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.