1V- Knowledge Expansion

       Although I had little insight on what the word "inquiry" meant, I decided when I received my schedule to look it up on the internet.  From what I could remember the word dealt with the investigation and gaining of knowledge about a certain situation.  I did not think much of this, since that was mainly the goal for any class, to gain an understanding of a foreign subject.  After arriving to the class I found out many other things about the basis of what new information I would be retaining from such a class.

      When learning that it was a freshman experience class, I was relieved.  I do not do as well retaining facts as I do life experiences and general knowledge in which I would be using much more in life.  Inquiry will be the basis of all that we know about college, and how to make college work for each individual student.  We have not had much time to discuss the true importance of this class, but as time progresses it will become more apparent.

      It was difficult for me to attempt to find words in which I had never seen before.  Instead I decided to investigate further into words that I may have seen, but not known the true meaning behind it. The words scarcity and incentive were brought up during my microeconomics class. Both words play a huge role in any single person's life.

      Scarcity occurs when there is an unlimited amount of wants, but a limited amount of resources.  This definition can not be found in your average dictionary or text book.  My professor gave this definition while lecturing and it seemed like the most accurate description I could think of.  We all want the best for ourself and if we could, we would all have the most expensive possessions we could find.  Unfortunately , as you already know, we need the funds in order to support this. This word is an important aspect of every human being's life.

     Incentive is a thing that motivates someone to do something.  We all have incentives behind the things that we do.  If it is either the fact that we work in order to earn wages, or work out in order to stay in shape.  We have to set goals for ourselves in order to stay committed to doing a certain activity.  This word is very relevant to first year students.  College is hard but if we remember what our final goal out of the situation is and keep motivated, we will make it through.

     

1I- Listen Intently, I Beg of you.

As students, we are forced to sit through tedious lectures.  We hear the same messages about drugs, sex, discrimination, along with many other topics.  Although I never took these talks as a joke, I never left a talk feeling changed.  I continued on with my life, without thinking much about what I had heard.  I would not sit and ponder the complexities of the situations.  This is what teachers had always hoped you would do.  But lets be real. Most of these lectures seemed to have no relevance in our lives at the time.  Going into the lectures provided during welcome weekend, I had already prepared myself for the same situation to reoccur.  The second Chris Herren was introduced, I was hooked.

From a young age we are taught to not drink and not do drugs.  Growing up in a strictly Catholic family, this never seemed to apply to me since I had no intentions to do so.  As a grew my own sense of self, I also established my own beliefs that varied from the rest of my family.  Freshman year of high school I decided I was going to declare myself an Agnostic instead of Roman Catholic.  People expected that my morals would falter.  I stayed strong and did not drink or smoke as a graduated from one year to the next.

 By the time my senior year had rolled around my life had completely changed.  I had lost all of the people who had formerly been my friends, I was rarely home, and I began evolving into a girl who occasionally partied and smoked.  I never did these things because I wanted to, but simply because it was my safe haven.  It was my place to go when I was tired of feeling the way I did.  It was my escape.

I became more accustomed to casually seeing people I know doing drugs.  I never thought much of it because I was so immersed in this life style.  I never realized until that day how quickly things could escalate.  Freshman year of high school I completely despised the thought of people smoking, yet here I was, smoking up to 5 times a day.  I knew I didn't want to be that person, but I could not stop myself from acting like the person I had become.  Chris Herren's speech is what smacked me back into reality.

You never think it could be you.  You will never become those people you hear about in the news.  Rehab? That's for addicts. The next thing you know, you're sticking needles in your arm.

I may have been imagining it, but I felt as if through out his speech, he had been looking straight into my eyes.  He knew my secret.  He knew that I could have easily been the person to follow in his footsteps.  I was the girl who constantly denied that something this negative could happen to me. Once I admitted to myself this, I felt a shift.  My life was about to change.

When you are left speechless, with tears ready to breach the outer most rim of your eye, you know.  This is your time to change.  If a heroin addict of 18 years can be happy just being him, I could do the same.  I will follow the words of one of the most inspirational speakers I had ever witnessed.  I was finally going to happy "just being me."

1B- Web Voice

While browsing through diverse blogs, I saw definite differences in the ways in which they were written.  Some were recipes, others included personal accounts.  One thing I noticed about every blog though, was that everyone expressed who they were in a clear way.  There was a clear distinction in attitudes and personalities in each one.  I feel as if blogs are an amazing way to express who you are to people who do not know you.
 
As much as I enjoyed reading fun recipes and tips, I enjoyed the personal blogs more.  I love understanding the inner most chambers of people's minds.  It allows me to connect with the author on the other side of the computer.  While reading recipes, I do not think much about the person who wrote it.  These observations inspired the blog that you are on right now.

I decided that instead of writing a blog in which anyone could have written, and said cliché catch phrases, I would write a blog that allows you to get to know me a little better.  I will no longer blend in with every other person on the internet.  I will put a personality behind these posts in the hope that I can leave an impression.  Being an opinionated person, I have much to say about almost any topic.  Therefore, I will share my thoughts with little filter.  The audience does not always have to agree to be interested.  I found that it doesn't matter if people agree on every topic because that is what makes us interesting.  If everyone thought the same about every topic, we would have no arguments or discussions.  In that case we would have nothing to talk about.

My goal is not to interest people who have the same opinion as me, but to make readers feel free to express their opinions. Only my closest friends know the inner machinations of my mind.  As I become more comfortable with blogging, I hope to share more of that with the people of the Internet.  We all have an inner voice, but we have to learn how to express it through words.  This is my goal.

1A- Same Place, Different Perspective

In life people get very preoccupied with their own circumstances.  They become unaware of the fact that the people around them may not have the same opinions.  They may not see situations in the same light as them.  But if everyone were to slow down and actually gain an understanding of this, the gap would close.  People would be able to better understand and empathize with the community around them.  An important time to do this is while entering college.  What might be a time of independence for some, may also be a time of anxiety and fear for others.  For me, college will be both.

In high school, I would like to say I was the smart student who always did her work, but I was not. I was the girl who did not seem to care much about her grades, although I was always in advanced classes.  I hated this reputation that I had built for myself.  When college was beginning, I pledged to myself that I was not going to allow that to happen again. College for me means a new start.

In every aspect of my life I want to change something.  Since many people do not know me at Southern Connecticut State University, it is my chance to make the name for myself that I want.  I know that I can be the person I envision.  This is my chance.  Although I may not get the best grades, I will try my best to work to my full potential instead of slacking off like I had in my past.  I am willing to take every opportunity to better myself and further myself into being the person I know I am able to be.

Does this mean I am going to slack on the social aspects of college? NO! In high school, I was not a "popular" kid.  Then again, I also was not one of the kids who had no friends.  Growing up, I was known as the social butterfly of my family.  In high school, when my friend group consisted of two people, my family was surprised.  I hope to expand this group by rushing in college.  I hope to make connections with people who will be beneficial to my college experience. I learned many things while at the lectures during welcome weekend, but the thing that impacted me the most was to see how people in the audience were reacting.  While some seemed to truly listen, others took it as a joke.  The people who spoke made me realize that college is what you make of it.

I have many personal goals in college, but only time can tell how this four- year journey will turn out.  I may change my mind.  I will undergo good times and bad. College isn't supposed to be easy for anyone, but our only choice is to cross our fingers and hope for the best.  My challenge for you, whoever you are reading this, is to think about the person you want to be.  If you cannot think of that, think of the person you would be proud to say you know.  Make college the experience for you.  It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks because although they are in the same place as you, they may not have the same perspective.  Do what makes you happy and make college a positive experience for you. Just stay true to you.