Wellness

Well here we go again. I'm STILL adjusting. College is hard and theres been a lot of ups and downs. Thank goodness the semester is almost over and I can learn from my experiences how to make a better schedule. The one thing I think I'm really good about is planning. Planning is easy. It's the action that's hard.
I wish I had more time for sleep, visiting family and friends, and I wish the pool was closer. I really need to exercise and I feel like it's just never going to happen. If the Blatt was closer I would be swimming all the time. Swimming is comfortable and easy. Swimming is fun. Running, walking, and using work out machines doesn't really appeal to me. I think if I had a buddy who could walk to Blatt with me, I would go all the time. I miss swimming. I feel like I haven't done it in so long because I've been treading water in a lake and not swimming in a pool. I miss pools. I miss the beach.
Capstone has a bunch of money. We should get a pool in an effort to promote campus wellness. An indoor heated pool :]

Hand Visit 2

My student loves to talk. She's told me so much about herself already and it's like i hardly have to prompt her at all. I think she just needs someone to talk to. She has some family things going on, but it doesn't sound they're a big problem, just a little drama. She's told me a lot of funny stories about her family, and she's told me a bit about her friends too. She was to be a hair stylist. I suggested that she take business classes so she could run her own place and she said she's thought about it and definitely wants to take them. She asked me what classes I took in middle and high school. She said she really liked being in chorus, but she's thinking about switching to drama for a new crowd. Of course, I encouraged her because I think basic theatre classes are good for everyone. They are fun, energetic, build confidence, and foster relationships. Theatre can make you bolder, more friendly, and it can really boost your self-esteem when you get a laugh. She seems like she's got a good head on her shoulders. She is very polite, thoughtful, and self aware.

Mutual Expectations

The mutual expectations gathering was actually very interesting. I didn't know what to expect at all. I really liked that there were seperate tables where individual groups of students and instructors could briefly get to know each other before the discussion began. It was easy. The group leaders explained everything and facillitated conversation and kept the dicussion moving without dwelling on one issue for too long. Everyone got a chance to speak and put our concerns in our own words. And it was really great that we were with instructors we didn't really know. Otherwise I think, yes, it would have been awkward to say how you felt about an instructors performance. We probably would've just kept our mouths shut and not gotten the issue out at all. It was nice to hear from the instructors. They were very friendly and didn't sound demanding at all. They just wanted us to actually try. Come to class, pay attention, read the material, study the appropriate amount of time.
I think this whole first semester so far has been a wake up call for me. This experience basically just reinforced the things I've been finding out the hard way about school and studies.

Diversity

Diversity was usually meant as having a group of people of different ethnicities and backgrounds. I think as I got older it just became broader. Diversity covers every aspect of the human being. It's personality, the way they look, their views, their backgrounds, the way they handle situations. I feel like I see it all the time. It doesn't have to be difference in ethnicity. It can just be personality. If three people are on an elevator, they dont have to have different ethnicities to be diverse. Although, that is the general idea of diversity. But I feel like diversity ranges over everything and so it is everywhere.
There is definitely diversity at Hand Middle. Not only are these kids from different ethnicities, backgrounds, family values, income levels, but they are all different ages, heights, levels of maturity, personalities, etc. Middle school brings on a big transtition. It happens over the course of those 3 years. Sometimes it continues into high school. That age range can mean a lot of different things and it creates diversity.

ACE appointment

I scheduled my ACE appointment for thursday from 7:00 to 8:00. It really didn't last that long. I went for math because I'm doing poorly on my tests in precal and it's very discouraging. I don't know if I'm forgetting the material because I don't pay enough attention in class or if I'm just not studying correctly. All we have in that class is tests and I need to do well. So there were some other people there when I went for my appointment. When it got to be my turn, the ACE coach/instructor/tutor guy helped me with the extra credit opportunity we finally got in math. It was only two questions and it didn't take very long at all. After that I basically just asked for some study advice. He told me that practice was really the only way to learn math. He encouraged me to look up extra problems to work on, focus on concepts I'm having trouble with until I'm comfortable with them. I think that will really help a lot. And I'm glad he helped me with my extra credit because now I know it's correct and I'll get the bonus points I need. I think I'm going to do the drop in hours again during the week.

Marine Science

I really want to major in marine science. I feel like that is really my passion. I decided that was what I wanted my major to be at least by the time I was a sophomore in high school.
It is certainly not about the money. And I don't think any of my interests are things that would guarantee me a career with lots of money anyway.
I just feel like this is something I could do for the rest of my life. Preferably, I want to do things hands on. I want to be the person who goes out into the cold salty ocean to research humpback whale behavior. I want to monitor a coral reef's growth in the Carribbean. Lug scuba equipment around. Get stung by jellyfish. Hose down the research vessel.
Unfortunately, marine science is based in math and chemistry fundamentals. Two things I am not great with. This is and will continue to be a difficult road for me, I am sure. But I've told myself: this path is the longest and hardest, it's the one I need to try first.
If marine science doesn't work out, then I'll have to turn to another interest of mine.
I should get into photography so I can be an underwater photographer/videographer. You don't have to have a marine science degree for that right?

Freshman Fall '09

Omigosh this semester has been both fun and stressful. Mostly crazy. Now here I am coming in with a super late blog. Late late late. AGAIN. Sorry :[
Great things this semester: making friends, meeting new people, creating home away from home, getting things done on time.
Hard things this semester: getting out of my room, making it to 8 a.m. math on time, trying to eat all of my 21 meals, organizing my priorites, getting things done on time, being sickly, walking to classes without huffing and puffing.
Things I want to change: balance of my level of activity (somedays need to be more active, some days need to be less hectic), organization abilities, study tactics, number of hours in a day.
What I want to do differently: find time to relax, focus continuously on the most important tasks, create a schedule for next semester that does not encourage feelings of regret, improve study skills and ability to wake up on time and actually be awake, drink more water.
Also, I need to figure out how to properly estimate the time it will take me to do things. I had a million things planned for fall break. I knew I wouldn't get them all done, but I thought at least I could make significant progress. Well although I made several things happen, I didn't accomplish near the amount of things I wanted to. I need to change!

The meaning of Service Learning

Service Learning is a great way to benefit several people at once. When you participate in a service learning program, not only are you helping others and improving their lives, but you are improving your life by doing good and learning from the experience. Just because you are supposed to be the one teaching or the one helping does not mean you cannot be the one who learns a valuable lesson. By interacting with the people or organizations you are serving, you learn about situations and how to deal with them. You learn how to accomplish new tasks.
For instance, in our program we'll be mentoring 6th graders. We'll get a chance to see how they feel about middle school; their point of view. We may be faced with the challenge of trying to help them develop a study schedule or learning method that works best for them. We may be faced with the challenge of addressing important issues and finding the right advice to give. We can learn things by interacting with these kids that could help us in the future. At the same time, we are helping them succeed.

Campus Safety

I was really confused when I saw a female police officer after I had heard a lot about the “brotha-man”. I thought she was really nice though. She seemed friendly, understanding, and I liked that she incorporated specific past events as examples for the situations she was talking about. She seemed very approachable, which is really nice in a police officer.
I thought the presentation was very informative. She covered a lot of information it seemed like. I knew certain things about being safe on campus like not to walk alone and to pay attention to your drink at a party. I definitely didn’t know that you could just call them for an escort if you were alone at night. Sometimes I don’t do things or go to meetings because I don’t want to walk by myself. That will be helpful for future reference.
Overall, it went pretty well, no falling asleep, she kept my attention and I feel like I learned a bit more about being safe on campus and the campus police.