Final Movie Project

Smoking on Campus

Life...

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.”

― John Lennon

What do you want to do with you life? I have been asked this question, or different variations of this question, many times before. When I enter high school it was “what do you want to study in college?” Now that I’m in college its “what do you want to do after college? Next it will be “how are you going to progress in you chosen career?” It’s a never-ending list of the same question of “what are you going to do next?” My answer to these questions is simple: be happy. 

Ideally, after college want to be doing what ever it is that makes me happy. Right know I have a picture in my head of opening my own photography studio and living on a farm in Vermont with a lot of dogs, (seriously, I love dogs! :D). But I like to live in the moment, be happy with what I have right now, not just dream about the future and hope I’m happy then. Yes the journey should be hard, and there will be some parts that will not make you happy, but it should not make you miserable all the time. There are many different paths I could take to get where I want to be. I could stay at Southern, tough it out for four years, but I’m not happy here. Life is to short to be doing something you hate; I have to choose the path that makes me the happiest, and that path leads me away from Southern. I don’t really have a plan for my life, like I said; life is to short. My philosophy is; do what makes you happy, when it makes you happy. Don’t miss out on something just because it doesn’t fit in your plan, plans have to change according to what life brings you. I know that there is a very good possibility that I will not make it to my farm in Vermont, and instead of have ten dogs, (yes ten, I have all their names picked out. I’m not crazy), I’ll have to live with just one at a time. But I also know that no matter where life takes me I will be happy because I will be with the people I love and that love me back. I know how cliché that sounds, but that’s all I really want out of life, to be loved and to love back. Like John Lennon said, the people that do things to become more successful don’t have a full understanding of life. Life is not defined be what you do, it’s defined by who you are and who you are then defines what you do. People mix that up sometimes. 

Reflection...

My reflection for this semester, to say the least, is not a good one. I have decided not to come back next semester. I read over this week’s blogging assignment a few times, and I honestly wasn’t sure how I was not going to make this about Southern Connecticut State University.  I guess I simply don’t like it here.  I have herd over and over again that a person’s success in college does have to do with the school they choose to go to. So I’m not blaming Southern for my unhappiness here, it just Southern and I are not meant to be. Let me make this 100% clear though. This is my decision, and I am happy with it. I am not blaming anyone.

            Early this year I tried out for the field hockey team here at Southern, and I made it. From that day on, it was like my choice was already made up for me. Going to Southern was what my mom wanted me to do, so I did. I am not blaming my mom, I have free will to make my own choices, it just so hard to say no to her. Obviously I want to make her proud and win her approval, and if I don’t do what she thinks is right she looks at me like I’m the biggest disappointment in her life. I know my mom only wants what is best for me, but I don’t think she knows what that is. My mom is the main reason why I chose to come to Southern. I came to Southern with an open mind, don’t get me wrong, I did try to make this work. I really do wish I were cut out for college. But the fact is I have never enjoyed school, so I was really counting on field hockey making it worth it, just like in high school.  I went to school every day in high school and kept my grades up so I could play field hockey. I did not have a good high school experience; I had very little friends, enough to count on one hand. Field hockey was what got me through high school. But here, field hockey was horrible. The coaches don’t care about you, only how you affect the team. The team is very cliquey and not welcoming. I dreaded going to practice everyday. Being told that I sucked when I had won enough awards and honors to know that don’t, was just down right frustrating. And to top it off, I am not even getting any money to go through my own personal hell.

            One of my goals here was to find a group of friends, witch I failed at. Having no friends makes me more miserable. It’s embarrassing to walk alone, eat alone, study alone. I go days without talking to anybody. I am completely alone here and it’s horrible. I don’t blame anyone but myself. I have always been the weird girl. People have looked at me like I have three heads so many times that I have taken myself out of social interactions, I avoid them at all means possible. I’ve done this for so many years that now I don’t know what to say, I’m so caught up in what people will think about me. So I end up sitting there, not saying anything, which of course, by default, makes me the weird girl. I know I need to work on this in order to be happy anywhere. It’s hard with family’s “just do it” attitude, but my boyfriend is very supportive of me. He knows how I get around crowds, and in social environments he never leaves my side and always makes a point to include me in the conversation. I know with the support I get from him I’ll be able to create new relationships with people again.

            One thing I learned about myself here is that when I’m upset, for a long time, all I want to do is sleep. I know I have never slept this much in my life. Despite my effort to do work, and I really did do work, I would fall asleep in the middle of it, waking up hours later. I couldn’t help myself. The one place however that my new sleeping habit changes is at home, partly because my mom doesn’t allow anyone to sleep past nine, but mostly because I’m happy there. I don’t feel as tired there, like sleeping is the only way I’ll make it through the day. I want to get up and do stuff. I only have one life, and instead of wasting what little time and money I have for a degree that gut tells me I am never going to use, I’d rather be somewhere that I’m happy, surrounded by people that make me happy, even if that means I have to work my ass of for the rest of my life never seeing retirement.

            So my plan for now is; I am going to take next semester off and work. Next fall I am going to attend Middlesex Community College, because I am not stupid, I know I need at least an associate’s degree if I want to achieve anything now a day. After I finish with that, I don’t know. But I like not knowing; my whole life has been part of my mom’s plan and I usually get anxious not knowing what she wants me to do next. But the fact is, it’s my life and I’m going to live it the way I see fit. Not knowing what I am going to do next brings a little mystery back into the world. I hope to open my own photography business someday. I want travel, to see the world. There are so many options I can choose from, so many paths I can walk down, that it just feels wrong to choose one at my very young age, and stick to it. I am going to go where life takes me, doing whatever I want ate the time I want it. I am so excited to start living life. 

Personality

And now the continuation of student presentations… 

         Louie’s group has decided to give a presentation on the mind, or something like that. But anyways, he has all of us doing a personality test so we have something to talk about tomorrow, and of course so we all know what kind of personality we have. I took the test and I have to say, I’m very proud of myself. I answered every signal on of those questions, even the ones with the big words. I have learned that I have an INFP type personality. That’s 89% introverted, 38% intuitive, 12% feeling, and 11% perceiving.

         So after I took this awesome test, I clicked on a link on my results page, to try to figure out what the heck INFP meant. The link took me to a page called INFP, (shocker!) The author of this page is Joe Butt. I am not kidding! His last name is Butt, spelt like an actual butt, like the one you have…high school must have been awful for him. But anyways, Butt told me everything I already knew about myself. I’m a very shy person who has A LOT of feelings and makes decisions based mostly on fact. Butt just put in nicer words.

“INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It's as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities. INFPs have the ability to see good in almost anyone or anything. Even for the most unlovable the INFP is wont to have pity. Their extreme depth of feeling is often hidden, even from themselves, until circumstances evoke an impassioned response. INFPs struggle with the issue of their own ethical perfection, e.g., performance of duty for the greater cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of "The Force." Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes that good ultimately triumphs.”

         Those are just some of the line in Butt’s page that I like being described has. I like the last part mostly because it uses Star Wars as an example, an I LOVE Star Wars :)

         So I think tomorrow’s class is going to be interesting. Of course there’s going to be those people that completely disagree with their own results, but I think its going to be interesting to see how many different personality types are in one class. 

Are we going to turn into our parents?

For all the girls out there who sat and watched The Breakfast Club like a thousand just like me, know the one question the brought those very different kids together. Are we going to turn into our parents? Is it inevitable? Tomorrow in my INQ class I’m going to learn about how parenting styles affects kids. Adriana’s group picked this topic for a class discussion and assigned a lot of articles for the discussion.

I read one of the four articles that interested me. The Four Styles of Parenting explained, well, the four different styles of parenting and general affects they have on the kids. According to the article the four parenting styles are: authoritarian parenting, authoritative parenting, permissive parenting, and uninvolved parenting. Authoritarian parents set rules and goals for their kids that have to be followed. If asked questions about their rules, the answer is usually “because I said so.” The kids are also punished if a rule is broken. The kids often grow up to be obedient and proficient, but are also rather unhappy and have low social skills and self-esteem. Authoritative parents are much like authoritarian parents in the way that they both set expectations for their kids. The difference is that authoritative parents are more nurturing and forgiving rather than enforcing punishment when rules are broken. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. The kids often grow up to be happy, capable, and successful. Permissive parents are pushovers. They don’t set rules or expectations for their children, and while generally nurturing and communicative, they often take the role as friend rather than parent. The kids often grow up to be unhappy and have low self-regulation. They might have problems with authority and do poorly in school. Uninvolved parents are pretty self-explanatory. These parents often only fulfill the kids’ basic needs. The kids often lack self-control, have low self-esteem and are less competent than their peers.

Enough with the boring stuff, (I think I proved I read the article), and back to the cool stuff, The Breakfast Club. That’s one question this article did not answer. So do we inevitably become our parents? I know I don’t want to be like either my mom or my dad, and you all would be lying if you said that you like everything about your parents. But at the same times, there are things about both of them that I admire and wish I could be more like. So, no, I don’t think it is inevitable that you become your parents, but I believe you have to learn from who they are and how they raised you, to become the person you want to be. I think you can pick and choose from examples given to from your parents and other people, to become who you want be. It’s going to take some work, but you don’t have to be like your parents because and 80’s movie said it is inevitable, but if you were so lucky to get awesome parents and want to be exactly like them, then so be it.

Some interesting stuff..

         This week we are given articles to read by our fellow classmates about topics related to college. My group decided on healthy relationships, but we don’t have to present until the 15^th so we’re good and relaxed. The suckers, I mean poor poor people that have to go first gave us two articles each about there topic.

The first article I read was from Dion’s group that chose the topic of Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol.  Their article actually wasn’t an article at all, but a fact sheet on college drinking (http://www.alcohol101plus.org/downloads/collegestudents.pdf). Opening this linking and discovering it lead to a fact sheet was a really awesome surprise. You see I just finished writing a paper for a class that I hate, (you can probably guess which one), and I really did not want to read a twenty page long article about alcohol and college…plus I really like facts :). I read that sheet at least three times to find one fact that I found surprising, but the truth is I herd all those things before. I was being lectured on alcohol since I committed to Southern’s field hockey team. The NCAA and Southern have both come up with some pretty interesting ways to inform athletes that alcohol is bad and drugs will kick you of the team. Plus we can’t forget that very educational online alcohol course all freshmen had to take at the beginning of the year. I have to say that did absolutely nothing for my.  I’m very interested in what Dion’s group will put together for tomorrow and if I will learn anything new about Sex, Drugs, and Alcohol.

The second article I read was form Ashlee’s group that chose the topic of Nutrition, Sleep and Dorm life. I read the article called Beating the Freshman 15. Now if you haven’t herd of the freshman 15 you’ve been living under a rock, and gaining the 15 extra pounds common for freshman in their first semester was one of my biggest fears entering college. But surprisingly I have lost wait. I used to think believe it was because of field hockey. Working hard than I ever have, 6 days a week, is a pretty good reason of why I have lost and keep losing wait. But field hockey has been over for a few weeks now and even though I’m lifting waits 3 times a week, I haven’t changed my eating habits, I usually eat a lot during season, I haven’t gain any wait back. Its not like I’m complaining or anything, it just got me thinking that the fact that I’m losing wait instead of gaining is more than athletics. I took a step back and really looked at my days. At most, I eat one full meal a day, which is usually a coffee and sandwich from Dunkin Doughnuts. The only things I can eat at Conn is cereal, pizza, stir-fry and salad, which are all made to order, everything else that’s pre-made makes me sick to my stomach. So I guess the combination of crappie food and a  lot of exercise cause my to lose wait rather than gain.

Photography my passion

            On Monday I talked about one of my two interests, which was field hockey. My other interest happens to be my major as well; art is my passion. I’ve been making all kinds of art since I can remember. Now a day, I focus my creative eye on photography. I love taken pictures of people, and really try to capture the essence of that person. It’s a lot hard than you may think. I don’t just limit myself to people; I take a lot of pictures of animals as well. When people say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, they are talking about animals. All animals have a pure soul, an innocence, which shines through them all time, and can be beautiful to capture on film.

            I started photography my freshman year of high school. I started off on a 35mm camera, very old school. I developed my own film and photos. I love being in the dark room. The atmosphere, the smell. Being able to shape my pictures into what I see with my own two hands. It’s a feeling I will never forget in this digital world. At the beginning I was not into digital photography, it wasn’t until I took advance photography for the second time, (because I wanted to, not because I failed,) that I really figured out my way around Photoshop. Now you can’t get me a way from a computer when Photoshop is open! Photoshop allows me to create things I couldn’t of imagined in the dark room.

            In the future, after college, I hope to own my own studio in a small town in Vermont. A lot people’s response to my career choice is that I better like weddings. The truth is I won’t mind shooting a wedding every month, or taking school, family, pet, or any other kind of portraits you can think of. All I want to do is to take pictures. It’s the only thing that relaxes me. At the end of the day, playing around with my pictures of Photobucket, (it’s a free website, ‘cuase Photoshop cost $700), keeps me sane. It’s something until I get the real thing.

My Love Field Hockey

         This week I have been given the assignment to write about two things that interest me, one that relates to SCSU and one that doesn’t. There’s really only two things in this world that actually interest me, so lucky for me I don’t have to make something up to get a passing grade! Also lucky for me, (and thanks to my nagging mother), one of those two interests relates to Southern. It just so happens that I love field hockey and I play for Southern Connecticut State University.

         I started participating in field hockey in the 7^th grade on my schools intramural team. But what we did you really couldn’t call playing field hockey. John Winthrop’s intramural field hockey team consisted of a group of about 20 pre-teen girls, split up into four “teams,” (that’s 5 girls per team), running around with sticks, whacking at each other.  We were supervised by a crazy old lady that maybe played in the ’50’s, and even though she tried to coach us, really had no clue what she was talking about. It wasn’t as awful as it might sound; it was actually a lot of fun and a good stress releaser. After a long day of pre-teen problems, it was nice to run around hitting other girls with sticks. But like I said, it really wasn’t field hockey, so when people ask, I say I’ve been playing since my freshman year of high school.

         High school was really where my field hockey career took off. Freshman year was kind of a dud because my coach only played his favorites, which I was not. But my sophomore year we got a new coach. She is so awesome. She saw the potential I had as a goalie, and helped me build it up. She gave me the confidence I only have when I put on my gear. By the end of the season I was playing over the senior goalie. Now I don’t want to brag but I have won a number of awards in my junior and senior year, but I wont name them only because you would be reading a very long list. Lets just say I was the best goalie in the state for my class. (No, really. Two years in a row, First Team All State Class S.)  So with that being said, obviously my mother wanted me to play in college. I wasn’t sure if that was what I wanted, and honestly still don’t really know, but that didn’t stop her. She nagged me until I tried out for Southern’s team here, and once I made it my fate was sealed, I was playing field hockey for Southern Connecticut State University. 

         College field hockey is not what I thought it would be. I knew it was going to be harder, and I might not see a second of playing time, but its just is not fun anymore. My coaches have turned this game that I loved so much into a job I dread going to everyday. However I can’t bring myself to quite. First off, that wasn’t the way my mother raised. Second, as much as I don’t like playing field hockey for Southern, I’m still in love with the sport. And for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be coach, and now all I want is to coach field hockey. I know that sticking it through will give me more knowledge of the game so that one day I can pass my love for field hockey onto a new groups of girls, as well as some helpful hints to be successful. You’ve got to give a little to get a little, and one day I’ll be part of a fun field hockey family again, that might actually win a few games.

Campus Scavenger Hunt: Homecoming Pep-Rally

      This passed Thursday was SCSU Homecoming Pep-Rally, and because I am a member of the field hockey team her at Southern, I had to attend.  The pep-rally was supposed to directly follow the Men’s Blue and White scrimmage, but it didn’t start until an hour after the end of the game. Now for those who don’t know me very well, I don’t like pep-rallies and I don’t like waiting. So standing around, waiting for the pep-rally to start isn’t exactly what I call fun.

     

After standing around and being moved from one side of the court to the other and back again, I notice a strange man standing across the court. He was dressed in a suit of spandex with a white mask over his head, and he was very still. I pointed him out to one of my friends on the team; she said he was a manikin, that he couldn’t be real.  I shrugged it of because they were finally announcing the host of this event. Music starts playing and all of a sudden the “manikin” dances onto the court. Happy Halloween everyone, the freaked my friend and I out real good!

       

After we all go use to the fact a guy in a creepy white skintight mask was talking to us, the pep-rally continued. First they announced all the sports, leaving football for last of course. Some of the teams had their freshman do a ridiculous dance, but not my team. Most of didn’t want to b their any way, so we planned on making it as short as possible. Hey! I’m not complaining! So when they called Field Hockey, we walked out with our backs facing the crowd. We walked straight across the court and out of sight.

     

      There were performances by the cheerleading squad, the stomp team, the good dance team, and the bad one; I don’t remember their names). The bad dance team isn’t really that bad, if you don’t compare them to the good dance team. Their real problem is that they do the same moves over and over again. But what do I really know about dance? The stomp team was amazing though. Every move was in exact unison; I have never seen anything like it before. They ended the pep-rally with a bang.

SCSU Stomp Team

Finally!

So sorry....the video just wouldn't upload yesterday. The server kept rejecting it. But it finally did :)

Critical Thinking Video

Heres the link.

Mid-term...UGG!

       Seeing I have only seen the grades for two classes, one of which I can’t stand (“cough” “cough” anthropology), I’m not jumping with joy over my grades, but it’s not to far from what I excepted. I don’t prioritize very well, I tend to watch the show I missed last night and push my work for a later time. This has never been a real big problem for me before. In high school, it felt like I had all the time in the world, even during field hockey season. I could push something off ‘till the very last minute, (five minutes before class), and still get an “A”. But in college, I don’t seem to have enough time to do anything, and when I’m done with classes for the day, I just want to be done. Before I know it, its 2:00 in the morning, my roommates passed out, and I realize how  tired I am, too tired to do any work.

      

SCSU’s Field Hockey season just ended last Saturday, and I’m already going insane with all the time I now have on my hands. I mean I can only watch so much TV, and even after my daily afternoon nap, the sun is still out. I don’t have much else to do but school work…story of my lack of a life. So what I believe I need to work on is prioritizing while in season. Getting my work done before practice and relaxing after a game. This might be a challenge for me. I’m not an over achiever, I’m perfectly fine with a passing grade, and after the season ended, all my grades are passing. I kind of need to be inspired to put in effort. If I’m not inspired, I’ll put in minimal effort that will get me a passing grade, so I can move on to bigger and better things. But don’t worry, Professor G., I truly forgot about the “Campus Safari,” and really enjoy you class :). On that note though, I should probably start writing down assignments, which is another goal of mine for the rest of this semester, which I did. Campus Safari is duly  noted on my calendar. But writing down assignments might help me in anthropology, and other classes I don’t enjoy to much. Just writing them down will remind me that I do have to do the work to get a passing grade.

      

Overall, I’m not to upset with the first half of the first semester of my freshman year. I’m not failing a class, some days I want t drop out, but I’m still able to come up with reasons to say, and now that field hockey is over, I have something to look forward to…PARTIES!!!!

Just kidding :D 

My Crazy Life

This week I went out with a group of girls. I know this might sound easy for most of you, but for someone with a social anxiety disorder, it’s quite a bit out of my comfort zone. I was diagnosed with social anxiety when I was 13. When I’m in a group of people larger then 2, (not including myself), I shut down. I get caught in my head, thinking about what to say, how to say it, and when I should say it. And by the time I built enough confidence to say it, the time has already passed and the other people have already moved onto another topic. I used to be real bad, I’d get claustrophobic, and it would get hard to breath, and I would have to leave the room, before I started hyperventilating. But I’ve gotten a lot better since then.

I spent most of high school in my room, alone, because that was comfortable for me.  So when I got to college, I swore to myself that I would become more comfortable being with a group of people. Practice makes perfect, right? So this past Saturday was my last field hockey game, and a group of girls invited me out to celebrate. It was a group of six of us, and even though I was nervous and shacking in the beginning, they made it really easy for me. They talked to me, asked me question and included me in the conversation, when most people forget I’m there. Before I knew it, I wasn’t hesitating to say anything, because they didn’t have any remark if I said something stupid, like imagine people to do. They laughed along with me, instead of at me. And on top of it, they invited me out again later this week.

Even though going out was scary at first, and bailing did cross my mind more than once, I feel very accomplished by facing my fear. Even if these girls don’t become my best friends, it’s a start. Maybe next time I wont take as long to open up and talk.   

Brainstorming	5 Hours
Interviewing	2 Hours
Gathering other information	3 Hours
Transferring material onto computer	4 Hours…waist of time…
Learning the software	30 Mins
Putting the video together	10 Hours
Editing	15 Hours
Other	2 Hours

I will be honest; I had a rough start with this project. I lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer.  I spent half my Sunday, (my only day off), hunting down people to interview, only to find the cord I do have wont attached to my camera. I spent the next 4 to 5 hours tearing apart my room looking for it and calling my mom who tore apart my room at home looking for it, and just my luck, its nowhere to be found.  So I have started over using the camera on my computer. All the people I recorded on my camera where people from my hometown and I have known them for forever, so it was easy to ask for help. But now that I’m back at Southern I don’t know who to ask. I have four interviews, two of which are one of my professors and my coach. It’s hard for me to talk to people, and like I said in previous posts, I don’t have many friends here, so that’s challenging.

Like I have said before, I am an art major with a concentration in graphic design and photography. I also went to Valley Regional High School, which has one of the best graphics and photography programs in the state. So you can say I know what I’m doing when it comes to video making. I just won $500 for a video I made just this past spring called “It’s Never to Late” , for a anti-bullying campaign. Not to brag…but I have been trying to sneak this video into my blog for a couples of weeks now :D.  Anyway, it hasn’t taken me long to figure out iMovie. The only problem is how amateur it is. I was taught on Final Cut Pro, which is what the professionals in Hollywood use. iMovie isn’t capable of doing everything that Final Cut can do, so its hard to have all these ideas to make my video amazing, and having to settle for second best. I was taught that you spend the majority of your time editing the video. There’s a lot in the category of editing however. First you film, or in this case interviewing, and everything else; gathering other information, putting the video together and revising the video, is editing.  So that’s how I am approaching this project. All the hours in the chart above are a rough estimate of the hours I have spent so far.

          

"Can I take a moment of your time...."

     The biggest problem I have with the Mid-Term Video project is getting people to interview. I have herd all the excuses from I don’t know what critical thinking is, to I’m camera shy, to I don’t have the time. I herd the last one from one of my professors, (you can guess which one).

    

I try to be persistent in asking people if I can interview them, but I am not a very demanding person, when they say “no”, I say “ok” and walk away. I don’t have friends to fall back on, and I don’t know how to convince other people that this is not a waist of their time. I learned, however, that there is a very small handful of people that are willing to help people in need. There was one girl who came up to me, after struggling for an hour and a half, and said, “I see your struggling, how can I help.”  It is because of that girl I continue to ask people for an interview. I figure in a school as big as this one, there should be people who will let me waist some of their time.  

What is Critical Thinking?

The dictionary defines critical thinking as; disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence.

So what does that mean? Critical thinking is the logical way of think; you take all the information given to come up with a nonbiased conclusion. For the mid-term assignment for my INQ class, I have to make a video asking people what they think critical thinking is. But I have to put my own spin on it. I am an art major; I plan in double majoring in Graphic Design and Photography. So I my question is: What is critical thinking when involving art?

So we defined critical thinking as coming to a nonbiased conclusion with the given information. But this definition only describes a situation where all the given information is written and clear. But art is visual and unclear (or audio, music is art too :D). You have to search for the information to make a conclusion. In this case, to be a good critical thinker you have to view the artwork with a clear open-mine. When I go to museums or find artwork on the Internet, be for I determine what the piece is, I discover how it makes me feel (what emotion I get when I view it). With that information I can come to a conclusion of what the artist might have been feeling.  After I know how the piece makes me feel, look more closely to see what the artist has created. If the subject matches the feeling, than I can come to a conclusion of what the artist might of created in that piece. I say might because art is suppose to be a discovery.  Art is like a story with a cliffhanger ending, the artist gives you the story, but you have to come up with the ending.  So in a way there is no correct answer when critically thinking about art. You have to go a piece with a completely open-mine and ready to draw your own information for a conclusion that will be very different than the person standing next to you. This is why I love art, you can think whatever you want about the piece in front of you, and not anyone, not even the artist, can tell you to think otherwise. Art frees your mind and soul.

How to survive stress

            The biggest stress in my life right now is meeting people and how I have no time to do that. I have never been good at making friends, and I’m on the field hockey team at Southern, which consumes all of my time. I’m not allowed to go out, which is what? The number one thing college students want to do, and even if I could, I’m gone every weekend at a game. Two months into my freshman year and I haven’t made a friend.  These are a few things I have done through out the years to relieve some stress

Sleep through out the day, there’s nothing wrong with an afternoon nap. Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays I am done with my classes at 11, and I don’t have practice until 2:30, so it take a nap. Its only 2 hours, but I wake up feeling refreshed and good. Another thing that I do is listen to Mozart when I sleep. It might sound weird, but I swear to god it works! It clears the mind, and it's easier to focus.

Remind yourself that there’s always tomorrow. But knowing that, don’t put all your focus on the future. Live in the moment, make best of what you have at the moment your have, and if you make a mistake there’s always tomorrow to learn and recover from it. I have trouble doing this. I tend to daydream a lot about what I want my future to be, and how happy I’ll be then. But the fact is that the future is not set in stone, you don’t want to get there and be unhappy with it because it’s not what you dreamt up ten years earlier.

Always have someone that you can really depend one. The one person that I know will always be there for me is my boyfriend. He’s my best friend and we have been through a lot together. We have been together for three years, and still my parents don’t want us together.  Its hard on a couple when your trying to move in the next stage of your relationship and one you don’t have a family that supports you. Through the good and many bad times Zac has always been there for me. He’s held me when I cried, made me laugh harder than I have every laughed before, and he is always the first to apologize after a fight. I trust him more than anyone in the world. Talking to him every day reminds me that I’m not as alone as I feel most days.

So in conclusion; sleep through out the day, remember there is always tomorrow, and most importantly; have someone in your life you can depend. These are the three things that help me through the day, and I hope they ca help you too. 

But I don’t feel good…

 In high school there really was no penalty for missing a couple days of class. You could pick up right where you left off, or talk to the teacher to get jist of what you missed. But in college being sick is no longer an excuse for missing class. Three missed classes and your done, plus its now your responsibility to get a full understanding of what you missed. So what happens if you are sick? Every year at this time I ALWAYS get sick, and it ALWAYS last for weeks, however it gets easier each year. I just got over the worst of my annual cold, and didn’t miss a class. Here’s how:

Eat right. At the end of August I start my healthy eating kick. Drink a glass of OJ in the morning, eat fruit through out the day, a fiber bar, source of protein and EAT YOUR VEGETABLES! Fruit and vegetables have key vitamins that your body needs to keep your immune system up and running, and fiber is good for your diet and will keep you full through out the day.  I am vegetarian, so it sometimes yard to find a good source protein. I’ll eat egg whites this time of year, but usually get my protein from cheese yogurt and beans. For everyone else, just eat some meat. 

Drink tea with local honey. Teas like Green, White, Chamomile, and Earl Gray have naturally antioxidants in them. One of my favorites is Green tea with pomegranate. Pomegranates are an excellent source of antioxidants; so it’s a win win.  Sweeten your tea with local honey. Local honey comes from local bees that make their honey from local flowers that produce the pollen the make you sniffle this time of year. Consuming local honey is like taking a flu shot for your allergies, it doesn’t make you immune to them but will make them less intense. Try not to put milk in your tea, milk produces mucus and is not good for a runny nose.

Take medicine. If you do get sick take medicine. It sounds obvious, but there are those people out there that refuse to take any medicine. Guys, its out there for a reason, please use it but don’t abuse it. Don’t be afraid to switch brands to find a couple that work for you. I say a couple because companies don’t change their formulas often, so your body could get use to it and the medicine wont work as well. So it’s always good to have a back up. Take the recommended dose at the recommended intervals. If the box says to take one pill ever four hours, do it. Medicine doesn’t just make you feel better it actually helps you get better. 

I hope this helps anyone who needs it. Remember, don’t be a drama queen. You or someone important to you is paying for your education, so the only time you should be missing class is if you are so sick you cant get out of bed, and by that point you should probably see a doctor.

 

Time Management

       Well I don’t really know if I’m doing the right assignment right now…but I saw on a couple other peoples’ blogs in my class writing about time management, so that’s what I’m going to do :)

	Professional Presentation	Algebra	History of Art	Interpreting Cultures	Inquiry	Field Hockey	Homework	Eat and sleep
Monday	7:10-8	9:10-10:00	10:10-11:00			Practice: 2:30-4:30 or Game	6 hr	7hrs sleep 1.5 hrs eat
Tuesday		9:05-10:00		11-12:15	12:25-1:40	Practice: 2:30-4:30 or Game	2hr	7hrs sleep 1.5 hrs eat
Wednesday	7:10-8	9:10-10:00	10:10-11:00			Practice: 2:30-4:30 or Game	4hr	7hrs sleep 1.5 hrs eat
Thursday				11-12:15	12:25-1:40	Practice: 2:30-4:30 or Game	2hr	7hrs sleep 1.5 hrs eat
Friday	7:10-8	9:10-10:00	10:10-11:00			Practice: 2:30-4:30 or Game	4hr	7hrs sleep 1.5 hrs eat
Saturday						Game	4hr	9 hrs sleep 2 hrs eat
Sunday							8hr	10 hrs sleep 2hrs eat

       I have written about time management in earlier posts, but only about how important it is and how I want to improve on it, so this is me showing you how I manage time. Above is a chart of my life. There is 168 hours in a week, and in that amount of time I have to fit in classes (15 hours), homework/studying (30 hours), field hockey (about 18 hours, not including travel for away games), and food and sleep (65.5 hours)—HA!  

       In total I am using about 128.5 hours, which leaves about 40 hours of free time. That doesn’t seem like a lot compared to what I use to have. This has been the hardest transition to college. In high school I used to have a lot of free time to relax, but in college there’s no such thing relaxation, unless you want no social life. Those extra 40 hours I have a week will be spent out! I didn’t put these hours on my chart because they aren’t set in stone, I could use them whenever I want.  

       While doing me chart I discovered there really isn’t any room for procrastination, which if there was an Olympic game in, I’d b a gold medalist. I made it through high school doing homework 5 minutes before class and writing papers the night before there due, but I have been told over and over again that this just wont cut in college. To make it through college its not just, “ok I’m going to do my work now” it’s a change in character. I have to go from “I don’t feel like it now, I’ll do it later” to “No, I’m doing it now.” Taking that leap, will take me one step closer to life.