Caffeine, College, & Commuting

I was leaning forward with my elbows on my desk and my head resting on my hand. I'm listening to one of my professor's lecture in class. The next thing I know my head is falling forward and I jerk upright as quickly as possible! I do a quick look around to make sure no one noticed my dosing off. I think I'm in the clear, but the battle to stay awake has just begun.

Today, at USAO, I learned the importance of caffeine!

Yeah, I’m one of those weird people who likes class. I think its interesting and enjoy learning new things. However, when I’m tired, its hard to focus. As I fought with my eyelids today, I was reminded how crucial caffeine is to college life. It may not be the best thing for you, but it certainly helps me stay awake.

Caffeine’s usefulness also extends to commuting. It’s dangerous to drive when you are sleepy! When I have a mug full of my bold and dark roasted coffee, I’m alert and ready to drive for miles. There’s no drifting out of my lane after a cup of my coffee!

Yes, a good nights rest is best. Sometimes circumstances in our lives just happen beyond our control. Whether you’re up late studying for a test or a family member is sick, something can come about to interrupt your sound sleep. That’s when you go for the cup of joe or energy drink. Its better than dozing off in class or the drive there.

Don’t dismiss java’s importance!

It Gets Better Everytime

Dear movie-fans,

Today at USAO, I learned how wonderful it is to just relax with friends, eat chocolate covered pretzels, and watch a movie that everyone has seen at least a dozen times.

My friends and I rented out the Lawson movie room and watched The Dark Knight, a film that all of us have seen and love. True, it is cliche. The Dark Knight is probably one of the most popular films to have come out in the past few years, with Heath Ledger stealing the show in his wonderfully realistic enactment of the Joker. I would make the argument that it is one of the best films to have come out in general; it is certainly the best superhero-based movie I have seen. The film introduces a wonderfully intricate plot line with complex and inspiring characters assisted by the use of dark, high-quality cinematic effects all under the direction of the popular and genius Hollywood director Christopher Nolan.

In short, we have good reason for wanting to watch this film over and over. It is almost effortless and comforting to watch a movie I have seen many times yet still love. I know the events that will take place as the film progresses, but every time I watch it, I learn something new about that movie. This holds true to every film I watch more than once. My suggestion would be, if you find yourself growing tired of watching movies you haven't seen, get some friends together, make some popcorn and snacks, curl up in a blanket, and watch an old favorite. You are sure to discover new details and love it even more.

Sincerely,

Kelsey

Helpful links:

Dark Knight Review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/movies/18knig.html

Director Christopher Nolan: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0634240/

Heath Ledger: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005132/

Take a Chill Pill

Today at USAO I learned that it is not ok to be serious all the time. Many of us have far too many responsibilites from work to home and school, that many of us do not even have time for ourselves.

For instance I am a mother, wife, full time student, and have two jobs. Needless to say I am overwhelmed 99 percent of the time.

Sometimes we all get caught up with responsibilites and forget how to have fun. For example, it is easy for schoolwork to become overwhelming, especially if you feel like that is all you ever do. I feel this way often so I decided to make a change. Instead of everything else running my life, I am going to run my life and have fun doing it.

I know this may sound silly to some of you but I know some struggle with this issue also. I have been so determined in reaching my goals I have forgot enjoy the here and now.

One thing I am going to do to help curb my seriousness is go fishing. I think being outdoors is very relaxing. There is something serene about being in nature, the stillness of it.

A second thing that I am going to do is enjoy the little things. It can get overwhelming thinking about the future all the time. I find myself constantly thinking about graduation and all the work that goes with it. Instead of bogging myself down with all my responsibilites, I am going to try to enjoy what time I do get off.

It is important as students to not get so stressed out about everything going on in our lives. It is not the end of the world if an assignment is missed or if you decide to take a night off. It is important to be serious, just not all the time.

Learning How To Blog A Bloger!!

How to find my way on a blog site to blog! What one looks like, and what other people do and say. This definitley reminds me of the new skill of learning how to use a cell phone and then the art of texting. It's kind of scarey, but exciting at the same time. Express myself in new avenues of learning, and then the fear of how others may view your thoughts and writings. This can be a feeling like an adrenaline rush as if jumping off a high diving board into a sea of words and thoughts wondering if I will make a splash! Then wondering of what kind of art I can make out of bloging?!!! :)

USA vs. Mexico

Many people don’t follow soccer in the United States. They would rather watch football or basketball. The U.S. soccer team has started to make a name for themselves. The USA and Mexico teams gave a thrilling encounter at the CONCACAF Gold Cup in front of more than 93,000 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Saturday June 25, 2011. It was a big game for the Americans. They were playing their biggest rival, Mexico. This was the game to qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

The Americans came out strong scoring two goals from Michael Bradley and Landon Donovan, making the score 2-0 USA. It was a frantic first half and Mexico had a different plan from the Americans. Mexico answered to the Americans with two goals of their own making the halftime score 2-2. It was any bodies’ game. The Americans just couldn’t get a good shot at the goal past the Mexican goalie in the last half. Mexico ended up scoring two more goals against the Americans. Giving the Mexicans their second Gold Cup win in a row and upsetting the Americans.

After the match head coach of the U.S. team had this to say, “It’s a difficult way for us to end the tournament for sure. As a team we made a lot of progress and we were looking forward to this matchup. It’s a very good game. It’s fast. There’s a lot of very good attacking on both sides. We certainly congratulate Mexico. Give credit to them for some of the soccer they put together and like I said we put a good amount into it and we’re disappointed to let one slip away.”

Multifaceted Medium

Today, at USAO, I learned how instrumental music truly is.

While walking down the hall to class, I noticed other students standing around waiting. Since there are hardly any sitting areas around campus near classrooms, the few seats available are usually full of students killing time in between classes. I noticed that some of those who were waiting had on some sort of headphones or earbuds.

I also carry earbuds with me along with my ipod. If I get bored, I can listen to music. It made me realize how music is a great way to pass time. It can be soothing and relaxing or energizing and refreshing. Music is also quite inspirational.

When commuting to school, music is definitely a go to. I have my favorite stations preset on the radio. I spend time making play lists on my ipod just so I have the perfect atmosphere on my drive. Music is a crucial part of every day life.

Maybe its not quite given the attention or recognition it deserves. How do you use music daily? As I saw walking around school, it is a time filler. On my drive to school, it is the mood setter. I also think music helps us relate to others. We know someone else understands what we feel, think, or dream.

Music weaves its way in and out of our lives constantly. It is a multifaceted medium. Whether you are driving, waiting, partying, or relaxing, I think you will find music is instrumental in each.

Where There’s a Will There’s a Way

Today at USAO, I learned that it is hard to do homework when you have a child. For example, today I needed to read some articles for a class, easier said than done. My daughter likes to crawl in my lap and read her book or likes to flip through the one I am reading. She is only 17 months, so it is hard to entertain her for longer than 20 minutes at a time. If you are a parent, than you already know exactly what I am talking about.

It is not impossible to do homework, but having kids can make it more of a challenge. I have included different ways or ideas that I use to help get my work done:

1. Do your schoolwork in between classes. If you have time between classes and you are bored, do your homework. I know this sounds like crazy talk but it actually works. If you do all your homework between classes then you don’t have to do anything when you get home.
2. If you are planning to get stuff done at home and your child is awake, have your child color or do some activity. For example, my daughter loves to look at books, so I give her a book while I work on my homework.
3. Snack time is a great time to catch up on things that need to be done. I put my daughter in her highchair and she will eat her snack. This is a perfect time to do research or whatever I need to get done.
4. Make your child have a bedtime. This is not only beneficial to your child, but if your child goes early, then that gives you the opportunity to do your homework after they go to bed.

These are just some ways that I work around my schedule of being a parent and a student. It can be a challenge but “where there’s a will there’s a way”.

Dream On

Today at USAO I learned something about boxes and dreams. And barriers. And comfort zones. And getting out of them.

Take this blog, for instance. Intellectually, I know it's pretty simple to set this thing up. But my comfort zone is technology-free. There are no cell phones in my zone, certainly no smart phones. I think maybe the Internet is in there somewhere, but it's very simple to use.

So why does something as simple as setting up this blog seem so fraught with challenge. With vague threats of Not Being Good Enough and Doing Something Stupid. It's just a blog, for crying out loud. I even have a book about it, Blogging for Dummies. 

Is it the technology? Learning a new thing? Or maybe the scary part is what comes after – the writing. And then the really scary part – the posting. Putting what I've written out there where people can read it. And comment on it. And like it. OR Not Like It!

 I remind myself that this blog is, as are we all, a work in progress. I've created this place as a project for students. I've challenged them not only to find their voices but to look within the framework of the college they're attending. I believe we all learn something every day. We just don't recognize it always.

For students, college is the ideal time for dreaming and reflecting. If your head isn't full of new things to think about and new ways to think, we as your teachers aren't doing our jobs. All of us need to spend time redefining our comfort zones and breaking out of the boxes we place ourselves in.

As Eddie Izzard reminds us, one head can hold not only more than one language; it can hold whatever we choose to dream about.