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Friday, December 9
First of all, let me just say thank goodness this is the last blog. I have to be honest, I just could never really get into the whole blogging thing. I felt like I was being forced to write all of the time in some sort of journal or diary. There is only so much to talk about and doing five blogs a week just pushed the limit. On another topic, I have several things to tell students that will have to take this class in the future. First of all, keep up on your blogs and try to do one a day. If you fall behind, it will be that much harder to catch up. Secondly, make use of the peer review sessions that we have in class. They will only be successful if you bring in a copy of your paper and when in class, try to do your best to edit the paper that you are reviewing. I found these to be very helpful in correcting some things in my papers that I wouldn't have found on my own.
I do believe that the books that we had to buy this course were a slight waste of time to read. Once in a while, the book about arguments was helpful, but I rarely used it. ALso, the comic book was an interesting approach to a textbook. However, there was no point in reading it because we only discussed each chater in class for like five minuntes and never talked about them again. Overall, I must say that is wasn't my favorite class. However i do believe that if you enjoy writing and debating, then this class will be very enjoyable and you will take a lot from it.
Edited on 2005-12-06 12:13:47 by IslandGirl
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Tuesday, December 6
Well we got second place at our tournament this weekend and it was so much fun. We left Happy Valley around 4:30 on Friday afternoon and made one stop for food. We ended up getting to where we were staying at 12:20. This time would have been earlier had we have followed the directions to the girl's house instead of following the directions to the gym. We got slightly lost and ended up backtracking about 30 minutes or so. I think I fell asleep around one and we had to get up at 6:30 to go to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. We played all day Saturday from eight in the morning til eight thirty at night. In the finals we ended up losing to the University of Michigan, unfortunately. It was a great day though and I got to play more than I expected. We left Ann Arbor at 9 and it was snowing for a little but stopped. We drove for an hour and stopped at a rest area in Ohio where we had Burger King for dinner. When we came outside again, it was snowing hard core. We ended up driving home the rest of the way in blizzard like conditions. The roads were completely covered and we could barely see 5 feet ahead. We were going 35 mph on route 80 almost the whole way back. I ended up getting back to my dorm at 5 in the morning on sunday. This did throw off my sleeping schedule slightly but I wouldn't have changed the experience at all.
Edited on 2005-12-02 09:15:51 by IslandGirl
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Friday, December 2
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December 2
Edited on 2005-12-02 09:15:18 by IslandGirl
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December 2
Lately I feel as if I am so rundown. I just want to be able to sleep in and not have to wake up for an eight o'clock class. It seems that any chance I get I try to lay down and take a little nap even if it is just for twenty minutes. I won't even be able to sleep in tomorrow morning. I have a volleyball tournament this weekend at the University of Michigan. We are leaving tonight and will probably end up have to get up tomorrow morning at like 6:30. This is worse than the times I have to get up during the week. I really am looking forward to Christmas break so I can just relax at home and sleep in my own bed.
Edited on 2005-11-28 13:59:17 by IslandGirl
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Monday, November 28
Harrison, Kristen. "The Body Electric: Thin-Ideal Media and Eating Disorders in Adolescents." Journal of Communication. Summer 2000. 28 Nov. 2005 <http://joc.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/50/3/119>∞.
Edited on 2005-11-17 09:37:32 by IslandGirl
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I was unable to paste the two pictures that I wanted to blog about, so instead I just inserted the hyperlink that will bring you to the pictures. When you click on the hyperlink, it will bring you to a page of pictures. Click on the blonde woman at the end of the second row. When you do this, the first picture you see is of a women who looks fairly young and who would be likely to be found in a magazine. When you move your mouse over the picture, it shows what the woman really looked like before her picture was digitally enhanced. She looks much older, has visible wrinkles, and a bigger face. I decided to include these pictures because it relates to my topic on how the media influences one's self-image. Most magazines exhibit models whose pictures were enhanced. By doing this, we as the viewers are not seeing the true identity of the model. Instead, we are viewing an ideal body image that is almost unattainable. Many young children do not understand that digital enhancement occurs. They compare themselves to the models that they see and become unhappy with their own image. In trying to match this unattainable beauty, they are pushed into having eating disorders which are detrimental to their health.
Deletions:
I was unable to paste the two pictures that I wanted to blog about, so instead I just inserted the hyperlink that will bring you to the two pictures. The first picture you see is of a women who looks fairly young and who would be likely to be found in a magazine. When you move your mouse over the picture, it shows what the woman really looked like before her picture was digitally enhanced. She looks much older, has visible wrinkles, and a bigger face. I decided to include these pictures because it relates to my topic on how the media influences one's self-image. Most magazines exhibit models whose pictures were enhanced. By doing this, we as the viewers are not seeing the true identity of the model. Instead, we are viewing an ideal body image that is almost unattainable. Many young children do not understand that digital enhancement occurs. They compare themselves to the models that they see and become unhappy with their own image. In trying to match this unattainable beauty, they are pushed into having eating disorders which are detrimental to their health.
Edited on 2005-11-17 09:35:54 by IslandGirl
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http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/digital.html∞
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http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/bikini/index.html//∞
Edited on 2005-11-17 09:33:41 by IslandGirl
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http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/bikini/index.html//∞
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http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/blonde/index.html//∞
Edited on 2005-11-17 09:31:40 by IslandGirl
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http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/blonde/index.html//∞
I was unable to paste the two pictures that I wanted to blog about, so instead I just inserted the hyperlink that will bring you to the two pictures. The first picture you see is of a women who looks fairly young and who would be likely to be found in a magazine. When you move your mouse over the picture, it shows what the woman really looked like before her picture was digitally enhanced. She looks much older, has visible wrinkles, and a bigger face. I decided to include these pictures because it relates to my topic on how the media influences one's self-image. Most magazines exhibit models whose pictures were enhanced. By doing this, we as the viewers are not seeing the true identity of the model. Instead, we are viewing an ideal body image that is almost unattainable. Many young children do not understand that digital enhancement occurs. They compare themselves to the models that they see and become unhappy with their own image. In trying to match this unattainable beauty, they are pushed into having eating disorders which are detrimental to their health.
Deletions:
http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/blonde/images/blonde1_01.jpg∞
Edited on 2005-11-17 09:23:37 by IslandGirl
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Thursday, November 17
http://homepage.mac.com/gapodaca/digital/blonde/images/blonde1_01.jpg∞
Edited on 2005-11-15 09:31:32 by IslandGirl
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Tuesday, November 15
Well it looks like I am going to have my room to myself tonight. My roommate is going home this morning because something is wrong with her tooth. She was in so much pain last night that she was crying. Her mom called the dentist and she most likely will need a root canal tonight. While I feel bad that she is in so much pain, it is a nice feeling to know that I will have the whole room to myself tonight. Right now she is planning on returning tomorrow night because she has a presentation to do on Thursday. Today should be a productive day for me though. I will be better able to get my work done when I am the only one in the room and I should get a good nights sleep because I can go to bed whenever I want with no noise to disturb me. It will be a good break and atleast I will have a little more privacy. Hopefully all goes well with her tooth though, maybe she won't even need a root canal.
Tuesday, November 15
Today is a miserable day. I still do not feel 100% better and the weather outside is so dreary. I wish I could just stay inside the whole day, but unfortunately, I can't afford to miss my classes especially Math 140. I want to be able to just sleep in one day and lay around in bed when I do get up. Just one day I wish I were not on a set time schedule. I n one week I will be home in my own bed and it will be great. I have no motivation to go anywhere today. Who wants to walk around when it is rainy out? Certainly not me! Rain, rain, go away come again another day! (or never!).
Edited on 2005-11-14 09:15:08 by IslandGirl
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Monday, November 14
I feel like the weather is so out of whack right now. In September it was so hot that you would sweat every time you stepped outdoors. The sun was out and we barely got any rain. A few weeks into the semester, it began to rain all the time. I think we went for over a full week with rain everyday. How miserable! Next it got extremely cold. Gloves, hats, scarves, and ski jackets were needed to stay warm when going from class to class. One day we even got like three inches of snow. I am not used to seeing snow anytime before the beginning of December or even before Christmas for that matter. Now, it has begun to be relatively warm again for this time of year. I am comfortable going outside in just pants and a hoody. I don't like when the weather is out of whack for that particular time of year. I like waking up in the morning knowing what to expect in regards to the temperature when I step outside. While I am not a big fan of snow, I feel that it gets me in the mood for Christmastime and I am ready for that to happen now. I wish the weather would just get back on track. I have a feeling that once it does, we will be in for a long, cold winter season.
Monday, November 14
Only eight days until I get to go home for Thanksgiving break and I can't wait. I am so excited to see my family and friends. I have so many things planned to do that I know I won't have time for everything. I am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with my entire family this year. I enjoy helping to cook and bake all of the food. Thanksgiving day will be crazy. I will go to church, go to my grandmother's (my dad's mom) for lunch and then go to my aunt's (my mom's sister) for dinner. By the time the day ends, I will have eaten my fill for the week. I also plan on hanging out with some of my friends from home since they will all be on break as well. The best part about this break is that we only have to come back to school for like two weeks before we have almost a full month off for Christmas. I am so excited!!!
Edited on 2005-11-13 14:41:27 by IslandGirl
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Sunday, November 13
Well my parents came up this weekend and it was nice to see them. They came up on Friday night, however i was unable to see them then because I had a pasta party for volleyball that night. On Saturday, I had my tournament here, which is the main reason my parents came up. The tournament went ok. We put in an A team and a B team because it was our tournament and they wanted everyone on the team to get a lot of playing time. Me and the other freshman, Emily, were on the B team. Overall, we played pretty well and it was a good experience for us. We didn't end up winning, but it was fun anyway. The one senior made us all little bags with our names on and goodies inside. The seniors also made us signs because it is our first tournament that we are playing at Penn State. It was really nice of them. After the tournament, I went out to eat with my parents to the Gingerbreadman. It was really good. Then my parents went home and I went to the volleyball party for a while. It was fun because a lot of the girls parents were there too so it was funny. Now, today I feel sick. I have a sore throat and I think it might be strep because I have white dots on my throat. It started to hurt yesterday and today it feels worse. I just want to get my work done and lay down. I hope I feel better by tomorrow though. Thank goodness I do not have practice tonight.
Edited on 2005-11-10 10:28:04 by IslandGirl
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Thursday, November 10
I do not know if this is true or not, but my roommate informed me that the police are still looking for the students who charged the field following the Ohio State game. To do so, they are going and searching through facebook to see who is part of groups that say that they charged the field. They want to look all of these students up so they can have some people to punish. Personally, I think they are getting a little extreme with this. I mean it is pretty bad when the police are turning to facebook to find out what students are to be held accountable. First of all, many students may have joined such groups just to make it look like they charged the field even though they really didn't. Also, while many people are a member of facebook, I know many others who do not waste their time with it. This means that only the ones who are part of facebook have a chance of being caught. It justs seems unfair and I feel that the police are sinking to a pretty low level to catch people for a riot which they knew was almost inevitable to happen from the start.
Edited on 2005-11-09 09:15:07 by IslandGirl
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Wednesday, November 9
Being a freshman really sucks when it comes to scheduling. I find myself looking up course availability and finding that every class I want and need seem to be full. When this happens, I email my advisor and tell her. She then emails me back another list of classes that I could possible take. Unfortunately, the cycle seems to just start again. I know I need to take Chem 12 and 14 next semester along with Biol 220W. Other than that, I am looking for a psychology course and the only two left seem to be developmental psychology and industrial psychology. I also need to find two gen eds. or a physical education class, which we all know is almost impossible for a freshman to do. I just find the whole scheduling thing to be quite stressful. On top of everything else, I am in DUS so i really am unsure of what I want to major is. Right now I am heading towards biology and psychology, but there is always a chance that I will change my mind.
Wednesday, November 9
Today is the big day that I have been preparing for all week so far. I woke up this morning knowing that today would be a busy one. This morning I had a biology exam. It actually turned out to not be quite as bad as I expected. I had trouble with a couple of the multiple choice and found myself stuck between two possible answers. Overall, I feel that I did well though. At 10:10 I have Math 140 and we are reviewing for our exam. Then right after that I have English. After lunch I plan on studying the rest of the afternoon for my Calc exam which I have tonight at 6:30. I have a feeling it is going to be fairly hard and I am struggling in that class so as it is. After that exam I have to go lift around 8:30. With the trainer, it usually takes about an hour and a half because I go with the other freshman so we both have to go through the entire workout. I then plan on coming back and showering. I hope to be done with just enough time to figure out the schedule of my classes so I can go on at midnight to register. It is going to be a long day and right now I just don't see the end in sight.
Edited on 2005-11-08 09:35:23 by IslandGirl
No differences.
Edited on 2005-11-08 09:35:04 by IslandGirl
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Tuesday, November 8
I was scanning through other people's blogs this morning trying to think of something to write about and I found one by StarBurst that I find myself in total agreement with. I too find myself extremely tired and bored of blogging. I find myself forced to write about something everyday and because of this I ramble on about nonsense. I feel that if we only had to write liek three blogs a week, I would be able to write about more productive things. We were offered the opportunity to only write three a week, but someone said that they definitely didn't want the requirement to be lowered. Why would you say this? If you want to write everyday of the week fine, but for the rest of us left three times a week be enough. Please consider lowering our weekly blog requirement.
Edited on 2005-11-07 09:11:34 by IslandGirl
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Monday, November 7
This weekend was so great. I had my first volleyball tournament as a member of the Penn State Volleyball Club Team. It was so much fun. Sure being one of the only two freshman to go did mean that we had all of bad jobs, I still had a great time. It is an adjustment, though, going from being on top as a senior in high school to being on the bottom again now. Our tournament this weekend was in Virginia at James Madison University. Most of the seniors drove and everyone pretty much left at different times. The car I was in, along with the other fresman, a sophomore, and a senior, left right after halftime and one of the other girls was following us as well. It turned out that our supposed 4 and a half hour trip turned into a 5 and a half hour trip when the sophomore who was navigating got us going the wrong way on the turnpike. It turned out that the next stop was 30 miles away so it put us an hour behind schedule. We even got there after the car who left after the game.
Saturday night, we stayed at the house of 8 college girls from JMU that the one girl on the team knew. They gave up their bedrooms for us and even bought us bagels from Panera in the morning. I only got less than six hours of sleep though and sleeping on the floor didn't help a lot. On Sunday was the actual tournament. We did come out of our pool in first place, however, we lost in the playoffs. Overall, we all played pretty lousy. We definitely should have done a lot better than we did. To top everything off, we could not reverse our mapquest directions so we got lost again on the way home and ended up in West Virginia. However, I had a lot of fun this weekend. Granted, I did not get that much playing time, but it was a good experience. At least wee made it back to Happy Valley in one piece after a long and eventful weekend.
Edited on 2005-11-02 09:27:48 by IslandGirl
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Wednesday, November 2
I was considering on doing my research paper on media influence on teenagers and how it encourages eating disorders. I have many magazines and it will be easy to see how most models are stick thin. Also, many of the things written in the magazines seem to favor those who are skinny. I will probably talk about different eating disorders and their effects on the body. Then I will pick several magazines and argue why they portray this negative message. I am not sure which type of arguments I want to institute yet, but once I start researching, I think it will be easier to decide. I want to begin looking stuff up early because I do not want to be stuck doing things last minute. This is a long paper worth many points and I don't want to screw it up. I find that if I procrastinate, I am more stressed out and find it harder to work. I think this will be a good topic because it definitely applies to teenagers in the United States, and statistics will be easy to find. If focusing just on magazines proves to be too hard, I will discuss televison shows and commercials and such. I am interested in this topic and I really hope it will work out.
Wednesday, November 2
I am one of those people who has a type A personality. I take my time and pretty much plan out my day. I am not big on spontaneity, but I am not afraid to do something on the spur of the moment. I pretty much had a good idea of what I needed to accomplish this weekend and was planning around those things. I have a lot of homework to do, I have a lab report, and I have two exams next Wednesday. So, I knew this weekend would be busy. Last night I found out that I am traveling with my club volleyball team to James Madison University. I was not supposed to go because I am only a freshman and they aren't taking everyone, but for some reason or other I will be there with them on Sunday. We have to leave Saturday probably during half time of the football game, which kind of sucks. It is a four hour drive and the actual tournament is on Sunday. Most likely we will not get back until late Sunday night and I have an 8 AM class on Monday morning. Now that I have to go, I realize that I have to get all of my work done before the football game on Saturday. I am going to start working on stuff today and most likely I won't get to go out on Friday night. That isn't necessarily a bad thing though because I will get to do more of my work, pack, and get some well needed rest. I find myself stressing out a little, but I am excited to go. It will be a great experience. Hopefully I get everything done, and more importantly hopefully we win the tournament. That would just make everything worth while.
Oldest known version of this page was edited on 2005-11-01 09:36:19 by IslandGirl []
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Tuesday, November 1I feel like since I came to Penn State that I am secluded from the outside world. At home, I would always skim the newspaper and watch the news to get some idea of what is going on in the world. However, here I find it hard to find time to do these things and I find myself unaware of the happenings outside of Happy Valley. I try to read the Daily Collegian everyday, but that is it. In between classes, I find that my day consists of homework, eating, lifting, volleyball, and thats about it. I put the television on at night when I go to sleep but don't usually end up watching it for that long. In regards to newspapers, I find that I bring them to my room and don't have time to read them so they just pile up. I know this is a bad habit, but I have so much going on that I feel stressed enough without having to deal with the problems of the world as well. When Hurricane Katrina struck, I was unaware of the mass amounts of damage that resulted at first. I heard people talking about it and made a point to put the news on when I was doing my homework. Now, I hear people talking about Hurricane Wilma hitting Cancun and I don't know what is going on. I am going to try to set a time in my day aside to watch the news or glance over the newspaper so I am not completely immune to what is going on outside of State College. If anyone can fill me in on Hurricane Wilma, I would greatly appreciate it.
Monday, October 31
I find it to be such a small world out here in Happy Valley. There are over 40,000 students that attend here and yet it seems that everyone is in someway connected. There have been many instances where I have met someone from my area. I hang out with this one boy quite frequently, and when I met his roommate, I found out that he lives about 10 minutes from my house. On top of that, he personally knows my high school volleyball coach. Another time, I had dinner with a girl on the sixth floor of my building. Later that evening when going to something for my seminar, I found out that she is best friends with the girl that I go to seminar with all the time. Last night, I found out that my volleyball coach for club at Penn State knows my club coach and director from the team that I played on at home, which is three hours away. The weirdest part was that I found this out just because of the sweatshirt that I was wearing. I truly believe, based on my experiences, that whoever said Penn State is too big for me, never gave it a shot. It is so easy to see that just because the campus is large and houses many students, doesn't mean that you will never see people that you know more than once. While in some instances you may only see a friend from home once in a while, I find that I see people constantly and at the weirdest times and places. The way relationships seem to be so close knit, gives the campus a familiarity to it and I am able to feel more comfortable about my surrounding and the people involved in it. When I hear people talk about the Penn State family, they don't just mean everyone who lives in Happy Valley and attends the university. The family is more complex with your close friends being like brothers and sisters and those you come in contact with less frequently, more like your cousins. Even though there will always be those family members that you never get to meet doesn't mean that you won't pass them frequently on the street walking to class. Being observational about your surroundings will help you expand your family and build strong relationships.
The world is truly small. As I spent time working in NYC after 9-11, a friend I had maid was Lt. Chuck Downey. In mid December, a retired firefighter from my co. told me he lost a friend that day, Captain Downy. The then Captain Downey of Rescue 2 was actually the father of my friend, Lt. Chuck Downy, and had become chief Downey of all FDNY’s Special Operations Companies and all of the famed FEMA U.S.A.R. Teams. The world is small. - Squad514
Sunday, October 30
I must admit that I am getting kind of tired of the Halloween season. The worst part is, it isn't even Halloween yet. Don't get me wrong, I do love the holiday, but I feel like we have been celebrating it for the past week and it isn't a holiday like Christmas where you can get into the spirit long in advance. I love how everything is decorated. My room has decorations in it, as I explained in an earlier blog, and the eateries is awesome. The atmosphere that was created in there really sets the mood for Halloween night. This holiday was just so much better when I was younger. I miss getting dressed up to go running from house to house collecting candy and seeing who can get the most. I miss getting scared when people had frightening costumes on. Those things just aren't as fun when you are eighteen years old. I also miss going to haunted houses and riding hayrides. Those things seemed priceless when I was a child. I just feel like Halloween is losing its appeal to me and this year is especially is different. I mean dressing up and going to parties is great, but it is just not the same. I just can't wait for Halloween to be over and the Christmas season to begin.
Wednesday, October 26
I was just reading through some blogs and I realized that awhile back one major discussion on many blogs had to deal with Reality tv shows. I must say that I am a sucker for those shows for some reason. I enjoy watching Laguna Beach and My Super Sweet Sixteen. I think it is funny to watch spoiled teenagers whine about not getting every single little thing that they wanted. Now I am not saying that at some times of my life I have never been spoiled, but i definetely did not have a half a million dollar sweet sixteen, and I would never want one for that matter. I also like watching shows like Real World and Miss Seventeen. I find it amusing to watch these because it is funny to watch people interact with other people who they just met and now have to share a house with. On Real World, they are not at all imitating the real world" in any way. The people on the show are given a job but you rarely see them in action. Mostly, they are paid to go to bars and get drunk so they can provide could filming for the show. If this is their main goal, then they do a great job at it. Every episode, there is something exciting going on like a fight, someone getting arrested, people hooking up, and of course people getting drunk. On Miss Seventeen, I find it funny to watch the girls on the show turn on one other just to win. They are so catty and always stab eachother in the back just to come out on top. Reality shows definitely do not represent anything like what real life should be like. They take rich people and show them off, or throw people into situations that are prime for fights and such to arise. I love to watch these shows though for those exact reasons and will continue to do so for the humor of them.
--I was flipping through the channels one day and heard one of the sweet 16 wine, “I DON’T WONT UGLY PEOPLE AT MY PARTY!!!!”
I wasn’t planning on going anyway… Squad514
Wednesday, October 26
I came to a great realization this morning: Don't lay your head back down on your pillow after your alarm goes off. I had an eight o'clock class this morning and had my alarm set for seven, like I always do. Well, the alarm went off and I can't even tell you what happened next. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 7:26. I usually go to meet the girl next door at like 7:35 so I knew I had to kick it into high gear. I ran into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. Then I ran back into my room and threw on the first thing that I grabbed. I did not have time for breakfast or to even grab my coat. Luckily I did make it to class on time because unfortunately, this is not a class that I can just miss.
One reason that I might have oversleeped was the fact that I was kept awake again last night by the people next door. I went bed around 12 again after I got back from practice and showered and I fell asleep right away. I didn't even hear my roommate go to bed for that matter. However, I woke up around 1 to the sound of their music and voices. Realizing that my roommate heard it too, we decided to go into the hall and ask them if they could be quieter. I knocked on the door and told them. When we got back to our room, they were much quieter. I fell asleep pretty quickley, but woke up again around 2 to hear them again. I assume that they don't have early classes and can stay up half the night without a problem I am almost to the point where I want to purposely make noise in the morning just to wake them up. I don't like being woken up like that in the middle of the night because some people are being rude. I do believe that this is one reason that I overslept this morning and almost missed my class.
Monday, October 24
I must say that I really don't like the poem that we had to read for homework. When reading it, I tried to picture the scene, but was left with nothing else. I would not consider this a poem because it did not evoke any emotion. Besides picturing the scene, or part of a scene that could be formed with this information, I was left with no information to evoke some sort of feeling of what I was reading. Because of this, I cannot see how this can be considered a poem. Poems are supposed to evoke strong emotion. This "poem" was more of a statement that was never finished. I did not enjoy reading it and am glad that it was no longer than that because it would have become unbearable to read. It was so random and out there in my opinion.
Monday, October 24
Last night I could not fall asleep for the life of me. I am sure one reason was that I had just come off of sleeping ten hours straight the night before. However, that was not the whole problem. The two girls in the room next door to me had people in their room. They were playing music and carrying on in a loud tone. My bed is right next to the wall that attaches to their room so I could hear every little word they were saying. My friends who live in the room on the other side of the two girls could also hear them. I tried hitting the wall to see if they would take a hint, but it did nothing. I do not understand how people can be so inconsiderate. I tried falling asleep beginning at midnight and was still awake around one thirty because of them. My roommate and I were going to go and ask them to be a little quieter, but we chickened out in a sense. We thought they would think we were being rude or something. I just don't understand how people can be so inconsiderate. There is no reason to be carrying on at one thirty on a Monday morning. Mondays are hard enough already. If this happens again tonight, you can be sure that I will say something to them because I want to be able to sleep when I am tired and it is hard to do that when people are yelling next door.
Monday, October 24
"Rain, rain go away come again another day!" I hate the rain and I feel like it has been raining here for the past several weeks straight. I just want the rain to go away and not come back for a long time. On top of it raining, it is freezing too. It wouldn't be so bad if it was just cold, however when you combine that with rain it is miserable. I have no motivation to get out of bed in the morning to go to my eight o'clock classes. It is also hard for me to go to practice at night because I don't want to leave my dorm room. I just got back from my first class of the day and had to change into a turtleneck and sweatshirt. I refuse to give in and where my ski jacket yet, but that time looks like it will be coming quickly. The way the weather is going now, we are going to have snow well before Thanksgiving. I must admit though that I do like snow better than I like rain, so that will be a step up. Now I have to venture back out into the rain and cold. Wish me luck!
Thursday, October 20
Last night I had to attend an Academic Planning discussion for my Biology seminar. Let me begin while explaining that I am right now in the Division of Undergraduate Study. When I came in the summer to schedule my classes, my advisor told me that I had to take a seminar. The only options she gave me were one dealing with history and one dealing with biology. Considering that I hate history, am interested in biology, and had no idea what the seminar was about, I decided to take the biology seminar. Now that I am in that class, I find myself to be one of the only two people in the class who aren’t majoring in biology or something like it. The meeting last night turned out to be extremely stressful and overwhelming. The biology advisor stood in front of us and basically drilled for an hour and a half about every single class we have to take from now until we graduate. She included what should be taken when, when to get involved in research, how to study abroad, and what to do to plan for graduate or medical school. It seemed like she was trying to scare us out of that particular major. I found it extremely stressful because I don’t even know for sure if I want to major in biology and now I feel like I am falling behind. On top of all of that, we have an assignment that we have to complete a four year plan which includes every single class we are going to take and when we are going to take it. It has to be from one of the biology major options and it has to be handed into the biology advising office. I came back completely freaked out last night. I believe that there was a better way that she could have presented the information to us than piling all of this information on at once. Hopefully I can complete the homework correctly without completely stressing myself out.
Wednesday, October 19
Sitting here in my room I find myself constantly daydreaming out the window. It is such a beautiful day outside. The temperature is not too hot and not too cold. The sky is a perfect blue, with only a few clouds here and there. As I walk outside the window blows across my face and gives me a refreshing feeling. I really wish that the weather would just stay like this. I am really not looking forward to the days when I roll out of bed just to find it freezing in my own room. On those days, I feel like I have no motivation to start my day. Today, on the other hand, I wish I could stay outside forever. Unfortunately, I find myself stuck inside doing things such as blogging, which really does not make me happy. I find it to be a slight annoyance actually. My goal for today is to finish up all the work I have to do and then make sure I spend atleast a little time enjoying this beautiful day. I don’t know if that will happen though considering I still have to do calculus, edit my English paper, read psychology, and go to something for my seminar tonight. It looks like I have a busy afternoon ahead of me so I am going to get right to it starting now…
Tuesday, October 18
I know it may be a little early yet, but I am so excited for the holiday season. Halloween is the first event that comes into play. It is not my favority holiday or anything but it gets me in the mood for what is to come in the following weeks. Last night, my roommate and I decorated our door and room. We have a tacky Happy Halloween sign, caution tape, orange streamers, and a spider web complete with its own spider. It looks pretty good too. We even took pictures of it. After Halloween comes Thanksgiving. This will be the first time in like seven years that I will be in the country on this day. Usually I go on vacation with my family to the Caribbean at this time, but since I don't have that long off, we are not going away. Instead, we went to the Dominican Republic over the summer. I am excited to be home though and help cook and spend the day with my entire family. My favorite holiday though has to be Christmas. I love the season in general. Usually it is snowing and it is always freezing out. I love picking out and decorating a tree, getting gifts for others, baking cookies, and decorating with lights. We are planning on putting Christmas lights in our room as soon as Thanksgiving is over. On Christmas Eve I go to church and then to my grams. On Christmas day, I go to my one grandmother's for lunch, my other grandmother's for dinner, and my aunt's for a party at night. It is so much fun seeing everyone and just being together. This time of year makes me so happy. I can't wait until it gets closer to Christmas with christmas music, lights, and the general spirit in the air!
Monday, October 17
I am sure that no one wants to address the topic of the football game this weekend, but it has to be done. On Saturday, Penn State traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to take on Michigan in the Big House. It was to be one of our toughest games and the game that showed whether or not we would be able to remain undefeated for the season. The first half of the game was somewhat boring. Penn State missed two long shot field goal attempts and Michigan made one, making the score 3-0 going into quarter three. The second half of the game was so suspenseful. With the final score ending up to be 27-25, many points were scored after half time. There were many great plays on both teams parts. One big play for Penn State came when Zemaitis ripped the ball from Henne's hands and ran it in for a touchdown. When going for the extra point, the ball was bobbled and the kicker, Kelly, had to run the ball in for two points. Michigan answered though when they scored again. With only minutes left, Robinson ran the ball into the endzone to score and put Penn State up 25-21. All Penn State had to do was hold Michigan for about one minute. Unfortunately, Michigan got great field position when they got a 41 yard kick-off return. In the final second of the game, literally, Henne threw a touchdown winning pass. The game ended there. Many may say that Michigan would not have one if the referees had not added two extra seconds back on to the clock during the final minute. Whose to argue that point though? It is really useless. And as if things were not bad enough, Derrick Williams is out for the season due to a break in his upper left arm. Needless to say, Happy Valley isn't happy right now. Things are not over though. We will drop a few spots but we still have five games to prove that it is our time to shine.
Sunday, October 16
I went home this weekend and it was awesome. On Saturday night, my friends and I went to this corn maze that we go to every year. The maze has a hayride and food and everything. It is not haunted, but there are certain things that you are supposed to find within the maze. There were eight things to find and it took us about two hours to complete it and find the exit. We decided that it ould be fun to go around and try to scare people. We took corn from the stalks and threw it into the stalks near to where people were walking. It would make a creepy noise and most of the time the people screamed. We also snuck into the stalks and would walk out when people were walking by. This proved to be amusing for us. On the other hand, there were times when we were scared as well. A few times there was like one lonely guy following us and it kinda seemed weird because he would turn at the same spots we were. We felt like we were being stalked. After a while though the guy would turn off and go into the stalks to the center of the maze. After this we kind of figured out that this guy probably worked there and was making sure we weren't breaking any rules (which we were). Well, I guess what goes around comes around. It turned out to be a fun night out with my girls.
Wednesday, October 12
We Are...Penn State!!! Oh man, the game this weekend was so awesome. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. So many people in one place at one time for one cause. We beat Ohio State and are now ranked 8th and remain undefeated! The white-out worked so well and looked so good on tv (so many people who watched it are talkign about it). Fans at the end of the game went crazy. They rushed the field, got sprayed with mace, got arrested, and even got trampled. I must say that it did get a little dangerous. Sitting in the 10th row of EA, my friends and I were unable to leave the stadium. Everyone behind us was pushing and we even got sprayed with mace when the wind brought it up into the stands. My eyes burned so bad and started watering. It tasted awful too. When we did get out though, phone lines were blocked because so many people were trying to use the system. The streets were so crowded. I didn't go downtown but I heard that riot police were every where. This is one game that I will never forget. The experience was like no other and this will always stand out as one of the best experiences of my freshman year in college. GO STATE!!! 17-10 over Ohio State baby!!
Monday, October 10
On Friday night I went to the O.A.R. concert in Bryce Jordan Center and it was awesome. The opening band was slightly country and I thought they were very good. I like country though so I enjoyed them. When O.A.R. came on everyone was screaming and the whole building came alive. The band is from Ohio so there was a lot of bashing in the beginning because we were playing Ohio State the next day. There was also some Ohio State fans in the building and they started chanting against. In my opinion this was not the best idea since they were surrounded by hundreds of Penn State students. I must say though that the concert did get slightly violent. So many people were crowd surfing. My friend Katie and I went with a bunch of our guy friends luckily so they were able to protect us most of the time. However, one time a bigger guy went up and ended up falling on me. I had a headache afterward but besides that I was fine. My friend also went up and landed right on her head. This is why I decided not to go up. My friend also ended up getting hit in the head with a shoe that someone threw. It hit her right in the eye and her eye started swelling and got red. She fell to the ground mostly because it scared her. Luckily she didn't get hurt really bad. Even though, we experienced some mishaps, the concert was great (especially for the price) and I would not trade the experience for anything.
Sunday, October 9
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/cambodia/tl02.html∞
Well, I am going to be completely honest. I am not really into reading about history and such, which I know is bad because I should be aware of what went on in the world to get us to where we are today, so I really don't know that much about the bombing of Cambodia. I found this website that I posted above. It seems like it has a lot of resourceful information about what happened and it is a legitimate source because it is from PBS. From what I read about the ongoings, I found out that there was a genocide going on in Cambodia by the Khmer Rouge and many poeple were being killed. Nixon stepped in and organized secret attacks that even Congress did not know about and bombed Cambodia. This ended up killing many civilians as well. I really don't think I agree with what the US did to try to stop the genocide. I understand why they stepped in, but I think it could have been gone about in a much better way where people would not have been killed in such large amounts. If you are also unsure about what happened in Cambodia, I think that you should view this website to learn more. It is a great resource.
Thursday, October 6
Has anyone every gone to a women’s volleyball game. First of the all, the team is so good. Besides that though, has anyone seen the ball shaggers and people that wipe up the sweat? I always wondered who would want to have such a job. What is enjoyable about wiping sweat off of a gym floor? Well it just so happens that I have to be one of those people. For club volleyball, the whole team is signed up to do this. We need like five people for each game and we get paid. It goes toward the team and helps with fundraising. I just think it is so funny that I used to make fun of those people and now I have to be one. Now my friends think this is hilarious and want me to tell them when I have to work so they can come and laugh at me. I think I will just keep my mouth shut about that though because I really do not want an audience. The only plus side that I could see to this whole situation is that I get to be right up front for the game (on the court, actually). Oh well, I guess everyone has to do something undesirable from time to time. At least we are benefiting from it. I am not looking forward to this but it should be an interesting experience.
Thursday, October 6
This weekend is going to be crazy and I can’t wait. Friday night we have the O.A.R. concert. I am not that familiar with the band but I really like their music and all of my friends are going. Besides that, nothing beats a $10 ticket. After the concert my friends and I are considering camping out at the stadium. We know that no matter what we are going to get bad seats. There are so many people camping at the stadium already and many people already have their seats block. We figure we should do it though just because it will be an awesome experience. It will be crazy out there. On top of that though, it is supposed to rain on Friday night. Oh well, there is nothing you can do about it. Also on Friday night the guy’s club volleyball team is having a party. So who knows for sure what will happen tomorrow night.
Saturday is college game day. The football game is going to be awesome. It is supposed to be a white out so I think I am going to wear a sweatshirt with a white shirt on top. Since the game doesn’t start until 7:45 at night it is going to be like 35 degrees out. It shouldn’t be too bad though because everyone will be standing shoulder to shoulder. The game should be really exciting and I can’t wait. People are going to go all out. Finally, on Sunday I have a biology retake exam. The professor is taking our best grade so it is worth it to take the exam again. Basically, this weekend is going to be so busy. I want to catch up on some sleep too but I don’t know if that will happen.
Wednesday, October 5
I am so sore!!! I haven’t lifted in a while and since I made the club volleyball team we are supposed to work out. Our names are on a list so we can get into the gym in Rec Hall that is used by all of the varsity athletes. There is a trainer there who made us a workout to follow. The workout includes exercises for our quads, biceps, triceps, abs, and calves. It tells us exactly how many reps and sets to do of each. We are also able to meet with him so he can go through the workout and help us decide what weights are best for us to start with.
On Monday night, me and another freshman went over to workout for the first time. We went to sign in and found out that the gym did not update their list from last years club girls team. One of the older girls was there so she came over and tried to explain that she had submitted our waivers like a week before and we were on the team. The lady at the desk though refused to let us in because we were not on the list. We ended up going across the hall to the gym that anyone can use. However, there were not all of the machines that we needed and it was extremely crowded. We did as much of the workout as possible. Last night we had practice so we are planning on working out again tonight. Hopefully we will gain access to the good gym and can meet with the trainer. I want to workout three times a week when I don’t have practice so I can build up my strength to improve and sharpen my skills.
Tuesday, October 4
Obviously everyone knows what Thursday nights are known as out here in Happy Valley. It’s Thirsty Thursday! Well I have yet to master my sleep schedule, school work, and volleyball practices enough to venture out on these nights. However, my roommate has. Last Thursday night she went out with the girl next door and several girls down the hall. I believe that they went to a frat, but I am not sure which one. Well, I went to bed around 12 30 and I heard here opening the door around 2, but I feel right back to sleep. I knew she drank a lot but she was trying to be extra quiet when she got back since I was sleeping. At least this is what I thought was happening.
Yesterday, however, I found out the real story. They went out and came back around 2 sometime, but my roommate and the girl next door ended up in my room. The other girl was passed out on the floor for some time. Both of their cell phones were ringing and the one girl held a lengthy conversation on the phone. Two other girls came in and they ordered pizza from Papa Johns and then they drug the girl who was passed out, out of the room. They even have pictures of them in our room that night. The funny thing is I have no recollection of this happening. I slept through the entire thing. I guess out of this whole situation, I learned that I am a very sound sleeper and my roommate learned that she can have people over in the middle of the night without bothering me. I think I was just so tired that night that nothing fazed me; however, I don’t believe it will always be like this and I will be mad if I am waken up on a week night at 2 in the morning.
Monday, October 3
The past few days, the Wiki website has been going haywire. Some times it is up and sometimes I cannot access it. I did read on the site, one time when I got on, that the computer that the Wiki is run from crashed so they were having some problems. This just proves though why I hate computers so much. They really are unreliable. I had my day planned out of when I was going to do my homework and such and with the Wiki down, I am unable to post my blogs. I don’t understand why we need to post everything on the internet. What happened to the good old fashioned pen and paper? We may be technologically advanced, but why abandon our old ways completely. I have had so many bad experiences with computers. They always seem to crash or get viruses when I am doing school reports. If they don’t crash they tend to lock up or refuse to respond to the commands that I am requesting. Also, it is much more inconvenient many times to use a computer. I have to carry my computer around when I go home just so I can do my schoolwork. If everything was on paper, then I would only have to take home several sheets that had the assignments on them.
Sure, computers are a great source of information and bring everything you can think of right to your dorm, but what happened to going to the library. Everything is online now and it seems like so many less people are using the great libraries available to us at Penn State. I am sure you could find things there that would be hard to locate on the internet. It is also easier for things on the internet to be plagiarized if you are taking the information from sites that had previously stolen the information from somewhere else. The point I am trying to make is that I feel we should not completely abandon all hard copies of information that we have. Books, magazines, articles, dictionaries, and encyclopedias are all great resources to obtain information. It is not necessary to remain in front of a computer screen for hours searching. Going to the library is a great place to study and get you out of your dorm room, while still being able to do work. I really do hate working on the Wiki site, but I find myself having to do this because the whole world is turning over a new page in the technology aspect of the world. In my opinion, libraries will soon become extinct.
Monday, September 26
How to Successfully Get Work Done in a Dorm Room
Steps:
1. Be sure to keep your desk area organized so you have room to work.
2. Come inside your dorm room and lock the door to prevent unwelcome visitors.
3. Log off of AIM to ensure that instant messages do not interrupt your work. Away messages do not do the job because you will have the urge to respond if someone leaves you a message.
4. Turn your cell phone on silent so if any one calls you they will have an opportunity to leave a message. You will always be able to see any missed calls later.
5. Keep the television turned off and keep the music down to a minimum if necessary at all.
6. Open the necessary materials needed to do the work at hand.
7. Clear your head of any other thoughts that have been on your mind.
8. Proceed to do your homework or study until all tasks are complete.
Tips:
1. Do work right after classes. This will prevent you from missing out on a night life.
2. Keep a planner so you know what you have to do and when it has to be done by.
3. Remember that after work comes play.
Warnings:
*Do not fall behind in your schoolwork. This could be detrimental to your grades and you may find yourself barely holding on to your college status as a student.*
You know how much I love my planner! I think I would just die if I didnt have it!
-LaurenSmith
Saturday, September 24
http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/ArtsAndCrafts/ColouringPictures/More/Athlete.gif∞
When looking for an icon, I really did not know where to begin. I tried to think about many characteristics that define me as a person and one thing stuck out in my mind. I am athletic and like to be very active. Searching Google Images, I typed in both of these words until I found an icon that represented this. I ended up picking this picture of a person surrounded with all different types of sports equipment. I feel that this fits me because even though the only sport I play competitively is volleyball, I still love to play any sport. I find that I would much rather be outside or in a gym competing than sitting inside and reading or listening to music. I love everything about being an athlete. It keeps me in good shape, gives me a reason to work hard in school and maintain good grades, and it is something that I enjoy doing. I find that I can go and play volleyball for hours on end without becoming tired or bored. One thing that bothers me about other people is when they just sit inside on a beautiful and lay around in bed. To me, this is a complete waste of a day. Some may say that being active all the time will burn you out, but I have been playing sports all of my life and I am still able to succeed in life. My grades have always been good and I got into Penn State, so that is saying something. Being active is also a good way to meet people and so far at college I have met many people by being active. I think this picture perfectly portrays and represents that aspect of me as a person.
Wednesday, September 21
Being an only child, I never experienced having to share a bedroom. Now that I am living in a dorm, I have the chance to see what it is like. So far, it isn’t that bad. My roommate and I generally get along. We both have early classes and are schedules are very similar. There are several things that tend to bother me though. I like my room to be clean and she is not the most neat and organized person. Granted, she does clean her side of the room, but her garbage doesn’t get changed much. Also, I think it is really annoying when someone is constantly worried about how they look. I swear every night she goes out she tries on about twenty outfits. It really is annoying. Also, at night during the week she doesn’t like to go to bed at a decent hour so I am always listening to her type on her computer when I am trying to sleep. The only other thing that bothers me is when she is with the girl next year. They act like I am a goody goody and make fun of me for things that I do that are different than what they would do. I am not trying to bash her, I mean she is very nice. I guess I am just not used to living with someone else and adjusting isn’t easy. I don’t say anything to her because I don’t want to be like that. I also realize that things could be much worse. I am lucky to have her as my roommate and since I do not constantly hang out with her, we are able to pretty much get along when we are in the room. Does anyone have any good roommate stories??
Yeah I've got one for you. I posted it on my page so now you don't have to feel alone in the "I've had a crappy roomate pole" LOL although I must say yours doesn't sound particularly nice, it's not cool that they make fun of you...I mean isn't that something people do in middle school and even then it's not cool, but you still would think they would have "grown" out of that sort of mentality by now. SheElff
Wednesday, September 21
Next Tuesday night is try-outs for club volleyball. I am so nervous for them. I really want to make the team. I have been playing volleyball since fifth grade and haven’t stopped since. In ninth grade I was on the JV team for my high school and in tenth grade I was double rostered on Varsity. In eleventh and twelfth grade I was the starting Varsity setter and captain senior year. I received scholar athlete and outstanding senior at our last athletic banquet. I started playing club volleyball as well in ninth grade. It was a traveling team and we had tournaments almost every weekend from December to May/June. We came up to Penn State for tournaments several times. I was on that team for four years and will never forget the great memories and friendships that I made. We traveled all over. The best tournament we went to was in Massachusetts. One year we got second and last year we won. It was a great experience. By playing club at PSU, I will be able to continue my volleyball career by traveling once again. Unfortunately, there are like 45 girls trying out with only 4 open spots on the team. I refuse to give up though. I went this far so I figure why not just try out. Besides losing my $20 tryout fee, what’s the worst that can happen?
Tuesday, September 20
Well last night I had to go to a Race Relations Project meeting for my seminar class. It was from 6:25 to 8:00 and it took the place of my seminar for this week. There were only 10 students in the class along with two mentors, who also happened to be students. We basically sat their and discussed anything on our minds that had to do with different races. We discussed if we thought Penn State had a problem with racial fights and such going on. Then we tried to find out why some people are nervous about getting to know people of a different race. The discussion was pretty good. Only about half of the group actually talked though. Usually I would just sit back and listen in those situations, but I tried to participate as much as possible. One girl refused to say anything. When asked a question, we would sit there for 5 minutes in silence waiting for here to answer. There was also a graduate student from Vietnam in the class so it was good to get her view on the subject. Overall, I think the meeting was a good way to establish the views and make people aware of the separation that occurs between races. I will now try harder to reach out to others of a different race.
Monday, September 19
I am going home this weekend and overall I can’t wait. I want to sleep in my own bed and shower in a well lit bathroom. I want to see my friends and just go out like I used to at home. Most of all, I can’t wait to have some of my mom’s cooking again. I really miss that. Granted, the food here is not bad at all. I am just ready for a little more variety and some home cooking. One thing I hate though is the 3 hour drive home on Friday and the 3 hour drive back on Sunday. In some ways it almost seems like a waste, especially with how high gas prices are. This will be my first time home though since moving in up here and I am ready. It is not like I need to go home because I do love it here and have adjusted well. However, I need some time in a place where I am more familiar and comfortable. Home is where the heart is and I miss my family and friends. I even miss my cat who isn’t very sociable when I am home.
Monday, September 19
I have to say that I like almost everything thing about my dorm. It is in the perfect location right off the main road. I am on the second floor so I can take the stairs and not have to wait for the elevator. The bathrooms are always clean and overall the level of noise inside the dorm at night is minimal. My roommate and I generally get along. We both have early classes so neither one of us stays up very late during the week. Overall, my room is a decent substitution for my room at home. I figure that things could be much worse.
There are a few things though that are sometimes problematic. I live on an international floor so it is hard for me to socialize with the other girls. There is the general “hi” when we pass in the halls or in the bathroom, but not much more than that. I usually hear other languages, such as Spanish and Chinese, being spoken in the halls. Granted, I took Spanish in high school, but I don’t know enough to have a full conversation. Another problem is that I live right above the bus stop. The buses tend to be really loud and the people waiting outside are always yelling. This morning I was awakened by screaming outside my window at 6 30. Who does that? I can’t wait until it gets colder so I can close my window and sleep in peace.
IsLaNdGrL765: hi
KTdaisy87: hey! hows it goin
IsLaNdGrL765: good
IsLaNdGrL765: have you thought of any topics for the final project
KTdaisy87: no!! i have nothing, how about u
IsLaNdGrL765: i talked to monica and jill and we talked about doing it on like reality tv shows and why people watch them even though they technically arent "real"
KTdaisy87: that's a good idea
IsLaNdGrL765: would you want to be that group
IsLaNdGrL765: lauren is in too
KTdaisy87: yeah, that'd be great
IsLaNdGrL765: ok ...even if we end up changing the topic, atleast we have a group
KTdaisy87: yeah
IsLaNdGrL765: i guess i am going to post this to my blog now
KTdaisy87: lol me too
IsLaNdGrL765: ok well i will talk to you tomorrow then
KTdaisy87: ok cya!
DarthBaber: so...whatcha thinking? do they have to be an actual argument in favor of something?
IsLaNdGrL765: i am not sure...i was talking to someone about doing it on reality tv shows
DarthBaber: cool....i hate reality tv shows....that would be a great argument..."to keep" or "not to keep" them on tv :D
IsLaNdGrL765: yeah just like why people like to watch them and stuff like that
DarthBaber: coo topic
DarthBaber: cool
IsLaNdGrL765: i guess that is all we really have to do...it is not final yet...but i guess we just post this on our blogs now
DarthBaber: actually that is great topic...you could also in corporate not only why people watch them but why people want to be on them....why they go on tv and get plastic surgery or eat disgusting stuff
IsLaNdGrL765: yeah that is true
IsLaNdGrL765: well i have to go to class...so i will ttyl...
DarthBaber: ok talk to you later
IsLaNdGrL765: bye
IsLaNdGrL765: did you talk to anyone yet about the final project
MonLynn17: yeaa
IsLaNdGrL765: do you already have your group then?
MonLynn17: its only the 2 of us
MonLynn17: if you would you can join us
MonLynn17: i think we might do ours on reality shows
IsLaNdGrL765: what are you thinking of writing about with reality shows
MonLynn17: how they are fake
MonLynn17: and how people still like them
IsLaNdGrL765: thats a good idea...do you think you can get 10-12 pages out of it though
MonLynn17: probably
MonLynn17: cuz you can write about your opinions
MonLynn17: about the topic after certain things
MonLynn17: you can even write about how it is unnatural for you hear the things that people gtalk about you behind your back
MonLynn17: and it being brought up and asking how you felt about it
MonLynn17: or little things that make reality tv show
IsLaNdGrL765: ok i see where you are going with it...do you care if i am in your group
MonLynn17: no
MonLynn17: not at all
IsLaNdGrL765: ok thanks...i still have to talk to one other person though
MonLynn17: thats fine
Tuesday, September 13
Does anyone have Math 140? I do and I am slightly struggling with it. Many people in my class had AP Calc in high school and those who didn’t, had regular calculus. There are even some fifth year students in my class. Last year I only had Pre-calculus. Granted, I did do well in it, but I think Math 140 is going to be a little overwhelming. I took the FTCAP test over the summer and was placed into this class though. The first day or so I followed everything that we were doing. It all seemed like a review. However, now things got a little more difficult.
Today, I found that I was having a difficult time doing the homework. With a quiz on this topic on Friday, I did not want to fall behind this early. I decided to go to office hours. Before coming here I thought that there was no way that I would need office hours because I would be able to figure everything out on my own. Now I see though that it is okay to get help. My professor was a big help. She showed me how to work out several homework problems and said to come back whenever necessary. I think I might have to take her up on that offer. Basically what I am trying to say though is that I suggest that anyone who is having a problem with a class should attend office hours. You get one-on-one help and it makes a big difference.
I have Math 110, and i think its similar to 140, and i didn't have regular calc in high school either so we could help each other~~MichaelNiffeneggerTestUser
Tuesday, September 13
So who watched the Eagles game last night? I went to my one friend’s dorm room and about eight people came over to watch the game. Most of them were Eagles fans and others were those who just wanted something to do but were neutral to both teams. The guy whose dorm it was just went out to Best Buy yesterday to buy a $500 sound system. He installed it in the room before the game so we would have the optimum viewing environment consisting of eleven speakers. The guys even ordered canyon pizza and breadsticks. We were so ready for the game.
I have to say that after watching the first quarter, I was a little disappointed. McNabb almost got hurt to the point where he almost wasn’t going to reenter as quarterback and Dawkins got so dehydrated that he needed an IV. Throughout the game, the overall play wasn’t horrible and luckily, both McNabb and Dawkins rejoined the game. The score ended up being 14-10 with the Falcons coming out on top. If only the Eagles could have actually gotten all of their kicks during the game, we would have had six more points. Doing the math, that would have put us on top. Hopefully this was just a small setback and next game the Eagles will come out better than ever. We want to get to the Super Bowl again this year. This one game won’t stop us.
Gotta believe...one game means nothing. E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! -Veritas
Sunday, September 11
WOW!! I cannot believe that it is four years since the terrorist attacks on September 11. I remember it like it was yesterday. On September 11, 2001 I was sitting in photography class making a camera out of a cardboard box. It was a Tuesday, a day after my birthday, and I had just started freshman year at Nazareth Area High School. I was making my camera, when my teacher saw online that the world trade center had been hit by a plane. She turned on the television and I watched in disbelief, seeing the second plane hit and later the towers falling. I couldn’t quite get a grasp on everything that was happening. The halls of the school were buzzing with talks of everything that was going on. Watching the television in every class, I remember seeing that a plane hit somewhere in Pennsylvania. Hearing that, I remember fearing that our school would be hit. I thought of where my parents were that day and where all of my other relatives were too. I was so scared that something would happen to them. My volleyball game that I was supposed to have after school was cancelled. At home, I talked with my parents about everything that was happening and we watched the news until going to bed.
I was lucky that I did not know anyone who died that day. Although I was not directly impacted, I still was emotionally in shock. For the next few days, weeks, and months, I feared that every time a plane flew over head it was another attack. I was scared to fly again and still am. I did come to the realization though that I can’t live my life with this fear. I have to gone on like always. Every year at this time, I think about all of the people who lost their lives and the families who are still and always will be grieving. September 11, 2001 is a day that will live with me for the rest of my life. It is a day that the United States lost many innocent lives and finally saw that we are not the invincible country. We must find new ways to protect our citizens so attacks like the ones we saw will never occur again.
Sunday, September 11
Well yesterday was a really good day. To start things off, it was my 18th birthday. My cousin came up Friday night and stayed over at my dorm. Things were a little tight in my room considering that there were four people sleeping in it: my roommate, my cousin, his friend, and me. It worked out though. Then yesterday morning I got up early of course for the football game. The game was good. We never should have left Cincinnati score as much as they did, especially in the last minute and a half of the game. I had fun though. All of my friends with and it was a good way to spend the day.
After the game I met up with my parents, who drove out here for my birthday. I am so glad they came because even though I am not homesick, I miss them and my house. They took me out to dinner at the Olive Garden, one of my favorite restaurants. It was so good. I pigged out because I figure I won’t have food like that for a while. Commons food will have to do for the next couple of weeks. After dinner, I went back to my parents hotel room and opened my gifts. I got a lot of cute things that will come in handy for the cold weather that is beginning to come. Later I went back to my room and hung out with a few girls on my floor. I was so tired from getting up early and running on only five hours of sleep. Overall I had a great birthday and now my room is decorated with birthday things that I will leave up for probably a week because I don’t want my birthday to end.
Remix Narrative
I sat in complete silence as I watched the rest of my team get suited up; socks, kneepads, ankle braces, and sneakers. Mentally preparing myself for this next journey we were about to embark on, I watched as the other team warmed up. It seemed as if all of the sweat and tears my teammates and I had shed throughout the whole weekend tournament was about to pay off. This game was going to be the biggest game of our season so far. I sat and stretched, waiting for our coach to give us our pre-game pep talk. There was no holding back in this game because this was the last time we were going to play in this tournament, the biggest one in the Northeast, together with this team that has improved so much over the years.
As we took our warm up laps around the court, I could hear the shouts of the crowd. Stepping onto the court I could feel my adrenalin levels beginning to rise and my whole body tense up. The butterflies in my stomach were beginning to grow as I warmed up setting and serving. Lining up to do ball handling drills that we have always done before every game, I could feel the stares of the crowd boring down on us. I could feel myself shaking as I looked at the scoreboard to see that only two minutes were left before the game began.
My teammates and I huddled together, with all hands in the center, as we had done for every game before. This time though, I could see all the nervous faces, knowing that this game decided who would be the champion and get their team name engraved on the Volleyball Hall of Fame plaque. Placing second the year before was not enough. Listening to our coach talk, we knew that this was our time. It was now or never. I, along with the five other players in the starting line up, went to stand on the back line. Holding hands, we stood in numerical order, just as we always had. The referee walked up the ladder to his post on the side of the net and blew his whistle, signaling for us to run to the net and slap hands with the opposing team. Taking our spots on the court, I had the first serve. The referee asked the captains if they were ready, and blew the whistle. The game had finally begun.
Original Narrative: Sprint5PSelfNarrative
Thursday, September 8th
I am at a lose for what I should write about in this blog. It is my second one of the day but I want to finish my five for this week. I decided that I would discuss surfing. Does anybody know how to surf? I surfed several times at the Jersey shore and I loved it. My friend has a beach house down there and she is there the whole summer. When I go down with my family for vacation, I meet up with her and she brings her extra board. It is an orange long board. For those of you who don’t know, there are long boards and there are short boards which are better for tricks. The first time I went I was a little scared, not of falling but of being attacked by a shark when I am out far in the ocean. That is one underlying fear that I always have every time I go in the ocean, even though it will never stop me from going in. My first time out I had a little trouble getting up on the board. Once I got the hang of things, though, I was able to get up almost every trip. I am not good enough to do anything fancy, but riding is good enough for me.
Surfing gives you such a rush. It is like you are on top of the wave riding high and all of a sudden you feel yourself drop off and you are in front of the wave traveling to shore. It is so exciting and if I lived at the beach that is one thing that I would want to do everyday. Life would be great if I could be in the water everyday. I can’t wait until I go to the beach this year. I plan on surfing as much as possible to make the most of my trip and hold me over until my next vacation comes.
Thursday, September 8th
Last night I had good intentions of remixing my narrative and doing other such homework, until the unthinkable occurred. I was talking to my friends through AIM and I received an IM from my best friend. She attends Lebanon Valley College and I don’t talk to her that much. Well anyway, she sent me an IM that had a link to a website that had some magic trick on it. It seemed like something she would send me so I hit the site. All of a sudden my computer went haywire and started sending things to everyone on my buddy list. Here, I got a virus and sent it out to all of my friends.
So last night I walked over to ResCom to try to get the virus deleted. They said they have so many computers to work on right now and I can leave mine if I want or make an appointment. I made an appointment for 5:15 on Friday (the first available time). They did however give me a website that I could visit to try to fix the problem myself. I went to the website and after working for about an hour and a half on it, I scanned my computer three times and finally the virus was gone (or so I think). I am keeping my appointment though just to have them check everything over. Talking to my friends from other colleges, I found that many of them got the same virus and I gave them the website so they could fix theirs too. Thank goodness for ResCom!
One of the best sites to fix any viruses is www.Jayloden.com just search for his program called Aimfix, it takes off all viruses that are associated with Aim
Wednesday, September 7th
When entering college, I truly had no idea what to expect. Of course everybody says “Your on your own” and “It’s so different than high school”, but sometimes you choose to ignore those things. Now that I am here though, I realize that both of those things are true. I have to get my own food, do my laundry, make sure I get up in time for class, and get my own help if I need it. So far, I have been doing pretty well. My laundry is going good (I only shrunk one thing so far) and I haven’t been late for class yet (lost is another story). There was one time when I had to call home due to a small computer glitch, but I ended up getting things worked out eventually. Things aren’t as rough as I thought.
I did find that the work load in college is so much heavier than it was in high school. In high school I could slide by and still get good grades. Sure I did most of the work but it was never actually necessary to read all of the chapters that were assigned every night and many times studying wasn’t necessary. Now, I find myself slightly overwhelmed with the reading, problems, writing (blogs), and studying that I have to make time for. I am trying to stay involved and have a social life, but I want to succeed (who doesn’t). I think I am getting better with time management though. I am trying to finish things the day they are assigned. In the future, I think I will work out a system that leaves me time to sleep, socialize, and the most important thing, play volleyball. College was a slight shock but I think that I am adjusting well.
Tuesday, September 6th
Talking with different people around campus, I have found myself listening to all the different accents that people from others areas talk with. Last night my roommate and I had a huge discussion on accents and who says things the right way. She is from Pittsburgh and I am from eastern Pennsylvania. We speak completely differently living 5 hours apart. Some words that we found to be controversial were “water”, “orange”, “home”, “foam”, and “downtown”. Being from western PA, she says many things by adding an “aw” sound such as in “dawntawn”. I, on the other hand, tend to accentuate my “o’s” more. We called friends, asked other people in our dorm, and even went as far as researching on the internet, only to find that neither one is particularly right. We found that she speaks more in a Scots-Irish dialect and I speak more in a Pennsylvania Dutch dialect.
Also during our discussion, we found that we say different words to mean the same thing. She says “pop” and I say “soda”. She says “sub” and I say “hoagie”. She even says some things that I have never heard of such as “I need to red up my room”, which I learned means “I need to clean up my room”. Basically nothing beneficial really came out of our discussion. We just think it is interesting how people talk differently based on where they live in the US, and even more specifically, where they live in Pennsylvania.
Monday, September 5th
Walking into Beaver Stadium for my first Penn State football game left me with a feeling that I am part of something much bigger than just any college. Looking around there were thousands of people young and old who came together for one common interest: football. Young children dressed in PSU cheerleading outfits and football uniforms watched in amazement at the excitement in the stadium. Adults attended, reminiscing the events that they took part in when they attended this university. Then as I turned my attention to the student section that was behind me I had a great feeling of being part of this family away from home. Blue and white filled the stands yelling chants and waving pompoms. Joe Pa’s spirit spread throughout the stadium. The atmosphere in the stadium was amazing, something I have never experienced before.
As for the game, Penn State played well. We beat USF 23-13 but still have things to work on. Sure there were many great plays but our offense was a little shaky. Maybe it was first game jitters, who knows. There were several freshman who played great for there first college game. I can’t wait until Saturday for our next home game and for the big games when we play Ohio State and Purdue. Hopefully we will be great this year. It’s our year!
Sunday, September 4th
My Narrative:
I view myself as a person who is not afraid of change, but one who tends to be more comfortable with the familiar. When I chose to come to Penn State, it was a shock to everyone including me. Coming from a small Catholic elementary and middle school I was very sheltered in the early years of my educational career. I was part of a class of 28 students and I had my own close friends. It was a strict school where we wore uniforms everyday so no one really stood out as being unique and having their own personality. By high school I realized that I needed to go to a larger school to escape the cliques that are more evident in small classes. My high school class consisted of about 375 students. Since my new school was public, different “types” of individuals stood out. You had your jocks, book smarts, punks, and such. However, my town was still very sheltered and we had very few minorities who attended our school. I was very involved in high school with sports and clubs, but I think I was ready to enter a new school that better represents the “real world”.
Choosing the right college to attend was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I had many options to consider and there were many colleges that I considered applying to. One major thing I had to choose was whether I wanted to play volleyball in college or not. I could have gone to a division II or III school and tried out for the team, but I felt like I needed a larger environment. Smaller colleges would have seemed too much like high school. With this decision alone, I ruled out Moravian, Muhlenberg, and DeSales. Looking for larger schools, I ended up applying to Penn State, Delaware, and Pittsburgh. Delaware had a beautiful campus, but lacked when it came to having many things to do when there. Pittsburgh definitely caught my attention. It was a larger campus located just outside of downtown Pittsburgh, an environment completely different from the one I grew up in. Unfortunately, I decided against this university because it was five hours away from my home. After finding out that I had been accepted to all three campuses, I knew that Penn State was where I wanted to go and I didn’t want to consider any other possibilities.
Choosing the right college to attend was one of the hardest decisions I had to make. I had many options to consider and there were many colleges that I considered applying to. One major thing I had to choose was whether I wanted to play volleyball in college or not. I could have gone to a division II or III school and tried out for the team, but I felt like I needed a larger environment. Smaller colleges would have seemed too much like high school. With this decision alone, I ruled out Moravian, Muhlenberg, and DeSales. Looking for larger schools, I ended up applying to Penn State, Delaware, and Pittsburgh. Delaware had a beautiful campus, but lacked when it came to having many things to do when there. Pittsburgh definitely caught my attention. It was a larger campus located just outside of downtown Pittsburgh, an environment completely different from the one I grew up in. Unfortunately, I decided against this university because it was five hours away from my home. After finding out that I had been accepted to all three campuses, I knew that Penn State was where I wanted to go and I didn’t want to consider any other possibilities.
After committing to Penn State I second guessed myself many times. I kept thinking that a big campus wasn’t a good idea anymore and I didn’t know what made me think it was. Now that I am here though, I can’t see myself anywhere else. I have already made a great group of friends and have realized that there is something to do here for everyone. I am trying out for club volleyball and I think that if I chose to go to a smaller school to play, it would have been a bad choice. Penn State lets me play the sport that I love while providing me with a great education from a renowned school. Breaking out of my small town is providing me with a great experience to be around people who are different from me and experience things that I never would have done at home.
Other narratives: [ StarBurstBlog ] and [ CarpeDiemBlog ]
Well, I really don't know what I am supposed to write about myself. I am in the Division of Undergraduate Studies and am currently interested in pursuing a career in biology or psychology. I chose to come to Penn State because I love the feel of being part of such a large campus where there is something for everyone to do. In my freetime I love to play volleyball and swim. Summer is my favorite season and I absolutely love the beach.
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I am not exactly sure if I am doing this correctly. I picked this license because I do not want my work used commercially. Also, if changes are made to my work, I want to know about it. I don't think it is right that people can steal your work with no recognition of where it came from. I guess now that I think about it, I see why it is such a big deal to download music offline without paying for it. Musicians spend so much time producing their music and then people go and listen to it for free. Granted, musicians still make a great deal of money, but just think of all the other people who are involved in producing a cd. They are getting stolen from when people illegally download and burn music from the internet.