Weekly Blog-"Sleep"

I have always known that sleep is very important to regulate and maintain a consistent amount of everyday. This past week, my body was put to the test. Sleep was stolen to the extreme and my body rejected this. This reason I am writing this is to put down on paper a personal goal. I would like to get at least 6 hours of sleep on a daily basis for the rest of the school year. I cannot function like how I have the past couple of days. The lack of energy and attentiveness has not allowed me to get anything done. As a student-athlete, I must incorporate this routine before the season begins.

Online Essay-"Personism: A Manifesto"

O'Hara believes that poetry was the defining moment which killed literature. He presents a very unique idea called personism. Personism revolves around the concept of eliminating indirect communication. This is an interesting idea because today's society is doing everything to make communication indirect. I believe that instant messaging, text messaging, and email are all ways that killed communicating. The majority of what a person says is interpreted by non-verbal communication. These technological methods make communication a guessing game at times. The tone of voice can usually help dictate what a person is trying to get across. People should attempt to meet in person or call to have a real conversation.

Weekly Blog- Do You Enjoy Your Job? I Do!

I don't know how many people can honestly say they loving going to work. When I think of these types of people, I usually think of athletes and entertainers. However, there is a lot of stress that is attributed to their everyday life because of their profession. There jobs are something which require a set skill that is very demanding.

I do not know any of my close friends who say they enjoy going to work or do so by choice. They find work wherever work can be found at rates that are hard to have much to spend on fun. The only way to make enough money is to work full 8 to 12 hour shifts. I have been fortunate enough to have a job which I control both my hours and pay. During high school, I ran my own eBay store through selling Brewers bobbleheads and other stadium giveaway items. Because this was a seasonal job, I sought out a job which had a chance to maintain a constant flow of money 12 months of the year. The summer of 2007 led me to work at Vector Marketing. I am a sales representative selling Cutco cutlery. I set up in house appointments and am paid a commission rate. Because of this, I control how many appointments I work which ultimately determines my pay. Over fall break, I reached my fourth promotion to Senior Advisor when I crossed the $10,000 sales mark. I only setup six appointments over the break, but I sold over $2000 in these four days. My paycheck for this break is going to be over $600 dollars. The six appointments took less than 10 hours to complete. Doing the math, this comes out to over $60 per hour.

I do not enjoy my job simply because I can make more money than I ever imagined at a young age. The appointments are enjoyable because the customer interacts with me through demonstrations. Our office is filled with other college kids who are as determined to be successful as I am. It builds and environment which is positive and competitive. I am grateful to be able to sell a product which is easy enjoyable to sell. I thank God for giving me this unique opportunity to be able to give firstfruits back to Him who gave it to me.

Making Sense-"keeping close to home"

The base which every person calls home is important. It is the foundation for our life. However, it is only the foundation and the first few blocks on top of it. Each person decides how to build the rest of their personal "home". It is not fair to blame the environment, race, financial status, or any other situations on how the final product looks like.

Each person builds their own home by leaving their original home. This doesn't require going from one coast of the country to the other. It does require becoming independent and becoming capable of forming personal beliefs. Conforming to the beliefs of those around the environment doesn't build the character which is desired by many. This doesn't mean that it is wrong to interact with people of all types of backgrounds based on race, religion, or social status.

Making Sense-"From a Native Daughter"

Possessions have value for many reasons. The most valuable of possessions are the ones which have a personal connection associated with it. An item given by a loved one contains more than the gift itself. The gift breathes "I love you" through it. This is an intangible that cannot have a price tag put on it. It would be a very difficult situation to have to part with this item if it was lost or stolen. It feels like a part of yourself is gone. Empathy cannot exist when this occurs. One must hold hope for to be reunited with something of such value.

Making Sense-"Blaxicans"

Rodriguez's essay tip toes on a very sensative issue in today's world, ethnicity. It is a fact that the United States in no longer a white and black country. It is the world's most diverse country. It is home to every country around the world. He explains how the term Hispanic is a gringo created term because it fails to properly associate with the people it describes. It only makes it easy to group a people with similiar geographic links in the South American region. Many people are accepting this false label that has been tagged to themselves. It would be interesting if the citizens of the United States adopted a new ethnic tag based on their surroundings. As a society, stereotyping would decrease because it would be impossible to know a person's surroundings at home. I would support this type of society because it would be a more cooperative environment. Each city would want to build each other up instead of tearing each other down. In an ideal world, this could be a reality. Unfortunately, this can only be a fantasy in all of the racially segregated neighborhoods.

Weekly Blog #4-"Time Management"

I have been able to accomplish one of my immeadiate goals going into college. Unlike high school, I wanted to be involved in multiple organizations. I have been able to be active in four different student organizations at Carroll in the first month. It has been very satisfying because I am meeting many new people and am applying my gifts in many different ways. The single downside to being involved is finding a way to balancing five hats at one time. The most important part of being at Carroll is being a student. I need to constantly have this mindframe throughout the next five years.

I had a chance to see what life is like being a student-athlete. I was a part of fall baseball practices in September due to the NCAA allowing four weeks of fall practices. I understand that these different roles are going to rule a large portion of my time. As long as I plan out my week in advance, I firmly believe that I will be able to comfortably be involved in all of these organizations.

Bird by Bird 97-109

I really enjoyed reading the second chapter of the reading. "The Moral Point of View" reitterated a point that I have temporarily forgotten about. It concludes by driving the point across that writers should write about something they love. She writes, "So write about the things that are most important to you." I write at my highest level when I am writing about baseball. I have a passion for baseball that is unmatched by any other topic. Because of this, my writing contains detail and a obvious spark to the words.

Separating Reality and Immagination

"We think we live in a world of sense-experience and what we can touch and feel, see and hear, is the sum of our reality." -Jeanette Winterson, "Imagination and Reality"

Today's society is confused between reality and fantasy. We live in a world that is materialistic. The majority of people that live in it live inside a box. They fail to see the big picture in life. The younger generation is being corrupted by the mainstream media. It gives false hope to many of these young minds. Because of this, the only picture of being succesfull contains goals which are not likely of being obtained. The goals usually contain making lots of money, owning a million dollar house, and many of the world's greatest cars. This is due to the fact that the "role models" of today are those who have all of these objects.

Emulating these types of people are causing a more corrupt society. On a daily basis, one can turn on CNN, Fox News, or MSNBC at any time of the day and find a headline which contains one of these role models digging a six foot grave for themselves. The true meaning of satisfaction is lost in this confusion. Money or possessions cannot buy happiness. Many of today's celebritites would give alot of their wealth to be able to wake up on a daily basis without the problems which constantly surround them. Happiness is what truly separates reality from immagination.

Making Sense- "I Stand Here Writing"

Sommers main point of the essay is driven in the direction of where writing ideas come from. Every writer has to have a unique way that they formulate their ideas. This can be through from many outlets. The facts are something that the audience can possibly be familiar with. The only way to prevent boring to be tagged with a writer's writing is to have a personal object that can be reliable to bring ideas that are relavent and interesting to the reader's eyes.