oh na na whats my name

Wellllll for my second exercise I'm changing my name. Not literally but the exercise asks if I could change my name what would it be?  It's not just about a name that you like but it actually says a lot more about a person.  A name can tell you a lot about someones character whether you believe it or not.    My full name is Bethany Gina Castellano.  I was originally supposed to be named Gina Bethany Castellano but my mom's ruling obviously won and I got Bethany Gina. Anyways, I've always said when/if I have a daughter I will name her Gianna.  So if I could change my name, I would be Gianna Mari Castellano... I know, sounds really Irish....
    I havent really pinpointed a reason why I love this name so much but I just have this vision in my head that its such a regal name.  Gina is just plain but GIANNA is so beautiful and Italian.  I'm very proud of my Italian heritage so I guess that came into play when I was thinking of names but even if I wasn't Italian, I think I would still like to have Gianna as my name.  Another name that I always like was Giulianna like Julianna but more.... Italian and just different.  I like different names a lot.  I have to say, I do like my name just because not many people have it.  In school I never had to be Bethany C. like the group of Kevin R., Kevin H. and Kevin D. and so on and so on.  I really liked that and I want my kids to have it the same way.  I think it made me feel special, even though when you're 6, everything makes you feel special.
   So, if i could have any name it would be Gianna Mari Castellano and since I cant have it, my lucky daughter will have to take on that task for me.

live, laugh, love

     Just thinking about my fears gets me nervous.  I know its the total cliche answer for a girl but one of my biggest fears is falling in love.  I still haven't exactly pinpointed why but this fear sets me back in so many ways.  I know that in a relationship I tend to be the more quiet one and if something bothers me I usually don't talk about it but instead I just become an introvert and my significant other cant help because they have no clue why I'm acting the way I am.  Now that I'm thinking about it, because I'm afraid to fall in love, I guess I'm also afraid of being hurt.  I know what it's like to be hurt in a relationship and because of that I don't think I've ever been the same.  Call me crazy but it's the truth.  I know that not all people are the same and the chances of that happening are slim, but theres still a chance in my head.
     One of my favorite quotes in the whole entire world is by Babe Ruth, the baseball sensation.  He once said "never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game".  For some reason this quote just always related to everything I did in life.  Cheerleading is a sport that you need to be fearless.  Flipping upside down, being thrown 10 feet in the air and trusting someone will catch you are a few things that don't mix well with fear.  So whether its cheerleading, or falling in love, fear is something that has always held me back.  My college essay was all about this and how it relates to everyone.  I feel that at some point every single person has let their fear stop them from doing something that they truly desired.
   Fear is evil.  It has basically become part of our unconscious mind.  There are things in life that we would feel embarrassed by so we dont do it.  Embarrassment is directly related to fear in my opinion.  So moral of the story, LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE. with no regrets, fears, or embarrassment.

Creative Habit

     So far, Twyla Tharp’s book has been very interesting to me. I’m not usually one to be intrigued by things that make me think deeper into life or think about questions that really can’t be answered, basically anything philosophic.  However, Tharp really seems to grasp concepts that are deeper thinking and bring them to real life examples, sometimes too many examples.  Her writing does get repetitive sometimes but I think it’s only to guarantee the reader’s understanding.

         My favorite part of the book so far is the examples that she puts after each chapter.  Some may think this is annoying and probably just skip right through it.  To be honest, that’s what I did at first too but after reading one exercise I realized that it really completes the understanding of her concepts.  My favorite one is the one about the coins.  She talks about how rearranging and organizing a handful of change can be a very intense mental warm up.  The coins can be placed in so many different ways but only one way is actually satisfying to us.  We could technically rearrange them forever but at some point, we will feel that we have the “correct” arrangement and put the coins away.

Video Number 2

This video was definitely a test of my creativity.  I've written poems before but nothing longer than a few lines.  It took me a really long time to think about the words but once it was time to put the video together, it was a lot easier than last time.  Even after only making one project on iMovie, this was so much easier.  I still am kind of struggling with the timing of everything like the texts and pictures but I think in time I will be able to fix that.  So heres my video:

http://youtu.be/op_PTNKFm-k

campus safari

For this weeks Campus Safari I met with the head of the Sports Management Department, Dr. Panza.  I was nervous at first to meet him but he was actually such a cool guy.  We talked for a while about classes but then we started a casual conversation about jobs and how in the sports world, employers tend to hire females for the wrong reasons.  He told me it was going to be tough but I had to always remember my goal and not let others view me for other reasons.  He also reminded me to keep my Facebook, Twitter and any other social medias clean because my future employers will definitely see them. 

we're measured by a number.

My midterm grades were actually pretty good!  In high school I was always on the verge of C's but most of my midterm grades here were high B's and low As.  My GPA would be around a 3.3 if these were my final grades, which is pretty good for me.  I'm never fully satisfied with my performance in school but I think I'm on the right track to where I want to be at the end of the semester.  I think if I put in some more effort I could end up with my GPA in a place where its never been before. 
My effort is accurately represented by my grades.  I put a lot of time into my classes because I know I wont be successful with the same amount of effort I put into my high school work.  I know that in order to understand the material from each class I'm going to have to study out of class more than I'm used to.  Its a little hard to get used to but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.  
I know I want my grades in college to be higher than my high school GPA because I'm basically ashamed of it.  Most people wouldn't be but I just don't feel it accurately portrayed my performance and intelligence whatsoever. A GPA is an average of 4 years.  Obviously theres going to be points in those 4 years when things happen that you wont be able to perform as well as others.  This is something I've always thought of......

run it run it

Call me crazy but when I get stressed out, exercising makes me feel better.   Whenever I get in a fight with my friends I go for a run to clear my head, come back and reassess the whole situation.  So, needless to say, this time of the semester, I probably could run from here to California and still not have a clear head.  But I tried anyways... This week I have 3 midterms so a run was definitely in my cards.
I wasn't really sure where to go running since i know New Haven isnt the greatest of all neighborhoods so me and my friend Jenn decided we were going to go to the football field and run around the track.  We went at night because we knew no one or any teams would be there.  We started running and I quickly realized how out of shape I was.  During the cheer season I could run 4 miles without breaking a sweat, I ran a 5K this summer and now here I was barely able to run a mile.  It was eye opening but even running a mile was better than not running at all.  So we ran...
When we stopped running, we did an ab circuit and then we decided it was time to walk back, we were wiped!  It really helped to clear my head and whenever I work out, I feel so good about myself after.  So basically this made me realize I need to start doing this regularly and I might have a lot less stress!

Heres a picture froom the FUNNEST 5K ever created!!