14B I Am Thankful

I am thankful for so many things here at Southern. The first thing I am thankful for is how friendly and supportive the Southern community is here. Ever since I have stepped foot on the campus back in June for orientation I have felt as if I really belong here because of how friendly the staff and the students are. I know I have the support of the staff and the friends I have made if I ever need assistance in my studies or my life on campus.

Another thing I am thankful for is my cheerleading team. We all support and push each other to achieve our potential inside and outside of practice. At practice we motivate each other to get new skills such as tumbling and stunting. Even when we fail, we push each other to do better the next time. Outside of practice, we make sure everyone’s grades are in good standing. We also try to spend time with each other when we aren’t at practice. The support of these twenty four girls, one boy and two coaches have really made this semester easier. I know if I ever need help with anything, my team will always be there for me!

Overall I am so thankful for the time I have spent here at Southern the past couple of months. The support I have from this school really has made this transition into college so much easier than it would have been without them. I am so thankful for the friends I have made this semester also. Outside of school and cheerleading I know there is always someone else there for me, to talk to and to have fun with. I am thankful for the past couple month I have spent here at college, the friends I have made, the support I am given, and the success I have had so far!

14A Time To Relax

My first semester of college has had its ups and downs and I am ready for some stress free relaxation with my friends and family. When I get home I am going to spend the first night with my Mother, Father and especially my sister Candace, who I haven't seen since August. I am also going to visit my grandma Sophie at her nursing home, I miss her a lot and haven't had the chance to see her since I’ve been at school. Along with spending time with my family, this year, Thanksgiving dinner is going to be held at my house and my entire family will be there. I am very excited to see my family this week, they have always been a huge part of my life and its been really different not seeing them everyday.

Along with spending time with the family, I am going to catch up with friends from high school. My high school’s Thanksgiving football game is home this year and I am going to visit my old cheerleading team. It is also senior night and I want to be there to watch the girls that I have cheered with for many years walk across the field and cheer at their last game. Cheshire’s Thanksgiving game is biggest game of the season, not only because they are playing their rively team Southington, but all Cheshire high school alumni and recent graduates attend the game and catch up with friends. I can’t wait to meet up with my cheerleading team and old friends at this game.  

I am going to use this break as time to destress and relax before finals begin. Spending time with friends and family will definitely take my mind off of the stress of being a college student. This break will help me focus when I come back to school on my finals and all my final assignments as the semester comes to an end.

13V Purpose

Purpose - the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

Purpose is this weeks vocabulary word. Having a purpose in whatever you are doing is very important. I strongly believe that those who find purpose in everyday situations, tend to be more successful. For me, being a college student gives me a lot of purpose. What I am doing now, will affect me later in life, so I’m trying to make my college experience very purposeful for my future.

Two words I have learned this week are trumpery and snarky. Trumpery refers to worthless nonsense. Snarky refers to testy or irritable; short.

13I Registration... Oh My

Registration was just as stressful as I’d imagine it would be. I woke up at 5:30 AM to ensure I was going to get all the classes I needed. The night before registration, the internet in everyone’s rooms on the 5th floor of Chase stopped working. Everyone was sitting in the common room about twenty minutes before registration opened at 6:01 AM. About ten minutes for registration, the wifi turned off on my computer, which logged me off banner web, and kept flashing an “Access Denied” screen whenever I tried to register. A wave of panic come over me and I dreaded not getting the classes I needed to get! For over a half an hour I sat on the homepage of myscsu and kept refreshing the page until finally I was able to get onto the registration page.

Once I typed my pin in, I quickly typed the CRN numbers and to my surprise, I got 3 out of 5 classes right away. I was so excited to get into psychology, spanish and journalism because I knew those were the classes that were going to fill up quickly. I then tried my second choice classes for math and english and was out of luck. I then tried my third choice, and once again I was out of luck. Frantically I searched up classes in the add/drop and was devastated that there were only a few spots left during times I could take classes. I found an english and math class and quickly signed up for them before they filled up.

Registration was a process I am going to dread every semester, but I’m hoping it will get easier every semester because as freshmen we were the last to pick and there was barely any classes left. I am also hoping that I can find a way to get early registration from either cheerleading or becoming a note taker because trying to plan classes before 5pm without early registration was extremely difficult! Hopefully next semester will be a little easier, and that I have internet in my room!

13B The More Creativity, The Better

Now that I know what topic I am doing for my final video project (adjusting to dining hall food) I can start thinking about how I can make my video stand out and be different from everyone elses. I also want to make a fun and entertaining video that wouldn’t bore anyone who watches it. The only way I can create a video that stands out and is exciting is to add creativity to my ideas. Instead of just presenting my ideas and facts for five to six minutes in a boring way, I can present the information in a fun and creative way. The first thing I can do is add music to my video. Having background music in this video will keep the audience’s attention by keeping their focus. Music helps set certain moods and can sometimes persuade how a person feels about a certain topic. Another way I can make a creative video is making a funny skit that showcases what a student experiences walking into a dining hall and having so many options healthy and unhealthy food choices and their internal struggle to pick to eat healthier. This could be a skit that many people could relate to because many students do truly try to eat healthy but when they see pizza for example, they give in. For my skit I can show a student who is conflicting between eating a healthy well balanced meal and eating fries, pizza, etc.

Creating a video that has a high level of creativity will help keep the audience’s attention and make my video more exciting. Using music, good visuals and a funny skit will help create a video that is rich in creativity.

13A Creating A College-Level Video

For my final video project, the problem I have chosen that freshmen in college experience their first year is adjusting to dining hall food. Instead of just talking about the different food options Southern’s Dining services provide, I want to discuss the freedom students now have with deciding what they want to eat compared to just eating whatever their parents cook them for dinner. This new freedom can either benefit or have a negative effect on students. Those who benefit from this freedom will choose to eat healthier than they might have at home, because of the wide range of healthy options the dining services provide. Students who don’t benefit from this freedom will eat unhealthy foods everyday and may gain the dreaded “freshman 15” which is the average weight a student may gain their first year in college. In my video project, I want to talk about the healthy options Southern’s Dining services provide for students and the not so healthy options and how students can benefit from this freedom and escape/overcome gaining excessive weight their first year.

In order to make my video take on college level thinking, I need to make sure I have facts and supporting evidence to support my ideas during this project. Outside research on the dining services here at Southern will be needed to provide information to those who watch my video on how to eat healthy and adjust to dining hall food smoothly. I also need to create a video that is well thought out and has a beginning, middle and end. This project is not something I can start last minute and still expect to receive a decent grade, I need to work continuously on it until it is due. In this project I need to think outside the box and create a video that isn’t just facts about Southern’s Dining services, I have to make a fun and interesting take on this topic. Also having ideas and facts flow together and doesn’t confuse the audience is another way to include college level thinking within my video. These facts and evidence supporting my ideas on the dining services will help me prove my thoughts. Creating a professional and well put together video will make this video college level material.

Since this is the last grade I will receive in Inquiry this semester, I want to do very well and make sure I am creating a video that displays college level thinking. If I follow the points I just described that can help me create a college level video final, I believe I can do very well on this project and receive a good grade if I put the time and effort into this project.

12I Trip Downtown!

Today, saturday November 16th, my friends and I decided to take a break from the normal conn hall dinner and take a trip downtown to grab some food. We waited across the street from the Wintergreen building and caught the 5:30 B bus and headed downtown! The city bus took us through New Haven and dropped us off at the green located near many delicious restaurants. We decided to eat at Shake Shack which is about a block away from the green. As we walked in the smell of burgers and fries filled our noses and we were ready to eat. After we finished our meal we walked around downtown and did some exploring and then stumbled upon a Walgreens where we picked up a few things we needed for our dorm. When we were ready to head back to campus, we walked back to the green and waited across from Chipotle for the B bus to pick us up and bring us back to campus. It was a nice break from the normal dining hall food and to have a night in the city!