End of the Week!

Today is the last actual day of classes. It is crazy to think that this is the end of the first semester of my first year of college already. It definitely has not been easy but it has been a fun, challenging, new experience and I'm sad that the first half went so fast. This first semester has already taught me so much about myself as a person and learner. It has also given me the opportunity to meet and get to know different types of people. This past week has really given me a lot of insight into my future as a student at Wartburg College. To get everything accomplished that I needed to this week, I really had to manage my time. The amount of work and studying that I had to complete this week was quite a bit and rather stressful. There were quite a few nights this week that I was up into the wee hours of the morning trying to get papers, presentations, or an understanding of material done. It hasn't been easy but I know that I can handle that amount of stress, pressure, and work. Even though this difficult week is over, I'm not quite done yet. This following week is the beginning of finals. I am fortunate enough to be done on Wednesday. I have one final on Monday, one on Tuesday, and an exam on Wednesday. I plan on taking each day one at a time and getting a lot of studying done. This probably means that I will be staying up pretty late again but it's all worth it in the end to recieve that knowledge and even more so that good grade. Although I know that a liberal education is supposed to teach students that grades aren't as valuable as we make them out to be. I still can't agree with this concept. If grades weren't important, than graduate schools and businesses wouldn't use this as a determining factor. Since they do, I believe that this is why we as students work so hard in order to get the grade. We like succeeding and recieving that feedback that lets us know we are doing well.

Stressful week

This coming week is not one that I am looking forward. The semester is coming to a close so many projects and tests are around the corner. My schedule for this coming week has already got me stressed out. For Monday, I have two presentations to do. One is my debate in Oral Comm. I am a little nervous about this because I don't like speaking in front of people and I don't like debates. I will be glad to get it over with though. That means that I am pretty much done with that class. My other speech is in IS. The main reason I am nervous for this is because it is part of my final project. However, I did enjoy the book I chose and the speech only has to be five minutes long so I don't think it should be too bad. On Tuesday, I don't have anything besides chemisty lab which is over at 10:45 but on this day I need to get a lot of studying done for certain finals that will be coming up and write a paper. Wednesday, is another day that I don't have anything due but I need to finish my presentation for my Biology Lab, get my paper critiqued, and STUDY. The day that I am most nervous about for this week is Thursday. On Thursday, I have to present my oral Lab Report in Biology lab and I have to take my final lab exam. Lab exams are stressful because anything is game in the whole lab manual. Once Thursday is over all I really need to worry about is making sure my final paper for IS is done and then making sure I am well prepared and studied for my finals that will be occuring the following week. This is another week that I am dreading. Once I am done with finals, I will feel so relieved and definitely will be needing a long break to get away from homework and school for awhile. Hopefully these next two weeks go by fast but are successful!

Cold Tubing....BRRRR

Coach Newsom implemented the mandatory cold tubing rule this past week. The upperclassmen had informed me of this rule and I was dreading the day that he was going to actually enforce it. Mandatory cold tubs mean that everyone has to find time after practice to sit in a freezing cold tub of water. My first time was not so fun. Freshmen, of course, get the honor of doing our cold baths last. To do a cold bath, you first have to put on these super cute and stylish green shorts. Since we were one of the last groups to do ours there were only XL shorts left. HUGE!! I had to roll them a couple times just to make sure they kind of stayed up. Not to mention that a lot of these shorts looked like they had been put through a shredder. They are covered in holes. Anyways once you have the shorts on, you go into the training room. In there is a tub the size of a hot tub but with cold water. The main objective is to try and fit as many people into the tub so you can cuddle together for as much warmth as possible (pretty pointless because it doesn't do any good). Once you are in the cold water, you have to remain there for ten whole minutes. Now to a lot of people that doesn't seem like a long time and it's not if you're in a warm room watching TV or something fun. When you are in a tub full of cold water, shivering, covered in goose bumps, that clock doesn't seem like it ever moves. At the end of those ten minutes, I feel like it's Christmas or my birthday and I just recieved the coolest present. It takes awhile afterwards to get warmed up too. You can't go from extremely cold to warm really fast because you could put your body into shock so it has to be done in a gradual process. Sometimes I don't warm up until I'm finally in bed under layers and layers of covers and blankets. Although they are the least fun thing, they do help with sore muscles and reviving your body from a hard workout.

Saturday Practice

This weekend we had our first Saturday morning practice for track. I wasn't sure what to expect at first. I was really nervous because Coach had said that it was going to be tough. Even though he told us this, I was still hoping that there was a small chance that he was kidding. I found out at 7:00 AM that he wasn't and I had gotten my hopes up. First we warmed up. Coach made sure that all of us were really stretched out. Then we went for a fifteen minute run. After that, Newsom had us do ladder killers. After each time, he would put down another cone farther away. Once we finished doing the ladder with the farthest cone, we had to go back down. Now that he had our thighs and calves burning, Coach must have thought that it'd be a good idea to have us do repeat 200s. Each 200 the percentage went up and for the last two they were timed. For the girls we had to complete them in thirty seconds and if we didn't then one more was added on. Well we weren't that lucky and ended up having to do an extra because a lot of us were tired and didn't make it in the set time. After our 200s our practice was pretty much over except for our cooldown. I thought that I was going to be able to get a lot of my homework done through the rest of the day but that was not the case. My body was so worn out from practice that once I got back to my room, showered, and got some food into me, I passed out. I was exhausted and my body was sore. The wonderful joys that come along with track that I'm just now figuring out. Can't wait for the rest of the season! :)

THANKSGIVING!!

Thanksgiving is definitely not my favorite holiday but I still enjoy this day. It's a time that I get to spend time with the people who are closest in my life, my family, and am able to eat good food. I think that this year I looked forward to Thanksgiving so much more because of two things. The main reason I was exctied for Thanksgiving was to see my family and after my friend's misfortune, it just made me want to see them even more. It had been about three weeks since I had seen my family and I missed them a lot. The second reason I was looking forward to Thanksgiving was for the food because the food at Wartburg definitely does not compare to homemade meals. I ate so much that day. I might have gained my freshman 15 in one day (just kidding!). My grandma made the best spread of turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, different side salads, homemade rolls, and homemade pies. There was no way that I could pass all of this up so I had it all...in small portions of course.This break allowed me to spend a lot of valuable time with my family, create new memories of decorating the house for christmas, and get caught up on sleep. I didn't want to come back especially because I know these next two to three weeks are going to be stressful/busy ones. I know this because I have two final projects due, a speech, a normal exam, and two final exams. On top of all this work, I also have track practice everyday except Sunday and have to work at the pool. I can't wait until it's over and I am back at home for a three week break. Hope it comes fast. Wish me luck(:

Learning to be more thankful

This last week I really learned how much I have to be thankful for. Ironically, I didn't come to this realization because it was the week of Thanksgiving though. This past week, one of my friends went through one of the toughest things possible. She unexpectedly lost her father. Friday morning her dad went in for a routine gall bladder surgery. Her family was told that there were to be no complications. However, during the surgery her father unexpectedly started hemorrhaging. He was lifeflighted to the hospital in Des Moines. Before he was put onto the helicopter, he started singing to his daughter, "I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again!" She told me afterwards that at that point she knew in her heart that her dad was not going to make it through the night and he didn't. He slipped into a coma before the helicopter reached Des Moines and was put onto a ventilator. The family was told that there was no possible way of bringing him back. The only way that he would be able to stay alive was by being hooked to this machine but he would never regain consciousness. When I recieved this news Friday night, I realized how grateful I was to have all of my family members safe and healthy. I can't imagine the pain my friend and her family were going through. I know that if this were ever to happen to me, it would be unbearable. I now thank god everyday for everything that I am thankful for. It has really put what is most important in my life into perspective.

Max Outs

Strength and conditioning for track started seven weeks ago. We started off the first week by maxing out except it wasn't a full max out. Coach Norton was only letting us go to 85% so this week finally are able to try to lift 100% of our maximum weight. We had our first day of max outs yesterday that included the power clean, front squat, 300 m shuttle, sit ups, and push ups. It was a tiring process but in the end it was totally worth it. Seeing how much my maxs had gone up made me feel really good about myself. I found out a lot about myself. I realized that if I put my mind to something and told myself that I could accomplish something I actually could. For my first lift, the power clean, I ended up raising my max by 25 pounds. I could do over 100 pounds and I never thought in my four years here that I would be able to do that so getting it done in my Freshman year here. The second lift, the front squat, I thought I was going to be done at 135 because I struggled with it a little bit. However the girls at my platform thought that I could do more so they encouraged me to try going up five pounds. I trusted them so I said I'd try it. I told myself that I could and with a little encouragement from my teammates I ended up being able to put it up. The best part of being able to lift that was looking at Coach Norton and seeing her give me a big smile of appreciation. The only thing she wanted out of us for that day and the day to come is to give it our all and to push ourselves. Every girl in that weight room gave her just that and made her very proud. It's a good feeling knowing that you did something right and that someone else is proud of you for it. It makes all the pain and fatigue worth it.

Basketball Game

I went to my first Wartburg basketball game the other week. It was technically a JV game but some friends of mine who live on my floor were playing so I felt obligated to go. Before I start talking about the game, I want to talk about one thing that I found to be interesting but kind of sad at the same time. As I was sitting in the crowd, I noticed how segregrated we were. The white people sat with each other and same with the black people. There was no intermingling. This surprised me becaues I thought that we had gotten past all of this segregation in our generation. Anyways, the girls played pretty good for their first college game. It definitely took them some time getting used to playing with the play clock which makes sense because it isn't used in high school ball. There were a couple times where the buzzer went off and some girls stopped playing while other girls continued so they ended up losing a couple points because of this but they eventually got the hang of it. The girls ended up losing to the Loras JV team by ten points. For their first game, I didn't think that was bad. When I was watching them play, I found myself missing the game which is surprising because in high school after my freshman year this was my least favorite game out of the three that I played. The reason was because the coach that I had didn't make it fun. He was constantly chewing us out, screaming at us, and throwing clipboards. I remember this one time at a halftime of a game where he actually ended up breaking one. He was putting so much emphasis on winning that it took away from everyone's joy of the game on the team. I feel like quite a few high school coaches end up doing this. They get so hung up on winning which is a good concept but they forget that most of the team is just out because we enjoy the game and find it fun. By taking that away, they take away the fight and will that the team has to put forth the effort to win. Who wants to work hard for a coach that's going to make his team dread the game?

First SNOW!

I don't know how long it has been since we made it to Winter without getting snow a month or more before hand. This year I thought that we might actually have had a chance because the weather was being pretty cooperative. It wasn't getting unbareably cold like it usually does around this time. It has actually been quite warm. There were days in October that I wore shorts because it was that warm outside. Granted I did have to wear a sweatshirt but still. Fall weather is the best. Being able to wear jeans and a sweatshirt and still be comfortable is my favorite. Usually this kind of temperature doesn't last long. Last year if I remember right, I think that by the end of October it was freezing. However, although the weather had been super warm and it looked like we were going to make it to winter before it snowed, that didn't happen. One day in November it decided to snow. It wasn't even a pretty first snow because the minute I walked outside and looked at it, it was basically slush. The grounds of Wartburg were a wet mess. People did have a lot of fun though having snowball fights and making snowmen. There was one guy who was making tons and tons of snowmen who told me he wanted to break his record from last year which was 92 snowmen. That's a crazy amount of snowmen. It hasn't snowed since and the days still aren't too terribly cold. I'm hoping that it will stay this way at least until I am home on winter break. I don't want to walk through the snow to class or have to deal with my car in the snow. So let's pray for the snow and ice to wait until everyone is home safe on break! (:

Successful week for Wartburg Athletics

When I took my first college visit to Wartburg, multiple people bragged about how the athletics at this school were superior to many other colleges. I was shown the banners lining the main hall in the W and saw the many trouphies also but I never realized how truthful they were being until this past week when the football team, girls soccer, and girls cross country team proved it to me. Friday night, the soccer team started it off by winning their first national tournament game 2 to 0. Everyone on campus was really excited for them and were ready to go out the next night to support them at their next round game. Then Saturday morning, I worked the Regional Cross Country Meet. This meet determined what teams or individuals would be moving onto the National Meet that will be held this coming weekend in Wisconsin. Anyways, I was really excited to watch the girls run because they are also part of the track team and it's fun to cheer your teammates on. Also, I was anxious to see the Freshman on the team, that had already broken the cross country record, run. I had heard from numerous people about her talent as a distant runner and saw exactly what they were talking about. She came right out of the gate and maintained her second place position until the very end. The rest of the girls on the team also did a awesome job with all of them finishing in the very first portion of the group of participants. They ended up taking home the Regional Championship. To add to all the excitement, was the exciting football game that was being played against Luther, our arch rivals. Throughout the week, the suspense had been building with different groups selling "Beat Luther" t-shirts, handing out stickers, and placing signs around campus. The football team ended up making everyone proud by winning the game. So this week the fall atheltics of Wartburg set the bar high for the remaining athletic groups that have yet begun or competed yet. Hopefully the Knights can keep it going!

Feels like a SAUNA....

There were four days in the beginning of October where it felt like it was only 40 degrees outside and it didn't feel much warmer in our room. We had gotten an email from our building advisor a couple days before saying the heat had been turned on but no hot air if any at all was being blown out of our vents. We decided to send him an email asking if there was something we were supposed to do to turn it on in or room or if our heater was just not working. Not even five minutes later after sending that email, I discovered our thermometer. It had been hidden by our microwave since we had moved in and we hadn't seen it. It was set on the lowest temperature setting and that's why our room had been freezing. There were nights where I would be wearing sweatpants, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, coat, and boots trying to stay warm. Now however, sometimes I wish my room was freezing again because it has become ungodly hot. Our thermostat is set on 60 degrees and it feels like it's set at 80. Our windows are cracked to let in some cool air but it's hard to find a happy medium. Another problem that comes along with having our heat on, is how dry our room gets. My hands, lips, and nose feel dry all the time. It gets hard to breathe in and out of your nose at night. My mom tried giving me some ideas on how to make it better such as placing a cup of water on top of the heater or buying a small dehumidifier. I guess this is just something you have to deal with when you go to college. Have to love it :)

Midnight Madness Cancelled!! :)

Thursday afternoon I recieved some really good news. Our midnight madness practice for track was cancelled. This coming Sunday night at midnight we were supposed to have practice until 2 in the morning. I guess this is a tradition for the Wartburg Track and Field program because Monday is the official first day that teams can start practicing so Coach Newsom thinks that practicing right away at 12 would put us ahead. It actually kind of sounded like it might be fun except for the fact that everyone is expected to be in class the next morning and I have class at 7:45. If we don't show up for class, we would have extra conditioning to do on top of our practice that we would still be having at 4 o'clock on Monday afternoon. So basically we were going to be having a two-a-day practice day. Anyways for this so called midnight madness practice, I was kind of excited because we were going to do some kick boxing type exercises. All the upperclassmen had told me that it absolutely stunk but I wanted to be able to find out for myself. I mean I know that none of these practices this season are going to be easy by any means but kick boxing has been something I have always wanted to try. I guess I will just have to wait until next year though which in a way I am still okay with because I like my sleep and only getting four to five hours of sleep before a full day of classes the next day and practice again does not sound appealing.

Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday but I still get excited for it. I like seeing all the costume ideas everyone comes up with as well as decorations and let's not forget about all the candy that is involved. I used to love it when my brother would go trick-or-treating and bring home his bag of loot. There was so much candy that he'd finally give in and share. This year I was home the weekend before Halloween for fall break so when I got ready to come back on Sunday, my mom gave me a huge bag of candy since I wouldn't be able to steal any of my little brothers this year. She also wasn't sure if people would go trick-or-treating through the dorms which surprisingly no one did. Anyways, since halloween was on Monday this year, I was kind of excited to go to class and see if anyone had been brave enough to dress up. Turns out my Professor for Biology was. He dressed up in a Star Wars costume and even had a light saber. It was a pretty good outfit and seemed to brighten everyone's moods in class. Then during my class in the afternoon my professor handed out candy and also was dressed up wearing a huge graduation hat. That night for supper there was supposed to be a Monster Bash where anyone could dress up and there would be a contest to see who had the best costume. I didn't participate because I didn't have a costume yet and wasn't sure what to be but it was fun to see everyone elses. Although there weren't very many students that dressed up. Overall, Halloween was an okay day but it wasn't at all what I expected it to be like in college.

FALL BREAK!!!

It's crazy how fast the first half of the semester has gone by but even though it hasn't felt like I've been here very long, I was still ready for a much needed break. When I'm here I become so stressed out and forget that there is more to life than studying and getting good grades. That's why I look forward to going home so much. It's somewhere that I can go to just get away from all of this. Granted I love college and the people I have surrounded myself with but it 's a lot easier to relax and think about other things other than school when I am not in this atmosphere so the thought of fall break got me super excited. The minute my last class of the day got done on Wednesday, I hustled over to my car which I had already packed ahead of time and took off. Time at home over break was just what I needed. I got to see my family and other friends/coaches that I hadn't talked to in quite awhile. The time spent with my family  was probably my favorite though. I got to go shopping with my mom, carve pumpkins, and eat amazing home cooked meals with my family. As much as I looked forward to going home and spending time with my family, I did end up getting a little bored and was ready to come back to Wartburg by Sunday so I'd have things to do and people to talk to whenever I felt like it.

Work Study

When applying for financial aide, it determines whether or not you deserve assistance in the form of work study. As it turns out I qualified and my track coach, Coach Newsom, told me he would help me apply for a good job on campus. His idea of the perfect job was at the pool in the W since I am a certified lifeguard. I would agree with him that this job isn't difficult to any extent. All I do is sit and watch the pool, making sure no one drowns. Wrong! There is a lot more involved with this job than I knew at the beginning. The hours I work aren't very flexible. I work every Tuesday night from 6:15 to 8:15 which isn't bad except for the fact that I have track practice until 6:00 every day and sometimes it goes later so I have to go straight from practice to work. Also, we have to rotate weekend shifts. I understand this because it isn't fair to have the same people working the weekends every time but some times conflicts come up and you can't work. However, this is a big problem becaue it is really hard to get other employees to switch you times or have them work for you. No one is willing to help anyone else out even if you did them the favor previously. Lastly, being a lifeguard at the W demands putting aside time every month for inservices. Granted the inservices aren't too terribly long and they are only once a month but it has become repetitive and I don't believe any other jobs on campus require this. I know that this is the worst job there is but sometimes I wonder if it is all worth it. I work two times a week at the most and get payed minimum wage. At times I think about what it would be like if I hadn't decided to take a work study job. There are so many questions I ask myself like; How much more time would I have, is it helping pay off my tuition that much, is it even worth it, and so much. I guess for now I'll just stick it out and next year hopefully I feel like I am able to handle a more advanced job that maybe isn't on campus.

Dealing with Stress

With college there comes a lot of stress. A whole lot more than I have ever been used to and I'm not going to lie it wears you down, causes you to be more emotional than usual, and takes away from the fun of college. Everyone says that college shouldn't revolve around studying and homework, that students should make time for fun but this first semester I really don't feel like I have time for any fun. My classes require a lot of time and work and I just don't feel like I have time for anything else if I want to do. The sad thing is that even though I have been working my hardest and trying to study as much as possible it still doesn't always turn out the way I want it too. I could study for hours upon hours and still do bad on a test. It's hard to adjust to diffferent teaching styles especially in a class where the teachers switch every chapter or section. I am also involved in a sport and have an on-campus job that adds to my stress. It takes away more of my time which forces me to use my extra free time for homework. I can't wait until I get the teaching system down and understand how to use my time wisely and know what information to study for sure. I look at the upperclassmen and wonder how long it took them to become comfortable with the college life and how they deal with their stress because they always seem like they are relaxed and laid back. It's not fair!!! :) Hopefully I get this down soon.

Outfly Is Not A Rumor

So after the last couple weeks, a lot of freshman were starting to believe that outfly was a complete joke. It was just a huge prank put on by the whole school to get freshman excited about one day where all of our classes would be cancelled and we would be able to screw around all day. However, as of today these rumors have been put to rest (not that I ever believed that outfly was a hoax). Today I was woken up at 6:00 am by creapy music declaring it outfly and telling us to wakey wakey. At first I thought that it was just a group of kids that thought it would be funny to make it seem like it was outfly to get us to walk out to the bell in the freezing cold when it actually wasn't outfly. The reason I thought it was a fake was because I had always been told that people would come running down each hallway of the dorms with their underwear over their pants, banging on doors, and yelling, "It's OUTFLY!!!". I learned that I just needed to be patient. It wasn't more than 20 minutes later that it sounded like a herd of elephants running down my floor screaming that it indeed was outfly. The day was filled with many exciting activities. I went out to the bell to see them actually declare the day, went to breakfast, came back to the room and slept for a long amount of time :), and then when I woke up the fun began. A group of girls and I went to lunch which was delicious. Afterwards we went to the bookstore and played minute to win it which was super easy. I won and recieved 30% off a Wartburg item. Then we thought it would be fun to continue the tradition that most students follow on Outfly and we got piercings. I didn't do anything too crazy. I got my thirds pierced. We also made our way to the Wash House which is a salon uptown and we all got a pink extention put into our hair. The money went to the Breast Cancer Foundation so it was for a good cause. In the end Outfly was a lot of fun although it definitely would have been better if it had been warmer. Can't wait for it to happen again next year!

HOMECOMING!!!

This past weekend was Wartburg's homecoming. Since this was my first college homecoming experience I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know how much the students would get into it, if they would decorate, what the parade would be like, etc. I assumed that it wouldn't be like my high school homecoming where each class decorated a window uptown, a hallway in our school, and their own float for the parade. In a way it kind of was. Students could pick up window kits, get creative, and decorate their windows with all different kinds of beat simpson sayings and cartoons. Then Friday night, there was the Kastle Kappers which was a talent show put on by the students. Some of the acts were amazing. At the end of the talent show, the homecoming king and queen were crowned then everyone walked to the gym from neuman's auditorium for the pep rally. At the pep rally there were a few different volunteer games and they announced who won the best window design. Saturday was full of activities as well. Being apart of the track team, we had to wake up early to set up and work the little kids track meet that we put on as a fundraiser. This was a lot of fun because we got to interact with the kids, keep them excited, and having fun. After the meet was over, I went to the Renaissance Fair for awhile. There were many booths set up selling all kinds of knick knacks and treats. I tried the chemistry clubs liquid nitrogen ice cream and surprisingly it was pretty good. My family always used to make homemade ice cream and thats what it tasted like to an extent. The track team also had a booth at the fair selling old clothing. I had to work the second shift at this and realized that I could make a pretty good salesperson :). After I was done working my shift, it was time to go to the football game. Our football team was doing really good going into the 4th quarter until they fell apart. The game ended up going into overtime and Wartburg lost by one point. Simpson it turned out blocked our field goal attempt classifying them the winners of the game. Kind of a bummer for homecoming but it still was a fun weekend full of many events.

Thoughts of a new major already

So currently I am majoring in Biology. I wanted to get my degree in Biology along with athletic training and then go onto Physical Therapy school. I have always been into sports and like staying physically fit so I thought that physical therapy along with some athletic training on the side would be really fun and interesting. I was soo excited about majoring in biology at first because I loved the sciences and I still do. I just am not sure if I love biology. I'm more of an Anatomy and Physiology person but anyways the reason that I'm not completely one hundred percent sure about biology is because of the way it is taught. I did fairly well on the first test but this second exam is over SIX chapters. That's alot in the first place but my professor has been flying through it. We are already almost done with the last chapter and the test isn't for another week and a half. He doesn't post his powerpoints before class so you can't write down the notes ahead of time and during class he'll leave the slide up for about two seconds then switch to the next one. I barely get three words written down. Plus he hasn't explained any of the content very well. I've read the chapters ahead of time before class but it still doesn't help much. I know that I am not the only feeling this way because I have talked to other students in my biology class and they agree with me too. People have also tried asking him to slow down but he just knows the information so well that it is hard for him to pace himself. Also there is this very intimidating lab exam coming up that all the upper classmen have made it sound like it is impossible to do well on so I'm super nervous for that. This week though, I found out about the fitness management major. It has all the requirements I need to qualify for Physical Therapy school. It contains athletic training classes, nutrtition classes, and some of the biology and anatomy classes but it sounds way more interesting to me. I love nutrition, athletic training, and anatomy. Plus I won't be set back at all if I switch because the fitness management major requires me to take the biology and chemistry classes I am taking this semester and the ones I am taking next semester. That is also another positive along with next year I wouldn't have to take organic chemistry! Another humongous positive about switching. So that is my feelings on it but I still need to run the idea by my parents and see what they think.

The Way Education Works

This week for my IS class we were supposed to read a piece written by Barry Schwartz. He talked about how much harder people will work at certain things if they know that there is a reward or some kind of feedback in the end. Some teachers have tried doing experiments on this exact idea by telling their students on the very first day of class that they will get a B in the class no matter what. They could be handing in A+ work but would not recieve that grade. They didn't have to show up to class at all if they didn't want to and they would still obtain the B grade. This experiment showed that people are more obsessed with their "grade" than what they are actually learning and obtaining. Another study was conducted by telling young students that they would recieve a prize if they read the most books out of their class so of course the children started reading non-stop. However, when one of the mothers recieved a compliment about how much her child was reading, she responded by explaining how her daughter has now started picking out the shortest books possible with the largest print and she most likely isn't retaining a thing she is reading because all she is concerned about is completing this book to move onto the next so she can win the prize. I feel that this analogy is sadly correct. I enjoy learning. Yes there are days that I dread going to class but overall I like acquiring new information. I can't deny though that all through my years of schooling I have been more focused on recieving the "good grade". My grades and grade point average meant alot to me especially in high school when I was involved in sports and starting to apply to colleges and for scholarships. They, along with my parents and teachers, put sooo much emphasis on getting good grades. In a way I think that kids are almost brainwashed into thinking that having a good grade reflects on how much you have learned. Although this may be true in some cases, I also believe that it is ficticious. In my anatomy classes in high school, we basically took notes (which were definitions of certain body parts and processes that occurred throughout the body) along with a few random point outs over certain systems of the human body. I rocked at this class. I was good at memorizing definitions. I would study the night before the test, go to school the next day, ace the test, and then I would forget the information until the semester test came. Then I would rememorize the vocabulary and ace the semester. Granted I didn't forget all of the information. A good majority of it stuck but my point is alot of students just memorize what they need to for the time being and forget it when it doesn't seem important to them. This isn't the way education should be portrayed. 

Out Fly Rumors

Wartburg has this awesome day (almost like a holiday) where all classes for that day are cancelled. The student body president and President for the whole school pick a date and keep it a secret until the day finally comes. On this day, a group of people will go around banging on our doors at the wee hours of the morning announcing the day as Outfly. Now for the day to actually be declared Outfly at least two-thirds of the student body has to show up at the bell outside the W at 6:00 in the morning. At first that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun but then you realize that you have the rest of the day to do whatever you want which could include sleeping. A supposed tradition of the students is to go get piercings and tattoos (not required but quite common). Anyways Outfly tends to fall in October before Homecoming or so I'm told. Well this week just happens to be the week before Homecoming so starting Sunday everyone was trying to predict what day it was going to be. First it was Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, and now that Thursday is the last day of this week it could possibly be they for sure think it is then. I'm not going to lie, every morning this week that my alarm clock has woken me up instead of a knocking on my door and a yelling of Outfly I have been disappointed. :) I don't know why I get so bummed about it though because honestly I don't know what I would do on Outfly. I don't want any new piercings and I definitely do not want a tattoo (I don't have a high enough pain tolerance). I most likely would get some sleep and get my homework done. Also since I am part of the track team we have a work out to do but we can do it on our own time whenever we want so that would be a definite bonus. Another huge plus for having it on Thursday would be that it's my birthday so it'd be nice to have a day off to not have to worry about school sooo much. Well I'm going to head to bed. Who knows, I might have to get up tomorrow morning at 6!

Chelsey:)

Relaxing Weekend

Since I have been at college, I have felt like I have constantly been doing something. I always have homework and then on the weekends when I finally have time to sit and relax my friends always have something that they want to do. I'm not one who likes being a party pooper so of course I go along. This weekend however basically everyone on my floor went home besides me. I stayed here at Wartburg and got so much done. I sat in my room and studied, caught up on my homework (even worked ahead), and had quite a bit of time to relax. I watched a couple movies, cleaned my room, and went to church. I was so pumped to have all this time to myself. I could do whatever I wanted and didn't have to feel rushed to be somewhere else. As much as I was loving this weekend, by Sunday afternoon I was starting to get bored. I wanted my friends to come back, for the hallway to be loud again, and for there to actually be a reason for me to leave my room. As nice as relaxing in the room was for most of the weekend, I was ready to get out. Relaxation I think is something every person has to take advantage of every once in awhile. I don't see how some people can hole up in their rooms all year long though. I enjoy having time to myself every once in awhile but I think I have had enough relaxation time to myself for awhile. Plus I don't think I will be given the opportunity for it anytime soon with a couple tests coming up along with some papers due. It's going to be a hectic week. Well I better get to work. Until next time....

Chelsey:)

A Place to Belong

My first week or so at Wartburg, I really tried figuring out who I wanted to be. In high school, I felt like there was a lot of pressure from my peers to be a certain type of person and I wasn't sure that I wanted to be this person here. I mean college is a new start so I had the chance to be whoever I wanted. I met some really nice girls on my floor right away and clicked with them. They were people I could go to the Mensa with, watch TV shows with, etc. However, I still didn't really have that feeling of belonging yet. Track had not started yet at this time but I had been hearing from everyone about how close nit the track and field family was. Some people even described them as a cult that only stayed within their own group and didn't branch out. I am one who likes to be involved in all sorts of different activities and socialize with all types of people. That's just how I was raised so this idea kind of intimidated me. I wasn't sure what to expect but Tuesday we had our first day of practice as a team and I felt like I fit in right away. The upper classmen made me feel at ease, comfortable, and most of all that I had a right to be there. Throughout this week so far, the team has shown tremendous support for each other. Our hardest day this week was probably yesterday. We were to attempt to run two 300 meter shuttle runs, complete as many pushups that you could in one minute, and then as many sit ups possible in one minute. It was so cool to see how everyone cheered each member on. If you were struggling you had 20 to 30 some girls there motivating you to finish. They don't allow you to quit which I think is a huge attribute for a person to obtain. The team was like a family not a cult and I finally felt like I found the place at Wartburg where I belonged. I loved it.

Chelsey:)

Time Management = Iffy

Time management was never a problem for me in high school. I could get most of my homework done during school hours and the work that I didn't complete I would finish after practice or games before school the next day. I never once had to turn in an assignment late. I was the type of student to stay on top of things. I still feel like I am that same type of student just with a lot more work and a ton less time. This past week I was very overwhelmed with my first test, reading assignments, smartwork homework, but mostly the test. I almost didn't even care about my other classes because of my nerves over this one test. I started studying three days in advance thinking that would give me plenty of time to retain all the information and the night before the test I was feeling good. I understood the material very well and I could teach most of it to someone who didn't understand the concept. This good feeling lasted for only a moment until I realized that I had not completed two problems on my smartwork homework that was due at midnight. It just so happened that my realization occured at 11:30. So with a half hour before my homework was going to be counted past due, I crammed and went through formula after formula until I finally came up with the correct answer for both problems. This crunching of time wore me out. I vowed after that night that I was not going to put off homework or studying again. The way I am going to avoid this experience happening again is to keep going over the material I am learning in my classes as I learn it and new material. This is especially going to be key in my more complicated classes such as Biology and Chemistry. I plan on beginning to study more in advance and not waiting until the last minute. Lastly, I am going to put off other unimportant distractions such as skipping a favortite TV show or social event in the presence of a lot of homework. I feel that these tips/goals will keep me more up to date on classes and allow me to manage my time more efficiently. Feel free to use any of my tips on managing time. Until next time...

Chelsey:)

Am I cut out for this?

First week of college was a breeze. I had so much fun meeting new people, making friends, being exposed to new opportunities, and experiences. It seemed like college was going to involve very little stress. That's where I was wrong. People had told me ahead of time that it requires more time, effort, and definitely more reading than what was needed to get by in high school. I found out very soon that they were absolutely right. Some classes need more time focused on them than others, Biology being one. I haven't taken biology since my freshman year in high school and here I am majoring in it. (Not so sure if that was a good idea for me yet) The homework seems like it never ends. The minute I feel that I am finally ahead or caught up, the homework just piles up again. There have been very few nights that I have just been able to sit down and relax. I'm not used to this. In high school I got most of my homework done in school and I definitely did not read the textbook and could still get good grades. I realize this is not going to fly in college so I have been reading tons and tons. It gets so stressful trying to find time to read the content, take notes, make sure I understand what is going on, and doing my other homework on top of working as a lifeguard at the W. I've had very many nervous breakdowns already and it's only the third week of classes and it's only going to get worse. This coming Monday I have my first ever college test in Biology. I am super  nervous already and it is only Wednesday. I'm not sure how much to study or if I am going to study the correct information. I am most scared of failing. I haven't failed a class, test, or paper my whole entire high school, middle school, or elementary career. I don't want to start now so I am going to work my butt off to make sure that this does not happen. So I better go study now. Until next time....

Chelsey:)

Taking Things for Granted

Have you ever thought about all the things that we take for granted? I am one who doesn't ever really realize the importance of little things until those things are taken from me...gone. This weekend I took a visit home for the first time in three weeks. Some of my friends had been going home every weekend since they had moved in and I just hadn't really felt like I needed to. The main reason I really didn't want to is because I thought that I would for sure have to go through the homesickness feeling all over again so I put it off. During those three weeks that I was here, I talked to my family and friends from back home. There were times that I felt really home sick especially on those not to good days but I fought through it and I feel that I am pretty much over it now. I mean there are still times that I miss my family like crazy but I know that I am a strong enough person to make it through that but anyways back to my visit back home. I left right after my last class on Friday. I was super excited. Picture me bouncing in my seat constantly looking at my watch counting down the minutes till I got to be on the road back home. The drive is two hours long (not too bad). As i was driving home, I thought about all the necessities I had lived with out or that I had to share with many other girls since I had moved in. It made me sad but sooo excited that soon I was going to be able to have these all back. I had never realized how much I loved my own shower, my own bed, my OWN room :) (not that I don't like my roommate), and last but definitely not least homemade meals. These simple things had me jumping in my seat anxious to get home. I don't think that I have felt that way in a long time and all for what... a homemade meal, a bed, and shower. I learned something that first visit home. I have began to realize that I need to appreciate the simple things in life and never take them for granted because when they are gone, life is still good but not as good as if they were still there. Just remember that. Until next time....

Chelsey :)

A Classic....Jurassic Park

So you know how college is full of new experiences. Well I just had a new experience in IS 101 class the other day. My teacher came in and told us that we were going to be watching Jurassic Park. Now I have heard of the movie before. I knew it was about dinosaurs that lived in an amusement type park but I had never seen it before. I was never really into dinosaurs growing up and as I got older I thought that the movie would be too childish to watch. I had no idea what the movie content was like or what really happened in the movie. I soon found out that Jurassic Park is definitely not a kid projected movie. Dinosaurs eat people and animals very brutally. There are many parts that make you jump and lose your stomach. The movie has a lot of scientific ideas in it and really makes you think especially at the end because it leaves it open. They don't explain what happens to the park or the dinosaurs or even the characters that leave on the helicopter. It allows you to use your imagination and come up with your own ending to the movie. In my opinion I think that the dinosaurs live for awhile but eventually just die off because there isn't anyone there to take care of them anymore if they get sick or to feed the carnivores. I assumed that the movies just ended after this Jurassic Park however my fellow classmates informed me well after the movie was over that there are two more Jurassic Park movies to follow the first. I guess the dinosaurs migrate to the cities somehow and cause a huge amount of trouble. I guess I have two more movies to find time to watch. I'd really recommend watching this movie: 1. It is a classic. 2. People will make fun of you if they find out you have not seen it yet. 3. It is a pretty interesting movie. 4. It is scientifically educational. There ya have it. You need to go out and have a movie night with your friends to watch Jurassic Park. Let me know what you think of it. Until next time.....

Chelsey :)

Scary First Thoughts

     College! Everyone makes it seem like a terrifying new step in your life and it is...well at least before you actually get there. I was so nervous at the thought of being away from my parents and the rest of my family. We're are pretty much the Brady Bunch. We eat supper as a family every night, I can talk to them about anything, and I rely on them a ton to help me through tough and stressful times. I wasn't sure who I would be able to go to once I was here with my problems. I mean I realized that I'd still be able to talk to them on the phone and with our technology these days there's skype but it just didn't seem like it'd be the same. I got nervous whenever I thought about who my roommate would be. All of my friends who were going to the big universities found out their roommates way before I did. Some of them had roommates where they had nothing in common. I was super scared that was going to happen to me. What if we didn't get along? I have to live with this girl for a whole year in a small confined space. Then I started thinking about homework and classes. Everyone says college is super hard. That it requires a lot of studying and time. I wasn't sure if I would be able to hande the workload along with being involved in a sport.
       However, all of these insecurities about college are filled with excitement once you finally get all moved in. So far since I have been here, I have felt a little homesick but not too bad. I don't have a lot of time to really think about it. I have made friends with a good group of girls who live on my floor that I know I could go to if I had a problem or needed someone to talk to. My RA of my floor is also super cool and has already reassured us that she is here for us and will help us through anything if we ever need it. I have felt so much more comfortable since then. I haven't had any problems with my roommate yet either. We're really good friends so far and have soooo much in common. It's actually kind of creapy. We have the same favorite color, are interested in the same type of stuff, and so much more. I feel like I got very lucky. And lastly the homework load is a lot more than high school. I'm not going to lie to you. It takes a lot more time and effort. In high school I never read my textbooks. I didn't really have to. College is a whole other story. You have to read your textbooks, take a lot of notes, and study quite a bit. It is a lot of work but I have figured out so far that I can handle it. I just have to manage my time.
      So as you can see college can be very stressful, scary, and emotional at times but it is the best time of your life. You get to discover the real you and prepare yourself for being successful in your future.
Until next time......

Chelsey :)