If You Don't Know Me, Now's Your Chance!`

I am writing this post in haste, or posthaste, whichever you prefer, for several reasons, some obvious, some not quite so evident unless you know my schedule. So, please accept my apologies for any grammatical or technical errors that may occur.

I am not usually a person to talk about myself, because I find it makes me feel arrogant and self-centered, but I have decided to make an exception because, frankly, I cannot think of any kind of intelligent subject matter to banter to. My mind is exhausted thinking of all of the things that Christian education can be, should be, should do, can do, has done, will do, etc... so I have decided to present you with a short autobiography. 

I was born in Nashville, Tennessee in the year 1990 to my wonderful parents, Joe and Becky Collins, and moved to Mississippi in 2001. I was a resident of the Gulf Coast until recently when I relocated to Clinton to be a Music Education Major at Mississippi College. I have skipped over some more intimate details on purpose, considering the nature of this publishing. I sing in several choirs, have done so all my life, and love and appreciate good music, musicians, and music teachers. I like video games, as all 'guys' do, especially racing and role playing games. I would like to become a music teacher at a high school or college when I graduate, and my biggest dream is to open a private boarding school for the arts on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Now, you know a little bit about me, I would like to share with you one of my most memorable events. 

Katrina, the word carries with it some heavy baggage, along with memories of homes, cars, favorite scenes, even possibly loved ones, but I feel that this was a big turning point in my life. the Friday and Saturday before 'the storm' were spent in mundane effort at organizing a garage sale for my church's youth choir to travel to Toronto, Ontario, Canada for a choral festival the following summer. Everybody went on with their work, some in silent determination, others in silent angst. We all finished the work on Friday and left for home, thinking about what possibilities lie ahead. Saturday was tense, everyone wanted to leave early to make preparations, because, as you may know, there is a lot more work to be done to prepare for a hurricane than simply throwing some plywood up and heading north. We, my mother and I, decided to go straight home and pack and head to Tennessee, where we would stay with family friends until the chaos was resolved. 

We stayed in Tennessee until Wednesday, August 31, then headed for grandparents and aunts and uncles in Virginia. We led a 10-vehicle caravan of supplies, workers, and hope to the Coast, driving all through the night, loaded with everything from money to bottled water, gas cans to firearms. when we arrived home, we saw weary faces, blank looks, prayers, TV cameras, National Guardsmen, and MOST of all Christians. The Red Cross, well, they did little besides publicity and hand out some bottled water, it was the Christian churches that did the most work. We worked for weeks and helped our neighbors. We worked for months and helped our towns. We are still working, helping our Coast.

I would like to put more in here, and maybe soon I will, but I am terribly late for a previous engagement, please excuse the incompleteness, I will tie up loose ends in the next post.