretending I wasn’t different to immersing myself in everything Asian. I went from knowing next to nothing about Asian American history to developing a connection between the history and myself and understanding how I am perceived in this world. I went from strongly disliking the idea that everything I did reflected on my family to feeling such admiration for my parents and the struggles they went through to raise me. I went from being a voiceless girl to a woman who will speak her mind. I went from wanting to become a lawyer to developing a life-long career in education. I went from not knowing the injustices going on in our urban public school systems to devoting myself to addressing that issue for the past eight years, and I’m not done yet. When I think back about my pre-college, college, and post-college years, I realize that I have become a completely different person in each stage of my life. If you were to meet me in my pre-college years, you would not recognize me. I didn’t get here by myself though. My experiences with my parents, siblings, friends, teachers/professors, Brandeis, ASC, TFA, BGP, MATCH, Gund Kwok, NAAAP, Roger and even past boyfriends have helped me get me to a place where I feel very lucky and my heart sighs with relief.

The past few years have been a whirlwind of adult changes – engagement, wedding planning, marriage, name change, quitting my job, finding a new job, moving to a new state that I now love, and buying a condo. I think I’ve realized why I’m not ready to get older. I’m married, settled, and I’ve hit the big 3-0. Guess what comes next? I thought I would be ready in the next year or so, but now I’m not so sure. I really want to feel like I’m looking forward to it, but all I can think about is how much more my life will change. I don’t know if I’m ready for that change yet. The problem is that time is going by too fast. I hope this whole turning 3-0 freak-out will end some time so that I feel ready to begin the next phase in my life. I hope in another ten years when I’m 40, I’ll blog again (if I still have Xanga) and talk about how when I was thirty, this fear was silly. Time will only tell.

Last night, I freaked out.

On Tuesday night, Roger and I closed on our first home ever. We are now owners of our 2BR/2BA condo in Denver, CO! We’re extremely excited. However, last night, I realized that we need to move out of our current place by 12/15. According to Mama Liu’s feng shui guy in Hong Kong, we need to do the following on 12/15 –

1. Set up the bed with clean or new sheets.
2. Put red envelopes with a bit of money under the bed diagonally across from each other. These red envelopes should remain under the bed until we move out.
3. Get a teapot that makes noise. Boil water and let the teapot make sounds to scare evil spirits away.
4. Turn on all the heat and lights.

This should all happen between 1:00 – 3:00pm on the 15th. His mom’s feng shui guy took our birth dates and figured out that this is the best time and date to move in.  So we’ve decided we’re going to move most of our things before the 15th and then do all the final moving including the bed on the 15th. 

Anyway, I freaked out last night since that only leaves me two weeks to pack my whole life again and move. It’s going to be bit difficult too since we have more furniture now since our move to Denver.  Then I realized that this will probably be the last time I move in the next 10-15 years. So, Joanne – breathe. It’s going to be ok. Just go home each night and pack and everything will be ok. 

I feel much better now.

I visited Boston for the first time this past Thanksgiving weekend for the first time since Roger and I left Boston back in July. It was a bit surreal for me. Even knowing that I was heading back to Boston seemed unreal to me and when I arrived in Boston this past Wednesday, it still felt strange. Boston was where I was born, grew up, and is still where my parents and many great friends live.  However, when I arrived, it didn’t feel like I was coming home. It felt like I was just coming to my parents’ home and visiting friends.

Since Roger and I have been in Denver, we’ve been making this place home. Making many new friends, getting involved with community organizations, enjoying our jobs, checking out the attractions, bars and restaurants, and even purchasing our first condo. Yes, Roger and I will be closing on the 2BR/2BA condo this Tuesday. It’s so exciting and we can’t wait to move in. I can’t believe it only took two months for us to find the perfect place for us. It’s a 1,007 sq. ft. corner unit on the 6th floor with a 40′ x 6′ covered balcony that stretches from the living room, to the second bedroom, to the master bedroom. It also includes a covered parking space, sauna, fitness room, and a swimming pool! Here are a few pictures that I found online. I will post more once we start moving in.

I can’t wait to call this home!

Last weekend, Roger and I attended the wedding for my oldest sister Carol at Planet Hollywood’s chapel in Las Vegas. It was so much fun. The funniest part of the wedding was when the minister said, “Now, you will forever be known as Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Wong.” His name is Gary. The wedding was videotaped. Now, they will forever have this moment documented.

Congrats to Carol and Jerry! HAH!

Who knew that a fall break was so refreshing? I’ve never had one before, but Denver gives schools two free days at the end of October! Then again, I won’t have a February and April break like Boston does, so once those months roll around, I’ll definitely be jealous with only a March break. Then again, I get out at the end of May. So it all works out.

Work has been good. I think about the interview I had with the school back in March. Normally, I would feel nervous about an interview like this – observations, sample lesson in front of 30 students and about 7-8 administrators, debriefs and interviews with each of those administrators, etc, – but overall, I remember leaving the interview feeling really good about it.

I really like my job. I’m not stressed out like my previous job, but it’s a different challenge. It’s the first time I’ve really had to pour over tons of data for 218 students and determine the right academic interventions as needed. It’s the first time I’ve had to develop a 7th grade character education program. It’s the first time I’ve had to observe 15 teachers and do 50 minute debriefs with each of them within three weeks for our formal observations. Then, on the non-academic side, I get to plan, organize, and do all the fun stuff. I’m in charge of all the enrichments and sports that happen at my campus such as volleyball, flag football, basketball, drama, book club, cooking, science expedition, yoga, computers, etc. These are all taught by teachers during our enrichment block, but I get to place kids and supervise. I recently organized a flag football jamboree for our four campuses.  I get to be the one to decorate our school hallways with different bulletin boards for birthdays, math problems of the week, get the reading scoop (highlighting favorite books of our teachers), battle of the books (6th vs. 7th grade – who can read the most pages), words of the week, and wall of fame (highlighting spelling bee winners and honor roll students). I am on duty for every break and lunch, but it’s fun talking to the students. I honestly like the non-academic part of my job better, but everything is good.

I absolutely love love love my 218 students. I know this sounds cheesy, but I seriously feel lucky to have them all in my life. Even after a long day at work, they make me smile. Middle school students are so much fun. They’re still really impressionable and still get really excited when they see you really excited about something. For example, our Friday Community Meetings are successful if all the teachers and staff get into it. One of our Community Meetings two weeks ago took place in the classrooms. Our 6th graders participated in the “Speed Date My Book” and the 7th graders participated in the “Make a Movie Trailer Challenge”.  In each 6th grade advisory, the classrooms were set up so that each desk was facing another. For a few minutes each, students would talk about their books and convince their partner across from them to read it. Students rate the book and then they switch. 7th graders did the “Speed Date My Book” last year. So this year, each advisory was split up into a few groups and each group was given a bag full of props including – construction paper, wires, foil, plastic cup, string, etc. Each group had to choose a book and make a 60-second movie trailer using their props. Since the teachers got really into it and even participated, the kids were completely into it.

Although I’m only four months into the job (feels longer than that), I wonder how long this will be sustainable though. I feel good that I like my job and that even after a 65-hour work week, I still really like it, but how long will this last? How will this work especially when Roger and I begin having a family? I guess we’ll have to see when that time comes.

If you recall, I originally didn’t apply for the Assistant Principal position. Instead, I applied to be the Program Manager – a position that my Head of Schools believed to be too entry-level for me. I told him that I was interested in operations and knew that there were opportunities to move up in the department. However, flattered by his suggestion to apply for the AP job, I did! Let’s just say, when I first started, there was some needed adjustment. I’ve been doing SPED for so long that to do something completely out of my element is challenging. I’m still semi-adjusting, but I’m getting the hang of it. I tell myself that it will take time. As an AP, you’re expected to know everything that’s going on, and I don’t…at least, not yet.

Back in Boston, friends asked me what I planned to do out here, and when I replied, their eyes would widen. They would say “WOW!” or “Oh no…you’re going to the dark side.” I’ve been getting used to being an AP. I still find it a bit strange when teachers come to me to ask me if it’s alright if they step out of the building real quick to pick up something or when teachers tell me they have doctor’s appointments and will have to miss a bit of school. Also, I was a bit nervous about being administration for a school with returning teachers. They definitely know more than me, but they have been great.  Everyone is very welcoming and helpful. I really like my school and the principal at my campus. I hope that I can prove to all of them and especially to myself that I can do this job well.

My school is a shared space. Denver Public Schools has a lot of empty buildings so they allow us to use them.  We are on the 4th floor of the south wing of a large school that also houses a creative arts K-8 school. We have completely separate spaces except for the library, cafeteria, playground, and the gym. There is no A/C so it is hot, but with cold water and two fans in my office that are blowing at me from different directions help me stay cool. I do have my own office with the largest work desk I’ve ever had. There are no windows and the walls are need of cheering up since they’re completely bare at this moment. The one decoration I have is a Brandeis pennant hanging on my door. I plan to have photos on my desk, maybe a plant, and a small lamp at some point. Each grade level is divided into four advisories (of around 30 kids each) which are named after college names. These colleges are picked based on a teacher’s alma mater. This year, we have West Virginia, Metro State, Tufts, Miami, Colorado, Denison, Bowdoin, and Georgia. The teachers all own carts, so during the school year, the teachers move while the students stay in their advisories.

We had orientation for all our students last Saturday. It was insane to have 250+ people in a hot building, but it was nice meeting all the kids and their families. Unfortunately, I couldn’t communicate with everyone. I’m really bothered that I can’t speak Spanish that well though. Surprisingly, I can occasionally understand what people are asking or saying to me, but I have a difficult time speaking back to them. Hmm…sounds like my Chinese. I’m really excited about the professional development money the school allocated to me though. I’m definitely going to use it for Spanish lessons.

….and if you’re wondering what I do all day….

My main responsibilities include:
1. Student Intervention Process (Response to Intervention)/Managing a Team and Tracking/Monitoring Interventions
2. Organizing Assessments (including network-, state-, and district-wide assessments)
3. Teacher Observations (informal and formal)
4. Organizing Enrichments and Placement (i.e. sports, board games, book club, poetry slam, etc.)
5. Character Education Curriculum Planning

I do a number of additional tasks, such as planning some Friday Community Meetings, beautifying our hallways with bulletin boards and photos, facilitating meetings, making sure teachers have what they need to be great teachers, etc.

Come to think of it, my lunch break is over, and I must get back to work. Next task? Clean up the enrichment closet and take inventory of what we have.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! Roger’s family is flying into Denver TONIGHT! Roger and I spent last night cleaning and hanging pictures on the walls. I’m excited that we’ll get a chance to show them around. I will update later once this weekend is over!

I can’t believe I’m actually here.

We left Boston last Monday, July 5th – our 2-year wedding anniversary. We were so busy loading the truck the day before and excited for our move that we almost completely forgot. We were driving along the Mass Pike when I said, “Hey! Happy Anniversary!” Roger replied, “Happy Anniversary, Wife!” We drove through Massachusetts, New York, a corner of Pennsylvania, Ohio, a little of Indiana, and finally, we got to Battle Creek, MI close to midnight, and that was our day. I’m not going to bore you with the rest of our road trip since there wasn’t anything that exciting to tell.  However, when we entered Mountain Time and even better – Colorado, we were ecstatic! The whole time we were driving towards Denver, Roger really wanted to see the mountains, but we didn’t see them because it was cloudy and a bit rainy.  When we got to our apartment and started unloading, it was still a bit rainy and cloudy.  Then, right after we finished unloading, the clouds parted and the sun came out to welcome us. It was absolutely beautiful – blue skies, sunny, and Roger got his mountains.

The weather is strange here. Every day around 3-4pm, clouds roll in and it rains a bit. Then the clouds part and the sun comes out to play. The clouds look amazing here too. If you were in an airplane and looking at the clouds outside your window, that’s how the clouds in Colorado look like. You can almost see the tops of the clouds, and they do this weird streaky thing in the sky. It’s hard to explain. It’s not hot here at all unless you’re in the sun, but still there’s no humidity. I’m excited to see what our first winter brings us though. I’ve heard from Coloradoans that the winters are great here and nothing like Boston. The snow is drier and everything melts the next day because it’s so sunny here. There’s an average of 300 sunny days a year. I remember when I came here for my training back in May, one of the teachers commented on the weather that day. She said, “I’ve been here for about a year now, and this is probably the 5th cloudy day of the year.” That’s crazy! With all this crazy weather going on in our world, we’ll see if I experience all of that.

Another funny thing about Denver is that people don’t commute far to work. On the East Coast, an hour commute is normal. Here? People think it’s the craziest thing ever. When we lived in Boston, Roger’s commute was an hour every day to Hudson, MA. So when we decided to live by my school so I could bike to work, he didn’t mind driving the hour to Fort Collins, CO every day. People are shocked when they hear that Roger has an hour commute. People who normally work in Fort Collins, live there as well, so when I tell coworkers about his commute, they look at me like I have 2 heads. The other day, I was talking to a coworker about where he lives. I said, “Oh, do you like Wheat Ridge?” He says, “Yeah, I love it. Before, I used to live in the DU (Denver University) area and that was like 35 minutes to the mountains. I just couldn’t do weekend trips, but now, Wheat Ridge is only 10 minutes away, so it’s perfect.” In my head, I asked myself, “Are you serious? There’s no difference between 35 and 10 minutes!” It’s a funny thing here.

I started work this past Monday. I live a little over a mile from the school I’ll be working at, but for the next two weeks, we’ll be training at the flagship school (we have 4 campuses) which is only two miles from my apartment. So, I can still bike. I’ve wanted a folding bike ever since I saw one about a year or two ago.  So when we decided that I would bike to school every day, I didn’t have to do too much research on which bike to buy. I bought the 2009 Dahon Mu P24 Folding Bicycle! Love it! Love it! Love it! I don’t have to lock it outside. I just fold it and bring it into school with me! It’s fun to ride as well. People here are fascinated with my bike though. They keep asking me what kind of bike it is. I guess for native Coloradoans, my bike probably isn’t a REAL bike, but it gets me places! Unfortunately, I took a nasty spill this morning, but I’m good. I just have some minor scrapes, cuts, and bruises. I’ll be back at it again tomorrow! This time, I’ll be more careful.

I’m going to stop here for now. For my next entries, I’ll talk about my school/training and my apartment. For now, I hope all is well on the East Coast! I miss friends and family, but so excited to be here.

The countdown is really on! 10 days? Are you serious?

Today is the last day of school. It’s the last day I will see most of the students in the school for awhile. I say for awhile because I know I will be back to visit. Last night, one of my students who I’ve grown very close with called me and told me that she passed all her finals and classes which means she is now officially a junior. We reminisced about last year around this time. She and her mom came in to discuss her repeating the 10th grade. She was very adamant about transferring and not wanting to come back to do 10th grade again. After the meeting, I pulled her aside.  That unforgettable conversation was quite emotional for me which ended up with both of us crying.  In the end, she decided to come back to MATCH. She started the year a bit rocky since she still hadn’t completely bought into being back at MATCH, but during the school year, something clicked inside her and ended up passing EVERYTHING! It’s amazing, and I’m extremely proud of her for staying and really believing in herself that she could do it. We’re going out to celebrate next Wednesday.

The other day, I received a card signed by my students, and here are some of my favorite comments:

I’ll
miss
you
the
most.

Wow Ms. Liu
You’re leaving
me to go to Colorado.
That’s not fair, just kidding.
I hope you have a better life
out there living in the canyons
and it has been
a great 3 years working
with you.
I will miss you very much.
P.S. Add me on Facebook.

Thanks for everything Ms.
Come back and visit with your future babies.

I’m going to miss these kiddos!
Last day of MATCH School…ever!

We’re in the teens now! Roger and I had our second  night of packing last night. It’s strange. Once I start packing, I make Roger start packing, but then he can’t stop. Our bedroom is practically packed away already! It didn’t take as long as I thought. Once school ends on the 25th, I’ll have more time to tackle the basement where we have tons more stuff including wedding gifts we haven’t even opened yet, but will be so happy to have once we move into our new place.

So for the past couple of months or so, I’ve been training the person who’s taking my role next year. I’ve also been creating this master training binder which includes every big and small thing in my brain that are about SPED. For example, “make sure you’re documenting when the speech therapist sees specific kids so that when the invoice comes to the business office, you can approve it”, a list of all the paperwork she needs to complete for meetings, evaluations, etc, information about manifestation determination hearings, and even how to read evaluation results. Basically, I’m including everything, and it’s taking me forever. I’ve had to ask people to cover me for certain duties because I needed more time in the day to work on it. It’s almost finished.  Although school ends on the 25th, I need to come back on the 28th for a few parent meetings to speak to some repeaters. After that? Officially done.