In The Beginning.

Hello! Welcome to my blog. I am so excited. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Tanta. I have been a student at Parkland since August 2008 and let me tell you: I love it! I have had a many amazing opportunities presented to me since becoming a student here. Let me just tell you, I am grateful for them all.

Please believe these opportunities have come with great responsibility and I have worked very hard for every single achievement. I have been told that to whom much is given, much is required. Thus far this has proven to be true. I'm no stranger to hard work, but when I started here at Parkland I had to give up alot of sleep to get my work done. That was definitely a new experience for me as far as my education was concerned.

I found myself wanting to do better than I ever have in my whole entire life and I was determined to excel. But that sacrifice brought on these few small successes that I currently have now. Just think if I keep pressing on I may actually achieve something worth writing home to my family about. Lol! I must make a confession though, when I began attending Parkland I thought that I was just going to come to school and sit in the seat of each of my classes and just absorb the information, but much to my surprise I quickly became a stand-out voice.

My instructors actually said that I was making a huge contribution to the classroom setting and I was shocked. It made me want to be small again, but it was too late. I was forced to use my voice and to speak up for all of the things that I believe in. I was reluctant at first, but now after completing two semesters it is like second nature.

By my instructors doing so I have taken a whole new outlook on my life outside of these school doors as well. I have learned to stand up for myself and not let others take advantage of me anymore. I am so grateful for all of my mentors. During my first year here at Parkland I joined the speech team where I learned the art of Parliamentary Debate and Poetry. At my first tournament, I was terrified! I knew for sure that I was going to fall flat on my face. It was my birthday too! I was sweating bullets in the middle of winter. But, soon after I got started it became somewhat natural to debate about the issues that effect us, our families, and our country everyday. Parkland's team drove away with a third place bronze certificate that day. Small success, but yet it was success.

Another interesting opportunity that I had here at Parkland was the Boy Scout seminar that I helped facilitate along with the other members of my Advanced Public Speaking class. I got to learn about the Scouts and help teach them skills such as tying a tie and making a Cat's Cradle. That was not even the most amazing thing about being apart of this seminar. It was the fact that some of these eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen year old boys were so intelligent and they actually provoked me to think about my life and where I should be in the next fifteen years. This kind of interaction triggered my growth as a mother and a potential teacher of the Good News. This experience taught me not to just talk, but also to listen to what others are saying around me. The youth have a very strong voice and I am forced to stop and take notes. Their innocence causes me to listen.

I believe that our youths wisdom should be cherished and nurtured. This is just a small taste of the things that I have experienced here at Parkland. Stay tuned and I'll show you a little heavier side of my "New Life at Parkland".