Ben - ProfilesArchive

About Me

I'm a self starter. I work well with children and was employed in a Kalamazoo public school for six years. I also served as a counselor and later one of the summer directors for Pretty Lake Vacation Camp, a cost-free non profit camp for at-risk kids in Kalamazoo. I started working there in 1998. I love the place despite the enormous time commitment and incredibly poor pay. I moved to Texas working with the same kind of kids but teaching instead of camping. After a year there teaching Outdoor/Environmental Education, I returned to Mattawan as the Camp Director for Pretty Lake for two summers.I'm laid back. I tend to be an observer and I'm pretty cautious about throwing an opinion into the open before I know what I'm talking about. I believe that almost all things in people's lives are governed by choice...and a touch of karma.

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

Anyone who is grateful for the things and people in their life. I have a greater respect for the people who work and create their own possibilities, and find the potential in almost anything than I do for people who find fault in the things that were given to them freely. I want to meet a someone with a sharp wit who is a good deal smarter than me. And anybody who likes kids.

My Blog

The Speed of Time

When I was 8, I couldn't wait to be double digits 10. When I was 14, I couldn't wait to be a mobile 16. When I was 16, I couldn't wait to be voting and smoking 18. And when I was 20,...
Posted by on Tue, 11 Sep 2007 19:33:00 GMT

Go Boycott Yourself

For crying out loud. Ok. I get it. You don't like paying for gas. Understandable. I don't like paying for . . . well, anything. But come on. A gas out? ...
Posted by on Mon, 14 May 2007 20:23:00 GMT

Geology

So I teach at an outdoor Education Center. Friday mornings we go to a rock quarry and teach geology. The kids get to keep any cool samples they find. I had a 5th grade student who wa...
Posted by on Fri, 24 Mar 2006 11:19:00 GMT

Pulpo Rojo

I finally got to Mexico. I spent a week there. Not that Tijuana or Cozumel bullshit either. Real Mexico, the interior. I went to Celaya then Mexico City. Teotihuacan.&nbs...
Posted by on Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:47:00 GMT

Country Mouse

Whoa! They're sending this country mouse to the city. My friend Shane bought me a plane ticket and we are gonna hang out in New York City (never been there). I'm really excited and scared...
Posted by on Fri, 30 Dec 2005 15:37:00 GMT

Southern Hospitality

So I moved to Texas to teach. After four months, there were things that I liked and things I didn't like so much. My friends and I go to a local bar that is only a quarter mile from us.&nb...
Posted by on Sat, 24 Dec 2005 12:11:00 GMT

Religious experience

Recently I've become overwhelmed. Between school, bills, work, remnants of a social life, and my family, it isn't difficult to believe that I'm stretched a little thin. The other day while searching...
Posted by on Wed, 24 Mar 2004 08:23:00 GMT