live and learn

            This class has been almost a failure for me this semester. I was expecting to learn a lot more about the campus from the teacher, not being graded on how I went about learning about it. I am a student athlete; I swim 20 hours a week and when I am not in class, I am with my team. There is never a break for student athletes, so I would have little opportunity to walk around campus and ask questions where I needed to. I also hate the fact that everything was online for this class. I hated that I had to go onto a page, not related to school in order to do school work. My English teacher definitely struggled with teaching his class also because we never learned anything about the library. It was almost as if the roles had switched for teaching. The English teacher was telling us how to work the library and what to do in stressful freshman situations.

            I definitely showed a lot of weaknesses this semester. I can get disorganized easily, I struggle with technology and I did not complete the campus safaris. Here are the things that we did or did not work on this semester:

1)     College-level skills, transitioning from high school- definitely worked out for me. I had to be able to think more abstractly, work under different situations and make sacrifices that would not need to be sacrificed in high school. 

2)     Critical thinking and creative thinking- critical thinking is the most important thing in college. You need to be unique in order to stick out. In high school, maybe you didn’t want to stick out, but in college you want to be different and you want to stick out. You want your professor to know your name and know your study habits. To develop a relationship with a professor would be the best thing to do, but most people do not want to be different and not talk to their professors about school.

3)     Time management, organization, study habits- I have had the best time management test then any ordinary college student. I had five classes to pass (or get A’s) and on top of that twenty hours of swimming each week, plus swim meets, plus team activities, you name it. There would be weeks that the team was at the pool for thirty weeks at a time.

4)     Personal goals, struggles, and accomplishments- I wanted to get all A’s this semester, but that obviously did not happen. I am not going to beat myself up because of it because I have three years and a semester left to improve myself and do well in school. I struggled with the technology of this class. I also struggled outside of this class with a broken foot. My swimming times have been at an all-time low. I also have been struggling with my depression this whole semester with the adjustments.

5)     Social and academic spheres of college life- I have never struggled socially. I probably get that gene from my dad. Him and I have never been quite ones. We are open to anything and anyone. Moving into a new environment with new ethnicities never troubled me as it might for others. Academically, I have been doing very well. My high school was one of the top schools in Massachusetts, so college is almost easier than my high school.

6)      Blogging, finding your voice- I personally thought blogging was not fun and not effective to do homework, etc. I never found my “voice” through writing blogs.

7)       Techniques for college success- going to class and taking notes; that is all you need to pass really. Being creative and unique is what you truly need to be someone and be REALLY successful in college.

8)     Leadership, moving out of your comfort zone- I moved out of my comfort zone the second I crossed the state border of Massachusetts and Connecticut. There is not a moment that you are not crossing that comfort zone. You are living with strangers, you are taking new classes, and you are alone. There is not any other part in your life that you are really doing this. College is a learning experience inside and outside of the classroom.

I have no regrets about anything. If you do not make a mistake, how else are you going to learn? Of course I would change my attitude of how I came to class every day with a more positive attitude.

draft issues!

my video was erased as i tried to use it on my moms computer... so i have to restart from scratch!

bear with me please!! :(

so thankful

Thanksgiving was so nice. I spent it with some of my extended family, which includes: my mom, dad, two brothers, my grandmother, great aunt, two aunts, three uncles and only one cousin.

We ate TURKEY, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, greenbean casserole, squash and yams.

We then had my grandma's chocolate roll, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, rocky road brownies and lemon bars.

Thanksgiving is not a huge holiday for my family. Christmas is the best for my family
Its all 7 of my mom's siblings, their children, my dad and mom's parents and my great aunt. In total there's about 30 people over my house.

I hope you had a happy thanksgiving!!

leading the way

  The summer before my freshman year I dislocated my knee two weeks before my swim season (swimming was in the fall for my high school). I happened to be in New Haven when I dislocated my knee and went to Yale hospital. My family was no where near me and as being loaded into the ambulance my coach handed me the phone and I murmured out that I hurt and I loved my Dad. The ambulance ride seemed like years. It was bumpy; over every bump my vulnerable knee (which was still out of its socket) would slam against the metal handles on the stretcher. I felt the sting in my arm as the Morphine flowed into my body. As we pulled into the hospital I was rushed into a hospital bed as a doctor was waiting for me. He then straightened my leg out and pushed on my knee cap. A rush of the most painful experience of my life rushed through my body as I screamed in agony. My knee was back to being into it's socket.
  I showed up to practice two weeks later with a full leg brace. My coach knew in advance, but many of the girls were caught of guard and looked at me from a distance, unsure of how to approach me. I sat through every practice doing as many exercises my body would allow.
  Two weeks later was our "meet the team" party at one of the captain's houses. As I showed up, I saw all the girls stare at me. Through the crowd came a robust woman with blonde hair about 4 inches shorter than I. It was the captain's mom. She told me that this part was for the swim team only, and that I was being asked to immediately. Not one person stood up and said, "no she's on the team, she's just hurt". I looked up with tears in my eyes and the whole room of 30 swimmers and their parents starring at me. I limped out and did not turn back.
   Three weeks later, I was cleared to go in the water and swim. At first I did not swim with the high school team, but the club team instead. As I got to my first practice with the high school team not one girl talked to me. They turned their noses up at me and went about on their own business. When my first meet came around, that was worse. Not one person cheered for me, regardless I made states my first swim. Imagine how controversial that was. After the meet, the captains pulled me aside telling me that I was not allowed to compete in states, and if I wanted to ever swim again I would give my spot up for the other senior. Essentially I was forced to give up my spot and let the other senior swim for me. I will NEVER forget that moment ever again. I was ready to quit and start playing soccer again.
  I returned my sophomore year and was so happy I stayed with it. My senior year came around and I was nominated for captain. I lead the team to a state championship and lived by the motto to treat others the way you wanted to be treated. I would tell the story of what happened to me my freshman year and I made sure that NO ONE was treated the way I was. People still talk about what happened and remind people that someone should NEVER be treated this way.

when you try your best but you dont succeed...

   I have been struggling so much with swimming recently. I fractured my excessive navicular bone three weeks ago. It hurts a lot, nothing relieves the pain. I struggle with clinical depression, so usually swimming helps ease the pain, not increase it. Swimming has always been a stress reliever and i can be excited to go to swimming because that's one of the only things I'm good at. Recently, I've been dreading to go to practice. I went from being number one on my high school to close to the bottom on the college team.
  I try SO hard everyday. It may not look like it right now because of my broken bone, but I try my absolute hardest. My times haven't been where I want them to be while everyone else is improving. I'm stuck in reverse. Swimming is usually the only thing that I can do right, but right now it's nothing. There's been so many times I've wanted to get out of the water and quit, but that will only show how weak i REALLY am. I've been listening to "A Little Bit Stronger" by Sarah Evans which has been helping. Songs that really express how I'm feeling, "The Scientist" and "Fix You" by Coldplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3SIUoGijoM
-Fix You

talk it out

   I hate beginning class with a quiz about the readings we do. I read them, but I always forget them. When we discuss them and be graded on participation I could have an A in this class. If I talk about something that I've learned, it will stick in my brain longer than if I read it then quizzed. My brain will push out whatever is left of the little information I remember of the reading and forget it completely. It then KILLS me when later in the week we talk about readings we did from 2 weeks ago, but never discussed.
  I love class discussions. Hearing a million different points of views from the same reading is so much fun and I love hearing what other people think. I may not agree with what they say, but I like to hear other points of views.
  I also like starting class off with Lee. It's not a lot of pressure, we can relax and she eases us into getting prepared for class. I really admire her and I hope that she gets her dream job after Southern.

:)