From High School to Jungle

For Thanksgiving Break, I was supposed to go back to East Sac County High School to share information about college to some of my former classmates.  However, due to the fact that I do not have a car or a ride to Lake View, Iowa, I had to find another way to share this information. And what better way than a (mandated) blog post.  I feel doing so will help me accomplish what I need to while providing information to whomever reads this.
When I was a high school student, I worried about a variety of things about college. For one, I was concerned about food and money.  This isn't much, but I spent some time thinking about it.  At college, I learned that these were not importnat so much.  Food is easily taken care of as there are a variety of places to eat on campus at Iowa State.  I assume other campuses have just as many choices.  The best part is my housing costs are mixed with food costs so I do not have to worry about eating as long as I have a meal plan.  As for money, this can be taken care of if you really want extra cash.  At Iowa State, I am a part of the work-study program which allows me to work on campus for extra money which helps me buy essentials at college.  Even if you are not a part of work-study it is still possible to get a job in college. Most college communities are known for catering to students when it comes to employment.
Other things I worried about were classes and studying. When classes first started at Iowa State, I realized that college professors were not evil. They will help you if you ask for it.  Most professors have office hours which allow for you to go visit them and ask questions or find out information on a course.  This is also a great way to get some contacts which will help in job hunting in the future.  Another thing I noticed about classes is that they vary in size. One class I took had 300 people while another had only 20.  This is not bad as it allows you to meet other students and gain new friends.  As for studying, there are plenty of places to do so. For one, I found that it was quite fun to study in my own room and in my house den.  I also found it to be nice to study in the Hixson-Lied Student Success Center.  There are other places to study on campus though.  The library is one of those places.  Your mileage may vary as well. 
One final thing that everyone worries about is paying for college.  This is one thing that kept me up some nights. The thing that eased my worries was that the Office of Financial Aid at Iowa State was so helpful.  They guided me through the financial aid process and even helped me when I messed up on filing the FAFSA.  Other colleges have an office of financial aid as well, and I am sure that they are just as helpful. The point here is that no one should pull their hair out over a money situation.  It is something big but most colleges will help you if you require some help.
As you can see college is not a horrible wasteland of failure.  There are hundreds of aspects of college that I can not list because I simply do not have the time or computer memory to list them.  But the simple fact is that even though the college process is long and complicated, it can be done.  Most colleges want to help you.  The only thing required is action by you.

Twitter: A Developing Addiction

There is a world of social networking on the internet.  Sites like Facebook, Myspace, and LinkedIn have millions of users.  However, there is one social networking site that stands out in my mind.  That site is Twitter.  Take out all of the fun of Facebook and Myspace and insert constant status updates and the result will be Twitter.  I was reluctant at first to use Twitter because I thought it was pointless.  After this week, my mind has changed.
Our assignment for the last week was to tweet for an entire week.  So I used my existing twitter account which was http://twitter.com/sebbyniles.  Immediately, I started tweeting random things just to fufill my quota. Also, I started following awesome people like Debra Sanborn, Silas Pippit, Allison Severson, and the wacky Taylor Burgin.  I didn't think anything of following these fine people; I only did it because I had to. But as the week went on, I found that following these people proved useful.  I learned some new things about my instructors, found awesome links, and had some great twitter conversations. 
As the week wore on, I became less skeptical of twitter. I still hated logging on, but I knew I had to if I was to complete the assignment and not lose $14,000.  My favorite part of this assignment was reading the funny comments from my friends and instructors.  It was also convient that I could talk to others on Twitter. It wasn't as direct as facebook or other social media, but it worked. I think the worst part of this assignment was that I believe that I am now addicted to Twitter.
So as you can see, Twitter may not be perfect, but it has its uses. It lets you keep in contact with friends, employers, and teachers.  http://www.balkhis.com/twitter/25-reasons-why-someone-should-join-twitter/ is an excellent read on what Twitter can do for you.  I believe that I will continue using Twitter in the future for social reasons. However, I will also use it for other reasons. As I learn about possible employers and interesting groups and causes.  So, my final understanding on Twitter is that it is a necessary evil.  It's crazy, but it can do so much at the same time.  I look forward to seeing what Twitter does for me in the future

Oh Joy! Senior Year

If I had to choose just one part of my life where I was at my best, I would have a hard time picking.  This is because I am ALWAYS at my best.  But since my college education depends on an answer, I am going to pick out senior year as the time I feel I was at my (best) best. 

Now I'm not saying all of senior year was great.  Specifically, I feel I was my best at the academiuc and extracurrical part of senior year.  I do not feel that I prepared for college at my best, but that is another story for another day. Anywho, I feel I was at my best academically because I kicked booty when it came to grades.  Senior year was one of those rare years where I achieved my goals of all A's.  I worked my butt off to achieve maximum awesomeness in all my classes.  I even worked until midnight for some classes to get work done.  Finally, I feel that I made senior year my best in academics by going through a whole bunch of college classes to earn college credit.  I took Composition 1 & 2, Intermediate Spanish 1 & 2, and AP U.S. History.  These classes are the reasons I am done with foreign languages and english. I also mastered the AP exam, but I never received college credit for it, but I am still happy with the results.

I feel that I was best at extracurricals as well because I took part in a great deal of them.  For instance, I became President of our school's quiz bowl team during my senior year.  I also became Vice-President of Family Career and Community Leaders of America during this time.  In addition, I helped bring home a 2nd place trophy for the quiz bowl team when we traveled to Bishop Garrigan High School.  My best just couldn't be stopped.  I was that awesome. 

It is my hope that I can bring the "best" that I gave to my senior year and apply it to college.  I want to hit the ground running at college and bring home some great grades.  So far, college has been awesome (because I am here) and I hope that it will continue this way for the next four years.

Teenager at Alcatraz Diversity Event

So a couple of weeks ago, I went to the diversity event Teenager at Alcatraz. Megan Snyder was there too. She's a great person  The event was held by Tim Tingle.  Tim Tingle is an amazing native american storyteller.  He kept my attention throughout the whole presentation and almost brought me to tears at one point with how emotional he got.  In a nut shell, Tingle told us the story of Clarence Carnes, Alcatraz Prison's youngest inmate.  Tingle told us that he learned about Carnes from a friend (I don't remember his name) who lived in Oklahoma and accompanied Carnes on a crime spree.  This man went to prison himself and now lives in the town that he commited some crimes in.  The man's grandson doesn't even know that he commited some of the crimes.  Anywho, Tingle told us some really interesting facts about Carnes including that Carnes took place in a prison riot. The interesting thing about this is that all of the men in the riot had to kill a guard to avoid one of them selling the others out.  Carnes did not kill a guard and this allowed him to get a lessened sentence.  This story really spoke to me, and it was interesting because Tingle is a great storyteller.  I look forward to listening to more lectures in the future if they are as interesting as Teenager at Alcatraz.

The Beloit College Mindset List Reflection

As I read through the Beloit College Mindset List, I have found that many of the objects on the list related to my class.  I also noticed that a few of the objects on the list did not occur for a majority of my schooling.  Nonetheless, this list still shows off the major themes that cropped up during the 1990s and 2000s. 
One object on the list I found relative is #68.  This number is relative with the Cold War which ended years before I was born.  I am sure that others in the class of 2014 have never worried about a Russian missile strike.  Also #27 is relevant as well.  Every computer I have owned has come with a CD-ROM drive.
Other numbers that seem relevant include #47, #58, and #12.  I say number 47 is true because children have been trying to get emancipated from their parents since the 1980s.  The one about Beethoven is true because the movies popularized the name.  In addition, Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than Dirty Harry. This is because he has stopped acting in actions movies and started directing serious pieces like Mystic River. 
However, there are some numbers I disagree with and feel that they do not fit the class of 2014.  Numbers such as 20, 62, and 35.  Number 20 does not work for because mapping the human genome did not become official until the new millenimum.  This is a fairly new technology.  Number 62 does not work because having hundreds of channels was not a possibility until around the year 2000 when Direct TV hit the market.  Some other students of 2014 may have had it sooner but it has not always been readily available.  Finally, number 35 does not work because the airport system has changed over the years. It was simple at first, but due to events such as September 11, 2001 the airport system has become less like a mall and more like an airtight security clearance building.
It has become apparent that the Beloit College Mindset List has got down some of the truths about the class of 2014.  Many of the numbers had facts that matched up perfectly with us. On the other hand, the list also had some facts that didn't apply to our class.  This is what makes our class unique.  Our class has had events that make our class differen than the rest. And time will tell how many more events will happen that continue to define the class of 2014.