"I'd like to say thank you on behalf of the group and myself and I hoped we passed the audition."

-John Lennon

Who, by the way, is very missed. ='[

Well freshman fall semester, you were interesting,

but I won't say I'm sorry to see you go.

No, wait. Yes I will. That means that I am 1/8th of the way done with college.

(sad realization there...) You went by kind of fast, now that I think about it. Actually, REALLY fast. I cannot believe you're gone already.

I am TAKING MY FINALS FOR FRESHMAN FALL SEMESTER. OH MY. I'm sitting here studying

Haha. Or having a failed attempt at it. 18 hours was such a blast. No, really. Some girl asked me how many exams I had to take and I said, "Six," to which she answered, "Wow! I only have to take two more after this one." But on a serious note, I really am glad to have taken what I did. Just goes to show myself how tough I am.

So, anyway. College hasn't been too different yet. (Must have something to do with the fact that I am from here and I live at home... XD) I've made some new friends, hung out with some old ones, talked to people I hadn't talked to much in high school... Uh, oh yeah, and I still don't know what I want to do with my life. Same old stuff.

I guess I've learned some values along the way with all these speakers we had.

It is wise to have these:

• Courage- the ability to do what you like, or what is right in the face of ridicule, or worse... failure. "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." -Mark Twain

• Passion- the degree to which tasks are performed. For example, the more passion you have for something, the better you will do it. "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." -Oprah Winfrey

• Kindness- showing that you care enough about people to help them out; a very worthy quality to have. "Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world." -Annie Lennox

• Honesty- "Know the truth will set you freeee" or something like that. "Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist." -Mary Kay Ash

• Commitment- You know that thing you do when you promise to stand by someone or something? Stick-to-itiveness... "A total commitment is paramount to reaching the ultimate in performance." -Tom Flores

• Integrity- having the power and will to make moral choices; goes hand in hand with honesty. ("Integrity, concentration, perseverance, respect and obedience, self-control, humility, indomitable spirit." Ah, my old Tong Soo Do chant...) "Honor your commitments with integrity." -Les Brown

• Work Ethic- believing that, with hard work, you will go far. "Hard work... pays off!" Rodrick Sheppard

as Senator Irons told us. Also, like Dr. Desselle suggested,

• Experience
• Trust
• Mentorship

Dr. Borah discussed human values as something abstract, something not tangible. He said we need to try and prioritize our values, or decide what exactly is important to us. We have to choose between right and wrong.(This is called self direction...)

And from our businessman Mr. Mark Phillips,

• You are only as good as your last sale. (In the business world, reputations count.)
• You must police yourself ethically. (Make sure you are following the rules like a good little businessperson.)
• Have a good work ethic.
• BE WILLING TO TAKE A RISK. (Easier said than done, but, yeah, necessary.)

Words of wisdom from our farmer, William Lee,

• Go ahead and try, like Mr. Lee did with farming. It's not going to hurt, and it might even be what you want to do.
• Cotton, just as we, must have a long season. This means that our jobs, family and other things important to us take commitment in order to give them that long season.
• Be innovative, like Lee was with his little car. Make something amazing and useful out of something plain.
• Know how to identify the good and the bad part of your crops. Take care of the good and toss the bad.
• Try to achieve a good harvest. Our own harvests are our report cards, or our income later on.
• Most importantly, don't give up. There will be dry spells, floods, tornadoes... you name it. But we have to keep going.

Trustee Steve Pierce, one of the top dogs at UNA, said that to be successful, we had to know how to plan and how to be leaders. You learn a lot about people (but more about yourself) when you are in a leadership position. Mr. Pierce said that in his experience in politics he had done just that, plus a little something about decision making. In order to call the shots, you have to first research all of your options. Then, you need to be ready to listen to others, know how to take advice. If someone doesn't agree with you (chances are there will be those), don't take in personally. It is imperative that you get people in the community involved, as they should be the ones wanting to make it better.

Most importantly, have a vision.

Before all that, we definitely have to enjoy college life, but we also have to make it count for something. Get involved in extracurricular activities and volunteer. This will help you achieve a good reputation that you need in school and the business world. (School is waaayyy better than the business world, by the way.) Also, make sure to study abroad, as this opens myriad of doors for you. But seriously, take advantage of your allotment in college. That cliché about time flying? It's true.

From Dr. Z we learned that studying abroad was a must. Think about it this way: when do you not hear about what's happening in China, or Egypt or any other foreign country? If you pay attention to the news at all, chances are slim. Travel abroad also gives you a sense of a different culture and experience in treating others in a culturally sensitive way.

In order to get and keep a good job, Mr. Hargett said to:

• show up to work (No duh. But recalling my high school days and all of my classmates that did the opposite of that, this point makes much sense.)

• be prepared (That's why we're in school, right? Employees are gauged by how capable they are of doing the job, so we must learn to do it.)

• be professional (In all careers, professionalism is a necessity. A hack job does not bode well with the boss.)

• do your job right (There is really no point in doing that job if you are not going to do it correctly; there is especially no point in getting paid for doing a job wrong.)

• exceed expectations (It is better do do too much than to do too little.)

• capture opportunity (It doesn't come around often, but when it does, be ready.)

Both hilarious, knowledgeable and interesting, my favorite speakers were by far Dean Jacobs and the Wizard of tUNA. Oooh boy, were they interesting!

If you want to go into education, Dean Jacobs is the person to see. Candidates must have speaking and writing skills (a no-brainer if you ask me); they must be interested in what they are teaching (I would make an extremely bad math teacher because... let's just say it's not my forté nor does it interest me as much as, say, YouTube); and they must be dedicated to their job (I had a teacher who never, EVER missed a day of school; how she did that, I have no clue).

Once you are a teacher, there are values to uphold, such as professionalism, integrity, and trustworthiness. Oh, it also helps to have a sense of humor (by the way, Dean Jacobs was absolutely hilarious) and be sarcastic every once in a while. Teachers must be caring, mature and responsible. "Don't distract students," Dean Jacobs told us, "aid them." Teachers must have goals, a good (if not WONDERFULLY FANTASTIC) resumé (having two languages on there helps =D), and pride in their work.

And then there was the Wizard, who did something actually cool: he froze his index finger and smashed it with a hammer. 0.o BUT DON'T WORRY, FOLKS! It was just a hot dog. (I was sitting in the front row, and Dr. Mike just so happened to catch the appalled look on my face as he tested to see it his "finger" was frozen just right. Then, with a devil-may-care grin, he pounded the hammer on his frozen limb and pulverized the contents of his glove. He came over to me and said, "It's all right. You have nothing to worry about!" I was thinking to myself, Oh, sure, it's just a finger. Then, the rascal took of his glove and demonstrated his actual pointer and the impaled hot dog. OH... MY... GOSH.)

So after nearly giving me that heart attack, Dr. Mike gave us examples of what scientists like himself valued:

• Scientists value simplicity (really? So... what about all those chemical formulas?)
• reliability
• testability
• accuracy
• precision
• generality
• heuristic power (such as discovery and inventiveness)
• novelty
• controlled and unbiased observation
• peer review
• confirmation of prediction
• repeatability and statistics
• universalism
• communism (GASP!), as in, sharing knowledge (oh, okay.)

So, you might be wondering why I chose John's quip that he said from the rooftop of Apple Studios. Welllll, I feel that, corny as it may seem, this semester was our audition. And I certainly hope we passed! Creativity, integrity, curiosity, achievement and service, along with all previously mentioned ones, are our values for the Honors Program at UNA. Not only do I hope to pass my classes, but also with upholding these values.

Aight, well, I hope this is substantial enough.

Les Affaires sont les Affaires...

So on Tuesday Mr. Billy Hargett, who was a former CEO of Houston Exploration and an Honors Director, graced us with his knowledge and presence on Tuesday. Consequently, he talked about the world of Business. His tips on how to succeed were as follows:

• show up to work (No duh. But recalling my high school days and all of my classmates that did the opposite of that, this point makes much sense.)

• be prepared (That's why we're in school, right? Employees are gauged by how capable they are of doing the job, so we must learn to do it.)

• be professional (In all careers, professionalism is a necessity. A hack job does not bode well with the boss.)

• do your job right (There is really no point in doing that job if you are not going to do it correctly; there is especially no point in getting paid for doing a job wrong.)

• exceed expectations (It is better do do too much than to do too little.)

• capture opportunity (It doesn't come around often, but when it does, be ready.)

Mr. Hargett also emphasized how we as employees need to figure out what kind of environment, or culture, we want to work in. Is it a strict office with cubicles or a big room with bean bag chairs? Even if the person is highly skilled, they cannot prosper if the work culture is not the right one.

More than likely, we won't be working for just one company or corporation, but for many. Hence the importance of having good communication and networking skills.

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” - Lin Yutang

Dr. Chunsheng Zhang and some students came to talk to us about studying abroad.

I'm just like:

It's what I want to do. What I've always wanted to to. That's why I'm learning all these languages. STUDYING ABROAD. Just, ughhhh. I really, really love traveling. To get school credit for going to different places? That right there sounds mighty appealin'.

Not only is it an honor to have the opportunity to study abroad, like Dr. Z said, but it gives travelers an understanding of what is outside of home... our comfort zone. (Seriously, all those "exotic" foods and animals that don't even exist for us here in Florence, Alabama... like fried Guinea pigs...) But hey, don't knock it 'till you try it.

Obviously, one requirement for studying abroad is to know the language of your host country, at least enough to get around. (Dr. Z broke out the Americans-only-know-one-language gag on us.) Knowing about the country itself would help, too. In return for an amazing experience in a different nation, you gain foreign experience that will certainly be relative to your job one day. In fact, employers don't necessarily look at your resumé closely, but where you have been.

Think about it this way: when do you not hear about what's happening in China, or Egypt or any other foreign country? If you pay attention to the news at all, chances are slim. Travel abroad also gives you a sense of a different culture and experience in treating others in a culturally sensitive way. (For instance, I'm not going to go to Japan and make sick faces at their squid-wrapped-in-seaweed sushi,

just like I'm not going to go make fun of Italians' noses.) This "cultural way" of dealing with people teaches all to appreciate not only other-worldly ways of life, but our own as well. You learn a little about you on the way, too. =]

I know that I am going to study abroad. I HAVE TOOOOOOOOO. I must. There is a bit of a dilemma what with "the economy" the way it is (or me being kind of, just a little bit, scared of being completely and utterly alone. JK). But hey, there is the AMAZING Magellan program, and all we have to pay extra are the airfare and our expenses. Yikes. But guess what? There are SCHOLARSHIPS!

So yeah, I liked this presentation. I want to go everywhere. Seriously. I will see the world!!!!

(here it is.)

Kidding. XD

How cool would it be to work for Google?

Seeing as they get paid big bucks to spend at least 20% of their day just thinking outside the box, I would say extremely cool.

So trustee Steve Pierce, one of the top dogs at UNA (as well as a business owner,) talked to us about what it takes to be successful in life.

First, he wanted to commend us on the Honors program and stress just how important it is to the university as a whole. He gave us the "crème de la crème" talk and launched into to further that success.

He said that to be successful, we had to know how to plan and how to be leaders. You learn a lot about people (but more about yourself) when you are in a leadership position. Mr. Pierce said that in his experience in politics he had done just that, plus a little something about decision making. In order to call the shots, you have to first research all of your options. Then, you need to be ready to listen to others, know how to take advice. If someone doesn't agree with you (chances are there will be those), don't take in personally. It is imperative that you get people in the community involved, as they should be the ones wanting to make it better.

Most importantly, have a vision.

Before all that, we definitely have to enjoy college life, but we also have to make it count for something. Get involved in extracurricular activities and volunteer. This will help you achieve a good reputation that you need in school and the business world. (School is waaayyy better than the business world, by the way.) Also, make sure to study abroad, as this opens myriad of doors for you. But seriously, take advantage of your allotment in college. That cliché about time flying? It's true.

So back to the part about having a vision. "What a shame it is to have sight but no vision," said Helen Keller. Visions are long-term goals that you hope to achieve in your future. Sometimes you have to make unpopular decisions on this path, but they will turn out well later. On this note, Mr. Pierce advised not to be afraid of going against the grain.

In conclusion, Mr. Pierce advises to make a plan, be a leader, use your college time wisely and have a vision.

It's not easy being a farmer, but it has its rewards.

"There seem to be but three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering their conquered neighbors. This is robbery. The second by commerce, which is generally cheating. The third by agriculture, the only honest way, wherein man receives a real increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God in his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry."

Clearly Ben Franklin thought very highly of farmers, as it should be.

Our speaker, Mr. William Lee, is a commercial farmer; he is also an Auburn graduate, assuring us that he would not love what he does for a living had he not had such a good education. Also, coming from a farming family, he got to go home and gain valuable experience with his job. He confessed to have little interest in farming before going to Auburn but later was very glad to have farming in his family.

Mr. Lee told us about the different kinds of things he used in his job, such as tractors and a special little car used to test the soil (rights owned exclusively by Mr. Lee, seeing as he came up with it). He also explained that you don't always have to be conventional; for instance: yes, Mr. Lee is a farmer, but he is, unlike other farmers, not tilling his land as this is a much more eco-friendly thing to do because it reduced run-off. He has been implementing this type of technique for 20 years (which is not much considering how long people have been farming). This way, the land doesn't get ruined and could even be left in a better shape.

Here come the... values, I guess I'll say. These not only apply to farming but to any career.

• Go ahead and try, like Mr. Lee did with farming. It's not going to hurt, and it might even be what you want to do.
• Cotton, just as we, must have a long season. This means that our jobs, family and other things important to us take commitment in order to give them that long season.
• Be innovative, like Lee was with his little car. Make something amazing and useful out of something plain.
• Know how to identify the good and the bad part of your crops. Take care of the good and toss the bad.
• Try to achieve a good harvest. Our own harvests are our report cards, or our income later on.
• Most importantly, don't give up. There will be dry spells, floods, tornadoes... you name it. But we have to keep going.

THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF tUNA!

When I first saw this title for one of our speakers, I thought, Tuna? Yum! Magic with tuna? Uhhhh...
Sooo glad he didn't make a tuna can disappear before our very eyes and instead did something actually cool: he froze his index finger and smashed it with a hammer. 0.o BUT DON'T WORRY, FOLKS! It was just a hot dog. (I was sitting in the front row, and Dr. Mike just so happened to catch the appalled look on my face as he tested to see it his "finger" was frozen just right. Then, with a devil-may-care grin, he pounded the hammer on his frozen limb and pulverized the contents of his glove. He came over to me and said, "It's all right. You have nothing to worry about!" I was thinking to myself, Oh, sure, it's just a finger. Then, the rascal took of his glove and demonstrated his actual pointer and the impaled hot dog. OH... MY... GOSH.)
After his amazing display of sorcery, the Wizard of tUNA turned back into Dr. Mike, a guy in a lab coat. He said that he didn't know what values were in science, but I have a feeling he did. First, he described science as something objective to reality dealing with facts whose methods lead to truth. The works and foibles of humans, he joked, were scientists.
Scientists have epistemic values, or philosophy concerned with the origin of nature, methods and limits of knowledge. Scientists also have cultural values, each to his own. These impact what studies are pursued and set ethical guidelines. Both types of values emerge from science and are redistributed into culture/ society.
Dr. Mike taught us about Occam's Razor-if more than one explanation can equally well satisfy a set of observations, then scientists adopt the simplest explanation. For example, it was not a little elf that made the liquid in the bottle turn blue, but something much more simple: two chemicals mixing when the bottle was shaken.

• Scientists value simplicity (really? So... what about all those chemical formulas?)
• reliability
•  testability 
• accuracy 
• precision 
• generality 
• heuristic power (such as discovery and inventiveness) 
• novelty 
• controlled and unbiased observation
•  peer review
• confirmation of prediction
• repeatability and statistics 
• universalism 
• communism (GASP!), as in, sharing knowledge (oh, okay.)
• etc

What they do not value is error, fraud and pseudoscience.


SO ANYWAY, a quote 'fore parting:
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."
-Albert Einstein

"There are three good reasons to be a teacher- June, July and August."

Unknown has the right idea there. Hahaha, just kidding. Donna Jacobs, dean of Education at UNA, assured us that, despite the misconception of the unavailability of teaching jobs, there are plenty opening up. ("Look to Alaska and Nevada!" she said with a huge smile.) She also said that teaching jobs offer a very good amount of pay... that is, however, dependent upon how long you teach or what degree from college you have when you teach.
Obviously there are certain criteria that must be met in order to be a teacher. (Duh, not EVERYONE can be a teacher!) Candidates must have speaking and writing skills (a no-brainer if you ask me); they must be interested in what they are teaching (I would make an extremely bad math teacher because... let's just say it's not my forté nor does it interest me as much as, say, YouTube); and they must be dedicated to their job (I had a teacher who never, EVER missed a day of school; how she did that, I have no clue).
During the process of becoming a teacher comes the dreaded (at least most of the time) student-teacher evaluations. I had some good student teachers in my time, but most of them... =/
During these wonderful or eternal weeks, the prospective teacher goes to a school, observes a teacher and eventually teaches parts of the class. The teacher being shadowed must report back to the student-teacher's administrators and rate them with different qualifications: exemplary/exceptional (YAY, you're ready to be a teacher!), good/proficient (pretty good, almost there), acceptable/basic (eh... not quite, but maybe someday) or unacceptable/deficient (go ahead and pick another career, pal).
Once you are a teacher, there are values to uphold, such as professionalism, integrity, and trustworthiness. Oh, it also helps to have a sense of humor (by the way, Dean Jacobs was absolutely hilarious) and be sarcastic every once in a while. Teachers must be caring, mature and responsible. "Don't distract students," Dean Jacobs told us, "aid them." Teachers must have goals, a good (if not WONDERFULLY FANTASTIC) resumé (having two languages on there helps =D), and pride in their work.
 

Ah, the values of small business.

Mr. Phillip Marks almost immediately pointed out to us that NO ONE IS HIRING.
Well, doesn't that just suck. I guess I'll just sit at home and mooch off Mom and Dad until I retire. Oh wait, I have to have a job in order to retire...
Je blague, je blague.
Mr. Marks said there is pride in being an Honors student. We are the best of the best, the brightest of the brightest. Basically, we rock.
So that should mean we're going to get hired right away, correct? Maybe not. See, big companies aren't hiring anymore, BUT smaller companies are. In fact, about 68-80% of employees belong to small companies. THERE'S OUR ANSWER! We work for small companies and violà, secure jobs forever. (Hopefully.) If that doesn't happen, we could always open up our own little shop. (OMG I'm not a business person. No shops for me, thank you. If I had to work in business, I'd rather be in the restaurant business. XD) Now, you are asking yourself, as I was, why a small business instead of a large one? Well, that's simple. There is more money and freedom in a small or self-owned business, and you can do better for yourself. You have to identify your product or service, but it isn't too bad; making a name for yourself is harder in small business, but it is more gratifying. Mr. Marks recommended starting IT companies, service companies or tool and die companies (whatever that is...), so if you're planning on starting up a little company of your own, there are some potentially successful examples.

 Onto the values of small business:

1. You are only as good as your last sale. (In the business world, reputations count.)
2. You must police yourself ethically. (Make sure you are following the rules like a good little businessperson.)
3. Have a good work ethic.
4. BE WILLING TO TAKE A RISK. (Easier said than done, but, yeah, necessary.)

BATTLE OF THE BANDSSSSSS

Just kidding.

Dr. Borah (OMG ROHIT'S DAD!) was quite the speaker. He talked clearly, intelligently and passionately.
MAN did he get some of us thinking.
I mean, with that whole Democrats vs. Republicans stuff, who wouldn't? I guess as college kids it's our job to... ahem, discuss (some more strongly than others) those kinds of things.
He's right, though. Siding with a political party is usually due to similar interests, or VALUES.
Here are some generalizations:

1. Democrats are not against higher taxes, but Republicans are.
2. Republicans are against abortion, while Democrats are pro-choice.
3. Democrats are for a smaller military budget, but Republicans lean toward a higher one.
4. While Republicans favor the death penalty, Democrats oppose it.

And so on and so forth. Dr. Borah discussed human values as something abstract, something not tangible. He said we need to try and prioritize our values, or decide what exactly is important to us. We have to choose between right and wrong.(This is called self direction...) 

Hence the examples with the political parties. 

So here's my spiel. IT IS DIFFICULT TO CHOOSE ONE SIDE. Both have appealing propositions, and the two also have their unappetizing offers. I won't go into detail on that, but let's just say I'm an independent. I don't want to choose, and I know I'm in the gray area, but for now, I'm okay with that.With self direction, though, we should be able to seek a compromise and achieve universalism: social justice and equality.

0.o

Dr. Desselle sure woke us up...

Anyway, he talked about some of the values someone in the medical field should have, such as experience, trust and mentorship.
Um... a doctor/nurse with experience... YES PLEASE. I mean, in order to go into the medical field, a prospective medical caregiver has to go to school, what, eight years... or more? And during that time, they have to do their residency for several hours a week to gain even more EXPERIENCE. But then again, with any career, experience is needed. Nowadays even a job at your local burger joint requires an experience in high school, preferably graduation.
It takes a lot of trust to to be a doctor, and even more is required of the patients. I trust my doctors with my life. (Duh, shouldn't we all?) They have to trust in themselves to cure and save their patients from their ailments, whether it be a simple cold or a bullet to the gut.
To be great, you gotta learn from the greats themselves. Dr. Desselle told us of his own mentor, now a great friend to him. Mentors teach their pupils how to become the best they can be. (I can only hope to find one as good as Yoda.)    

"The road to success is always under construction."

Senator Tammy Irons took time off from her busy, bustling, Montgomery-based schedule to talk to the freshman honors class about courage, passion, kindness, honesty, commitment, integrity, and good work ethic, all makings of a good and efficient attorney... and human being. Shall we define the aforementioned? (These are strictly my own definitions, so don't go quoting me.)

• Courage- the ability to do what you like, or what is right in the face of ridicule, or worse... failure. "Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear." -Mark Twain
   

• Passion- the degree to which tasks are performed. For example, the more passion you have for something, the better you will do it.                                                                                                 "Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."  -Oprah Winfrey    

• Kindness- showing that you care enough about people to help them out; a very worthy quality to have.                                                                                                                                              -"Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world."   -Annie Lennox      

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

• Honesty- "Know the truth will set you freeee" or something like that.                                            "Honesty is the cornerstone of all success, without which confidence and ability to perform shall cease to exist." -Mary Kay Ash   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

• Commitment- You know that thing you do when you promise to stand by someone or something? Stick-to-itiveness...                                                                                                                           "A total commitment is paramount to reaching the ultimate in performance."  -Tom Flores    

                                                                                                                                                                                     

• Integrity- having the power and will to make moral choices; goes hand in hand with honesty. ("Integrity, concentration, perseverance, respect and obedience, self-control, humility, indomitable spirit."  Ah, my old Tong Soo Do chant...)                                                                                           "Honor your commitments with integrity." -Les Brown   

                                                                                         

• Work Ethic- believing that, with hard work, you will go far.                                                            "Hard work... pays off!" Rodrick Sheppard                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

I just gotta say

that Matisyahu was... AMAZING. Like, just... whoa. I can't even describe how great he was. I went to Oktoberfest for a while, then ate some delicious arroz con pollo and picked up Melissa then had the BEST night everrrrrr, 'cause Matisyahu is just awesome.

=/

I really wish I had done this blog on Tumblr.



I love Tumblr.  I LOVE IT.

It is seriously, like, its own little world in there.
My Tumblr dash has sooooooo much awesome stuff on it... I was looking at one of my fellow Honors blogger's Tumblr and I got super jealous because she posted a picture of Tangled and I was like,
OMG I HAVE TO REBLOG HER. But then I remembered that I wasn't on my Tumblr. =(

But it's all good. Like I said, Tumblr is its own world. I have a problem mixing worlds.



Have I mentioned I love Tumblr?

STEM, and not the plant kind, either...

Dr. Calhoun talked to us about STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math careers. He gave us astonishing statistics about how few of these jobs are taken. What a surprise; it seemed to me that EVERYONE in my graduating class wanted a job involving one (or all) of these fields of study. (Needless to say, several of my friends went off to big schools to major in engineering or medicine. Hello math and science geeks! But that's ok, I still love them. ;D)
Getting back on track, I am a FRENCH MAJOR. I can say that, "No, I'm not going into a STEM career because I suck at math." I am DEAD SET against a field in science (booooring), math (ugh), engineering (that's physics and crap, right?) and technology (I don't mind that too much, except I couldn't fix a computer in a million years)... or at least I was. Seeing that there are such few graduates in these fields and readily available jobs (with good pay, Dr. Calhoun greatly emphasized) miiiiight just make me more interested in a STEM-related occupation. Math's not so bad; I mean, all it comes down to is adding and subtracting, right? (Just go with me here, this is my self-motivation speech.) And with my affinity for roller coasters, I could come up with some pretty sweet designs. But, oh, j'adore le Français... und Deutsch... y claro el Español!
In the end, I guess STEM careers are tough yet rewarding. I'm more of a language major, though.

What a trip!

Geez, I seriously need to catch up on this blogging thing, but I have pretty much zilch time for the computer now. I have too many things to do!

Anyway, Memphis was fun! The food was pretty good (those COOKIES, yummm), Beale Street was... Whoa. It was interesting, and I bought my Elvis shirt there! Oh, and my purse. The Brooks Art Museum was so cool! I seriously wish we had had more time to see everything and really appreciate it all. And the zoo! Aw, I loved it! The pandas are so adorable!

Transfiguration

It's been a while since hearing the last speaker, so I don't quite remember what he said. I do remember that he talked about college. He told us of his own experience and how it changed his life. Dr. Thornell said he expected us to discover ourselves while at UNA, to branch out and see what's out there. Seriously great advice; I'll have to take advantage of it ;)



Btw Audrey had me thinking of Harry Potter, hence the title of this entry

I believe I shall start with the Steve Jobs article...

Steve Jobs is an inspiring man. I mean, to drop out of college and still be one of the most successful people on this modern-day Earth (before him we had the great Einstein; though... what did he really invent besides the nuclear bomb?)... what an accomplishment.
Being somewhat of a writer myself, I want to commend Jobs first of all for writing such an amazing speech. He made it interesting; he chose words that would appeal to a large crowd (that is to say, WE CAN ALL UNDERSTAND IT); he really pumped out a phenomenal speech. "The first story is about connecting the dots."
Man. I had thought it would be a really boring read, seeing as speeches tend to have that negative connotation about them, but as soon as he started talking about how he was adopted by non-lawyer/college graduate parents... AND THEN he dropped out! After all that spiel from his biological mom about how she wanted him to go to a college-educated family, assuming that he himself would receive the same education... but hey, it worked out pretty well for him. I mean, without his calligraphy class, guess what we wouldn't have? FOOOONNNNTTTTSSSS. Oh, and let's not forget Apple. And, um, those things we're on all day... iPods? iPhones? iPads? I don't know about you, but I am so glad college didn't work out for Jobs.
His other stories about NeXT and his pancreatic cancer were just as enlightening as his college one.  What a life... I hope I have an opportunity like Jobs did to work in what I want, like even, and do well.




ANYWAYS, I've rambled enough. Late-ah.