SOAR

This is the hardest week in college so far. The semester is coming to an end and teachers are piling on the work. Cheerleading tryouts for the nationals team are approaching next Monday. ICC is scrambling to get in their last events for Fall Semester. SOAR graduation is tonight. Acceptance letters are coming in at work. It seems like everyone is scurrying to do their jobs. On top of that, there is christmas shopping which is always a chore. As I mentioned, tonight is the graduation ceremony from SOAR. It feels like last week that I had my introductory retreat for the group. It's weird to already be graduating. I was thinking about it today, I don't even know the names of half the people in SOAR and there are only 40 of us. We met once a week for two hours, and did service projects together, but yet I still do not know them. This really upset me. I know that I didn't make an effort to really know everyone there. That's something that I found out that I need to work on, and maybe that realization was why I took the course. I know that from this course, I'm suppose to learn how to be a leader. I know that from it I've learned many things. I learned that sometimes it's okay to step back and let others take control. Prior to SOAR, I was very much a control freak and I would never do group projects and trust others. Now, I can see that if I do let go things can get done just as well. SOAR has been a great experience for me, and I hope that others can have it. I plan on doing the second level of SOAR next year called "develop." I feel as if leadership skills can only help me. At the beginning of the year, I wrote this in my blog:

Leadership is a valuable skill to possess in any stage of your life. As a college student, knowing more about leadership will help me to succeed in the organizations that I am already involved in, along with the organizations that I will get involved in over the years. Being part of IRHA, CEN, working in admissions, and participating on the cheerleading team, I hope to eventually hold leadership positions in those areas so that I can contribute positively to the campus community.

I think that I have acheived most of these since that entry. I hold a chair position on CEN and am now Freshman Class Treasurer. SOAR has allowed me more self confidence and a step above the others in terms of leadership and organization. Those skills I will always cherish!

results

For my third assignment, I'm doing a project on whether or not college students take their education as seriously as they should. The results were really interesting. My partner and I went around and asked four freshman, four seniors, four professors, and we wanted four international students. When doing this, we found that international students were impossible to find. We stopped at the Intercultural Center three times on different parts of the week. We couldn't find one. Because the video needed to be edited, we just interviewed the advisor of the international students to speak on their behalf. This was interesting because it shows how not diverse we really are. There are 102 international students on campus, which seems like a significant amount. On the contrary, when you measure it up to the 4,000 undergrads, it doesnt seem as significant. Out of 102, you would think that you'd find at least one in the building. None were to be found. That was really interesting to me. I'd like to know why this happened. Maybe they are all involved? Maybe they were all in class? It was interesting.
The results to the questions were more or less what we expected. Freshman gave varied reasons as to why they were here. Seniors gave these same reasons, but talked about how they realized it at college and not before. Professors thought that Freshman don't know why they're here, but realize it to some extent before they graduate. International advisor thought that international students had a better sense of why they were here because this is a unique chance for them. I agree with these results because I know that it is more or less expected of students to go to college. In other countries, college is a prestigious thing and so the international students feel accomplished. On the way back to the dorm from cheerleading, my friend and I were talking about this subject. She is a business major, and wants to go to get her masters in that. I talked about how I want to go to law school. She mentioned how these days, getting your masters is the equivalent to our parents bachelor's diploma. By the time we're out of grad school, the competition is going to be that much harder for jobs. With the new students coming out, we're going to have to fight for our jobs. We believe that in our fields, having a bachelor's degree won't be enough. Law school isn't something I really want to do, it's something thats needed. Who wants to spend another $100,000? But it's money that will ensure me a comfortable life. I thought this was really interesting.

back to RWU!

I'm back at school! I've spent all week home for Thanksgiving and unfortunately didn't have time to blog. Isn't it ironic that I'm busier at home for vacation time than I am at school? I think so. This vacation was interesting because it gave me a true sense of who my real friends are. College is a funny time because the people who don't make the effort to stay in touch you won't end up seeing unless you do. It requires work. I thought that that was one really intersting thing about vacation. On the contrary, family is always there. We had a great Thanksgiving with all of the normal traditions of the holiday. I loved it. One thing that I found interesting is a conversation that I had with my older cousin Paul. He is one of my great friends, and I've always looked up to him. He's four years older than me and more or less, my big brother. He is my only cousin that lives near me, and we've grown up together as if we were siblings. Both being only children, it gave us someone to fight with and someone to get advice from. To others, he might seem scary. He is tattooed, ear gages, motorcycle riding, rock music loving guy. But to me? He's one of my role models. After Thanksgiving dinner, he helped me compile my movie for Lit class, considering he went to college for Film. As the movie was loading, I began to think about all of this. All my life, I tried to strive to hang out with the older cousins and be "one of the guys." I thought that it was so cool to have my cousin be in college and longed for the chance to go visit him. Then, I started thinking of whether or not my younger cousins think of me in this way. What kind of example am I giving to them? Given, I've learned mostly from Paul's mistakes, but throughout it all he has been nothing but nice to me and always there to help. When I started to think of it, I'm jipping my younger cousins. As much as I like to be, I'm not there to help them or anything that the older guys did for me. I made a point to hang out with them the rest of the night, and they seemed to really enjoy that. I noticed the same enthusiasm of when I asked them to go for a walk with me as when Paul and the other guys would ask me when I was younger. I promised them that when I got home for Christmas break I was going to take the girls out shopping for presents for Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. Hopefully I can make this a fun tradition that will be forever in their memory. I hope that by doing this, I can have them someday realize about bringing down sincerity to their younger cousins, because as an only child, I know taht it was a significant part of my life. I hope that they can see that too.

This past weekend, I went on a service learning trip for SOAR. For this, we were required to do community service in Bristol, so we decided to rake leaves. In one hour, we got done five houses. We were required to do four, so we did one extra. It was really nice to be helping out the community, but I felt as if we weren't doign a sufficient job. We were originally going to be picked up by the bus at 230. but ended up leaving at 12 because we were already done. I didn't feel as if we provided adequate service to the community. I had a game for cheerleading at two, and I planned on missing it. Because we finished so early, we just left. I felt like the right thing to do would be to stay and work until 2:30, finishing as many lawns as we could. Imagine what we could have gotten done! We could have raked the whole block. I felt like by leaving early, we were doing the community an injustice. From this experience, we were asked about how this taught us to be leaders. Truthfully, I can't think of one way that it did. I know that sounds terrible, but we all worked together to acheive one goal. I guess that helps with leadership, in the form of collaboration. So I take that back!

Tonight is Monday before Thanksgiving. I think I'm one of five people left in my hall (which normally consists of about fifty). Everyone is already home for Thanksgiving. This raises an interesting question that we talked about in class: how can teachers not get students to skip class? Most teachers do this by assigning tests and quizzes on the last day before vacation. This works for most students with keeping them there, but on the other hand makes the students detest the teacher for it. Other teachers simply cancel their classes. Tomorrow, I don't have one class. Today, two out of three of my classes were completely pointless. Is this the teachers fault? Do students skip because they know the classes will be a joke? Or do they skip because they don't care? I have never understood that. Would it be more of a success if the University just said that Friday was the last day of class and cancelled Tuesday and Monday completely? I'm not sure.

clubs

This week has been so crazy. On top of schoolwork and getting ready to go home for Thanksgiving, I was elected into Inter-class Council as Freshman Class Treasurer. I'm really excited about this, but it's so much work! I was elected into the office Monday. Tuesday I had to go straight from class to my first meeting as Treasurer. I never imagined that it would be so formal! The reps from each class sat along a long table. The meeting was called to order and was very organized. You were called on to talk, and I'm assuming that talking out of turn is not allowed. They were all very welcoming, but it was a bit overwhelming. I was given huge amounts of paperwork and statistics on budgets that I'll be working on this weekend. A Freshman trip is already planned by the VP and President, which I also need to work out the money for. While at the meeting, one of the Junior class officers stated how she could not be the ICC Rep for CEN anymore. The Sophomore class officer stepped up and said that she'd take the job. The junior responded back that a freshman should take the position. Because the president, VP and Secretary are all busy during CEN board meeting times, I took the job. Straight from the end of that meeting, I headed over to my last SOAR meeting. Straight from there, to practice. As soon as I thought my day was over, I had to go back to the room and do some homework.

Wednesday wasn't any easier. I had meetings for ICC, CEN and then cheerleading straight from 3:30-10:30. Although it's a lot of work to be the ICC rep at CEN, it seems like it's going to be really fun. Everyone there was very inviting and seems to have a great time. The meeting with the CEN chair persons was much less formal, but still structured the same as ICC. I never even knew these type of organizations occured on campus! I told my roommate that if I go to join anything else to stop me. I need to focus on the clubs that I have right now and provide my best service to the freshman class. Although I love all of these things, I know that academics is my top priority. Thus far, my lowest grade is a 94%, so I hope to stay in that range. I feel pretty confident that I can do this, but I know that if I simply can't handle it the best action would be to forfeit something so that I can keep my priorities straight.

Traditions

Today in Human Behavior we talked about the importance of traditions. This topic ranged from family traditions to cultural traditions. Our professor asked us to think of how this relates to our lives. I began to think about what traditions my family has passed down, and one stuck out in my mind. My family isn't very cultural, and whatever culture we had we have lost. We are French and Swedish, but we don't show that at all in the house. Because our culture was lost, my great great grandmother thought that it was important to start our own family traditions. One family tradition that she started was family reunions. My father's family is huge and spread out all over the United States. I have relatives ranging from Maine to California to Florida to Colorado. Because of this, it is hard to keep in touch and meet up often. My great grandmother started a tradition where we all get together for one week once every four years. At the reunion, we all vote on where the spot will be next time. We also vote on commitees, such as "events" or "dinner planners." It has become huge. I love the reunions and it gives me something to look forward to. Within that tradition, we have many others that go along during the week, for example, a talent show and open mic night. Last year, it was in San Diego, California. In three years from now, it will be in the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

My family also has traditions regarding holidays, like any other family. Although the most celebrated holiday in the year is Christmas, Thanksgiving is the most meaningful to me. My grandparents live in Maine. Every Thanksgiving, some of the extended family travel up to Maine to visit them. We arrive on Wednessday night, and stay until Friday. The entire stay is full of tradition, and I have never met a family with such an agenda. Wednesday night we celebrate the coming of Thanksgiving with pie and catching up with the family around the fireplace. Later that night, the children of the family put on a Haunted House through the upstairs. After the short and not-so-scary haunted house, we all head to bed. Thursday, we're up nice and early. If you sleep past nine, Grandpa will be sure to stick in the CD of his favorite Orchestra, which projects into every room through the house-speakers. It's better to wake up early, trust me. Once we are all awake, fed, and showered, we watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade on the TV. Once it hits one, we all get bundled up and get out of the house. My grandparents live on the beach, so we gather champagne, bread and spinach dip and head down to the ocean. We all gather on this huge rock near the ocean which is inscribed with the name "Birch." My Aunt Judy starts off the family with the word "We...." and we all follow her in the song "We Gather Together." Why we do this, I'm not sure. But it's tradition, and nobody asks questions. I suppose it's because the words show the true meaning of Thanksgiving very well. After that, my grandfather opens the champage off of the rock into the ocean, and then we celebrate our thanks together as we eat bread and finish the drinks. The children are given sparkling champage, which is really white grape juice with bubbles. My grandmother heads back into the house around 1:45 to put the turkey on the table. The rest of the family arrives back there at two. When we get back, the table is filled with food and there are nametags for where we are sitting. Behind the nametags, is a little gift bag for each of us. This gift bag is from a character named "Turkey Claus." Yes, Turkey Claus. It's kind of like Santa Claus, except he comes on Thanksgiving instead. :) Whenever I explain it, it sounds so weird. I guess you need to be in the family to understand it. We all grew up thinking that Turkey Claus was in the mix with Santa and the Tooth Fairy. It was just another character. Turkey Claus gives each person a gift bag that contains an ornament. This ornament is the most meaningful part of Thanksgiving for me. When my great great grandmother was starting traditions, she wanted her future offspring to understand why Thanksgiving was so important. She wanted us to all understand the meaning behind it. To do this, she invented Turkey Claus to bring us gifts. The ornaments represent something we did well that year that we should be thankful for. For example, freshman year in highschool I was given an ornament of a diploma, representing my graduation from 8th grade and moving onto a new stage in my life. The ornaments remind us that we have a lot to be thankful for. As children, it also made us feel like someone really noticed our accomplishments. Although I now know that it is my grandmother, I still love the idea. It makes me know that she notices these things as well.

After this reflection, I know that traditions are important. I never realized how much of an impact that this had on my family and my life. I know that I am going to pass this on to my future family. Even if it's corny, it is something that ties us together and makes us a family. I mean, what other family has Turkey Claus?

Today in class we talked about Universities. A subject was brought up about whether Universities should accept on terms of wealth, race, social class, etc. This got me thinking. Highschool students work tirelessly to get into a college, so why should students with money be allowed a foot in? As I mentioned in class, Bill Cosby got his daughter into a college by funding a new building for the University. This made me mad. It isn't really fair, but I know that it happens. As everyone says, it's not what you know, but who you know. This got me thinking, what is the point of college? Is going to college a stepping stool just in case you don't know that one person who can pull strings for you? Is the point of getting into an Ivy League college so that you meet more important people and have better ties? If so, what is the point of Roger Williams? Should I be here to make ties with the most "important people? This sits with me wrongly because that would mean leaving out the people that I judge as unimportant. And on that subject, how can I determine who is important and unimporant in regards to making relationships with so that I am successful? Is that judged by wealth also? Thinking back on my college entry, I'm happy with how it went. Although I come from a well-off family, my father didn't pull any strings or call in a favor to anyone to get me in anywhere. His method was that he earned it, so I should too. My father worked at MIT for a considerable amount of time when I was younger. My friend's urged me to just apply to see what happens. I refused because I don't think that this is the way that I should be accepted. My father and four generations before him have gone to MCP. An admissions counselor visited my highschool, and I explained my family's background there (at this time I was still considering the pre med to medical school approach). This man basically flat out told me that because of my family, I would most likely be accepted into the school. He said as long as I wasn't close to failing, I had nothing to worry about. This turned me off from that school because I don't think thats fair.

For example, this kid in my highschool was an amazing football player and he got into BC with a 2.0 GPA. None of us thought it was fair, especially since the class president didn't get in to BC. It wasn't a fair situation at all. I disagree with this concept entirely and think that colleges should not accept upon those standards.

birth order

In one of my last posts, I wrote about my only child problem of now needing alone time. Professor Michaud kindly shared with me this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_order#Only_children which really described what I feel in a nutshell. I've always wondered why people act the way that they do, and it usually does lead to other circumstances, maybe this is why one of my majors is Psychology. For example, my best friend refuses to get into a serious relationship until she is twenty-one. This stems from having an alcoholic father. I have learned that every behavior results from some sort of pattern in your life. One way to study these patterns is certainly through birth order. I admit, I am VERY spoiled. My dad grew up in a family of seven, so he never had the chance to be really spoiled and he had to work for what he got. Because of this, he feels as if I shouldn't be treated differently. I can see his reasoning, I would not want to become someone who is so dependent on their parents that I cannot rely on myself. My mother on the other hand, loves to spoil me. She grew up in a family where her mother was a great friend to her. Although they didn't have much money, her mother would do whatever she could to support my mom. My mom feels as if this should be the same for me. Although the views are opposing between my parents, my mom usually wins. It's usually a matter of "don't tell your father I bought you so much clothes" or "Shh, lets keep these new shoes a secret. If he asks, you found them in your closet." I love this type of behavior! Wikipedia suggests that this could lead to problems with selfishness. Because I grew up with both views, I like to think that I'm not selfish. I work for my money, and I've held steady jobs since I was 14. Although my mom does spoil me, I know the value of a dollar. Another reason that this has rubbed off on me is now I love to spoil people. Kids in highschool would joke that I would be first on their birthday list because of the presents that I give. I love to see other people happy because of something that I did. I think that this is because of my mom.

I don't think that the second section of this paragraph applies to me all of the time. Wikipedia states that "Another view of only children, as noted by Alissa Eischens in her paper The Dilemma of the Only Child is that they learn to be children on their own, they learn to depend on themselves, and they have no problem being loners." I would hate to be alone ALL of the time. I love to be with friends, I just need some alone time once in a while. I'm very big into thinking through things instead of fighting. I never thought that this was because of my past, but I am now thinking it's very possible. I never fight because growing up I had nobody to fight with. I have never hit anybody or physically hurt someone else on purpose. Whenever I fight with my boyfriend, I always say things like "I think we should hang up, I need some space to think." He is a person that wants to get it all out now and work it through before the phone call is over. I need my space sometimes to think. This topic is so interesting to me, thank you Professor Michaud for sharing this!

habits

I am slowly working through this math situation. Yesterday, I and two of my classmates spent seven hours in the library (four of them with the math tutor) completing our second take home test. I received my last test back, it was a 98%. I was really happy about this. Hopefully I do just as well on this one. I completed everything and the tutor said that it is all right, so hopefully we will see. This professor has decided to give us three of our four tests as take home tests. Unfortunately, the test that will be taken in class is our final. Truthfully, if I had to take either of these tests in the classroom, I would fail. I'm not sure that I would even get one problem right. It was really hard, and none of the material was taught in class. The tutor agrees with us, and she said that she'd speak to our professor about it. Hopefully it will become better in time for the final. Us three students are very proud of ourselves for our hard work on this test. We know that we will do okay because of the effort that we put into it. It's a great feeling. On the contrary, a bad feeling arose when fellow students asked to cheat off of my test.

Earlier in Lit class we talked about the pressures of cheating. Rebekah Nathan didn't lie, it's there. Students do cheat, especially when it's as easy as copying a test for take home. I opted not to share my test because I worked so hard. I felt cheated myself if someone else was to get the answers in 10 minutes for what took me three days. If the other student didn't take the time, I wasn't about to give up mine. I know that the other students that I worked with would feel the same way. I don't like that feeling, because I know what it is like to be confused and want instant help. Althoug I've been there, I don't accept this as someone I should pity. It was already hard to say no, but the hardest part was that the girl asking was my roommate. She said "Hey, can I see your test for math? I completely can't figure mine out." I told her that I didn't have it with me to avoid confrontation, but I know she knew what I meant. I couldn't leave it at that though. I felt terrible because all students have been worried about grades and stressed out, so I sat with her for an hour or so showing her examples of problems in the book like the ones on the test so that she could figure it out on her own. I know she didn't fully appreciate this, but it was the best I could do. The part that made me most angry, is when she finished (so quickly) she's now out for the night partying. This leads to the question of how seriously students take their college education. I don't believe that many students take it too seriously at all. Judging by my roommate experience, one is always out partying and throwing things together at the last minute. Although she still gets A's and B's, I don't feel as if she's learning anything for real. Roommate #2 is very smart, but writes papers at the last minute as well. She'll study for an hour and get an A. It bugs me because I need to spend days studying, but that's just how I work. I guess it all depends.

advising

This week has been very stressful because it is the beginning of advisement for picking classes. I've never had to pick my classes alone before. Throughout middle school, classes were chosen for you. In highschool, we sat down Freshman year with our parents and guidance counselors and made a four year plan to fulfill our requirements. For first semester, we chose our classes in a meeting with a faculty member who basically told me what I needed to do. It's very stressful doing it by myself. I've spent a good amount of this week going on www.ratemyprofessors.com and trying to pick out good professors by other students comments. I also read through the course catalog and tried to learn what courses I should be taking for my major. Hopefully I'm on the right track. In FYE class, we went through what classes I need to be taking but I'm still unsure. I made an appointment with my advisor to meet next Tuesday so we can figure everything out. I learned that double majors don't get a degree in both! How upsetting is that. With double majors one primary major appears on your diploma while the other is just on your transcript. I learned that if I want to get a degree in both, I need to have 14 extra credits of Psychology. I want to do this. I am unsure of what classes to take and whether or not I can add on a 6th course to my schedule. I think I can handle it? I'm not sure. I've done really well this semester with all A's I'm pretty sure, but I don't know how different that will be when I start taking courses like law and psych and HISTORY. I'm terrible at History. What if I can't do it? I'm really hoping that everything works out. I talked around for an easy History professor. I'm usually not one to take the easy way out but considering it's a course that I'll never use again and that I don't even like, I thought it was practical. I asked around for really informative law and psych teachers who quiz a lot because I know that is what I need to succeed. I think I have found the right ones for me.

I started to consider taking Speech as well, but then I heard that it is on North Campus and I'm not sure that I want to walk there when it is freezing. But I'm unsure of what else I can take. So far I have history, psych, legal studies, speech, and critical writing. I am unsure whether or not I want to take one more. Even if I did take one more, I want it to count towards my major but I'm unsure of what classes I can take without taking legal studies or psych 101. It's all very confusing and I'm very happy that I have a good advisor. Truthfully, I'm also considering communications. I won't even get started on that problem.

Alone

Being an only child, I always felt the need to be with friends all of the time so that I filled that empty space in my life. My parents own a chain of drug stores, so I have always been out with friends and family for most of my life while my parents ran the business. Because of my past experiences, I never thought I would miss being alone. I wanted to go out and meet people. I'm always one to go out, and I was rarely alone in highschool, or so I thought. Don't get me wrong, I'm a very social person and I love being with others. But once in a while, it's just nice to be alone. I didn't realize how much "alone time" I had in my past years. When I would come home from school, I would have the house to myself until about 6:30 or 7 to get everything that I needed to done. Now, I'm in a triple with two other really social girls, so my room is always filled with people coming and going. Our hallway is extremely comfortable with one another so it's very common for people to just stop in randomly to chat. Being directly across from the laundry room, I get at least two people a week asking to just hang out in my room while their laundry finishes. Although I have met tons of really cool people this way, it gets old. I never thought I'd miss just sitting in bed and reading alone, or anything like that. I actually enjoy my walks to class in the morning because of the fact that it's just time to think. In college, my life is constantly in drive. I thought that I was busy in highschool with cheerleading, pole-vaulting, community service, and coaching all week, but I was wrong. Those events allowed for some free time which was nice. I think that that's one thing that people in college miss about driving, the freedom of being by yourself. Over the weekend I stayed at URI to visit my boyfriend, and I asked him if he missed the feeling of being alone too. He said that he did. His roommate has been in the hospital for the last month, so he's had a single. Even with this, the constant idea that you live in a dorm with a bunch of other people doesn't give you the accurrate alone time that you need. At first I didn't see why, but now I do. I'm sitting here right now with both of my roommates out for the night. Although I am alone, I can still hear the normal sounds of the boys in the room nextdoor playing halo, and the boys on the other side of me practicing for his acapello performance coming up, as he does every night. I can hear the rumbling of the washing machines, especially washer #18 which goes insane whenever it's down to the last 10 minutes. Lastly, I can hear all of the people waiting for the laundry to finish. So in a sense, I'm never really alone. That has been a huge change for me in college.

So I think I've come up with a solution to my math problem. In class yesterday I asked the tutor for help and I set up an appointment for tomorrow for her to tutor me. Hopefully this will put me on the right track. I'm pretty sure all I need is just a few explanations of things and will hopefully then be able to do it. It's really weird to be the person being tutored for math. I'm actually kind of nervous. I've never really had to sit down with a stranger and be taught math seperately from the class, it has always been my thing. If anything, I have been on the tutor side of the tutor-student situation. I'm actually really proud of myself for admitting that I need help in it, because I know that it wasn't easy to do. I understand that in writing I'm terrible, but math is what I pride myself on. Hopefully the tutoring session goes well. After this blog, I plan on sitting down to read the chapters and do exercises so that she has specific things to help me on.
I had an Italian test this morning. I was really nervous for it because it was so much information. I think I did okay, because I didn't really leave anything blank. It was one of those tests where you answered everything, but you still aren't sure. We'll see how it goes when I get it back. Yesterday, I spent seven hours in the library. It was actually really ironic because over the weekend I wrote a paper for lit about how I couldn't picture myself spending five hours in the library. Then, yesterday, I found myself bombarded with work. I have three papers due in the next week, two take home tests in math, and then that Italian test today. I was in such a rough spot. I workked tirelessly and accomplished a lot, but not enough for me to be put out of this misery. I still have a ton of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. I know that I can finish it all, it's just a matter of time management. It gets really hard when it comes to the weekend. For example, this weekend is wicked weekend at school. Friday is chameleon club, so that night is out for homework. Then Saturday I go over to URI to see my boyfriend, and feel terrible asking him if I can do homework that afternoon with him but I know that I need to. Sunday I come back and then I'm help running a program for CEN. That night I have practice. It's hard to time manage but I'm trying really hard to. Hopefully all keeps going well.

Frustrated.

I've been meaning to blog about something, but each time I sat down to blog I seemed to forget what it was. When I was just walking past CAS, I remembered so I ran into the library to get this out before I forget. I'm enrolled in a basic statistics class, which is necessary for both of my majors. Because it is required to pass before I graduate, I take the class very seriously. The class meets on Tuesdays and Fridays at 3:30-5. For the first week of classes, the professor let us out at 3:45. It was a fifteen minute class. I thought that this was because at the time all we were doing was going over a syllabus and other necessary things to start off the year. As classes went on, I realized that he did this every class. The latest we got out of Statistics was at 4. That means I only had at the most an hour of stats a week. We were given one test, which we all scored fairly well at. Even though he barely taught, the material was clear and we all understood it. Three weeks into the semester, the professor stopped showing up completely. For five classes in a row, which is almost three weeks, we would show up to class and find a note that said "Statistics-- class is cancelled." Because it was a late Friday afternoon class, attendance was down already. On weekends such as Columbus Day, there were only ten of us in the class. When the professor stopped showing up, the amount of people that came to check if we had class declined even more. I'm not a person to skip class for no reason. In fact I have yet to miss a class since I've been here at college. But how is a person suppose to stay motivated when the professor doesn't even show up himself? If the professor shows an attitude of blatant carelessness, then the students will exhibit it as well. I've never been the one to cut class, but his lack of attendance made me consider it. I think the reason that I have this view is because of my past experiences. I was very sick senior year, and missed weeks on end of school. I did a great amount of my work from a hospital bed, turning in assignments via email. Because of this, I don't see skipping class as practical. Senior year I realized how hard it is to do work without being in class, so why would I put myself in that position again? Although I pulled off a 3.6 GPA for senior year, I would never voluntarily go through what I had to do again.

So last week, the remaining faithful students showed up to class to find a new professor. She stated that she was our substitute and possibly our new professor. She looked at my notes, and tried to evalute what we had learned. Unlike our last professor, she taught entirely out of the book. Not once did we touch the book with our last professor. According to Professor #2, we had dabbled in chapters 1-3 so far. After she gave us her general information, she started her lecture. Her teaching style is completely different. She lectures and is not as involved with us as our last professor. Even the notation for writing the problems is different. She was using words that none of us have ever heard of in our life. The only person answering her questions was our tutor that sits in on our class, which was unfair because this girl is a senior who is now in some sort of advanced statistics class. Never being the one to just sit and be quiet when something was wrong, all of the other students kept nudging me to say something to her. So, I raised my hand and explained that we had no idea what her notation was, and no idea what she was talking about. After that, she slowed down and tried to explain it more, but it turned into basically a lecture on 3 chapters in an hour. With her in depth teaching method, none of us understood still. It was really frustrating. I'm very good at math and am very confused in the class right now. When we left the class at 5:05 this time, I realized that was a general consensus. We all prayed that she wouldn't be back next week and that we would have our old professor again. Even though he never showed up, we understood the material and were able to take tests on it. When we got back the next week, she was there again, but this time as our new professor.

Personally, I don't think it's fair. We have spend two months practicing a certain teaching method, and are now being expected to do chapter four statistics in a notation we have never seen. I don't think that it is possible for us to just pick up where we left off. To put it into perspective, it is like saying "Oh, you took two months of Geometry, please solve this chapter five Pre-Calc problem." It seems like everything is really that unrelated. We have only had two classes, but were just given a take home test. She told us that our original grades were lost. This got me really mad, I worked hard for that grade and I studied! I took my time to help tutor the others in the class who didn't understand it. So I raised my hand. I asked if we had our tests, if she would accept that grade. She agreed. I also asked if we tried the take home test and did better if that could be used. She agreed. I was happy with that with high hopes that I could hopefully do well on the test and score an even higher grade. I read through the test when I got back to the room and don't understand a word on it. It's really hard! So now, I'm confused and annoyed. The students should not be punished for this. I think that if we had her from the beginning, I would be okay with her. But as of now, I don't approve becaue I'm not happy with how I don't get it. I'm trying so hard but just failing when I try. It's very frustrating.

This week has been so crazy because of Spirit Week. Being a cheerleader, I'm required to attend every event. I feel like I've been running around all week in my cheerleading stuff. In order to spread school spirit, we're also required to bring the spirit into our dorms. I've been working tirelessly to hang signs that say "wear blue and gold!" or "support your school at the commons at 12!" The week has seemed to last forever. Today begins family weekend which runs at the same time as homecoming weekend. Tonight is an event called Midnight Madness. I'm really nervous for this event because it's basically a debut for the cheerleaders. Even writing about it makes me have butterflies in my stomach. I'm nervous that I'm going to drop my flyer, or even trip going from stunt to stunt. The worst nightmare is that I'd forget everything about my routine. Hopefully everything goes okay.

On top of cheerleading, I've been working over-time at work. I'm actually writing this blog entry from my desk at the Admissions Office right now. I really can't complain, because I sit here with my friends, gossip, and do my homework. It really isn't that bad, but at the same time it's time consuming. For example, the other day in work I had a million things to do for homework, but didn't have time to run to the dorm to get my things before work. Therefore, I was stuck at work with no way to get anything done. I ended up using the easy-bake oven to cook a cake with my friend Ashley, and then ate it with our bosses. It was fun, but at the same time frustrating because I know that I have things to do. On the contrary, it does provide a nice escape from schoolwork and gives me a chance to leave the room and my books for a while. That part of it is nice. The most frustrating thing about work is people that don't realize that applications require full addresses. When students write "Port Jeff. Sta." it's really annoying to have to search online to find out they really mean "Port Jefferson Station." More files are here, time to get back to work. :)

No Limitations

Truthfully, I couldn't think of anything to write about for today. So, I decided to follow a blog prompt that my professor sent us via email. I decided to respond to the question: Describe a moment when you feel as though you said or did something"smart" since you've been here at RWU (in class, out of class, whatever). I'mlooking for a moment when you did or said something or accomplished somethingabout which you are proud or about which you surprised yourself. Then explainwhy this was an important moment for you.

I really liked this question because it made me think. The one thing that stood out in my mind was that the way I am handling coursework here at college. During the last two months of school, I've been piled with readings from books and texts from all directions. I am amazed that I have yet to skip out on one reading. I have gone to every class prepared with all my reading done. I have yet to forget about an assignment, and I go to the writing center for every paper. I'm very proud with how I am adjusting into the college life. One of the seniors on the cheerleading team asked me how school was going. I told her this, and she replied that it won't stay that way. Being an A student herself, she said that the reading gets to be too much. At times you need to figure out which ones to do, and which ones you can get away with not doing. Rebekah Nathan had this same view in her book "My Freshman Year." What I don't understand is when do I decide that something is not possible? When do I draw the line? Over the last few months I've been very busy with everything, but manage to fit reading between practices, clubs, dinner, and sleep. Somehow, it all works out. I think that if I start to skip out on the work, it will only make me feel lost and confused. Why do this to myself? I want to do well in college. In highschool, I wasn't a fantastic student-- A's and B's with a GPA of about 3.5. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. College just seems so different. I have the mentality that this is a competition and who tries their best and gives their all will succeed. This is why I've continued to do all of the readings thus far. I was amazed that on the first week of classes, kids were already behind in reading a book for Human Behavior. Given the book was terrible, it was truly unbelievable that people were already slacking off. I think that I probably view college with more respect than other students because I know that not all people get the oppurtunity. My father cruised into college and medical school with perfect SAT scores and above a 4.0 GPA. On the other hand, my mother couldn't afford college, so she worked really hard her entire life to make a living for herself. She was always sure to stress on me that this is such an oppurtunity, and she's so proud that I have the chance to take it. I see college kind of like an internship. I'm here to learn, and I'm here on my free will. I want to be here so that I can figure things out, and I'm truly lucky to have been "hired."

Another thing that really affects my view of college is my best friend. With a learning disability, she has always had a really hard time going through math courses and anything that involves correct spelling of words based on pronunciation. She attends UNE now, and is working her butt off to be where she is. She's proven everybody who didn't believe she could do it wrong. She made it into the advanced Occupational Therapy program, and although she is in basic math, she plans on working all summer by taking another course of math to improve her skills. Currently in the basic math, she is at the top of her class. Her hard work and drive through college motivates me to succeed. She shows me that not everyone has the oppurtunity, and while I'm here I need to embrace it and give it my best. I'm really grateful for that. The other day she said something that really got me thinking. During a phone conversation she goes: "So, I'm going to be a doctor and you're going to be a lawyer. Can you believe it? We're here, and we're going to be successful. We're going to do it." Of course, then we went on to talk about how we will be shopping for cute suits together and then reminisced about how at one time we both wanted to be astronauts. It's crazy how things change. Listening to her was awesome because it was really amazing to put it in that kind of perspective. I really enjoyed hearing that because it reinforced that I can do it, and I can make the most of my oppurtunity here in college.

diversity.

Yesterday in class we focused on the topic of diversity, which I had commented on in my last few blogs. I noticed something really obvious over the weekend and was contemplating why it happened. Friday night, three laptops and a wallet was stolen from the Cedar dorms. The wallet was stolen out of my room, but wasn't mine. It was my friend's. When everyone in Cedar heard about this, the universal reaction was "it must have been those black guys." I thought this was really odd, because I know that everyone isn't a racist as they came off. It was true that a group of about seven black men came into the dorms on Friday night, but I was wondering why fingers were being pointed directly at them. I have met plenty of white men and women who have stolen things from other people, so why is it automatically them? On the ride back from cheerleading I started to talk about this with the captain that was driving me. She said that it's probably not because of their specific race color, but only because this University is predominantly white. When a diverse group of people come in to the building, it is obvious that they probably do not go here. This is why the people had this general consensus. This situation made me think of Nathan's book and her observances of diversity. When the other races walked in, we all felt uncomfortable because that was not the social norm in our school. I don't think that it is entirely about race, though. If a group of 65 year old men came into the dorm, the residents would all be uncomfortable as well. It is just a matter of what we're use to seeing. Just to let you know, the wallet was actually found next to a dumpster in Warren. How it got there, we have no idea, but she's just happy to have it back.

It seems like my core classes are connecting in such a great way. Once again, I'm talking about diversity in Human Behavior. Yesterday before lit, we talked about what constitues being a minority. For example, where do we draw the line? If you're born in America and are third generation Asain, are you a minority? We had a really great discussion about what we think it means. Our answer came out to be that Americans judge on outward appearance. If you look foreign, you're considered a minority. But then we got onto the topic of why aren't white people minorities? We come from other countries as well. For example, I'm very Swedish. What doesn't make me a minority? And what about Italians? You can tell that a person is an Italian, but yet, we still don't consider them minorities. This got into a really heated discussion. As soon as we thought that we came to a tentative answer on outward appearances, our professor posed another question, what about Albino African Americans? What are they? This discussion made me realize that outward appearances are a main reason for segregation in the United States. They provide a sense of comfort among people like you, but a distance between you and others not like you. This was really interesting to think about.

My Freshman Year

Today, my 8am class got cancelled so Lit was the only one that I had. In lit class we reflected on a book that we're all reading called "My Freshman Year" from Rebekah Nathan. It really interests me. As an experiment to find out what college is like, Nathan reapllys to the University that she is a professor at, but as a student. Today in class we were talking about her observations in the cafeteria of who people eat with. Many of my classmates disagreed with her, but I completely agree with Nathan. My highschool was very much like the college that I attend now in terms of diversity. The highschool was actually 98% white. In my graduating class, we had three students of Asain descent, and one from Indian descent. One of the Asain students happened to be one of my best friends. It always amazed me how we'd be walking in the hallway and she would know every other Asain-American student that walked by. I would ask her how she knew them, and she'd reply that it was something that I couldn't understand. She explained it as having something in common with another person. Because they shared the same background and heritage, it was easier to get to know one-another. Also, in a school of primarily white people, it was easy to point eachother out. Another time, she explained it to me through something that I could understand easier. She told me that it would be like me going into a place and finding out someone else is a cheerleading coach. I would be ten times more likely to walk up to them and start a conversation than the random football player next to them because I already had something in common with them. I suppose that this is the same reason that minority students are found eating together in Nathan's book. When coming into college, everybody wants to find people that they share common interests with. I know for me, I automatically found myself with a group of girls who wanted to try out for the cheerleading team. It is just a natural way of making friends. I don't think that it is a problem with racism, but rather it is more comfortable to find people who are more like you. And obviously, I have friends that aren't cheerleaders as well. It's just that eating is a thing that we find time to do between practice, the gym and games. It fits into our schedule that way. If the friends get involved in the same activities, they are more likely to budget their time together so that they can fidn time to eat with oneanother. Because of this, I think that Nathan's results were very accurate.

SOAR/interview

So when I returned Monday from New Hampshire, I was already busy with things to do on campus. I rode back down here with my friend Ashley. Her mom offered to drive us down considering my mother had picked us up. Ashley and I both work in the admissions office at twelve, so we arrived back here around 11:15. We got settled again into the dorms and unloaded the five cases of water that Ash decided to bring from home, then were off to work. Following work I had an assignment to do. The assignment was really interesting and got me thinking. I was asked to interview someone in my major who was a senior. When I was first assigned this, I had many different thoughts about it. First off, at the time, I didn't have a major. My first concern was "Senior's aren't undeclared, what do I do?". My professor said to go towards whastever I was leaning towards. So, during that week, I found seniors in all different academic areas. I found one in classical languages and philosophy, one in Psychology, one in Education, one in Law and Psychology, and another one in Engineering. By the end of the week, I not only decided on a person, but I decided on a major as well. I picked the law and psych student. This project ended up being really interesting for me because I had just declared this major. The interview actually got me really excited to start taking classes in this major! I had never really felt like that before about specific areas of study. I was really happy with my choice.

I am part of the SOAR leadership program. Last night, we had our weekly meeting. The meeting was set up really differently because the topic was dealing with stress. We talked about the stressful situations in college and how to deal with them. Going into the meeting, I didn't even know that I was stressed. Coming out of it, I was much more aware about the little things that are bothering me. For example, advisement is coming up. I realized how stressed I am about picking beneficial classes and getting on the right track. I'm also pretty stressed out about tests and other assignments to do with classes. This meeting really helped all of us to realize what bothers us and tried to put that in order. I work in the admissions office, so this was pretty convenient for me. I took out the course catalog and the legal studies/psych fast facts sheet and reccommended courses and made a plan of what I think would be the best for me to take. After doing that, I felt much more organized and focused. Getting that off my back allowed me to focus more on schoolwork and the other activities that I am involved in. Another huge stressor right now is cheerleading. Because of midnight madness, we have practice almost every day for about three hours. I am so exhausted and the whole team feels like we are each running on empty. As much as I am excited for next weekend, I'll be happy when these long practices are over. I'm not exactly sure there is a way that I can fix that stressor now.

realizations.

This past weekend was Columbus Day Weekend. I went home for the first time. It was AWESOME. I didn't realize how much I missed it. Being home made me think of a lot of things. Living in New Hampshire, fall is always annoying for us because flocks of people come north to see our foliage. Growing up there, I would be like "What's the big deal? It's leaves changing color." When fall came the normal stressors of longer lines at restaurants, traffic, and never-ending raking is usually what came to mind. When visiting this past weekend, I realized why people come to New Hampshire to see such sights. I have never realized how gorgeous it actually is. My boyfriend and I spent most of Saturday driving around looking at how gorgeous our town is in the fall. We have lived in NH for most of our lives, and never realized it. It was really cool to experience this. It also made me think of how different fall at home is from fall at college. Fall in NH is like nowhere else. Fall in NH is apple picking, pies, apple cider, pumpkins, hayrides, town fairs, foliage, and cozy fireplaces. For NH, fall is our Christmas. It entials certain events that most, if not all, residents take part in. At college, it doesn't even seem like it's fall at all. This might be because of the setting. I'm on the ocean, which would never happen at home during this season. The leaves barely change. Sitting here in the library right now, I'm looking out the window that overlooks campus and can see one truee that is starting to change to red, that's all. Due to the weather, passerbys are in shorts and t-shirts. I didn't know how much I missed the traditions of home until I was there again. I realized how much I miss the little things like getting out of bed without climbing down on my desk, showering without shoes, having my own bathroom, sleeping in a queen size bed, and eating home-cooked meals! Another prevalent thing was sitting in my bed with wireless internet! I also missed the freedom of driving from place to place. Although I hate to admit it, I also really missed cooking. Over the weekend, I made three pies, a chicken dinner, and cheesy potatoes. I think that I satisfied my need to cook for a while now.


Although it has only been a month, some things changed. When I left for college, the town was doing construction on what was to be a new shopping center. When I got home it was built! I also noticed small things, like someone on one of the side roads that I take painted a blue stripe on his white car that is always in the street. I also noticed how clean my house is without me. You could still see the vaccuum marks on the rugs from the housekeeper. She must be loving that I'm not home to mess everything up! All of these observations taught me lessons about how much I take for granted. This includes friendships, nature, family, and the small things that I mentioned before. It was really eye-opening to see how lucky I am. The little things that I take for granted make such a difference in day to day life. I'm positive that I'm going to be more conscious of my surroundings and experiences from now on. On the ride back, I began to realize how lucky I am at school because of this. I have a great job, great friends, good clubs, and the oppurtunity to participate on a team. I am very lucky.

Speaking of luck, I just received an email saying that I am nominated to meet with the Vice President of the University for breakfast on Wednesday! They chose six student-workers on campus to meet with her in a conference to speak about balancing work and school. Unfortunately, I have class during the time of the meeting so I cannot attend. I really wish I was able to use this experience but my professor requires the students to attend every class unless they are required to take the final. :( Oh well. But this got me thinking, why me? In order to answer the questions "Who Am I?" and "What Do I Know?", I think that I need to figure out what sets me apart for oppurtunities like this? Did I portray myself as being good at balancing work and school? Or did I somehow imply that I cannot handle work and school together? That is going to be my goal so that I can accurately answer these questions about myself.

double majoring!

So yesterday I declared my major! I know, it seems random, but it's not. I have been seriously considering psychology ever since I took it in high school and loved it. I have also been considering law since I was very young. So, over the weekend I set up a meeting with a law professor to ask further questions about mediation and arbitration, because both seemed really interesting to me. After talking with the Professor for about an hour, we collectively came to the conclusion that I really have a passion for legal studies and psychology. She then asked me the defining question: "Would you like to change your major now? Or later?' We went through the pro's and con's of choosing now. Overall, the pro's were in my favor. If I declare now, I can start taking courses in legal studies next semester. Because I am certain that I love Psychology, even if legal studies doesn't work out I certainly have a backfall. Another positive to declaring now was that mediation and arbitration courses are hard to get into. Because they are so new, the mostly allow legal studies majors to be involved in them instead of outside majors. This puts me at a greater chance to get into those courses so that I can make sure that I love them. The professor helped me fill out my paperwork and declare my double major. She also decided that she is going to be my advisor. I signed her over to do that, and handed in the paper to the registrar. I'm really happy with my choice! My new advisor even told me that she is friends with a ton of people in Bristol Mediation and the Providence court system so that she can probably help me find an internship or volunteer work to do over the summer or breaks. I feel like she is really going out of her limit for me and I truly appreciate that. It feels to nice to know that I have an aim instead of just taking classes with no idea of what to do. Obviously, I'm nervous that I won't like it. But I feel as if I have enough support and I have the time to try things out. When thinking back on my accomplishments, I have never been 100% certain that something was right for me. I have been known to go out on a limb, try it, and see how it works out. Even with the idea of coming to Roger Williams, I was so skeptical. Northeastern was my first choice but I was weightlisted until next semester. Roger Williams seemed okay, but not great. Now that I'm here, I love it. I'm hoping that once I really start getting into this I'll lose my skepticism and it'll all work out. Out of all the majors, this seems most fitting. Let's hope for the best!

I called my parents right after the meeting with my new advisor. They were really surprised, to say the least, but really proud and think that it'll be a great fit for me. My dad's first comment, of course, was "So this involves eight years of schooling? Law school too?" Financial issues aside, he was really happy for me. The registrar even gave me a high five! :)

As a response to "MM"'s post, I mostly agree with how students write. That process describes the student who has many other classes and is always on a time crunch. Truly, I think how you write the paper depends on the situation. I know, if I don't have much to do at night I will go to the library and write a paper which isn't due until next week. I like getting things done just in case fun events come up that I want to go to. I think that it is a logical way to do this. So the only thing I disagree with is that sentence that says "the day before" or "the night before". That's not always true. Although the process is the same with the reflection on the paper and trying to write it in one sitting, the time slot can be altered. I know that I have been known to do that for many papers, but with Expo writing it seems to be really different. For expo, we are required to do drafts. On my last paper, I went above the requirements and wrote six or seven different drafts, all corrected by tutors and proffessors. If the stages are required, the process becomes very different. I believe in that case, the process is more like:
-- get assignment, confused about material
-- teacher clarifies in class about what the assignment means
-- read the reaing that corresponds to the assignment
-- teacher goes over it more
-- student starts to see how it connects
-- writes drafts, gets all corrected
-- two or three days before due date, the student writes the second to final and final draft
-- paper is turned in complete and student is confident about how the grading will turn out.
This process, to tell you the truth, I have only used in expo writing. I really should think about doing this with all my papers but it's so time consuming!

Also, I got that paper back on the banking concept of education. I got an A :) The professor loved it. We had a minor discussion on how it would make the world a better place today in class. He loved the idea. Although the professor usually does sit in the seats with us, it seemed to me that he was letting the class lead the discussion much more. Walking out of the class, students comments were "that was fun" and "I liked that class." I was really happy that professor liked it. Truthfully, I was afraid that he'd get defensive in thinking that I was attacking teaching methods, which apply sometimes to him. Thankfully not.

leadership

A few weeks ago, I received an email saying that I was nominated to join a leadership program on campus. I filled out the application, and was then chosen to be in the program, called SOAR. This past weekend, I went on a mandatory retreat to Chester, Connecticut. It was so much fun! We bonded as a group by doing a ton of team-building games. Between those, we had hour long sessions outlining steps on how to become a good leader. I am so happy that I am in this program. The retreat allowed me to meet tons of people who share the same values and activities that I do. It was great. We stayed up until 3:30 am playing my new favorite game called Mafia. It was so much fun.
I'm really happy about this program because I feel that I can use the skills that I learn in my everyday experiences.
By being part of SOAR, I hope to learn how to become a stronger leader. Although I have been in leadership positions in the past, I still feel as if I still need more guidance as to how to effectively direct and motivate others. In order to do this, I believe it is necessary to find out more about myself. This is important because then I will be able to relate to others more efficiently. As an effect of getting to know myself and my values, I will be more apt to join organizations that involve my beliefs. I hope that with all this, I will become a better role model and leader throughout the campus community and other organizations in the future.


Leadership is a valuable skill to possess in any stage of your life. As a college student, knowing more about leadership will help me to succeed in the organizations that I am already involved in, along with the organizations that I will get involved in over the years. Being part of IRHA, CEN, working in admissions, and participating on the cheerleading team, I hope to eventually hold leadership positions in those areas so that I can contribute positively to the campus community. I also hope to eventually hold a position on Student Senate. By making me more confident in my leadership skills, SOAR will help me to achieve these goals. Leadership is a skill that once learned, is possessed for life. SOAR will give me the self-assurance and skills that I need to succeed in my future career. Even though I am undeclared for my major, I know that most, if not all, jobs seek out individuals with leadership potential. I believe the skills taught in SOAR will help me to reach my goals as an individual by further instilling self-confidence and bringing out the leader in me.

Community

Okay so in my last blog, Professor Michaud asked if I would post my paper, so here it is :)


In the novel, “The Sane Society”, Erich Fromm writes of his study of contemporary capitalist societies, primarily the United States. Unlike Freud, Fromm believed that social factors were important in the development and sanity of a person. Fromm believed that humans have the ability to think rationally and therefore make decisions based on their thought, unlike Freud who believed that they merely followed sex drive. After researching the way people interact and the influences on their behavior, Fromm came to the conclusion that most societies cause problems for the members living in them. The author states that a country becomes insane when its inhabitants fail to meet their human needs productively. Fromm outlines these basic human needs as relatedness vs. narcissism, transcendence, rootedness, sense of identity, and the need for a frame of orientation and devotion. For the remainder of the novel, Fromm provides the reader with problems that need to be corrected to enhance the productive satisfaction of human needs, for example, the education system. One productive way to change the system to enhance the productive satisfaction of human needs would be to eliminate the banking concept of education.
The classroom environment has remained the same for many years. In most cases, there is one dominant individual, being the teacher, who lectures the students. Paulo Freire, an education reformer, describes this experience as the “Banking Concept of Education.” In his perspective, he states that the students act as empty jars with open lids, ready for knowledge to be poured into them. The teachers on the other hand, act as full jars which then pour their acquired knowledge into the student. Freire further describes this as “banking” because the teacher uses knowledge as if it was a bank deposit. When exam time comes, the student then makes “withdrawals” which prove to the teacher that he or she has learned the information. Although this concept has lead to many achievements and advances in society, it has not necessarily made the United States a sane place to live.
The Banking Concept of Education finds its first flaw in the way that the information is taught. The task of the teacher is to fill the students with information. This process usually involves memorization and repetition. Because of this, students are too busy worrying about memorizing the definition of words that they forget to apply the material to their lives. Although the students have the capacity to retain some information, there comes a point where the jar is “too full” to retain anything else. Subsequently, the student is at a loss of valuable information. When being dictated by a teacher, the student feels inferior. His or her subordination does not allow critical thinking or creativity. Additionally, when a teacher presents a lecture on a subject, the teacher usually will present a bias on the given topic. Again, this action limits the student’s independent thinking and therefore does not challenge the individual to be creative.
On the contrary, class discussions fulfill many of the basic human needs outlined by Fromm. The idea of communication is the key to sanity in the education system. First off, discussions allow for relatedness. Fromm states that with everything that goes on, man is torn away from nature. To achieve a union with the world once again, man must transcend separation by becoming part of something bigger than himself. Discussions allow for transcendence through brotherly love, which is defined as productive love towards equals. Transcendence is also evident in discussion because it involves the action of sharing. Sharing expresses integrity, but at the same time shows separation and independence. By working together with the teacher, the students can create their own identity and beliefs by not being persuaded in any other way. The Banking Concept of Education involves transcendence only in a destructive way, domination. The teacher dominates over the students which causes both participants to lose their freedom and integrity. The students are then divided amongst themselves by Grade Point Average and academic standing to further dominate over one-another. This leads to a lack of inner strength and lack of self-reliance. This idea also promotes competition between one another, which leaves no room for positive transcendence in love. Eventually, the Banking Concept of Education will lead to defeat because of the inherent dependence on others.
Communication within the classroom also fulfills the need to transcend. Fromm states that humans have a dire need to become more. The most appropriate way to do this is through creativeness. Although this is mostly accomplished through marriage and birth, it is also possible in the classroom. Creativeness in society also fulfills the need to become more. Through discussions, students are more apt to create an idea on a particular topic. These ideas will eventually lead to values and beliefs. It is the values and beliefs of a person that make each person an individual. A person shows creativity through individuality, therefore fulfilling the need to transcend.
By eliminating the Banking Concept of Education, students will have a greater chance at developing their own identity. According to Fromm, individuality is important because it satisfies his or her need to transcend. Through conversation and working together with the teacher, the class experiences a greater sense of confidence. With confidence, the students are able to clearly express their personal values and beliefs. This can lead to arguments and discussions that further challenge the student to find out who they are, what they know, and how they know it. Through this, the students are able to voice their beliefs and values, giving them a sense of identity.
Therefore, eliminating the Banking Concept of Education would enhance the productive satisfaction of human needs, leading to a saner society in the United States. By targeting the youth, there is a greater chance that they will develop bringing about saner ideals and values for their offspring. Most valuable education is taught by example. With setting the example of equality, the teachers will be teaching the students a valuable lesson that will lead to creativity and self-confidence.
I believe that this change will truly help society as a whole. One way that I could bring about this change is to suggest it to the school board. I know that many teachers are adamant about their way of teaching, but I believe that if they saw the alternatives to the lecture they would be more accepting of different ideals. I believe that even if teachers participated in discussions once in a while, not necessarily every class, the students would more likely be saner and lead saner lives. Eventually, this will lead to a saner society. One rational way that I can bring about this change would be to involve the class in discussions during presentations. This way, students are more engaged in the information I am presenting along with the other benefits that follow with it. Overall, I can help to make my life saner by using communication to challenge my beliefs, allowing me to transcend, relate, and develop my identity. By eliminating the Banking Concept of Education, all students and teachers can lead saner lives by productively meeting their needs as human beings.


One thing that I wish that I did more was incorporate Freire's points and perspective. Because this paper was based around my thoughts and MY ideas, it was hard to put too much emphasis on him. Although I stated that my concepts came directly from Freire's argument, a lot of them actually came from personal experience. In Literature class the other day, we had a completely open discussion about what we want changed, what we liked about the class, what wasn't beneficial, and who should have what role. This shocked me. I have never been put into a class environment which allowed so much freedom and yet so much responsibility. I loved it. Through this discussion, the class came together to eliminate the banking concept. By working together, we established rules, expectations and an entirely different form of sctructure. It was awesome to be able to do this. This is a prime example of students exercising their right to become leaders to further better themselves and others. The need of strong leaders is prevalent in everyday society. Being able to take initiative to help change the class exercised important values that all students should have. I was amazed that this professor gave us so much freedom. Immediately after class I called my boyfriend saying: You'll never guess what our last professor just let us do. Whoever I told, the general consensus was "I wish my teachers did that! I would get so much more out of the class!" Although this has many positives, our professor was afraid that without this structure, the students would fall behind. I don't believe that this is true. Because of the new community, I don't look at my unfinished schoolwork as "oh well, I let myself down." That has now formed into the fact that I'm letting down my teacher, myself, AND my peers. This new community is kind of like working on a group project. If you don't do the work, you feel so guilty for letting down the people who actually did. With the community, I feel like the students have a bond with the teacher that actually makes them MORE likely to do the work.

So I finished my paper on how the United States will become more sane. I wrote it on the Banking Concept of Education. While writing the paper, I began to realize how many things actually connect. I was shocked to see that ridding this concept actually would help the population to fulfill their human needs. From there, I started to think about how my classes are connecting. Many of the themes talked about in my core lit class correspond to the themes talked about in my human behavior class. This is probably because both are centered around the theme of who am I? What do I know? and given what I know, what can I know? I like to be able to use alternate examples to further produce arguments in the class.

This week I feel as if I am head over heels in homework. With practice every night, club meetings before that, and then the need to eat, it is so hard to find time to get everything done. Luckily, it has been doable so far. I'm usually really good with time management but this is time management at a whole new level. Balancing family, a boyfriend, friends, schoolwork, clubs, work, and sports is probably one of the hardest things about college thus far. The temptation to go out at night is so extreme, especially when your all-time favorite movie is playing only a few doors down or the girls are going into Providence to go shopping. It becomes really hard to say no and sit home and study.

Sane Society

The assignments in college are so different than assignments in highschool. I feel as if I am swamped in papers, reading and studying. It's actually, for once, nice to have math! I notice that I am tending to save my math homework for in-between breaks when I get bored of reading or studying. What is also different from highschool is the context of the reading. For the last ten years, when asked to read for homework, it was generally out of a textbook. Reading for college is completely different. You are given novels that hold some sort of underlying meaning which relates to the class. From this novel, you are challenged to make the connection as to what that is. I am actually enjoying this way of learning much better. Textbooks were never appealing, and at least with the novels, they hold stories and plots.

One novel that I was asked to read for Human Behavior was "The Sane Society" by Fromm. This novel essentially outlined why the United States is not a sane society. For a paper due Friday, we are asked to propose one change that would make the United States sane. This change needs to be something that we, the students, can change on our own on campus. Along with that, the change needs to be significant enough that if everyone did it, the world would be more logical. I have tried thinking so much about this so much that it seems to be driving me crazy. I am going in so many different directions with where I could go with this assignment. First off, I could talk about censors and media. This is a HUGE topic and is very controversial. Obviously, the censoring of media would provide a sense of more self-importance and self-confidence. When I was almost certain that I was going to write about that, I did my homework for lit class. For homework, we were asked to read about the banking concept of education. After reading this, I was thinking how if all classes were held as discussions, the campus would be more sane. This "sane society" would arise because people would feel more comfortable in the classroom. So, thanks to Lit, I think that I have found the topic for my paper. After just writing this blog, I came up with even more ideas of where I can go from that. I believe that from there, I am going to talk about the idea of pass/fail instead of GPA grading. Writing everything down in this blog certainly helped me find out which argument would be more convincing and more powerful. Now off to write that paper!

Exam time.

Today I should get back my first exam that I have taken at college. I'm really nervous, I hope that I did well. I want to start off on a good path, and I hope that I will. It's much easier to keep a positive trend going, then to reverse a negative one. Although I really knew the material, I felt as if my essay did not say as much as I wanted to and express my ideas clearly. I really hope that I did well.

In Italian, I have my first exam on Wednesday. I feel as if I know the material pretty well, it's just hard because I don't know the professors' style for exams. Hopefully all goes well. Although the entire class is in Italian, somehow I'm understanding it. The professor is really good about making hand gestures and using his emotion to convey his message. I heard the other day that he is the head of the language department. Whether or not this is true I'm not sure, but I think it's kind of cool that I'm in his class. He's very educated in the language and points out fun facts to help us remember things. For instance, the professor told us that "venti" in Italian means twenty. A "venti" coffee at starbucks is called "venti" because it is twenty ounces. I like hearing about this kind of stuff because it makes it seem as if it applys to my life. At home, I work in an upscale Italian restaurant. The walls and the menu are covered with Italian words, so it's nice to hear them in class and be a step ahead of the other students. I never thought that knowing the menu for a menu test would help me pass my first college class! One interesting thing that I learned was that our restaurant name, "lui lui", means "he and he". Knowing that, I figured out that it is because the restaurant is run by two owners, both being male. With a background of eight years of French, I find that my French is helping my Italian as well. For all my life, I have attended private Catholic schools. These schools put a major emphasis on the French language, starting us all off with French in fifth grade. When I reached freshman year in highschool, the middle school actually changed to start everyone off in first grade. As much as I hated taking French, I continued with it throughout highschool because I knew it'd be an easy A. I believe that looking back, it was a good choice because all of the grammar and pronounciation of the words are extremely alike between the two languages.

Although we have had no problems yet, my roommates and I ran into a problem late last night. Because of this, I was up until three in the morning and am now exhausted. Unfortunately, today I had my first test (what a coincidence) in Literature. I had an 8 am class as well, which went surprisingly really well. The professor gave us this assignment to take one of our papers and peer edit it. I feel as if I did a really good job on that paper and the boy correcting it didn't find many things to change. I was very pleased with the outcome. He made some great suggestions and I'm actually a little excited to fix them and see how it turns out. My professor is really great and does an awesome job of explaining everything. From this Expository Writing class, I feel like I have already learned so much. Just comparing my papers that I'm writing now to my older papers, there is a huge difference. My arguments are better constructed and my ideas are clearly more organized. I'm really happy about this because I know that I really needed improvement in that area. In highschool, I had always been in college level classes for writing. Unfortunately, I am not great at it. Math is my thing. That leads to another problem, being my idea of leaning towards psychology for my major. I have heard a million times that I should be in engineering or biology, something rooted in math and physics. Unfortunately, I do not have a passion for those at all. I know that I want to go with what I like, rather than what I am good at. Hopefully this works out!

So far, the workload of college hasn't been too bad. I was feeling like I was on top of things, and I still partially feel that way. The work is getting harder, and the days seem to be getting shorter. With my newly joined clubs and organizations, my involvement in the cheerleading team, and my job on campus, it is so hard to find time to do work. I feel as if I spend every moment not at meeting or classes in the library. I have managed to stay really on top of things, I just hope that the work load doesn't get too much harder. It's only the third week of school and I have an exam , a paper due, and a quiz all tomorrow. I really want to do well, but I hope I have the ability to do so. I am a professional at time management, I'm just not sure there is enough time in the day. I am even budgeting in writing this entry between class and cheerleading, it seems like it never ends. Unlike some people, I require a full nights sleep to function the next morning. One way that I've been staying motivated is thinking that if I get all this work done, I won't need to do it this coming weekend. I'm going to try to keep that mentality so that I don't have too much this weekend.

Today in Human Behavior, the professor gave us a lesson on morality. Although I didn't agree with some of his standpoints, I really agreed with one. The professor's main message for today was about judging others before knowing them really well. Like everyone else, I've heard this speech a million times, but the way he said it really made all of us think. He put it in the terms of every person is like the sides of dice, all different. But even though we're different, we're all part of the same peice. He told us that in a matter of four questions, a person can usually find something that they have in common with another. We tried in, and it proved true. I know that some people in my class are very different, ranging from the President's daughter to an outspoken environmentalist. Today in class, I was taught a valuable lesson on judgement and presuppositons. I was really happy that the professor did this.

In the last few weeks I've learned something I never thought I'd admit: that my mom saved me all throughout high school and junior high. The hardest transition to college is the fact that I'm forced to completely rely on myself. This not only means in terms of schoolwork, but also on household projects as well. Last week, my roommate came down really sick with a double ear infection and a sinus infection. After a few days, I began to feel pretty bad as well. It was really odd to be sick, and not having anyone there to tell me to rest and take my medicine. I was completely independent. When coming to college, you expect that you'll notice your parents aren't there to help you with the big things, such as shopping and financial things. But in reality, you realize their abscence the smallest things. Coming from a household where my parents left complete trust in me to do things on my own, I feel like I have done really well for being on my own so far. I am thankful that they brought me up in a way that I can make rational decisions about how to handle myself and manage my time. At the time in highschool, I would constantly bug my dad with "why aren't you helping me with the dishes?" or "balancing my checkbook is stupid." Now that I'm here on my own, I truly appreciate all that my parents did for me to prepare me for college. Although it is going really well, it still feels weird to be making decisions without them.

From watching others, I try to see how I do not want to act. As others go out until four in the morning on thursday nights, I personally prefer to stay in and watch Grey's Anatomy. I hope that with the absence of rules, I can continue to keep my head on my shoulders in these next few months.

One thing that I've realized about college is that it is easier to do well. In your dorm, you are surrounded by hundreds of other people who want to succeed. The University supplies resources such as the library, the coffee shops, and the common rooms, all so that you have a quiet place to go. For Human Behavior, I was just assigned my first group project. Unlike highschool, there were no guidelines. The professor said "Take these three pages in the book, and do something with them." In the rubric, he said that creativeness plays a major role in your grade. Our group decided to do a skit of what happened in the story, then teach the class about the information by playing hangman with vocabulary. It ended up being really fun and the class was really involved. We got the grade back the other day, and we received an A. I was really happy with the outcome. Normally, I am a very structured person. I feel as if I do not have complete control, it won't go smoothly. I learned through this that sometimes you just need to trust others and it will all work out.

Another thing that I'm learning is to rely on others. I am beginning to learn of all the resources that can help me with my studies. As I wrote in my blog before, I am not a language learner. I thought that Italian would be much worse for me. As I also mentioned before, I have a girl in my class who lives in my dorm. Every night, we get together and do our Italian homework and listen to audio clips online. If we have any additional questions, I met a girl who leaves two doors down from me that speaks fluent Italian. She has been a huge help to both of us and it's great to have her to answer questions. Aside from Italian, I also had someone in my dorm help me with writing. When writing a paper, it's so easy to have it proofread by a good amount of people. I feel like I'm doing well here, and I hope that it continues.

Conflicts.

As the week went on, classes continued to go smoothly. There was only one challenge that I faced. This problem was an 8 am class. As much as you say that you'll go to bed at 11 pm every night, it's nearly impossible. Living in what's known as the loudest dorm on campus, the action doesn't seem to calm down until about two. The first week on campus, it was really hard to get into the schedule. I thought that I needed to be involved in every event that was taking place on my floor. I have finally learned that it is possible to get to bed at about twelve. You always feel like a nag when asking the roommates to turn off the lights and be quiet, but in the long run, it works out for the better. You learn that they don't really mind, and most of the time, the roommates are tired too. I've noticed that since this, I've been much more awake for classes which is always a good idea.

Another conflict that I've reached during these last few weeks is finding adequate study time. Coming from being an only child with working parents, I always had the empty house to fully concentrate. Now, being in a forced triple in Cedar, it is a huge adjustment. At first I thought that I was in huge trouble academic-wise. One roommate is always watching TV, while the other is constantly playing rap music. The door is always open, and people always stop in. One way that I have learned to adjust to this is going to the library. I go there at least twice a day to do my homework. I finish all my reading and studying there, then come back to the room to type up notes and make study guides. This has worked really well for me. Hopefully it works just as well during the winter months.

So Confused

After that class, I was off to Italian. I would have never found the classroom if it wasn't for my student advocate which showed me around the day before. The class is located at the end of a long hallway in the architecture building, past a whole row of cubicles and a construction lab. It is possibly the most unlikely spot for a language class. Upon arriving in the class, I found my friend Sarah who lives on the same floor as me. We sat together in the class. The professor was really nice, or at least he seemed it considering he was speaking all Italian. He spoke once sentence in English. The professor goes, "I have a dog, that dog probably understands more Italian than you do. The aim of this course is to surpass my dog." We all laughed at this, not only because it was funny, but because it was probably true. I'm still unsure of why exactly I took Italian. When signing up at Orientation, the lady helping me figure out my schedule said it'd be a good idea if I want to study abroad, which I do, but to tell you the truth I have no true passion for languages.

As I mentioned before, I'm completely undecided as to my major. Truthfully, it's a very scary subject. Once arriving on campus, a good amount of people seem to know exactly what they want to do. I always think to myself, "Why can't I be that lucky? Why am I so unsure?" My roommate knows exactly what she wants to be. She's double majoring in legal studies and psychology and plans on going to law school to get her degree then become a lawyer. I hear peoples majors and think to myself, "that sounds like something I could do!", but nothing really strikes me as something I'd like to do for the rest of my life. On the contrary, one girl that I met seems to completely detest her major, and it's only the first semester! Whenever she is asked her major, she replies with "ughhh, Political Science." I don't want to be someone who hates what they're doing. I'm hoping that in the next few years I can figure it out. To help speed up the process, I am taking a bunch of core classes, which dabble in every subject. Hopefully, if this does anything, it will weed out the subjects that I do not want to do. I've always been an inconsisent person. I'm one of those people that changes her mind every day about what she likes and doesn't. I think my biggest problem is that I like too much. Everything sounds fine to me, which leads to so much confusion when it comes to choosing a major. I know that I'm not alone in this situation, sometimes, it just seems like I am.