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Au clair de la lune

My grandmother was born in France and her family immigrated to the united states when she was seven years old. French culture has always been apart of my life because of this. Growing up my grandmother and great grandmother would sing us french lullabies to put us to sleep. It is proven that if children are introduced to foreign languages early they are more likely to retain the language. This is because a young child’s brain is like a sponge. They absorbed everything around them because that is how they learn.

Now, I would not say that I am fluent in french because of the songs that were sang to me but I do believe that by hearing them when I was young helped me to understand the language. I have a good understanding of spoken french. Meaning that if someone was to speak it around me I could understand what they are saying. I do not fully know how to speak the language but because of my experience with the language I do understand it.

The reason I chose to talk about lullabies in different languages not just french is because it is something that we already do. Most people when confronted with a crying baby will sing to them to try and calm them down. Now, if we introduce songs in other languages it can help the child in the long run. A young child can learn a language relatively easily simply by listening to it and interacting with it. Songs are a great tool for this because it is easier for us to remember them. There are many times when we have a song stuck in our head and we don’t know why. These two things together, songs and foreign languages, can help a child’s mind develop. All parents ever want is for their child to do the best that they can.

Being an education major my main goal is for everyone that I interact with to have the best they can. I believe that introducing foreign languages early in a person’s life can spark something in that person. By something I mean a thirst for the unknown so to say. A want to learn everything they can because when we want to know more we are productive. If the whole world wants to know all they can we can hopefully become a more productive society.

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/au-clair-de-la-lune-under-moonlight.html

The song that I have linked is one that I remember my grandmother singing the most. I believe this to be my reason for being able to understand the language because I heard it being sung to me so many times. In my link it also has the lyrics in both french and english.

Research

My project is centered around bullying in high school students. What I found in my research was that there is not much information on bullying from the view of a high school student. Alot of what I collected has been from the view of adults and what they think is the reason bullying exists and how it can be prevented.

What I hope to do while further my research is to find out what the students think of bullying and how to prevent it. This is a bit of a difficult task though. Not many students even realize what bullying is let alone how to stop it. My goal is to interview the high school aged kids in my family. Thankfully I have six of them in different grades and schools.

What I aim to get from these interviews is what they believe bullying to be, what they think causes it, what types of students are generally the ones who are bullied, if they see bullying in their school and how they believe it can be stopped.

From the interviews I am hoping to learn the students view of the situation. It will depend on the different students what they view of it and I understand this. In all I want to know how they see it. We can not fully understand something until we see all aspects of it. This is another aspect that I am interested to find out more about.

Since I am not home I do not have any results from this yet. When I go home for thanksgiving is when I will collect all my research and find solutions from there. I feel doing the interviews in person will give me the best results because I can see how they respond to the questions. Body language is a key tool that can help to tell if the students is being honest. In person is also better because I can sit down and have a full conversation about the topic at hand.

The Gap

For our third project we need to fill in the gaps in our research from the previous project. My project was on bullying in middle and high school students. The gap that I found is in the child’s view on how to prevent bullying.

When I was doing my project I found a lot of articles that showed the view from adults on how to prevent bullying. This I found was next to no help in actually preventing it. What they suggested was either to find the times when I child could be bullied and monitor those times or to just tell the students to toughen up. On top of these I have taken education classes and they suggest for students to be educated to prevent bullying. While this is more helpful it still leaves out something, the view of the student on how we can prevent it.

Now, I understand why this has a gap because we do not think how student’s do. What my plan is to start with looking for sources online. I do not know how helpful this will be but that will be the beginning of my research. After that I do have a resource that I will tap into. I have a large family and this means that I know multiple people who are in high school. This meaning that I will interview them. I know of five students who are in high school but also in different social circles. I believe that by interviewing them it will help me get a view on their thoughts of bullying and how to prevent it. By doing this it will help to get a clearer picture of what this topic actually is. Adding it to the sources I find online will give a rounded idea of the whole topic.

This topic is important because bullying prevents students from attending school because they think that is the only way to avoid it. By doing this it puts the students behind in school and in extreme cases they do not finish school. If we can in some way prevent bullying it will allow students to feel more comfortable when they attend school. By creating a safe environment it will help to promote schooling and promote students to learn more.

amangano-blog

Health Care

A big issue people are facing every day is health care. Health care is supposed to be one of the biggest things to help and support people. Every day people are getting hurt or sick and need health care. On top of getting hurt or sick they are struggling to even receive health care. A big problem is that the health care system is losing numerous patients every day. One of the reasons they are losing patients is because of errors and accidents. With errors and accidents comes money loss due to deaths and procedures that didn’t need to be done. Oftentimes medical facilities provide too much time and money to patients who don’t need that kind of care. Each year the cost for family health checkups have increased. This can add up quickly depending on a family’s health throughout the year. As the cost goes up the number of doctors decrease. While the U.S population keeps increasing greatly there is not enough doctors to care for them all. When someone gets severely hurt people think that they can just go to the hospital and everything will be fine. That’s where people are wrong. When a person gets hurt you do go to the hospital and they do fix you but infections play a great role on your healing. Infections are one of the leading causes of preventable death. With health care comes people who have a career in the medical field. CMS is making physicians go through additional programs, on top of all the other stuff they have to do, so we can improve health care. These programs include things physicians need to be more careful about and keep a log of patients health. As you can see health care can be one of the greatest things or one of the worst. Health care has its pros and cons by in today’s day with all the advancements there should be more pros. We are struggling with making it more affordable and decreasing the amount of deaths. The running candidates for president both have their own views on how to make health care a more positive issue. I think the topic of health care is very important because it is what we need to get through the sickness and accidents to survive. Health care is a part of our everyday lives and as much as we may not really care to change it, it has to be improved.

skylar1899

My view on health care is that we should be like many other countries and offer free health care to all citizens. Other countries have been doing this for years and it is very effective. I had a teacher once who told us how he had a friend who was in England and fell ill. He had thousands of dollars of medical bills and just because he was in the country they covered the bills for him. If they had not done that he would have gone into debt to pay them back. Humans can not always help when they get sick but what we can do is make sure that we have a system that allows them to get the proper treatment they need.

bengal-ideas123-blog

Trust me, I’m a Doctor?

One of the most important issues I believe that the world faces is malpractice. Malpractice is defined as an “instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional.” Malpractice, especially in the medical field is something that is oftentimes a true life or death situation; which is what makes the topic so important. Too many times, people die in the hands of someone that they trusted would save them and when the issue they were having could have been easily resolved but instead, due to carelessness they were given the wrong treatment or not being helped at all.

According to the Journal of American Medical Association, medical negligence is the THIRD leading cause of death in the United States, behind cancer and heart disease! Medical errors kill about 200,000 people in this country each year. These statistics are very alarming and definitely nauseating. One has to wonder, what the cause for all of this is? Could it be that Medical professionals are not getting enough education and if so can this be helped by regulating education as well as continuing education more strictly? Or could the reason behind this be that even though medical professionals have the answers, they simply are not being as careful as they should be when handling patients?

It is understandable that doctors, nurses and people of the medical profession in general are all human so they are bound to make mistakes. Knowing how busy doctors offices’ and the hospitals are it doesn’t take a genius to see that these people are constantly busy and running themselves ragged. It is a lot of pressure that is being put onto these individuals, but for a good reason. For example, getting a wrong order at Mcdonald’s is nothing compared to say losing a limb when it was perfectly fine due to incompetence. When choosing this profession, they must know that paying the utmost attention is critical! There is a fine line between making honest mistakes and being downright careless or clueless which in my experience, many are.

Personally, just working over the summer with developmentally disabled children I had to undergo training on how to properly care for these individuals and also getting to understand the huge importance of doing everything kosher. Sadly, many people in this population are mistreated or abused which is in hindsight malpractice. But they are not the only ones. This is an everyday issue that gets swept under the table a lot but by raising awareness, maybe eventually it won’t be as big of a problem anymore.

skylar1899

I do believe that malpractice is an issue however, we are humans and to blame it on the doctors who are trying to help is not right. We can only do so much as people and we do not always have the answers. Another thing that was brought up was education. Most doctors have over 12 years of education and work in the field when they first start, That is not the issue. They just may have not seen they issue at hand before. They also do not know everything about a patient they only know what they have been told by the patient. Malpractice is wrong and horrible when it happens to someone you know but doctors are people too and they make mistakes. How would you feel if every mistake you have made could end your career.

claudeqramsey-blog

finding a job.

I think there are many new topics we could learn about but an important topic we should focus on in class is finding a job. Life moves by so fast and were going to be graduates of college real soon and so many people here haven’t even had their first job yet. I think it all goes together with money as well, the amount of money we spend while were in school is money we could have had and saved. We should learn how to make a good resume, portfolio and cover letters. Also we should learn how to present ourselves in job interviews, like what to wear, how to dress and how you should talk. I believe this will prepare us for having our future job. Which I believe is the real reason why we’re going to school. Working and going to school taking classes is one of the hardest things you can do at such a young age. But for some of us we have to. Some people don’t have parents that give them money on the regular so they have to look out here for a job. Applying for a job can be a hard process to do as well with waiting for a response after you sending your application to the employer. I think away we could learn this topic and go over finding a job in a fun and educated way is us having mock interviews which students would go through an interview process where we could learn the different ways we can take an interview. We could all dress up as If we were actually in an interview. I think this would be a creative idea and we would get something out of this lesson in our future which we can bring our knowledge on this to other people. I believe we should educate ourselves on this topic because we don’t want to be one of those people who finished college and don’t have a job right after. We should be prepared for this process. This also goes into speaking and public speaking. Instead of us presenting projects in front of the class we can get good speaking habits out of this idea. We can learn to give good eye contact when talking to someone. Also we can improve our confidence in how we talk. I believe this could be an interesting topic to learn about in class.

skylar1899

This would be a good thing to learn but I do not believe that one class would help people develop these skills. Alot of these are developed while growing up. It’s how parents raise their children that helps them to develop these skills. Applying for jobs is an annoying thing but its something everyone needs to do at points in their lives. I also do not believe that just because your parents have money means that you do not have to worry. I have known people who’s parents have tons of money but still make their children get jobs and pay their own way. It is the nurture behind the way we are raised that helps us to develop these skills. Spending one class on this topic would not help. What could help would be a class that we could elect to take that could help with these skills.

cramnewton-blog

Keep it 100

Have you ever struggled in a class or even just a particular subject, exponents for example? Usually I hate to generalize but I believe we’ve all had that “not getting it” moment. Was there a reason for it? Bad teacher? Just not a math wiz? Some other combination of reasons? School is broken. That’s an understatement but Sal Khan, creator of Khan academy explains it more eloquently in a TED talk. (I’ll post the link at the end, its worth the watch). The problem with school, according to Khan, is that we do not teach for mastery. When I was younger I took swimming classes; I should add I was pretty good. At the Y we were grouped into different classes based on skill level. When you learned all the skills required for that level you moved up to a different class. This is similar to rank in martial arts where you have to do all the white belt stuff before you can get a yellow belt. The big idea here is that you have to master all of the skills before you move on to learning something else. Traditional schooling however groups students together by age rather than skill level. They then teach these students at the same pace and allow them to move on before a subject is mastered. For instance, we take 2-3 weeks to teach a class exponents then we give a test. If I score a 75% on that test that leaves 25% worth of material I haven’t grasped (obviously) Typically though, we don’t revisit this topic. We move on to adding and subtracting exponentially, and I might score a 70% on that test. Pretty soon the problem gets worse. I take an algebra class and I’m completely lost. If you don’t build ¼ of a level of a house you can’t move on. It has to be completed. The same should apply to intellectual foundations. We have become so focused on testing and less on what students actually know. The idea that a 65% (or anything short of 100%) is sufficient for promotion holds students back from reaching their potential. If they were allowed to learn at their own pace and fully master basic and intermediate topics they would be more able to grasp more advanced topics down the road. Everyone has the capacity to do well. There is no math gene or math people, just someone with a better handle on a skill.

Let’s teach for mastery – not test scores https://www.ted.com/talks/sal_khan_let_s_teach_for_mastery_not_test_scores

skylar1899

Being an education major I relate to this topic alot. There are so many different Ted talks on this topic and I always find them interesting. It is true that we do not make sure that every child grasps the ideas that we are teaching them. Growing up I always hated science because I never fully understood it. I used to think that me and science just could not be friends but I realized that it was the way in which it was taught to me. Now im not blaming my teacher for this but I do believe that we are educating in the wrong way. We throw things at students and expect them to just understand it all but that is not the case. I also believe that it is because we are so focused on testing that we just throw answers at students and hope for the best. The education system need to be changed but it is going to be hard to do that in today’s society.

mylifeiscorgisandnetflix

If u were havin a bad day, here are some otters

Moving to Canada

Honestly, this presidential campaign has been a joke from the beginning. While both current choices have their issues they wish to address it is clear that they also do not. I am not that big into politics and that is my own personal choice but from what I have seen it does not seem that either candidate is taking the race seriously which is scary because they could possibly be running our country. It seems as though their only goal is to make the other one look bad. While people have their reasons for choosing one or the other I chose neither. If either of them was put in charge of the country I do not see it turning out well and I know people will disagree with me but again that is my stance on it.

If Trump was to win it would be a disaster because he always has his foot in his mouth and has no experience in politics. People say he can do it because he has experience running a business but running a country is not the same things.

If Hillary was to win she honestly probably would not do much just saying. This country needs someone who could actually make changes we do not need someone just existing for the next four years.

I know people will disagree with me on this but these are my views. I feel that if either of these people were to win it would not end well. I am also aware that there is a third party candidate but with all the publicity going to these two their is a slim chance of him actually getting the recognition he would need.

For the people who disagree with me that is fine and like I said I do not follow politics closely but I do know that either of these choices would not be good in he long run. This entire campaign has been a publicity joke and we should be ashamed of that. Other countries literally laugh at who we have as possible people to run our country. What kind of country have we become that we let this happen. We have turned ourselves into a joke and that is just sad.

wonwarning-blog

Multimodal Project Thoughts

skylar1899

To me Buffalo is the perfect city honestly. I grew up in a town about two hours out of New York City. It is sort of in the middle of nowhere and it is literally only a mile long. When I would visit the city it would give me anxiety and it still does because I do not know where i’m going. I am the type of person who likes to know where they are and how to get around and I truly find that in buffalo. The old look of Buffalo reminds me of home but the fact that there is actually things to do here makes it feel more like a city. Growing up in NYC gives you a different perspective than someone who grew up in a small town. But Buffalo really isn’t that bad. Its just different and the change will be something that will help you to admire your hometown just like it has for me.

waffling-for-dummies

This isn’t about Dental Care

Last night at work I accidentally received a girl’s phone number. The night started out the same as it usually did, with me asking the nearest server for the reservation count. “What’s our number today?” I’d asked her specifically as I reached for a tray.

“It’s xxx-xxxx,” she’d said, grinning with a wink. “Call or text me anytime, casanova.”

I was so distracted that I hadn’t actually realized what I’d affirmed to with a smile until after the fact. Then I just stood there for a moment, staring at the wall with a blank expression until it clicked. I thought I was going crazy. What just happened?

To clarify, I asked, “Did you just give me your number?”

“Yeah,” she said, humming. She glanced over at me. “Didn’t you ask for it?”

“Oh- I was, uh,” I attempted to explain, all flustered. “I actually was asking for the reservations. The count,” I waved my hands airily, as if to make my meaning any clearer than it was. “I mean, but if, you know, you want to give me your number- it’s- yeah I’d- it’s pretty cool. I’d be cool with that. If you gave me your number. So cool. Yeah.”

…pretty smooth save, amiright? But she must’ve found me charming or something, because she continued to write it down for me after the fact.

The reason I’d been so surprised is because, well, I’ve never gotten a girl’s number before. (Shocker!) Unless it was for friendship, school, or business reasons. I’m almost positive that even the reason for her giving me this number fits into one of those categories.

For a moment, however, I was just kind of astounded at even the thought she’d give me her number so easily. When you’re a girl interested in dating other girls, (or at least when you’re me interested in anyone) it’s difficult to pick up on the social flirting cues. Guys can be painfully obvious about their interest, which makes it easy to reciprocate and plan dates. Girls are subtler, softer… and I’m generally oblivious to flirting in general.

I was oblivious to my sexuality for years as well. It should have been obvious, and it was in a way. When I was five, I got into an argument with another girl over Pepe le Pew’s flirting tactics. To prove my argument I’d kissed her hand right up to her lips in as romantic a fashion as a five year old could muster, which made her blush and tell me angrily that girls didn’t kiss other girls. Then, from that point forward, I spent most of my time telling myself that because I had crushes on boys or men then that meant that the way I felt for girls was normal. “No, no,” I’d tell myself, denying it. “You’re mistaken. You don’t like girls like that. It’s not normal.”

It’s not normal. It’s a sin. You’re not a lesbian, you like men. That flutter in your chest is just the feeling of friendship. You look at girls like any other girl looks at girls. It’s normal to admire their makeup and clothes. You want to be around girls because guys make you shy, and you’re a girl too. It’s fine. You’re fine.

And then, the real kickers: you can’t like girls. If you did, your parent’s would hate you. Any LGBTQ person is going to hell. They’re less than human. They choose that lifestyle. Who would choose to be with someone of the same sex? It’s unnatural. Man was meant to be with woman. God still loves you and they still love you if you only love men. So you see, self, you can’t like other girls. You don’t.

That’s about when I hit high school and it became very difficult to keep lying to myself. Shit happens to everyone, you know? My family became sort of AWOL for reasons. Left alone most of the time, I found ways to open up and be honest to myself. I realized that I shouldn’t conform for anyone for any reason, especially not for anyone who can’t accept me for who I am. If I can’t respect myself for who I am, how can I expect anyone else to? And if anyone refuses to accept me for me, or to support me when I absolutely need them there to lean on, then I don’t want them in my life anyway.

“So,” I told myself. “Maybe you’re not a lesbian, but you like girls and you like guys. It’s normal. There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s okay.”

Despite coming to this conclusion, it has taken considerable time for me to open up about my sexuality. I’ve come out to my friends; that part was easy. Friends are somehow endlessly supportive of you if you have the right ones. I’ve come out to strangers; you who are reading this, we’re practically strangers, and this was pretty easy. I’ve come out to the people at work, which kind of happened by accident, but that was still pretty easy to do. I’m now affectionately referred to by Eric as his little Bisexual Monster.

I haven’t come out to my family yet. This is, perhaps, the hardest step to take. My parents are true conservatives, which is about as republican and discriminating as you can get. Regardless about our many differences in beliefs, I still don’t want to let them down. I still love them, even when I hate them or when they let me down. It’s partly because of their opinions that I spent so much of my time lying to myself, but I can’t blame them for me being a coward.

Day by day, I’ve been finding it increasingly more difficult to hide my sexuality from them however. My brother made a sarcastic comment about Dick’s Sporting Goods the other day, and I almost bounced back with a comment that would’ve outed me-

It would’ve been hilarious, but alas. I stopped and had to bite my tongue. Coming out is a huge deal for something that hasn’t been so far. Aside from coming out to my family though, can you blame me for being a bit afraid?

Especially with that homophobic attack that happened last June which resulted in the largest mass shooting in the history of the United States? Even in the nineties, people who were interested in those of the same sex or gender would be given lobotomies or pressured into shock therapy. What kind of a person could recover from that? Not to mention the plethora of discrimination that occurs to LGBTQ people still today, despite how much we’ve come forward as a nation towards accepting them.

“It’s normal to feel like this now-” I tell myself. “To like both women and men. You don’t have to lie about it anymore.”

For something that feels normal to me, why isn’t it normal for the rest of the world yet?

Still, as I hinted at, it’s becoming harder to lie to them. That’s not something I want to do. I don’t want to lie to them, or to me, or to anyone really. I don’t like lying. That’s why, lately, I’ve been considering coming out of the closet… once and for all. I’m terrified, yet simultaneously I feel relieved that I’ve finally gotten to a point in my life where I might be able to tell them. A point in my life where I might be able to be myself everywhere.

I’ll figure it out eventually, both about whether to come out about my sexuality and about what getting that girl’s number means. Until then, if anyone asks, this article isn’t about dental care. Still living that mildly closeted lifestyle- the moth balls are crazy in here.

skylar1899

Growing up my family was for the most part was very open about everything in life. They just wanted me to be happy but my dad is not the same. He has made negative comments about people who are open about their sexuality and when my sister came out he was not very supportive. However, I think that people should do what makes them happy and if their family cares they will love them for who they are. Good for you for knowing what you want. Text that girl! You never know what will happen if you don’t. In the world we live in their is so much hate we should do everything we can to be happy.

typicalcollegethings

Where It All Started...

Wow, I really do enjoy putting things off to the last minute, anyways, I really don’t understand how to use tumblr, but everything is worth a shot.

When I was 12 years old, I was that dorky chubby kid who played baseball and went to school. That was about it. One day, I came home from school like usual, but this day took a turn I didn’t expect but that day would soon change my life.

Around dinner time my Mom got a phone call from my Dad, he was at a benefit for his friend Jeff who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident, he mentioned to my Mother that one of Jeff’s good friends was there who played in the NHL. I had watched hockey for years, being from Buffalo it’s sort of a tradition to love the Sabres and Bills. After hearing that Jeff’s friend played hockey my eyes lit up. I needed to go and meet him.

After arriving at the benefit I got to meet Jeff and hear his story, but the child I was wanted to go meet the hockey player. My Dad came up to me and asked me if i was ready to meet him and I jumped at the chance. I walked behind my Father in his footsteps like I had always before. I approached the table and saw him, the guy who lived the dream that I wish I could’ve.

There he sat, Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres, just your typical 20 something year old guy laughing at jokes and sitting with friends. I walked up with my Dad and was introduced me to him. With a smile and a calm voice he asked me, “What’s your name, kid?” I stood there in a state of awe, wondering if he was truly speaking to me. He asked again, and I blurted out, “My Dad won’t let me play hockey!” He sat there and laughed He told the guys sitting next to him to go take a walk. They nodded and got up. Pat offered me the seat next to him and I ran around the table. He asked me what activities I did, and I told him everything. He told me to quit everything. “Hockey takes up all your time, you’ll spend more time trying to get better and you won’t be able to keep up with everything.” He said, I sat there and talked with him and asked him about hockey and what it’s like to play in the NHL, but those are minor details to this story.

After following his advice and quitting everything to pick up hockey, I found myself playing hockey and falling in love with it. I am so thankful for his advice and for meeting him. Years later at my High Schools championship game, I had scored a major goal to give our team the win. After the game in all the post game celebration, my coach told me that someone wanted to talk with me. A voice from my past had arisen once again. There he was, a man I had seen before, although much shorter than I remember. Pat Kaleta had come to my game and congratulated me for the win and the great goal, he said it reminded him of himself.

skylar1899

I myself put pretty much everything off to the last minute. Hence why I am just doing this assignment hours before it is due. I honestly did not know hockey was an actual sport until I was in high school and I never saw a game until I came to buffalo state. Growing up down state the biggest sports are softball and baseball. My high school did have a hockey team though but it was shared between the middle school and high school along with four other schools. I do find the sport interesting. I don’t understand much of it but it sure is entertaining to watch people fight.

teamspaceninjas-blog

When i was lost

When i was 15, i was going through some hard times. I was having issues at school and with personal relationships. On one particularly bad night in November, i needed a break from all the madness and chaos that threatened to consume me. I went down to Niagara falls to escape from everything. The cool night air was crisp and heavy with the scents of autumn. The smell of spice and fallen leaves lingering as if to invite me into a cozy fire warmed room. Looking out over the falls at night, reveling in the cool mist setting upon the ground. I lost track of the time and the world around me began to fade into the background.

As time began moving slower and slower, flakes of snow began to form in the twilight sky. The minutes turned into hours as i sunk further and further into the blissful environment that surrounded me. The faint reflections of the lights on the falls and the sounds of the insect buzzing aimlessly around helped to draw my attention further in. Longing to find peace and acceptance, i willingly gave myself up to the entrancing beauty and mystery of the world that lay in front of me. I felt myself becoming one with the world around me.

As the cold crisp air started to sting at my exposed skin, i felt the weight of the burdens that i had been carrying fade away. Slowly being numbed by growing colder air. One by one, the pain and fears left and were replaced by hope and understanding. The longer i sat in the snow and mist the better i felt, as if i was being drawn into a lovely lie that promised to drown out the harsh reality that i live in.

The profound change that occurred in me that stuck with me to this day. I no longer fear the things that i once feared, i no longer am a victim of the chaos of the world. I make my own fate, i hold the key to my life. i realized that day that i was not afraid of the things that were holding me down, i was afraid of the things that would let me fly. I had lived my entire life in fear of my true potential. The night at the falls was the second biggest turning point in my life, I will no longer be afraid of living the life that i am meant to live, I will rise to meet whatever challenges that come my way.

skylar1899

You have a truly amazing way with words and a majestic memory that I wish I had. While I was reading this I was transported to the falls. I felt as though I was truly there even though it was just for a brief period of time. Fear is something that I have yet to completely overcome. Even over just the smallest things fear is something that is always in the back of my mind but I try not to let it get to me. You are a strong person for one, you overcame all of the hard times you were going though and you did it on your own. However, I feel that fear is still important in our lives because it opens our eyes to new experiences. I think a little fear is important to keep our lives going.

skylar1899

Personally, I have the memory of a guppy so it is extremely difficult for me to remember things that have happened in my life. I am also not good in new places so I suppose what I can talk about is the story of my orientation day at buffalo state college. I came in as a transfer, I attended a community college because I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. So, I came in to the school in the spring of 2015. To start off spring orientation for transfer students kind of blows. They don’t even give you the ugly orange orientation shirts that everyone has and everyone hates. Anyway, after sitting in the auditorium in Rockwell hall and sort of listening to people go on about things I did not care much about we broke into our smaller orientation groups. It was a hot mess from the start. My orientation leader brought us into a room in bacon and talked at us more and then asked us to play an ice breaker that was just saying who we were and where we were from. She then told us that we were suppose to go to another building and when we did not know where that was suppose to be, she got annoyed that we needed her help. So we walk like little ducks to what I now know to be classroom building and she leaves us. We all looked confused and did not know what we were suppose to do so we followed another orientation leader who was actually helping their group. In the end we had to sit through three different club/ campus activities seminars. After this was over they informed us that we had an hour between when we would get a tour and we could go to the union to get lunch. This was when it all went down hill. Before orientation day I had never seen the schools campus aside from online so when they left us to find our own way being the person I am I got lost. However, I did not just get lost and find my way, I got lost and felt too embarrassed to ask for help. This lead me to walk aimlessly around campus for three hours not knowing where I was. Now, a normal person would think that campus is not that big and there is no way that a person can get lost for that long but it happened to me so that explains a bit about me as a human. When I finally found my way back to where I needed to be I had missed almost everything that was planned for the day. I found out later that it did not matter much because nobody noticed. I will never know what I missed in those hours that I was lost but at least I did not have to sit through all the boring activities and people talking at us. I can say that I know know my way around campus for the most part and do not get lost anymore. In the end it was an interesting day.

nayswriting-blog

THREE HOURS?! that is insane where could you have possibly gone in those three hours? you should’ve just found an adult and asked for help. I think you’re lucky though that you didn’t have to sit through the stupid long orientations because they were dreadful. The good thing though is that you are able to know the campus from the back of your hand now, so now you should be one of those people who gives tours for incoming freshmans. I hate the fact that some of them are so mean and didn’t even help you guys because its like what is the point of your job. Glad that everything worked out in the end and you found your way back.

skylar1899

I have actually been thinking of giving tours on campus so I might do it next semester. And yeah I kind of just walked around aimlessly. I didn't even really know where I went but I was very confused.

Moving

When I was younger change used to scare me a lot. It started when I was in fourth grade and my dad told me that we were going to move. It was not to just another house around the area though. We were moving to a new town and I was going to have to start a new school. I was so upset with him because all I could think about was how I was going to have to leave the friends that I had known my whole life and be the new girl. The day of the big move I remember hiding in my closet in hopes that if they could not find me we would not have to move. Obviously that did not work but a girl could hope. I ended up getting over the move but I still sometimes think what would have happened had we not moved. However, that is not the case. The whole point of life is to do things that scare you

Coming to Buffalo State was another big milestone move in my life. I was mortified before I came to school. Not only was I leaving my family and friends but I was moving more than six hours away from an area I had known my whole life and I was doing it alone. Coming to school here I knew no one which is fine but I was also transferring in during the spring semester and another kicker I was going to be dorming for the first time in my life. All these things terrified me to the point that I almost did not come to school here. When I first thought of it I could not imagine doing that far away from everyone that I knew but I also knew that it was something that needed to be done.

Recently, I moved into an off campus house with some of the amazing people I have met in my three semesters at Buffalo State. My initial reaction was pure joy but then the feelings set in. Everyone always warns you not to live with friends because you do not know how it will work out. This terrified me because I loved to spend time with these people and I did not want living with them to change my views on them as people. On top of that I was basically moving out on my own and having to become a full adult who pays bills and worries about if they left their charger plugged in before leaving.

Basically what I am trying to say with this is that change is the reason we are who we are. If nothing in your life ever changes then you as a person will never change. It is the things that we do that scare us the most that show who we are a people. Thinking back now I do not regret the moves that I have made in my life. They have helped me to become a more independent person who is ready to do whatever in life. What I take from it is to keep moving and keep changing as a person. You never know what life has in store for you if you remain stagnant.