And for this week’s adventure I decided to check out the club fair (Yes I know that happened last week but so much is going on at Southern that I can’t keep up with everything). I got one of those informative, daily emails letting me know that there was going to be a club fair outside of Conn Hall. I figured since it started after my last class and it was on the way to Lot 9 (where I usually end up parking) it wouldn’t be out of the way. The weatherman told me it was going to rain that day, but of course he was wrong (like most days) and it ended up being a sunny, warm day.

As I walked towards Conn Hall, I was disappointed to see nothing set up outside. I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check the side of the building and was shocked by the sea of people that stretched across the lawn. I took a deep breath, braced myself, and dove into the sea of curious and excited students. I could barely walk because we were packed in like sardines in a can. Everywhere I looked I found tables with colorful display boards and happy, friendly, helpful club members that were more than happy to answer any questions. I swear there had to be at least 100 tables easy. There were fraternities, sororities, intellectual clubs, charity clubs, fun clubs, and any other club that you could possibly imagine. They had music, food, giveaways, etc. It was a fun and energetic environment.

One club that caught my interest was the Relay for Life table. I’ve done a few and have performed at some when I was younger for dance. I didn’t realize that Southern had a team for that. That is something that I may look into because I enjoyed doing it and it’s for a good cause. Another club that caught my attention was Southern’s dance team. I’ve been dancing since I was 2 1/2 and it’s really something I enjoy. I danced at a studio until my freshman year of high school. Then I went to an art magnet school for a year. I took the next two years off and my senior year decided to join my high school’s dance team. Now that I’m in college, I joined another studio and only have class one night a week. I would definitely consider looking into the dance team because it’s something I love and it’ll get me more involved with the school. Plus, I’ll get to meet other people that I share an interest with.

 Overall, this safari adventure was successful (more successful than the last). I had fun and learned more about Southern and what it has to offer. If it wasn’t so hot and crowded I would’ve stayed within the event longer. But my claustrophobia started setting in so I had to step out for a bit and check it out from an outside perspective. After 20 minutes I had to leave to get home and get ready for work, but I definitely got a lot out of that visit.

Food for Thought

Everyone has a unique method of learning and getting their work done. Some people get tasks done right away while others like to wait until last minute. In between classes, I usually meet up with one of my closest friends. Most of the time we usually end up in the media room because she has to get work done that’s due in an hour. I don’t understand how she could be scrambling to get her work done last minute when she lives on campus and yet, I commute and work 30+ hours a week and still manage to get everything done early. What exactly am I doing to be able to accomplish this? Do I have a lighter work load? Are her classes harder than mine? What am I doing different from my friend with managing my time? How does everyone else get their work done?

I talked to my friend about it and she admits that she procrastinates. She always had and it works for her. I will admit I use to procrastinate, but once I hit high school I couldn’t stand that anxious feeling of having work hanging over my head. So now I try to tackle every assignment as soon as I can. I start mentally planning it out once it’s given out. I keep a mental list of everything I have to get done and prioritize but my memory isn’t perfect. So I keep a list of everything I have to do and check it off or cross it out once it’s completed. I tried to schedule out my days but I can never keep up with it. It honestly seems like a hassle to have to write out my week and it’s not a practical method for me.

 My boyfriend and I talk about my first year at college a lot. I brought up this topic of time management to him and he agrees with me. I find it difficult to plan my week or even day because so many unexpected things can happen. I’m not going to block out an hour to study for my math test because I may need time. I never know when I may get stuck in traffic or get called into work early. These variables can throw off my schedule if I planned out every second of every day.

 I guess everyone has their own way to get their work done. My friend feels she can do her best work by waiting until last minute, while I need to get assignments completed as soon as I possibly can. Some people may feel it necessary to plan out every second of their day, and if that works for them then kudos. We just need to find a method that works for us. Not everyone will have the same method. It’s a bit of trial and error. If you aren’t completing assignments or aren’t getting the grades you want then maybe you might want to re-evaluate how you manage your time. But if your current method works for you, stick with it. As the saying goes, “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke”.

Scheduling my weeks

For the past week our class has been talking about time management. As a college student we now have more independence and good time management skills are essential to succeeding in school and life. Our class figured that after you add time time to sleep, eat, etc. the average full time student has approximately 70 hrs a week. So where exactly does that time go. I personally wonder where has my week gone and why aren’t there more hours in a day? Our professor had us make a schedule of our days to see where these 70 hours go.

 I work 30 hours a week and I’m suppose to spend about 30 hours a week studying. Which would leave me 10 hours for free time. I knew this wasn’t true. I realized that I don’t use the recommended 30 hours for studying, but I get all of my work done. I’m writing this blog a week prior the due date because I already composed and posted my blogs. So how am I managing to get my work done early while only working 14 hours outside of class? Maybe I just had a light work load this week. Only two of my five classes have a substantial amount of outside work. Maybe I just have great focus during those two-three study hours that I accomplish so much.

 My main goal is to get as much work as I can get done during the week so I’m not spending 6 hours on Saturday trying to play catch up. My biggest problem use to be procrastination, but when I started college I told myself that I wasn’t going to wait until last minute to do everything. I did start to realize that maybe I don’t need 2 hours a day for just relaxing. Now my relaxing isn’t just me lying around for two hours. I usually eat, do laundry, clean up the house a bit and then I lie down. I tried squeezing in an hour of homework into that slot and it actually worked out nicely for me.

 Now Saturdays are my only free days. It’s the only day that I don’t have work, school, practice, etc. It’s my day to run errands, go grocery shopping, catch up on laundry/cleaning. But it’s also my only day to sleep in late and hang out with friends. I work hard all week to have this one day off to do whatever I want to do.

 I realize that I’m a big multi-tasker and planner. I eat while I study, I study in between practice breaks (I’m eating lunch as I blog). The night before I pack my backpack with the right binders and books, I pack food for the next day. I manage my time well. I get everything I need to get done. I really don’t think I need to change my habits yet. I will when I start becoming overwhelmed and doing poorly in classes. But for now, my plan works for me and I’m happy with it. (to the right is part of my schedule)

SCSU Day of Service

For this week’s adventure, I decided to participate in SCSU’s day of service last Saturday. I figured since I had the day off and all of the leg work was already done, it would be easy just to sign up and show up. I followed a few links online and signed up (it was pretty easy) and got a response of approval in a decent amount of time. That was probably the only easy part of the entire experience.

Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early to show up in the Student Center by 8. Finding where I had to sign in was easy enough, but when I registered online they neglected to tell me that I had to complete an assumption form, but luckily for me they had a table set up with forms. So when I got to the table I found that there were no more forms. I told one of the volunteers running the event that there were no more forms. They told me to go all the way upstairs and there would be another table with them. So after hiking up three flights of stairs, I was greeted with breakfast and t-shirts but no forms. I looked around, grabbed a t-shirt, and went back downstairs to find that there were now more forms at the original table.

After that nice goose chase I went upstairs to wait in the ballroom. We were supposed to start at 9am with the cleanup but I didn’t arrive to my sight until after 10:30. This was because there was utter chaos and disorganization in the ballroom. My group leader was nowhere to be found until we got on the bus. When we got there I was confused because there was nothing to clean up. There were a few leaves and wrappers, but not enough to keep us busy for 3 hours. After digging a bit deeper into the woods we found a few beer cans and a few dirty diapers (thankfully we had gloves). And after about an hour and a half my group called it quits and we ate lunch. (This was provided by the school, good thing they fed us).

We told our leader that we were supposed to be back by one but it was really two. She had no clue as to what we were supposed to be doing and she didn’t really care, which was good because no one in my group really care either. Once I got off the bus, I helped carry some supplies back to the closet and then I bolted for my car before they made us do any more work around campus.

Overall, the day of service at SCSU was a complete joke, a waste of my Saturday. It was a chaotic mess and no one knew what they were doing. I wouldn’t participate in this again unless I had to for a class. The only good part of this day was the free food, free t-shirt, and the fact that I got to leave early and salvage what was left of my wasted Saturday.

Rating the Class

Louie Happy Blog Time

My first “A” blog would have to be” Louie's Happy Blog Time”. The title was very catchy. It wasn’t just “Louie’s Blog”. It showed creativity and humor.  I loved the template he used. It was very unique. The writing style was very personal. I could tell Louie wrote this because he added a lot of humor into his post. He kept it very interesting. There were plenty of unique illustrations that were hilarious. I really appreciated the fact that he included links. I never even thought to include them in mine. It makes it easier for the reader to find what articles he’s discussing so they can read them and understand what he’s talking about. I actually went back and fixed my previous blogs to include the links so it would be easier to my readers. And I had no idea that you could include music in a blog, but I learned apparently you can. I thought it was interesting and may try to incorporate some music into my future blogs.  

A New Chapter: Freshman Year

My next “A” deserving blog is Mike McGowan’s “A New Chapter: Freshman Year”. This blog titled intrigued my interest. It didn’t have a name, so I had no idea who’s blog I was about to read. This made it interesting because it captivated my curiosity a bit more than anyone else’s title. As I clicked the link my eyes were immediately drawn to the latest blog. The title of it was called “Is a Marshmallow the New Crystal Ball?”. Now I understood the reference he was making to the video we watched and I was impressed by how clever the title was. I would have never thought of something like that. For someone who hasn’t seen the video, this title would make them wonder what on earth this article could possibly be about and want to read more. I felt as Mike captivated his audience very well. I also liked that he included the video link and the picture was perfect for the video he was blogging about.

starting as a SCSU freshman

The last “A” for the day is spencer’s “starting as an SCSU freshman”. Once again, I liked the fact that I didn’t know whose blog I would be reading until I clicked the link. When I got there I was greeted with a bright and vibrant template. As I scrolled down through her posts I noticed that there were many pictures and vibrant color fonts. I did the same thing with my blog because I felt that different color fonts would help distinguish the start of one post to the next. It looked like she put some effort into putting her personality and voice into her blog. It feel upbeat and bright and all around pleasant.

And these are three “A” worthy blogs, in my opinion. Now I’m not saying that these are the only three. I’m sure that there are many more. These are three that captured my attention from the title and kept me on their page with unique designs and writing styles that portrayed them.

Professional Blogs

So this week we were assigned to read two blogs and basically blog what we thought was interesting about these professional blogs. I had no idea where to look, so of course I went to Google and typed “professional blogs”. And after filtering through 1000 links about how to create your own professional blog I stumbled upon this website (http://problogservice.com/blog-3/ and found two interesting blogs titled “Four Language Errors That Make You Sound Pretentious” and “Is Facebook On Its Way Out? The Folly of Calling Things Dead”

“Four Language Errors That Make You Sound Pretentious”

I hate grammatical errors with a passion and try to not do them myself (even though I am human and do make mistakes) Even when I text, I text in full complete words and sentences. This article caught my eye because it discussed four grammatical errors that people make constantly:

·         Not using a and an before words properly

·         Assuming that bemused means the same thing as amused

·         Taking the rule “don’t ever end your sentence with a preposition” literally

·         Using myself when you mean me

The first rule especially drives me crazy. The writer doesn’t bore you with facts. They add their personality into the work. They add their voice to the piece, so you feel like you’re actually talking to someone. Rather than just reading a long, boring article online. They’re trying to educate people and prevent them from making silly grammatical errors that will make them sound like an idiot. I’m not really sure what the point of the unicorn statue is in this post, but it gives the reader something to look at.

“Is Facebook On Its Way Out? The Folly of Calling Things Dead”

Now this article really entertained me. Not only did the picture amuse me (and creep me out a bit), it made me feel as though I was talking to one of my friends. The writer of this blog is hilarious. They basically make fun of people that over exaggerate by saying some website is dead just because another one surpassed it in numbers that week.

Google isn’t going to kill Facebook or vice versa because they’re two completely different websites. I can’t look up how to make lasagna on Facebook and I can’t poke my friends through Google. Twitter won’t replace blogging because most people have more than 140 characters worth of stuff to share. Twitter is more for people to post quick little thoughts throughout the day.

Yeah people can argue that Facebook already killed MySpace, but my space isn’t completely dead. I for one, still have an active MySpace account and log on weekly to listen to music. (My iPod went through the wash and my iTunes crashed so don’t try suggesting those things to me). Why would I pay $1.29 for a song that I can only listen to on my computer when I can listen to it on MySpace for free?

Basically what the writer was trying to say, (and I agree with) is that people who overreact and say that one website is dead due to another is basically an idiot.

Pumping Iron and Breaking a Sweat

So, for my second week of blogging I had to decided what I wanted to do for my campus safari. It was actually the daily email that I receive from Southern events that helped me decide which task I wanted to perform this week. They gym was having a special all day today. Anyone that attends Southern could visit and tour the gym for free. No mombership sign ups required. They even offered workout classes like yoga, zumba, cycling, etc all day long (I posted a picture of the schedule). I really wanted to take the yoga or zumba class but unfortunately I was in class. I did however stop by to find out more about the gym.

It cost sixty bucks a sememster for a gym membership (thirty five during the summer). They’re open mon-thurs: 7am-10pm, fri: 7am-8pm, sat: 9:30-4:30pm, and sun: 2pm-7pm. This flexible schedule allows students to be able to fit exercise into their schedules. They have a large variety of machines. There are cardio machines, weights, free weights and a stretching area. And it’s not like they have two of each machine, there’s like twenty of each type. They even have locker rooms. So you have a place to store your stuff after class and don’t have to walk across campus multiple times to drop your stuff off in your room/car. And you can shower right after your workout so you don’t have to walk across campus smelling ripe. It’s easy to pay for a membership, you can even pay for it online. All of this and more information can be found on the school’s website and they list the number to call if you have any questions.

I wasn honestly surprised by our school’s gym. I spend a lot of time in the Student Center in between breaks to eat and get work done. I’ve spent time in the eating area, the media room, and the fire study. I’ve passes the gym almost once a day and never looked twice at it. It always seemed so small, but when I actually stopped to look I notices that it’s a lot bigger than I had first assumed. And I noticed a board outside of the room that has specific classes on certain times and days. And the best part is, the schedule changes every week. So if one week I can’t take a class because I have class (sounds funny but I mean school) or work I can take it next week at a different time.

This trip to the gym has been eye-opening. I learned that there’s more to our school’s gym. It’s not just running on an old machine in a tiny room. I can have fun while exercising with a variety of machines and classes. I already belong to another gym, but I’m considering joining this one because it’s convienant, cheaper, and I can call up a friend and drag them out of their dorm and make them take a class with me.

Reading continued...

How to Become a Deep Thinker

We all went to college to expand our knowledge of this world that we are living in. We want to be able to keep up with all of the hot shots and to be able to have intellectual conversations with other adults. Freshmen want to be seen as intellectual adults, rather than barely-out-of-high school- kids. But how do we become a “deep thinker”? This article explains the steps necessary to become a deep thinker.

First thing, you have to mix up your classes. You can’t be a deep thinker if you only take classes about subjects you already know. You have to try new things, learn new information. Next, you have to figure out how many hours a week you need to handle your course load. Then, you need to double that number of hours and use them as free time. This will allow you to avoid overscheduling yourself and give you time to think. You can’t be a deep thinker if you don’t have time to think.

Get Lost. In Books.

I have always loved reading. I love finding a good book to get lost in, especially if it’s part of a series because then I have plenty to read. But I don’t enjoy reading anything that is difficult. Books that I have to read and reread passages just to barely comprehend what the author is trying to portray. I don’t enjoy the frustration that comes along with reading pieces written by William Shakespeare.  But books that plain out confuse us, are beneficial to our intellectual growth.

Books that require us to read and reread the same passage over and over again are more enriching. You get out more from it than you would from an easier read. Higher reading helps diminish ignorance in the world. It helps us to better understand the past.  We have learned a lot about the era in which William Shakespeare lived in from his plays. For example, men played women’s parts in plays because women weren’t allowed to act. This demonstrated that society believed men were the superior sex during this time period.

An Educated Person

An educated person doesn’t just retain information. They know how to interpret and use it in real life situations. They can use skills that they have acquired in changing situations. They can lead, not just follow directions. They have the ability to come up with new ideas, rather than just doing tasks that their boss told them to perform. An educated person can think of things from a  different prospective and come up with new, creative solutions to unique, complex problems.

Readings

Go The Wrong Way
Now this article intrigued my curiosity just from the title. As I read this, it made me stop and think for a moment. It’s easy to associate college with getting a steady, well-paid career. If you ask most students why they’re in college, most will say to get a good paying job. But college has much more to offer than just that. It’s the only time in your life that you have to think about how you want the rest of your adulthood to pan out. It’s time to think about where you want to live, do you want to travel, do you want kids, do you want to get married, etc.

College is also the time to expand your mind and experience new cultures and lifestyles. Most schools offer programs for students to have the opportunity to study abroad. But if that’s not your cup of tea you can still indulge in many varieties of culture just by looking in your own campus. There are plenty of clubs and groups that you could join that teach about different types of cultures. Or you can learn something from one of your fellow classmate.

This is our time to explore ourselves and the world around us. To take courses that may not help us in our future careers, but will help mold us into a well-rounded person. We must use our time at school wisely. And not just waste it on binge drinking or hiding in the corner, being anti-social. We have so many resources that we must utilize because before we know it, they’ll be gone.

Work Hard or Work Smart

Most people know what working hard means, but what does working smart mean? The article explains working smarter as basically planning and utilizing your time wisely. Instead of waiting until last minute and becoming overwhelmed by the gigantic amount of work you now have. You can’t succeeded by just working harder or working smarter. You have to use a combination of both in order to succeed to the maximum level.

Before I read this article, I had no idea that my success had to do with using a combination of both. I knew that I was a hard worker, but I never thought of myself as a smart worker. I realized by using a planner and working out my schedules in order to fit class time, out of class time, work time, errand time, social time, and down time I was being a smart worker. I also realized that I needed to work on being a smarter worker a bit more. I give myself fall back time in case an assignment takes longer than I anticipated. But I tend to find myself procrastinating my work until the last fallback time I scheduled, which usually leads to stress and/or aggravation.

Learning the differences between the two types of work and what type I am has helped me improve my life. I have a more organized schedule and find myself not waiting until last minute to finish everything. Which reduces my stress/aggravation.

My Confusing and Chaotic Trip to the Library

Okay so maybe my trip to SCSU's library wasn't chaotic, but it sure as hell was confusing (pardon my french). On Thursday, I had a two hour break inbetween two of my classes. So I decided to pull out my inquiry safari list and start working on my first adventure. I didn’t want to go crazy,  lose track of time, and miss my next class. I picked a fairly quick and simple task. I chose to visit the library and look for a book that would apply to any one of my classes. I walked in to a clean, quiet, well lit, and cool (temperature wise) envirnoment. I saw rows upon rows of shelves filled with books. Each shelf had a piece of paper taped to it with a bunch of confusing numbers and letters. Now I could lie and say that I went to the reference desk to find the location of a book or asked someone for help. But I honestly just wandered around until I stumbled upon an anthropology section. I figured it would be more fun to explore and be lost for a little.

In the anthropology section, I found a big, blue book that captured my attention. It was titled Encylopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Intrigued, I took a picture of the book on the shelf, grabbed it, and took it back with me to a individual table. I checked the table of contents to see what this book was all about. The book contains many different groups of people all over the world. It’s broken up into three sub sections for each type of group mentioned in the book. The first section contains areas where important anthropological work has been done. The second section contains small biographical entries about people who were essential to the development of anthropology. And the third section had a glossary that defines and explains certain terms within the section.

I skimmed through different sections, getting  a basic idea of the book. Then a topic caught my attention. I was interested in learning more about toteism. I knew it was a Native American term and that’s about all a I knew. I learned that each Native American tribe had a spirit animal that basicallly represented their tribe. They believed that they should never kill an animal that was their animal spirit or totem. If they angered their totem by killing that particular animal, they could never hunt again. Later on, people like Freud, Durkheim, and Frazer believed that this was humanity’s first form of religion.

After expanding my education on Native American beliefs, I packed up my stuff, put the book back in it’s spot on the shelf (I didn’t just stuff it somewhere close by), and left the library. Overall, my adventure to the library was quite enjoyable. Yes locating books still baffles me, but it’s a nice place to get my work done or to just pick up a book and learn something new. It’s a nice change up from going to the fire study or media room in the Student Center to get work done. And it’s a lot quieter in there too.

My Definition of College

I've been looking forward to college since my senior year. My mom made me start looking at schools whe I was a freshman in high school. I honestly couldn't take it seriously because college seemed so far away.  Then it was the start of my senior year and I couldn't wait to get out of my high school. People kept telling me that towards my graduation I would start to miss high school and freak out about college. And  when it came time to walk across that stage, all I kept thinking about was leaving and starting college. My first days at SCSU I was very excited and slightly nervous that I would get lost. But I gave myself plenty of time to find everything and I had a friend that lived on campus that helped me find where I was going. So my fears were quickly put to rest.

College is a chance for freedom and independence. There's no one telling me to do my homework or go to class. I don't have to worry about getting detention for skipping class. I choose how much I get out of my education by what I decide to put in. College allows me to practice my time managing skills. I have about two hours in between most of my classes. If I have a lot of school work or have work later on that afternoon I usually go up to the fire study in the student center to get my work done. And if I happen to get my work done before my break is done I meet up with friends to grab a bite.

I also learn how to socialize with others. I am not the most outgoing person. It takes me a while to warm up to new people. The other day, a girl sitting next to me in my math class asked me a question. Normally I would've just answered her question and kept to myself, but I saw an opportunity to make a new friend. Now I know someone in my math class that I could talk to if I need help. College brings out the best in people and new traits that the person may not have known they possess. I now find myself exploring Southern's campus whenever I get a chance.

My number one reason for deciding to go to college was to further my knowledge. I hope to obtain my ph.D in psychology and land a great job. I want to raise my children in a financially and emotionally stable envirnoment. I don't want to face the hardships that my family is going through. But I also want to gain more from my time at SCSU. I want to gain more confidence, establish more relationships with many different types of people. Overall, this time is crucial in my life. It's when i'll develope into the adult. I will no longer be seen as a child. I will be responsible for myself. And so far, Southern has been a great start to my transformation.

Defining Myself

Here are five word, phrases, sentences, concepts, etc to describe me: Hardworking, Goofy, Loving, Stubborn, and Strong.

Hardworking:

Working hard has always been in my nature. Whether it's school, sports, or a job. I have been working since I was fourteen years old and have been working at my

current job since I was sixteen. After my boss got sick

and had to have surgery I had to balance a 30+ hour  

on top of going to school, sports, activities at the age

of sixteen. I was able to successfully keep up with     

everything because I worked hard.

 Goofy:

It's rare that you'll ever find a nice picture of me. I can't keep a straight face. I'm a big goof ball. I love making people laugh, especially if they're upset. My partner-in-crime is my sister (girl on the right). Once we get together it's all over. You will never get us to be serious.

 Loving:



Most people view me as an ice queen, but I'm  

really not. I can be less tolerable than most but I do actually have a loving side. I'm

not always expressive of this emotion. My one soft spot is cats. If you want to see me melt just hand me a cat and get ready to here the voices.

Stubborn:

I am too stubborn for my own good. I swear it must be genetic. As a child, I use to argue for the sake of arguing. Even if I knew that I was wrong. I would argue until the other person would stop or leave. I've gotten better, but I still refuse to give up on certain things. Stubborn can be a good thing or a bad thing. It allows me to never give up and try my hardest. It's hard for me to leave any task unfinished, no matter how difficult it may be. My stubboerness can also be my downfall. It's hard for me to admit that i'm wrong, even when I know I am.

Strength:

Strength isn't something that you're born with,

it's something that you gain. Everyone faces   

obstacles and develope strength. I am

strong mentally and physically. I wrestled

during high school and not only did I gain

physical strength, but I learned life long skills

like respect, dedication,etc.