Coming to a Close

So the semester is coming to an end and it couldn't be happening sooner. I am so ready for winter break, and it's about time it got here. Classes for the past couple weeks have been horrible, and I just want finals to be over with already. However, this semester has not been without it's finer parts. I have in fact learned a lot for the most part. I just hope I will be able to continue this in the next semester. I have enjoyed English this year due to the fact that our topics that we wrote about were primarily left up to us to decide for ourselves. The work we did could possibly have some sort of benefit to someone somewhere, and gave me a sense of accomplishment. I actually wish that I could have a class next semester that is as enjoyable and stimulating as this one has been.

Thanksgiving Break is finally here!!!

So Thanksgiving break is almost upon us and all I can say is it can't have come at a better time. I have been so strung out with everything goin on, everything that has been due all of a sudden. I am ready to just kick back, relax, and eat some turkey for a week. I have been missing my friends and family back home so much I can barely stand it. I just hope that it will be as relaxing and enjoyable as I hope it will be. I think it will be due to the simple fact that I don't have to get up for an 8 am any of those days!

feedback on initiating action project

Thanks to Professor Scott for the feedback on my initiating action project. It helped.

Initiating Action

For my initiating action I have decided to address the issue that people don't seem to know a whole lot about the different Christian groups on and around campus. I plan to change this by starting a small website with information about many of them along with links to their websites if they have them. Please leave comments about whether or not you think this is a good idea or how to better improve it.

initiating action

We were told to find examples of things calling for or initiating action. I found a few but this i thought was really interesting. 

Here's the link:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc65ed650d/ron-howards-call-to-action-from-ron-howard-and-henry-winkler

Problems with Tech

In class today we are given an assignment to compile a list of things that we thing are problems with Tech and things we are having trouble with. One thing that I see is a problem is that the food courts close too early. Just when I am really starting to get hungry, every one of the food courts (except DX) are closed.

It is pretty cold, especially of late. This goes hand in hand with the fact that you have to walk a good 10 minutes or more in the freezing cold just to get somewhere. Even if you take the bus it sometimes takes longer than walking and is not worth it.

Personally, I have a huge problem with security and cops are constantly stopping my friends and I for skateboarding to and from class. It is so agrivating when they say there is no skateboarding allowed anywhere on campus when in fact this is not true. It is only illegal on certain parts of campus and plus buses are so much more dangerous for pedestrians and traffic than skateboards.

The fire drill schedule seriously needs to be revamped. I am so sick of being woken up at 3 in the freaking morning to go downstairs and outside into the cold to stand for 20 minutes with hundreds of other pissed off people until they tell you it is ok to go back in and go to bed.

Another thing that bothers me about tech is the freshman football lottery. It is the most flawed method of ticket distribution ever. I have friends here who have won a ticket every time so far this year, but I have not won a single time. The only opportunity that I have had to go to a game was only because one of my friends gave me his ticket due to the fact that he didn't need his because he was going home for the weekend.

All of these are things that I find annoying, but in all seriousness, these are things that I have found to live with here at Tech. They are tollerable and worth tollerating in order to attend Virginia Tech.

People need to be more considerate

Something I've noticed about the people here at Tech is that alot of them are very inconsiderate, especially to people in a hurry. I was walking back from class the other day and saw a friend of mine who was in a hurry and riding his longboard to make up for the time. He was coming around a corner in and gave fair notice that he was comig. Note that nothing was blocking him from view in any way. When he came around the corner there were three people standing in a row across the path and flat out refused to move out of the way as any considerate person would. It took for him to be almost on top of one of them, who still wouldn't move, to realize that they weren't about to budge. So he had to jump off of his board, catch himself from falling, and watch his board go shooting off into the distance without him, while the person he narrowly avoided did nothing but look back at him and just keep right on walking.
Just yesterday I had a similar encounter while trying to get to Chemistry on time. I decided to ride my board because it is alot faster than just walking. I was going down the hill by Owens food court and being considerate of the people walking by politely saying," Excuse me." Most moved out of the way with plenty of time, but there were the few that just plain refused to move. I ended up having to jump off my board as well and while wearing my laptop backpack, lost my balance and rolled right onto my back. Those same people just kept right on walking after simply glancing back at me and not even asking if i was alright or apologizing. I was so scared for my laptop that I didn't bother saying anything to them. I ended up tearing up my hand and wrist which I had just landed on last weekend and sprained badly.
So in conclusion: People, if you see somebody in a hurry or hear them try to warn you that they are coming, please do the considerate thing and simply move out of the way. It will save all of us a bunch of trouble in the end.

Comments on Research Proposal

Thanks to Mrs. Scott for all of the extremely helpful comments on my research proposal. I knew I had work to do on it, but I did not quite realize just how much was needed.

Fall Break

I, like most of the people I know here at Tech, went home for the recent short break (one day) we just enjoyed. I had been ready to go home and visit my family and friends for quite some time and I must say it was so enjoyable I almost didn't want to come back to college. I really appreciated the wonderfulness of getting to sleep in my own bed without having to climb up into it or risk waking up my roommate. It was amazing getting to sleep in and not having to worry about getting up and walking somewhere to get breakfast. I got my laundry done and got some home cooked meals in the process, something that I had grown to miss very much. I had the oportunity to spend some time with my closest friends back home for a few days and enjoyed evey second of it. I realized just how much I had missed them. I am already counting down the days until Thanksgiving break when I'll actually have a week to spend with the people I care about the most. Why can't November hurry up and get here already?

the hatred of ARIS

For those of you who are in a chemistry lecture where you have to use the ARIS system for your homework, you know how painfully agrivating it can be. The system always seems to be down for some reason, and if it isn't, it experiences glitches. The latest example of the ARIS's failure was yesterday where I spent-I kid you not- 6 hours trying to log in to do my homework, unsuccessfully. It kept saying that they were doing maintenance on the system and simply wouldn't let me in so that I could do my homework that was due at 11 last night. I found out throughout the course of the night that I was not the only one who was experiencing this problem, and that at least 3 of my friends were having the exact same problem. Needless to say, homeworks went uncompleted last night, lots of emails were sent to professors, and a lot of things were broken in all the frustration. Hopefully they will find some way to fix the problem before all of us end up failing based on incomplete homework grades. But I'm not holding my breath.

literature review

The article starts by describing an average Christian’s reaction to dealing with teachers who try to attack their faith for their own pleasure. He describes it as “bullying” and says that most do this in order to belittle someone and make themselves feel bigger. He says that even textbooks in college are geared toward having a biased opinion against those of faith. They say that “the educated and intelligent can only hold to an atheistic philosophy”, yet there are many extremely intelligent people who have a strong faith in Jesus Christ. The article goes on to advise Christians to not engage in active debate with others if they feel that they are incapable of defending their faith. The author talks about how he once was one of the people who actively tried to tear down Christianity any chance he got, until he met one who was so well skilled in defending his faith that he put him to shame. The author later went on to become a Christian and now helps give advice to those struggling with the same people that he used to be a part of. He belongs to the “American Scientific Affiliation, which is a group of scientists who are evangelical Christians,” and he says that probably the greatest weapon against the trials you’ll face in college is to know what you believe, and exactly why you believe it, but don’t be a “pompous blowhard” and egotistical about it. I found it very helpful. It really showed me that this is for sure what I want to research.

Hell Week

Ok so last week was the worst week that I have had at Tech to date. So I have lovingly dubbed it "Hell Week". It was terrible. I had three exams and a quiz in four days. I was constantly studdying anytime I got a chance. I had a Linear Algebra exam at the Math Empo on Monday, a Calculus quiz on Tuesday, a Calculus exam Wednesday, and a Chemistry exam Thursday. It was the worst time of my collegiate life so far. I studied so much and thought that I was somewhat prepared, but I was horribly wrong. I did below the class average on everything. So now I am wondering what exactly I can do differently in order to pull my grades up and succeed on my next series of tests. I mean I felt that I had done my best, but it just wasn't enough. At one point, I wondered why my instructors all hated me, but of course that was absurd, because none of them even really know who I am. At least tonight I had an Engineering exam that I feel I did really well on. That gives me a huge boost of confidence for going into the next series of exams in a couple weeks. Hopefully I'll find a way to prepare myself more efficiently. Until then, I'm praying that I'll find a way to make it out of it alive.

Site visit

I did my site visit a while ago actually but i was temorarily locked out of this site.
Anyway, I checked out the site for an organization called BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries). They are located righ here at VT, right off of Washington street. Their site gives a moderate amount of information on them, but makes you want to actually visit them to find out more. So I believe I will. I'll most likely be attending their Tuesday night service at 6:33. So that is where I will be on Tuesday, as long as nothing more important comes up again. And hopefully, I can sit down with one or more of the regulars there and do some interviews.

Communities Questions

Here are some of the questions I have thought to ask when I shall do my interviews in research of my chosen community: Christians at Tech.

1. Why is it that you decided to come to VT instead of a Christian college?

2. Is it ever hard to listen to something that is taught to you that you know is against your beliefs?

3. Do you believe that most people have a negative view of Christian groups on campus?

4. Do you think that it is beneficial or not for a Christian to attend a public university instead of a private, Christian college?

5. What kind of hardships or obstacles have you had to overcome as a Christian living at Virginia Tech?

6. Do you believe that you have grown stronger in your faith since first coming here?

7. What do you believe are the main problems facing Christians today who attend a large secular university such as VT?

Observations

For this assignment I didnt' really know what to observe. It just sort of happened that I ended up observing a friend of mine. He didn't know I was observing him. Probably the main reason why is because he was so drunk he could not walk straight without help. He kind of stumbled into the room I was sitting in using my laptop. His friends were with him, helping him to the trash can which he proceeded to throw up in. As I watched all of this unfold in front of my eyes I knew once and for all why I don't drink. It was the sounds of him throwing up, rambling on incoherently, and him repeatedly telling his friend to shut the door, which was already closed. He had obviously been out drinking and partying and had way too much to drink. As I watch all of this, I wonder if this is really what people mean when they say that they went out to drink to have a "good time". If this is considered a good time, then they can have it. I wouldn't want to wake up in the morning, not knowing where I am, how I got there, what I did the previous night, or why I smell like vommit.