New Discoveries!

I just made two new blog discoveries that I thought were pretty interesting…if you’re a girl.  One is about fashion and the other is about beauty.  I wasn’t really sure how to go about looking for new blogs or when I found a blog, how to decipher if it is a good one.  I came to the conclusion that as long as a blog is interesting, it is good! So I have decided to share these discoveries with you!

Café Fashionista is a blog written by Erika, a woman who, clearly, has a passion for fashion!  She lets her readers in on secret fashion steals as well as promotes the things she obsesses over.  She will tell her readers about the hottest Gucci boots that are available for the low, low price of $990.00 because everyone can afford those…yeah right!  So in comparison to the gorgeously Gucci’s, Erika told her readers about the Colin Stuart boots that are almost exactly identical for the more affordable price of $69.00.

 http://cafefashionista.blogspot.com/          

The Beauty Blog is an advice blog about all sorts of things like makeup, men, and beauty tips.  The beauty blog is very much like reading a magazine article.  So for those who read Glamour, or Cosmo this blog is worth taking a look at.  There are a bunch of links on the page that lead to different aspects of beauty, depending on what you are looking for.  There are a lot of referrals to products, dieting tips, shops, and so much more!

http://www.beauty-blogs.com/

Time Management, or Lack There of....

Time management is probably one of the hardest tasks to achieve.  I have always struggled with being able to manage my time and being able to get everything that needs to be done, done in a timely manner.  I am really trying to get better about managing my time, but it seems that there is always something that comes up when I decide to get something done, or there is something more “interesting” for me to do.

            I think that the problem with most students is that they do not have enough drive to actually do their homework.  This lack of drive starts at a young age when teachers are less harsh on kids who do not do their homework.  Kids then get used to that kind of attitude from teachers and, from there, figure out which teachers will let them “get away with” not doing their homework in a sense.  However, in college, that attitude is not really there anymore.  Professors won’t necessarily “hunt kids down” looking for lost work like high school teachers will do, but instead, the students will receive a failing grade and still have the bad habit of not managing time well enough to have completed the homework.

            I wish that I had not gotten into the horrible habit of putting off my work until the last possible minute.  Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to get out of the habit and if so, how I will actually be able to break the habit.  I think I would say that time management is definitely my weakness that I really would like to be my strength. 

Project Problems

            For the “Group Think” project in Inquiry, I was in a group with Madison, Ryan, and Jackie.  We found that it is harder than it seems to do a group project.  We discovered that the only days all four of us could meet were on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  This was because Ryan and I have late classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, I am a commuter student, and Ryan leaves school on the weekends because he has to work.

 

            We found it difficult to keep in touch sometimes too because we would have to rely on each group member to have their phone with them so that we could text each other where we were going to meet and when.   However, even with all of these difficulties, we managed to get together and put our presentation together.  We had to put trust in each other to have the meanings of each of the words for the presentation, and we also had to put trust in Jackie because she was the one who was putting the actual presentation together for us.

            In the future, I think that we should start the project as soon as we can (preferably the day it is given) even if we just discuss what we are going to do and get ideas together.  Procrastination is definitely something I suffer from and something that probably a lot of other college students suffer from.  Taking projects and assignments a little at a time all along is a lot better than waiting until the last minute to get everything done at once.  I think that we need to try different methods of going about doing group projects to make the doing the assignment more affective.

Outcasts Unite in College

            In the book Outcasts United the soccer team has to raise money.  They only have a small amount left to go and question why they can’t just ask their parents to give the remaining money to the team because surely they would.  Luma, the coach, told them that they could not ask their parents to give them the money because they needed to do it on their own.  She said that they could not ask their parents to help them with everything and that they should start to become more independent now.           

          

This relates to college very well.  Now that we are college students we are more independent.  The majority of college students live on their own, away from their parents.  We cannot always just rely on our parents to help us when we need it; we can’t expect them to give us money if we don’t have any.  We need to learn to provide for ourselves so that when we are older and have our own families, we can properly support them.  While parents are usually always willing to bail us out of trouble and fix our problems, we need to learn for ourselves how to deal with things that life throws at us. 

            By not asking their parents for the money, the boys learned independence.  By not calling our parents every time we need something, we are learning independence.  Ultimately, parents will always help their children however they can, but one of the greatest ways to learn independence is experience not having parents clean up our messes so to speak.

Technology Qualms

The readings that we had in class really made me think about technology and different generations.  All of the articles shared a common theme…technology.  There is so much technology today that it really affects our lives.  While it can be very helpful to us, it can also be hurtful in a way. 

            Technology has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.  Cell phones are extremely helpful when it comes to getting in contact with someone when there are no other phones around.  Computers are a great resource to have when doing research or just finding something online because it is quick and easily accessible.

            Along with thinking about the advantages to having such high technology, I also started to think about problems with technology.  From personal observation, I have noticed a lot of younger kids starting to get cell phones.  I have heard of kids getting cell phones as young as 9 years old!  I had to ask myself what a nine-year-old girl needed a cell phone for.  When I asked her why she had a cell phone at age 9 she responded, “I just asked my mom for one and she got it for me”.  I was floored when the now twelve-year-old told me that.  I didn’t get my first cell phone until I was about 12 and it was only for emergencies so that I could get in contact with my mom if I ever needed to.

            Kids used to go outside every day, all day; that’s how their time was spent.  However, we see less and less of that now because there are so many video games and computer games that kids are almost addicted to.  Technology almost seems to be taking over childhoods.

Problems at Southern

Being a commuter student I face an on going challenge.  Every day I go to school and have to drive around to look for a parking space.  No matter what time of day it is, all of the parking lots seem to be full.  I leave my house an hour and a half before my first class starts every day just to make sure that I can find a place to park. 

            One day after being stuck in traffic, which is also another problem I face every day, I pulled into one of the commuter parking lots and immediately went to the back of the lot.  I figured that there would be a better chance of me finding somewhere to park if I went to the back.  I saw an open space however, when I pulled up closer, it was a space designated for motorcycles.  I kept driving and found another space a few cars down that appeared to be empty.  When I got to the space and went to pull in, a motorcycle was parked in it.  I got really angry that the motorcycle was in a regular parking spot when there was a designated space for it just a few cars down.  It is annoying to have to deal with things like that when there is barely anywhere to park in the first place.

            I am not looking forward to facing this parking dilemma for the next four years, but I am hoping that it will get easier for commuter students to park.  Until then, I will just have to deal with this problem. 

My Freshman Year

I am a commuter student at Southern and sometimes I wonder if I am going to get the same college experience as everyone else who is a resident.  College is an experience that matures you academically, socially, and personally.  College gives challenges that could not be faced anywhere else, which creates for a great learning experience.  There is also a whole new atmosphere being around new people, which is good for socializing and making new friends and stepping out of your comfort zone in order to talk to different kinds of people that you may not be used to talking to.

Going to college can accomplish so much more than just getting a good education to later use in finding a job.  College allows for experience and friendship building.  I have already made some friends at Southern whom I would not have met if it were not for college. 

College is a time to experiment and find yourself.  It’s also about independence and gaining responsibility.  Even though I am a commuter and do not live on campus, I still have more responsibility and independence than I have ever had before. 

The goals I have for college is to figure out what I want to do with my life after college.  As of right now I am undecided and I would really like to know by the end of my freshman year what I want to major in. 

I do get concerned about the work load in college as it is so different from high school and the amount of work I used to get.  However, I am keeping an open mind and being optimistic about everything and hoping to just have a great time and have a lot of fun experiences and make great memories!

Shelby in 5 Words

Musical – I am a very musical person.  I sing and can play a little piano and I love to listen to music.  Music is an important aspect of my life because it is a great form of expression.

Family – My family means a lot to me…I am very family-oriented.  According to dictionary.com a family is a “basic social unit consisting of parents and their children”.  While this may be true, I also consider my friends to be a part of my family.  To me, family is people who love and care for each other, which describes my relationships with my friends and my family members very well.

Honest – Relationships are based on honesty and trust.  Whether it be a relationship with a parent, a friend, or a boyfriend or girlfriend, we have to be honest to gain trust within that relationship.  I always try to be honest with people because I want to have good relationships with people and to not be honest with someone is one of the fastest ways to end a trusting relationship.

Honesty - Billy Joel

Mature – Maturity is something that I’ve learned not a lot of people I know acquire.  I ran into a lot of drama with my friends this past summer because I found that they are still stuck in high school attitudes.  I don’t like to get into drama because I am more mature than that and know that I need to grow up and be the bigger person in certain situations because other people will not always have the maturity to realize that they are not being the bigger person.

Witty – Being witty is a good quality to have because you can’t always be serious…there needs to be something to lighten the mood and wit can do just that.  I have been known to say things that can make people laugh just because of who it is coming from.  I like to make people laugh…if you can make a person laugh you have broken a barrier that leads to who a person actually is.