Post #9 Where's My Home?

Last weekend my mom came to visit for my cheerleading banquet. While she was getting ready to leave she teared up (of course) and said "I can't wait for you to be home in 2 weeks." With out a pause I replied "I am home." She laughed and told me that no this is not my home, this is my school and my home is with my family. Not wanting to start anything, I replied that I was just joking of course.



Why I said that I don't really know...

I didn't even mean to call Penn State my home, but it was just a natural reaction, like I almost wanted to defend Penn State and make sure my mom knew that this is a home to me. You will constantly hear people say that home is where the heart is. As much as my heart is at my home in Maryland, Penn State has become just as much of a home. My friends, my team, and I consider each other family, because when your actual family is so far away you need someone else to depend on.




Penn State is where my heart is. I know it is corny and when I decided to come to Penn State I thought that the amount of love people had for this school was silly, but after just 9 months I completely understand. When you come to Penn State you become a part of something magical and you can't help but be overwhelmed with pride. Not pride because this is such a great place, but pride because you found a place to somehow love you as much as you love it. Penn State would be nothing without its students, faculty, and alumni.

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This was a rocky year for Penn State with out a doubt. From scandals to riots to our beloved Pa passing on, we stood strong. Together we have created a huge 40,000 person family and a true home away from home.

Post #8 Lion Tutors to the Rescue!

I am currently taking a break from studying for Econ 102 with Dirk Mateer to write this blog post about the lovely lion tutors. I was excited when I heard that Dirk Mateer was the best Economics professor at Penn State and that he made class fun and interactive. Over time I learned that this is definitely true. Dirk took more time than I have yet to see any college professor take to prepare an engaging and exciting lesson plan for each and every class. He plays pump up music with lyrics having to do with Econ at the start of each class, refers to our points in class as dollars that we must earn, provides a note packet that we simply need to fill out in a few places, plays tons of games and has polls to reiterate lesson, and overall seems to be very happy to teach us twice a week.

With all that said, how come I still struggled to stay awake and pay attention in class? My class started at 9:45, which in high school would have been a blessing, but now seems difficult and early. I feel bad that the day before the exam I had to go to a lion tutor study session because I didn't appreciate Dirk's teaching to the fullest. Nonetheless, that was the case and lion tutors did not disappoint. Although I had never used them before and the $40 fee seemed a bit high, I think that it was well worth the money.

I received a 40 page notes and review packet that the tutor spent 4 hours going over, with examples of course. In addition to that I got a packet of practice questions with answers and detailed explanations. I'm happy that I decided to use lion tutors because they just may be the difference between me receiving and A or B in the class. 

Post #7 Here Comes The Sun

Now I think that it was pretty obvious today that the heat (around 80 degrees) was like something we have seemingly never experienced, now that we live in the lovely -but chilly- Happy Valley. I never thought that I would be living in a place where I knew about the predicted temperature 3 days prior, or that everyone would be talking about it. Sunday night around 11:30 pm, I checked the weather forecast for one last time. It was still predicting Monday to be sunny and 80. THIS WAS A MIRACLE. For once I was actually excited to get up for class this morning because I knew that my first step outside would bring warmth and joy. I don't know about the rest of you, but for my first summer-like day I planned to fully commit. Here is my list of things to do when you haven't felt true warmth (other than Penn State's blasting radiators) in more than 6 months.

Step 1: Wake up about 30 minutes earlier than usual, for the pure bliss of being alive and healthy... Because for some reason I am more thankful to be alive when I am warm.
Step 2: Shower and apply make up as if I will be seen by someone I actually want to impress... Don't act like you look your best for a day that you have one class with a professor and people that you do not in any way strive to impress.
Step 3: Wear a sun-dress. (sorry guys but this one is for the ladies) If you didn't wear some sort of dress or summery skirt today, you know you wanted to.
Step 4: Use earthy canvas bag instead of black jansport backpack... because the beautiful sun does not  deserve to be blinded by my dark depressing backpack.
Step 5: While walking to your one and only class of the day, text your best friend hoping they aren't busy and opt to skip class to have lunch with them. Sorry but it had to be done. I mean really IT WAS 80 DEGREES OUT.

Step 6: After eating a salad and iced tea (because warmth makes me want to be healthy) spend next 3 hours laying in the grass somewhere doing homework... fine I read magazines, but I did try at first.
Step 7: Go back to dorm and sleep for 2 hours to regain strength since body forgot what touch of sunlight felt like and is now having dehydrational breakdown.
Step 8: Check the forecast for tomorrow and cringe at the drop in temperature.
Step 9: Stumbleupon/ Pinterest pictures of warm places, bikinis, and summer foods.
Step 10: Write blog to reiterate how badly I need another day like today, and soon!

Hope you enjoyed my post.

What did everyone else do on this beautiful day?

Post #6 Proposal- GossipGirls

For my reflection I plan to write about the issue of gossip and why finding trustworthiness in people is so hard these days. Now I’m not saying that it is wrong or that I don’t do it. That is not the case at all. I really want to reflect on the root of the problem and when it became such a huge part of our lives. I don’t remember being this way when I was younger, or maybe I just didn’t have the means to communicate so freely with others like I do now.

But why do we gossip? Is it the feeling of knowing someone’s secret that is exhilarating since it is something so precious? And if that is the case, why do we choose to give away that feeling for a feeling of regret and nervousness at the idea of sharing something that somebody else truly trusted you with?

Maybe when we’re younger we are too innocent to have anything to be ashamed of or kept secret. As we grow up we keep more secrets because we make more mistakes. But these secrets eat at you inside unless you have people that you know that you can trust with anything and know that they will not judge you. To this day I probably have four people that I can trust with any secret, one of which is my sister. Sadly, I may have more trustworthy people than others, but that is just the way that the world has become. All I know is that I truly miss the days when I could trust anyone with anything. Or is it that I miss the days when I had no reason to even need anything kept secret? 

Post #5 Logical Fallacies

Logical Fallacy Examples:


Slippery Slope:
You should never gamble because you will not be able to stop and will end up gambling away your entire fortune.


Hasty Generalization:
Fred, the Australian, stole my wallet. Thus, all Australians are thieves. (Of course, we shouldn't judge all Australians on the basis of one example.)


Example from my research:


The China post stated that:
"The limited number of available kidneys for transplant in Taiwan has caused many to cross the strait for surgery in mainland China. However, the new kidneys appear to have a devastating side effect: cancer."
This is an example of hasty generalizations. A hasty generalization is when a conclusion is drawn on something when based on too little evidence or proof. There is nothing wrong with the above statement, but it implies that all of the kidneys being transported to China for transplants were cancerous. In reality, the article later states that "doctors discovered six cases of patients developed cancer of the urinary tract, bladder and prostate." Although cancer is bad in any amount of cases, it should not be generalized that all of the kidneys coming into China were cancerous, since there were only 6 noted cases by this source.

Post #4 Pinning for Dummies

It has been a while since I really learned something new and as popular as it is, I have just recently become a Pinner! (That is what I am choosing to define myself as when using Pinterest, but if you have any better suggestions PLEASE offer them up) 

For those of you who are even farther behind the trend than myself, here's a short description:

Pinterest is a pinboard-styled social photo sharing website. The service allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections. The site's mission statement is to "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting." 

For the past few days I have been pinning away as a replacement to doing my homework. From the looks of my Pinterest board, I have prioritized looking at pictures of baby animals, interesting hairstyles, pretty nature scenes, and clothing over my other daily tasks. I am hoping that with time the allure of this website will slowly diminish and I can cut back a bit on the time that I have been wasting on it.

Here is a link to my pinterest, http://pinterest.com/dianac5240/pins/

I’m not sure if you can look at it without an account but either way I will continue to explain a little bit about my pinterest board.

You will see that my different categories are “Can’t look away” which consists of things that I can’t look away from, this category has accidentally evolved into my baby animal picture collection, “Things I want to make” which is recipes that look delicious, “Favorite Places and Spaces” which is pictures of nature or beautiful home spaces, “Projects” which has hairstyles and DIY crafts that I would like to try, “Products I love” which at the moment consists of super Gucci little shot glasses, and “Motivational” which shows quotes and pictures that lift my spirits and motivate me to push forward.

Most of the things I am looking at or pinning are the simple things in life that we forget to appreciate, something sweet that just makes you smile, bright colors, pretty pictures, projects you may want to try, or goals to set for yourself.

Pinterest is the perfect website for a little pick me up to boost your day. I encourage everyone to check it out for them selves. There are tons of different topics and interests that you can look at to fit your personality. Also I just discovered that I can follow people who’s posts I like so that I will see more of their pins and they can follow me in return, how exciting!

If you are interested in this and decide to make an account, let me know how it goes and what you think about it. I would also love to know what topics you are following and the categories (or boards as they call them) that you decide to create.

Hopefully this gives everyone a new way to procrastinate doing homework and other important chores! 

Post #3 Home Alone

For the past few months we have all lived with a roommate. This person is around us all the time and usually sleeping in the same room as us every night. In my case, I haven’t spent one night without a roommate in my room since the start of college. Well, there may have been a night here or there that she didn’t make it home, but ironically nights like that tended to be a bit hazy for me too (for a reason that I cannot figure out!) and I didn’t notice her absence until the morning.

            Now I tend to be a bit of a scaredy cat when it comes to the dark. I am used to crawling into bed every night with the light still on, cuddling under the covers, seeing Carissa laying about 5 feet away, knowing I am safe, then hearing the light switch flick off. But this weekend was different. My roommate, Carissa, decided to go home for the weekend and I was in my room alone… all weekend… in the dark.

            I chose to stay here and not go canning or go home for the weekend because I wanted some alone time and some time to myself for relaxation. Well after having someone or many people with me at every waking moment, this was really enjoyable. I woke up late on Saturday, laid in bed in silence, turned the tv on to my favorite channel (food network) and just took in the peacefulness until I felt like getting up and starting my day. My day consisted of homework for the most part, but it was shocking at how much I got done when I had no friends around to goof off with. For the most part this seemed to be working out quite nicely, until nighttime.

            On Saturday night, I went to the gym from 11:30 to 12:30 then came back to my oddly quite building. I opened my door and flipped the light switch on immediately then continued to scan the room for monsters or whatever else I believed to be a threat. The coast was clear, but that didn’t leave me resting easy. When it was finally time to sleep, I turned off the light switch then sprung across the floor in what seemed one step before landing in my bed. Unable to sleep I had to watch tv until I fell asleep so that I did not feel so alone in the dark.

            Now as much as I needed a weekend of rest and relaxation, I truly appreciate my roommate for being there each night before I go to sleep. I never used to be so afraid of sleeping in a room alone, so I guess that summer time when I am back home will be interesting at first. That’s it for tonight, don’t let the bed bugs bite!

Post #2 The Roommate Dilemma

The Roommate Dilemma

I have heard so many good things about coming to college, but the roommate situation has always been a hit or miss. In my experience so far, I've pretty much hit every bump in the road possible. First off, I somehow landed myself in supplemental housing, even though I did everything on time. Simply bad luck on my part. On move in day, I find that my three roommates have taken up about 80% of the closet space because they each needed their share plus a little more. Leaving me with enough space for a couple coats and shoes, they justified this act by saying that since I keep a car at school I can keep my extra shoes and clothing in a bin in my car. Am I the only one who feels like this is unfair?

A couple months pass and two of the three roommates take the level of respect for our room to as low as possible. Im talking about the fact that dirty dishes were left out until mold grew on them, dirty laundry covering our barely existing floor space, and the two roommates coming in at 3 am every week night only to talk, turn on the lights and make food. Just to add to the insanity, they would lay in the same top bunk together to read at night. Once again I'm left asking if I am the only one traumatized by the situation at hand.

To say the least, the situation was just unbearable. Through all of this my civilized roommate and I never complained. We even cleaned our messy roommates areas and picked up their laundry for them. I wouldn't be able to get any homework done or even relax without having a semi tidy room. Now I know it may seem like I am simply using this blog to vent, but I promise I'm getting to a greater point.  

Karma can be described as inevitable results of either good or bad. Well I was finally struck with some good karma for putting up with this uncomfortable situation. 

One day before Christmas break, while noticing two of my roommates packing a rather large amount of their stuff for a few weeks at home, they announced that they would be moving out into a regular double room next semester in another building. Although they nearly gave me a heart attack when explaining that it was due to the lack of space and messy room that they couldn't relax in, I tuned their delusional words out and began celebrating inside. The next day followed with them removing all of their stuff from the room and us whispering awkward "goodbyes" and "good luck next semester."

That moment was followed by sweet silence then the endless chatter of my roommate Carissa and I as we planned how to rearrange our huge new room and how great it was going to be. All in all the roommate situation is as great as could be at this moment, but I do have some good stories to tell my kids about my crazy roommates freshman year. 

Post #1 About my blog

This blog is about things that I may or may not have expected to happen and how I handle them. It could be something to do with me personally, something random that I discovered, or something that somebody else taught me. Now that I am in college, I seem to be experiencing new things almost every day. There are so many things that I want to try and people I want to question. I hope that through out the semester I can start finding answers and stop wondering so much.