Beautiful Disaster

Oh the irony that just as we are learning about the droughts and water struggles around the world, North Texas is hit with a freak storm almost flooding campus.

Many parts of the Big Thirst talked about the magical qualities of water, all the ways in which we rely on water, and just how beautiful as a substance it is. Last week though another side to water was revealed. The brief yet intense rain and hail storm showed just how destructive water can be. Like so many other things in life, water has both good and bad qualities.

The aftermath of the storm could be seen everywhere. I had to drive somewhere a few hours after the storm hit, and I was amazed to find multiple major stop lights broken and roads shut down. Crazy traffic problems and auto accidents were caused just by a short but strong release of water from the sky. Driving down University even a few days later one can still see the destruction from the storm. Massive trees that were torn up lay down on the grass by the road along with dozens of large branches.

TCU campus comparatively wasn't even hit that hard. Across North Texas over 300,000 homes lost electricity, some for over a day. Trees crushed homes and roofs were ripped from buildings. Wherever you were when the storm hit, you were essentially trapped there until it was over. You don't really think of water as something that can trap you, until it does. We need water for so many things that we often forget that water isn't just here to serve us, it almost has a mind of its own, causing everything from small storms to large-scale tsunamis.

Blessed as we are to get rain when Texas is experiencing such a drought, the rain came so fast and hard that it actually didn't help the drought situation very much. As I have begun to learn about Texas weather (I'm a transplant from the west coast), water likes to come in freak, short storms here, but its going to take more than one storm to make a real difference. Much of Texas still is on a drought warning, and DFW is currently experiencing its driest September on record.

Yes, water is a beautiful and essential resource that we should value and can no longer afford to take for granted, but we also cannot forget the dangers that water can bring. Water is not a stagnant resource. It is a force of nature that is out of our control and should be feared as much as loved in times like these. After last week's storm I can't think of a better way to describe water than as a beautiful disaster.

Collapsed back wall of a building in the Stockyards.

Creative TCU students run for cover to escape the freak storm.

Learning to teach

We've been learning our whole lives. We know how best we individually learn and how to be a successful student. But what about teaching? Is that something that we all do also? As a nursing student I am required to take a course called "Teaching Strategies for Professionals", and if that class name is a little vague to you, trust me you are not alone. On the first day of class my friend and I showed up and both admitted that we had no idea why we were here or why this class was a nursing requirement. We aren't studying to be teachers, why are we enrolled in this vague teaching class taught by the nursing school?

We are now multiple weeks into the semester and the class still sometimes seems like an odd requirement for nursing students, but we have finally figured out (kinda) what we are supposed to be learning through the course. If you think about it, as much as we always have been and always will be learners, we are also all teachers, even if you don't teach in a classroom.

For us as nursing students, we have to learn how to effectively teach a patient how to manage their chronic diseases such as diabetes, explain to them why they are sick, and simply show them what medications to take. This idea applies to most majors, no matter if you are going into the business, health, or education field.

We've learned different learning and teaching styles and strategies and how to implement them into a lesson plan or presentation. Learning to be a nurse is not just learning the medical science behind it all. We must also learn how to teach and educate patients, families, and other medical professionals.

So what have I learned this semester? I've learned that learning to teach is something that is actually a valuable skill for all students to have. I've learned that being able to teach effectively is actually just as important as knowing how to learn effectively.

P.S. Come by the flu clinic on Wednesday, October 8th and check out our different health-related presentations we've put together through this vague and yet unique class!

Janaina

I first met with Janaina at Union Grounds this week, and I was completely unsure of what to expect. I had no idea how old she was or what she looked like and I was worried I wouldn't be able to find her. Luckily she found me and we enjoyed a nice conversation about everything from her family to her english studies here at TCU.

Janaina is 40 years old and lives in Wetherford, Texas with her two teenage children and her husband (who participates in horse competitions!). She has only been living in the U.S. for less than a year and came here knowing next to no English. This amazed me because although she clearly was still learning English, her speaking was surprisingly good.

She is from the north of Brazil, the "amazon" as she called it, where she lived with her family on a ranch. Janaina said that she and her husband moved to the U.S. so that her kids could learn English while they were still young. Her kids go to private school in Wetherford where they sometimes don't like all of the religious teachings in class but nonetheless still enjoy it all. According to Janaina, her kids have picked up English much faster and easier than she has. They are also much better at multitasking as she pointed out multiple times, something she says is a generation thing.

Janaina has struggled with learning all of the different English pronunciations and writing, but she exclaims just how far she has come since she started at TCU. She loves her professors, remarking that they are so helpful with everything. In her free time she loves to ride horses, read (although now she tries to only read in English, which is still difficult for her), shop, and go to the movies.

One of the things she said multiple times about Texas is that everyone must follow all of the rules, and she feels much safer here than in Brazil. Her example was that in Brazil if there was a sign saying to not park somewhere, everyone would still park there. Here, she didn't realize this and got a ticket. Good ol' TCU campus police and their love of parking tickets. Also, in Brazil her teenage son could walk into a bar and be served alcohol, whereas here he cannot, something that she really likes. She thinks that all the rules are good for her kids growing up.

Overall the whole conversation was very fun and unique. I love that we are getting this opportunity to meet people from other cultures and learn about their new experiences here in Texas.