The End

                Going home for a week was a beautiful thing. It is so nice to see in and not have to worry about classes as well as being able to sleep in my own bed. I didn’t even have to go to bed late but I always managed to sleep at a minimum of 10 hours every day just because my bed was that comfortable. What made that week even better was thanksgiving. Having a day with family eating delicious foods together is always a wonderful. At my house we don’t eat turkey on thanksgiving we general eat chicken instead, I guess none of us really enjoy turkey that much. And to top off my week of relaxation and food was being able to see my high school friends. Whenever we get together we can just enjoy each other’s company without even doing anything. But when I was there we did do something, we went to the zoo in November. We went to DC when it was chilly just to see some animals. Well actually, one of my friends had a project that required animal information so to help her out we all went to the zoo together so she wouldn’t have to go with her parents or something. It was okay because the most of the animals were out still and moving about, so it wasn’t like the zoo was hibernating as I was half expecting. One thing that is a must when someone goes to the zoo is to see the lions and tigers and we could not find them in this zoo. We know they were there somewhere but we just couldn’t find the section, but we did get to the elephants and the pandas. We even got to see a display of a bunch of cockroaches, which I must say I didn’t particularly care for. And afterward we concluded our zoo trip by eating at noodles and company, which is always lovely. So overall I had a good time hanging out with them, as well as a lovely time being with my family.

                Well this is a bittersweet moment because this is my final blog. I had almost, but not really, grown accustomed to waking up on a Friday morning and typing up my blog. I remember in the beginning of the year I saw this on the syllabus and I was filled with dread because wondered what I will write about every week that others will see. But now that I’m at the end I see my worry was for naught, because it wasn’t that bad. So goodbye my blog.

Random Thoughts

                I can’t wait to go home next week. I want to see high school friends and see how life is going for them. And it would be nice just to be in my neighborhood and see how none of its changed while I’ve been gone. I'm also excited to see my little brother, Gavin, who is 5 years old. I remember before I left I thought I would not be eager to come back and see his annoying little self, but I am. It saddens me that I missing part of him growing up. He’s in kindergarten and I’m sure there doing all sorts of fun things I would like to hear about, but I don’t get to.

                I remember my year of kindergarten with great clarity. I had a great time; we once had this event where we shook milk that we put into a little baby food container. We were trying to make butter by shaking it up enough; the point was to recreate the pilgrims churning butter. It did not work, at the end I just had shaken up milk but I thought it was fun anyway. We always did stuff like that every day, that’s why in kindergarten I couldn't wait to come to school. Back then school was enjoyable, homework was almost non-existent and if by some rare chance we had some it was counting ice cream shapes then coloring them.  It makes me think, when was the time that I started not wanting to come to school?

                I remember that elementary school I would go every day, even in middle school I didn't mind it, I think it was high school when I actually started getting work to do that required some effort was when wanted to stay home and do nothing.  I realized in high school that I am truly a lazy person, when a teacher asked everyone to grab some book in class I would always ask the person next to me if they could grab one for me. Even at home, I would sit in one spot for hours complaining that I was hungry, but I wouldn't get up to cook some food for myself. Well now in days I don’t have the luxury of being lazy, so I guess I lived it up while I could.

The Math Empo

                Four out of my five weekdays of this week has been spent at the math empo. This week I had a vector test and a test in Math 1206. For vector you get one test so you take it and what’s your grade is your grade which I took on Monday. Math 1206 you get 3 test tickets so you can take the test three times. The tickets fall on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, so that’s the other three days of my week.  First I want to say that I don’t detest the empo, it can be a nice place to work, it makes you feel like you want to get a lot accomplished. Even though I say that it doesn’t mean I like going there four out of five weekdays. My whole thing with the math empo is that if it wasn’t so out of the way it wouldn’t really be that much of a problem. Having to take a bus there and back and annoying. It’s not like using a bus to get off campus to go home where you want to be, it’s using a bus to go to another place to labor on schoolwork. I can toil on schoolwork in the library, so having to go to another place that’s out of the way to do work just inconvenient.

                One thing about the empo that can be helpful or annoying is the red cups for help. First of all people seem to have trouble putting a red cup on a computer because I am always hearing them fall off. I feel like there’s a better method of attracting the tutors attention than a red cup. Why not use one of the neon toys that can attach to computers? They’re bright and you can’t drop those everywhere. Also the tutors I find can be really helpful or not at all. Sometimes the way they explain things is great and then I’m like “thanks for the help!” But other times when I’m not sure what they’re saying I’m like “oh yeah that makes sense sort of”, it’s honestly a chance if you get lucky or not with a tutor.

                Coming out of the math empo is an experience every time. While I’m in there I have no sense of time, or any sense of awareness of the outside world. It’s always amazes me going in and seeing sun and coming out and it is completely dark. When I went there on Monday, I had completely forgotten about the horrible weather. Then when I actually went outside I’m was surprised by what was going on. The weather had gotten worse and I had no clue about it. Regardless, I’m sure that I going to have plenty more times at the math empo before the semester is over.

Halloween

                So this weekend may as well be Halloween and I don’t have a costume, nor do I know where to get a costume. I’m not familiar with the stores in the Blacksburg, Christiansburg area so finding a place is hard. But regardless from the costume thing I’m excited about Halloween. It’s going to be weird because I’m not with my friends trick-or-treating, and I don’t have to take my little brother trick-or-treating during the early child safe hours, and I’m not going to have to  give out candy when people ring my doorbell. It’s just going to be a new experience having Halloween at college. I wonder if I should put out a bowl of candy outside my door in case there are people going door to door wanting candy.

                I remember last year during the Halloween time, my friends and I had a great idea to go trick-or-treating even though we were 17-18 years of age. When we were going around we would see the some of the kids with an adult following them, and we could just tell that the adult was judging us and giving us looks of disapproval. Which was hilarious, we had absolutely no shame of going around and getting free candy, if anything in our minds the people who weren’t doing it were missing out. Sometimes when people would answer their door for us we would get surprised looks, and some people would even say “aren’t you guys a little old to be trick-or-treating?” and of course we would say you’re never too old to trick-or-treat. As we walked around we would occasionally meet nice people who would offer apple cider or cookies and at other times we would be surprise by other teenagers screaming at us from their cars to scare us. But in all it was a good time, I just hope that this year I can also have just as good of a time. 

Pieces of my Childhood

When I was young my favorite channel I would watch was cartoon network. I would forget that there were other channels because I was so focused on cartoon network. I remember that my favorite show was Captain Planet. I thought he was the coolest hero ever, I mean he came out when the planeteers put their rings together and he would then save the world from the evil pollution villains. I remember that they would only play it at 6:00am, so I would get up at that time just to watch it. I didn’t really get into Nickelodeon until after Captain Planet, and then it was about The Rugrats. There was something about these babies going on adventures that were very appealing to me. I just noticed while typing this that the word “Rugrat” doesn’t sound that appealing when you think about it. What is a rugrat? I know it refers to these babies/kids, but where did the term come from? I know that my mom calls my little brother a rugrat from time to time, but is that how the word came about? Was it just a common word that was used by people for years or was it pioneered by Nickelodeon?

Anyway as I got older I eventually moved on from captain planet and got into Pokémon. I remember actually buying Pokémon cards, but I did not know how to use them. In elementary school it was cool just to have them, so playing with them wasn’t as important. Now that I think about it, that didn’t make any sense, it’s not like I was even collecting them, I just had them. Anyway I remember when the first Pokémon movie was playing in theaters, and I just had to go see it. With each movie ticket sold the clerks would give the each kid a shiny Pokémon card, so then I had even more reason to go. My mom took me to the movie theater and when we got there, there was a line like no other. Till this day I don’t think I’ve ever seen a line that long for a movie. There were kids and parents everywhere, it was ridiculous. But my mom and I got to the back of the line to wait to buy our ticket. When we were halfway there the movie theater people said that they sold out of tickets. I was so crushed that I started crying right then. I was so excited to see this movie and get my shiny card only to be rejected after waiting because there were no more tickets. So to calm me down my mom took me to my favorite place to eat, McDonalds, so I could my McNuggets and a toy. I eventually get to see the movie on DVD, but it wasn’t the same. 

Ms. Monica

                Babysitters are a necessary part of life. What happens to children when their parents have to work late, or when they want to go out late at night for an special occasion? The children  are sent to babysitters. Babysitters are supposedly kind people that watch young kids, which in my experience is true. I had sitters since I was young, but I barely remember most of them. But there is one that will never forget. She was a big part of my childhood, and I still remember to this day, Ms. Monica.

                Ms. Monica was an elderly lady in her 60’s, but she was full of energy. I first met her, because she lived in my neighborhood and every Tuesday I would go to her house and practicing playing the piano. It was then that she informed my mom that she also ran a daycare service at her house for a wide range of hours. I remember during the summer I would be there from 7:00am to 7:00pm, and I loved every minute of it. In the morning she would feed me breakfast which was usually a toasted bagel with strawberry jam. And then we would do whatever activities she wanted to do that day. Generally I helped her outside with her garden, by digging holes to plant flowers, and weeding it, and other times I would play with other kids she also watched. Her house was by these woods that we would explore, and we once found a tree that fell down, but was caught by another tree, so basically it was at a diagonal. We would climb this tree all the time, for some reason it never get old or even found it dangerous.  We would also have and “adventure” by wondering deep into the woods past the thorny vines to find this one creepy house that we would pretend was haunted. All this was just a regular day.

                One major thing that Ms. Monica did for me was that she taught me how to play chess. She would have chess tournaments at her house that I would occasionally win. I still like playing chess till this day, and I’m grateful that she took the time to teach me. She would always do kind things for me, actually one year for my birthday she made me a pound cake with strawberries and a whipped cream frosting, and it made me so happy that still clearly recall it.

Now as I type about this I realized she did more for me than I thought.  She was probably the biggest reason I had such a happy childhood.

Food

                Breakfast, lunch and dinner are generally the times when people eat the amazing thing known as food. Food is one of the beautiful things in life and without it we would perish. But having too much of it or eating unhealthy items can be a bad thing. It can cause a person to become obese and sick, which know wants to be.

                As a freshman at Virginia Tech the availability of food is overwhelming and wonderful. There is no more asking mom what’s for dinner and her response is whatever’s in the pantry. There are so many options and different types of food that anyone can find something that pleases them. But at the same time there are so many things that you have to have self-control. I know I personally have a problem with sweets; if I could eat dessert all day, I would and I would also possibly be the happiest person in the world. But unfortunately that’s not the best idea… it is tempting though. Everywhere I go there are always cookies, cupcakes, or crepes for sale, and my thought is that one can’t hurt. This is a lie. Maybe one is ok, but that thought can happen multiple times in one day, adding to the extra amount of calories I would be eating.

                To avoid that situation I have certain foods in my rooms that I can munch on that I feel aren’t completely horrible for me. For example, I have Honey Nut Cheerios in my room at all times. My love for honey nut cheerios is like no others. I honestly could eat theses honey glazed circles of goodness for the rest of my life and not get tired of them. They are sweet, but they are healthy in a way. At least I like to think so. The box says that it can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease, so that constitutes as healthy. They are made with whole grains and contain all sorts of good vitamins and minerals. They are good to eat when I’m having a good or bad day, or just when I want a snack. I remember when I was in high school that is the cereal that stayed in the pantry and if we somehow ran out, I would feel incomplete. Well, maybe not all that, but it was upsetting. It started with only me eating them in my family, but then my little brother found the goodness in them, so I had to share my box. Then my stepdad decided he also enjoyed eating them for breakfast. With the 3 of us combined we couldn’t keep a box for a week, so that when my mom had to start getting the bulk boxes at Costco. With that we had a generally good supply of Honey Nut Cheerios.

                I digressed from my point though; all I wanted to say was make sure you eat healthy.

Tests

                This was my first week of tests here at Virginia tech, and if there is one thing I can say about it, it’s that it kicked my ass. Now I know everyone says that high school and college are two completely different animals, which I know is true,  but I still have to test the limits to see if some of the things I did in high school will also work here. Answer: No. I found out that studying the day of the test is not a good idea. I know common sense would say to study before, but when you have 10 other things to do, it gets hard.

                For example, I had my Chemistry test yesterday, and I when I finished it I had that I’m screwed feeling left inside of me. I kept putting it off, because when my professor explained how to do the problems in class it made a lot of sense, but when I finally got around to doing the online assignments, it was a different experience. So on Thursday I don’t have class till 2 pm which was my chemistry class, so I woke up at 8 am and literally studied from the time I woke up till it was time to go to class. I’m not going to say it was ineffective cramming because I was able to understand some things, but others just flew over my head. It was quite something going into class and seeing everyone’s anxious faces, it made me feel not as alone in my nervous state at the time. It was also at the time when I noticed how different college tests were from high school ones. When I was actually taking my chemistry test I found it interesting how the scantrons were different. There were no more question numbers with the choices A-E, now it’s question numbers with choice answers of numbers 1-10.

There is one thing about college tests that can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it, and it is that they are short. In high school tests would be 50-60 multiple questions that you had the whole period to do. But now, the tests are short so each question is worth more and the time to take it varies. Fewer questions are great because you aren’t doing a myriad of problems, but that means a person needs to make sure they know the material because the luxury of missing a few problems is gone. What can be annoying about the test process is that a person may have to go to a different place to take a test. I understand that some professors don’t have time in class for their students to take their tests, since they are trying to try a lot of material in 15 weeks. But that doesn’t mean I enjoy having to go out of my way to go to the math empo, or taking my free time on Thursday night to take a test. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to though, because this is only the beginning of my long college career of testing.

Smokers

                The air is becoming cool and crisp here at Virginia Tech, and it makes me want to go outside and walk around just to enjoy the weather. Walking around in a sweatshirt and jeans is how I tend to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. But on multiple occasions as I walk around campus I have felt that the life was being sucked out of me as I breathe in air from some smoker that happened to be in front of me.

I have noticed a fair amount of smokers on campus and it has always had me wonder, why did you start smoking? In the 1960’s when almost everyone smoked, they didn’t know it was bad for you so that is more understandable. In today’s time, it has been proven through many studies that it’s destroy your lungs and the smoke that you breathe out also hurts the others around you. Then I thought why would anyone want to start something that you’re going to be addicted to? I see smokers that stand out in the freezing cold just to get a smoke. It looks completely ridiculous for someone to subject themselves to that kind of weather for some puffs.  Also to supply that addiction a smoker has to buy their cigarettes, which can easily get expensive depending on what brand and how often a person gets them.

Smoking is terrible for the health of both the smoker and the unfortunate people that happen to be around them. Have you ever noticed that generally when comparing people that smoke and people that don’t, the ones who smoke lose their breath more easily when doing an activity? That in itself is a sign that a person shouldn’t smoke, because nothing good can lead from a shortness of breath.  Some of the severe consequences of smoking cigarettes can be lung disease and a loss of vocal cords. I remember when I was in 6^th grade my school had a presentation for us about the dangers of smoking. They brought a man that talked to us through one of artificial vocal cords, so he sounded like a robot and he had a hole in his throat. Seeing that freaked me out and when I think of him it can still give me the chills. The thought that went through my mind while I saw him was that my grandma also smokes, so what if she ends up like him? My grandma has been smoking since she was 16 and now she’s 65, so for 49 years smoking has been a part of her life. I felt that she was in serious danger and I tried to convince her to stop smoking, but I realized then that it’s easy to say that people shouldn’t smoke and list terrible facts about it, but getting someone to stop is a truly difficult task. It’s not easy for a person to change their lifestyle, so needless to say that I couldn’t get my grandma to stop smoking. I had asked her why she started was because she was curious about it, and I’m sure that same reason of curiosity applies to the people who start smoking in today’s time. So please don’t smoke, even if you’re curious about it. Just think, is that moment of curiosity worth a lifetime of addiction and bad health?

The Heat

                I love almost everything about Virginia Tech. The campus is beautiful, the food is great, and then people are nice. One of the few things is dislike here is the summer heat. The heat here isn’t a normal outside hot; it’s a kind of sweltering heat that makes everything sticky because of the humidity. Generally when it rains, I would be grateful because the rain cools down the heat. But here when it rains here I am filled with dread. The rain is great until it stops and everything is left wet and ready to be dried by the sun. When the water is evaporated by the sun, the air is similar to the heat of a sauna. Except the difference is that it’s not relaxing because you’re walking through it for 15 min trying to avoid people while carrying a backpack occupied with notebooks and a laptop. You would think that because of the intense heat, there would be air conditioning in every building, but unfortunately that’s not the case.

 Here at Tech air conditioning is a gift that I have come to have a new appreciation for.  First of all I live in a dorm without air conditioning, which I still haven’t come to understand myself. Why would anyone make dorms without AC? I know that it gets cooler in September so you will not have a need for it, except the thing is that it gets warmer again at some point. Of course people can bring fans for their room, but I’ve learned that fans can create a nice little breeze, but that breeze is the hot air bring circulated around your room. It makes doing work in my room painful, so I end up trying to find a cooler place in my dorm so I can concentrate on my studies. I was trying to think of why someone would decide to make dorms without air conditioning, and the first thing that came to my mind was money. I’m positive that Tech saves thousands among thousands of dollars from not having to pay for AC. I can understand wanting to save money, but if they’re going to do that, at least have it make sense. College kids will survive not having AC in their dorms, but why would you not have it in a gym where people are hot and sweating? War Memorial hall is the gym without AC, and I wonder how people can work out there? When you’re physically exhausting yourself you want to be in a nice cool environment so you don’t pass out from the heat. Even with that fact, people still go there so they must have a system that works, but I myself can’t comprehend it.

Anyway as the days go on I’m glad that summer is almost over, because I’m excited for the cool, crisp, fall weather.

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