A Thinker in Space

If you’ve been around this website since the beginning (and unless you’re related to me or are me, you probably have not been), you’ll know that if there was one word you could pick that would be the opposite of my relationship with this blog, it would be consistent. For the past six years my posting has been erratic at best, completely absent at worst. A year ago I tried to reboot this page, and I gave you a little update on my life, and I did post a couple articles, including a full review of the first Twenty One Pilots album, a review of Undertale (still an excellent game by the way), and a couple articles about life and opinion pieces. However, I was buried under a torrent of responsibilities and distractions that took me away from my work here. So, a year later, I have randomly started posting again. The post style is consistent – it’s still been reviews and thoughts on various subjects, and it will continue to be so, but with hopefully one big change: I will be more consistent. This will be a bi-weekly project for me as I progress forward in my life, helping me to continue to be consistent in the coming years.

So let’s start off by looking back at two old posts: the first post I ever made, “A Thinker in Space“, and the aforementioned update – “Two Years Later…“. In the first post, I said a lot of things that hold true about this blog, and my explanation of meaning of this page’s title, A Thinker in Space, has generally remained the same.

Why “A Thinker in Space?” Because I am not ‘down to Earth’ as some people like to say. I live with my head in the clouds, sticking my nose into a wonderful world of sunshine and starlight. Although I am very well aware of this world on which we live, I live above it. I consider this world a stepping stone to greater things.

I did not give too many personal details about my life in this post, but I did say something that I’d like to bring up briefly – that I was planning on going to college to receive my Pastorate. I believe that it was my sophomore year of High School when I posted this, and, obviously, things have changed dramatically since then. I have always felt a calling for ministry, but after a lot of thought and prayer and life experiences, I have decided to instead go into the field of teaching (as I mentioned in my second personal post).

Speaking of which, let’s dive into what’s changed since I posted last year. In this post I mentioned my name for the first time: Stephen Van Ness. Hi everyone! As far as what has happened in the past year, there are two major items to consider, both of which were mentioned in the previous article but have shifted since. First off, I mentioned that it was my senior year of college, and that I would be going into Student Teaching the following semester. Welp, I’m on the other end of that rabbit hole, and boy was it a trip! The other is that the lovely young lady I mentioned before, Julia Kauffman, is now on a one-way trip to becoming Julia Van Ness! That’s right, I popped the question in May, and (of course) she said yes. So this thinker’s getting married! In the sidebar is a countdown (right now it shows months, but I’m going to try and figure out how to make it days) until November 3rd, our wedding date! So that’s pretty big news. That would be most of what has happened in the in-between time since I last wrote, so let’s now talk about where I am now.

So now that you know where I’ve been, let’s talk about what I’m up to! I graduated from a university in Pennsylvania in December, receiving a BS in Secondary English Education, (with only two classes left to receive my BA in English), and a Pennsylvania standard teaching certificate. This is all well and good, except for the fact that I live in New Jersey, and transferring the certification has been a bit of a nightmare. I might even write an article on this once it is finished, explaining the process for anyone who is interested. Not normal fluffy blog stuff, I know, but there might be someone like me out there who would really benefit from the explanation. To be concise – New Jersey’s standards for teachers are apparently higher, which means that in order to transfer your certification, you need to do a huge project/mentor program in NJ. I have received my Certificate of Eligibility as of an hour ago, actually, which means that I can now be employed as a K-12 English teacher in the state (and continue the process of getting my standard certification). In the meantime, I have been subbing at my home High School, which has been an awesome experience, and have a lot of time to read, write, think, and spend time with family.

Right now, the biggest things going on in my life are daily sub positions and premarital counseling with my fiancée (perhaps another article in the making there). I have learned a lot and grown a lot, and I think it’s high time I continue writing about it. I also am working on a personal project – a novel called Mind Games, which I hope to finish, edit, and publish in the near future. I will certainly be mentioning that as its release gets closer, so keep an eye out!

So now you’re all caught up on my life, and you may be asking – “what’s next?” And, my friend, that is an incredibly good question. I will be looking for a teaching job in the Fall, and am getting married in November, but other than that my life is still a pretty blank slate. I’m looking forward to continuing to listen to God’s calling and figure out where I should go next. But during this process, I’m going to try incredibly hard to keep this blog consistent and open, to allow you guys to have a peek into my life.

In a category slightly more relevant to this blog, I can tell you what I hope you can expect from this page. You may have noticed that I have begun to develop a social media presence. This blog has a page on Facebook, tumblr, Twitter, and Google+ (link forthcoming). I also have an interest in getting involved on Pintrest and Instagram, but those are a bit of a different beast for me, so I haven’t started there yet. My goal with this new outreach is simple: I want to be able to reach as many people as I can with content that might interest them. You guys can help by following me on these platforms as well as on the blog itself, and liking, commenting, and sharing often! The more my content gets out there, the more people I can reach going forward.

Shameless self-plug aside, I’ll end this post with some things you can expect in the future from me. These are some article topics I may write on, although I might not get to all of them.

Reviews:

Sandcastle Kingdoms by Nathan Sharp

Diablo III

Fortnite

Whatever else comes to mind!

Personal:

Posts about teaching

Transferring my teaching certification

The ups and downs of being engaged (and all that comes with it)

Other:

Some more creative/artistic pieces

Perhaps an occasional work of fiction or two

Sharing some work from others that I find intriguing or worth discussing

I hope you guys enjoy what I have to offer, and I look forward to continuing to engage with all of you in the future. I’ve said all I intended to when beginning this post, and have shared what I meant to share. If you have any questions, comments, or otherwise, feel free to comment! I always respond to questions and try to respond to comments as often as I can.

Have a wonderful day, whenever you may be reading this, and may God bless you in that which you strive to accomplish.

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