Wellness

I'd like to believe that I am leading a balanced life here. I tend to balance and juggle everything going on in my life. I am able to juggle homework, class, friends, social activities, and sleep pretty well. I typically devote Tuesdays and Thursdays to work. I only have one class so I can do my work that day. On other days, I have 4 classes so I typically just try to get through those days. At night I'm with my friends, sometimes out or other times just sitting around, doing work.

I wish I had more time for talking to my family. I'm that kid that goes to college and doesn't talk to their parents for like 5 months. I think I typically talk to my mom, oh every 2 weeks. I'd like to be able to talk to her more.

I guess I could try to talk to her tonight, before I go to bed. I just typically dont go to sleep until 2 in the morning. So I highly doubt she'll want to talk then. But, I don't know. I guess I'll figure it out.

First Experience w/ Alexus

When I first met Alexus, she seemed like she would be shy and more introverted than extroverted. She is small in stature and somewhat meek looking. She is tiny, weighing about 85 pounds. She comes up to my waist. As I sized her up, I expected this child to be reflect her appearance. I figured she would let her size dictate her personality. Boy, was I wrong.

The thing about Alexus is that she knows all. She's got a grip on everything that goes down in the sixth grade at Hand. She can tell me the history of any girl, point out the trouble makers of the school, and identify the nobodies of the school. Walking through the hallways on our tour of the school, at least 6 different people called out her name. It's easy to see she's Miss Popular.

Upon talking to her though, I've identified that she does have some needs. She just gained a new addition to her family, a little sister who's now 2 months old. It seems she's having some trouble dealing with no longer being the only girl in her family. But other than that, she seems somewhat happy with her life.

She is somewhat involved at Hand. She's involved in Chorus at school. She seems to enjoy Chorus. She took me to see her Chorus teacher because she really enjoys the class. I think she was excited to show me off to her class and teacher because it was something she was proud of.

As for resources, I think I'm okay for the time being.

ACE Coaching

Today, I went to the Academic Center for Excellence and talked with an ACE coach, Jordan. It was actually very helpful. I'm not gonna lie, at first I was dreading going. I thought it was probably going to be a waste of time. But I went in with an open mind and I actually got something very rewarding from it.
I've been unsure of what I wanted my major to be for a long time. So I decided to ask my ACE coach, and we went through my interests. Since I was extremely indecisive, we went back and forth between psychology and political science. We weighed how heavily I wanted to do one major over the other. Once we figured out where my heart was, we were then faced with the task of figuring out how to go about changing my major. He walked me through exactly what classes I would need to take and when. It was like a pre-advisement to my advisement. I now feel prepared for my advisement next week. Now I can go in, tell them what I want and see if that matches.
My appointment was actually a relief because I got information about changing my major, and also signing up for classes, which I was kinda worried about. So I'm super glad I went to ACE.

Good job working there Ben. Its super cool.

Diversity

Diversity at South Carolina occurs practically everyday. There are soo many opportunites and experiences available here that allow one to intermingle with different peoples. South Carolina has clubs and organizations devoted purely to certain cultures and people that its hard not to run into some diversity every now and then. Before coming to South Carolina, I would've defined Diversity as like a bunch of people from different races and cultures coming together in one area. But since comign to South Carolina, I've found that diversity goes beyond simply race.

Diversity be applied to many things. Race and culture for sure, but also things like personality, interests, sexual orientation, or morals. You find that the kid across the hall might like a certain type of music that's different from yours. You find that another kid on a different floor might have a certain sexual preference thats different from the norm. You find that your suitemate has extremely different morals or values. It's all diversity-- an ecletic group of people, not only with different cultures and of different races, but also of interests, all living and coexisting together.

South Carolina definitely has changed my perspective. My views on some things have changed drastically because of that. Although I've only been to hand once now, I've found that I do see diversity there. There are kids of different races, economic background, and interests all attending the same school. And the best thing about it is, they all get along. They all seem happy and content in their school. It seems to me they are able to see past their differences, which is refreshing in its own right to see :)

Capstone Conversation: BLUES MAN

Today, I attended the Capstone Conversation of the blues musician, Walt Liniger. He offered some pretty interesting views on what being a Capstone Scholar meant. He talked about how our generation experiences different pressures from our parents. He furthered this idea to apply to the pressure of the United States' society compared to those of European societies. He talked about how "Dream Big, Impact the Community, Leave a Legacy" was somewhat of a threat or command. He identified how overwhelming it can be when given those orders.
But he talked about how as students we have to overcome those feelings. We have to be strong to overcome the struggle. This he related back to blues music. He told us about the history of blues music. How it identifies the struggles of day to day life. How it was a way to battle struggle and combat the unfairness and disharmony in society.
It was interesting to see how he tied everything together. I'm gonna be honest, at first I wasn't sure if he was going to make much sense. But as the speech went on, it was interesting to see how everything tied together.

Political Science

ahhh, poli sci. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I'm so sure now how much I'm loving it. I don't know what I want to do with it. I mean there's always law school, but somehow I don't see myself really in that field. I wanted to work on campaigns. Or be a speech writer. Or work in the bureaucracyof the government. But, I'm quickly finding that maybe that's not what I want to do. Because I have no interest in learning about political science. I feel like its not really something that can be taught, in a way. To me, its always been about researching the situation and forming some type of position or opinion about it. I feel like enrolling myself in courses where I'm taught about the situation, with an instructors influence on the subject isn't really my idea of politics.
Lately more and more, I've been considering changing my major. I just don't know what I would change it too. Pyschology perhaps? But that seems like the standard "I'm gonna change my major to this because I don't know what I want to do" major. I actually enjoy helping people through their problems and talking. I'm super nosy. I have this thing where I like to follow people's thought process. For instance, if we're having a conversation about eggs, and someone brings up elephants, I HAVE to know how that individual's mind jumped from eggs to elephants. And the strange thing is, if I know them, I can typically follow their thought process to how they got to elephants without even having to ask them. I took a psych class in high school and really enjoyed it.
I think I could be happy as a counselor or psychologist. Or even in the business setting, I could use my psychology degree in human resources or something. I'm just not sure if thats the path for me though.
This whole figuring out what I'm supposed to do thing is actually somewhat stressful. Because of all the AP classes I took in high school, I'm done with most of my undergraduate classes. All I have left are sciences and histories. I fulfilled alll my english, math, foreign language, and humanities credits. so its not like I can just keep putting this off... I feel like I may be visiting the Career Center in the near future. Because I definitely need some guidance in the right direction... Gahhh..

Middle of the Road

So I guess this is like the halfway point for the semester, if we're taking midterms. I'm actually super happy with the way everything is going. I've got the best schedule ever. Its ridiculously easy and laidback. I'm not stressed at all and I seem to be able to use sucessful time management skills.

Theres honestly not a whole lot I'd like to change. I'm typically the type of person who addresses each problem as they come. So if I had a problem earlier in the semester, I most likely already took care of it. For instance, I was having trouble on wednesdays and mondays keeping up with work. So I took my less busy days, tuesdays and thursdays, and decided to work on those days. Time Management baby.

I am still a little worried about advisment. I still don't have an advisor; its an issue. So I'm probably just going to call down there and try to figure that whole entire mess out after break.

I know I might run into some problems next semester, because I never have work. And I'm basically not in school. My classes are all super easy. So next semester I'm really going to have to buckle down and get to work. But, its not something I haven't done before. So, no worries. I can handle it.

Capstone Cinema: HOMELESSNESS

The Capstone Cinema was a real eye-opener this evening. It focused on homelessness in Columbia... an obviously HUGE problem in the city. All a person has to do is walk around Columbia around dusk and one will ultimately run into countless homeless people. Today's video followed around one such person, Protein; it showed a typical day for a homeless man.

The video showed how some people had ended up there after losing their jobs, simply due to the economy. It showed people who not only wanted to work, but would do almost any job to get by. It was heartbreaking to see another human being struggling when all they were simply guilty of was being the victim of an awful economy.

Although the story was heartbreaking and hard to watch, I found myself getting somewhat perturbed throughout the movie. I mean, don't get me wrong, no human being should have to live like that. Its inhumane and completely awful. However, I found that some people wanted to blame their situations on other people when ultimately they had put themselves there. For instance, the drug user who was angry that the government didn't spend money to send him to rehab. Heres my argument: its not like he didn't know that using drugs could lead to terrible consequences. If he was enrolled in any type of school system as a child, (which legally he must have been), then he would have been taught some way or another that drugs arent healthy and almost never have positive consequences. And yet he still chose that path. So now HE needs to take the responsibility to get himself help. Not rely on our government to do it for him.

OR the man who said that because he was a convicted felon, he couldn't get a job. I understand that employees don't want to hire felons, and thats rough. I can't imagine wanting to work and not being able to. However yet again, he committed a felony. I know that some people will say that they were young and stupid, but at the same time I almost don't believe that. I'm relatively young, and yet I don't ever see myself in that type of situation. I have enough common sense to recognize that something is wrong or bad and to not do it. Again, its a consequence of his actions; he should have to deal with it. I know some people might claim that his punishment is prison and that he's already paid his debt to society. And I agree with that; he has paid his debt. Not being able to be employed is something completely different. Its a consequence. As children, we are all taught that our actions have consequences. Its a simple elementary school idea. He should have realized that his actions would have good/bad consequences, beside punishment. And I'm sorry that its tough, but he made his decision and now must work through it himself.

Overall it was eye-opening and interesting; it really made me want to get involved some way. I'm definitely going to be participating in the blanket drive and try to get involved in other ways.

Service Learning 2.0

What does Service Learning meaning to me?

Hummmm...........

I guess service learning is any experience in which you give back to the community and at the same time take away a valuable life lesson. I feel like the service learning that we are going to do is extremely beneficial to the students, yet at the same time I feel like theres a lot I'm going to learn.

I was actually thinking about this in class today. I know I'm not THAT much older than the students; they're probably what like 11 or 12? I'm 19, meaning theres only like a 7 or 8 year difference... yet I feel like theres a huge difference. And its not just like the age difference. Their 11 is different than my 11 was. I feel like they know more than I knew at 11. I feel like they are soo much more advanced technologically and even relationship wise than I ever was at that age. So I'm actually interested in seeing that difference. And I'm sure there are some things that I'm going to learn about them or life in general.

I think on a broader scale, service learning is a way to prepare us for the future. We're being taught things that will impact our careers, relationships, and future lives. Service learning isn't about one message/thought/ idea being drilled into our heads; instead its about taking something away from the experiences we have today and applying that to the future. Service Learning can only be beneficial, in my opinion.

Brothaman.... or not

So not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed when I walked into the campus safety progam and the Brothaman wasn't there. I've heard some pretty entertaining stuff about him and was really looking foward to seeing him in action. But thats okay, because I liked Jessica. I think she had a no nonsense attitude but was still really cool.
I learned some interesting things during the presentation. First of all, I'm way too trusting. I leave my door unlocked and open all the time. I'll leave it open with no one in there if I'm running down the hall to talk to someone. So, I've decided I'm going to start closing it, especially if I can't actually see the door from the room I'm visiting.
I also learned about getting my stuff engraved and reporting the serial numbers to the campus police. I remember when they sat in the lobby of capstone, asking us to do that, and I was like "why?". now I understand. I'm going to report my stuff this weekend.
I realized they were right about how easy it is for someone to sneak in, so I'm going to start locking my doors whenever I'm alone. I don't want to be a victim.
I also think I might sign up for the defense classes that Jessica talked about. I think it would be a smart idea because I always seem to find myself walking alone at night. Especially on nights when I have Greek meetings. so it would be a good idea to use that.
Another thing I didn't know about was the after-hours shuttle. I want that number so that I don't have to keep walking back from the Greek Village to Capstone at like 9pm. I don't think thats quite so safe.