Final Exam Video Finished

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC5lgu2xjcI

Final Self-Assessment Project

Throughout the first semester of my college career, I have learned a lot about myself that I did not notice in high school. I have learned that when I put my mind to something then I can achieve a goal fairly easily, but if I let myself slip and I slack off, then I dig myself into a big ditch that is hard to get out of. I believe that I am in a good spot in my learning process. I gained a lot of ways to get my grades up over this first semester, now I can apply them further to future semesters.

My biggest challenge so far is time management. I came into the year fully into the football season, which took up a lot of time. Instead of wanting to study or do homework, I would want to take naps throughout the day, so I would be rested for practice. This caused me either to stay up late studying, or not even study at all which hurt me. Since I had to do 5 hours of study hall every week, I found myself saving all my work for study hall time, instead of doing it when I actually wanted to. Once I got to study hall, I did not want to do anything, which hurt.

I believe that my biggest achievement so far is surviving a semester of college as an athlete. Not everyone can even handle the normal college scene, but then add athletic activates on top of that is difficult. I am proud to say I have survived it thus far and look forward to staying many more years. Determination is what helped me earn success as a football player. Proving to myself and to my family and friends that I could be a successful student athlete drove me to complete work that I did not really want to do. Pep talks from my dad like: “for every one thing that you want to do, there will be ten things that you won’t want to do.” helped me realize to just suck it up and get things done. I was talking with my friend, and I made the comment that most of the semester we spend sleeping and he agreed. This is probably not a good thing but I can attribute it to football and long grinding days. The result is that my grades aren’t as good as I want them to be, my goal was and still is to make the Deans list, and I don’t believe I met that goal over this first semester.

This first semester is not what I thought it was going to be like. My grades are decent, but I have not really learned that much book information. I feel that this semester had a focus of getting freshman used to the college experience more than memorizing information. I thought that I would have my head buried in a book any chance that I could or else I would fail, and that hasn’t happened. My first goal was to overachieve in academics and get grades that people wouldn’t think that I would get, and I have not done that, I have stayed the same grade wise as I always have. Also, I wanted to complete the football season and stick it out, which I have thus far and I know I will as long as I am here.

As far as the future goes, the main point as always will be my grades. I need to focus more on them and raise my GPA so that I have a better chance of getting a job after college. I think that I should change my sleep schedule and make sure I get to bed at a reasonable time. This will help with my academics and my athletics. My first goal will stay the same: to make deans list. Also I am going to add two: the first is to not drop a class and the second is to start at quarterback next year. There is no sense in setting goals if they are to be just mediocre. You need to set goals that will make you the best person you can be and you need to put countless hours of hard work in to achieve those goals. I am looking forward to chase these goals next semester.

2nd Draft final video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-1XqBK26Bk

Campus Safari: Day of Peace

I forgot to post a blog last week, so I figured that I would just post the one I was going to do this week. I went to the Day of Peace in the Lyman Hall. My roommate, Dion, and I went to the 9 PM showing, however they had showings going throughout the day.

We witnessed a talent show. It started with the presenters doing Zumba and they let anyone who wanted to go up on the stage with them and partake in this dancing type of aerobics. The next presenter was a hula-hoop dancer and made a bunch of moves with her light up hula-hoops. It was fun to watch. We could not take any pictures, however because the sign at the door said no pictures and we wanted to obey the rules.

Our Class

            This first semester featured something that might be more popular in high school rather than college. We had the same people in the same two classes, every Tuesday and Thursday. It was an experience that I believe had some advantages that I will miss.

            One thing that I will not miss, for sure, is going to Anthropology. It was just not a fun class to go to, and without having everyone in the same two classes; I think that it would have been very challenging.

            From the first day in Inquiry, we got to know everyone in our class pretty well, and I think that our relationships grew throughout the semester. I believe that some good friendships were formed because of this grouping of classes.

            The thing that I will miss the most is the chemistry that we had as a unit. It was easy to talk to everyone about what was going on in either Inquiry or Anthropology. If we had trouble on a test or a paper we could always talk to one another. In some of my other classes, I do not see any people on campus until that class actually comes, so it is hard to get help from other peers.

            I especially liked our group because I feel that we all fit in together. Even though we came from different towns, cities, and states, we had no problem gelling and there were no real outcasts. It seemed that everyone was comfortable sharing and everyone got along with each other. We had no problems all year regarding drama or anything like that, which is always a positive. Also, we all could take constructive criticism very well. With the two video projects we had to do, it was easy for someone to get mad at another for talking bad about their video, but we were all just trying to help and everyone understood that.

            Overall, this was a fun two classes (well, one at least) and I am going to miss the bond that out class formed.

Ideal Life After College

            Planning out the ideal life after college is a very challenging thing. There are so many unknowns at this point in our lives that it is very hard to come up with a plan that will end up actually being your future. If everyone knew exactly what was going to happen in his or her life and there were no surprises, then what would be the fun of life?

            However, it is important to have a general idea of what you want to do once you are done with whatever schooling you decide to end with. If you do not have a plan, then it is very hard to be successful.

            An idea of my ideal life would probably differ than what is actually going to happen. No one can truly get everything he or she wants, but we can dream.

            When I am older I want to live in a good-sized house, which is well kept up. I would love to live more south than here, maybe Virginia or the Carolinas, however wherever it is, I want it to be close to my family. I want a family of 4 or 5 and to be happily married. My dream job, whatever it may be, is something that requires enough hours that I can support my family as much as I can, but I can also get time off to enjoy my children growing up. My dream life is funny because it kind of resembles what my parents went through as my siblings and I grew up.

            I am not really dreaming of much when I think about my ideal future. Of course I want the money, nice car, and the trophy wife. But there are more important things than that. I feel that raising a great family would be an ideal situation for me in the future.

Final Video Project Update

            I just finished making my outline for the final video project. I am taking the same steps that I did last project where I plan everything out and then make the videos. I find this easier because once I have the layout and have an idea on what I want to do I can just make the videos and then drag and drop them right into iMovie.

            I believe that I can make this video a lot better than my midterm video. My midterm video was pretty plain and a lot could have been added to it. I am going to use the knowledge I gained from that video and put it towards this one. This means that I will add more of an introduction and a lot more of a conclusion. Also, I will add a lot more of myself in this video. In my first video I was not part of it whatsoever. I just filmed other people. My voice was not on it at all. I will change that in this video and become much more involved in this project.

            To make this video interesting for the viewers, I am going to do a show like Dr. Phil or Oprah where I take a person struggling with an aspect of their life, in my case time management, and show them how to overcome it.

            I am going to start off by showing how this person is bad at time management. Then I will bring in another kid that is good at time management and will show how he handles the situation. After this I will explain to the first kid how he can change his way of attacking time management.

            I will also add a couple commercials to this to keep the viewers interested and entertained. Hopefully I can expand on my first video and make this one a lot better.

Final Video Project

            For the final video project I am going to do time management problems with freshman.

            I believe that this is a good topic to do because it is broad and it can be explained in many ways.

            First I can talk about what students that live on campus do in their free time. It can vary from day of the week, to time of the day. I want to know if students spend most of their time studying, or other activities. I can ask the same question to commuters too because I feel like their answers will look at a totally different view of things.

            Also I can ask them how they prepare for long-term projects and regular homework. I want to know where they do their homework and how long it takes them per week to do.

            I feel as if time management is one of the most challenging things as a freshman to conquer. Once you are on your own some people may feel as if they do not have to do the work because there is no one watching over their shoulders. But also some kids may take on more responsibility when they do not have parental supervision because they feel obligated to complete assignments and stay on top of things.

            As I said before, I believe that the topic of time management can be looked at in various ways and I think that I can keep expanding on it as time goes on. The possibilities are endless and I think that it will be able to help  our class and me out with getting work done in our future.

Campus Safari #3

               The Health Center, which is also known as Granoff Hall, is located across the street from the Moore Field House. At the health center, you can get everything done that your normal doctor would do, such as a Flu shot. They can treat any sickness you have and can help prevent that sickness from returning. Also, they have free condoms for everyone to practice safe sex, which is very important. Most students around this time start to get sick, because the weather starts to change from warm to cold. It is very important to take your vitamins and get enough sleep to maintain a healthy life.

Dorm Livin'

            Here at Southern Connecticut I am a full time student that lives on campus. I live in Chase Hall and it was a no brainer for me to live on campus.

            First, I did not have a choice. Since I came here to be on the football team, I had to be a resident. Although most of the seniors live closely off campus, with the schedule that athletes have to encounter, it is almost impossible to commute from long distances.

            Even if I were not an athlete I would have been a resident. I live about an hour away from school, which I think is a perfect distance. It is way to far to commute however. The amount of money I would spend on gas would most likely be more than actually living on campus would be.

            Also, I came to college wanting to receive the full experience of college. Although I do not think Southern fulfills the full college experience, since most people leave on the weekends, I still have met some great friends that I would not have met if it were not for being a resident.

            I think that being a resident has many more advantages over being a commuter. I feel that the students will be able to get more work done if they are constantly around college. I know that if I were to go home all the time, I would find more fun things to do than my work. I would either hang out with any friends I had home, or I would find a job to try and get some spending money. With always being around college life, I feel that the students can focus more and get their work done.

            They will also be able to get help from friends that are in their class. When you commute, and you are lost in a homework assignment, you are basically going to fail that assignment, whereas the resident can ask someone else that lives on campus for help.

            I am a strong believer in living on campus and I advise everyone that is able to, to do it. Unless, of course, you live very close to the school. Then it would just be a waste of money,

Left or Right Brained

            After reading Sam, Paige, Tori, and Allison’s article on the Left and right side of the brain, I have come to the conclusion that I am left sided.

            Throughout all of the reading, everything they said about left sided I can relate to myself.

            First, the left side of the brain is generally better at math. I remember talking about this in my psychology class last year. People with stronger left sided brains usually take things step by step, which is very helpful in math. When I took calculus last year in high school, it was very important to take things step by step to solve the problem. If you did not know the concrete formula, it was almost impossible to get the answer right.

            Also, the article said that right-sided people might not be able to find the right words when giving directions or something. For me, I have always been able to give directions based on streets and routes rather than places. In some cases it might be easier to just say take a left at the McDonalds or something, but for the most part I like to give directions, and receive directions with the road names.

            Lastly, I remember learning in psychology that the opposite side of your brain controls the dominant side of your body. For instance, if you are right handed with everything you do, then you are most likely dominated by the left side of your brain. For my whole life, I have been right handed. Everything that I do in sports I have used by right hand, it just came natural to me. I remember watching home videos of the first time I threw or picked up a baseball bat, and I automatically used my right hand, without anyone telling me.

            These are the reasons why I think that I am mainly dominated by the left side of my brain.

Campus Safari #2

When we went to the library, we had to locate and find a book that would involve critical thinking in the field we are studying. I looked up a book called: The Harvard Business Review on Decision Making. I found this book fairly easy to find. The problem with the library is that there are so many books so it is difficult to sort them all. After reading through a little bit of it, I could see how this book would help me learn all about tough decisions in business. It is a book that I will definitely go back to later in the future.

Blog #2 week of 10/7: Re-choosing College

            Today in class we went over the topic of choosing colleges. I thought that this was very interesting because it is something that most people forget about when you are in college. What if you had it to do over again? This is a great question that many people should ask themselves if you do not like it here or wherever you are at.

            When I think about where I am and where I could be I wonder what could have happened if I chose not to come to Southern Connecticut State University.

            Over the past week or so I have contemplated transferring to another school. I am thinking about this because all of my friends here are transferring and the weekends here are really dead. It is a really hard decision and I think that the cons of leaving outweigh the pros.

            First off, I love the football team here. The coaches and the players are all great and I am enjoying myself on the field. I can definitely see myself playing four more years after this in a Southern Owls uniform. The location is perfect so that my parents can come down and watch a game whenever they want. This is a big thing for me. Throughout high school I always wanted to move down south because I hate winter, but being so far away from my family would be almost impossible I feel like.

            Secondly, the price I am paying to go here is very hard to get better. With football, I am fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to play. This results in me not really having to pay a lot to go here. With other schools that I would transfer to being around 30 to 40 thousand dollars, it is almost a no-brainer that I should stay here.

            Overall I think that if you are deciding whether or not you want to stay at the place you are you need to weight the pros and cons in depth to make sure you make the right choice.

Meeting with a Professor (Safari #1)

             I met with my Computer Science teacher Professor Brignola. I asked him questions about the project that we have to do in a couple weeks and about final grading for the class.

My first question was: What exactly will the group project be on and will be get to choose our groups?

            His answer: The project will be a powerpoint based on what you have learned thus far in excel and access, and how you will be able to use them in certain business situations. You can choose the groups, but who ever does not have a group will be assigned by me.

            Second question: How will the Final Grade be calculated?

            Answer: The final grade will consist of all of the Excel and Access capstones and handouts you have completed. Also the exams and project presentations will have a bigger weight for the grade.

            Room #: Mo113

            Contact through eLearning Vista

Lockouts in Sports (what interests you #1)

            The recent tough economic times has made its way to one of the biggest moneymaking businesses around- Professional Sports. A few months ago the National Football League had struggles with differences between players and owners. One of the main points was how much money the players were making. The league could not stay together. Another thing at issue was the television contracts. Football became such a large consumer of money that many networks wanted to be in charge of playing the games.

            Thankfully, the NFL reached an agreement after One hundred and thirty five days, thanks to huge contributions by owners such as Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots. I do not know how the world would be different right now if it was not for football. So many people rely on it. The cable companies get ratings, the sports stores need to sell apparel, and bars and restaurants bank of Monday night football for their sales of wings and beer.

            The lockout trend moved to a different sport. Basketball. Throughout the year experts predicted that there would be a lockout come the offseason, but no one expected, or hoped that it would be this bad. Already the commissioner David Stern cancelled the first month of the season. The NBA lockout has already lasted 125 days. The major problem, along with the NFL’s is the disagreements in trying to create a new CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). According to NBA.com, if the November games are not made up, both sides (players and owners) will lose $400 million between now and December 1^st. Another startling fact is that according to the Sports Business Journal the Detroit Pistons will lose 1 million dollars for every home game that is missed. So far there are 8 games cancelled. Detroit also is not the best city for revenue of basketball games. Teams such as the Celtics, Lakers, and Thunder I assume will lose a lot more money per missed game.

            Hopefully they can reach an agreement soon and get back to playing the great game of basketball at the professional level!

Football and SCSU

            I think that it is pretty obvious to anyone that knows me that I am pretty interested in sports. My whole life I have been involved with athletics. Whether it is recreational or competitive I have always wanted to move around.

            When the time came around to choose what college I wanted to go to, the choice was pretty simple. I wanted to play some sport. As time went on in high school, I made up my mind that I wanted to play football in college. I had finally fell in love with the sport I had been playing my whole life in about Junior Year. I never really thought I could play in college until my coach said he could get me in to basically any college I wanted (minus all the top end academic schools).  

            My coach played in college so I knew I could trust him when he told me how it would be. He played at Stonehill College, which is in the same league as us. He told me how it would require a lot of hard work and effort. Not only would football alone be hard work, but then you would have to balance the more important academic side of school. He asked me if I was prepared for it and I said yes.

            After contacting several schools, mostly around this area, I stumbled upon Southern Connecticut. I liked it. I was told by many people that you should like the school you want to go to regardless if you play football or not. I thought that this campus size and population was perfect. Once I met the coaching staff it was a no-brainer. It just seemed to fit. They were all very nice and taught me everything I needed to know about the school before I made a decision-no gimmicks.

            Looking back on the decision I made and the decisions I could have made, I feel like I made the right choice becoming a member of the owls here at Southern Connecticut State University.

Majors Expo (safari #10)

                  I attended the major’s expo that was held in the ballroom in the Adanti center on October 19^th. Even though I am already a business management major, I thought it would be a good Idea to check it out to see if I wanted to change to something I would find more interesting. What I found out is that southern has a great and wide array of different majors. After looking around I stumbled upon Accounting. I never really thought of accounting, but I have always been good at math. After all I have not been doing well in my microeconomics class, so this might be something to seriously consider.

Out of my comfort bubble

            It is not easy for someone to do something extremely out of his or her comfort zone. That is why they call it a comfort zone; you should feel all right doing it. However, when you expand what you are comfortable doing, you are always moving forward in your life, which should be everyone’s goal. It is not easy, but if you expand your comfort zone in a good way then you should feel better in general.

            I have never been one that likes quitting things. I was always taught growing up that once you make a commitment, you must stick with it until it is through. That is why I never quit I sports team growing up no matter if I hated going to it everyday or not. Whether I did not like the coach, the players, or just the sport in general I always had to stick it out through the end.

            The same thing goes for school with classes. Throughout middle school and high school I never dropped a class that I was having trouble in. I always tried to work my hardest to get the grade up before the report cards came out. This was easier to do in high school because you had a lot of easy homework grades and extra credit you could do. That is not the same in college.

            This year in college was the first time I ever really quit something. I count dropping a class quitting, and I dropped microeconomics this past Monday, so I look at this as the first thing I have ever quit. The reason I did this was simply to help myself out. I had a bad grade, and the only way to bring it up was to do well on tests, which has not worked out for me thus far. The choice was easy to protect my GPA; I needed to drop the class. I do not see this becoming a habit for me, as I will try to do my best in every class I take throughout college.

Final Critical Thinking Video

First Semester Midterms

            After a half of a semester here at southern, I feel that I am in a good spot. I came to this school mainly because of football, and I liked the campus, but the reason I am here is for academics and they definitely come first.

            I had trouble in one class, which was microeconomics. This class is somewhat challenging, but I thought that I knew the information well. Once I got to the tests, however I did not do so well. This whole class is based on tests too, so when I got a 61% on the first test it was kind of an eye opener. The teacher lets you drop one test though so I just figured I would study a lot harder the next test and then the first one will not matter. So I studied a lot for the second test, and did not do well, in fact I did worse than before. That’s why I decided to drop that course, I will probably take it again next semester and maybe a different teacher will be a different story, but we will see.

            Other than my microeconomics grade I feel that I am sitting pretty well. I have an A in anthropology and I am doing well in Inquiry and Computer Science. At the same time, I can raise all of those grades, which will be my goal for the second part of the semester.

            The class I have to focus on the most the rest of the way is Zoology. It is a Monday and Wednesday lecture class and a Friday lab. It is almost like having two different classes because we have different teachers and talk about completely different things. The tests are tough because the words we have to study are very difficult. They are not normal words and they are very long, which makes it difficult to memorize. I have a C right now, but I don’t think that it will be a problem to raise.

Time Management with Long Term Projects

             I started off this project by brainstorming questions. I came up with five good questions that I wanted to ask people. After this I ended up narrowing the questions down to three. I think that this was the hardest part for me because it basically made what my whole project was going to be on.

            Once I got the questions down, I wanted to lay out the structure that I was going to use for the video. This is just the way I like to think. Instead of creating all of the videos first and then adding titles to them, I like to have everything all set up before I start recording. This makes it as easy as a drag and a drop into iMovie to finish my project.

            Transferring my videos to iMovie is really easy. In the first video I made, I used Photo Booth so it was right on the computer to begin with all I had to do was drag it into iMovie. With my camera it was about the same thing, with just one more step. I had to connect the camera to the computer and open up the videos in iPhoto. From there I just saved them to the desktop and then dragged them right onto iMovie.

            I still have to interview a Senior leader and a staff member, but I now know who I am going to interview and it will be as easy as finding them and recording them for a few minutes, then my project will be done.

            As for time management, the best advice that I can give on a long term project like this is to start early. The worst thing that you can do is wait until the last minute. Not only will you be stressing, but your project will not come nearly as good as it would if you plan out your time well.

Troubleshooting

            I have not really had any troubles in making my video. For the most part thus far it has been pretty straightforward. This weekend I went home and brought back a video camera, so it is easier now to transport my videos right to iMovie. I have no problem with sound, or adding transitions, or anything like that.

            The only thing that I can see being a potential problem, is finding more people to interview such as teachers and older students. But at the same time I have an idea of whom I want to interview and I don’t think it will be a problem. It is just a matter of me seeing them and asking them questions. I will get that done within the next couple days. I think that I am on the right track and I should not have a problem finishing this.

Video Project

As of now in my critical thinking video, I believe I am having a good start. I have one question done for my interviews and that’s it for video. But, I am pretty familiar with iMovie so I do not think that I will have any troubles. I started filming using my webcam on my laptop since I do not have a regular camera, but hopefully if I can go home this weekend I will grab a camera, which will make the video process easier.

I have used iMovie before in high school so I have had practice with it. I feel like there is still a lot for me to learn though, through special effects and transitions, but I am trying to expand my knowledge of the software.

As of right now, I have my outline set on iMovie which consists of my main title page and all of the title pages for the different questions I am asking. I have a good idea of who I am going to interview for my project, although I do not really know what teachers to ask. Also I feel like interviewing a teacher through my webcam would not be the best way to do it, so hopefully I can get my camera this weekend.

I plan on adding music and transitions to my project every chance I get. Once I get all of my videos done, it will be easy to finalize the video since I already have my outline all set. I hope that the people I interview will give me great and in-depth answers to what they really think about critical thinking. If I have any trouble with someone giving me not quality answers then I do not think I will have a problem finding another person, its just a matter of if I will have time to finish it.

Overall, I am not worried about the situation I am in and I don’t have any questions about the project in general.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgKmDxgdT8U

Critical Thinking in Business

            My major is business management. Although I am just starting out in business and I do not know that much about the major, after doing research in the library I found a book about decision making that I feel can be used in the business management field. The book I found was The Harvard Business Review on Decision Making. I was a little skeptical picking out a book that was written by the Harvard Business School because I thought the wording would be way out of my league being a beginner in business. This book was actually a pretty easy read, the chapters are set up nicely and it is easy to find exactly what you are looking for. I did not read the whole book, but I look through the table of contents to find a chapter that would best suit how to think critically in the business field.

            The chapter I looked up was titled: Humble Decision Making, written by Amitai Etzioni. I found a quote that I feel can really help in making decisions if you are a business manager: “A new method of decision making is actually an old one, used by doctors for centuries and by many managers. It is called mixed scanning or adaptive decision making, and it involves two sets of judgments: broad basic choices about an organization’s goals and policies and a small, experimental decisions based on in-depth examination of a focused subset of facts and choices.” What I get out of this quote is that you should not over analyze situations. When you get facts maybe about how much a product is selling, or how little a product is selling, you can adjust to help your business out.

            This blog was tough for me because I am not too familiar with how business management works yet, I just have this as my major because I feel like it is interesting and I can learn more about it as I take more classes.

            Harvard Business Review on Decision Making. Boston: Harvard Business School, 2001. Print.

Music and Exercise.. It can be a lifesaver

            As we get deeper into the college experience, the stress will continue to grow. In the first few weeks, I personally have not had any real stressful assignments due. The first one I believe will be this Anthropology paper that is due next Thursday. I looked up several stress relievers online and found a few that I find myself doing.

            The first is Music Therapy. Music is such a powerful thing to us. Different songs can change our mood almost instantly. If you are stressed out, play some music that will unwind you, whatever that may be. What I think of when I think about Music Therapy would be the sound of the ocean. This for me is a very calming noise and it is what I will play when I become stressed out.

            Exercise is a huge part of my life, and has been for a long time. Most of the time I do it to train for the sport that I am doing at that time, but sometimes if I am just having a bad day, I will throw on my Nikes and go for a run. The roads by my house allow me to run right on the riverside. This is very calming to me. I am all by myself and I can jus think about whatever is bothering me. Also, working out is not just a physical healer. Exercise increases Endorphins, which is the body’s natural painkiller. Also, your brain releases Serotonin, nicknamed the “Happy Hormone”. This is why you feel better right after you workout.

            So, you have a huge exam coming up and you feel like you barely know the material. Instead of getting stressed out, relax. Manage your time correctly and leave time to take a relaxing run every once in a while, or leave time to throw on the headphones and listen to some relaxing music. You will probably do better on the exam then you would if you crammed and got stressed out.

Fight the Sickness

            There is no way to avoid getting sick. Especially in the college environment where you may be up really late and be around other people who are sick all of the time.  If you do get sick you may miss some really important things, such as class or events around campus that you must attend. It is a must that you have a connection in each of your classes that will write notes for you and give you any homework assignments or handouts that you missed. This way you will not fall too far behind if you happen to miss a class for sickness.

            I avoid sickness as much as can by taking vitamins every morning, and getting as much sleep as possible. It is also important to watch what you eat. I believe that being healthy starts with a healthy diet. That is why every time I am at Conn hall I eat a salad before my meal. It is not much but it could have a huge effect on whether you get sick or not. The vitamins I take every morning are the normal Centrum everyday vitamins. This has a huge effect on how I feel every day. I can tell if I have not been taking them because I forget. I can feel my nose starting to get stuffed up, and my throat swells up. I advise everyone who is not taking an every day vitamin to start right away.

            Also, if all lines of defense fail, and you do end up getting sick, you can visit the health center. It is located in Granoff Hall across from the Moore Field House on Wintergreen Avenue. During the school year they are open Monday-Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm.  They are even here during the summer if you ever get sick near campus. The times are the same as during the school year except Friday they get out at 4pm.

Time Management

            Most people, without knowing, spend time on social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. I don’t know the exact amount, but I can bet that I am up there in time just with everyone else. Although I spend a lot of time on the Internet, I also feel like I spend a majority of my free time on homework.

            What takes up a majority of my time is football. If I have 70 hours outside of class, I bet I spend half of that if not more doing football related activities. In high school, sports were very laid back for the most part, and people joined them maybe to have fun with their friends more than because they actually like the sport. In college it is very different. Sports in college are like a job. Some of the times you can even get paid to play, through scholarships.

            Although sports take up a considerable amount of time, they also help you with your studies. A first semester freshman is required to take study hall for 5 hours a week. Also if you dip below a certain Grade Point Average then you are required to take it. Along with study hall, we have tutors available at all times in any subject that you need help in.

            As for the time when I’m not doing my work or in Football, I try to find every moment possible to take a power nap. With all of the hard work I have to do in the classroom and on the field, I wouldn’t be able to function without them. But at the same time, I’m always hanging out with my friends in Chase Hall. We have our group of friends over in our dorm all the time.

            I think I do a pretty good job managing my time. I try to get as much work done as possible so I don’t fall behind in my classes.

Why be a CC?

            The CC on my floors name is Joe. When I talked to him, he let me know what it is like to be the Community Coordinator. The part that most interested me was free housing. Housing is a majority of the cost to attend school here, and if you can live for free, that is a huge perk. You also get to help everyone with any questions they have. I would like the responsibility and authority that they possess. Everyone respects them, and if they don’t, then you will just get in trouble time after time. Also, you get your own bathroom in your own room, which is great.

Blog Surfing

            While browsing through some blog posts, I saw some in particular that caught my eye. Jason Kelley posted the first and it is titled “The Definition of Success”. He talks about how success takes hard work and dedication, which I also believe in. The examples he gave were The Beatles and Derek Jeter. Those are two great examples because The Beatles, in many peoples opinion is the greatest band of all time and they overcame so much to be who they ended up; and Derek Jeter because he is not only one of the greatest shortstops of all time, but also one of the greatest Yankees and players ever. One quote I loved was when he said, “Greatness should not be handed to you”. This quote can not only be carried out in music and sports, but in everything you do. It can be directly translated to this class and to college in general. You must try hard in the classroom to get a good grade; the teacher won’t (or shouldn’t) give you a good grade for doing nothing.

            The second blog I like was Tina’s titled “Southern Safari: Baby Steps to Getting Involved”. Tina talks about the Club Fair and how she signed up for four clubs. I believe that this is a great way to meet new people and learn more about southern as a whole. Even though we have been here for a few weeks now, there are still so many people that we don’t know and so many potential friendships that we could form just from joining clubs like Tina did.

            Lastly, I liked Nina’s blog titled “Club Fair”. Although it was the same topic as Tina’s, I liked how Nina mentioned the Colleges Against Cancer group. This hit me because recently, one of my best friends was diagnosed with Leukemia. He is 19 and we have been best friends since Elementary School. Right now he is receiving treatment in Boston and is doing well.  She says over the past 6 years SCSU has raised over $180,000 for the American Cancer Society which is outstanding.

FreelanceSwitch Blog

I found a blogging site called FreelanceSwitch. The website it can be found at is http://freelanceswitch.com and consists of a plethora of writers blogging about a number of different topics. Mainly involving the struggles or triumphs of people who are considered “freelancers”.  A freelancer is basically a self-contractor who goes around and does a wide variety of projects from anyone who offers them. Two of the individual blogs that caught me eye were “Are you getting clients from LinkedIn?” and “6 Steps to Focus Your Blog Content to Your Target Audience.”

            In the blog post “Are you getting clients from LinkedIn?” I found it pretty shocking the number of people who are now getting jobs straight from social networking sites. LinkedIn is a site that you can share ideas with other professionals in the same line of work that you are in. This helps out freelancers because they can find jobs from anywhere in any line of work they wish to choose. The blog stated that LinkedIn has 120 million members world wide, which 950,000 members use the word “freelance” in their title. I found this interesting because it just makes you realize how much the Internet affects the way we function now days. It is apparent that if you are looking for a job but you aren’t technologically advanced, or know how to work the Internet, then you are going to struggle finding a job.

            I thought that the blog post “6 Steps to Focus Your Blog Content to Your Target Audience.” Was relevant to our class, because we blog three times a week and should know every secret possible to be successful. The 6 steps are to: Define your niche, define your customer, research your customer, plan your blog, develop your content, measure your success, and wrap it up. All of these steps can be useful in the way I write my blogs from now on. Overall, FreelanceSwitch is a great site if in the future you find yourself as a freelancer.

SCSU Football 2011 (Safari #5)

The first game of the 2011 Football Season was held in New Britain, CT. We played our long-time rival Central Connecticut. We normally do not play Central because they are division 1-AA and we are division 2, but it is always fun to renew a rivalry that used to be big.  After an interesting game, we lost 35-21 but were in it the whole game. I was on the sidelines for the whole time writing down all the plays and it was a great experience for me. It was my first time being involved with a college football game and I will cherish that first moment for the rest of my life.

Become a Professional!

           In the article “Outliers-10,000 Hours for Success”, it speaks about how if you want to be successful in what you do, you need to put 10,000 hours of practice into it. They give an example of the violinists from the Academy of Music in Berlin. After dividing the musicians into groups of the stars, the good, and the unlikely to go professional, they found out that the stars practiced 10,000 hours in their life, while the good practiced 8,000 and the others 4,000. One time I was watching a professional baseball game on television and the announcers said something similar to this. The announcers also said that you need 10,000 hours of practice throughout your life if you want to become a pro. My brother loves baseball and now he bases his future plans on that. If he wants to go far, then he will have to practice – a lot.

            I also read the “Myth of Multitasking” article. I feel like this can be directly related to the “10,000 hours for success” article. It says that multitasking is becoming more culturally acceptable. I can see it since everyone now a days is on a cell phone every time they do something else. Even now while I’m writing this I’m listening to music. Multitasking is everywhere you go, without even knowing. But does that mean the same for 10,000 hours of practice? Do the hours you practice while multitasking count towards you ultimate goal of 10,000? Or is it not as valuable as the hours you practice while not multitasking? I believe that it is not the same, you will get more out of something if that is the only thing you are focusing on at that particular time. I feel like switch tasking would be a more efficient way to get something done if you want to be good at both things you are doing.

How to succeed in college! :)

After reading the articles “How to become a deep thinker in college?” I agree with the statement that you must take classes that you are interested in to unlock your full potential. If you do not want to learn about the topic, then you will not be willing to put all your effort to learn more. Also you need to be able to manage your time and leave more than enough time to study. I can relate to this because football takes up a lot of time. I really have no free time because any time I’m not involved with football, I have to be studying if I plan on getting any sort of good grade, or if I plan on becoming a deeper thinker.

Also I found “Hard Work or Work Smart” to be interesting. It is a huge question whether people succeed more being a hard worker or a smart worker. The basic idea is that you need to work both hard and smart to succeed. My question is how do you know when you succeed? Do you succeed when you are ultimately happy? Being happy results in how you pick your classes, if you chose a class that’s hard to sit through and pay attention then the semester will be a long one indeed. When you work hard, you will gradually become an excelling student, and your grades will improve greatly. Being a hard working, dedicated student will help you succeed in so many areas in the classroom. Some students sit back and relax instead of doing their work because essentially they aren’t satisfied with their classes, and therefore become a failure in all aspects of the college life.

College is a stepping-stone to the future, and if you can’t handle being on your own, then life will be a constant struggle. Working hard will result in success, so focus and become the person that you were born to be.

Gym Time!!!

For this weeks campus safari I went to the fitness center, which is located in the student center. It’s hours of operation are as follows: Monday-Thursday from 7 AM to 10PM and Friday 7AM-8PM also Saturday from 9:30 AM until 4:30PM. To round the weekend off it is open Sunday from 2PM until 7PM. The cost to join is 60 dollars a semester. I counted out 41 machines in the fitness center, not including the benches. One class that I would be interested in taking Zumba and the time of that class is 7:15PM Monday, 5PM on Tuesday and then Thursday 12:30PM