Family Traditions

     It is true that everybody has a memory about food in their lives. We all have our own favorite meals that we enjoy, and one of the most special meals of the year is prepared on Thanksgiving.  I have seen that everyone’s “classic” Thanksgiving dinner is unique.  My family makes two turkeys: one that’s classically prepared in the oven and the other is prepared outside in my dad’s smoker.  This is exclusive I have seen to my family.  However, a close friend of mine described how his Italian grandparents prepare a turkey, but also lasagna and several other pasta dishes for the occasion.  I believe that this is what keeps family traditions going, having special takes on meals that differ family to family.  It is also a very big deal in my family to get up early and all of us help make the food in the morning.  This is something I will never forget because we all are tired and start arguing right away, but it is always funny later when we sit down to enjoy the meal that we all prepared together. 

Importance of Leadership

     It is true that at some point in everyone’s lifetime, they have to step up and be a leader.  This can be a strenuous task, but is essential in numerous situations to get a task done.  The leader is what guides the team, and without this mechanism, leaves them lost and unorganized.  I can remember a brief experience that I had to do just this. In the warmer months, my family volunteers a lot for our local baseball association and the competitive tournaments are held at the very end.  It is very difficult to find volunteers to work the snack bar, which funds most of the money for the organization. As for me, both of my parents are directors for the board, and devote uncountable hours to the volunteer work.  It was the very end of the season, and a full crew was scheduled to come help out for the day. It was the final stage of the competitions, and everyone knows that the money that is made during those games is crucial.  It was unfortunate that the crew didn’t show up, and the only people left to do the job was my dad and I.  My mother was away on business, and the baseball association couldn’t afford the loss, and my dad already had to do enough work out on the fields. I decided it was best that we get organized, set up a list of tasks, and try to sell as much as we could despite the disadvantage. I went myself and made all the food, and went around to all of the fields selling.  The weather was terribly hot, but people really appreciated the effort, and therefore spent the money knowing it was going to a good cause. I was extremely proud that day, knowing that despite the fact that nobody showed up to help we were still able to raise money with what we had, and that was the first time I literally had to think of other options, with money on the line.  This day I learned that you can’t always expect help, and that you have to work with what is thrown at you, because things happen unexpectedly. 

The Necessary Changes

   I’m going to be very honest, when I say that this semester was difficult for me it is no joke.  I found that taking eighteen credits my first semester probably wasn’t the best decision, and learned some very strong lessons.  I found that after the first part of the semester was over, I was struggling to keep afloat, and didn’t know how I would be able to come back from the hole that I was stuck in.  However, at this point I took the initiative to meet with my advisors and reorganize myself immediately. I was so incredibly happy when I was able to sit down with some of the teachers whose classes I was struggling most in, and that I was able to figure out a new game plan to get myself back on track again and this was extremely beneficial.  It seemed at first that I really was stuck in the dark, but then the sun finally came out again. I reorganized every piece of my schoolwork, and began making lists for every day, so there was absolutely no confusion.  I also found myself to be not as stressed once this change was made, and had more time to complete assignments, that before I had no idea how to do.  I really learned what works best for me in terms of organization, and I’m glad I learned this lesson early, and have, made the necessary changes that will prevent me from having the same struggle in the future.

Unaware Learning

“Nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.”

    This quote is exactly expressed in the class that really gets my mind going.  Exercise science has really promoted new ways of learning to me that I really never understood in the same way before.  It is true that the majority of people, including myself would never want to willingly write a paper.  However, in this class we are assigned a series of questions that requires us to research a topic and find out for ourselves the answer.  I really didn’t even realize that I was learning anything in this class until I was able to give a full explanation to my teacher contrasting two different state laws, something that to me seemed very complex. Of course when these topics are assigned, I’m the least happy camper around, but I’m glad that I actually am retaining the information that is taught, whether or not I agree with the method. It is therefore proven to me that simply being told the answer doesn’t truly make you understand something, you must apply it yourself.  I also find myself doing lots of puzzle activities in which we break into groups to solve problems. This again I didn’t think was very significant to start off with, but now I find we all get a lot more work done in this fashion, and are able to help each other find answers, a true demonstration of teamwork.  This again is a case of finding out for ourselves that working together to solve problems while applying ourselves is something you must find for yourself. 



Study Spot



      This is the ideal spot for me to study, right outside of the Adanti student center.  On a day of nice weather, it is ideal for sitting and meeting with people, or judge reading over notes.  It is common before I have a math quiz for my class to meet right here, and ask each other questions, then we go inside and go over problems and solve them.  I also like to be outside, so this spot is great for getting fresh air, instead of studying indoors, like most others. In addition, it is right in the middle of where all my classes are, therefore I don’t have to travel very far from this location to anywhere that I have to be, and this is very useful.  I also enjoy the fact that here is right in the middle of where everyone passes by, so I see a lot of people I know throughout the day here.

“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.”

Grade Inflation Discussion

      Tuesday’s class really opened my eyes further to the reality of grade inflation.  The whole idea of what “the average” really is I hadn’t considered as much before.  I believe that grade inflation really has an impact on what determines an average student from the above average student.  This is because students may see that if they work incredibly hard and don’t receive the grades they feel they deserve, they might feel as though it isn’t necessarily worth going through the struggle.  They might feel as though the extra boost of their grade is necessary, and become more reliant on this.  Additionally, I felt the point made in class that if we rely on grade inflation, we will miss out on a big part of our education.  This is because teachers don’t necessarily mean to disregard hard work, but more so offer to challenge students to make them better.  In the end, students should take this challenge for themselves because the end most often will justify the means. 

A Simple Cup of Coffee

      This week as usual, I was bombarded with plenty of assignments that caused my week to be filled with the usual stress. However, I decided (even though it was an assignment), to squeeze in some time to do something that I enjoy.  This was probably something I should have done all along because it is critical to set some time apart from your day for just yourself to avoid getting too worked up.  My anti-stress activity was going to get a cup of coffee with a really close friend of mine.  Since school began there hasn’t much time to really talk to people I’ve been close with, and the time spent was definitely beneficial.  One of the reasons for this was because I got to see how my friend was doing at his school, and realized that his weeks are just as much stress as mine, and he gave me some good tips to organizing my schedule since he more experienced with me.  This helped a lot, because not only did I get some time apart from my studies for myself, but I got to catch up with a close friend who has a much better way of managing things.