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

What College Means To Me

College, to me, is a place to expand your education, meet new friends, and establish a basic knowledge to get a job that will be able to support yourself and your family in the future. Being a college student means that we are now truly adults and no one is going to look after you with anything you do. Whether it’s for schoolwork or your social life, you will be on your own. I am very excited to be a student at Southern especially because of the campus. I love that it’s a small enough campus so that you do not get lost or have to travel very far for classes, but it is also big enough where you do not know every person and you have the ability to meet new people everyday. Also the people are very nice here. Its not that easy to find such a tight-nit community such as we have here. There are always community groups helping out whether it’s picking up trash or rebuilding homes. This campus is very diverse and everyone seems to like people based on their personalities rather than how they look or dress. I am very decided to take the field this year in Football and represent Southern from an athletic standpoint. For this semester I am expecting a lot of work and a lot of fun. It will be a challenge to balance schoolwork, athletics, and social time. I am excited to meet new people and learn new information. The classes I am taking are intriguing and I cannot wait to expand my knowledge. My goals are to make the deans list and excel in every class I am taking. Also I want to develop friendships that will last a lifetime. I am so excited that we are finally starting this semester and I am looking forward to many great times here at Southern!

Getting To Know Me

5 words that describe me: family, fun, athletic, hard working, loyal

Family is so important to me. No matter what happens they will always be there for me. I have an older sister and a younger brother along with my parents. I can talk to them about anything. Whenever something happens where I just need a friend I know that I can count on all of them to be there for me. Along with my brother, sister and parents, my grandparents are also great. They love attending my sporting events and they support me with all my decisions. I would not be where I am today without every member of my family.

Fun is something that everyone needs to have. Without it life would be dull and boring. In this photo my friends and I dressed up for the midnight showing of one of the Harry Potter movies. I am not really a big Harry Potter fan, but it was something that I thought would be funny and fun to do. I love to have a good time and I am looking forward to more fun adventures here at Southern.

I have been involved in sports ever since I could walk. It is a tradition in my family to be an athlete and everyone is one. I could not imagine where my life would be without sports. It is a great way to meet new people and create friendships that will last a whole lifetime. I've been playing Football, Basketball, and Baseball for my whole life. Football is my favorite to play and I am continuing to play at Southern for the Owls.

No one ever gets anywhere without hard work. No matter what you are doing at any time you need to be working hard if you wish to succeed. In my experiences I have had to put a lot of hard work in to be successful especially in athletics. College is going to require more hard work than High School did and this is something that everyone is going to have in common if we wish to do well in school.

I am a very loyal person. when it comes to be family and friends I will do anything to protect them. Never have I gone behind someones back or started a rumor about them in any way. It is very important to me to be a great friend and it is something that I take pride in.