Author: tniederpruem

With a full week of going to Northview Middle School, I am finally starting to understand the whole process and have also picked up on some teaching tips. With working with adults, aged 25-45, whose first language is not English, there are a few adjustments that need to be made. Personally, I like to talk… Continue reading Week At Washington (Township)

With our time on this earth, people are bound to change. Whether it is age, the environment we are in, the people around us, or certain responsibilities, change is just evident and there are minimal ways of getting around it. In “ Woman From New York” by Ha Jin, it portrays how a woman has… Continue reading People Can Change

Doing things out of our comfort zones and participating in an activity that you have never done before can be very healthy for our current and future selves. This past Thursday, I was fortunate to start my Indianapolis Community Requirement (ICR) at the Northview Middle School in the adult education wing. I am assisting Chrissy… Continue reading New Experiences, New Start

Man is a confusing subject and I think we all know that. Is Man inherently good? Is Man inherently bad? Is man born with a certain intent? There are so many questions that we can hypothetically ask ourselves to try and better understand one another but at the end of the day, I would like… Continue reading Inherently

As humans, we know that there are a few things that we instinctively do just as a result of being human. Hsun Tzu explains in “Man’s Nature Is Evil” how man does a few intangible things that just make sense. A big point he was trying to make was profit and beautifulness. We all want… Continue reading Tendencies of Man

There are many different ways that humans learn: by example, by reading, by watching, and by experience. In the Daodejing, poems 41-81, there are a few major takeaways that I gained that I think need to be discussed for the betterment of everyone. In poem 44, it explains how we need to “know what is… Continue reading Life Lessons

We all have that one person in mind who is “that” guy, the one who goofs off or makes poor decisions or is just really annoying. Typically, being “that” guy comes with a bad connotation, but I want to touch on the good connotation, in connection with Confucius. Confucius is one of the great teachers/mentors… Continue reading Be “That” Guy

As young adults, there is so much that we are trying to learn in so little time before we are out in the real world. Through many mediums like social media, television, and books, knowledge is all around us and there are lots of ways that we can obtain it. In the “Daodejing”, there is… Continue reading Lots To Be Learned

We have all been told that karma is going to come back and bite us eventually if we do something bad or good, it works both ways. Another big topic that has been recommended is to be humble and not brag about our possessions or accomplishments. In “A Tiger-Fighter Is Hard to Find” by Ha… Continue reading Karma? Boastfulness?

Every single person lives their life a bit differently, and Liu Feng, in “An Entrepreneur’s Story”, written by Ha Jin, certainly has taken notice of that. Liu documents a lot of the things he sees, like how money can change a person, how one guy wanted to “hook up” with his wife’s mother as a… Continue reading Money, Manshan, and Mrs. Pan