I've felt a little guilty because some of my friends are missing me more than I am missing them.  Before I left for college I was really afraid of losing my friends and I thought that I would be texting them 24/7 and we would visit each other on weekends.  But things are much different that what I expected.  I have met some great people since I have been at Wartburg and I can tell that they will be in my life long after I graduate.  Not to say to that my friends from back home are less important, I just feel comfortable here and don't need to rely on past relationships to stay afloat.  Before I used to struggle with believing in myself enough to do things on my own.  I'd depend on my friends to do things with me and support me.  Junior year I started to gain more confidence in myself and could do things on my own.  However, I never thought I would be strong enough to go to a college independent of my friends.  Lots of kids I know are going to the same school, and even rooming with their friends.  In my opinion, coming to Wartburg without any attachments was the best thing I could do.  I can be myself now and fend for myself.  It was up to me to make new friends and meet new people, I couldn't lean on anyone else or have them help me.  I think some of my other friends are struggling to make that bond with other people because they are involved with high school friends have have trouble branching out.  I do miss my high school friends, but not as much as I thought I would.  I feel like this period in my life has been very focused on myself and the maturing I've been doing, rather than relationships. I'm very proud that I have been able to transition smoothly at Wartburg.  All the worrying I did in the months before I came to Wartburg was almost for nothing! That was a lot of wasted energy.  I was so worried that not having my closest friends around me would inhibit me from doing things, when actually, I think it is just the opposite.  If I were to have followed one of my closest friends I would have prevented myself from being myself by relying on my friends.  Overall, I'm finding the balance between all of my friends and, most importantly, myself.

Social Change Wheel

I think the strongest section of the social change wheel that is present in my life is "Community Building".  For me, community building was very common in my hometown of St. Louis Park, Minnesota because I lived in such an amazing neighborhood.  Throughout my childhood, I witnessed what it meant to be part of a small community through events that happened in my neighborhood.
I've lived in the same house all my life, at the end of a dead-end block, surrounded by neighbors.  My neighbors are all very different people that run their households much differently from one another.  For instance, Sarah and Geo live at the other end of the block and are both art school graduates that drop F-bombs like they are in a competition.  Right across the street from them is an elderly Jewish couple, Ira and Judy, that only talk about their dog, Maggie May, or watches.  And right next door to them is a devout Christian family that goes to bed no later than 9 PM on weekends.  Their daughters, Kelly and Anna, knit, crochet, and bake for the neighbors just because it makes them happy.  With all these people from different background, you would think we wouldn't get along.  You would think we would want to stay away from each other and stick to "our own kind" because it's easier that way.  Actually, it is just the opposite of that...
Nearly every weekend, one of the neighbors has a gathering.  There doesn't have to be an occasion, but we try to think of excuses for them- "The Phanueff's are almost done remodeling their kitchen so they are hosting a happy hour to celebrate it!", "Mitch and Jeff are out of town on a fishing trip, pot luck for girls only!", "We haven't seen each other in while, bon fire at the Mullen's!"
Not all of our gatherings are focused on helping others in the community or having a fundraiser or anything like that, but I don't think that takes away from the community we build every time we get together.  I think the fact that nearly the entire neighborhood gathers under one roof, despite all our differences, to talk, laugh, and share stories is just as important.  My neighborhood has bonds that will never be broken.  (The Pink Flamingo Card Club has continued every winter from before the time I was born, adding new members and sometimes losing others.)  Everything we do as a neighborhood strengthens the bond we have with one another.  Our style of community building is about showing each other we are there for one another.  We're willing to help out each other because that's what a neighborhood should do.  Every once in a while, we do like to do something to give back to those around us who are less fortunate.  We have packed meals together at Feed My Starving Children, organized clothing drives with items we just couldn't sell in our neighborhood garage sale, and toured the surrounding neighborhoods singing holiday carols to raise awareness for the hungry. 
My neighborhood means so much to me, not because of the location, but because of the people that make up my neighborhood.  Although not all of our activities are obvious attempts to better the community, we take steps each time to prove that we can get along and respect one another.  My neighborhood sets a prime  example of community building.

Sundays

Today is Sunday.  At home, I used to love Sunday.  Sunday was a day to lay on the couch with my dog and watch football games and take naps.  Sometimes I would do yard work with my dad or make lunch with my brother, but overall, things were pretty lazy.  It was a nice way to catch up on my sleep and relax.  (I probably relaxed a little too much though).
Now Sunday isn't as appealing to me.  I stay out late on Saturday nights, wake up late on Sunday mornings and then find myself in a rush to finish my work.  I think to myself Friday night and Saturday "Oh, sure, I can finish 2 papers tomorrow, no problem!"
Sunday has just taken on a whole new meaning.  I really wanted to take a nap today, but I couldn't!  I still have homework to do!  This is so frustrating!  And  I brought it all upon myself...
I am still trying to figure out a way to not get as distracted on the weekends with my friends.  It seems like it is impossible to turn down a trip to WalMart and McDonalds with my friends and even harder to turn off the TV when there is a Jersey Shore marathon on MTV.  Some of the things I love most about college really come back and bite me in the butt.

COUNTDOWN TO T SWIFT!

I decided to write this blog in a larger font to express my excitement for Taylor Swift's newest CD entitled Speak Now.  Speak Now drops in 10 days and 11 hours!  I am eagerly awaiting my trip to Walmart to pick up my very own copy of Taylor's latest CD which includes songs written about her life in the last two years.  
I understand that Taylor Swift is probably not an educational topic and might not be the best choice for this graded blog, but I believe she is worth blogging about and my love of Taylor Swift is worth expressing.  I have come up with a list of reasons why Taylor Swift is the greatest person in the world.
1.  She is beautiful.
Some people think that Taylor Swift looks like a cat.   This really ticks me off when I hear this.  I think people who think Taylor Swift looks like a cat are just jealous and they should shut up. Ok, maybe she does kind of look similar to a cat...THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CAT IN THE WORLD.
2. She dated Taylor Lautner.
If this isn't an accomplishment, I don't know what is.  Let's be honest here... Taylor Lautner is one of the best looking men to ever grace our planet and she probably got to touch his 12 pack in real life.  So jealous.
3. She has won 4 Grammy Awards.
By the way, she is only 20.  One of her four Grammy's is for "Album of the year",  perhaps the most the coveted Grammy EVER.  Sorry Carrie Underwood.
4.  She is honest.
It is a known fact that Taylor Swift has never told a lie IN HER LIFE.
5.  She is bold.
This one time when Taylor Swift was on the Ellen DeGeneres show, she wasn't afraid to let everyone know that Joe Jonas was an [EXPLICATIVE DELETED] when he dumped her. 
6.  She has great hair.
You can't deny that Taylor Swift has the golden locks of an angel.
7.  She is not full of herself.
Even though Taylor Swift totally could be stuck up and full of herself, she isn't.  She doesn't rub it in our faces that she is smart, pretty, talented, rich, and adorable.
8.  She started the fad of sundresses and cowboy boots.
Taylor Swift is fashion.  And she doesn't even have to try. 
9.  She likes sparkly things and she isn't afraid to admit it.
I just think this a great quality to have and I really envy her for it.  If I had occasions to wear shiny things, I would.  And despite the amount of sparkles in her outfit, her natural charm is never out shined. 
10.  Boys have dumped her but she always comes out on top.
Taylor Swift has been dumped by some real jerks (and idiots that didn't even know what they were giving up) in her lifetime.  But Taylor just turns around and writes a song about it.  Then everyone knows how stupid the boy is and how perfect Taylor is. 
11.  She is better than Miley Cyrus.
Taylor Swift isn't a total snob like Miley is.  Miley Cyrus has a stupid accent and no filter.  Taylor carries herself with maturity and class.
12.  She wrote a whole dang song about her parents.
A-freakin-dorable.
13.  If you're sad, you can listen to Taylor Swift and you're immediately happy.
This one time, this boy gave me a piece of gum and looked me in eyes and said "Here's a piece of gum". I thought that meant he loved me, so I approached him and told him I loved him back.  It turns out that he didn't love me.  So I went back to my room, cried, and listened to a Taylor Swift song.  Then everything was better.  True story.

I'm only doing 13 reasons because Taylor Swifts lucky number is 13.
Thank you for you time. 
And thank you, Taylor Swift, for sharing yourself with the world because you are the greatest person ever.

October 6th, 2010

The article in our IS 101 books by Schwartz really struck me because a lot of what he touched on is so true.

 The references he made to the teacher who used a point system for her young students was exactly like what he had at my school.  I remember being in first grade in Mrs. Snyder’s class.  She had so many books in her room.  The books were organized into four different categories.  Red books were for people that just started learning how to read.  They had a red circle sticker on them.  Blue dot books for a little bit harder.  Yellow books were hard to read.  They had a lot of bigger words and more words in general.  Green dot books were the highest level books in the classroom.  Sometimes they didn’t even have pictures in them.  They were long and challenging.  We used to get a cool sticker for every book we read.  And we would have to bring books home at least once a week and read them to someone in our family.  Then they’d sign a piece of paper saying we read it, leave some comments, and the next day Mrs. Snyder would put the corresponding stickers on our reading charts.  At first I started with Blue Dot books.  But they just ended up being too easy, so I moved onto Yellow Dot books and took them home to parents.   Mom and Dad listened to me read and signed my papers and I got stickers.  There was one girl in my class, Alexandra, that brought home at least four Red Dot books home a night!  So she would get stickers for them!  It wasn’t fair at all!  Alexandra wasn’t a stupid kid either, she could have been reading Yellow Dots if she wanted to.  My goal was to read Green Dot books.  Once I had moved through all the Yellow Dot books, I moved to the Green Dot books.  I’d usually bring one Green Dot book home a night and read it to my dad downstairs.  Dad used to ask me questions about the book and make jokes after every page.  I loved reading with Dad because I always felt so proud after finishing a book.  Alexandra kept bring Red Dot books home.  But I guess there was nothing I could do about it.  At the end of the year, the student with the most stickers (books read) got a prize.  Alexandra won.  I came in second place.  A very sad second place.  Mrs. Snyder gave Alexandra a prize and I went home with nothing.  I wouldn’t have wanted to read all those Red Dot books.  They were just too easy read and very boring. 

As a child, I think I viewed learning with a “performance” attitude most of the time.  Although the case of the books was one time I didn’t let competition take over completely, most of my school career was based on approval.  School was always fun for me, but it definitely was viewed as work.  I didn’t approach school with a passionate attitude towards learning because that wasn’t how teachers had made school seem.  School was school.  We weren’t there to worry about our preferences, we were there to work.  I think Schwartz’s view education and our attitudes toward it are very accurate.  I enjoyed reading the article he wrote and comparing it to my own educational career.