Entry 1 - Literature Circles

As an elementary school student, I was very shy and timid. I never raised my hand or spoke unless called upon. I believe this delayed my social skills and educational development. I remember my parents having birthday parties at our house and all the kids from school coming over. I was much more at ease in my element, running, playing, and socializing with the other kids. My classmates would comment that I was a totally different person. I was much more outspoken when in my comfort zone. As I grew older I became involved in sports, which became where I felt most comfortable and developed communication skills, team work, and leadership qualities. In the first literature circle, I had the role of discussion director. This was very intimidating for me, but it forced me out of my comfort zone. Speech classes, or anything involving solo presentations, have always been a challenge for me. I believe literature circles are an excellent way to get students like me to push through their boundaries while developing skills that can enhance learning in later grades, college, and out in the work force.

Entry 2 - Big Brothers Big Sisters

As a clerk in a dependency, neglect, and delinquent courtroom, I constantly see the negative impact on the physical, mental, emotional, and educational development of children that results from a lack of guidance and active positive mentors. I have always had a soft spot for children, and since I began working at the Juvenile Court, my interest in volunteering in the community to help children has grown. I was given an opportunity to do just that when the Mayor's office released an initiative that allowed employees to volunteer for an hour a week with one of several non-profit organizations geared towards mentoring children. I chose to work with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program.  I felt like my time would be most most useful in one on one time with an elementary school student. I remember walking in to the school on the first day being extremely nervous to meet the third grader. Once I met my little brother, the conversation quickly turned to sports, fishing, and battleship. We expanded our conversation throughout the year into family, friends, and things that make us happy and sad. I've enjoyed teaching my little brother about presidents, multiplication, and the importance of being a leader in the classroom. This has been a very rewarding experience, and it inspired me to want to be a leader and teacher to more children. I recently began my second year with my little brother, and I look forward to mentoring him for many years to come.

A little bit about me...

My name is Jeremy Medley. I was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama with two younger brothers and a older sister. My childhood was spent having pecan wars, playing sports, riding bicycles, and developing lifelong friendships with the neighborhood kids. I had a great experience in high school, in large part due to coaches and teachers that were incredible mentors. Sports became a passion of mine, particularly baseball. This ultimately led to getting scholarships to two junior colleges in Alabama. After my stint of being an aspiring major league baseball player was over, I came back to Huntsville in search of employment. I worked many jobs in the manufacturing, corporate, and retail fields, and landed at UPS long-term. During that time, I began slowly but surely chipping away at my bachelor's degree with a major in Social Science and a minor in Secondary Education. When I had been employed with UPS for five years, full-time management spots were becoming available. Those positions required a four year degree, so I changed my major to Liberal Studies to quickly graduate and seek full-time employment with UPS. Nearly ten years after graduating high school, I was walking across the stage as a college graduate from the University of Athens State. Shortly after that, I met a lovely lady that lived in Nashville, Tennessee. Long story short, after a year burning up Interstate 65, I made the move to Nashville, and got married shortly after. I landed a job with Metro Government of Davidson County working for the Davidson County Juvenile Court Clerk. After a few short months, I was moved to the courtroom to be a courtroom clerk in a dependency, neglect and delinquent courtroom. After becoming involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in October of 2014, I began considering going back to school to do something to help make an impact in children's lives full time. This led me to MTSU and I'm very excited for the journey that is ahead of me!