We Won!!!!

Last Thursday the Kickin' Friends took the Co-Rec Intramural Kickball Championship. We ended up playing the Rec team again. You remember the Rec team, I wrote of them in an earlier post. Turns out the guy with a the really poor attitude still has a really poor attitude about losing. We were playing like champs from the start. We were the first team to kick. In the first inning we scored 8 runs. Matt kicked a grand slam. It was awesome. Khaki Cap (that's what I call poor attitude guy) started out as pitcher but after we scored so many runs he decided his talents were being wasted so he moved to the outfield. It didn't really help the team much. We ended up winning 10-1 I think. Here we are below with our awesome t-shirts.

Needless to say the Kickin' Friends will be back to defend our title. It was a super fun season and well worth the rec fee to be able to play.

The Holidays Are Upon Us

And I couldn't be more excited. I am so ready to go home tomorrow for my most favoritist of holidays. I can't really say why, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas but there's just something about Thanksgiving that makes me love it more.

I'm very excited about this year because of my desire to try new things. I plan on trying everything that my mom makes this year. I'll report back with new likes and dislikes.

The RAs are currently shutting down the building. There's nothing I love more than an almost empty residence hall. Everything is so quite and peaceful. It makes me wish that it was already the end of the semester. That's the only bad thing about Thanksgiving, it's such a tease for the Christmas break.

I'm actually looking forward to my drive home tomorrow. I've got my iPod ready and am ready to sing until my little heart's content. Granted I can't carry a tune in a bucket but when I'm alone in my car I'm a pro. I'm so ready to see my family and spend time with them. I am also excited to see Amy's new house. Now I'll have two places to visit when I go home.

Tonight will probably be an early once since I'll be hitting the road bright and early in the a.m. But not before I get my fill of Glee for the evening.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

We Just Can't Be Stopped

Last night the Kickin' Friends took the field yet again and walked away with wins in both our games. Sure the first game was won by forfeit but the second was a true competition. We played the Rec Sports team in our second game and it was by far the hardest game yet. It some ways it was also very sad. You would think that the Rec Sports team would be very friendly and set the example of good sportsmanship. Man was this the wrong assumption to have. Although I shouldn't pin their awful sportsmanship on the whole team, just one of their team members. There was one guy on their team who had a poor attitude from the start. He was questioning plays, rules, and calls. Come to find out at the end of the game he's the guys who actually wrote the kickball rules so I was surprised that he seemed to be so confused about the way the game worked. He was also such a spoil sport that after we beat them he didn't even shake anyones hand to say "Good Game!" In fact the whole team seemed in shock when we started approaching them to do this. I mean really people, it's kickball, not the World Series or the World Cup.

Anyway, everyone did an amazing job last night. I think the final score ended up being 2-0 or 3-0. Matt had an awesome homerun that really pissed off a couple of their players. I had the best game of the season last night. Granted it started off not so great. At my first two at kicks I had to try to beat the ball to first base. Instead of just throwing the ball to the baseman the jerk from above thought it more appropriate to try to peg me as hard as he could. The first time I'm not sure what happened I just know I ended up rolling on the ground. The second time I got pegged in the head after crossing the base but they still called me out. (Don't worry my memory is still in tact) Again this hit also resulted in me tumbling on the ground. But I brushed myself off and took my position in left field and ended up making two catches in the outfield. It's funny, and you wouldn't think it would, but catching a pop up kickball is kind of a rush. Especially since the balls were pretty high on both catches and the fact that both were kicked by guys who thought their "shit didn't stink." Pardon the expression.

I'm pretty sure that this secured us a place in the championships. Our next games won't be until December. I'm sure we'll be playing the Chi Alpha team or the Rec Sports team for the Championship game. Playing Rec Sports would be a more intense game but Chi Alpha is so much more fun to play with because they're competitive without being jerks, so we'll see.

That's all I got for now. As you can tell INSANITY was kinda put on the back burner this week. We're hoping to get a couple of days in next week then really hit it hard after Thanksgiving.

Trying New Things, In This Case Food

For those of you who know me well you know that I am somewhat of a picky eater. Granted my tastes have changed quite a bit over the past few years. I thought some might enjoy hearing about some of my most recent food adventures. (And just so you know what I find adventurous, 90% of the population finds ordinary.)

First on the list, vegetables. I used to hate pretty much any vegetable. Now I find myself craving and enjoying corn and various steamed vegetables. I have gone so far as to try green beans, asparagus, squash, and various other things. I don't get what the fuss is all about with the asparagus, can't say it really knocked my socks off. But corn is becoming a new favorite, especially when it's on the cob.

Next is desserts. I'm much more of a salty than sweet person but lately the sweet tooth has been kicking in. I now LOVE peach cobbler. I would say it's one of my new favorite things. I used to hate cooked fruit, mainly because of the texture. Now I find myself trying various fruity desserts. Still not a fan of cherries though. I've also branched out to various pies and puddings. Before I could always go without a dessert or something sweet but now it's a little bit harder to pass it up.

Now the next thing I'm about to talk about might upset a couple of people. Mainly Ben and Sarah because for years they have tried to get me to bend on this and I never would. I would always say NO! when they offered this as a lunch option so I want to apologize to them for always being so firm on that answer. This week I went to lunch with my friend Zack. Lately I've been choosing where we eat so when we were discussing where to go he mentioned wanting Panera. I have always been adamant in my stance against Panera because I've never been a huge soup, salad, sandwich person. Especially with Panera because I believe their sandwiches to be "too fancy," which if you know me you know what that means. Granted this has slowly been changing in current years thanks in large part to Sarah and only taking me to sandwich shops when we went to DC. Anyway back to the point I'm trying to make. So Zack suggests Panera and at first I tell him that I would prefer to go somewhere else, but he pleads his case for wanting soup and a sandwich. I realized as he was talking that almost every food suggestion Zack has made to me I always say no or say that I don't like something. Feeling bad about this I felt it was time to give in and finally go to Panera and give it a shot. I ended up enjoying my Panera lunch experience very much. (Don't get me wrong, I've always loved Panera for breakfast, I'm not that crazy.) Granted all I had was a turkey sandwich and some mac & cheese but it was quite tasty. I also tried Zack's Tomato Basil soup which I ended up liking very much. So, Panera can now officially be added to the places to go for lunch list. Again, Ben and Sarah, I'm sorry for always saying no. I should have been a good friend and sacrificed going so many years ago. Please forgive me.

Now on to coffee beverages. Just today I discovered that I might enjoy a latte from time to time. Paige and I went to Starbucks and their special holiday menu caught my eye, so I decided to order a Caramel Brulee Latte. Turns out it is quite a wonderful beverage. Although after awhile it got to be too sweet. Paige ordered the Gingerbread Latte which was also very tasty. Granted I don't plan on making Starbucks a habit because I still believe that paying $4 for a cup of coffee a day is ridiculous. But it is a nice treat from time to time.

So those are my food tales. I hope you enjoyed them. I'm very much looking forward to Thanksgiving and possibly adding more to my plate than just turkey, potatoes, and a roll.

Back On Track

So 4 days off is 4 days too many for INSANITY. Today we finally got back on track. Or should I say I got back on track. The group has met the last two days I think, but I haven't. It was supposed to be a straight cardio day today but one of the DVDs got misplaced. By straight cardio I mean that there's no stopping for breaks, you just go as much as you can and take breaks when needed. So today we ended up doing the plyometric cardio circuit again. This work out has water breaks, which are always much appreciated.

Today I felt like I mostly just went through the motions. To make it sound better I'll say that I focused more on form that speed. I'm finding it difficult to do some of the workouts in the push up position. My right wrist does not like this very much but I push through as best as I can. Not sure what tomorrow holds but I can gaurantee sweat will be involved.

Skipped Again

I'm a slacker and I have no problem admitting it. I once again failed to make it to INSANITY. Although in my defense I had good reason. Tomorrow I should be back on track and sweating my butt off again. Here's hoping anyway.

Plyometric Cardio Circuit

Had day 6 of INSANITY yesterday. The title of this entry explains in a tiny nutshell what we did. Essentially, it's the same workout we did on day 2. It's supposed to get easier to do as time goes on. We have yet to hit that point. Having another two day break made it tougher than when we did it the first time. Monday we'll do cardio power and resistance. I'm not sure what that means but it's a a routine we haven't done yet.

All I can say is, bring it!!

4-0...Is it too early to say CHAMPIONSHIP!?!?!?!

The Kickin' Friends would have loved to have taken the field last night but apparently word has spread about how amazingly awesome we are and both teams we were supposed to play forfeited last night. Ben thinks it's our red that keeps them away.

The first team just straight didn't show up. The other game that was supposed to be taking place at the same time only had one team show up. So we decided to play a friendly scrimmage. Not that we were keeping score, but we still won. So if you want to get technical our record is 5-0. But when it comes to rec sports we're 4-0.

Hopefully next week we'll actually get to play real games. At the start of the night we thought we'd have to forfeit because we didn't think we'd have enough girls. But Kayla, our awesome first baseman, was able to get two of her resident to come out and join us. So after another week of play we remain victorious. Here are some more pics from the night.

Ben is our fearless team captain and the reason we all join together on Thursday nights. Here he his working on the line up.

This is Matt being Matt.

And this is Bill and Scott being Bill and Scott.

I know I'm awesome at captions.
Don't be jealous.

Kickin' Friends

Tonight is our second week of kickball. Last Thursday we dominated both our games with wins of 11-2 and 10-0. We're hoping to continue our winning streak tonight. We've got two more games tonight which should be really fun. I'll be decked out in my red shirt and red, knee high socks. It's a sight to see, let me tell you. Mathis, wish you could be here to play with us.

Also tonight is another new episode of Bones (my obsession, in case you forgot). Last week I had to tape it because of kickball and will have to do the same this week. Hopefully this week it will actually tape. Last week I got home, sat down to watch it, and nothing. For some reason the recorder didn't kick on. I was very, very upset. But taping Glee last night went of without a hitch so hopefully taping Bones won't be a problem tonight. I've very excited because tonight sees the return of Gordon Gordon. If you don't watch the show this means nothing to you so you probably don't care, but his excites me to no end. I hear that this episode is full of lots of wonderful moments so I can't wait.

We all ended up taking the day off from INSANITY today so that's why no update there. Everyone had stuff to do super early today. But tomorrow we'll be back with a vengeance.

Day 6 here we come!!

I Hear Day 5 Was Pretty Intense

I don't actually know from personal experience because I didn't make it out of bed this morning. Apparently doing INSANITY in the morning and going for a run in the evening is physical overload. Today was definitely one of those days where my alarm went off and I could even force my eyes open long enough to turn in off. I haven't been so wiped out in a really long time. I even went to bed early so I was surprised when I couldn't wake up this morning. So hopefully I'll get back on track tomorrow.

As for today, it looks to be a pretty good day. I have two RA interviews, nerd lunch with the boys, dinner with Elsie, and a new episode of Glee!!! The only thing better is that if all of this happened on a Thursday and Bones took the place of Glee.

For those of you who may not know this, Bones is my obsession. I don't know why but I love this show more than any other show I've ever watched. Granted I love all TV but I think I caught Bones at just the right time where I was able to catch up on the series before the new season started. Granted it's pretty much the only thing I watched all summer, but it was well worth it. So if you don't watch Bones you should.

Well I must be off to Cluster breakfast.

Day 4: Stretching It Out

As you can see by the title today was day 4 of INSANITY!!! (You'll notice I always write this in all caps. I do this because that's how it's written on the box and it just helps imply how INSANE it really is.)

Today was cardio cool down day. This consisted of about 30 minutes of doing various stretches and things of the like. I went into the morning with no soreness in any part of my legs. Tomorrow I don't believe this will be the case. We did lots of squats so I have a feeling my quads are going to be super tight tomorrow. I learned today that I'm more balanced on the left side of my body than the right. I say this because anytime I had to pick up my right leg and balance on my left I was fine. When it was the other way around it took everything I had to stay standing. Even though all we did was stretch it still felt like a full workout.

I think tonight I might try to go for a run. Try to keep my legs loose.

Got day 5 tomorrow. Should be fun!

Day 3 Made Day 2 Look Like A Cake Walk

Today we all joined together to continue our journey through INSANITY. We were told that day 2 was the hardest day. Whoever thought that was true needs to be hit in the face. Today was, by far, harder than day 2. I realize that there might be a couple of reasons for this. One being that it's always hard to start something back up after two days of rest. Especially something as intensive as this.

I found myself getting tired a lot quicker than in the past two workouts. I even made it a point to stay hydrated over the weekend. For some reason I just had a hard time pushing through. I did it though. I don't think I've ever sweat more in my life than I did today. (Except this one time when I got sick. Mathis you know what I'm talking about.) Anyway I would say 60% of my shirt was a darker green than the rest. I love when this happens though. It makes me feel like I've really accomplished something.

Another thing I both love and hate about this experience is getting up early. While part of me misses that extra hour of sleep in the morning I feel so much better after working out. It's very fulfilling starting your day off with something this productive.

I hope to post some before pics soon. I meant to take my camera this morning but I forgot. I'll also start incorporating other news in my blog as it comes up. That's all I got for now.

INSANITY!!!!

So last week Ben Taylor, one my nearest and dearest friends, decided that he was going to start a workout called INSANITY (http://www.beachbody.com/product/fitness_programs/insanity.do?code=BBHOME_CONTROL_INS). It's by the same company that does P90X. One of Ben's RAs bought the program and he opened it up to anyone that wanted to take part. So starting last Thursday me, Ben, Derek, and Harper joined together in the Bruce Concert Hall at 7:15 am and started our 60 day transformation.

Day 1 was a 15 minute physical fitness test. Sadly none of us brought pen and paper to document the number of reps we were able to accomplish for each exercise. We will do the test every two weeks so we figure we'll just start tracking then.

Day 2 was apparently the hardest workout. Apparently if you can make it through day 2 the rest of the program won't be easy but it won't be impossible either. Day 1 didn't leave me too sore which was a plus. Day 2 was definitely tough but we all got through it. The video stresses that technique is more important than speed so we take our time on some of the exercises if necessary. The first step out of my bed on Saturday was very painful. There are a lot of cardio moves that keep you on your toes. I don't think my calves have ever been so tight before.

We've decided to only do the program during the week giving us the weekend to rest our bodies and sleep in.

Tomorrow we've got day 3. Woot!!

Another Weeked O' Fun

This time Denton and Dallas being the location. It has come to my attention that I have been rather lax on my summer movie watching. Usually the summer I hit up every movie that comes out. This summer I have found myself pondering over the listing not finding anything of great interest. That was until this weekend.

I like to think of this weekend as comedy weekend. It was the perfect weekend to go catch a movie if you really wanted to laugh. Friday a small group of us went to see The Proposal.

If you like to see Ryan Reynold with no shirt...GO SEE THIS MOVIE! You won't be disappointed. It was also really funny. Sandra Bullock is still the awesome, glad she made her way back to the big screen. Betty White is also hilarious as the grandmother. So be sure to check it out. And if you don't like it, then that's your problem I guess.

Saturday I ventured into Dallas to meet up with my friend Wilson for lunch. It had been almost a year since I last saw her so it was great to get to catch up. Whilst down south and being so near to the Angelika I took the opportunity to see Sam Mendes's new masterpiece, Away We Go. He didn't disappoint. The movie opened with his great room shots that he's so well known for. I've gotta say that this is probably the best movie I've seen in a long time. It was funny, sweet, and at time even a little sad. John Krasinski and Mya Rudolph were phenomenal. So if you're near a theater that play this. GO SEE IT!!

The Summer O' Fun Continues

I just got back from spending the weekend in San Antonio with my big sister and her best friend. We went to go see the amazing show, WICKED! If you have yet to see this play I highly recommend it. It's worth traveling anywhere in the country you can get tickets to see it.

We also took in the other sights of San Antonio. We had lunch on the Riverwalk before heading to the Alamo. It's funny how much smaller things get when you grow up. Upon walking up to the Alamo my sister and I both looked at each other at the same time and said, "I remember it being much bigger."

After the show we went to Pat O'Brien's for some Hurricanes and then headed back down the Riverwalk to Dick's Last Resort for some dinner.

It was a really great trip. I hate that it was so short. The only thing missing was my best friend.

Summer's Off to a Great Start

So far this summer looks to be one of the best so far...and it's only been three weeks. Here's a little run down of what has made it awesome so far:

*Steady stream of ultimate frisbee games have started. I decided to dust off my shoes and come out of retirement. My mom insists that I wear a helmet since I once got a concusion from the sport. I have chosen to defy her and go helmetless. So far no head injuries.

*We have had not one, but two amazing cookouts with Ben and Derek at the healm of the grill. We've cooked enough meat to last an entire summer. We have had steaks, pork chops, chicken, ribs, brats, hot links, burgers, and hot dogs. That's right...all that food between 2 cookouts.

*Ben and I went to the No Doubt concert. One of the best concerts I've ever seen. It's safe to say that I would rank it in my top 5. The only down side was that my knees were in pain for two days after because of all the jumping around.

*I've had the chance to spend some time with some amazing people. Nothing major, just hanging out, making dinner, stuff like that.

*I got to spend a relaxing week at home with the fam. Caught up on much needed rest and started my summer tan lounging by the pool.

*I have fallen in love with another great TV show thanks to Paige Poole. I'm addicted to Bones. If you have a chance, watch it. You won't be disappointed.

So that's just a few things that have made this summer wonderful so far. Things yet to come include a trip to San Antonio with my sister to see Wicked, a possible weekend trip to Austin with Derek, Amanda, and Ben, and who knows what else. As always I'm hoping to meet the man of my dreams. Maybe this is the summer it will happen.

Master's, Check!...Closedown, Check!

So last Friday I graduated with my Master's...what, what!! It was a pretty boring ceremony but a milestone I know I would have regretted if I didn't walk. So the painful two hours was worth it. Friday also marked the end to another year in Housing...so summer if officially here. Bring on the summer camps. Closedown was actually pretty smooth this year...no big complaints and pretty much everyone got out on time. I will say that I'm going to miss my staff tremendously. This bunch was really special and the ones that are leaving are going to be truly missed.

No other major developments in my life really. Sarah and Matt moved to Africa and I miss them dearly but still talk to them quite often, so that's a plus. Be sure to check out their blog to stay up on their African Adventures (nowery.blogspot.com).

I plan on spending this summer reading what I can, watching lots of tv, and rewatching Lost from the beginning. Exciting I know, don't be jealous. Ultimate will also play a big role in my summer plans. Game 2 is tonight...woot!

What I've Learned

I know we've all said this at one point or another, but I really enjoyed this class. I feel that I was somewhat aware of my surroundings and things that were going on, but now I feel like I make it more of a point to look for things. I'll be the first to admit that I'm still very naive about a lot of things. This class has helped to open my eyes more and make me realize that the issues of our past our still very much present. This week while walking around for my section of the diversity audit I was able to draw more conclusions or make more assumptions about my observations after all we've talked about in class. I won't go into detail at this time because I don't want to take anything away from my presentation.

I feel that this class will greatly benefit me when it comes to dealing with students in the future. I think now I'll be more prone to think twice about what they might be going through in life, especially if it's a student from a different background than myself. Before this class I would have been one of the white kids in the sample group thinking our campus had a great campus climate and was open to diversity, not saying that it's not. But now I know that my perceptions might not be entirely correct. As evident by many of our reading, student development still has a long way to go to make everyone feel completely welcomed on college campuses around the world. More than likely it will never be perfect, but at least we're trying to move in the right direction by putting our best foot forward.

It's Been A While

My apologies for lack of blogging.  I have no excuse other than I just haven't been doing it.  

I can't believe that this semester is almost over.  Where did all the time go?  

On to the readings.  This week I found it hard to stay focused on the readings.  I'm not sure why.  I guess I just had a hard time finding them as interesting as previous readings, which is odd since most of these readings seemed to deal with actually implementing things we've been reading about in class and trying to make campuses more inclusive.  I did like Understanding Leadership Strategies.  I feel like the sample obtained for this study was one that was truly diverse.  I like that 50% of those that actually were interviewed were people of color and that women made up a good portion of interviewees as well.  It made me believe more in the study since they made it a point to really diversify and find programs that have tried embracing diversity.  I feel like most of our earlier readings focused on colleges or universities that would have an obvious outcome when it came to measuring diversity or campus climate.  For instance, when you survey the minority and a PWI you know that those surveyed are going to feel negatively about the racial climate.

Another topic that seemed to keep popping up was that of the role of affirmative action and the admittance of students of color to college based on their race/ethnicity.  To me this would seem like a double edged sword.  While I believe that a student population should be diverse I also think that a University should still be able to have standards that they wish for students to meet.  I'm sure this is a hot topic for debate but I can't say that I strongly support one side over the other.  

On a complete side note...as we have all mentioned at one point or the other, being in this class has made me look at things in a different way.  The other day I was at the UNT bookstore.  There have been numerous occasions where I've been there and seen people leaving that set off the security system near the entrances.  More often than not the sales people don't even acknowledge the sound and if they do they give a courtesy wave to those walking out that implies, "it's cool we know you didn't take anything."  The other day I was at the bookstore and this occurred.  A young, African American gentleman set off the alarm.  Upon doing so an older sales associate, who happened to be a Caucasian female, rushed over to him and immediately questioned what he was doing.  The guy informed her that he had nothing on him that would make him set off the alarm.  The lady continued to question him and even asked to search through his bag and show his pockets.  This just took me a little by surprise, especially since I've seen students in the same situation be totally disregarded.  So it just made me wonder if this was an act of racial profiling or if the sales associate had a good reason for her actions.

Lots of Little Thoughts

Reading through the various sections of the Rothenberg book this week, I seemed to have a comment on most of the readings. In Smells Like Racism I thought it was interesting that a small portion focused on accents. I never really considered basing an opinion on an accent to be racisist but I can see how in some cases it is. The thing that first popped into my mind after reading this was the idea of the English accent. I feel that the English typically are viewed as pompous or overly propper, in large part due to their accent. In numerous interviews I've seen, mainly with British actors, they tend to comment on the fact that everyone believes they're prim and proper just because they're from England.



One of the points from the Opression article kind of bugged me a little bit. I felt like too much was being made about the man opening the door for a woman. Call me old fashioned but if I'm with a guy I feel like he should open the door for me. I see this as a common courtesy. I know I can open the door on my own and I'm happy to do so if necessary. But I don't feel that a man opening a door for me means that he thinks I'm "weak" in some way. But maybe this has to do with the way that I was raised and the fact that I don't feel I've experienced a lot of oppression in my life because of the time in which I was raised. I know that women have had it rough in the past and that it still continues today. I've been fortunate enough to work in a field that is typically dominated by women. If fact, for the past 5 years or so by direct supervisor has always been a woman. I'm sure at some point in my future I will experience opression but luckily I have yet to be affected by it.

Recurring Thought

As I was doing the reading for this week, one thought kept coming to mind.  Are those that are discriminating always doing so on purpose?  Don't get me wrong.  I understand that there are hateful, racist people in the world who discriminate and do it knowingly.  But this can't always be the case.  It just makes me wonder if people are discriminating or just acting in accordance with the way they were brought up or raised. (does that make sense?)  And if so then whose to blame for their acts of discrimination?  The person themselves because they should know better?  Their parent's for teaching them that attitude?  The grandparents for teaching the parents?  You see where I'm going with this.  Anyway...just a thought I felt like sharing.

I enjoyed all the readings this week.  Like I mentioned last week I like the Rothenberg book and how it's broken down into anecdotes, news stories, and short articles.  Now a days I don't ever think about discrimination against women, but thanks to the Women in the State Police article I realize it's still very prevalent.  It was shocking some of the things that happened to the female officers.  To be honest all the readings made me think and realize even more how much I take for granted.

I really liked the two articles that we had to read as well.  I like how both studies had personal aspects to them.  Using personal stories and experiences made the articles much more enjoyable to read.

Race, Class, and Gender

Over the past week I really enjoyed reading the Rothenberg book. For one it was a nice change of topics. Even though a lot was centered on race it didn't seem to be as much about Black and White as our other readings. My favorite reading was The Ethics of Living Jim Crow. I really liked that this piece was someone's personal account and that it was told in story form. When stories are told in this manner it makes it much easier to put things in perspective and realize what some people have had to go through in life. In Karen Brodkin's How Jews Became White Folks I was surprised at how much she actually talked about African Americans. I felt that the piece focused more on this aspect than the title would have suggested. It was also refreshing to read more about gender and sexuality and the formation of classifications used today.

When looking at Part V and realizing that the main topic was about economics I immediately thought to myself "man this part's going to be boring." To my surprise I found all these sections to be rather interesting. Granted in helped that a lot of the sections were only a few pages. It also was more interesting to me because I am also in Economic Development in Higher Ed. this semester and these reading serve as a great supplement to that class.

Opening My Eyes

Since starting this class I'm starting to realize that there are many things I have taken for granted in my life. The most obvious being my college experience. I wouldn't say that I had it easy coming to college, meaning college wasn't handed to me on a silver platter. Before reading "Scholarship Girl" and Museus' article I never really thought about what it might be like for students coming from a more cultured backgroud to enter into a land of unkown culture. Granted college can be considered an unknown land for any new student, but possibly having to "give up" your culture in order to fit in is something I never really thought of before.

Personally I don't feel that anyone should have to deny who they are in order to be accepted into a particular setting or group. I found Tinto's theory to be quite interesting. The idea that one must detach themselves from their original culture and adopt the values and norms of the culture they are joining in order to succeed just doesn't seem right. Although sadly it seems that this is true for the most part. It seems that most of the articles we've read so far say that underrepresented students don't feel a part of their campus culture so they tend to not complete school or succeed as much as White students. It just makes me wonder how many more years it will be before this is no longer the norm? It seems that the change has begun because everyone talks about the millennial generation and how they are a much more engaging generation. It seems that children now are starting to be raised where they no longer see as much of a difference in race. I guess we'll see when our children get to college how prominent these issues still are.

Possibly more to come...

First Post About Readings

There was a comment that I wanted to make about the video from last week so I'll start with that. I enjoyed the video that we watched in class last week. It would be such an experience to be a part of something like that. Although I must say after watching the video I feel like as white person I would feel bad about myself after every class. I'm sure the same can be said for all the students of various backgrouds. But for some reason after watching the video I felt like a lot of the sessions where an attack on the white students. I guess it's just hard to not personalize things when it comes to race, especially if you're the one being attacked. It's like one of the incidents with one of the white students where another student was commenting that he was the enemy. I just feel like it came down to Whites against everyone else and that issues between other races and cultures didn't seem to be addressed as much.

I enjoyed this weeks readings and am finding the Creating Inclusive Campus Environment book to be a very easy read. A couple of things really stood out to me in Chapter 7. It talked about how when you come to college it's important to get involved and how you need to join student groups right away. I feel like, while this a great idea and theory, it's hard for students to reach out on their own. I know when I went through freshman orientation the last thing I wanted to do was go to another activity fair and approach even more new people and step outside of my comfort zone. After reading the chapter I never thought about how hard it might be for students who are part of underrepresented populations because not only are they dealing with the insecurities that all freshman might face they might also have to struggle with not even having a group to identify with. I also like that the chapter listed actual strategies that could be effective in reaching out to underrepresented students.

I liked that Chapter 8 addressed the issue of MACCs and SAOs working together. I'd be interested to see or hear how well the two offices work together on our campus. I also thought it was an interesting and valid point about the MACC needing to be careful to make it's own identity and show that it needs to stand alone and not get sucked into being a part of the SAO.

About Me

As you can see this is also one of my personal blogs so feel free to enjoy my previous posts!



Now here's a brief biography for you:



I was born in Houston in 1982 and my family soon moved to Conroe the following year. Conroe was a small little southern town when we moved there and through most of my time spent there. In the last few years, since I've moved to Denton, it has boomed quite a bit. I wouldn't call it your stereotypical type of small Texas town. I always went to school with people from various "walks of life" if you will. I was raised a conservative Southern Baptist but have broadened my view of things as I've grown up. I've always been close to my family and they've always been loving and supportive of everything I do. I have one older sister who still lives back at home that I don't get to see as often as I'd like. A lot of who I am has come from my family. They taught me the difference between what's right and wrong. They taught me to care for others and help others when needed. They taught me how to go after what I want. They also taught me that it's okay to question things and try to find things out for myself. They helped give me a basis of a belief system by raising me in the Baptist church but never forced me to believe in things I might not think are true (if that makes any sense).

Going away to school was something that both my parents never thought I would do because I was such a homebody. I didn't even enjoy going to camp in the summer. That's how much I hated being away from home. It's now been nine years since I've been living on my own and I can't imagine my life any other way. It was hard for my mom to grasp at first, especially since my older sister didn't move out first. But it's no longer an issue and hasn't been for some time now.

I came to UNT to study film because my dream was to one day be a film director or cinematographer. That dream has since passed because during my undergrad days I realized everything I loved about film was more at the hobby level. I would see people in the program who were really cut-throat about it and I realized that my passion was more for the enjoyment of it. But while I was working on my undergrad I became a resident assistant and just loved working for housing. It gave me the opportunity to in a sense be part of a family, since I couldn't actually be with mine. I've been in housing in some capacity now for nine years and have loved every second of it. I love working with students and hope that in some way I can impact there lives and help them grow as they try to find what they want to do in life.