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!!

Nothing Like High School

At the beginning of the semester, I thought by the time midterms came around I would be ready to kill myself.  Surprisingly, I’m doing pretty well in all of my courses.  I’m extremely proud of myself because when I don’t want to be somewhere I usually give up.  Southern is somewhere where I just don’t think is the school for me but I know that if I want to transfer anywhere, I have to keep my grades up and I’m pretty sure that’s why I’m trying so hard.

         The class that’s giving me the most trouble is definitely Statistics (Math 107).  My SAT scores placed me in this math and I’m always up for a challenge in this subject but this is a challenge I don’t think I was expecting.  My professor is pretty hard to understand as well which doesn’t help the fact I get lost so easily.  The concepts we are learning are pretty difficult and we also move at a very fast pace.  On my midterm I got a 73, which isn’t a good grade, but for some reason, I was extremely proud of it. 

         My personal goal for the semester is to achieve a GPA over a 3.0 and at this point I have that.  Now I’m striving for a 3.5 so from now until December 18, I will be putting all my effort into my studies.  Cutting down my “social” time will be a little difficult but I know it’s for the best.  I’m not looking to cut this time out completely, just not go out EVERY Thursday or EVERY weekend.  This is an attainable goal I just know it will take a lot of time and effort and I’m ready for it!

Campus Safari

This week I went to the Majors Expo in the Student Center.  My roommate had to go for her inquiry class so I figured I would go check it out.  I actually was surprised at how much information I got out of it.  I've been thinking about switching my major to Education and this helped me a lot.  A lot of the majors had display boards with facts about the major then courses that you would have to take, along with some FAQs.  I realized that Education would require a lot of time and effort but I also realized how much interest I actually have in it.  I love helping people become better at whatever they strive to accomplish and this is the main priority of a teacher.  So, thanks to the Expo, I decided that one day, I'll be Ms. Castellano (hopefully)!

I took a picture of the Education board, here it is!

failure cannot happen without an attempt at success

In the book Mindset, readers are introduced to the idea of failure as a good thing.  When someone “fails” at a task, it just means that they didn’t accomplish their self-defined success.  This isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  When you don’t accomplish something, you keep trying for it.  You put countless hours of time and effort into something until you reach success.  Failure serves as motivation.

            I never really thought of failure as something that could be good.  My parents always taught me that failure just wasn’t acceptable in my house.  There’s always been pressure on me to succeed and I guess added pressure to set examples for my younger brother.  I never really dealt with this too well and I was beyond stressed out but I would hide it well and put on a smile in front of them.  Failure isn’t something anyone enjoys but it’s a sad reality of life.  We can’t always succeed, especially if we don’t put time or effort into our goals.  Failure is inevitable, and we must accept this.

            As we discussed before, success is something that each person defines differently.  I fell that failure is the same.  To me, failure is when you let yourself and your peers down.  It is discouragement.  To another person, failure might be when you simply don’t accomplish a goal.  Going off of this idea, failure cannot happen without an attempt at success.