[samanthachrisman]

Study Abroad

       I think studying abroad is one of the greatest opportunities offered to university students. Everyone deserves the chance to go out and explore various parts of the world and see everything the world has to offer. Growing up in the same place your entire life can cause some peoples knowledge of the world to become very narrow as they start to assume everyone does everything the exact same way as them. This insensitivity to others cultures and lifestyles can take away from an individuals insight and knowledge about the world. The best way to gain this worldly insight is by going out into another part of the world and simply experiencing it. Studying abroad is exactly the way to do this. 

      Although I have never studied abroad, considering I've been in school for a year, it is something I plan on and hope that I get to experience. I never have heard of someone having a bad experience while studying abroad. Colorado State University offers a wide variety of different study abroad programs that appeal to every major. One thing the school fails to do is educate the student body about all these outstanding opportunities. Many students think they can't study abroad due to cost issues or they think it'll mess up their expected graduation time. But in a lot of cases the schools study abroad program can find the trip perfect for you that can even be cheaper than regular tuition. Theres even summer study abroad programs and internships to receive credit so there really should be nothing stopping students from exploring the study abroad opportunities if interested.

       I highly encourage anyone who has even slightly considered studying abroad to take the time to meet up with someone from the study abroad department and learn about all your options. You may be surprised to find that your dream of studying abroad isn't as unreachable as you had thought. I think studying abroad is such a fun and resourceful experience that every student who wants to should be able to experience the life and atmosphere of studying in a different country. So if you are doubting your ability to study abroad don't just assume it won't work out, use the school's resources and go talk to someone and find out more information. You might be surprised by your options. 

[samanthachrisman]

Media Use

For one of my classes recently we were required to log our media use for 3 days and write an analysis on our findings. I always kind of assumed I was consuming too much media in forms of TV, social networks, netflix, phone apps and whatever else I use on the almost daily basis but I never really realized how much of my day it actually consumed.

I discovered that on average I consume about 5-7 hours of media a day. That's a big chunk of my day. Of that 5-7 hours, majority of that is new media, as in social networks, netflix, internet radio etc. Pretty much none of my media consumption lied with in the traditional media of books, magazines, newspapers, etc. Even right now as I write this homework assignment I am consuming multiple types of new media. 

Near the beginning of the year I chose to cut Facebook out of my life because I think it has turned into more of a creepy stalking tool instead of a social interaction site. I thought this would cut down my media use a lot but I found I have just been filling my empty time with different types of social media such as Twitter and Instagram. Now, I don't think social media is some awful thing that should be banned but I do think much of our generation needs to learn how to use it in moderation. I've found that no one really gives anything their full attention anymore. Whether one's in class, or have a conversation with a dear friends they are always trying to multitask and check their Facebook, twitter, email, text or whatever. This is not only rude but distracts us from being able to fully engage and experience the stuff going on. I can definitely name a handful of times off the top of my head where I missed something really cool that happened because at that exact second I thought I should check up on my Instagram. And I'm assuming I'm not the only one guilty of this. 

Media and modern days technology can be a tool if you use them right but if not they can corrupt our lives and take away from valuable experiences. What's the point of doing something if all you care about is getting a picture of it to make you look cooler on the internet? As i try to cut back my media intake I highly encourage everyone reading this to take a day or two and try to track how much media you consume and then reevaluate if thats a reasonable amount of time

[samanthachrisman]

Losing motivation?

Yeah me too.  I have absolutely no motivation to start working on the 4 papers I have due within the next 3 weeks. No motivation to study for the 3 test I have within the next 2 weeks. No motivation to do my weekly math assignments and pace test. And absolutely no motivation to write this blog post. Nor do I have inspiration. I keep veering further and further away from my original topic which I'm starting to forget what that even entailed so I was thinking about just giving everyone the little bit of inspiration they might need to finish the year. 

It's hard to focus on school with summer so close around the corner. We have approximately 5 weeks left. Thats about 5 more mondays, 5 more hump days, 5 more weekends and then boom. Summer. The season thats been taunting us, sneaking into the back of our minds and whispering its name in our ear at every flower we see bloom. How are we suppose to stay concentrated with our nose in a book with the sun shining, the breeze blowing, and 75 degrees weather. What a waste of a beautiful day. It's really  quite tragic if you ask me. But, hey we are getting an education right?

After spring break passes we transition into the hardest/fastest time of the year. Everyone is longing for summer, everyone is so far done with school and the exhaustion is driving us all mad. I know I am personally just about ready to throw in the towel and call it quits as I watch my grades blow up into a fiery flame that can't be put out no matter how much water I pour on it. 

So for those of you who are feeling like me? A bit overworked. Like you just can't go on. For those of us who would rather be laying on a beach sipping on a corona than in the library trying to power out that 10 page comp paper that's haunting your dreams. Here's a little advice: Work hard now. Rest later. We've made it so far and we are so close to finishing the year; which for many of us is our first. It'll only get harder from here so try to enjoy the opportunity of this year and don't let a years worth of hard work get ruined in the last 5 weeks. Summer is just around the corner. But you are only fully able to enjoy and relax knowing you worked your hardest all year and finished strong. So good luck everyone and don't let spring fever get the best of you. 

[samanthachrisman]

Food Poisoning

Here is yet again another rant about the quality of food we are being served. It hasn't even been 2 weeks since we've been back and I've already heard 5 horror stories of people getting food poisoning from the dinning hall food. And I'm not just talking about feeling a little queazy after a meal. I'm talking about full on, up all night puking, immobilizing sickness. We all know we aren't getting the quality of food we pay for when it comes to dinning hall food, with meals averaging out to 10$ a meal, which is about 140-210$ a week depending on your meal plan. Not only are kids not refunded for their unused meal swipes and not only are kids paying way too much for very poor quality but now kids are getting sick from the food the school is feeding them? Are you kidding me?

If I was given the amount of money that I'm paying the school for a meal plan, that I'm forced to buy, then I could be cooking up myself a 5 star meal every night. And why are all these kids getting food poisoning? Does the school have any health codes or regulations at all? I'm starting to think they just leave all the food out and then open it back up again the next day. I have a friend who came up from CU Boulder to visit and had to cut her visit short to go home because she got food poisoning. She couldn't even make it home without having to pull over to throw up several times. This is an embarrassment to our school and honestly a disgrace for what we are paying. I usually feel a little sick after eating dorm food but now I'm legitimately scared to eat in the dinning halls. For what we are paying you think CSU could at least take a couple thousand away from the overrated and unnecessary construction fund and make sure their students aren't getting sick from their food!

In my opinion, this is a problem that should be brought to everyones attention and should be one of CSU's first priorities. What's going to happen when students start skipping class because they are sick from their lunch before? Some university. Every time I go to get food I wonder if it's going to make me sick or not. I think CSU really needs to reevaluate their priorities because I guarantee if a health inspector took a look around their would be some serious issues and complaints. 

[samanthachrisman]

A depressing topic

       From either personal experiences, stories told, and research done almost everyone has heard of or knows someone in college who has or is struggling with depression. A brief description of depression is feeling sad or anxious for an extended period of time. Symptoms of depressive disorders can affect your every day day life from your appetite, to how much sleep you're getting to how well you are able to concentrate in a classroom environment. It's not uncommon for someone to experience this at some point in their college experiences. 

       So what is it about college that triggers these kinds of symptoms and mood disorders on students? Does college really put so much pressure on its students that they spiral into a depression? What is it about college that triggers these depressive symptoms? Is it the work load? Is it the pressures of students being out on their own for the first time and having all the extra responsibilities of being an adult? 

       According to the National Institute of Mental Health, "In 2011, the American College Health Association– National College Health Assessment (ACHA–NCHA)—a nationwide survey of college students at 2- and 4-year institutions— found that about 30 percent of college students reported feeling “so depressed that it was difficult to function” at some time in the past year.2" So if studies show that up to 30% of college students self diagnosis themselves with depression at some point through college then why is depression treated like such a small problem on college campuses? I think a big part of it his students not knowing that they can get help and not knowing how to get help. Major depressive disorder can drastically affect how well students preform in school and what they get out of their college experiences. 

       Because this issue isn't discussed and supported on college campuses as much as it should be college students suffering with depression may feel isolated, alone and the need to self medicate and deal with the issue in harmful ways. Depression being defined as a mental health disease is something that can steer people away to admitting and seeking help for this mood disorder because of a fear of judgement. I think it is the University's job to find ways to shed light on this issue and awareness so students suffering will feel comfortable getting the help they need. This disorder is something that is common for people to experience at some point in their life time and is also very curable through therapeutic ways and even prescriptions. But if students are not aware of the help the can get or afraid to admit that they might need help depression symptoms can increase rapidly and throw one persons college experience into a downward spiral. 

      With an issue affecting so many students it should be the colleges job to provide plenty of resources and make these resources well known and easily accessed by anyone struggling. Depression's severity is underestimated and is something that university's need to do their best to help prevent. 

[samanthachrisman]

Free Tilly!

       Who here has been to SeaWorld?! Its a fun place, right? Theres rides, overpriced food, cute little dolphins and sea lion shows and don't forget about the main even, the Shamu show, beware of the splash zone! What many SeaWorld goers are unaware of is the harsh cruelty that these animals in captivity live in, but the workers assure you that the animals are treated well right? And that most animals tend to live longer in captivity right? False. If you ever want to see someone lie to your face go to SeaWorld and ask the workers how long orca whales usually live. Their response will be about 25-35 years "but they generally live longer in captivity." This is a bold face lie considering that in the wild killer whales usually have about the same life span as a human.

       The documentary Blackfish (available on Netflix), exposes the truths about SeaWorld and the miserable lives of these animals in captivity. The documentary interviews former SeaWorld employees who explain how they are trained to believe what they are doing to these animals is okay and naively accept it. Now that these former SeaWorld workers know the truth they are exposing it to the public to fight against the cruelty of SeaWorld. The documentary alone is enough to make you want to cry and sue the sh*t out of SeaWorld for being so heartless but for those of you who haven't seen the documentary and don't have a huge interest in watching it, let me give you the gist of it so you know where your money is going when you purchase a SeaWorld ticket. 

       The main focus of this documentary is a orca whale named Tillikum who is currently located at the SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida and who has been in captivity for about 30 years. Tillikum, better known as Tilly, was chased down and herded by helicopters and boats when he was a baby and then taken straight out of his home and away from his mom. Ever since that day Tilly has been living in a pool that to him is equivalent to a human living in a bathtub. Not so luxurious huh? The only time he gets out of this bathtub is when he is being forced to preform for thousands of people, this provides very minimal swimming for an animal that can travel up to 100 miles a day. Tilly is responsible for 3 deaths already and what has SeaWorld done about this? Nothing. I personally don't think the poor whale is to blame; I'm sure I'd be trying to kill some people if I spent the past 30 years of my life in a bathtub too. You'd think with a creature so dangerous they'd release him but no. SeaWorld keeps Tilly around because his cum is like pure gold to SeaWorld. Tilly is the father of 21 of SeaWorld other orcas all who face the same poor treatment. 

       Have you ever wondered why whales and other aquatic mammals fins start to droop over? Ask a SeaWorld employee. They'll tell you that it's very common and caused from stress and some other bullshit. Not so shockingly if you do even the slightest bit of research you will find that this is a lie too. Almost all whales in captivity have a partially or completely collapsed dorsal fin, in the wild a study shown that as little as 1% of whales have collapsed fin. The dorsal fin has no bone and keeps its structure when whales are able to swim fast and freely through the open ocean. With not enough space to swim around in captivity a curled over dorsal fin becomes very common. Tilly was one of, if not the first whale taken from his home and family in the ocean. Now, with Tilly as the main producer SeaWorld is able to breed more whales. You'd think they'd at least do this in a humane way? But wrong again. A former SeaWorld employee describes a mother orca's calve being taken away from her almost immediately after it was born to be shipped to a different SeaWorld location. The former worker describes sounds of sorrow and pain that came from the mother for days after, sounds that whale experts have never heard before. 

       The list of cruelties at SeaWorld go on and on and honestly I could rant about them all day but I'm sure all of you have better stuff to do than read that. The cruelties don't stop with the orcas, it goes the same for dolphins and other animals held at SeaWorld. And there has been incidents of animals in captivity committing suicide, which is something that has never been seen by anyone but humans before. I'm not informing you all about this to try to get you to join me in some huge fight against SeaWorld but I do think it's important for everyone to know that when they purchase a SeaWorld ticket these harsh cruelties is what their money is supporting. So next time when you're family is vacationing out in Florida or California or wherever think twice before you choose to go to a SeaWorld park for entertainment because what is entertainment for you is suffering for another creature. If this is something you're interested in I highly suggest watching the documentary Blackfish, available on Netflix (released in 2013), for more information or take a look at http://www.freetillynow.org and sign the petition to Free Tilly! It'll only take a minute of your time. As the website states: keeping a 12,000+ pound Orca whale in a pool, (that is less than a fraction of 1% of his natural habitat,) is simply illogical and unethical. 

[samanthachrisman]

Genetically Engineering our Meals

      Everyone knows the dorm food isn't top quality and around this time of year you can expect to here your average handful of complains every time you enter a dinning hall. I am one of those complainers. SO if you're not in for a mini rant about unhealthy, poor quality food that we are being fed by our University then you can stop reading now. 

       Most people have heard of GMOs and know that they are "bad" but not many people really know what they are and why they are so bad for us.  "GMOs, or “genetically modified organisms,” are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals.", defined by the Non GMO Project. Reading that sentence, for me personally, that is not something I eagerly want to be putting in my body. Just the definition of it sounds wrong, disturbing and unhealthy. GMO's are highly linked to health problems and majority of well-developed countries declare GMOs as unsafe. America on the other hand has approved the use of GMO's without restrictions. Not only are we one of few well developed countries to be consuming these types of food but it's not even required to label foods as GMO products. This is disturbing in many ways as I feel Americans deserve to know and should want to know what they are putting in their bodies. 

       On top of all the GMO and processed food that our country is filled with here we are paying thousands of dollars to attend a university and buy a meal plan that includes the lowest of the lowest and the poorest quality of all GMO and processed foods. All most everything that we are served is pre made and/or was frozen at some point. I've heard many many horror stories of the awful things found throughout the dinning halls: food still frozen, bugs on fruit, "chicken" that is raw. The list goes on. Even the "healthier" options are stripped of there nutrition as they are coming from cheap quality GMO companies. Theres nothing better than a side of half frozen green beans to go with your uncooked "chicken" breast. MMMM. I can't wait for dinner! 

       With the amount of money each student is paying you'd think our University would be able/willing to upgrade the food quality a little so the freshman 15 wasn't such a realistic fear. Each meal swipe averages to around 8-10$ a meal. For the same price I could be enjoy a delicious Chipotle burrito made with real, organic meat and veggies. May not be the most healthiest meal in the world but hey, I can guarantee it's better than dorm food. So since we are paying for quality meals that we aren't getting wear is all our money going? Maybe to build giant new dorms that the school won't even be able to fill?? Who knows. Point being we deserve more than what we are getting but the real root of the problem isn't specifically universities. It's our whole country. I love my country but lets just say it's not a coincidence that we have a reputation of being fat. We need to put down that shit that is claimed to be "food" and start fighting for real wholesome food that comes from the Earth not a genetic-engineering lab. 

Most of the information about GMO foods in this post were provided by the Non GMO Project. Check out the link below if you are interested to learn more. 

http://www.nongmoproject.org/learn-more/

[samanthachrisman]

SNOWBOARDING

       An extracurricular activity I try to keep up with during the winter is snowboarding. I love just getting out side and enjoying the sun and the snow in the mountains. Snowboarding gives me a chance to just really clear my mind and focus on myself. I love snowboarding because it can be a social or and individual activity and either is equally as fun. I love being able to just put in my headphones, ignore the world and carve down the mountain. But you can accomplish the same kind of freeing feeling with the good company of your friends. I think it's important to get outside and take advantage of the amazing mountains and scenes that Colorado has to offer and skiing or snowboarding is a great way to do that. Not only is it fun but it's also a more exciting way to get some exercise. You may just be sliding down a mountain but it takes a lot of muscle control when skiing or snowboarding. This is just one of the positives of snowboarding. 

       One of the negatives about snowboarding and or skiing is it's not the most convenient activity to be involved in. Unless you are willing to skip classes which I don't advise to do regularly, the only opportunity you have to go is weekends. And weekends mean weekend traffic which can turn a 2 hour trip into a 5 hour trip easily. On top of that snowboarding isn't the cheapest activity/hobby/sport to be involved in. It requires a lot of equipment: snowboard, boots, jacket, snow pants, gloves, helmet, goggles, etc. And then to top it off there are travel expenses. Gas is not cheap. And being a broke college student in Fort Collins (approx. 140 miles from the slopes) the travel expenses really add up. It definitely harder to go up as much as I'd like when you factor all this in. But if you can find a fun group to carpool up with on a really nice day it usually ends up being worth it. 

I'm really good at art. The journey of going to the mountains to snowboard -(not suppose to look like I'm surfing) & the camera flipped it...so it's in reverse order.

[samanthachrisman]

Greek Life

        This week I looked at the article in our book, Ethics in Higher Education: A Reader for Writers,  titled "The Effects of Fraternity/Sorority Membership on College Experiences and Outcomes: A Portrait of Complexity" by Ashley M. Asel, Tricia A. Seifert, and Ernest T. Pascarella. I don't really have a personal experience with fraternities or sororities because I am not a part of greek life here at CSU but I do know many people who are in one here and in schools all around the country. I have nothing for or against greek life but I obviously have heard the reputations and stereotypes that associating yourself with a sorority or fraternity can come with: partying, drinking, overly sexually active, etc.

       The article I read about this topic was very interesting because it gives the reader specific statistics about frats and sororities. It states things such as that members of fraternities and sororities do show higher involvement and charitable activities but they also show higher use of binge drinking and more likely to practice unsafe sex habits. As far as education and actual grades, the article states that there is no real relationship between greek life and grades. Fraternities/sororities do not seem to increase grades or poorly affect them. The article also shows evidence that members of fraternities/sororities show less diversity and tend to not affiliate with people outside of greek life as much. I find this topic especially interesting at CSU because I think CSU has a very unique greek life. In many schools the said statistic are probably easily proven true but I'm not so sure when it comes to CSU.

       My best friend since the first grade attends Mizzou in Columbia Missouri, and is indeed in a sorority. She would tell me all about the rushing process there and how intense it is. She rushed with at least 500 other girls and getting in to a sorority was not an easy process. She told me how some girls there take it so seriously and that there main reason for even attending college is to be a part of sorority. I find that very strange since the sorority thing never really seemed like my thing but the more she told me about the rush process the more awful it sounded. The process of even getting in to one is long and honestly degrading and heart-breaking for many girls if they don't get in to a sorority. Majority of the people I know associated with greek life absolutely love it, so I'm not saying it's an awful thing. I just didn't realize how intense and seriously it's taken at other universities. Needless to say I don't see this as much at CSU. Although I've never first hand experienced it since I did not rush greek life at CSU, from what I've heard and seen it is very different than it is in most places. 

        My dear friend has had a great time and been very successful in her sorority. She has met some of her closest friends, joined a coed business frat and maintained a job. Her sorority has definitely kept her busy but she loves every minute of it. Does she mostly hangout with other people associated with the schools greek life? Absolutely. But if you were on the schools soccer team, or swim team or in the art club are you most likely going to hangout with your teammates and other people from your club? Absolutely. I just think it's common sense that you are going to hangout with people with common interest with you and if that happens to be greek life then you are going to end up associating with other people in frats and sororities. That being said I think since CSU does not have the biggest greek life in all the campuses they do a very good job of interacting with people outside of frats and sororities. For the most part I have seen all kinds of people repping their greek letters around campus, people of different race, ethnicity, religion, size, background, you name it. I think CSU has a very accepting greek life compared to many other places. It isn't nearly as serious and intense as it can be in other schools and thats something that makes CSU greek life very unique. 

The below meme is not intended to offend anyone... I just thought it was funny.

[samanthachrisman]

Revising

       The main problems with peer reviews is how much effort the peers actually put into it. If you're one to get all your work done the day it's assigned and to really try your best to have your complete and best work possible by the date of peer editing, then you will probably get a lot out of a peer revision. It can be really helpful to get another's perspective on your work. When you try to edit your own work you may skim past something that may be confusing to another without noticing how awkward sounding it is, simply because you are already aware of what you are trying to communicate. So, having that extra insight can be very helpful in these cases. 

       But, on the other end of the scale, when it comes to peer reviews you get what you give. So if you are like many other students you may tend to procrastinate or prioritize other classes more and when the peer review date sneaks up on you, you just say well it isn't "actually" due for another week so it's not like I have to try really hard or even complete it. Because the only people looking at it are probably in the same situation as you anyway right? Although, this may be true for many students it is also self destructive and really only harming yourself. When a teacher assigns in class peer review, the purpose of it is to benefit the student. Peer review can be a very helpful tool but only if it's taken seriously. Your teacher won't know what you bring to class on that day and if you truly tried your best to bring in completed work but your teacher probably also doesn't care. Your professor's intentions are to give you the opportunity to have someone else review and revise your work during the time they have with you and if you aren't going to take advantage of that then it is your loss, and it'll probably show when grades come back. 

       Another issue with peer revision is students have this fear of insulting or hurting their peers feelings so they tend to overlook some of their obvious mistakes or exaggerate how good their writing is. When students do this, although, they may be protecting their peers feelings they are endanger their peers grades. During peer revision your classmates are trusting you with their work and they are going to listen to your feedback. So if someone tells you your paper is really good when it's not, you're going to consider yourself done when you could actually need a lot of work on it. This is a big issue in the world of peer revision, students are afraid of being too critical. Students need to stop worrying about being sensitive and truly give each other the feedback they deserve. If you read someone's text and it makes absolutely no sense, it shouldn't be frowned upon by other student's to just say "Look, this makes absolutely no sense. Maybe try rewording ... this differently." Overall, the main issue being that students don't fully take advantage of peer revisions and how much they can help. 

       I find it very helpful during peer reviews if you are given some sort of set of questions or rubric to go over with the other person. By answering questions or checking off items on a rubric you can specifically tell your partner or group if they have accomplished this task of the assignment or not. I found this website which has multiple different ways of peer editing which all kind of included this "questioning" format. Take a look at it for some helpful ways to edit your peers papers! 

https://suite101.com/a/different-methods-to-conducting-peer-reviews-a183057  

[samanthachrisman]

Why College?

       Go to college they said. Get a degree they said. Find yourself a well paying job they said. Find a good spouse they said. Settle down they said. My question is who is they? And why do they keep manipulating the minds of those of us who are still young and free, trying to persuade us that the only thing rational to do is to grow old and boring and live out our preplanned, cookie cutter style life. From the moment we learned to walk and talk our lives have been planned and shaped in someway by our society and the culture we live in. Ever since I was a little girl I knew I'd grow up, graduate from high school, attend a college, get a degree, find a job, get married and ultimately raise a family. Although this isn't exactly set in stone for everyone, for most people in today's world their "life plan" generally follows a similar timeline. My question is why? Why does everyone want this plain and dry life thats already planned out for them? And is this really what everyone wants or do most people just think it's the only option? What leads us to believe that this is the only way to get through our lives? 

       I grew up with a very supportive family. My parents didn't force me to continue my education into college. They hardly even encouraged it. They told me they had put aside money for my college education but if I chose a different path then they'd completely support me in that decision. So why am I here? It was my decision, right? And I don't just mean why am I in school. We all know why people come to college; to get an education, to get a degree, to graduate, to get a job, blah, blah, blah. What I mean is what made me feel forced to attend college? What series of events lead me to believe that college really is the only option after high school? 

       I guess my only answer is that when you're 18 and you still have your whole life ahead of you but you have no idea how you want to spend it...all you really do know is that you want to move out and be able to start living independently. So you choose the simplest way out of your small little town and took the most advertised "next step" and you apply to sell away the next  4 or more years of your life to a college or university. Now I'm not hating on colleges and universities. No, no, that's not my goal. If you have known you wanted to be a doctor your whole life then all I have to say to you is, good for you! Go off to college and get your degrees, for your major, your minor, your bachelors, your masters, your PhD, your MRS., your STD or whatever you're going to college for I hope you find it it there, I truly do! But for all of us who haven't known our "calling" in life since birth and we  didn't pop out of the womb singing or solving mathematical equations, why do we still feel obligated to jump right on the band wagon and attend college right after high school? Why is it so heavily insisted that this is a requirement to have a successful and fulfilling life? And why does everyone openly accept this normal life plan that we are placed into?

       I am not a hypocrite for following the lead of everyone else around me. I am simply a victim of the role that I (and everyone) was born in to. 

[samanthachrisman]

Choosing A Major

       Choosing a major is an interesting topic of discussion considering I haven't actually chosen a major. So instead of discussing the journey I went through in choosing a major I will tell you all about my current opinion on choosing a major and why I have yet to choose a major. 

       When people ask what I'm majoring in and I tell them I'm undeclared I've discovered that the discussion then takes a completely different turn into a series of unwanted questions usually asked by someone who doesn't truly care that much anyways. "Well, what are your favorite classes?" "What are you interested in?" "What are you passionate about?" The list goes on and on, because now all of a sudden this person feels obligated to try and help me figure out what I want to do with my life. I try my best to be polite to these kinds of people and answer their many questions the best I can (since they seem to be so concerned with my life), but when it comes down to it the answer always ends up being some form of I don't know! Because that's the truth. I'm 18 years young and have absolutely no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life. 

       At first going into college undeclared really worried me. I was constantly thinking, 'Why am I even going to school if I don't know what I want to study?' No matter how many statistics you hear about how "normal" it is to start school undeclared it's hard to believe when everyone around you seems to have it all figured out. There's actually very few of my friends who are undeclared. Most of my peers have already declared, changed, and redeclared a major and even though I'm only a freshman there's only so many gen. ed. courses you can take. I always thought I'd get to school and take some amazing, captivating class that just spoke to me and automatically I would know exactly what I want to be when I "grow up". Now, I don't know if that's how it works but if it is, it certainly hasn't happened to me yet. 

       The whole idea of not knowing really use to stress me out, and still does sometimes. But every time I start to get real stressed out and anxious about being undeclared something or someone comes along and reminds me that it's okay not knowing. One thing I've learned is that no one really knows what they are going to do out of college. I'm just the one to openly say it and willingly admit that at 18 years old I have no idea what I want to do with the rest of my life. The more and more I talk to people the more I discover that it is very rare that someone declares a major and is completely confident in that decision. A couple months back I met a random stranger down in Old Town that really made this clear to me. A couple of my friends and I decided to get our 4th meal of the day in around 2 AM on a Saturday night; we went into DP Dough and started up a friendly, little conversation with a random guy who had graduated from CSU. Finding out we were students he did the common thing to do and asked us all what we were studying. When he got to me I timidly told him I was undeclared. He high fived me and exclaimed "Good for you! You are the only one who really knows what you are doing!" He caught me a little off guard with that response but then proceeded to tell us how he spent all his time at CSU trying to become a dentist and now he is DJing for a cruise ship and spends his life traveling the world. This random stranger reassured me that it's okay not to know and even when everyone else seems like they've all got it figured out... they probably don't. And as of me, I'll figure it out whenever I figure it out but I'm in no hurry, I'm still young. 

[samanthachrisman]

About Me

       Hello to anyone and everyone currently reading this blog. My name is Samantha but most people call me Sam. I have absolutely no experience blogging and I don't even have a Facebook anymore so this will be real interesting. I was born in Oklahoma but raised in Colorado and it's been home since I was five. I have many interest but blogging has never been one of them so cut me some slack on this one. A couple activities I do enjoy though are snowboarding, hiking, going to concerts, photography and just goofing around with friends. I look at life as one big adventure so sometimes I just enjoy getting in my car, blasting music and seeing where I end up. I also love to travel. I've been to about 10 countries in my life including England, Spain, Mozambique, South Africa, the Dominican Republic and Haiti, just to name a handful. Like many people I have dreams to see the world one day and hopefully I will be given that opportunity.

       The people I surround myself with are very important to me and their happiness very much reflects my happiness. I believe in positivity and that there is a bright side in every situation. I also strongly believe that in order to get the most out of what life has to offer you must face everything life throws at you and be open to trying new things and experiences.

     I lived in Evergreen, Colorado for most of my life and attended Evergreen High School for two years and then transferred to Lakewood High School which is where I graduated from. I transferred because I wanted to attend a larger, more diverse school and just get out of my comfort zone a little. I'm currently a freshman at Colorado State University and I have no idea what I want to major in and I am very okay with that. I value my education and the opportunity I have to be in college but I'm also in no rush to grow up. Hopefully some of you will find this blog mildly entertaining.