Friends

This blog is going to be a little different because it is going to be in a form of a letter.  This letter is to my friends who are amazing.  In college I found friends who love me for being myself and that is a great feeling.   I college you are figuring out who you are and where you fit in this world.  These girls have helped me along the way.

Dear Friend,

You are an amazing person even on the days you don’t see it I do.   You can make me giggle even when I am in the worst of moods and usually your jokes have me laughing the rest of the day.   You have a strong sense of self, which I greatly respect.  You’re the only person who can get away with calling me by my full name besides my mom.     You taught me that worrying about what others think of you is a waste of time. 

You are friendly to everyone you meet.   You are a lot stronger than you think you are.  Every time something gets thrown at you take it with grace.   You always seem to know what I’m thinking without me even having to say it.  You share my love of children and enjoy looking at kids’ books as much as I do.   Every time I hang out with you I feel like I get to be a kid again because we both like to color and watch Disney movies.

You are my friend that reminds me of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.   When we were freshman you would always say that I was a social butterfly, I’m pretty sure now you know more people than I do.  You’re an amazing artist and I will never forget your art wall freshman year.  I felt so special when I made the wall.  You are so driven and don’t ever lose that because that is going to take you far in life.    You know your values and you stick to them.   You’re going to do something amazing with your life.

You are my sweetest friend.  You have such a kind heart.  Whenever I’m scared to do something you make sure I know it will be ok.  Right before I had to go on stage in front of the whole school you told me that you would be right next to me and that it would be ok.  You don’t know how much that meant to me I was so scared to be on stage, but after you said that I knew it would be ok.

You are going to take on the world!   You dream big and work hard.  You are a very loyal friend who always has my back.  The pictures we send to each other are priceless.  They always make me smile.  You have a heart of gold. 

Perks to Being Quiet

          This past week I have been thinking a lot about how there are different types of people.  I think in today’s society the people who are extroverts are highlighted.  Some people are really loud, while others are more reserved.  People who tend to be louder seem to sometimes think that not being as loud is problem, but actually there a lot of good things that come out of being reserved.  As my mom says if everyone was loud who would be there to listen.  I’m not saying that being loud is a bad thing because it’s not.

A lot of people seem to believe that quiet people cannot be leaders, but this not true.  Quiet people are leaders through action. Leaders who have been described as quiet include Eleanor Roosevelt, and Rosa Parks.  The people who inspire me the most take action. These three people took  a lot of action and made big changes.  Quiet people tend to know the most about what is going on.  Some of the most involved people on my campus are the quietest.  They always know what events are going on and they are happy to share their organization with you.   Quiet people tend to have a good sense of people and people’s personalities.

      Quiet people are the best listeners.  By being a good listener they are able to gain knowledge and insight from others.  I also think that people who are quieter tend to understand different people’s perspectives.  I always think it is funny when people are talking about their opinions and they assume that I have the same opinion because I was just listening to their opinion.  They know how to listen to you when you have a problem and can be the friend that is there when you just need to vent and do not want to hear anyone’s opinion.   They can also read situations really well they can tell if you are having a bad day or a great day just by looking at you.  People who are quiet tend to think through their actions before they react to something.  They are often the most thoughtful in a situation.  This can be very helpful when put in a leadership role.  Leaders need to be able to respond to situations appropriately.  People who are quieter tend to get people’s attention when they voice their opinion.  They typically do not voice their opinion often, so people listen when they say it.    

Questionnaire

So I found this questionnaire and I thought I would answer some of the questions:

1. List 3 random facts about yourself:

·         My favorite color is pink

·         I usually wake up early

·         I love to write letters

2. List 3 fears you have and why?

·         Snakes – there slimy

·         Heights – they make me nervous

·         Failure – disappointing myself

3. List 2 things you wish you could've told your 16 year old self:

·         Trying to make everyone happy is a waste of time.

·         Everyone you meet will teach you a lesson

4. What are the 3 things that make you the happiest now days?

·         My family and close friends

·         Dancing

·         Reading

5. What is the hardest thing you have had to experience?

·         Being bullied

6. What is your dream job and why?

·         To be a special education kindergarten teacher

o    Why?

§  To make a difference in children’s lives everyday

7. What are 3 passions you have?

·         Giving back to my community

·         Dancing

·         Teaching

8. List 3 people who have inspired you and why?

·         Helen Keller – she overcame many obstacles that were thrown her way and she never gave up

·         My grandmother – she is probably the happiest person I have ever met, but her life has not been easy, but somehow each day she find happiness

·         My 12^th grade English teacher – she had a way of teaching to each of her students in the best way they could learn (she could teach in different learning styles)

·         I would be a bunny because there my favorite animal

9. What are your 2 greatest accomplishments?

·         Teaching my first lesson to high school class (as a teacher)

·         Graduating high school

10. What is the 1 thing you were great at?

·         Making people smile

11. What are the 4 greatest memories from your childhood?

·         Christmas morning

·         Taking pictures on the first day of school

·         Trips to Cape Cod

·         Dance recitals

12. What are your two most favorite hobbies and why?

·         Doing community service because I think it is important to give back to your community

·         Writing letters because it is way I keep in touch with people all over the country

13. What do you think people misunderstand most about you?

·         People often think I’m quiet, but if you get to know me I actually loud.  Some of my best friends have to tell me lower my voice when I get excited.

14. What 3 things do you hope to be remembered for?

·         Making a difference in children’s lives

·          Being kind

·         A hard worker 

Things that make me happy

1.       My dog – my dog has been in my life since I was nine years old, so basically I can’t remember life before her.  Last weekend I was able to go home for the first time this school year and nothing beats the feeling when my dog greets me at the door.   She wags her tail and makes me feel like royalty.   She has her own special way of saying thank you.  Every time I take her for a walk she wags her tail in appreciation smiles at me.   She always lets me know that she is grateful that I took her on that walk and it always makes me want to do it again.

2.       Dancing – I have been dancing since I was four years old.  My favorite type of dance is ballet, but any kind of dancing is fun to me.  At my school twice a week I take a zumba class and I’m pretty sure I do not stop smiling until the class is over.  I am not a person that likes to be on stage, but the only exception to that is when I dance.

3.       Reading – I love to read.  To me reading is like taking a vacation in your mind.  You get to go somewhere new and meet new people.  My favorite kinds of books are suspenseful the ones that make you keep wanting to turn the page.

4.       Feeling tall – ok this might sound silly.  I am short.  You know when people line up to take a picture and they say all the short people in front, I’m always in the first row.   When I am with someone who is shorter than me it makes me feel less short.

5.       My family – my family is my rock.  Every time a break is coming up at school I can’t wait to go home and see my family.  My mom always makes my favorite meals when I go home.  This always makes me super happy.  I miss my mom’s cooking terribly when I’m at school.  Almost every weekend my family takes a hike and I love this it is a time when we are all together.  My brother and dad were both boy scouts, so they love the woods. 

6.       My Friends - My friends make me laugh and keep me grounded.  Sometimes they know me better than I know myself.   I live far away from home when I am at school so some of my friends I consider a second family. 

Being Busy and Appreciating the Little things in Life

       My life lately has been insanely busy.  I am never board, but sometimes being busy can get pretty stressful.  A trick I have learned in my life is to appreciate the little things that happen each day that make you smile.  This keeps you going when you are stressed out. 

I am going to share some things that make me smile.

·         Every day one of the girls in my dorm writes a positive quote on her white board on her door.  I look forward to it every day.  Her quotes always get me thinking. 

·         When I get mail form the mail room I feel like a million bucks.  I love to write letters and when someone took time out of their day to write a letter to me it makes me feel really special.

·          Another thing that makes me smile is when the dining hall has my favorite meal, which is mac and cheese.

·         One of my friends sends me a text every morning telling me to have a good day.  This always brightens my day in the morning. 

·         Right now it is fall which is my favorite season.  I love to watch the leaves change, it’s so beautiful.

·         Watching my favorite TV show

·         When I hear my favorite song on the radio

·         When someone tells me a story that makes me giggle

·         When people use smiley faces in text messages

·         When people tell you how much you mean to them

·         When friends give me hugs

·         Making collages that describe people’s personalities

·         Coloring

·         When someone saves a seat for you

·         When the weather is just right

·         When you have a really sunny day after a really cloudy day

·         When my whole family is all together

·         Going into something expecting to hate it, but end up loving it

·         Running and the feeling you get after it

·         When little kids say funny things and they don’t even mean to

·         When you wear cute clothes

·         My dog

·         When someone gives me a complement

·         The face you make when you see one of your best friends

 

I asked some of my friends what where the things that make them happy in life.  This is what they said:

·         Being around family

·         Hiking

·         Going for a drive

·         Working at their job

·         Hanging out with friends

·         Stargazing

·         Their cat

·         Success

·         Health

·         Chocolate

·         Music  

I guess we all have things that make us happy in life.  They may be big or small, but they keep us grounded.

 

 

Music in My Life

     I am obsessed with music.  I love looking through my music because it reminds me of certain parts of life.  To me listening to certain songs is like looking through a scrapbook of memories.  When I was a preteen I was obsessed with Hillary Duff.   The song that reminds me of the period in my life is “Why Not” I think when your that age you believe you can do anything.  When I was pre-teen I was in dance class almost every day, so with my spare time on the weekends I would make up dances to Hillary Duff songs some of them I remember to this day. 

            In high school I started to watch the show “Glee”.   One of my favorite songs they sang is “I’ll Stand By You”.  I made some friends in high school who I know will always stand by me and this song reminds me of how they always had my back.   Another song that reminds me of high school is “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus.   The song talks about how life is not always easy, but these are the moments that make up the person you are.  I have always been told that I have strong work ethic and to me in order to reach the top of my mountain is working hard in school.  Another song that reminds me of high school is “Mean” by Taylor Swift.  If you know anything about high school is that some girls can be really mean.  I love this song because it talks about how the person who was being picked on was not going to continue the cycle and be mean to others.  Sometimes I felt like bullying in high school was a cycle and this song gave me the strength not to continue the cycle.  The last song I joked with my best friend that it was our song, “Just the Way You Are” by Bruno Mars.  I always felt like I could be the true me with this friend.

            In college my freshman year I heard, “What Makes You Beautiful,” by Boyce Avenue and fell in love with this song.  I think this song captures most college girls and how they feel about themselves, but in reality they are really beautiful.  My current favorite song is “This Little Light of Mine,” by Addison Road.  This song talks about how everyone brings something to the world and they should share it with the world. 

My Clubs

            So when I say I’m involved in my school I’m not kidding.  My friends joke that I always know what events are happening on campus.  I am in two community service clubs, another club, and a sorority.    One of my favorite things in the world is to do service.

 I believe that giving back to your community is really important.  One of my clubs every weekend cleans up the campus and yes it is not fun, but it’s nice to know that when people go to classes on Monday the campus will look clean.   Another thing we do at Christmas time is go to an event put on by another college for disadvantaged kids.  We are each paired up with a child and go around the campus and do different activities.  The kids loved doing the different games and at the end of the day that made it so worth it.   In my other service club we help at the local food pantry.  I love going there the people who come in are so friendly. 

The third club I am apart of is called Equality Alliance.  This is a club is a support group, and family that provides a safe place for people of all sexualities.  This club is one of the places I feel safest on campus.  I know that these people will never judge me and always have my back.  This club supports people who are gay and lesbian.  I myself am not lesbian, but this club has taught me so much about myself its crazy.   Before this past summer I have always been one of those people that keeps their opinion’s to themselves.  Some people might have thought I did not have an opinion, I did I just do not like conflict.  This past summer I took two online classes and one of the topics we talked about was sexuality.  Some of my peers were emphasizing stereotypes that people often say about gays and lesbians and they were also saying that it was “wrong”.  Probably for one of the first times in my life I stood up and said that I did not agree with what they were saying.  I have many good friends in Equality Alliance and I do not view them as living their lives “wrong”.  They are very nice people going to college to start their future just like me.  This club has given me the confidence to stand up for what I believe in and not to be afraid to speak my mind.  

My Dream Job

              My dream job is to be a special education teacher.  I have wanted to be a teacher since the first grade.  This past summer has made me ten times more passionate about wanting to be a teacher.  This past summer I work in summer school program as an aid in a special education classroom.  I was assigned to high school classroom and the first day I walked in I was terrified.  I was expecting to work with an elementary school student and my student was taller than me, but by the end of the summer I was so glad that I did the program. 

            Through the six weeks of the program I learned how to work with the student and how to communicate with him.  This student taught me so much.  The student I worked with was non-verbal, which means they are unable to talk.  The thing that I learned most this summer is that you do not have to say words to communicate because there are other ways.  The student loved having his head rubbed and the way he would communicate this to me is by grabbing my hand and putting them on his head.  I thought this was pretty clever.  If he needed help tying his shoe he would point to his shoe.  

            I learned a lot through the other teachers I worked with as well.  One of the big ways that the students were able to communicate with us was by giving them picture tiles with words on them.  We would ask them a question and then they would have to pick one of the tiles.  This was an amazing experience for me.  One of the students I worked with did not seem to be paying attention during the lesson, but then when he was asked a question he always knew the right answer.  It showed me that saying don’t judge a book by its cover is so true.  Working with special education students has taught me that each child has something to bring to the classroom.  Each one of them will teach you something if you let them.  One student in the classroom taught me that they needed prompts to stay on task while working.  They had the ability to do the work they would just get distracted.  Another student would try to trick me into thinking they had done their work, but really had not, so I would get them to do there assignment.  I am so glad I got to have this experience this summer.     

Take Risks

So in my life I have learned that sometimes taking a risk that kind of scares you is worth it because you find something you love.  Sometimes risks do not work out, but the ones that do you will be thanking yourself for taking.  I am not a big risk taker.  I was the kid in elementary school that always followed the rules; let’s just say I’m a rule lover. 

In my senior year of high school I took one of these risks.  I decided to join the cross country team.  Until my senior year I had never participated in a school sport and I guess I wanted to have that experience before I graduated.  My school did not have any cuts.  The summer before I worked on my running, but keep in mind I had never run for a school until this year.  I found out that I love to run.  When the fall came I was so excited to run for the team.  Each day we had a meet I was so excited to run.   My team was great and some of my close friends were on the team.  We would cheer each other on during practices.  At the end of the season I received the most improved award.   To this day I run to get exercise.  For me running is a great stress reliever, so anytime life is stressing me out I go for a run.  

My second chance big I took in my life was joining a sorority in college.  I am a very serious student and my school work is very important to me.  My freshman year a lot of my friends joined sororities, but I did not.  One my worries was juggling school and the sorority.  My sophomore year I met a girl in my math class who I just hit it off with right away.  She was in a sorority and she was also very serious about school.  Long story short I ended up in sorority and I can say today I don’t know what I would do without these girls.  They have built my self-esteem up so much and made me start to believe in myself.  When I came to college I did not have a lot of self-confidence, but being with these girls has shown me how to believe in myself.  They even help me with my homework, so I gained study buddies.

Freshman Tips

I just started my junior year in college.  I go to school in Ohio, but live in New York.   A lot of people are always surprised that I am from New York.   I guess I seem like a regular Ohioan.  I have some tips for freshman in their first year of college.

1.      Go to the freshman activities – I know when you first get to school your feeling overwhelmed by everything that is new and the last thing you want to do is put yourself out there with a bunch of strangers.  I did not go to these activities, but regret it.  The past two years I have volunteered to help run the events on opening weekend for freshman and each time I have been kicking myself for not going.  One of the pluses of these events is usually there is free stuff and you will learn in college free stuff is valued.  It is also a great way to meet people who are bran new just like you.

2.        Get Involved – For me this was a great way to meet people!  Being in a club that has something you are passionate about will just lead you to meet more people who have similar passions.  One thing that I enjoy doing is community service and I am in two clubs that center around it.  I love hanging out with people who like to serve their community just like me.

3.       Make friends that are upper classmen – this will help you a lot!  Upper classmen are a great resource to use when you are scheduling classes for you spring semester.  They will be able to tell you who are the good professors and who are the bad ones.   They have an inside scoop on the different groups on campus and where you might fit in.

4.        Don’t be afraid to go to Professors office hours – most professors are more than happy to help you if you do not understand your homework.  Professors will be happy to see that you care about your classes and that when you don’t understand something you asked for help.

5.       Take advantage of events that go on the weekends – at my school every weekend there is something to do.  There is a whole club dedicated to creating events at my school on the weekends.  Some of the events they have include movies, comedians, and bands.    These are great fun and also usually free.