Diversity Event

I attended the same diversity event as Shelby and we listened to Isiah Warner talk about how he has helped many minorities get the opportunity to continue with their higher education and what success he has had.  He presented in the Howe Hall Auditorium

He talked about how he was used a program he called the LA-STEM project where older members of the group mentored younger members and how it improved not only the younger members but how the older members improved their grades so that they could be even better role models to the new members. He focused on the areas of science, math, and engineering. He mainly talked about how it helped in chemistry because that is where they showed the biggest improvements. In this program Mr. Warner has showed that he has improved the education for minorities, especially African Americans, and was looking to obtain more funding so he could outstretch his program and help improve minorities chances at gaining a higher education all over instead of just at his university.

How I've Grown

In just one semester I have seen many changes in myself. They range from the way I dress, how I carry myself, and just how I describe myself as an individual. This is expected in college with the added freedom and responsibility, but it has been especially good for me because I see things in a more positive way and I am a much more positive person in general.

I have really grown when it comes to schoolwork though because I am way more self reliant and don't have my parents to guide me through and to make sure all of my work gets done. I have actual study habits now and I do my work ahead of time (most of the time) and  I make sure to do all the work that is required even if I don't exactly know how. Sometimes I will go to my friends or someone that has done it before. I swallowed my pride and got a tutor this semester because I thought it was necessary.

One huge thing for me is I don't doubt my decisions anymore, which is a gigantic leap for me. I always used to look for approval from everyone; mom, girlfriend, friends, just anyone. But now I can confidently make a decision and feel good about it, so now people come to me for that reassurance and I try to puch them to do make it for themselves so that they are happy about it.

So there are some of the ways that I have grown at ISU. I know it kind of corny but college has really helped me.

The Hixson Award

The Hixson scholarship to me is more than just a scholarship. To me it means college, without the scholarship I probably wouldn't be here at ISU because I wasnt't going to pay for the loans later on. I know most everyone has the same story if you applied for the Hixson award because being financially needy was a requirement but I know of a few people that will get out of college debt free because of this award and that makes me that much more fortunate for it because I unfortunately do have loans, so me getting it was an even bigger help. Basically all I'm saying is that the Hixson award is everything to me because it made college possible.
I actually know someone from my hometown that applied for the Hixson scholarship and did not get it, so she is paying for most of college with loans I believe, which I would not be able to do.

Social Media Week

Okay so as far as social media goes I definitely leardned a lot. I learned that Facebook is even more horrible than I had previously thought. Just kidding. I did however learn that Facebook in most cases is more damging to friendships than people realize. Such as what was dicussed in the artical "How Facebook Ruins Relationships," it discusses how people are more bold with what they will say on Facebook rather than what they will say in person. So thwt can obviously be damaging to a relationship, even if you were in just a debate with your friends and not an argument.
I never really got on Facebook anyway because I didn't see the point in it, but with employers looking at it and even teachers I don't mess with it even more now because I feel i is a waste of time, but I do still have it for future employers. What I did like about Facebook were the clever statuses people posted, that is all I liked Facebook for, so when we ha to do this social media week project I chose Twiiter because all it is are statuses.
Twitter has kept me entertained but as I get more used to it all I do is look at @MensHumor, but I do follow companies that pertain to my major so I do get updates on things like that, so all in all I do use Twitter to be productive and for recreational use.

MBTI

This MBTI thing kind of reinforced what I already knew because my parents when I was littlethey woukd make me make flash cards for my science tests and say them out loud so I heard them, saw them, and wrote them down. So at an early age I was forced into the three ways of learning, so I kind of got an advantage early because I just kept with the three styles of learning absent mindedly.
I liked this assignment though because it made me really thinkabout myself and break down the components to help me better myself, which I have already put to use on my homework. Or like it made look at procrastinating in a different way, such as I know I procrastinate, but I feel like I do my best work when I'm pressed for time. This is true with me from the science fair from my first blog, and that is not the only time I've done that. For example, With my first Calculus test I only studied for a half hour before the test and I got a 91% on it.
So its not that I procrastinate I just like the added pressure of a fast approaching deadline. And it has taught me to incorporate different types of learning styles into my studying.

My Bucket List

I think this blog is one that I really have to think about because there are so many things that I want to do in my life and that there is no possible way to do it all. I have already accomplished one of my short term goals which was to get to Iowa State and become the first person in my family to come to university. It is a great feeling and I hope that I can make this a tradition in my family.
Some other things on my bucket list would be the typical stuff like skydiving, bungee jumping, learning a new language, make a couple life long friends, and thingslike that. But I can't go into detail about everything I want to do, so I am going to talk about the ones that are most important to me.
One of the short terms things on my bucket list is to walk around Lake Laverne with my girlfriend, and speaking of my girlfriend, propose to her before I get out of college. We have been dating for two and a half years right now, so it only seems right. She is a big part of my life and I would like to continue to keep her a big part of my life.
But before we get too sentimental lets get back on track another big thing on my bucket list is to graduate from Iowa State with a 3.5 GPA and then continue on to get my masters.
Those are the big things things on my bucket list for now, but I'm sure it will change and be added to in the future, so I guess that it is more of a working bucket list. Well that is all I have for now.

My Best Moment that Shouldn't Have Been

          I am wirting the Science Fair when I was in 8th grade because although what I did was wrong it was just a funny story, that I will not repeat at Iowa State because I will not get the same results here. But I think that its a funny story.
          One of my best moments in academics was when I was in 8th grade. I was working on the Science Fair with one of my best friends, Danny Potter. We were doing out project on Which Wood Burns the Longest, mostly because we just wanted to light something on fire. So as you can see this project was not well thought through or even academically based.
          When we started working on this the Science Fair was on the following Monday, so we had only started the weekend before it was due. We were really working hard on the research to back up what we found, making graphs of the results, all the basic things you need for the science fair. We did make sure that our parents did not help so that at least it was all done by us. We did finish it that weekend and presented it on that Monday. After everyone had presented we came back that night to find out how everyone did. The Blue ribbons were passed out, we didn't get one; the Red ribbons were passed out, we didn't get one; then finally they were going to pass out the one Gold ribbon, the winner, which we figured at this time we were just going to get nothing and move on to the next project in school, we just wanted to get it done. We were the ones that won the Science Fair that year, which stunned absolutely everyone, up to and icluding our parents and the teacher, because she wasn't a judge but knew how hard we had or hadn't worked. So we ended up going to the State Science Fair at Simpson College and got third in our division.
        As you can tell by now our parents were happy for us, but not pleased at how this didn't teach us a lesson. At the time I thought that this was awesome and that I was the best thing there was; but now that I look back I still think that it is funny but I will not be able to do that anymore because the projects will get harder and much more important than the Science Fair in 8th grade. So it was a best moment because even though I put it off that much I still won, and because even though I won I learned that that will not happen everytime or even most of the time so I need to stop procrastinating. That is a moment when I was at my best.