One Semester Down, Several More To Go

Who would’ve thought that I’d learn so much in college? More than just what I learned in the classroom? As a college student, I think I’ve learned quite a bit about myself. In the beginning, I had somewhat high expectations for myself to start out on a high point and for me to go out and experience some of the many new things being in college has to offer. In some ways, that did happen, but not to the extent or the expectation that I had set. Some of the goals I set, were a bit on the unrealistic side.   As far as my place in the learning process, I feel I’m on the border between Creativity and Autonomy. I refrained from seeking out help as much as I could, so I could gain a bit of independence.

There have been many challenges that I’ve been faced with this semester alone, such as having a class that is entirely essay oriented, getting used to doing more work outside of class than in class and the amount of work, dealing with myself and the transition to college, and of course dealing with horrendous procrastination. I think I’ve overcome a couple of my biggest challenges this semester, but I could still do with working on improving some of them. When it came to a class that was basically essays, I was scared to say the least. Essays aren’t my strong point. Apparently, I proved myself wrong with the essays I’ve written for this class. These essays have been better than the ones I would write in high school, and I really don’t know how that happened. The workload outside of the classroom, while I consider that a challenge that I had to overcome, I fell into it pretty easily. Considering I didn’t have much homework at all throughout high school, it felt somewhat normal for me to have homework every night. It gave me something to do. But as the semester got winding down, I found it harder to concentrate. As for me, it’s been a rockier road than I expected, and I made it to the end alive with just a tiny bit of motivation. Procrastination is still a huge problem for me, and it’s something that will take a while to correct.

So far, my biggest achievement has been making it through my first semester of college alive. When I first started, I was confident that I would do well in all of my classes and not get swamped with demands and the work. I am not that same confident person now, although I was able to stay on top of my classes and work, it took a toll on me as a person.  My ability to easily procrastinate didn’t help me, but I still procrastinated and it shows. I think knowing that I survived, is enough motivation to keep me going. There weren’t many habits that I had adopted this semester to help me achieve these goals, doing well in school and the habits I developed there are what helped me through this semester.  I do think that I got better at completing homework assignments and projects though.  I relied quite a bit on myself and other classmates instead of using available resources to me.  Personally, I found help using counseling services.  This kept me going, and staying on track. For next semester, I could make use of the writing and tutorial centers. I’m sure if I used them this semester, my papers would’ve been a lot better.

Coming to college, time management was not my friend. I wasn’t very good at it. As the semester went on, I found myself getting better and better at it. I had adopted the use of post-it note to-do lists, and they seemed to help me out a bit. Being able to see everything you had to get done, made them a little easier to do. Most of my time went into getting little tasks done, and being sidetracked quite easily. When it came time for essays and projects, I was able to get them done easier when I planned out what to write and just focus solely on that one task.

My grades overall were really good.  I found that I got the grades I deserve, and it’s easy to tell which classes I put the most effort into and where I slacked off. Mostly B’s, a couple A’s, generally the grades I expected. I don’t feel that I’ve learned much. Whatever material we covered, was usually gone after a test or a quiz. If I’m not interested in a subject, or somewhat good with it, more than likely I won’t retain much information. A semester is not long enough to fulfill everything that was expected as seen by the syllabuses I was given. If anything, there was a lot of rushed material, skipped sections, and unfinished sections as well. This was especially true in my Intro to Psychology class; there was too much material to cover in too little time.

Personal goals are things that I decided to put on the backburner for the first semester this way I could get used to my schedule and the workload that came along with it. I wrapped myself up in it so much that I didn’t make time for myself to achieve any personal goals. I don’t believe that I’m anywhere near where I wanted to be personally, whereas academically, I am. That has become one of my items on my list of things to accomplish next semester. I’ll be taking classes that interest me, and I can begin working on some of the personal goals that I have or yet to have set.

From this point right now, I’m working towards one goal; doing really well, earning all of my credits, and then it’s off to England for me. Knowing that I’m but one or two semesters away from reaching my ultimate dream is a bit overwhelming and very much exciting. In order for me to get to that point, I have to keep doing well and making sure that I get everything done. I’m confident in myself that I will be able to do these things. In upcoming semesters, I can improve on little things like participation and seeking out help with homework and essays.  Next semester, I want to work on being more outgoing and explore what the Southern campus has to offer. Instead of focusing only on academics, I want to get out there more and get involved. There are already a few clubs that I have in mind that I want to be a part of such as Active Minds and Colleges Against Cancer, I’m hoping that I will be able to be involved in both of these and make for a good second semester.

Some habits are hard to break

Click here to view video

In this video I talk about how hard of a habit procrastination is to break and a couple ways to get out of the rut of it.  The topic of procrastination felt like a good topic for me because of its relevance as a problem for first-year college students. It's a big problem that I face as well. I don't think there are many on campus resources that can help with this.

The true definition of Creativity?

After reading Twyla Tharp, I feel like I have a sense of what creativity really is. She talked a lot about different ways of approaching projects, but it also went much deeper than that. I was able to take her words and apply them to ways of thinking and problem solving. From her perspective, we can gain ways of exploring our own minds and being more independent by using our own thoughts to come up with new ideas and propelling ourselves forward in life.  In class it was mentioned that Autonomy is the ability to create goals and standards that you set for yourself to live by, this ties into creativity because you have to know yourself, your likes, your dislikes, your limitations, etc. to be able to figure out what you want to achieve in life. Creativity can be defined in many different ways, but it’s mainly being able to think on your own and come up with your own ideas and thoughts. It’s important because without it, we can’t really achieve autonomy or advance in society. Any form of technology we have today was once a thought or an idea in someone’s mind. They created their idea when they put it on paper or began to make it. Being creative is what differentiates us from other people and makes us unique. Not everyone has the same creative style, and everyone’s mind is different.  Creativity can be incorporated in our lives in many different ways, especially when it comes to school. Trying out new methods of studying, putting a personal spin on an assignment, and taking risks, are all creative.  Even after reading Twyla Tharp, I still don’t think creativity can be taught. As I said before, creativity is something that comes from you, in your mind. There isn’t any way to teach someone how to think creatively because then they will just go out and repeat your style of creativity. That becomes more completion and imitation rather than true creativity. We should attempt this individually because it will really show how different and unique we are from other people. If we showed off our creativity, it’s possible that people would be a bit happier, because they’re showing off themselves. Attempting creativity socially could be a good thing because people’s ideas could be heard and put into action. Expressing our creativity could get ideas bouncing to come up with better or completely new ideas as well in the process. 

There's more learning being done than you think.

Maybe it was a bit late in the semester to get to this activity, but I feel it was well worth it. Spending an entire class getting to know the library, I learned quite a bit. Although I’ve been there several times in the past, mostly to use the computer lab, and even check a book out, I learned more about where certain things are located and how to find books on the shelves.  Navigating the library’s website was very useful as well. It helped me figure out that there is a librarian available for every major and how to find articles, books, and other resources that I may need.  This applies to all first year students in the way that at some point, you will have to use the library on campus. Whether it is for research, a place to study, or your professor wants you to check out a certain book, it’s helpful to know your way around and where to go to access specific information. The topic we covered is autonomy. For this, we had to find a book off the shelf, an online article, and a definition from the dictionary. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, autonomy refers to “the liberty to follow one’s will; control over one’s own affairs; freedom from external influences, and personal independence”.  From the book “The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy”, autonomy is depicted as “No two children in a family or classroom are identical... Uniqueness within similarities is a central property of biology” (127). I had chosen this book because it deals with adolescences who are trying to figure out who they are, which is similar to majority of first year college students. There is a lot of learning done during your first year of college, and it’s not just through textbooks or in the classroom. 

Campus Safari #10: Mixed Feelings

I’ve never really put much thought into the food that they serve here at the dining hall. But attending one of the presentations the other night gave me a bit of insight into that. I had attended one of the Sustainable Southern presentations that was put on by Residence Life, and this was about the quality of food here and how the industries contribute to the price of food. We had watched clips from a movie, Food Inc., which showed us about the Smithfield factory. It showed me what it was like working there, and how terrible benefits are. I learned that they don’t offer worker’s compensation, and you have to call into work if you aren’t going to be there, despite whatever is going on with you, otherwise they instantly terminate you. Another clip we watched focused on the chemicals from factories being dumped into the ocean, and what it does to our food and how we can avoid this in the future. In the past, I’ve seen many movies like this one, and I realize that it is hard to eat organic, because of the price. They mentioned in the film that if places like Wal-Mart and other grocers carried organic products at a cheaper price, more people would be able to buy them and then it would become the new normal.

The beauty of words

I decided to take on exercise 14, which was to challenge yourself by giving yourself a handicap. When writing, there are many ways to give yourself handicaps, like trying not to use certain words. I challenged myself to write a story without using the words attempt, love, wish, and for.

The air outside began to get that cold bite to it. Winter always brought Sophie great joy. She would spend the holidays with her brother, sister, and her relatives. Christmas was always a joyful time of year, only this year was different. Her grandfather had passed away just a few weeks earlier, right before the Christmas season begun. This had put a great amount of weight on the family’s shoulders. It was like this mist that hung in the air that you couldn’t get rid of. Everyone did their best to put on cheerful faces this season, but it was difficult. Sophie was doing everything she could to keep everyone’s spirits high. She was the one who went out, did all of the Christmas shopping, the cooking, cleaning, everything. This kept her from focusing on the sadness that everyone was feeling because of her grandfather. Her mother had noticed her behavior, how she had taken charge of everything and found it very heartwarming that she would take the initiative to take care of the family since she could not. Sophie’s mother was too wrapped up in grieving over the death of her father. The holidays became less and less important to her. Everyone in her family felt the same way, this season took a toll on everyone and sadness had replaced the happiness and solace that was the Christmas season. Sophie had done a very decent job of taking over. Her brother had helped with the cooking and cleaning while her sister helped with the baking and decorating of the house, getting it ready for celebrating the holiday with the family. Decorating the Christmas tree remained a family activity that they all had participated in. Christmas was only a few days away at this point, things became a bit more hurried and the house looked much more festive. All of the holiday shopping was done, Christmas presents were wrapped and placed under the tree as well. When the fateful day had come, Sophie’s family had woken up to Christmas presents under the tree and spent the morning opening gifts and exchanging words of thanks and warmth. Relatives from all over had come to join in on the Christmas Feast that Sophie had prepared with a bit of help from her siblings. They had all gathered around the table and joined in on the cheerful conversation, refraining from mentioning the passing of a beloved family member. It made Sophie feel better that her hard work had gone to good use and everyone was very satisfied. The somber mood that Sophie was in had lifted, she had joined in on the fun full heartedly instead of pretending like she was before. At the end of the day, Sophie felt much happier again.

this is my general feeling towards my story.

Overall, this challenge wasn’t incredibly difficult, but I liked the idea of having a handicap. It made me try to word my sentences differently instead of using the same words over and over again. This story is definitely not one of my best, but on a short notice, this is what my mind came up with and I ran with it. I’m not too happy with it, but it’s not terrible either.

Odd Fears That Seem Like Excuses

Yeah, failure at its finest.

There could be several things said for why I myself don’t finish projects that I start. I start out with a clear idea of what I want it to be, what I want it to look like, etc. Projects for me become hardships and chores in the end. Here’s why:

      1.       I’m scared of the outcome.

                When I start projects, I have a plan of how it should turn out in my head. Once I start out working on it, I find little things I can do to change it, and my original idea ends up becoming something that I didn’t expect, and the more changes I make, the less satisfied I’ll be with whatever I’ve created. It won’t look anything like I had planned out. The second I realize that my project isn’t working the way I wanted it to, I will stop and never go back to it. This is a good reason for why I’ve currently got so many unfinished projects.

2.       It’s easy to get lost

This one applies more to writing. You know when you write dialogue or action for a character, and you come up with something really good that you want to focus on? It can either add to your story or completely take you off path with how you wanted your story to flow.  This tends to happen to me very often, and it has. I mentioned I was doing NaNoWriMo this month, and I’ve quit. Not only do I not have time to write, it’s hard to come up with what to write about next and get stuck in writer’s block for quite some time, and because of what I ended up writing, and changing, my entire story lost its original focus point.

3.       I don’t have time

Projects take time to complete, which is why they’re called projects. This one is more of an excuse than anything, but it does hinder me from starting things. I had plans to make a quote poster to hang above my bed here at school. I bought the materials last month, and I’m only working on it now. This project encompasses all of my fears that I’ve listed here, only this one I will see all the way through despite these fears (I’m hoping). 

Campus Safari #8: It's easier than you may think.

Going into college, I didn’t think much about how the process actually works. Learning that I had to get an advisor in my major’s department was a new concept for me.  It was a task trying to find the psychology department office in Englemann, but thanks to the maps, I found it pretty easily.  The advisor for the psychology department is Mrs. Virlinda Billups. Her office is located in END069, Office # (203) 392-6868. The process for getting an advisor in the psychology department is quite simple. First, you fill out a “declaration of major” form, along with another form which you fill out initiating that you understand what is required to be accepted into the major. Once you return the forms, she assigns you an advisor. Because I’m a first year student, I was assigned a general psychology advisor. Once I become accepted into the major, I can choose to stick with general psychology, or focus on a track, which requires me to change an advisor. 

Psychology Department Home page

Maybe a Change of Setting to get my creativity going?

my calendar for the month ahead

I've said this once, and I’ll say it many more times. Artists come in all forms. Being a writer, dancer, painter, musician, playwright, whatever, you are still an artist. The only thing that differs is your canvas, and your tools. After reading the first few chapters of Twyla Tharp, I felt that I became more in touch with my inner artist. She talked about her experiences being a choreographer and the rituals she goes through on a day to day basis. I enjoyed how she talked about ways to get your creativity flowing and how other people she know work best on their forms of art. When she mentioned the writer, only being able to sit outside for him to fully concentrate on his piece, I found it interesting. Location is key. So far, majority if not all of these chapters apply to me, which I think will make this book something I would look forward to reading. It seems to have a self-help book feel to it, without being a self- help book. To further the discussion and our thinking of this book, I can talk about personal experiences and trouble I've had with my own creativity and how I go about working through my ‘bumps in the road’.This year I've decided to get back into the habit of creative writing, and therefore am taking on the challenge of participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, where you have the entire month of November to write a 50 thousand word novel.  Reading these chapters couldn't have come at a better time, I've learned a few things that I can do to get my creativity going in order to keep me motivated for the month ahead.  I have dabbled with short stories, and that was when I was about 7 or 8. In high school, I broke away from short stories and got caught up in writing poetry. Prompts and topics were never my best friends in the way that they got my ideas going, but instead they hindered them. Only now have I realized that prompts and topics actually work better for me. If I have an idea of what to write, I have a starting point.  I remember a few months ago, I had asked 5 people for prompt ideas that they’d like to read, and I would write them. My main goal was to get back into the habit of creative writing, and while writing these stories, I felt like I was in the zone and my words seemed to flow. This feeling kept me going to write more and more. Those stories I wrote turned out really well in my opinion. And if I can write 5 short stories in a matter of 12 hours, I don’t think I will have a problem writing an entire novel in a month. 

What's Your Opinion?

This time I decided to take a new approach. Instead of video, I used quotes, and it seems to flow better. I also explored how to make my video flow with transitions, and I think this came out a bit better than my first one. 

Campus Safari #6: We Have a Radio Station?

Listen to WSIN radio 1590 AM 

Looking through my INQ syllabus to the ‘campus safari topics’, I never knew that our school had a radio station.  WSIN 1590 is our school radio station, which is located in the Student Center. I decided to check out their website, as opposed to going there once again like I did back in October to find that they hadn’t yet started up. Now that the year has gotten on track, their website has the station playing live. At this moment, their list of shows isn’t yet posted so maybe that will happen soon, or by next year. From my point of view, it seems as though this station plays a variety of music that appeals to everyone. It also looks as though they are still looking for positions to fill in order for shows and segments to begin airing as well. 

It's time for habits to break and things to get done

Getting my midterm grades, it became evident to me that my high school days are over. I did fairly well, I think at least. My highest grade is ironically enough in the class that I thought I’d do the most poorly in, math. Maybe learning it again really is helping me more than anything. Considering that most of my class grades are based on participation, I feel I deserved what I got because I’m not one to participate in class, especially when I have nothing to say or anything to ask.  My midterm grades ranged from a C being the lowest to an A-, which I think is fairly good. I wasn't and don’t ever hold myself to any standards other than to do my best, and that’s all anyone should ever ask from themselves. If these were final grades, my GPA would be somewhere around a 2.9, which is fair considering the amount of work and effort that I put in, which was very minimal. I definitely need to step up my game for the second half of this semester and quit putting things off. Some of my habits need to break and make room for better ones. I had thought that because I was in college, I’d be more focused on schoolwork, but that ended up not being the case. My view of how I saw myself before I started college is so much different than it is now. I’m the same person I was in high school, putting my well-being first, and not my schoolwork. I really don’t like that, it’s time for these roles to switch places and have school take priority over anything. Working under the clock works for me sometimes, but not always like I think it does and it definitely shows. I've let myself down in more ways than one this first half of the semester, but mostly with my schoolwork.

It looks like Fish

I have passed by this quite a few times since I've been on campus, and it’s always caught my eye. But until tonight I never truly looked at it. This sculpture is called “H2O: Liquid Zone” by Mikyoung Kim. If you've ever passed on the outside of Engleman Hall, you’ve probably seen this.  At first glance, this looks nothing like its title suggests, and it looks more like large leaves you’d find on trees in the rain-forest or fish. It seems to be made out of a steel or wire-like material that keeps it sturdy. I personally like this piece quite a bit. It makes you think because at first you aren’t even sure what you’re looking at. Depending on how you see it, you can interpret it in many different ways. Like I said, it could look like giant leaves in the rainforest, or possibly fish. I’m not entirely sure how the title of this came to be, in no way does it resemble water in any form. But I guess that’s the beauty of art, it doesn’t have to be correct. This sculpture could represent how much like water we are as people. Water has no definite shape or size, and neither do people. The randomness of how this piece is designed, it seems like it’s flowing and repeating itself. The pattern can go on forever. As a society, we do the same. Every day we live by a schedule of some sort and it repeats itself from day to day. Sure we may change location and direction, but we essentially are doing the same thing each day, just like water may flow from a stream into a lake, into some even larger body of water. It’s in constant motion, just like humans are. Since the title of this is “H2O: Liquid Zone”, it’s assumed that water is seen in its liquid state where it’s very amiable to any situation- just like we as humans are.

Campus Safari #3: Breathe in, and breathe out.

envisioning scenes like this can also aid in relieving stress

Let’s face it, we’re freshman in college.  Some of us are away from home for the first time, and we may feel lost. This isn't all too uncommon. Stress happens to a lot of us during the first year while we’re getting used to the adjustment. I visited the health center on campus and got some information on stress and ways we can cope with it. Stress comes in many forms (such as physical pain) and from anything (such as trying to balance school and work). Some of the ways that we can relieve this stress could be by: using relaxation techniques (like meditation, sitting in silence for a while, or yoga), exercising, crying, and planning a schedule (if you feel like you leave everything to the last minute). The information on stress at the health center is really something to look into, this way you’ll have an idea about some of the warning signs to look for. 

Visit the Health Center online!

"Jealousy, yes jealousy, will drive you MAD"

One of my favorite songs from the movie ^

For most of us, midterms have already started and some of us have already gotten some grades back. Midterms have only begun for me, so I’m not entirely stressed out.  I like to take things as they come along, step by step.  Between making time for homework, studying, and actually going to class, there isn’t much time for me to just wind down on my own, so going out and doing something on campus isn’t really what I look forward to. Instead, I’ve decided to relax in my dorm room and have a movie marathon. I haven’t gotten a chance to actually sit down and have the ability to watch a movie without having to worry about other things that I SHOULD be doing. Movie marathons are something that I haven’t really attempted, but there’s a first chance for everything and this week is a perfect week to try it I think; one movie after each midterm to wind down and relax at the end of the day. Tonight, I chose to watch one of my favorites, Moulin Rouge. Musicals are definitely one of my favorite things, so this movie is on the top of my list. I haven’t seen it in a while, so I figured that now was a good time to break it out again. The songs and the storyline keep me entertained, and I don’t have to think so much about what’s going on to keep up. I like the whole story within a story plotline that this movie has (the play in the movie, is basically the story of the movie). I feel like doing something on campus requires you to have some form of energy, which I definitely do not have after taking a huge test. The one thing I look forward to is going back to my room and just crawling into bed and sleeping, so watching a movie is something I have the energy to do.

"I wrote the book on procrastination" and Other Goals

It’s the middle of October, so all this midterm talk is very new for me. I've got all of my midterms this week, so it will begin soon. As far as personal goals for the beginning of the first semester, I feel that a few of them have been achieved, from finding my way around campus to getting all of my homework done; they seemed to be the easier of the goals I've set. One of my goals was to branch out and meet new people and try new things. It isn't as easy as it sounds; I have met a few new people though and I have been to quite a few things that I never would've if it wasn't for persistent hassling of a couple friends, but I’m glad they did. In college, it’s a time to explore and take risks and find out things about yourself. I've learned quite a bit about myself in these past few months, and I wouldn't trade anything for it. For the second half of the semester, some of my goals include participating more in class and procrastinating A LOT LESS. The procrastination goal is probably going to take effect sooner than later (she says hopefully). As of now, I will probably continue my homework habit, because I make sure to get it done. To achieve these goals, quite a bit of change will need to happen with myself and how I manage my time.  As of now, I like to multitask while doing my work and that usually leads to majority of my procrastination. If I got rid of distractions, my work would more than likely get done faster. Applying some of the time management strategies that I learned earlier in the semester would definitely help me as well, because then I’d have a schedule set for each day of things that need to get done and I wouldn't have to worry about “am I supposed to be doing something important?” 

Campus Safari #19 : Not at all what I expected

I guess the saying “the early bird gets the worm” is somewhat applicable in this situation. Attending the Majors Expo wasn't all that helpful to me. I had gotten there within an hour before it was over, and there was barely anyone there. Despite this, I decided to walk in anyway to see if there was anything interesting that would catch my attention. Unfortunately, a table for my major wasn't there any longer, which disappointed me. I walked around the rest of the expo, and there weren't any other majors there to catch my attention, so I left. Upon leaving, I was greeted with a survey, which I couldn't really answer because I didn't learn anything. I feel that no matter what time you attended, all the majors that had a table there, should remain until the end so that everyone would have a chance to find out information on their major or possible majors. 

More Than Lost

In and Out of Love (Butterfly Paintings and Ashtrays), 1991 - Damien Hirst

Usually, I’d say that I’m more of a reserved and introverted type of girl who doesn’t like going out much. I tend to have moments where I want to get out and explore, and that’s what I did this weekend. For the first time in my life, I used a city bus and went downtown. Now I’ve never done either of these things on my own, so it was a bit discomforting.  Getting on the bus was a bit difficult when it came to putting my card through properly, because I didn’t know what to do. Luckily, Taiesha was there to help me figure it out.  We decided to go exploring downtown New Haven and walk around. While we were there, she had me try bubble tea for the first time. Personally, I don’t like it. The tapioca tasted like licorice. It felt a lot less weird as the day went on and we went to a couple museums, but while walking through them, I felt really strange.  I always thought that I liked art, and had an appreciation for it. But, I felt awkward being in those museums, like I didn’t know what I was doing.  Walking around these museums definitely put me out of my comfort zone; the security guards watched your every movement and followed you around. I distinctively remember one of them telling me “you look lost”; it made me feel like an amateur walking around looking at everything because he must’ve been addressing the confused look that I probably had on my face. For me to be more comfortable with this, I’d probably have to go back and walk through them again. It was definitely something that I won’t forget because of how strange and new it was, but it was a thrill for me as well. 

It's All Based on Interpretation

An email my dad had sent me as I was typing this blog post.  Example of growth mindset?  and good timing.

Failure is seen and interpreted differently for every person. Depending where it comes from, be it a parent, teacher, coach, or some other authority figure, it can help you or completely tear you down.  In chapter 7 of mindset, they touched on praise again but in terms of failure. A fixed mindset child or student would see the statement “Wow, good job! You learned this so quickly and did amazing on this test” as a sign of praise, but only for the fact that they learned quickly and did well. So if they don’t continue this path, they will be seen as a failure. Same with a child with the growth mindset, they’d see it as praise and continue to learn and challenge themselves. In mindset, they also mentioned ways that parents and teachers can encourage their kids without hinting at failure, and helping them learn and grow. After reading, I thought to myself “I’ve heard some of these statements before”, but they’ve never influenced how I work and think. Reading about the students whose parents would only support them if they went on to fulfill their wishes of going to Harvard, showed me how much easier I have it. My parents didn’t care where I went or what I did as long as the price was right. My independence was my motivation to get where I am now. No label or specific profession or suggestions motivated me. We all look to our parents for support, and when it’s a spur of the moment, it’s hard to think through what you’re about to say and how it will affect your child when it comes to consoling them or telling them what they could do better next time. Reading the article on 32 innovations gave me an eye opener for what people are working on. It’s guaranteed that some of these things will fail, and make society lazier than we already are, but they are a work in progress and when they fail the first time, the inventors will be right there doing everything they can and working to make it better. The article/ debate on “Are We Getting Dumber” showed the evolution of society and how we live today. I don’t believe we’re necessarily getting dumber, but we are getting much lazier and reliant on technology to do our work for us. 

Campus Safari #10:I get a hole in one, and it STOPS RECORDING!

Two of the haunted house crew members allowed us to get pictures with them :)

Ever since college begun, I told myself I would do more and get involved, and so far I've been true to my word. Last night I attended the Friday Night Free for All to Decimation Scream Park. It turned out to be more fun than I expected. There was mini golf, go karting, and a haunted house. It takes a lot to get me scared, and I was screaming the entire way through, and I think that if it makes you scream, it’s generally a good haunted house. I wasn't expecting to scream as much as I did. Go Karting was fun, especially for it being my first time. Planning on crashing was something I could’ve done without, because I didn't crash once. There was an awful lot of rage playing mini golf, my friend Taiesha came with me, and we let out a lot of rage playing because of how frustrated we were. We thought it would be funny to film our game; and of course the one time I get a hole in one, the camera decides to stop recording. I also thought it was awesome that some of the people working the haunted house would interact with us and try to scare us while we were sitting down eating, or waiting in line to get food.