So it’s our last blog of the year and I decided to do a nonprofound one this week to wrap things up. Looking back on the year, it has been interesting to see how much I have learned, grown, and how many new things I have experienced. The transition from college to high school has not always been easy or fun, but I feel like I have handled it pretty well overall and I have taken so much away from this semester. Living away from all my family and friends has been one of the hardest parts. I miss them very much and I always look forward to when I see them again. Of course, I still talk to many of them through text or Facebook, but it just isn’t the same. It has also been hard not having a car or knowing my way around very well. Back in Roanoke, I could just go hop in my car and drive somewhere. I knew exactly where I was going (usually) and it was…easy. Now, well for one I don’t even have a car up here, and two, aside from getting around campus, I don’t really know where much is. It is hard for me because it makes me uncomfortable going places that I don’t know how to get to. I’ve gotten used to all of it for the most part though. It feels like Virginia Tech is my new home now and Roanoke is my second home; I guess that’s how it’s supposed to be.
The cool thing that I have noticed is that every class I have taken has been different from a high school class in a different way. General Chemistry is my biggest class. It has 200 people in it as opposed to 30 which was about my biggest class in high school. It was also different because there was a separate class pretty much solely dedicated to turning in homework. Then, to go with it, I had to take the chemistry lab. In high school we did labs in class but nothing to that caliber. It was weird having a class set aside just to do labs and it was surprisingly time consuming. They were much more in depth and complicated than the measly experiments we did in high school and that showed in the lab reports! I highly regret taking Intro to Science and Technology. It is one of the most boring and confusing classes I have ever taken in my life and it is also at 8 am. It is the kind of class where you can only go to class on the days that you have to turn something in and you can still make a B at least. There are no tests which is a huge plus because, if there were, I would be screwed. Instead of a final exam, there is a paper that I have to write. Resources Geology is different because the only grades in the class are four tests. Right now I’m not too happy about that since I haven’t done so well on the previous three tests but I know I can pull it up. I like it though because there is no homework; all I have to do is study for the tests. I also had my first online class in Linear Algebra. I liked being able to just pop a squat in my seat in my dorm and take a quiz whenever I felt like it. It was really different having every quiz only six questions though and knowing that every Saturday at 10 I had to have started it. Last but not least, that leaves English. I like English for the fact that it was somewhat similar to a high school class actually. It is my smallest class which is nice because it is easier to make friends and get to know people. It is different from high school though because the class is more straight forward. We tend to focus on one thing at a time as opposed to high school where we would be reading a book and have a paper and get completely off course and do vocabulary etc. etc. all in one week. When we have a paper, that is all we do, which I love. I have never had a reason to look forward to doing a paper until now; getting out of class all week is amazing. Although, I think every time we have to do a blog that we should get out for the week too!
A lot of college for me has been just getting used to being on my own and dealing with all the freedom I have. When my parents left the room on my very first day, my roommate and I just looked at each other and it hit us. We are completely on our own now. There is nobody to tell me to get up or to study or to even go to class. It is my choice of whether I do all of those things or not so, ultimately how well I do in college is all put on me. I don’t have to go down to dinner to eat what my mom fixes whenever she calls. What I eat and when I eat and whether I even want to eat is up to me (and the best part is I get to use my mom’s money to pay for it!). Aside from learning about what I am taught in class, I have learned a lot about myself and just how to deal with being on my own. I figured out my strengths and weaknesses and what I need to get better at. Instead of just saying, “Mom you handle this because I don’t know what to do,” I have to figure it out by myself. These things are all good because it shows that I am maturing and learning how to fend for myself in the real world. My parents won’t always be there to walk me through life, so I need to know how to walk myself through life.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 30, 2009
Decadence Isn't Easy, Is It?
One of my favorite songs is called Decadence by Disturbed. One day, instead of just listening to the sound of the song, I was trying to pay attention to the lyrics and a part that made me stop and think was, “Decadence isn’t easy, is it?” That got me thinking; is decadence really easy or is it not? I saw how it could go both ways. I looked up interpretations of the song online and I wanted to find the explanation of the song from Disturbed since it would be accurate, but all I found was what other people thought it meant. I texted Cha-Cha (this number you can text and they will answer pretty much any question) about what the song is talking about and they said, “It’s all about living the high life just to fill a hole in your life…when all it does is worsen your situation.” That explanation fit the lyrics of the song, but I was still thinking about that one part. So, forgetting that it was from a song, I decided just to focus on that one sentence and figure out if decadence is easy or difficult.
According to my little blue Webster’s New Pocket Dictionary here, the definition of decadence is, “a declining, as in morals or art.” Decadence could be talking about a person or even a country as a whole. Many people would say America as a nation is becoming increasingly decadent, that we’ve forgotten the morals that our country was built upon and that we are headed for trouble. It seems each decade gets more and more liberal and that we are digging ourselves into a hole we can’t get out of. In a way, you could say that decadence is easy. On a small scale, how easy is it to fall into a bad habit like being lazy or apathetic about what is important? It’s easy to be lazy and not want to work hard; sitting around doing nothing and sleeping is much more fun than doing work. A major factor leading to decadence is peer pressure. It is often very easy to give in to peer pressure because you don’t want to let your friends down or have them think you are a wuss or whatever. Not to mention, if everyone else’s friends are like mine, then they can be very persuasive. One incident of giving in to peer pressure can become a slippery slope and lead to something regrettable. In most cases, submitting to negative peer pressure means going against morals that the person has. They may compromise or even completely give in, but either way those morals are pushed aside for something that seems like more fun at the time. It may not be something big at first, but one small step can lead to them being in a position that they didn’t even think about being in. It seems like we as a country have our priorities completely messed up. Hollywood, in particular, says that in order to be a happy, successful person you must look a certain way, have a high paying job, and own certain clothes or cars. They say that you should go out and have fun and live life with no regrets. Many people listen and go out and do whatever makes them happy, not necessarily what they know is right. Songs and movies are becoming increasingly filled with negative lyrics and have a bigger influence on people’s thoughts and actions than they realize. It is easy to be decadent; it is often fun which is why we do the things we do when we know we shouldn’t. In some definitions of decadence, the word, “decay,” is used instead of “decline.” Typically, when something is decaying it is a slow process and decadence is no different. That’s why it’s so dangeous; we usually don’t see it coming.
The song says, “Decadence isn’t easy, is it?” It’s not. It starts off easy but when something is started, it usually has to be finished. There aren’t hugs and standing ovations and big smiles at the end either. What is at the end is often regret, stress, and sadness. When we do something wrong, we don’t always think about the consequences that will follow, but when they hit, they r usually felt pretty strongly. One reason that part of the song stuck out so boldly to me is because I can relate so well. For the first 16 or so years of my life everybody told me I was a perfect little church kid who never did anything wrong. The name that really got to me was when they said I was a goody-goody. I wasn’t, but that was what people thought of me. I know I shouldn’t have let what other people thought get to me but it did. I hated being called that and it just made me want to prove people wrong. That combined with peer pressure and not keeping my priorities straight turned me from being an innocent high schooler into a rebellious one. In about a year, I had become completely the opposite of who I was before, someone I never would have seen myself becoming. What is so crazy to me is how fast I became a different person. However, it wasn’t sudden; it was one action that lead to another and got me deeper and deeper in and you know what? I enjoyed it. I got into so many things I knew I shouldn’t get myself into but I did them anyway because they were fun and it felt good not being a good kid for once. They started off so small and insignificant (or so I thought) and snowballed into something much bigger. It wasn’t until right before I came to Tech that I started to get sick of it all. I was tired of the person I became; it wasn’t me. The things that I counted on to make me happy and satisfy me weren’t doing the job anymore. I felt miserable, like my life had no meaning or significance. I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere in life, like I was doing nothing to make myself a better person and be the person I was meant to be. There are so many things that I have done that I would give anything to take back because I am still feeling the consequences for what I did and will always feel them. I’m trying to turn my life around and I have come a long way in doing that, but I still have a long way to go. It sucks because I know that not all of it I can change. All I can do is learn from it and become a better person because of it. Even now that I have come so far in getting my life back on track, I still feel flashes of my decadent self flare up and I have to fight them off because I don’t want to fall back into being the person I was before. Decadence isn’t easy. It may start off that way but, in the end, it hurts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcP5yezHarw (the song if anybody wants to listen to it)
According to my little blue Webster’s New Pocket Dictionary here, the definition of decadence is, “a declining, as in morals or art.” Decadence could be talking about a person or even a country as a whole. Many people would say America as a nation is becoming increasingly decadent, that we’ve forgotten the morals that our country was built upon and that we are headed for trouble. It seems each decade gets more and more liberal and that we are digging ourselves into a hole we can’t get out of. In a way, you could say that decadence is easy. On a small scale, how easy is it to fall into a bad habit like being lazy or apathetic about what is important? It’s easy to be lazy and not want to work hard; sitting around doing nothing and sleeping is much more fun than doing work. A major factor leading to decadence is peer pressure. It is often very easy to give in to peer pressure because you don’t want to let your friends down or have them think you are a wuss or whatever. Not to mention, if everyone else’s friends are like mine, then they can be very persuasive. One incident of giving in to peer pressure can become a slippery slope and lead to something regrettable. In most cases, submitting to negative peer pressure means going against morals that the person has. They may compromise or even completely give in, but either way those morals are pushed aside for something that seems like more fun at the time. It may not be something big at first, but one small step can lead to them being in a position that they didn’t even think about being in. It seems like we as a country have our priorities completely messed up. Hollywood, in particular, says that in order to be a happy, successful person you must look a certain way, have a high paying job, and own certain clothes or cars. They say that you should go out and have fun and live life with no regrets. Many people listen and go out and do whatever makes them happy, not necessarily what they know is right. Songs and movies are becoming increasingly filled with negative lyrics and have a bigger influence on people’s thoughts and actions than they realize. It is easy to be decadent; it is often fun which is why we do the things we do when we know we shouldn’t. In some definitions of decadence, the word, “decay,” is used instead of “decline.” Typically, when something is decaying it is a slow process and decadence is no different. That’s why it’s so dangeous; we usually don’t see it coming.
The song says, “Decadence isn’t easy, is it?” It’s not. It starts off easy but when something is started, it usually has to be finished. There aren’t hugs and standing ovations and big smiles at the end either. What is at the end is often regret, stress, and sadness. When we do something wrong, we don’t always think about the consequences that will follow, but when they hit, they r usually felt pretty strongly. One reason that part of the song stuck out so boldly to me is because I can relate so well. For the first 16 or so years of my life everybody told me I was a perfect little church kid who never did anything wrong. The name that really got to me was when they said I was a goody-goody. I wasn’t, but that was what people thought of me. I know I shouldn’t have let what other people thought get to me but it did. I hated being called that and it just made me want to prove people wrong. That combined with peer pressure and not keeping my priorities straight turned me from being an innocent high schooler into a rebellious one. In about a year, I had become completely the opposite of who I was before, someone I never would have seen myself becoming. What is so crazy to me is how fast I became a different person. However, it wasn’t sudden; it was one action that lead to another and got me deeper and deeper in and you know what? I enjoyed it. I got into so many things I knew I shouldn’t get myself into but I did them anyway because they were fun and it felt good not being a good kid for once. They started off so small and insignificant (or so I thought) and snowballed into something much bigger. It wasn’t until right before I came to Tech that I started to get sick of it all. I was tired of the person I became; it wasn’t me. The things that I counted on to make me happy and satisfy me weren’t doing the job anymore. I felt miserable, like my life had no meaning or significance. I felt like I wasn’t going anywhere in life, like I was doing nothing to make myself a better person and be the person I was meant to be. There are so many things that I have done that I would give anything to take back because I am still feeling the consequences for what I did and will always feel them. I’m trying to turn my life around and I have come a long way in doing that, but I still have a long way to go. It sucks because I know that not all of it I can change. All I can do is learn from it and become a better person because of it. Even now that I have come so far in getting my life back on track, I still feel flashes of my decadent self flare up and I have to fight them off because I don’t want to fall back into being the person I was before. Decadence isn’t easy. It may start off that way but, in the end, it hurts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcP5yezHarw (the song if anybody wants to listen to it)
Monday, November 16, 2009
My Turn to Be Sick
All last week I was looking forward to this past weekend but it ended up getting completely ruined. I had planned on going back to Roanoke two weekends ago to see everybody and whatnot, staying at Tech this past weekend, and then, of course, going back home for break this coming weekend. Well, due to the fact that the only time I could sign up for a meeting for the paper was on a Monday, I was not about to spend my weekend at home writing a paper. So, I decided to stay at Tech that weekend to get my paper done and come back to Roanoke this past weekend instead which wasn’t a big deal. It just meant that I was even more eager to see my family and friends, and one more week of school made me excited to just relax.
Finally, Friday rolled around and I woke up all excited to finally get out of here and have fun. It was a beautiful sight when I saw our black Toyota RAV4 pull up to the curb outside Pritchard to pick me up. The only problem was, I was feeling slightly achy all over my body. Nevertheless, I just kind of blew it off and took a nap to refresh myself on the way back home. However, by the time I woke up when we pulled into the garage, I was feeling much worse. I took a couple Ibuprofen and went down to my favorite chair in the basement to relax and watch TV in hopes that it would go away. Two hours later, I felt like complete crap. My throat hurt, the aches had gotten 10 times worse, I didn’t feel like eating at all (which is a great way to tell if something is wrong with me), and I had chills that made me shake even when I was buried under blankets. I had been playing 360 but finally I had gotten to the point where I even felt too sick to sit and play video games. Mentally, I was trying to tell myself that I was fine because a couple of my friends and I were planning on going to Buffalo Wild Wings to hang out as planned. I didn’t come back from college to sit at home on a Friday night, so, telling myself that I was perfectly fine even though I also had to talk myself out of getting out of the chair, I slowly trudged upstairs to get ready to go. My mom asked me how I was feeling and apparently when I couldn’t even talk right because I was shaking and freezing my butt off that it was a sign that I was not doing so well. Needless to say, she did not want me to go out, one, because she didn’t want me to get my friends sick and two, because she said I would make my sickness a lot worse by not staying home and relaxing. I knew she was right but I was still mad about it. I moped back downstairs to my chair and prepared myself for a long, boring night. Around 9:30 I actually fell asleep but I woke up again around midnight. I wasn’t too pleased about that because that meant I would have a hard time falling back asleep once I took all the time to get upstairs and get ready for bed. This thought proved to be true as I didn’t pass out until after two.
Normally I sleep until 11 or 12 on Saturdays, but I woke up bright and early at 8 instead. I felt better but not nearly close to a full recovery. My aches and chills had lessened but I had added one heck of a headache to make up for them. Once again, I had already made plans earlier in the week to hang out with one of my friends but, once again, my mom told me I needed to stay home. Sadly, I texted my friend and told her I couldn’t hang out even though I was feeling a lot better than I had the night before. After an extremely hot shower to combat my chills in which the entire bathroom was thick with steam, I headed back downstairs once again to sit the day away in my chair. I put National Treasure in my 360 to watch to take up a couple hours and, once the movie was over, fell asleep for a good four hour nap. I woke up feeling somewhat refreshed and went upstairs to kill some time on the computer. Then, my friend, Josh, texted me and invited me to come over to his house and watch some football. I was feeling significantly better at this point compared to the night before, and, after taking my Linear Algebra quiz, my mom finally let me go out. It felt amazing to get out of the house and be around other people, and I was even up for playing some ping pong for awhile. I got home and went to bed fairly soon after that, but little did I know that I was in for another long night.
I finally fell asleep around 1:30 and around 3 o’clock I wake up and, for the life of me, I couldn’t go back to sleep. It frustrated me to no end, especially since I had to get up at 8 to go to church. Finally, around 5 I fell back to sleep and ironically, when I woke up, I was extremely tired. I’m just wondering why I couldn’t have been tired when it was 3 in the morning like most normal people. I decided to sleep in a little bit and miss my college class and just go to the service instead. After waking up for the third time in one setting, I took a shower to refresh myself. Once I got out, I felt great! All that was bothering me for the most part was my sore throat and runny nose, oh, and the fact that when I talked it sounded like I had a rather large animal wedged in my throat and my voice cracked every couple minutes. However, church went well, I didn’t suffer too much through the service, and it was great to see everybody and be out of my house again. Even so, my Sunday afternoon, yet again, involved sitting around my house just trying to get better. I did branch out and fill out some paperwork and balance my checkbook that hadn’t been done in two months for a little excitement. I decided to stay at my house for the night just so I could feel better for the upcoming school week. Surprisingly, I made it through the entire night without waking up at some odd our or not being able to fall asleep for awhile. This past weekend had a couple bright spots but overall, it was one extremely sucky weekend that was totally ruined.
Finally, Friday rolled around and I woke up all excited to finally get out of here and have fun. It was a beautiful sight when I saw our black Toyota RAV4 pull up to the curb outside Pritchard to pick me up. The only problem was, I was feeling slightly achy all over my body. Nevertheless, I just kind of blew it off and took a nap to refresh myself on the way back home. However, by the time I woke up when we pulled into the garage, I was feeling much worse. I took a couple Ibuprofen and went down to my favorite chair in the basement to relax and watch TV in hopes that it would go away. Two hours later, I felt like complete crap. My throat hurt, the aches had gotten 10 times worse, I didn’t feel like eating at all (which is a great way to tell if something is wrong with me), and I had chills that made me shake even when I was buried under blankets. I had been playing 360 but finally I had gotten to the point where I even felt too sick to sit and play video games. Mentally, I was trying to tell myself that I was fine because a couple of my friends and I were planning on going to Buffalo Wild Wings to hang out as planned. I didn’t come back from college to sit at home on a Friday night, so, telling myself that I was perfectly fine even though I also had to talk myself out of getting out of the chair, I slowly trudged upstairs to get ready to go. My mom asked me how I was feeling and apparently when I couldn’t even talk right because I was shaking and freezing my butt off that it was a sign that I was not doing so well. Needless to say, she did not want me to go out, one, because she didn’t want me to get my friends sick and two, because she said I would make my sickness a lot worse by not staying home and relaxing. I knew she was right but I was still mad about it. I moped back downstairs to my chair and prepared myself for a long, boring night. Around 9:30 I actually fell asleep but I woke up again around midnight. I wasn’t too pleased about that because that meant I would have a hard time falling back asleep once I took all the time to get upstairs and get ready for bed. This thought proved to be true as I didn’t pass out until after two.
Normally I sleep until 11 or 12 on Saturdays, but I woke up bright and early at 8 instead. I felt better but not nearly close to a full recovery. My aches and chills had lessened but I had added one heck of a headache to make up for them. Once again, I had already made plans earlier in the week to hang out with one of my friends but, once again, my mom told me I needed to stay home. Sadly, I texted my friend and told her I couldn’t hang out even though I was feeling a lot better than I had the night before. After an extremely hot shower to combat my chills in which the entire bathroom was thick with steam, I headed back downstairs once again to sit the day away in my chair. I put National Treasure in my 360 to watch to take up a couple hours and, once the movie was over, fell asleep for a good four hour nap. I woke up feeling somewhat refreshed and went upstairs to kill some time on the computer. Then, my friend, Josh, texted me and invited me to come over to his house and watch some football. I was feeling significantly better at this point compared to the night before, and, after taking my Linear Algebra quiz, my mom finally let me go out. It felt amazing to get out of the house and be around other people, and I was even up for playing some ping pong for awhile. I got home and went to bed fairly soon after that, but little did I know that I was in for another long night.
I finally fell asleep around 1:30 and around 3 o’clock I wake up and, for the life of me, I couldn’t go back to sleep. It frustrated me to no end, especially since I had to get up at 8 to go to church. Finally, around 5 I fell back to sleep and ironically, when I woke up, I was extremely tired. I’m just wondering why I couldn’t have been tired when it was 3 in the morning like most normal people. I decided to sleep in a little bit and miss my college class and just go to the service instead. After waking up for the third time in one setting, I took a shower to refresh myself. Once I got out, I felt great! All that was bothering me for the most part was my sore throat and runny nose, oh, and the fact that when I talked it sounded like I had a rather large animal wedged in my throat and my voice cracked every couple minutes. However, church went well, I didn’t suffer too much through the service, and it was great to see everybody and be out of my house again. Even so, my Sunday afternoon, yet again, involved sitting around my house just trying to get better. I did branch out and fill out some paperwork and balance my checkbook that hadn’t been done in two months for a little excitement. I decided to stay at my house for the night just so I could feel better for the upcoming school week. Surprisingly, I made it through the entire night without waking up at some odd our or not being able to fall asleep for awhile. This past weekend had a couple bright spots but overall, it was one extremely sucky weekend that was totally ruined.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Missing the Good Ol' Days
In middle school, nobody ever shuts up in class and the teacher always has to tell the room to be quiet. In high school, there is so much drama and cliques and people who think they are all that and rule the school. In college, there is just a whole lot of work to do and it never seems like you are never finished with your homework. Do you ever wish you could go back to elementary school? I’m not talking about just starting all over and doing it all again, but going back for a day or a week or maybe even a month. Looking back, elementary school seems like one of the easiest things I have ever done. Of course, it’s easy for me to say that now since I have seven more years of education under my belt since then, but I didn’t appreciate how relaxed and simple elementary school was until now.
As a whole, we as elementary school students were very innocent and, compared to how many of us are now, mature. We didn’t get online at urbandictionary.com to look up what certain dirty slang words meant; personally, I didn’t even know hardly any slang or cuss words when I was in elementary school. Nobody went out and got caught drinking or smoking weed and got arrested, hurting many chances of a good career. Nobody went around getting laid all the time leading to somebody getting pregnant and then they become the brunt of a lot of jokes around the school. Nobody (as far as I knew) got into any fights in the hallway because one dude looked at another dude’s girl the wrong way. Sure, we talked all the time, like in middle school, but usually we weren’t obnoxious about it and talked just to disrupt the teacher and make a scene. We just hadn’t fully learned that there are times to talk and times to be quiet. I mean, really, by the time we were in 8th grade we should have figured that out already so we didn’t have an excuse then. Most of us were on the same level. We were all trying to develop basic skills like adding, reading, and learning how to socialize well with each other. We had our own little elementary school problems to deal with but I think the majority of them were because we were still very young.
In elementary school, we were free to be our own person without anybody putting pressure on us to change or to do this or that; basically, it was very peaceful especially compared to high school. Even in middle school, most of the grade still dressed similarly so there weren’t as many “groups” of people. By the time high school rolled around, everybody fanned out into their own style or social group. There were the goths and the rednecks and the jocks and the preps and the outcasts and the emo kids and on and on. I am happy to say I didn’t really have a particular social group I was in. I was just friends with anybody and didn’t not talk to somebody just because they were part of this group or that. But anyway, in elementary school everybody was friends with everybody and we all wore our shirts with the trucks on them or the dresses with the fluffy stuff on the sleeves (I wore the shirts with the trucks on them just to erase any confusion). Along with not having the entire grade split up into different social groups, there was no petty drama in elementary school. In high school, even within one social group, one person didn’t like another because the second one dated the first one’s ex or because the first one was standing there talking to the second one’s significant other. There were “boyfriend stealers” and there was the “class slut(s).” (The grade that graduated ahead of me was nicknamed “Sluts ’08”. They were a particularly interesting bunch that’s for sure.) Gossip floated around the school constantly; one story could spread around the entire school within an hour or two. People would go out and do something stupid or try to act all big and bad just because they were in high school. Elementary school was free of all of that for the most part; we just enjoyed being young and being around each other.
Probably the thing I miss about elementary school the most was how easy it was. Again, it seems so much easier to me now that I have learned a whole lot more and have had many difficult classes, but considering we learned how to multiply 2 times 2 and studied that evaporation, condensation and precipitation (I used to think those were such big words) were all part of the Water Cycle, it’s hard to not say that was so simple. I used to hate coming home and having to do homework for an hour and not be able to play with my Legos for that much longer. Oh my goodness! How terrible that I have homework for a whole hour! I don’t know how I made it through elementary school with such a heavy work load. You know, if I had to learn something so simple like derivatives or how to find the arctan of something then it wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but since I had to sit there on the couch and figure out (without a calculator!) what 4 times 3 was, it was almost too much to handle. Plus, we always had to color and draw stuff; we were forced to walk single file to go to gym and music and art. You would think we were prisoners serving out our punishment! Then, there was the whole naptime issue. We thought it was such an ordeal that we had to actually be calm for once and lay our little heads down and relax. Now, I’m almost constantly wishing I could take a nap (I took two today and I could really go for a third right now). We didn’t have to worry about picking out our major and career or choosing just the right classes to take. If you missed class, it usually didn’t matter because all they did was watch a Disney movie or something and then have a party. Many times I have wondered how fast I could get through elementary school with the knowledge I have now. If I started at kindergarten and went all the way to 5th grade, I wonder how long it would take me. I’m thinking maybe a week or two. I can’t remember all of what we did and learned about but, I mean, it can’t be difficult. Sometimes I think that going back to elementary school for a little while would be nice. It would be an easy, peaceful break from the last 7+ years of school that I’ve been through.
As a whole, we as elementary school students were very innocent and, compared to how many of us are now, mature. We didn’t get online at urbandictionary.com to look up what certain dirty slang words meant; personally, I didn’t even know hardly any slang or cuss words when I was in elementary school. Nobody went out and got caught drinking or smoking weed and got arrested, hurting many chances of a good career. Nobody went around getting laid all the time leading to somebody getting pregnant and then they become the brunt of a lot of jokes around the school. Nobody (as far as I knew) got into any fights in the hallway because one dude looked at another dude’s girl the wrong way. Sure, we talked all the time, like in middle school, but usually we weren’t obnoxious about it and talked just to disrupt the teacher and make a scene. We just hadn’t fully learned that there are times to talk and times to be quiet. I mean, really, by the time we were in 8th grade we should have figured that out already so we didn’t have an excuse then. Most of us were on the same level. We were all trying to develop basic skills like adding, reading, and learning how to socialize well with each other. We had our own little elementary school problems to deal with but I think the majority of them were because we were still very young.
In elementary school, we were free to be our own person without anybody putting pressure on us to change or to do this or that; basically, it was very peaceful especially compared to high school. Even in middle school, most of the grade still dressed similarly so there weren’t as many “groups” of people. By the time high school rolled around, everybody fanned out into their own style or social group. There were the goths and the rednecks and the jocks and the preps and the outcasts and the emo kids and on and on. I am happy to say I didn’t really have a particular social group I was in. I was just friends with anybody and didn’t not talk to somebody just because they were part of this group or that. But anyway, in elementary school everybody was friends with everybody and we all wore our shirts with the trucks on them or the dresses with the fluffy stuff on the sleeves (I wore the shirts with the trucks on them just to erase any confusion). Along with not having the entire grade split up into different social groups, there was no petty drama in elementary school. In high school, even within one social group, one person didn’t like another because the second one dated the first one’s ex or because the first one was standing there talking to the second one’s significant other. There were “boyfriend stealers” and there was the “class slut(s).” (The grade that graduated ahead of me was nicknamed “Sluts ’08”. They were a particularly interesting bunch that’s for sure.) Gossip floated around the school constantly; one story could spread around the entire school within an hour or two. People would go out and do something stupid or try to act all big and bad just because they were in high school. Elementary school was free of all of that for the most part; we just enjoyed being young and being around each other.
Probably the thing I miss about elementary school the most was how easy it was. Again, it seems so much easier to me now that I have learned a whole lot more and have had many difficult classes, but considering we learned how to multiply 2 times 2 and studied that evaporation, condensation and precipitation (I used to think those were such big words) were all part of the Water Cycle, it’s hard to not say that was so simple. I used to hate coming home and having to do homework for an hour and not be able to play with my Legos for that much longer. Oh my goodness! How terrible that I have homework for a whole hour! I don’t know how I made it through elementary school with such a heavy work load. You know, if I had to learn something so simple like derivatives or how to find the arctan of something then it wouldn’t have been much of a problem, but since I had to sit there on the couch and figure out (without a calculator!) what 4 times 3 was, it was almost too much to handle. Plus, we always had to color and draw stuff; we were forced to walk single file to go to gym and music and art. You would think we were prisoners serving out our punishment! Then, there was the whole naptime issue. We thought it was such an ordeal that we had to actually be calm for once and lay our little heads down and relax. Now, I’m almost constantly wishing I could take a nap (I took two today and I could really go for a third right now). We didn’t have to worry about picking out our major and career or choosing just the right classes to take. If you missed class, it usually didn’t matter because all they did was watch a Disney movie or something and then have a party. Many times I have wondered how fast I could get through elementary school with the knowledge I have now. If I started at kindergarten and went all the way to 5th grade, I wonder how long it would take me. I’m thinking maybe a week or two. I can’t remember all of what we did and learned about but, I mean, it can’t be difficult. Sometimes I think that going back to elementary school for a little while would be nice. It would be an easy, peaceful break from the last 7+ years of school that I’ve been through.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My Family
It seems like at some point or another everybody else has written about their family. Well, this week it’s my turn. Like most of you, I can probably go on and on about how much my family means to me and reflect upon all the fun times we’ve had. I don’t know where I would be without my family. They have always supported me in whatever I did, forgave me when I messed up, and loved me no matter what. It’s so comforting to know that I have that kind of support system always backing me up and helping me when I need it. On the weekends that I decide to go home, my mom or dad is actually always excited to drive up to Blacksburg from Roanoke to come get me because they just love my company and enjoy talking to me on the way back. Most of the time on the weekends I’m out with my friends and not at home very often, but when I am, my mom will make one of my favorite meals just for me. A lot of times, my mom will have gotten food for me for my dorm without even asking if I needed any just because she knows how much I go through. It’s even good to see my sister when I get back; we weren’t very close for most of our lives, but the last year or two we have gotten closer and I miss her a lot while I am here at college. I love my family and can’t imagine my life without them.
My dad is definitely a big hangout buddy of mine as well as a great father. We both share an interest in sports, so when we spend time together it usually has to do with that. Sometimes we go in the backyard and throw around the football or baseball while talking about college or professional sports or just anything really. If I come downstairs wanting to throw the baseball, he will go outside and throw with me even if he has had a long day at work because he likes to spend time with me. Probably the thing we do the most is play golf. Probably once every month or two we hit the links. I’ve only beaten him once or twice, but it’s still fun because I get to hang out with him which doesn’t happen very often. He is brave to still go out there and play golf with me because there have been many times in the past where I’ve almost hit him with the golf cart (when I was really little of course) or when the ball has ricocheted off a tree or the cart and he had to duck to miss it (shows how good of a golfer I am), but it’s always a good time when we play. One of my favorite memories with him is when we went to Baltimore for my 13th birthday. It was just the two of us spending a few days together which was a lot of fun. We went to my first Yankees game at Camden Yards, walked around town, went to the massive aquarium they have, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Besides having fun, he knows how to be an all around, good dad. Sometimes when we are in the car, he will randomly give me advice. At the time I’m like yeah, yeah ok, but later when I think about it, I know it’s something I should listen to because it will benefit my life and he is just saying those things to help me. Sometimes he will do something nice for me and, even though it might not be something big, it still means a lot to me. Once in awhile I will come downstairs in the morning and he will be making himself some eggs. Instead of eating them himself, he will offer them to me and make his eggs second. He is one of the most selfless people I know, and that is one of the many good traits that I could use to describe him.
My mom is probably my biggest fan. She bends over backwards to try to make me happy and to do what is best for me. If it is possible, she will try to make it happen because she likes to see me happy. That is not to say that she spoils me; she has still taught me to appreciate what I have, to work hard for the good things in life, and to be generous in sharing what I am blessed to have with others. Along with those things, she instills in me the importance of doing what is right no matter what. I have failed many times at doing this, but she always forgives me and keeps pressing me to learn from it and do better. She, like my dad, is a very selfless person. Before I could drive, she would always be happy to take me to hang out with a friend or drive me to a party and she drove my sister and me to school every day instead of making us ride the bus. She knows me very well; she often can tell when I am upset and asks what’s wrong and if she can help. My mom always tell me, especially with picking out a major and a career, that no matter what I decide to become, if I give it my all and do the very best job I can do, then she will support me 100%. That is very comforting to know that she will have my back as long as I do my best.
The third and definitely not the least important member of my household is my sister. Like I said, up until recently we haven’t been very close. We didn’t hate each other or fight constantly like some siblings, but we just weren’t tight like others are. I would say that the turning point of our relationship is when I started driving us to school every morning and back home in the afternoons. I would also sometimes drive her to her friends’ houses or wherever. During those rides we would talk more than we used to and over time we grew closer. I grew more patient with her than I was before, and it was good to have a better friendship with her. Now, I really enjoy talking to her and I love our car rides. When my parents do something that gets on my nerves or upsets me, I can tell her about it and she will always understand. I know she speaks and thinks highly of me as I do her. I look forward to seeing how much closer we become as time goes on. My family is so important to me and I am very thankful for them. They have helped shape and mold me into the person I am today, and they mean the world to me.
My dad is definitely a big hangout buddy of mine as well as a great father. We both share an interest in sports, so when we spend time together it usually has to do with that. Sometimes we go in the backyard and throw around the football or baseball while talking about college or professional sports or just anything really. If I come downstairs wanting to throw the baseball, he will go outside and throw with me even if he has had a long day at work because he likes to spend time with me. Probably the thing we do the most is play golf. Probably once every month or two we hit the links. I’ve only beaten him once or twice, but it’s still fun because I get to hang out with him which doesn’t happen very often. He is brave to still go out there and play golf with me because there have been many times in the past where I’ve almost hit him with the golf cart (when I was really little of course) or when the ball has ricocheted off a tree or the cart and he had to duck to miss it (shows how good of a golfer I am), but it’s always a good time when we play. One of my favorite memories with him is when we went to Baltimore for my 13th birthday. It was just the two of us spending a few days together which was a lot of fun. We went to my first Yankees game at Camden Yards, walked around town, went to the massive aquarium they have, and just enjoyed each other’s company. Besides having fun, he knows how to be an all around, good dad. Sometimes when we are in the car, he will randomly give me advice. At the time I’m like yeah, yeah ok, but later when I think about it, I know it’s something I should listen to because it will benefit my life and he is just saying those things to help me. Sometimes he will do something nice for me and, even though it might not be something big, it still means a lot to me. Once in awhile I will come downstairs in the morning and he will be making himself some eggs. Instead of eating them himself, he will offer them to me and make his eggs second. He is one of the most selfless people I know, and that is one of the many good traits that I could use to describe him.
My mom is probably my biggest fan. She bends over backwards to try to make me happy and to do what is best for me. If it is possible, she will try to make it happen because she likes to see me happy. That is not to say that she spoils me; she has still taught me to appreciate what I have, to work hard for the good things in life, and to be generous in sharing what I am blessed to have with others. Along with those things, she instills in me the importance of doing what is right no matter what. I have failed many times at doing this, but she always forgives me and keeps pressing me to learn from it and do better. She, like my dad, is a very selfless person. Before I could drive, she would always be happy to take me to hang out with a friend or drive me to a party and she drove my sister and me to school every day instead of making us ride the bus. She knows me very well; she often can tell when I am upset and asks what’s wrong and if she can help. My mom always tell me, especially with picking out a major and a career, that no matter what I decide to become, if I give it my all and do the very best job I can do, then she will support me 100%. That is very comforting to know that she will have my back as long as I do my best.
The third and definitely not the least important member of my household is my sister. Like I said, up until recently we haven’t been very close. We didn’t hate each other or fight constantly like some siblings, but we just weren’t tight like others are. I would say that the turning point of our relationship is when I started driving us to school every morning and back home in the afternoons. I would also sometimes drive her to her friends’ houses or wherever. During those rides we would talk more than we used to and over time we grew closer. I grew more patient with her than I was before, and it was good to have a better friendship with her. Now, I really enjoy talking to her and I love our car rides. When my parents do something that gets on my nerves or upsets me, I can tell her about it and she will always understand. I know she speaks and thinks highly of me as I do her. I look forward to seeing how much closer we become as time goes on. My family is so important to me and I am very thankful for them. They have helped shape and mold me into the person I am today, and they mean the world to me.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Heaven on Earth
There are times in each one of our lives where we come to a point where we are so stressed out and burdened by all we have to go through in life. Sometimes there a huge problem and it stresses us out to the point where we feel sick. However, that isn’t always the case. Don’t you hate it when there is nothing major going on but there are so many little things that you are stressed out about that all of them piled together drives you to the point where you want to scream and punch something? It’s times like these where we need something to help vent out all that stress and frustration and just ease our nerves. For me, that is the lake.
Smith Mountain Lake is my favorite place in the world. I go with my best friend, Jared, and his family when they go and, to me, it’s heaven on earth. Even the drive up to the lake is enjoyable. I love flying down those country roads that make you feel like you’re going faster than you really are. The anticipation of the awesome time I will have builds up inside me and I just want to get there as soon as possible. After about an hour of driving, I finally pull up to their place and they all welcome me like I’m their son. The lake is one of the places I feel like I am home away from home, so I always feel very comfortable when I am there. Not only am I best friends with Jared, but I am also good friends with his younger brother, Josh, and I even have fun hanging out and talking to their parents as well. They treat me as their son, and I see them as my second family. They always ask me what I want to do, what I want to eat, where I want to go, and let me make many of the decisions. Basically they like to put me first which makes me feel special, even though many times I don’t like to make the decisions. Whenever I come down to the lake, they always make sure I am well fed. It’s like a joke between us that they have to go to the grocery store beforehand every time I come because of how much I eat, but they cook the best food so it’s hard not to be a fatty. An hour or two after I finish one meal, they ask me if I want more food or ask what I want for the next meal.
After sleeping in a little on a Saturday morning or whenever, we often go out on the lake and do what I like to do more than anything: Jetski. There is nothing more relaxing and stress relieving to me than to be out on the lake on a Jetski. When it’s a warm, sunny day with just a few clouds in the sky, the lake is absolutely gorgeous. When I’m on a Jetski, I feel so free; I love to watch the scenery as I drive by. The mountains and the water meet each other, and I feel like I’m surrounded by a view that could only be seen on a postcard. On days that are really hot, it is so refreshing to fly across the lake on that nimble watercraft with the wind whistling past my ears and the spray (or occasional dousing) of water against my face. So, the scenic drive is nice, but what’s a Jetski drive without going hardcore and being crazy right? My favorite thing to do on a Jetski is to jump boat wakes. Windy Saturdays are the best days for jumping wakes because the water is ridiculously choppy from all the commotion on the lake and that is when it is most crowded. When I see a nice wake, I get an eager, excited feeling and I drive at full speed toward it, hitting the wake at an angle so I get the most possible air. For the two or three seconds that I am in midair, I get a huge adrenaline rush and landing a particularly big jump is extremely satisfying. Not to mention, the occasional donuts or cruising the lake while standing on the Jetski is exciting as well. I will have to say going 70 mph on a Jetski is one of the most thrilling things I have ever done. There is no seatbelt, no speed limit, no lines to stay in; all it is is me and the Jetski with the water disappearing in a heartbeat behind me. When I get back, I am completely exhausted and sore (and occasionally bleeding) but it was definitely worth it.
Besides the Jetskis, there are many other activities that we do at the lake that is so relaxing and makes me forget about everything I am dealing with. Reclining on the motorboat is a prime example as well as fishing, tubing, or laying out on the lake on an inflatable raft. A couple years ago, Jared, Josh and I floated across the cove in rafts to the other side and found a particularly big rock which we called “Plymouth Rock.” We enjoy doing the simple, dumb things like that and we have remembered it and laughed about it ever since. Near their place, there is a facility that has an indoor and outdoor pool as well as a hot tub inside and out. There is also a sauna and a weight lifting room that we take advantage of. Finally, after a long but fun day out on the lake or at the pool, we come back to their place, eat a large meal of course, and find something lazy to do. Sometimes we will drive to the theater in Westlake to see a movie or just watch a game on TV. I may be sore; I may be bleeding; I may have a massive headache; I may be straight exhausted; but all those things are good feelings because they distract me from all the school and drama and everything else that I would have had to deal with if I was in Roanoke or here at Tech. The lake is my ultimate stress reliever, and it is the place where I am most happy.
Smith Mountain Lake is my favorite place in the world. I go with my best friend, Jared, and his family when they go and, to me, it’s heaven on earth. Even the drive up to the lake is enjoyable. I love flying down those country roads that make you feel like you’re going faster than you really are. The anticipation of the awesome time I will have builds up inside me and I just want to get there as soon as possible. After about an hour of driving, I finally pull up to their place and they all welcome me like I’m their son. The lake is one of the places I feel like I am home away from home, so I always feel very comfortable when I am there. Not only am I best friends with Jared, but I am also good friends with his younger brother, Josh, and I even have fun hanging out and talking to their parents as well. They treat me as their son, and I see them as my second family. They always ask me what I want to do, what I want to eat, where I want to go, and let me make many of the decisions. Basically they like to put me first which makes me feel special, even though many times I don’t like to make the decisions. Whenever I come down to the lake, they always make sure I am well fed. It’s like a joke between us that they have to go to the grocery store beforehand every time I come because of how much I eat, but they cook the best food so it’s hard not to be a fatty. An hour or two after I finish one meal, they ask me if I want more food or ask what I want for the next meal.
After sleeping in a little on a Saturday morning or whenever, we often go out on the lake and do what I like to do more than anything: Jetski. There is nothing more relaxing and stress relieving to me than to be out on the lake on a Jetski. When it’s a warm, sunny day with just a few clouds in the sky, the lake is absolutely gorgeous. When I’m on a Jetski, I feel so free; I love to watch the scenery as I drive by. The mountains and the water meet each other, and I feel like I’m surrounded by a view that could only be seen on a postcard. On days that are really hot, it is so refreshing to fly across the lake on that nimble watercraft with the wind whistling past my ears and the spray (or occasional dousing) of water against my face. So, the scenic drive is nice, but what’s a Jetski drive without going hardcore and being crazy right? My favorite thing to do on a Jetski is to jump boat wakes. Windy Saturdays are the best days for jumping wakes because the water is ridiculously choppy from all the commotion on the lake and that is when it is most crowded. When I see a nice wake, I get an eager, excited feeling and I drive at full speed toward it, hitting the wake at an angle so I get the most possible air. For the two or three seconds that I am in midair, I get a huge adrenaline rush and landing a particularly big jump is extremely satisfying. Not to mention, the occasional donuts or cruising the lake while standing on the Jetski is exciting as well. I will have to say going 70 mph on a Jetski is one of the most thrilling things I have ever done. There is no seatbelt, no speed limit, no lines to stay in; all it is is me and the Jetski with the water disappearing in a heartbeat behind me. When I get back, I am completely exhausted and sore (and occasionally bleeding) but it was definitely worth it.
Besides the Jetskis, there are many other activities that we do at the lake that is so relaxing and makes me forget about everything I am dealing with. Reclining on the motorboat is a prime example as well as fishing, tubing, or laying out on the lake on an inflatable raft. A couple years ago, Jared, Josh and I floated across the cove in rafts to the other side and found a particularly big rock which we called “Plymouth Rock.” We enjoy doing the simple, dumb things like that and we have remembered it and laughed about it ever since. Near their place, there is a facility that has an indoor and outdoor pool as well as a hot tub inside and out. There is also a sauna and a weight lifting room that we take advantage of. Finally, after a long but fun day out on the lake or at the pool, we come back to their place, eat a large meal of course, and find something lazy to do. Sometimes we will drive to the theater in Westlake to see a movie or just watch a game on TV. I may be sore; I may be bleeding; I may have a massive headache; I may be straight exhausted; but all those things are good feelings because they distract me from all the school and drama and everything else that I would have had to deal with if I was in Roanoke or here at Tech. The lake is my ultimate stress reliever, and it is the place where I am most happy.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Great Classes are Hard to Come By
Ultimately, how hard I work in school determines the grades I get. Many other variables can come into play such as the difficulty and time of the class, whether I like the class or not, and the mood I am in at the time of the class; but, if I want good grades and if I want to succeed, I have to work hard no matter what the situation is. However, I think the teacher/professor has a massive influence on how well I do in school and how much I enjoy it. Nobody likes a boring teacher, nor do they like one that teaches like he is educating a group of geniuses. The difference between a good teacher and a great teacher is a great teacher knows how to make a class enjoyable and the learning environment strong. The majority of teachers know the material they teach well, but not many teachers are exceptional at making their class fun or easy to learn. Some just flat suck at teaching, and that’s more than just an excuse for why I’m not doing well in the class! When almost everybody in the class is having trouble and complains about the teacher, especially when it’s a class full of 3.5+ gpa students, it’s usually a good idea to listen to the students. All through high school and even some now in college, I have had a whole plethora of teachers: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Some classes are fun, but they do not help broaden my knowledge of what I am supposed to be learning at all. My government class last year was a perfect example. I loved that class and looked forward to it every day, but I honestly cannot tell you one thing that I learned all year. My teacher also taught college classes, so he had that stereotypical form of college teaching of just walking around and talking about his PowerPoint or outline of notes all period. He didn’t give a rip about what we did during his class either. My friends and I played games, listened to music, or had full out deep discussions about what we were going through right in the middle of class. There were always about three or four people that paid attention and took notes; so when it came time for us to turn in our questions, their notes fanned out to the rest of the class and we all passed with A’s. While it looked great on my report card, especially since it was basically like a weighted study hall, it did not help me learn government. My teacher did not create a good atmosphere for learning (though it is hard to make government interesting) nor did he make me want to pay attention or even make me pay attention for that matter. I had another teacher that was very similar; he did not care what we did at all for the most part. The only difference was he did not teach us hardly at all! Government wasn’t much of a problem, but since I want to be an engineer and that class was Engineering Drawing, it was actually important that I learn as much as I can about engineering from that class. So, the end of the year rolled around and I got another 5.0 for the class on my report card, but my knowledge of engineering didn’t reflect my grade. On the flip side, my friend, Jessica, has a teacher that gets so excited about teaching math that she can’t understand what he is talking about. She has to go home and get her dad (who is a very smart Virginia Tech grad by the way) to reteach her everything on many occasions.
Some classes just straight up suck any way you slice it. My calculus class last year was a perfect example. I have always been good at math; I got A’s all through 11th grade, so when I get a C on my report card after the first semester and a 41 on my exam, I was like alrighty then! This is a problem! Granted, part of it was my fault because half the time I was about to fall asleep, but that can be turned around to say that she was a boring teacher and did not make want to learn. She even admitted herself that she made up some of the stuff that she taught us, and a lot of what we learned she did not teach how it was written in the book, so we could not go back and reteach ourselves what we did not understand. Even though I made it out of calculus with a B, I couldn’t stand the class; and it was 47 minutes of torture every single day.
There are some classes, however, that may not have the most exciting material, but the teacher makes it an amazing class. My US History class in my junior year was my favorite class that I’ve ever had. It was so fun because my teacher made it this way. Even though all we did two or three days per week was copy down notes from the overhead and did really long worksheets that took forever to do in which my teacher called “fun sheets,” I still loved the class because my teacher was absolutely hilarious. He would give us speeches right before we took a quiz or a test saying not to cheat that always went something like this: “Do not cheat. If you cheat, I will catch you and you will be labeled a cheater. You will not be able to get a job at Dippin’ Dots. You will not be able to get married, because nobody wants to marry a cheater, and you won’t have any friends on Facebook because nobody wants to be friends with a cheater.” He had many funny expressions and sayings that he used as well. When he was going around collecting homework and somebody didn’t have it, he would say, “…mmmm….filth.” Even when he taught, he made it very entertaining and comical. When teaching us about the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, he took a white board eraser (Monitor) and a folded piece of paper with a water bottle cap on top (Merrimac) and bashed them together saying, “Mmmmm!!!” and “OOOHHH!!!” as he taught us about the famous battle. Some teachers may have made that class excruciatingly boring and a pain to sit through, but he made it fun to learn, and I actually looked forward to going to class every day. My sister is lucky enough to have him this year, and upon learning that she is related to me, he said, “I won’t hold that against you.”
So, my whole point for writing this is to say that any class can be, if not fun, at least a good learning environment that makes you want to go to class even if the material may not be all that exciting. The teacher plays the biggest part in doing so, although the ultimate success you have in the class is how hard you work. It is important for the teacher to make students want to learn and be excited about going to class as well as carrying out their responsibilities by actually teaching the students. The best class is one that I am excited about going to, that I actually want to pay attention in, and that I leave the class having learned the information well.
Some classes are fun, but they do not help broaden my knowledge of what I am supposed to be learning at all. My government class last year was a perfect example. I loved that class and looked forward to it every day, but I honestly cannot tell you one thing that I learned all year. My teacher also taught college classes, so he had that stereotypical form of college teaching of just walking around and talking about his PowerPoint or outline of notes all period. He didn’t give a rip about what we did during his class either. My friends and I played games, listened to music, or had full out deep discussions about what we were going through right in the middle of class. There were always about three or four people that paid attention and took notes; so when it came time for us to turn in our questions, their notes fanned out to the rest of the class and we all passed with A’s. While it looked great on my report card, especially since it was basically like a weighted study hall, it did not help me learn government. My teacher did not create a good atmosphere for learning (though it is hard to make government interesting) nor did he make me want to pay attention or even make me pay attention for that matter. I had another teacher that was very similar; he did not care what we did at all for the most part. The only difference was he did not teach us hardly at all! Government wasn’t much of a problem, but since I want to be an engineer and that class was Engineering Drawing, it was actually important that I learn as much as I can about engineering from that class. So, the end of the year rolled around and I got another 5.0 for the class on my report card, but my knowledge of engineering didn’t reflect my grade. On the flip side, my friend, Jessica, has a teacher that gets so excited about teaching math that she can’t understand what he is talking about. She has to go home and get her dad (who is a very smart Virginia Tech grad by the way) to reteach her everything on many occasions.
Some classes just straight up suck any way you slice it. My calculus class last year was a perfect example. I have always been good at math; I got A’s all through 11th grade, so when I get a C on my report card after the first semester and a 41 on my exam, I was like alrighty then! This is a problem! Granted, part of it was my fault because half the time I was about to fall asleep, but that can be turned around to say that she was a boring teacher and did not make want to learn. She even admitted herself that she made up some of the stuff that she taught us, and a lot of what we learned she did not teach how it was written in the book, so we could not go back and reteach ourselves what we did not understand. Even though I made it out of calculus with a B, I couldn’t stand the class; and it was 47 minutes of torture every single day.
There are some classes, however, that may not have the most exciting material, but the teacher makes it an amazing class. My US History class in my junior year was my favorite class that I’ve ever had. It was so fun because my teacher made it this way. Even though all we did two or three days per week was copy down notes from the overhead and did really long worksheets that took forever to do in which my teacher called “fun sheets,” I still loved the class because my teacher was absolutely hilarious. He would give us speeches right before we took a quiz or a test saying not to cheat that always went something like this: “Do not cheat. If you cheat, I will catch you and you will be labeled a cheater. You will not be able to get a job at Dippin’ Dots. You will not be able to get married, because nobody wants to marry a cheater, and you won’t have any friends on Facebook because nobody wants to be friends with a cheater.” He had many funny expressions and sayings that he used as well. When he was going around collecting homework and somebody didn’t have it, he would say, “…mmmm….filth.” Even when he taught, he made it very entertaining and comical. When teaching us about the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac, he took a white board eraser (Monitor) and a folded piece of paper with a water bottle cap on top (Merrimac) and bashed them together saying, “Mmmmm!!!” and “OOOHHH!!!” as he taught us about the famous battle. Some teachers may have made that class excruciatingly boring and a pain to sit through, but he made it fun to learn, and I actually looked forward to going to class every day. My sister is lucky enough to have him this year, and upon learning that she is related to me, he said, “I won’t hold that against you.”
So, my whole point for writing this is to say that any class can be, if not fun, at least a good learning environment that makes you want to go to class even if the material may not be all that exciting. The teacher plays the biggest part in doing so, although the ultimate success you have in the class is how hard you work. It is important for the teacher to make students want to learn and be excited about going to class as well as carrying out their responsibilities by actually teaching the students. The best class is one that I am excited about going to, that I actually want to pay attention in, and that I leave the class having learned the information well.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Love at...50th sight?
Cinderella is the movie that almost every girl wishes her life could resemble. She wishes she could go from being a normal girl to one night meeting her “Prince Charming” and experiencing “love at first sight.” I am not knocking specifically on girls at all, because I’m sure there are guys that believe this too; but I do think the idea of love at first sight is complete crap. Granted, it is a nice thought, but is that really possible? Let’s be honest here; say I’m walking down the sidewalk on my way to English class, and my eyes catch the eyes of a girl and there is “love at first sight.” Can you really call that love? What do I know about that person? I know she is attractive, and….yeahhhh that’s about it. I mean, if I base love on how attractive a girl is, then I love a whole heck of a lot of women here at Tech! Seriously though, I know absolutely nothing about her. I don’t know her name, where she is from, what kind of personality she has, or if she is even single. In my opinion, the word “love” is abused, and “I love you” is said way too much. People say it without meaning it, because they want to think that they are in love, or they don’t know what true love really is. The last two weeks I have been trying to figure out what real, genuine love is, and how do I know if I am really in love with somebody? By taking what I have been taught by other people, by my past experiences, and by what I am taught through my faith, I think I have figured it out.
First of all, I believe that love is not the deep, passionate feeling that I get when I think of somebody. My old youth pastor once said, “Love is not an emotion, it’s a choice.” He went on to explain that some mornings he wakes up next to his wife and he doesn’t feel like he is married to her. He doesn’t have that warm, overwhelmingly happy feeling that he got, say, on their wedding day or on their honeymoon. Does that mean he doesn’t love her anymore because he doesn’t feel that way? No, of course not. He still loves her with everything he has; he still will always be there for her and want what is best for her and protect her at all costs. If we judged love by how we feel, then every couple would get a divorce at some point, because there are always going to be times when that passionate feeling is not there. From personal experience, there have been times when I have really wanted to say “I love you” to a girl because I was so emotionally attached to her, but I knew I shouldn’t say that because I did not truly love her. It would have given her false hope and happiness, and I believe that love is a word that should not be messed around with. So, for that reason, I have never said “I love you” to a girl I was dating, because I honestly haven’t loved any of them.
So, I know what love is not, but finding out what true love really is is a bit more difficult. This is where I turn to my faith for the answers. Having been raised a Southern Baptist Christian, I have been taught that The Bible is 100% true, and that I should live my life based on what it says. Therefore, I looked up some verses about love, not only to try to help me figure out this crazy, controversial issue, but because I want to find out if I really do love this certain person in my life; and, if I do, then, how should I act toward her so that I show that I really do love her? One night, I was in the hot tub talking to my friend, Jared, about it, and he said that he thinks that if you are willing to die for that person, then you love them. I was like, hmmm, that makes since, because I remembered a verse I had learned that said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13.” He asked me if I would die for her, and I said that I would. Then, I got to thinking; there are other people I would die for, so how do I know what real love is between a man and a woman? While I love my family and my closest friends and would die for them, it’s not quite the same thing. So, I believe being willing to die for that person is a major part of it, but it’s not the only thing. Last week, I was looking hard to find the answer; and, between talking to another one of my friends and reading a couple more verses, I got a better understanding of it. The verse that made everything click was this: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.” This is an example of what true love should be like. While I mess up in many of those areas, love is not perfect, and it does not mean that I don’t love her because I’m not very patient or because I might let my pride get in the way every now and then. However, these are the things that I should strive to improve on; I should want to be patient and kind to her; I should protect her and forgive her when she does wrong and place all of my trust in her and put her before myself. It’s not a checklist saying that if I do each of these things just right, then I have come to the point where I am in love with her. It’s saying that that is the guy I should be for her and what I should strive to be like.
The third thing I learned about love is that it is unconditional and should never end. When a man and a woman marry each other, it is a profession of their love for each other. They say, “’till death do us part,” not, “’till we have a problem, or I don’t feel like I love you anymore.” This is one thing I have never understood about marriages. Now, I’m not an expert on love; but I do know that when you marry somebody, you are saying that you love them, and that you want to be with them for the rest of your life. I know that when you love somebody, you should want to do whatever it takes to make the relationship as strong as possible which includes working out any problems that come up. I know that when you love somebody, you should want to put their needs before your own, because their happiness is important to you. I know that if you love that person then you should be patient, forgiving, kind, trusting, etc. with them, because that is what true love really is. So, why do so many marriages fail? What problem is so big that it can’t be worked out? What makes one spouse cheat or suddenly “stop loving” the other? If love is unconditional; if love is all those things in that last verse, then why do marriages end? It doesn’t seem right to me that such an incredible and rare bond can be broken like that. It’s sad that we (as people in general) give up so easily on such a great thing. So, having taken everything I have heard and read, I believe love is not just a feeling; it’s willing to give up one life for another; it’s patient; it’s kind; it’s trusting; its unconditional; and it never ends. That, my friends, is much more than just a Cinderella story.
First of all, I believe that love is not the deep, passionate feeling that I get when I think of somebody. My old youth pastor once said, “Love is not an emotion, it’s a choice.” He went on to explain that some mornings he wakes up next to his wife and he doesn’t feel like he is married to her. He doesn’t have that warm, overwhelmingly happy feeling that he got, say, on their wedding day or on their honeymoon. Does that mean he doesn’t love her anymore because he doesn’t feel that way? No, of course not. He still loves her with everything he has; he still will always be there for her and want what is best for her and protect her at all costs. If we judged love by how we feel, then every couple would get a divorce at some point, because there are always going to be times when that passionate feeling is not there. From personal experience, there have been times when I have really wanted to say “I love you” to a girl because I was so emotionally attached to her, but I knew I shouldn’t say that because I did not truly love her. It would have given her false hope and happiness, and I believe that love is a word that should not be messed around with. So, for that reason, I have never said “I love you” to a girl I was dating, because I honestly haven’t loved any of them.
So, I know what love is not, but finding out what true love really is is a bit more difficult. This is where I turn to my faith for the answers. Having been raised a Southern Baptist Christian, I have been taught that The Bible is 100% true, and that I should live my life based on what it says. Therefore, I looked up some verses about love, not only to try to help me figure out this crazy, controversial issue, but because I want to find out if I really do love this certain person in my life; and, if I do, then, how should I act toward her so that I show that I really do love her? One night, I was in the hot tub talking to my friend, Jared, about it, and he said that he thinks that if you are willing to die for that person, then you love them. I was like, hmmm, that makes since, because I remembered a verse I had learned that said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13.” He asked me if I would die for her, and I said that I would. Then, I got to thinking; there are other people I would die for, so how do I know what real love is between a man and a woman? While I love my family and my closest friends and would die for them, it’s not quite the same thing. So, I believe being willing to die for that person is a major part of it, but it’s not the only thing. Last week, I was looking hard to find the answer; and, between talking to another one of my friends and reading a couple more verses, I got a better understanding of it. The verse that made everything click was this: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.” This is an example of what true love should be like. While I mess up in many of those areas, love is not perfect, and it does not mean that I don’t love her because I’m not very patient or because I might let my pride get in the way every now and then. However, these are the things that I should strive to improve on; I should want to be patient and kind to her; I should protect her and forgive her when she does wrong and place all of my trust in her and put her before myself. It’s not a checklist saying that if I do each of these things just right, then I have come to the point where I am in love with her. It’s saying that that is the guy I should be for her and what I should strive to be like.
The third thing I learned about love is that it is unconditional and should never end. When a man and a woman marry each other, it is a profession of their love for each other. They say, “’till death do us part,” not, “’till we have a problem, or I don’t feel like I love you anymore.” This is one thing I have never understood about marriages. Now, I’m not an expert on love; but I do know that when you marry somebody, you are saying that you love them, and that you want to be with them for the rest of your life. I know that when you love somebody, you should want to do whatever it takes to make the relationship as strong as possible which includes working out any problems that come up. I know that when you love somebody, you should want to put their needs before your own, because their happiness is important to you. I know that if you love that person then you should be patient, forgiving, kind, trusting, etc. with them, because that is what true love really is. So, why do so many marriages fail? What problem is so big that it can’t be worked out? What makes one spouse cheat or suddenly “stop loving” the other? If love is unconditional; if love is all those things in that last verse, then why do marriages end? It doesn’t seem right to me that such an incredible and rare bond can be broken like that. It’s sad that we (as people in general) give up so easily on such a great thing. So, having taken everything I have heard and read, I believe love is not just a feeling; it’s willing to give up one life for another; it’s patient; it’s kind; it’s trusting; its unconditional; and it never ends. That, my friends, is much more than just a Cinderella story.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Summer in Paradise
All the time people are stressed out about school or work or dating or whatever is going on in their lives, and you hear them say, “I just need a vacation where I can relax and get away from all my problems for awhile.” May I suggest Hawaii? I have been to Hawaii twice but only the most recent trip do I remember, because the first trip I went on I was one I think. Of course, I wanted to go back because I would hear stories about the first trip from my parents and see the pictures; and, after all, it is Hawaii. My parents said that, since I was graduating the following year, I could pick our summer vacation spot. We had saved up a lot of Delta Skymiles, so cost wasn’t too big of an issue. I enjoy some sight-seeing, but I prefer vacations where you learn and walk less and just relax and have fun more. Hawaii is mostly relaxation but has many amazing sights, so that seemed like the idea vacation spot to me. So, one morning very early but not so bright, we got up and drove down to Roanoke “International” Airport (that’s what my dad calls our airport as a joke because it’s so small) and got on a plane to Atlanta. Atlanta is one massive airport if you haven’t been there; it is very easy to get lost, but for us expert travelers, it was fairly easy for us to follow the signs and get to our gate. The plane we got on in Atlanta was massive; it had two aisles and seven seats in each row. I mean, for a nine hour flight from Atlanta to Honolulu it’s got to be one heck of a plane right? During the flight, they served us two meals, and they played Fool’s Gold and National Treasure 2. The entire flight I had Follow You Home by Nickelback in my head, and I thought I was going to die it was so annoying. Anyway, we land in Honolulu, Hawaii and it was so weird because of the time change. We had flown for nine hours but it was still only the afternoon. In order to get to where we were staying on Oahu, we had to get on one more small plane to go from one island to the other. Once we landed in Oahu, I saw the weirdest looking airport I had ever seen. It wasn’t the traditional metal building with windows everywhere; it was little shacks and places where there was just a roof with columns supporting it but there were no walls. The whole airport was just open to the elements and had a very beachy look. As we were driving to the place we were staying, the air was full of what looked like smoke or fog; later we learned that it was neither, but it was I think it was called vog. It was the smoke that came from the volcanoes that made the air thick and dark. Also, instead of grass or forests, much of the area was just black rocks. They were igneous rocks from years of volcanic activity that had covered the ground. Later that night, we get to the place we were staying, get unpacked and situated, and just kinda chill for the rest of the night, excited about the rest of the trip.
The next day it was hard for us to get up, because our bodies were still on Roanoke time. However, once we realized we were in Hawaii and not boring ole Roanoke, it didn’t take long for us to get up and moving. We went down to the beach, and marveled at how gorgeous it was. Hawaii has some of the most clear, blue water you will ever see. I could stand in the ocean with the water all the way up to my neck and look down, and I could clearly see my feet. One time I was completely scared to death, because I saw out of the corner of my eye a big black thing swimming through the water, but it ended up only being a sea turtle. Another day, my dad and I went to play golf at one of the many beautiful courses in Hawaii. Instead of gra
ss, the course had that same black rock everywhere that we saw earlier, which made it easier to find all our bad shots that missed the fairway (there were many of those). One particular hole was so scenic that it looked like something you would see in a magazine or on TV. The green was backed up to the ocean, and there were a few palm trees surrounding the green with a couple bunkers next to it. For the rest of the time on Oahu, we went to the pool and the beach and shopped a bit and enjoyed some of the great food that Hawaii has. We went on a short hike to this waterfall that was in the middle of this massive open area in the mountain, and we drove along the road, stopping here and there to take pictures of all the beautiful views. That was the first of our islands; then, we went back to that cool little airport, got on another plane and headed back to Honolulu for the last half of our trip.
The next day it was hard for us to get up, because our bodies were still on Roanoke time. However, once we realized we were in Hawaii and not boring ole Roanoke, it didn’t take long for us to get up and moving. We went down to the beach, and marveled at how gorgeous it was. Hawaii has some of the most clear, blue water you will ever see. I could stand in the ocean with the water all the way up to my neck and look down, and I could clearly see my feet. One time I was completely scared to death, because I saw out of the corner of my eye a big black thing swimming through the water, but it ended up only being a sea turtle. Another day, my dad and I went to play golf at one of the many beautiful courses in Hawaii. Instead of gra
ss, the course had that same black rock everywhere that we saw earlier, which made it easier to find all our bad shots that missed the fairway (there were many of those). One particular hole was so scenic that it looked like something you would see in a magazine or on TV. The green was backed up to the ocean, and there were a few palm trees surrounding the green with a couple bunkers next to it. For the rest of the time on Oahu, we went to the pool and the beach and shopped a bit and enjoyed some of the great food that Hawaii has. We went on a short hike to this waterfall that was in the middle of this massive open area in the mountain, and we drove along the road, stopping here and there to take pictures of all the beautiful views. That was the first of our islands; then, we went back to that cool little airport, got on another plane and headed back to Honolulu for the last half of our trip.Honolulu reminded me of a smaller New York City. There were plenty of big buildings, lots of pedestrians on the sidewalks, and crazy night life. Even though it was highly urbanized, Honolulu also had many beautiful, well-known attractions just like Oahu. Some of those that we saw included Diamond Head Crater, Waikiki Beach, Black Sand Beach, and Pearl Harbor. We took a boat out to where the U.S.S. Arizona had sunk and went to the monument there. It was really quiet, because it was an interesting thought to think that this was the place where so many people had died that day. There were still oil bubbles floating up to the surface of the water from the Arizona. All these things were beautiful and lots of fun, but nothing we did compared to when we went snorkeling. We went to this place that was a volcano crater, but one side of it was gone, letting it fill up with ocean water; and over time, it had grown coral and become inhabited with hundreds of fish and sea creatures. None of us had ever been snorkeling before, and I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever done in my life. The only downside to it was my back got burnt to a crisp from being right at the surface of the water for hours. One of the last nights we were there, we went to a luau where they had some good Hawaiian music and food including some purple rolls, no joke. Eventually the end of the trip came around and none of us wanted to leave, because it was like living in paradise. The trip back was horrible; that day I spent about 22 hours including time change flying back to Roanoke and sitting in airports. One cool thing about coming back was that I saw both the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Georgia Dome in Atlanta in the same day which I thought was neat. I could easily write another 1300 words about my trip to Hawaii, but I won’t do that because I’m getting tired of sitting here typing but if you want to know more about it just ask. I would highly recommend Hawaii for anyone who wants to go on an incredible vacation; I would go back in a heartbeat. Just make sure you take me if you go!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Hard Rock? Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down
Music is a big part of my life. I listen to music constantly while I’m walking to class, driving, doing homework, and pretty much any other time you can think of. The other day I had a thought. It wasn’t a deep or profound realization or theory, but it was something that I found interesting. You have heard people say, I wonder if something looks different to each person. Like, if I saw a bright, colorful bug crawling on the sidewalk; and, to me, it looked light blue and dark green. Would somebody else see that bug but the colors show up different to them? If so, then why? My thought runs along those same lines. Why is it that some people like a certain type of music, while hating a different kind; and other people like type of music that those people hate? Why do certain types of music appeal to some people’s ears but make others’ bleed? If the same notes are going into everybody’s ears, why do some people want to listen to them over and over again while some people make a disgusted face? Sometimes it is blatantly obvious when music is bad; just watch the first few weeks of American Idol. However, world-renown bands and artists such as The Beatles, Metallica, Linkin Park, and 50 Cent are different cases. Each have sold millions of albums and have fans that flock to see them perform. It is obvious that each has outstanding fan support; but, at the same time, they have millions of people who dislike their music and would have to be paid to go see them live. Judging by albums sold and concert attendance, it can be easy to determine which bands are the best. However, base that judgment on the sound of the band, and then there will be a never ending argument between fans and those who oppose them.
My roommate and I are the perfect example of what I am talking about, and it was largely in part to comparing the songs on our iPods that made me have this thought. We both have almost the exact same amount of songs on our iPods: I have 1248, and he has 1238. However, the other day when he looked at all the songs that I have, we realized that we only have 35 of the same songs. That came out to be only 2.8% of our iPods to be the same. We get along great, but we always argue about music. I like to listen to rock, metal, and rap; he listens to primarily oldies stuff (I call oldies anything before 2000). All the time we tell each other to listen to a particular song that we like and usually the other doesn’t like it at all. One day back in high school we were like, ok. I’ll listen to three songs that you pick, and you listen to three songs that I pick. So, for that period we tortured each other with our favorite music. It is basically an implied rule in our dorm room that we have to use headphones while listening to music, so it won’t drive the other up the wall. The point I am trying to make is, it is interesting to me how we have such different tastes in music. I was listening to the exact same songs that he listens to that one day in class, so why did I think it was horrible music but he loves it? I don’t really have an answer, because I have no idea why that is the case. He likes music from the older decades, but he wasn’t alive during those times; he just decided he likes that style of music. I’m about the same age as him, but I decided I hate it. Just the fact that people can be so different and have their own preferences and likes, and sometimes they are the opposite of others’ is interesting to me.
Not only are one person’s views of music sometimes different from another, but one’s views of music can dramatically change as well. I am probably the best example of this. Growing up I was not a passionate music-listener if that is a word. I mean, I had some CDs that I listened to but it was not a big part of my life to listen to music. In the beginning of middle school, I mainly listened to soft stuff like Christian contemporary music such as Michael W. Smith and Avalon and the like. I was pretty closed minded to music, and I only liked my style. My best friend, Jared, was into metal and more popular music like Green Day and Trapt and bands like that tried to get me to listen to his music but I thought it was horrible. I said that a lot of what he listened to wasn’t really music because all they do is scream. He even burned like four CDs for me, but I didn’t like hardly any of the music on there. Then one night, I went to a concert with my youth group, and there were many bands there that played my style of music but there was another artist there called Tobymac who was more hip hop, and I actually loved it. From that concert on, I slowly began to broaden my interest in music types. I went out and bought a Tobymac CD and started getting into more upbeat, hip hop/rap music (I used to say that music was like candy, you throw away the rappers because I hated rap). Also, I started to put up with heavier and heavier sounding bands, going from normal rock with some good guitar and not too hard vocals to a lot more bass and footpedal to ultimately liking the stuff that I once said wasn’t music because all they did was scream. Now, Jared and l listen to almost identically the same music. Sure, much of it was his influence, but it is still funny to me how my music taste has drastically changed over the years. So, going back to my initial thought, why do people like music that others hate even if they hear the same stuff? I still have no idea, but it keeps life interesting!
My roommate and I are the perfect example of what I am talking about, and it was largely in part to comparing the songs on our iPods that made me have this thought. We both have almost the exact same amount of songs on our iPods: I have 1248, and he has 1238. However, the other day when he looked at all the songs that I have, we realized that we only have 35 of the same songs. That came out to be only 2.8% of our iPods to be the same. We get along great, but we always argue about music. I like to listen to rock, metal, and rap; he listens to primarily oldies stuff (I call oldies anything before 2000). All the time we tell each other to listen to a particular song that we like and usually the other doesn’t like it at all. One day back in high school we were like, ok. I’ll listen to three songs that you pick, and you listen to three songs that I pick. So, for that period we tortured each other with our favorite music. It is basically an implied rule in our dorm room that we have to use headphones while listening to music, so it won’t drive the other up the wall. The point I am trying to make is, it is interesting to me how we have such different tastes in music. I was listening to the exact same songs that he listens to that one day in class, so why did I think it was horrible music but he loves it? I don’t really have an answer, because I have no idea why that is the case. He likes music from the older decades, but he wasn’t alive during those times; he just decided he likes that style of music. I’m about the same age as him, but I decided I hate it. Just the fact that people can be so different and have their own preferences and likes, and sometimes they are the opposite of others’ is interesting to me.
Not only are one person’s views of music sometimes different from another, but one’s views of music can dramatically change as well. I am probably the best example of this. Growing up I was not a passionate music-listener if that is a word. I mean, I had some CDs that I listened to but it was not a big part of my life to listen to music. In the beginning of middle school, I mainly listened to soft stuff like Christian contemporary music such as Michael W. Smith and Avalon and the like. I was pretty closed minded to music, and I only liked my style. My best friend, Jared, was into metal and more popular music like Green Day and Trapt and bands like that tried to get me to listen to his music but I thought it was horrible. I said that a lot of what he listened to wasn’t really music because all they do is scream. He even burned like four CDs for me, but I didn’t like hardly any of the music on there. Then one night, I went to a concert with my youth group, and there were many bands there that played my style of music but there was another artist there called Tobymac who was more hip hop, and I actually loved it. From that concert on, I slowly began to broaden my interest in music types. I went out and bought a Tobymac CD and started getting into more upbeat, hip hop/rap music (I used to say that music was like candy, you throw away the rappers because I hated rap). Also, I started to put up with heavier and heavier sounding bands, going from normal rock with some good guitar and not too hard vocals to a lot more bass and footpedal to ultimately liking the stuff that I once said wasn’t music because all they did was scream. Now, Jared and l listen to almost identically the same music. Sure, much of it was his influence, but it is still funny to me how my music taste has drastically changed over the years. So, going back to my initial thought, why do people like music that others hate even if they hear the same stuff? I still have no idea, but it keeps life interesting!
Monday, September 7, 2009
From Hype to Gripe
So, I’m sure most people watched the Virginia Tech and Alabama game this weekend. We had all been anticipating that game for months so finally game day was here! I had so many feelings and emotions running through my body that it was ridiculous! I, of course, was excited from all of the hype and anticipation that was built up but at the same time I was nervous and discouraged because everybody was picking Tech to lose and not giving them any chance to win. I wasn’t too worried though because one of the main reasons that people were saying Tech would lose was because Darren Evans wouldn’t be playing, but we are very deep at the running back position, and I knew Ryan Williams would run well. Another reason I was hopeful was because Alabama has a freshman quarterback and a new offensive line, so they would be inexperienced; and if we blitzed them hard, it would throw them off and rattle them enough to make mistakes and not play up to par.
Saturday night eight starts to roll around and I’m getting myself all pumped up and excited for the game as one of my best friends gets to my house to watch the game with me. I’m watching the BYU and Oklahoma game as I wait for the commercials to end and the real game to start! At this point I’m so nervous that my stomach is up in my throat, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. As I’m waiting for the opening kickoff, I cannot keep my legs from bouncing up and down to save my life from all the nerves, and my friend is just laughing at me because she is a tech fan, but doesn’t get into the games like I do. Alabama kicks it off and right from the beginning we fumble the kickoff which did not help my nerves any. However, I ignored it and looked forward to see what the offense would do. Just as the kickoff had let me down, so did our opening possession: three and out. This was followed by an Alabama field goal which did not give me a good first impression of our team. Our second possession was a three and out followed by another ‘Bama field goal. Overall, I thought that the defense played very well for awhile. Greg McElroy only went 2 for his first 12 passes and was even forced into throwing an interception.
Unlike the defense, however, our offense did not show many signs of life. I was not until the third or fourth possession that we even drove into Alabama territory. That was short lived and that drive ended just like the previous ones did. It was frustrating to watch Tyrod Taylor play, because he was not on his game at all. Many of his throws were shaky or erratic, and many completely missed the mark all together and sailed way out of bounds. Another thing I was confused about was why he did not run the ball more. He is a dual threat quarterback so why did they not take advantage of his running ability to spread out the defense and keep them on their toes? As I thought about it, one conclusion I came to was that, because we do not have much depth at the quarterback position with two inexperienced freshmen, it would have been bad if Tyrod had gotten injured. Even still, it is important to be aggressive and to use the strengths that each player has, and I think that if Tyrod had scrambled more, it would have opened up both the passing and running game more, because the defense would have been cautious about him running the ball. Instead, Alabama put solid pressure on us all night that wore us down. Our running game was not very effective and their defensive line was getting into the backfield way more often than it should have. I cannot say that I was entirely surprised that our offense played so poorly however. Virginia Tech’s offense has never been its bread and butter, and I saw a stat during the game that said that Tech was 111th in the nation last year in pass yards per game. I mean, really? It does not look like that stat will improve much judging by Saturday’s game; Tyrod ended up going only 9 for 20 with not even 100 yards along with negative rushing yards for the game. Shall we blame Stinespring for continual lack of production on offense? I think it might be time for him to go.
Not all of Tech’s performance should be criticized, however. We showed many bright spots in our still young team that I was pleased with. Ryan Williams did a great job filling in Darren Evan’s spot, rushing for 71 yards on 13 carries including one spectacular run down the sideline that was finished by a strong dive for the pylon for a touchdown. He also had a great catch that put Tech deep into Alabama territory which set up another touchdown run. Dyrell Roberts had the clear play of the game for the Hokies with a 98 yard kickoff return that gave Tech the lead by one. Later in the game, he had another strong kickoff return to close to midfield. Roberts will be an exciting and promising player to watch this season and I look for many big things to come from him. Tech’s defense played well, all things considered, through three quarters. Alabama did not score at all in the third quarter and after the game clock hit 00:00, we still had the lead.
Unfortunately, a football game is four quarters long, not three. As soon as the last quarter hit, everything went downhill. Alabama quickly drove down the field and scored a touchdown which was followed by a two-point conversion that killed our momentum. After that point, I believe our defense was a combination of tired and unconfident and could never get a good push to stop Alabama’s offense. So after all was said and done, I was furious and extremely disappointed by the 34 to 24 score that I saw on the television. I went upstairs quickly so I wouldn’t have to talk to anybody about the game and went to bed. Ironically, my alarm that was set to go off the next morning was a song, and the first thing I heard Sunday morning were the lyrics, “one final heartbreak.”
Saturday night eight starts to roll around and I’m getting myself all pumped up and excited for the game as one of my best friends gets to my house to watch the game with me. I’m watching the BYU and Oklahoma game as I wait for the commercials to end and the real game to start! At this point I’m so nervous that my stomach is up in my throat, and I can feel my heart pounding in my chest. As I’m waiting for the opening kickoff, I cannot keep my legs from bouncing up and down to save my life from all the nerves, and my friend is just laughing at me because she is a tech fan, but doesn’t get into the games like I do. Alabama kicks it off and right from the beginning we fumble the kickoff which did not help my nerves any. However, I ignored it and looked forward to see what the offense would do. Just as the kickoff had let me down, so did our opening possession: three and out. This was followed by an Alabama field goal which did not give me a good first impression of our team. Our second possession was a three and out followed by another ‘Bama field goal. Overall, I thought that the defense played very well for awhile. Greg McElroy only went 2 for his first 12 passes and was even forced into throwing an interception.
Unlike the defense, however, our offense did not show many signs of life. I was not until the third or fourth possession that we even drove into Alabama territory. That was short lived and that drive ended just like the previous ones did. It was frustrating to watch Tyrod Taylor play, because he was not on his game at all. Many of his throws were shaky or erratic, and many completely missed the mark all together and sailed way out of bounds. Another thing I was confused about was why he did not run the ball more. He is a dual threat quarterback so why did they not take advantage of his running ability to spread out the defense and keep them on their toes? As I thought about it, one conclusion I came to was that, because we do not have much depth at the quarterback position with two inexperienced freshmen, it would have been bad if Tyrod had gotten injured. Even still, it is important to be aggressive and to use the strengths that each player has, and I think that if Tyrod had scrambled more, it would have opened up both the passing and running game more, because the defense would have been cautious about him running the ball. Instead, Alabama put solid pressure on us all night that wore us down. Our running game was not very effective and their defensive line was getting into the backfield way more often than it should have. I cannot say that I was entirely surprised that our offense played so poorly however. Virginia Tech’s offense has never been its bread and butter, and I saw a stat during the game that said that Tech was 111th in the nation last year in pass yards per game. I mean, really? It does not look like that stat will improve much judging by Saturday’s game; Tyrod ended up going only 9 for 20 with not even 100 yards along with negative rushing yards for the game. Shall we blame Stinespring for continual lack of production on offense? I think it might be time for him to go.
Not all of Tech’s performance should be criticized, however. We showed many bright spots in our still young team that I was pleased with. Ryan Williams did a great job filling in Darren Evan’s spot, rushing for 71 yards on 13 carries including one spectacular run down the sideline that was finished by a strong dive for the pylon for a touchdown. He also had a great catch that put Tech deep into Alabama territory which set up another touchdown run. Dyrell Roberts had the clear play of the game for the Hokies with a 98 yard kickoff return that gave Tech the lead by one. Later in the game, he had another strong kickoff return to close to midfield. Roberts will be an exciting and promising player to watch this season and I look for many big things to come from him. Tech’s defense played well, all things considered, through three quarters. Alabama did not score at all in the third quarter and after the game clock hit 00:00, we still had the lead.
Unfortunately, a football game is four quarters long, not three. As soon as the last quarter hit, everything went downhill. Alabama quickly drove down the field and scored a touchdown which was followed by a two-point conversion that killed our momentum. After that point, I believe our defense was a combination of tired and unconfident and could never get a good push to stop Alabama’s offense. So after all was said and done, I was furious and extremely disappointed by the 34 to 24 score that I saw on the television. I went upstairs quickly so I wouldn’t have to talk to anybody about the game and went to bed. Ironically, my alarm that was set to go off the next morning was a song, and the first thing I heard Sunday morning were the lyrics, “one final heartbreak.”
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Peter Hwang
Despite the fact that “[his] favorite thing to do is a computer game like a typical Asian,” Peter Hwang is not just a typical college student from Herndon, Virginia. When asked to describe something unique about him, Peter’s response was, “I bet no one has the same DNA sequence as I do!” Unique people give unique responses and that one was no exception. However, he did admit that this answer came from his aspirations of being a biology major even though this path is not set in stone Peter admits.
Peter is not only a unique individual, but he is also very well rounded with a wide variety of interests and talents. Along with playing his computer games, Peter also enjoys sports such as tennis and basketball. Grace Hwang, Peter’s sister, even says that her favorite memory that she shares with Peter is when the two of them danced like Michael Jackson together. She also says that he is an exceptional cook. “I don’t remember when he started cooking but everything he makes turns into gold,” says Grace. She then went on to say that she particularly loves his spaghetti and described it as “killer,” adding four exclamation points to the end.
Observing Peter’s favorite activities is one way of telling that he is well rounded, but getting to know the man on the inside solidifies the statement that he is a unique, well rounded person. On the surface, it may seem like he is a quiet, reserved guy who tends to keep to himself, and in part this is true. Peter describes his personality as “friendly but timid.” He says that instead of talking to other people about his problems, “I sit in my room and think about what caused the problem and the solution for the problem.” His sister also says that Peter does not often tell his true feelings. However, this quiet nature is only one side of Peter. In order to discover his other side, one must get to know Peter beyond initial meetings and first glances. He says, “It’s hard for me to know a person but once I get to know him/her I am a really good friend.” Grace describes his personality as funny and, seeing how Peter enjoys playing practical jokes, it makes sense that he also has a sense of humor. One particular misadventure at the mall shows that Peter has a crazy, outgoing side of him as well. While shopping, Peter discreetly placed three shirts in a friend’s purse. The plan was that as they were leaving, Peter would stop, take the shirts out of her purse, and ask as her if she was trying to steal those shirts. Sounds like a good joke right? Well, it didn’t go quite as planned. Yes, Peter succeeded in pulling off the prank; however, instead of removing all three shirts from her purse, he forgot one and accidently left it in her purse. Thinking the joke was over and they could carry on with their shopping, he and his friend proceeded to exit the store only to set off the alarm from having “stolen” merchandise. That was where the joke quit going as planned in case you didn’t pick that up already. So how did Peter try to worm his way out of the mess he created? It was not easy trying to explain everything to the store manager and security but somehow he got away with no punishment. He apologized to his friend and “decided to never make those joke[s] again or at least mess them up.”
Above all things, the most important part of Peter’s life is his family. They mean everything to him, and he said even though his friends are important, his family still comes first. Peter and his family are initially from South Korea all the way up until 2001. He has two younger siblings, a sister and a brother. He also considers his cousin, Daniel, as his closest friend other than his direct family. “I have been living close to him since the age of eight. He is [a] really good friend of mine, or a member of the family,” says Peter. His sister says that he “looks out for the people he loves” and when asked about the biggest change that she has observed in Peter’s life, Grace says that she noticed that Peter has grown in maturity and that he cares more for his family. He follows his parents’ example and attends church with them whenever they go, crediting his life in the church as a major influence in his life. Peter’s sister thinks highly of the relationship that she has with him. Grace says, “We like to fool around, make jokes, and tease each other…I think that’s [what] makes it so special, we have fun when we’re together.” According to her, the two of them have much in common such as the same type of music they listen to as well as style of clothing they like to wear. Peter may sometimes mess with his sister like all big brothers do but Grace still knows that he loves her very much and thinks highly of her. She says, “and most importantly, we act like we hate each other (mostly him) but I know in my heart that he actually cares about me.”
Peter Hwang knows the importance of being a well-rounded individual. His commitment to school, church, and family shows that he prioritizes what is most important in life; and he gives each one of those things his all. He says that if he could give one piece of advice it would be to live for the future. He says that if he works hard in the present “I would be proud of what I did now when I actually grow up.” So whether you see Peter at a family reunion, playing basketball, or on the computer playing a game, he is a devoted and intelligent person in any aspect of his life that he gives effort to.
Peter is not only a unique individual, but he is also very well rounded with a wide variety of interests and talents. Along with playing his computer games, Peter also enjoys sports such as tennis and basketball. Grace Hwang, Peter’s sister, even says that her favorite memory that she shares with Peter is when the two of them danced like Michael Jackson together. She also says that he is an exceptional cook. “I don’t remember when he started cooking but everything he makes turns into gold,” says Grace. She then went on to say that she particularly loves his spaghetti and described it as “killer,” adding four exclamation points to the end.
Observing Peter’s favorite activities is one way of telling that he is well rounded, but getting to know the man on the inside solidifies the statement that he is a unique, well rounded person. On the surface, it may seem like he is a quiet, reserved guy who tends to keep to himself, and in part this is true. Peter describes his personality as “friendly but timid.” He says that instead of talking to other people about his problems, “I sit in my room and think about what caused the problem and the solution for the problem.” His sister also says that Peter does not often tell his true feelings. However, this quiet nature is only one side of Peter. In order to discover his other side, one must get to know Peter beyond initial meetings and first glances. He says, “It’s hard for me to know a person but once I get to know him/her I am a really good friend.” Grace describes his personality as funny and, seeing how Peter enjoys playing practical jokes, it makes sense that he also has a sense of humor. One particular misadventure at the mall shows that Peter has a crazy, outgoing side of him as well. While shopping, Peter discreetly placed three shirts in a friend’s purse. The plan was that as they were leaving, Peter would stop, take the shirts out of her purse, and ask as her if she was trying to steal those shirts. Sounds like a good joke right? Well, it didn’t go quite as planned. Yes, Peter succeeded in pulling off the prank; however, instead of removing all three shirts from her purse, he forgot one and accidently left it in her purse. Thinking the joke was over and they could carry on with their shopping, he and his friend proceeded to exit the store only to set off the alarm from having “stolen” merchandise. That was where the joke quit going as planned in case you didn’t pick that up already. So how did Peter try to worm his way out of the mess he created? It was not easy trying to explain everything to the store manager and security but somehow he got away with no punishment. He apologized to his friend and “decided to never make those joke[s] again or at least mess them up.”
Above all things, the most important part of Peter’s life is his family. They mean everything to him, and he said even though his friends are important, his family still comes first. Peter and his family are initially from South Korea all the way up until 2001. He has two younger siblings, a sister and a brother. He also considers his cousin, Daniel, as his closest friend other than his direct family. “I have been living close to him since the age of eight. He is [a] really good friend of mine, or a member of the family,” says Peter. His sister says that he “looks out for the people he loves” and when asked about the biggest change that she has observed in Peter’s life, Grace says that she noticed that Peter has grown in maturity and that he cares more for his family. He follows his parents’ example and attends church with them whenever they go, crediting his life in the church as a major influence in his life. Peter’s sister thinks highly of the relationship that she has with him. Grace says, “We like to fool around, make jokes, and tease each other…I think that’s [what] makes it so special, we have fun when we’re together.” According to her, the two of them have much in common such as the same type of music they listen to as well as style of clothing they like to wear. Peter may sometimes mess with his sister like all big brothers do but Grace still knows that he loves her very much and thinks highly of her. She says, “and most importantly, we act like we hate each other (mostly him) but I know in my heart that he actually cares about me.”
Peter Hwang knows the importance of being a well-rounded individual. His commitment to school, church, and family shows that he prioritizes what is most important in life; and he gives each one of those things his all. He says that if he could give one piece of advice it would be to live for the future. He says that if he works hard in the present “I would be proud of what I did now when I actually grow up.” So whether you see Peter at a family reunion, playing basketball, or on the computer playing a game, he is a devoted and intelligent person in any aspect of his life that he gives effort to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
