Blog #26: LAST ONE!

When our class originally got the service learning assignment, I was kind of dreading the experience.  I figured we'd end up with children who were difficult and didn't want to work.  However I was pleasantly surprised when I got my assignment.  My mentee is respectful and hardworking; she just had a few areas of weakness.  I found it interesting that our personalities matched up so well.  Her weaknesses (math and organizing) so happen to be my strengths.  I don't know if that was done purposefully or not, considering I didn't put anything about math on my application, but I think it would prove beneficial to match mentors and mentees up with their strenghts/weaknesses in the future.  I chose to continue my mentoring throughout the rest of the semester and possibly throughout the spring as well.  One of my favorite parts of this whole experience was seeing the difference I have made.  She came into this with F's in almost all of her classes.  Now (from what she's told me) she has a B in history, her biggest accomplishment.  Sam and Danielle attributed that to me, which was an awesome feeling. :)

Blog #25: Thanksgiving, again?

Over Thanksgiving break, I had wanted to focus on family and friend time.  I planned on writing my reflection paper #3 today and I've gotten a good bit done.  However, because I know next week I will be focusing most of my energy on studying for chemistry, I will probably be spending a lot of time over this break working on my U101 final. 
One of my best friends goes to Clemson and will be visiting! I'll get to spend some of Friday with her, I hope.  Today and tomorrow both include family lunches.  At least tomorrow's will be at Carolina Wings.  Saturday is my boyfriend's birthday, so I'll be at his party Saturday night. Sunday I'm hoping to escape my house and come back to the dorms around twelve or one.  Then I can focus better on school work for a little while before the majority of the people come back from break.

Blog #24: Sustainability

When I think of sustainability, the first thing that comes to mind is school work.  Throughout high school, taking multiple AP classes at a time was definitely a challenge.  There were plenty of people who couldn’t keep up with the work load.  Being sustainable, to me, is being able to get through something difficult – like the workload multiple AP classes.  Not only was it important to keep up with the work, it was also hard to balance homework time with social time.  So overall, I do think I live a sustainable lifestyle.  To become more sustainable throughout my life, I will need to put more effort into choosing the foods that I eat, as well as exercise.  I’m great with those types of choices in the summer, but when I have school every week day, it’s difficult for me to keep making healthy choices in those areas.

Blog #23: Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving I'm going home to Irmo (about 15 minutes away) and spending most of the break with friends. Other than that, there are three family lunches I have to attend on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, one of which is in Greenville.  
Growing up, I've always known I wanted to be a nurse. Both generations before me on my mother's side have been nurses as well.  In elementary school, I went through a phase where I wanted to be a teacher though.
I think a nursing internship would be a great opportunity over the summer. However, my family goes on several trips so it would be hard to find an internship that would let me go on my family's outings.
I had no idea that the USC website had information on how to complete a resume and helpful tips for interviews. That was the most useful part of the presentation, by far.

Blog #22: Financial Responsibility

Although I do not have a personal budget right now, I still see myself as financially responsible.  I have a checking and savings account.  Twenty percent of every paycheck goes into my savings account, no matter what, and I haven't used my savings account for anything yet.  I'm saving it for emergencies, etc.  I like to keep a certain amount of money in my checking as well.  Once I get below that certain amount, I stop spending any unnecessary money until I can build it back up.  I plan to put off getting a credit card for as long as possible.  It'd be nice to never get one, but I feel like eventually I'll need it to help get a house or something big like that.  While the video in class suggested keeping your credit card in a freezer, I highly doubt I will do that, but I do plan on keeping it somewhere at home -- like a jewelry box or something -- where I can't get to it when I'm out shopping.

Blog # 21: Stress Management

School in general stresses me out, especially around exam time.  Overall though, papers have the worst effect on me stress-wise.  I almost always wait until a few days before to start, and then go slowly from there, knowing I still have a few days to complete the assignment.  Come the day before the paper is due, I am stressed beyond belief and trying to write my paper as fast as possible to just get it done.  I deal with stress by listening to music, usually.  Working out helps as well.  However, when I’m pressed for time with an assignment due soon, I block everything out with loud music, sit at my desk (as opposed to on my bed), turn off my phone, and completely focus on whatever assignment is due at the time.  It works well, and then I turn my phone back on when everything is completely finished.

Blog #20: Time Management

Overall this semester, I think I have managed my time extremely well. Other than writing papers at the last minute or studying the night before a test, I usually get my homework done way ahead of time. Next semester, I need to work on planning better for papers. Waiting until the last minute to write a four-page paper does nothing but causes extra stress. If I made a schedule and did an outline one day, and a page a day for a few days in a row, my paper would be done early and without the extra unneeded stress. I wish I had been able to make more time for studying. I feel like if I studied a certain amount of time each week, by the time an exam came I would be much better prepared. Also, I wish I had more time to work out.

Blog #19: Healthy Carolina

Overall, I do view myself as being healthy. It's hard to stay healthy though with the food choices on campus. I thought I usually ate really well until I looked at the calorie count on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Gibbes! Just the sandwich itself has 570 calories! I can only imagine how many calories their french fries and sub sandwiches have. I've done good staying away from Burger King and Chick-Fil-A though. New friendships I've made have helped me stay healthy too. A lot of my friends enjoy going to the gym, so I usually tag along. They encourage me to stay healthy in a lot of ways. For instance, if I can't decide between two things to eat, they always encourage me to choose the healthier food. We push each other at the gym as well. It's much easier to work out when there's a little bit of friendly competition going on.

Blog #18: Spirituality and Faith

Personally, I view religion as something that you can see or an act -- like for instance, going to church every Sunday or wearing a cross around your neck. Faith and spirituality are more personal experiences. I don't feel like someone can look at you and see that you're really spiritual (as opposed to the cross around your neck for instance). Faith doesn't necessarily have to do with religion, either. You can have faith in many different things. Since I've been at the University of South Carolina, my views on such topics haven't changed. I really don't attend church services very often, but I do have my own opinions and certain beliefs regarding religion and spirituality. However, out of the three topics, I am least familiar with spirituality.