Slow Down!

          Blooming off the Industrialization period, the pace of the world has sped up as whole. Sometimes we forget that we are a part of nature; we forget we are not invincible and we forget we are just like the rest of nature. Humans are one of the only species in the world that has sleep patterns that we have developed. Our days run nonstop until night time where we crash for seven to eight hours and wake up to do it all again.

         Technology has completely changed the way of live all over the world. We have the world through our phone. We have fast pace travel such as planes, and even cars that speed down local motor ways. Technology is a great invention and offers the world great opportunities that we have never had before; however, it is also brining great stress to our society.

          It is crazy, we spend every minute of our day completely packed and scheduled. There is no time for rest relaxation, and personal time. I believe this is a major problem in America. There is no down time. Americans work long days than continue their work day at home. Even the time you have at your home tends to be spent on your phone either talking to someone, checking your email or your Facebook. I believe this is bad for our health and it is leading to an increase in anxiety. I know that I personally do not have enough time just to sit back and relax. Every second of my day is fully packed and I think I am beginning to see the beginning of some of the problems. Sure it does not allow me enough time to get me in trouble, but it does not allow enough time for me to maintain my health.

          I believe Americans will run into big troubles if we do not slow ourselves down. The website below agrees with the fact that Americans should slow down. They website offers a variety of different ways to slow down. The biggest recommendation is to enjoy nature. Go for a walk outside or invest in plants for the house. 

Travel!

         I love everything about traveling: packing the journey, the excitement of being in a new place away from home, and the experiences you will have. So far in my life I have traveled to three different countries outside of the United States, and may different states inside our borders. I have traveled to England several times because I have a lot of family who lives over there, I have traveled to Paris, and I have also traveled to Canada. Each trip brought new experiences and different memories.

          I believe traveling is important because traveling allows a person to become acquainted and familiarized with different societies. There is also a great amount of different historical points and landmarks, which are interesting to visit. A great program that southern offers is the travel abroad program. This is an opportunity everyone in the university should at least look into.

         When I looked into the program I thought the study abroad trip to Guatemala looked interesting. It looked like a good opportunity to both explore a new country, and gain experience in the medical field. I have always wanted to go to a foreign country to help out medically. There are so many countries who are not well equipped in the medical field. I am a biology major and I want to go into the medical field. Traveling to Guatemala would offer me a lot of experience and it would look great on resumes.

         I think it is a good idea to do you traveling while you are young; before you have the full time commitment of a family. It is sometimes to do the traveling you want when you have economic and family commitments. I hope to do a lot of traveling when I graduated SCSU. There are so many place in the world that would be great to visit. I hope I have the opportunity to get there, and I would encourage anyone who has thought about traveling to try to follow through with their plans. It will be an experience you will not forget.

Swishh!

On Thursday, I attended the Southern Connecticut basket ball game. This game was the basketballs team's game to celebrate home coming. The game was a scrimmage, which means they played against each other for a practice game. The game was exciting and it came to a close score. My team and I attended the game together. The game was held at the James Mores Field House. It was definitely a fun entertaining bonding experience. I originally thought that I would be bored at the game because basketball is not my favorite sport to watch on the television. However, once I got there and started to watch the game, it ended up being a lot of fun, and i got into the game. The final score of the scrimmage was 110 to 111. It was definitely a close scoring game.

I would like to attend a football game sometime soon. I really like football and I think that would be another good game to watch. I think it is important to go to school games because it shows support, which is nice, especially at home games. I hope when it come around to my competitive season, we have a lot of supporters. We will do our best trying to get people to attend the home meets at be supportive of the gymnastics team. We start competing in January so keep your eyes open for when our meets are posted! Be a proud owl fan! The games are fun, I enjoyed my time at the southern basketball game. 

Midterm Video Project

The semester so far.

Midterms were this past week. It was stressful without a doubt, but my hard work and dedication definitely paid off. I did not have too much time for myself, but it was worth it in the end. I did well on all of my midterm tests.

The week of midterms I also received all of my grades in my classes. I was happy with all of my grades. I have straight A's. I know I am doing well but it is important to me that I maintain my grades and dedications. I can see it in some of my friends and teammates that their dedication towards their school work is not as high as it was  at the beginning of the semester. I need to keep my grades up to me because it will be nothing if it have high grades at midterm; it's all about what your grades turn out to be at the end of the semester.

 

I know I am capable of doing well so I do not want to do anything less than what I was capable of. In order to maintain my grades, I will continue to do what I am doing. I will try to cut back on my stress because I need to try not to get as worked up. I need to constantly remind myself that everything will work out, and I will only do as best as I can. My time managing is working well for me; I just wish there was a little more relaxation time between school and gymnastics but there is not too much I can do about that. I will just keep pushing through, knowing the rewards will be in the future. I am thoroughly enjoying my time at SCSU so far. 

The bus...

          Drastic times call for drastic measures or so they say. Well I would not exactly call taking the bus a drastic measure; however, it was a new a and scary thing I experienced for the first time this weekend. Thursday night I got the call that no one ever wants to hear; my boyfriend was very ill and being admitted into the hospital. I was scared, but knowing there was nothing I could do Thursday night. I just prayed that he was in good hands. I knew I needed to get home though. The earliest I could leave was Saturday morning.

          The only way I could get home was by taking a bus because my parents were working. I booked the earliest bus on Saturday leaving to Boston. There was not going to be anything stopping me; I needed to be there for him when he was sick. I was at first nervous to take the bus but I knew it was my only way home. I first took a bus from New Haven to Hartford. In Hartford I had a 45 minute layover and I changed buses. From Hartford I continued on to my destination of Framingham Massachusetts. This was were by boyfriend Anthony was hospitalized. It was all together a four hour trip. It was long, but well worth it. I was glad I was able to see Anthony who was very sick. Anthony had appendicitis and bacteria in his blood which led to more complications. On Sunday night, I had to head back to school. Anthony was post surgery and stable, however I wish I did not have to leave.

          The bus ride was smooth. I was nervous at first but it was pretty straight forward. I would definitely take the bus to get home again. Although I hope in the future I hope I don't have to come home on such upsetting news. 

Time Chart

Brainstorming	Interviewing	Gathering materials	Transferring all of your materials to the computer	Learning how to use video software	Making video/ Troubleshooting
This all together too me a significant amount of time. I wanted to make sure I was going for the right ideas, and I wanted to make sure my topic was not boring. A lot of the brainstorming was done throughout the day and not at a set time. I also looked previous work from years past for inspiration.	All together I interviewed three freshmen, one upper class student, my CC and two professors. This took time because the people who were being interviewed wanted to make sure they were prepared.	I took a lot of time gathering information. I looked though books for inspirational quote which would fit in and I search for what well-known people think of critical thinking. I really tried to incorporate a variety of sources and people so the movie does not seem repetitive and tedious.	This took next to no time at all because I used my laptop to interview people, which means all of my video footage was already on the computer.	Where should I begin... This definitely took the longest out of the whole project. I was very new to Movie Maker and I needed a lot of help on learning how to use the software. I did not even know where to start with movie maker so until I could get help I improvised and just saved everything I needed on my computer.	After I got the help I needed, I was able to breeze through the video. The most time was spent trying to design the video in an intriguing manner. Cutting and pasting the interviews was a little tedious but once it was done it looked more complete. Just the finishing touches are needed now!

Video Project!

          If you have always dreamt of being a famous movie producer or a commercial advertiser, this project it for you! I am a biology major whose specialty is definitely not in technology. I am definitely a slower learner when it comes to technology, and I am a very visual learner. I have had a few problems while I have been trying to complete this project. Getting the basics completed on the project has been hard enough for me. Therefore, I am just going to worry about the details later. I first had a problem with the general use of Microsoft Movie Maker. Unable to even complete even simple steps such as uploading slides and videos... I realized I had to look around for some help. Luckily there was plenty of help to be found.

           One of the girls on my floor walked me through the program step by step. When I felt confident I knew how to use Movie Maker, I was on my way to producing my movie! until... a few steps later. The problem I am having now is uploading the video and publishing it. For my rough draft I could not even figure out how to upload my work. I had put time and effort into what was my rough draft, and I was not even able to be shown in class or emailed to get feedback from my class. But this does not mean I haven't had any feedback. I am happy to show my video to my team and to my other friends. They think it is coming along nicely, as do I.

          I cannot wait to have the finishing touches on my movie so I can see my first completed movie. I am find the help I need as I move along in my project, and it will be completed soon! 

SCSU Volunteering!

http://www.southernctowls.com/documents/2011/7/12/Muriel_Grossfeld_Invitational.pdf  

        

This Saturday, I volunteered and helped host an SCSU gymnastics invitational. It was hosted by the SCSU gymnastics team. It was located in the Field house, on the basketball court. The floor, bars, beam, and vault was set up to look very professional. The meet was called the Muriel Grossfeld invitational. Muriel Grossfeld is a world known gymnast, who proudly supports SCSU gymnastics. 

          The meet had three sessions, which ranged from level four to level seven. If you do not know anything about gymnastics, this basically means that the girls are at the beginning stages of the competitive side of gymnastics and the girls are typically very young. The teams that attended were from all around the country, such as New Hampshire and Florida.

          The SCSU gymnastics team was the help of the meet, while head coach Jerry Nelson and assistant coach Kristen Silvestri planned and supported the meet. We set up the meet Friday night by moving all of the gymnastics equipment from Pelz gymnasium to the field house.  Saturday morning, bright and early, we began three sessions of gymnastics competitions. Each session began with a warm up and concluded with awards. My job during the meet, along with one other teammate, was to collect the scores from the judges and input them into the data base on the computer so they were ready for the awards.

          I enjoyed my volunteer work that I completed on October 15, 2011. I hope to continue this meet and volunteering for the next three years of my college life. I enjoyed watching the younger level gymnastics because it brought back memories of when I was first starting off competing. It was thrilling. It was scary. And most of all it was exciting. It is amazing to watch the progression of skill level and ability in young athletes. A mixture of talent and coaches pressure, pushes young gymnasts into National and Collegiate level of competition. I like knowing that we support the continuation of gymnastics through young children by our volunteering, planning and time. 

Video project

I'm not going to lie... I am struggling with this project. Technology is definitely not my strong point. I have gotten gotten the rough draft started. I have a very detailed outline; however, I am having a very hard time making it all come together as a video. I own a HP laptop therefore I am using Microsoft Movie Maker. I have tried Googling "how to's" however they have been somewhat unsuccessful with helping me... I am a very visual learner, and I am definitely not the most technology inclines person. The amount I do not understand about Windows Movie Maker is overwhelming. This weekend, I am being tutored on how to use the software, but until then... I'm stuck.
I have completed my interviews, and I have the complete outline. Once I complete the project, I think it will be cool too see my first video I have ever made. I have never been introduced to this type of technology before. It is a good learning experience so next time I go to make a video I will know how to use Microsoft Movie Maker.


My movie title is What's With all the Critical Thinking? Its going to be focused on Critical thinking and how It will affect the rest of our lives. In College so far, we have spent a lot of time learning how critical thinking is important to our classrooms and how to apply or selves but my project will focus on Critical thinking and our Careers. Hopefully I will get this Movie Maker Up and running, and I will be on my way to becoming a a Microsoft Movie Maker wiz!

Critical Thinking from the Library

           Critical thinking... it seems to be the main focus of our college year. I always thought that coming to college I would develop a knowledge of my major which would prepare me for graduate school; however, as I have been at Southern for the past month, I have Learnt very fast that this is not the main focus of college. Critical thinking is a huge focus in college. But why? I did some research at the library this week to find out some more about Critical thinking.

          The most important thing I saw while researching is that critical thinking is everywhere! Critical thinking is not just for the talk show host; critical thinking take place in hospitals, in teaching, in history, and in virtually every subject or profession we may want to pursue. Since I hope to become a doctor and I am majoring in biology, I looked up books and articles pertaining to my field of study relating to critical thinking.

           The book I took out was called Critical Thinking In Medical-Surgical Settings. This book was very interesting! It took a case study approach to teaching how to think critically in a hospital setting. The book provides the reader with a multiplicity of different scenarios and it asks questions to invoke helpful critical thinking in specific scenarios. The book is a good tool used to introduce people new to the medical field how to think critically. I think this is useful because you will be prepared in situations which can be very serious or life threatening.

          The second article I found was more of an interesting read called, Teaching and Assessing Critical Thinking in Radiologic Technology Students. This article was long; however I grasped that there were many ways to assess and teach Critical thinking. It once again stresses the importance of learning and maintaining critical thinking in the medical field.  

           I am glad I took a trip to the library. It really opened my eyes to the types of books which could be available to me. I think I should take advantage of these resources because it will help me advance in  my degree and take out of college what I need to get. Not only will I come out of college with a biology degree, but I will also have a good understanding of how to think critically in the medical field, which will definitely be vital to my performance. 

Link to the Article:

http://etd.fcla.edu/CF/CFE0003261/Gosnell_Susan_D_021008_EdD.pdf

Career Service!

          We have all made the first step to beginning our future careers; we have made it into college to further our education.  In today's competitive market, furthering your education is almost essential to getting a successful consistent job. Today's college degree is the equivalent to the importance of the old high school degree. Now that we are all in college, a large percentage of college students are unclear what exactly they want to take from their college degree. Do you know what your major is? Do you know why you want that that degree and what kind of job you wish to attain from that degree?

            An easy way to help set goals and direct you in the path you may want it by getting familiar with the Career Services located on campus. Career services also has an online website which offers office hours and some other details about the service.

            Career services is an excellent resources for student who want to find a major that may interest them. Career services will not only help you with a major but they will also help students identify specific jobs he or she could reach for with his or her specific major. There are so many jobs out in the market, we are just not yet aware of them. Career services will introduce us to jobs we might not be aware of and the make sure we graduate prepared for the job.

            Not only does career service have their own office to help students, career services also host many events at Southern to involve students and to make them aware of what Southern has to offer. One of the most recent events they hosted was the Job Search Workshop. This was hosted on October 4th. Online there is a complete list of events hosted by Career services. Finding a career can sometimes be confusing, whether you are looking for a part time job right now, or a full time job for your future. Just make sure you are aware that there are people and recourses at Southern to help. Do not let the opportunity pass. Check out the Career services office, or check out their link below! 

http://www.southernct.edu/careerservices/ 

Stress Levels Rising?

           Stress comes upon me easily and frequently. I have a very busy schedule and sometimes I get overwhelmed with how things are going or the amount of work has yet to be some. Stress if occurs frequently for most college students. A mixture between work load, home sickness, and fatigue can bring students to the maximum tolerance. Sometimes there is little you can do about some stress that happens; however, there are ways to reduces stress and prevent stress from coming in the first place. Here are a few things that help me deal with stress...

            First, when I become overwhelmed with the work load of school. I write down everything I need to get done. Seeing it in front of me is still a little overwhelming; however, it definitely helps clarify what I need to get done. I try to go in order of what is due first but sometimes it also helps me to do the easiest things first because then I can just take them off the list. Then I only have a few things I need to get done. Whatever I do, I make sure I do not procrastinate. Procrastination just leaves my to do list over my head and it lets my stress level build.

            The second thing, that helps me with stress is working out. Working out is proven to release hormones and is scientifically proven to make you feel better. I like to relieve stress at gymnastics. Whether it is me focusing extra hard at practice or being more aggressive on skills. This helps me because normally when I do this, my skills improve which makes me happy and brings down my stress level because at least I have gymnastics going for me.

            The last thing that helps me deal with stress is to just forget about whatever is bothering me. This takes a while to master; however, if you can learn how to move on, it will help you relieve stress. Just try to put your problem in perspective. Will this problem remain a problem forever? Most-likely the answer is no. Just try to move past your problems or try to solve them, and if they are beyond your control, just try to remembered that and do not stress yourself out about it.

            Everyone is different and deals with stress in different ways however, these sure ways that help me. Just take things one step at a time and do not get stresses out about things that are out of your control. 

Under the Weather?

          It can start with a simple sneeze or a little fatigue, but to your surprise that little sneeze or fatigue could potentially lead you to something more significant which could be an impediment to your life style. People cannot normally maintain their typical schedule running on 50%; something must give.

          I am not suggesting that if you wake up fatigued in the morning because you stayed up to three in the morning talking to you boyfriend, you should skip class; however, if you wake up completely under the weather a little rest would benefit you. Perhaps sleep in to catch up on rest and let your body rejuvenate itself. Do not skip your morning class because you don't feel well then go out that night. Do not take advantage of missing classes because in a lot of classes participation and attendance count as part of your final grade. When you miss class, make sure you stay on top of the class syllabus. The last thing you need to do is fall behind or miss assignments because you're sick.

          All of these things will help if you wake up and are sick... however what do you do if your very sick and do not seem to be getting better? Located across from the Wintergreen building there is the SCSU Health Center. They are open most days until five. They have full time a doctor and full time nurses on staff. Do not be afraid to call or go in if you feel like something does not seem to be right. They might be able to prescribe something that will speed recovery, so you miss a little as possible and you will be able to get back to your normal schedule. The health center also gives vaccines on a regular basis. The most common vaccine is the Flu Shot. Try to prevent your illness before you have it. I would recommend the Flu Shot to ever student at Southern, especially to those students who live on campus.

          Whenever something unexpected comes your way, try to worry as little as possible. Stress will only make things worse. It happens to everyone and professors are typically understanding. They understand that we are not robots and occasionally we will get sick and be unable to attend class. Try your hardest to make it to every class but when you do have to miss class just be sure to stay on top of the work you missed. 

Community Coordinators

The number one recommendation for those students entering and returning to college is to get involved! It may be scary at first. You may be the shy type like me; however, becoming involved in your school and your community will enable you to have unforgettable experiences throughout your college experience. One way to get involved is to become a CC. This is short for a community coordinator. This week I looked into what becoming a CC entailed. When I talked to my CC she gave me a link that I could look up to find out more on becoming a CC. The website said, "community coordinators provide leadership for an undergraduate residence hall floor community of primarily first and second year students". Some roles of a CC a completely voluntary work, while some work such as working at the desk, is paid work.

This is definitely something I am looking into doing. I like the idea of the work it entails. CC's can input their ideas for community projects, and they are introduced to all different people. I would like a job on campus so I can have a little extra spending money for the weekends, but a full time, full commitment job is out of the question due to time restraints. If I work at the desk, or worked supervising a computer lab, I would be able to pick up as many or as little hours as I wish to have. It is not full commitment so if I decided I have a lot to do this week and I have a meet on the weekend which is limiting my time, that is fine! I simply chose to not work that week or only pick up a few hours.

Applying is simple. Online there is a webpage dedicated to aiding people looking into becoming a CC. It has all of the application requirements, and information you need. It is very user friendly. One way to better your chances of being employed or getting a job as a CC is by getting to know your own CC's. After all, they are the ones who will be hiring you. Good luck getting involved!


For more information check out this website! 

http://www.southernct.edu/departments/reslife/web_files/Residence%20Life%20%20Position%20Descriptions%20and%20Qualifications.html