Final Video Project

This took foreverrrrrr, to do. It literally took like a day and a half to figure out how to get it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-N9J4BJpQC4

There was one time recently where I had to really step up and be a leader. About a month ago, there was an event at my job. This event is solely sponsored by donations and is ran by volunteers. Parents can pay a set amount and bring their kids. We give them pizza, the can go swimming, play games, do crafts, and at the end they watch a movie and wait for their parents to come get them.

After the kids all ate, we were trying to get them to quiet down so we could line them up and take them to the pool. The kids were screaming and yelling, pushing and shoving, and none of the staff was being loud enough for the kids to hear. So, I yell. Loudly. Not in a mean voice, but in a stern, authoritative voice. The kids quiet very quickly and get into the line. I tell them they all need to be nice and quiet or they weren’t allowed to swim.

From that point on, all the other staff was coming to me with problems. This kid is crying, this one hit his brother, she spilled her juice, what should we have them do next… So I had to figure it out.

Once the night was nearly over, most of the kids fell asleep while watching the movie. When their parents came, they were so grateful that they had the night to themselves and could now put their child right to bed. The kids who were still awake raved about how much fun they had. Even though it was stressful for me, I’m glad everything went well.

I twisted my ankle and I still only got a 70.

One difficult situation I was in this semester was when I had a history exam. A few days before the exam, I was looking for the professors review paper on vista, and I couldn’t find it. I started freaking out because the next time I had her class, was when we were going to have the exam, and I need the paper so I could study all the next day.

I had no idea what I was going to do because I’m not friends with anyone in the class. To be honest, I didn’t really even know anyone’s name. the professor had said that he doesn’t check her emails on certain day and that day happened to be one of them, so I was stuck.

Finally I realized I could find out who is in the class on vista. I found one girls whose name I remember my professor saying in class several times. So I looked her up on facebook and sent her a message. Thank God she answered back right a way and showed me where exactly I could find it.

Now that I knew where the paper was, how was I going to print it? My brother has a printer in his room, but refuses to let me use it. So once again I was stuck. I called my neighbor hoping she was still up, and again, thankfully, she was. I email her my document and she prints it out for me. So, I run across the street, grab the paper, and run back home.

R Bar, Pearl... whatever it's called

I really don’t like going out of my comfort zone, that’s why its my comfort zone… but this past weekend I went out to a club and lied about it. Now that’s not something I would normally do. I wouldn’t ordinarily be the type to go out down town, and I would always feel like I should ask and/or tell my parents. I’ve just always been the type of kid that doesn’t want to lie. My parents, for the most part, let me do what I wanted (since most of the stuff I wanted to do was reasonable). But to be honest, I didn’t want to tell them this time. I decided to just leave my comfort zone, and go for it.

I did, and I had the best time. I went with a group of friends and we danced and laughed and stayed out past like 1. For a lot of other college kids, this wouldn’t be as big a deal, but for me it is since it isn’t something I normally do. Yeah I felt sort of guilty about it later, but I had too much fun to really worry about it.

My Grades Haven't Been This Bad In Years

My grades for this semester are, not great, to say the least. Not that I wasn’t expecting to make the Dean’s list or anything, but I was hoping I did better.

I’m at school til almost 8:00 at night on Monday and Wednesday so that doesn’t leave me too much time on those days to get work done. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I leave around 2, but I have work at 5:30. Luckily I can do my school work when I’m at my job, most of the time. But for some reason, I just can’t keep up with it all.

A lot of the work is really boring and I have no interest in the subject. I guess the only thing I can do for those classes, is try to be a little more involved or interested. For the other classes, I’m not sure what I should do. I thought I was actually doing pretty well in one class, and then it turned out I wasn’t. I’ll probably talk to my professor about what I can do to improve that grade.

My goal for the rest of the semester, I think, is to just do better. I’m not sure how. I think I have to figure that out along the way.

Inquiry Midterm Project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtMfAXTqasU

 

This is my inquiry midterm video project.

The Y :P

So, not looking forward to work at the Y on Sunday. I hate the uniform we have to wear. The shirt is this awkward Stop and Shop yellow/gold color with kaki pants. It looks so bad together. It sucks that my shift during the week is 5:30-9:30 p.m. because none of my supervisors are even there, but I have to ear it anyway. Sundays are like that too. I’m there all day, from 12-5 p.m. by myself. Why do I have to wear this ugly uniform. Or supervisors don’t have to wear it… You’d think that the people that work at the front desk, the people you see when you first walk in, would look a little nicer, ya know? But nope, our gross Stop and Shop colored shirts with our kaki pants, that’s what you get to see.

Surprisingly, a lot of the members complained about the uniforms. The were very sympathetic of it’s ugliness. The not only felt bad, but they very politely, basically said, “Those new uniforms are really ugly and are hard to even look at, why can’t you dress how you did before?” Before, we got to wear yoga pants and a t-shirt of any kind as long as there wasn’t writing on it. There wasn’t a problem with what we wore before, so why did it have to change? The new shirts don’t even have the Y logo on it…

The Y is changing its symbol and colors, so there will be shirts we can get in the future, but that won’t be fore at least another 8-9 months.

Ugh I hate these uniforms. L

"Lee Time"

Lee is such an awesome mentor. I already know that I’m going to learn a lot from her. Having a peer mentor is great because we can go to her if we’re having issues with anything, because she’s most likely already been through it. Her being so open and honest, makes it really easy and comfortable to be around her. She’s funny and charismatic, which leaves her with a great personality. I really look forward to the time she has in class on Thursdays. Lee’s helping us understand ourselves better. She wants us to have fun and be creative, but wants us to figure out who we are in the process. College can be an even bigger struggle when you aren’t self aware.

Having a peer mentor adds a sense of comfort I think. They’re older, so they know more, and understand things in a way that we may not yet. And the fact that they’re one of our “peers” makes them easier to talk to. They aren’t so authoritative, so you kind of feel like its ok if you’re more open about things too.

Class on Thursday with Lee, or “Lee time”, as DJ calls it, is great. Lee had us do laughing exercises once, where we also had to hug and hold hands with each other. She’s not only leading us to figure out who we are, but she’s bring us together as a class. A lot of us are getting to be really good friends now, and I think Lee is partly to thank for that.

"Stay gold Ponyboy, stay gold..." - JohnnyCade

The major I chose is early childhood education. This certifies you for grades K-3. The reason I wanted to teach younger grades is because I love kids. I love that they’re innocent still. There’s so much to teach them. Whether teaching them school things, or things about the world, or society, or culture. Everything is new to them.

One of my favorite books is The Outsiders, and one of my favorite passages is when Johnny is explaining his theory about Robert Frost’s poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay” , and saving the little kids from the fire. Johnny explains that kids are innocent and pure. Almost that their naiveté is what keeps them gold.

“Ponyboy, I asked the nurse to give you this book so you could finish it. The doctor came in a while ago but I knew anyway. I keep getting tireder and tireder. Listen, I don't mind dying now. It was worth it. It's worth saving those kids. Their lives are worth more than mine, they have more to live for. Some of their parents came by to thank me and I know it was worth it. Tell Dally it was worth it. I'm just going to miss you guys. I've been thinking about it, and that poem, that guy that wrote it, he meant you're gold when you're a kid, like green. When you're a kid everything's new, dawn. It's just when you get used to everything that it's day. Like the way you dig sunsets, Pony. That's gold. Keep that way, it's a good way to be. I want you to tell Dally to look at one. He'll probably think you're crazy, but ask for me. I don't think he's ever really seen a sunset. And don't be so bugged over being a greaser. You still have a lot of time to make yourself be what you want. There's still lots of good in the world. Tell Dally. I don't think he knows. Your buddy, Johnny.”

I think not long after I read this book, I decided I wanted to be a teacher. And this book, this passage in particular, always stuck with me.

I had a few good years in elementary school, but there were a couple years where I was truly miserable. I had a teacher that yelled too much, picked on kids (some more than others), threw a desk and chair across the room… he was crazy and I hated having to go to his class everyday.

I want to be a teacher, to make kids’ lives better. To be at least one teacher that they really like. I want kids to want to go to school and know that they aren’t going to get yelled at, and that they’re going to have fun. It’d be nice to keeps the kids I’d be teaching, as gold as possible, for as long as possible. They should have a better time in school than I did, and I want to show them, and myself, that they can.

What makes a good blog...?

Hmm… what makes a good blog post? Well, I think, for one, it can’t be too long. Once it gets too long I definitely loose interest in reading it. Other than that, I like when blogs have a different way of writing. Even though we talked about this in class… I like D.J.'s blog because when you read it,. It actually sounds, in your head, like its D.J. talking. He types how he speaks and I really like that. It makes reading his blog more entertaining, I also like how he CAPs his letters to show emphasis. Making words different colors from other parts of the text is always eye catching, like CAPs, too.

Another thing that makes a good blog, is pictures. In a way, I think we’re all still little kids at heart and we like looking at pictures more than just reading, so pictures keep me entertained and keep me interested to continue reading. In Lyndsay's blog, she some how got one of her pictures to move. Which I think is so cool and fun.

Links are always a good thing to put in a blog. I need to be directly told what the link is though. I don’t want to click something without knowing exactly what I’m clicking. I could click a virus and not even know. But don’t make all the links just one type. For example, don’t just link videos or just pictures. Mix it up. Some links for videos, some for pictures, maybe throw in a link to another site.

Really, what a “good blog” is, is all a matter of opinion. My opinion is different from someone else’s. This is just what makes a good blog, to me.

SC-SU! Owlsss!

This past Friday I went with my friend Molly, that I’ve known for 13 years, her boyfriend Mat, and our friend Joe to the football game. It was raining kinda bad all day and we thought about not going, but there was free food, courtesy of 5 Guys, so hey why not?

I got there early with Molly and Mat and it was still raining. I was so mad because the weather said it would stop raining early evening. They lied. Joe got there and we go inline for the burgers. I’ve never had 5 Guys before, so I never really got why it was such a big deal. Now, I do. That burger was the best I’ve ever eaten.

Since it was still going to be a little while before the game actually started, I walked with Joe to his car to get a towel so that we could sit on it. Molly had brought a towel too. I didn’t even think to. Even though in the back of my mind I knew the bleachers were gonna be all wet. So I was quite grateful when Joe shared.

Kick off was at 7 and it had finally stopped raining. We got the first TD and we were doing really well. Then… it started raining again. Not to mention it was really really cold. We had an umbrella, but it wasn’t keeping us warm. We would risk getting rained on and cold only when we got more TD’s and kicks. Maybe for a good tackle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stand to stick out the whole game so we left at half time. I was kinda mad since I love football and I hate leaving games early, but it’s a good thing we did because now, I am sick. Thank you cold rainy football game, for giving me a very stuffy nose and an annoying cough.

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date.

I know that now that I’m in college, I’m supposed to set aside time everyday for all my school work and studying, but that’s just not something I do. Time management has never been something I was very good at. I’m not very keen on schedules and planners. Its definitely one of the more important things I need to work on. Its hard to change certain habits after 12 years of doing them a specific way.

I always have a planner, and when I remember, I write down homework or events, things in general that I’m supposed to remember. Every so often I’ll look through it, but a lot of the time I’ll forget to even open it. I’m better now at remembering to do homework and stuff, than I was back in the beginning of high school. I still have a ways to go, but that’s part of the college experience. To learn how to organize and prioritize your time.

"No one person can do everything. But we can all do something.” – Tracy Ediger, Fugees team manager

I feel kinda bad, but I didn’t really like warren St. John’s book, Out Casts United. There wasn’t anything I can specifically say I didn’t like, I just… didn’t care for it.

I did however, go to his lecture on Wednesday, September 15^th. Well I was still in class for the first half of it, but I made the other half.

Even though I didn’t have much interest in what he was saying, I tried to listened. It was really nice to see how much he genuinely cared for the kids he wrote about. He even said he still keeps in touch with some of them.

Some of the people at his lecture asked him questions like, “how long did it take you to write the book?” or, “what do you think was the main reason colleges wanted to use your book as a freshman read?”. I don’t remember how long it took him to write the book, but I remember him saying that it wasn’t his idea to make it a freshman read, but he thinks schools did it because of the amount of diversity, the struggles, and the honesty, or reality, that the book held. The book wasn’t some story about a couple of random, no name, fictional boys. It was true. All of it. These kids, this team, are real.

(the Fugees>)

"I sing just like Aretha, so respect me like I'm Caesar"-B.o.B.

The reason I waited til tonight to do the free write blog was because I had 2 things that I wanted to write about. One that happened Friday night, and the other today.

Last night I went to the We The Kings Concert. My friend Cait saved us awesome seats. We were 7^th row, center. There was this band, Valencia, before them, who I don’t know, but they were good.

                                                                                                              (Valencia^)

When We The Kings came on, the crowd went crazy. They sang a few of their songs (Secret Valentine, Check Yes Juliet, and from their new cd, She Takes Me High) and during the middle of the performance, lead singer, Travis, gave some weird story about round house kicking in your front door while holding your new pet owl and yelling at your mom. I didn’t understand it at all, but it was funny. Towards the end of the concert the crowd rushed the stage. Some kid tried to crowd surf, and that just ended badly.

(Cait and Nick^)

(Travis and Hunter fromWe The Kings>)

A couple of days ago, my boyfriend won tickets to see B.o.B. at the Hartford Colonial football game. He was the half time performer. I love football and I really like a lot of B.o.B.’s songs so I was really excited.

We had really good seats for the game too, center section behind the goal post, 5^th row. My boyfriend also brought his really nice Nikon camera, so when you looked though the screen, it felt like you were on the field.

(< looks professional right?>)

 (I took these photos actually)

Seeing as how B.o.B. was the half time performer, you’d think he would be in the middle of the field… right? Isn’t that how these sort of things usually go? Well he wasn’t in the middle of the field. He was actually a lot closer. Behind where we were sitting there was a giant screen, and under that was a little stage. Had we known he was going to be on the little random stage, we would have gotten there sooner. But, either way, it was fun and B.o.B. was magic.

 (<his arm is out like that because he was singing airplanes)

(what a crowd please ^)

(^haha his facial expression makes me laugh)

(cute smile :]^)

 

The best has yet to come, but it will soon enough.

A few days before school, 2 of my friends and I took it upon ourselves to figure out our schedules. We didn’t know how things were going to be done at orientation, and we didn’t want to end up totally lost around campus when classes started, so we just went through our schedules ourselves as if we were really going to them. It was a lot more relaxing to do it this way because it didn’t matter if we got lost, we weren’t on a time limit to get from one place to the other. And it also gave us a chance to explore the campus a little more.

So when our first day of college rolled around, we didn’t have trouble finding classes and I didn’t have to find parking because I get dropped off. So far, everything has been going pretty smoothly. As of yet, I really haven’t experienced anything that great or that bad about being here. I don’t really have any cool stories I can write about. We’re not even a month into the semester. I still have plenty of time to create some memorable experiences here at Southern

Really... you can put down your iphone. It won't kill you.

One of the articles we had to read for class sort of got me thinking. It was one of the articles about how too much technology is bad for you. Looking at the screens too much or too long, you can get “addicted”, it makes you tired, irritable, its bad for your vision… a whole list of reasons why too much of it isn’t a good thing. Yet we’re reading these articles online… It just seemed sort of crazy and contradictory that we’d be reading about something that is bad for you, on something that is bad for you. You know?


There was also an article about how parents nowadays are too busy with there iphones and blackberries to pay attention to their kids. One little kid had to resort to biting his mom's leg. Its pathetic and ridiculous when parents get too wrapped up in their smartphones, or whatever their using, and ignore their children. Why would you do that? I really don’t get it. What are you looking at that is so important that you cant look away for 5 minutes to check on you kid?

I think it really sucks that our society has become so dependant on technology. Cell phones for like calling and texting I can understand since its not as big a deal, its more for communication. It can keep you safe, but all the constant facebooking and emailing or whatever, its getting out of hand. I wish people would come to their senses are realize that if you keep your faces buried into those screens too long, you’re going to miss out on the rest of your life.

"Everytime I look for you, you're by my side. Love always shines."-gp

5 things about me:


1.They call me the “mom” of the group. I'm always the one that makes sure my friends aren't doing anything stupid. I think about the consequences of my actions, where as a lot of my friends don’t. Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of stupid things, but I like to take care of my friends too. Make sure that they’re safe. If someone doesn’t feel good while we’re out or something, I’m the one they go to. I have that “mom’ gene. I happen to be very nurturing.

My purse is my life. In that thing, I have water, band aids, medicine, purell, tissues… I could go on. You name it, I probably have it.

 

2. I absolutely love to laugh. Hanging out with my friends and laughing is one of my favorite things to do. I truly believe that the more you laugh, the longer you’ll live.

3. My family isn’t as close as I’d like it to be, but I love them regardless. I miss my sister, Mallory, she lives

in Boston for the time being, but the rest of us live here in Hamden.

4. I’m half Irish and half Italian. No disrespect to the Italian part of me, but I love being Irish . When I turn 18 in a few weeks I want to get a shamrock tattoo.

5. Photography is one of my biggest hobbies. I’m not sure how good I am at it though. I don’t really have the right equipment or much experience, but I love it.

<--(this is a pic. i took from my cell phone a few years ago at the North Haven fair)(this is a pic. my friend Jasmine took at Wintergreen Lake)-->

It’s surprisingly hard to think of just 5 things to say about myself. I don’t know what to tell unless I’m actually asked. So I guess the last thing I want to say here is this…

What’s something you want to ask me? What's something you want to know about me?

"Half of my heart's got a grip on the situation, half of my heart takes time."-jm

So far, college isn’t really at all what I expected. Half of me is so ready to be here and do “college” things. Ready to really get involved in campus life. But the other half is overwhelmed by the work load and being so independent. At sometime during the day, I get to the point where I start freaking out and think, “Holy crap. What have I gotten myself into?”.


Now I’m not a big party girl, I don’t see the point in it, but how is it that all these other students can go out to clubs, drink, and stay up till 2 or 3 in the morning and still function the next day? I can barely stay up till 12 and just watch a movie without being tired for class. I’m not saying that I want to do all those things, what I’m saying is, is that I want to be able to find my balance between work and play. How can I get all my work done, do it well, and on time… and still have a social life? I think for right now that’s going to be one of my biggest priorities. Finding my balance here. I don’t want to have to freak out and question myself and my abilities everyday.

Another thing I always question myself with, is, “How did I get here?”. And by “here” I mean, this point in my life. I just graduated from high school, and now I’m in college? I feel like I just watched my sister, who is six years older than me, graduate. I remember sitting in the bleachers at the football field as her and 600 other kids walked to their seats, and thinking that it’ll be forever before that’s me down there. Well, forever has come and gone. She graduated, then my brother did, then it was my turn. Soon enough, I’ll graduate from SCSU. But hopefully that won’t come too soon. I want to enjoy this time in my life as much as I can.

 

So here’s to you SCSU, and all the good times we’ll share.