Prey

Josh and I met up today to get started on our presentation on Prey.  Before we met up I was skeptical of thinking of a way to present the book in an interesting, original way.  We decided we would make a powerpoint that consisted of a picture on each slide.  We imagined it like a comic strip, but instead it depicted the novel.  I am very excited to see how it turns out and see what the others think of our creation. 

I am also glad I chose to read Prey, because it correlates with what I am literally learning in biology right now.  Predator-prey interaction, evolution and more are all a part of the story.  I hope you like our presentation even though you have seen this story too many times!

Taylor Swift

I went to a Taylor Swift concert last spring. It was my first concert! Well, techinically my second...but the fair doesn't count.  I am a very big Taylor Swift fan.  My boyfriend, Jake, gave me her first two cd's for Christmas three Christmases ago.  Every since then I have been hooked.  I had to burn new copies of each cd, because I played them too often in my car.  Now those skip too.  I have not gotten her new album "Speak Now" but I reallllly hope I get it this Christmas! That would be AWESOME!

My mom surprised me with two Taylor Swift tickets the weekend after the Drake Relays. :) It was my parents gift, as they say it, to support all my hard work.  I was so excited! I decided to bring one of my best friends Becca.  The concert was amazing.  Taylor is very dramatic and did things like fling her long hair everywhere and bang on drums with all her might.  She sang on stage and in the crowd.  It was very surprising! I am so glad I was able to experience all of it with Becca. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Tangled

Last night my friends and I saw the movie Tangled in 3D for only $3.00! It was an event put on by ETK.  Tangled is one of my new favorite Disney movies. It is the story of Repunzel with a new twist.  Repunzel has magic hair that heals and turns back time, so she was kidnapped at birth.  She grows up in a tower away from civilization with only one contact; her "mother". Repunzel was kidnapped right after birth so she is unaware that she is being tricked and used.  It is a very funny movie.  The whole theater was laughing throughout the movie! I would definitely recommend you see this movie if you have the chance.  This is why I did not tell you how it ends or even more bits and pieces of the film. I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did:)

Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner now.  Black Friday has already arrived.  I even pulled my first all-nighter in order to get the "bargains".  It was CRAZY.  I do not really like that day.  There are people everywhere, no where to park, the longest lines EVER, and everyone is rude and cranky. My family and I went into Kohls around 3:00 a.m. Friday morning and there was very little selection in anything.  The lines to all the registers wrapped completely around the entire store, estimating a 2 hour wait.  That is longer than some rides require at amusement parks! I heard that some stores put adds in the paper or on commercials for certain products with remarkable deals, then order only a couple of said object.  That way customers come streaming in for the good deal and once the few are gone, they resort to other sales.
On the bright side, things are usually a lot cheaper.  My sisters and I were able to try on some of our Christmas presents and pick them out ourselves.  It was also a good time to spend with my family since I do not get to see them very often anymore.

Music

I learned something new about myself tonight.  Music helps me get things done.  I have no idea why! If I have some sort of music, it doesn't really matter what type, playing I focus easier.  I have had music playing on my computer since 3:00 this afternoon and I have not gotten off track once! I haven't even checked facebook or sent a single text. I am so happy I have discovered this, because I have a lot to do.  I made a whole to-do list for today and I have completed a lot of it. Is this why there is a such thing as music therapy? Does music hold a kind of "special power"? I will admit music can change your mood.  If you are listening to classical music you are generally more relaxed and at ease.  If you are listening to screamo your blood pressure raises and you are more tense.  Now that I think about it, my lab group last year did an experiment on this.  We tested 20 people for changes in blood pressure and heart rate as the music changed.  It was a very cool experiment.

finals

My first week of college finals start in two weeks! It is hard to believe that an entire semester has already flew by. I thought it would go by a lot slower. But then again, high school was over before I knew it too. I have a plan.  I will begin making my study materials for all my classes this week.  Then, I will begin to study them whenever I can focus.  Even making the materials is a type of studying.  I am surprised that college professors basically hand out a study guide to an extent.  I was under the impression that you are completely on your own in college.  Profs lecture, students take notes...we keep on top of assignment, no reminders...tests creep up on you and there is extra material the professor didn't even cover...you have to keep track of the dates of everything on your own! But it's almost the complete opposite. I have been reminded multiple times when tests and assignments are due.  It may just be Wartburg, I wouldn't know, but I deeply appreciate it. So now the studying begins and I wish luck to all freshmen!

Driving

Last Wednesday was the day before Thanksgiving and break. I recieved a call from my mom and a couple of neighbors telling me I should consider heading home early in order to avoid the bad weather.  So I packed up and was on my way.  The first thing I noticed was the bad wind. You easily feel it on the on-ramp to highway 218.  Once I got onto HWY-20 it got even worse.  The traffic was only going 35-40 mph.  We were even at a stand still for about 20 minutes, because there was a very icy bridge. 

After the bridge the traffic started going around 35-40 mph.  Since it was just after the traffic jam, the road was packed.  I must have hit a patch of ice just as a gust of wind came, because I started to fish tail.  I had to choose the car beside me or the ditch on my left; I chose the ditch. I spun one and one half times before I finally was able to get my car to stop.  I was facing the opposite direction.  I almost went into oncoming traffic and hit a bridge.  Luckily, I was able to drive right out of the ditch and was back on track.  After that I went about 30 mph.  It took me about 3 hours to get home instead of 2 hours.

nationals!

We qualified for nationals! I'm so lucky to have such a great team! Not only are they my new best friends, they are amazing and talented people.  The women's team received second place to Luther yesterday morning. We had four out of the seven that ran become all-regionals as well, including Lori Tlach taking first place! She has been working so hard all season and she deserves the honor :)

The weather wasn't as bad as everyone expected it to be.  Yeah, it was rainy and freezing cold but it wasn't snowing and the wind was not very bad! Once again though I heard the weather is supposed to be really cold and snowy when I run next. But ohhhh well.  Every other runner in the race is running in the same conditions.  And all the Wartburg runners have the home advantage; fans, knowledge of the course, etc. What more can we ask for?

Angie

I don't know if I have already told you, but I have an abnormally large family. I'm the oldest of five! I have three sisters and one brother.  Alex is 16, Nicki is 15, Austin is 13, and Angie is 10.  Once, my birthday comes around we will all be two years apart (I will be 19, Alex will be 17, Nicki will still be 15, Austin will still be 13, and Angie will be 11). Anywho, me being the nerd I am I have been super duper excited about Angie's birthday for about a year and a half.  As you can see she will be turning 11 this year.  Her birthday is December 4th.  Before I confuse you too much, lets back track:
1.) I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan.
2.) I was so happy when the first words out of a couple cross country teammates mouths were about Harry Potter:)
3.) What does Harry Potter and my sister's birthday have in common? Harry Potter received his Hogwarts acceptance letter on his 11th birthday.
4.) Angie's 11th birthday is coming up...

so...my newfound HP fans and I went through the first book and found the acceptance letter.  We then retyped it and changed it to comply with my sister's life. An example would be instead of putting "room under the stairs" we put "top bunk in the purple room on the second floor in the southeast corner". It looks so good! Now I just have to wait for December 4th to come around.

regionals

This weekend is a big weekend for all college cross country teams across the nation.  It is the time of the regional meet.  Regionals is your ticket into the national meet.  Doesn't that sound awesome? NATIONALS! Only the top two teams from each regional meet are automatically qualified for the national meet.  There is a committee that looks over the season results of the teams that placed third and fourth in each regional meet and some are chosen to move on.  You can qualify individually too.  This process is confusing.  For each qualifying meet they remove all the individual racers that qualified as a team from the results.  All that are left are the runners that are on teams that didn't qualify.  Of that list the top seven of those individuals qualified for nationals on their own. 

My team has a good shot of qualifying.  It won't come easy though.  BUT we get the advantage of having our home course and all of the wartburg fans cheering us on in their orange.  It is sooooo surprising when you're running your hardest, about ready to fall over and die, when you look up and see the crowd filled with orange. It gives you a burst of energy and a reason to push just a little harder.  I wasn't expecting this kind of support from a college!  Go Wartburg and stay orange:)

Global climate debate

State of Fear has made me doubt what I have learned previously.  I don't know what to think anymore. But the debate at the end of the week has made me "choose" a side.  I will be rooting for the man-made side of the debate.  I don't know how well my side will hold up considering who I will be going up against.  There are a lot of outspoken people on the opposing side.  They also have an easier job of proving their side, because there are more correct evidence out there for the natural side of global warming.  But since I was undecided I am able to take both sides of the arguement.  I guess this will be a very interesting outcome...good luck to both sides!

Urbandale

Because of cross country, I was not able to go home like the rest of the school over fall break.  We had our conference meet.  So I decided to head home this past weekend.  This just so happened to be my brother's birthday weekend.  He turned 13 on Friday.  It was a great coincidence.  I was able to see my entire family, go to a movie, and have cake and ice cream:) 

We saw the movie Megamind.  I hated it! It was so boring.  It is an animated movie about a supervillian with an huge blue head and body.  Even the plot of the movie is boring!

Anywho, going back to Urbandale was kind of strange.  There were so many things that changed since I was last there.  Stop signs were removed, stop lights were added, wider roads, and moved stores!  I completely embarassed myself when I stopped on a street out of habit before I realized the city had removed the stop sign.  I wonder what else will be different when I go back for Thanksgiving break.

College

College is not what I was expecting it to be.  It's a lot harder.  I'm used to getting pretty good grades in high school without trying too hard.  But here it seems like it is impossible to get the grades I strive for.  I have all my papers peer-reviewed by ATLEAST one person, but I have only received one A.  I, also, study for atleast 12 hours for a single test and the highest grade I've received was 85%. It's almost depressing. 

My mom is more confident in me than I am myself.   She keeps telling me that I will figure things out and if I keep trying everything will work out for me.  I wish it were that easy!  If it were, everyone would get awesome grades.  Even though we had fall break I was still swamped! I worked on homework everyday of the break! There was so much to do.  Even though I suffered in my room while everyone else played I still had loads of homework to do this entire week.  I had two tests, hundreds of pages to read, a paper to write, chemistry homework, biology chapters to read and so on.  On top of that I have these blogs to stay on top of, cross country practice, and my work schedule! 

Thanks a lot college!

Districts

Today is the day when all high school cross country teams battle to qualify for state cross country.  My college coach has cancelled team practice today so all of the members can cheer on their old teams.  I am so excited to see my old team race! I miss it so much and I'm really glad I have the chance to make it to such an important race.  One of my sisters will be racing today (it is only a varsity race) and it is her first districts because she is a freshmen. 

It will be hard to see my entire old team race without me, but I think it will make me look at them in a new light.  I've never been able to actually WATCH my teammates before or cheer for them! I hope they do awesome.  I'm almost positive that the entire team will qualify for state.  If I am wrong, I am certain that atleast three of them will individually qualify.

Pink

October is breast cancer awareness month.  Many members on my cross country team bought pink strips to place in their hair to raise awareness.  Others, like myself, straight up dyed part of their hair.  This is an example of direct action strategy.  I am doing my part in raising awareness of an issue. 

I would also clasify myself as a community builder and a socially responsible daily behavior.  I am a community builder, because I participate in things such as helping businesses clean up after the flood of 2008 (I'm not quite sure if that is the correct year).  I carried a bunch of gymanstic equipment out of the water at Chow's Gymnastics and placed them up high.  Then, I helped sandbag and remove water.I am socially responsible, because I recycle and reuse things as well as donate to some causes.

Many times, people fit into a couple of different categories.  it would be uncommon if someone only fit into ONE category.  The other categories include; direct service, community/economic development, voting/formal political activities, grass-roots, and advocacy through community education.

Chemistry

I learned three things in my chemistry lab today; I'm not as bad as I thought I was, my chemistry professor really DOES like to help, and my professor is witty.  We got our tests back and I recieved a B! I was/am really surprised.  But I did study for about 8 hours, atleast.
I ordered all my books two weeks before school. I still haven't received my chemistry lab book two and a half weeks later. I've called and called and each time they claim they will fix it.  In the mean time I have been copying the worksheets down in my notebook and then filling it out. Today, my prof just handed me an extra lab manual.  It was so nice!
The last thing I learned is Prof. DeVries is very witty. When I was comparing test answers to my lab partner's test answers we found that we had a few different answers.  This struck me as odd considering we had the same answer for one question, but I was the only one who lost a point. She encouraged me to show both tests to the prof and get my deserved point back.  When I did, Prof. DeVries said "Oh, I'll fix this."  Instead of giving me a point, she took a point off of my lab partner's test! I was shocked! I guess chemistry really is full of surprises.

Reflections

Today, we talked about motivation.  This is also the topic in psychology this week.  There are many types of motivation.  In psychology we talked about Maslow's heirarchy. He states that first we must fullfill the first level of the pyrimid before we even think about the levels above it.  The first level included things like food, water, shelter, relieving ourselces and etc.  I think it's really interesting if you think of how a little kid acts when they REALLY have to go to the bathroom.  They don't care about that awesome slide down the street or even the candy bar you wave in front of their face; they just want to go to the bathroom.  The urge is motivating them to concentrate on what is needed and only that.  Another example would be hunger.  When you are hungry, you don't usually just push the chance to eat off to the side.

When we talk about motivation in IS 101, we look at motivation in a different light.  There is intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.  Intrinsic is basically when you are motivated for reasons from within.  An example would be a runner. When I do not do very well in a race, I don't quit.  It's intrinsic because I stay on the team or compete again in the hope to improve.  Extrinsic is when motivation comes from outside sources.  You can use a runner for extrinsic also.  An extrinsic runner in the above example might quit, because their motivation would come from approval, winning, or credit.

Outfly

All I have to say is "THANK GOODNESS IT'S OUTFLY".  It could not have came a better time! I was in desperate need of a work day.  I just cannot fit all my random stuff in the 24 hours the day provides.  I had two tests, four papers due, and two other assignments this week!  This means that this has been the most stressful week I can remember.  Once again, I need to work even more on my time management skills. 

Because of my crazy schedule, I have had a unique Outfly. I was already at work when they announced Outfly. This was very disappointing, because I could've slept in! After that, I went to eat the best breakfast I have had here so far.  Cross country practice was immediately after breakfast.  Then, I headed straight to my room to start on my laundry and do some homework between loads.  Right after lunch, I had to head to the library to work on my bio proposal with my lab group.  We worked on the proposal for four hours.  That proposal took us a total of nine hours.  exhausting! I've been in my room doing homework ever since then.  Thank goodness I planned ahead last night and transferred my dinner to the Den (time management at its best!).  Hopefully I finish all my homework for Monday and tomorrow today! If I do then I will have my first stressless weekend at Wartburg!

Psychology

Today we were required to read a section from out Inquiry Studies book.  It just so happened to be about a psychology experiement.  Since, I just joined PSY 101 last week and I have gone through the material at warp speed in order to be ready for Thursday's test I decided I would use the Inquiry Studies book as a test of how much I had really learned.  As I went through the section I was highlighting and commenting on examples of definitions I had learned in psychology.  An example would be when he brought up how a reward for reading a book would increase the amount of books read.  This is an example of positive reinforcement.  In psychology, reinforcment can be substituted for strengthen.  Then, the text goes into the example of nursery children being asked to draw pictures.  He stated that the ones that received rewards the first week for drawing were less likely to draw pictures the following week.  This goes against all I had learned in psychology so far.  Of course I panicked.  I stopped reading the book and looked back through my psychology book.  Sure enough, it should have been the other way around.  Because of this I was confused about why the author was so adament about it, so I emailed my SI leader.  She was able to explain it to me.  According to her I had not learned everything about positive reinforcement yet because it won't come up until later in the year.  But positive reinforcement when applied to education can have both a positive and a negative outcome.

Wednesday

Today has been the best day of school so far.  I give total and complete credit to Nyquil:) I tried to get most of my homework done very early last night and was in bed at 9:00 p.m.  That is the earliest I have been in bed for about four months. 

I was falling asleep in my classes yesterday, because of lack of sleep and the hardworkouts in cross country.  Because of all this stress I am coming down with an intense cold.  The cold makes it very hard for me to sleep, when I actually have time to go to bed, because I cannot breathe! So the Nyquil allowed me to sleep, and to sleep for nine hours straight! 

All this sleep made it possible for me to completely concentrate in each class today! I was also able to spend more time on my homework in between classes instead of taking the usual nap.  My goal is to go to bed earlier than I have been for weeks to come.

classes

Today was my first day of psychology.  I have mixed emotions about this class.  My professor actually put little electric currents through a peer's body to help make a point.  The volunteer was helping my professor teach about positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive supression, and negative supression.  All in all, it was a very exciting first day. 

Because I am starting so late, though, I have a lot to do to catch up.  I need to read about four chapters of a book that I do not own yet, and learn the concepts by next Thursday.  I may have to take extra time to accomplish this. 

The reason I am starting so late is because I was actually planning on taking a Spanish course.  They removed me from my Spanish course, because my college credit finally transfered and there was no need.  I wanted to take on psychology, because I am very interested in the field of psychology.  My interest may have been sparked because of my mom.  She is a psychiatrist and loves it.  She loves helping people and her job has enabled me to become involved in it at a young age.  She mainly helps people outside of our house, but sometimes she participates in a learning environment called respite.  Respite is when a client or family member of a client is brought inside a safe environment to learn how other families function correctly.  It has been very cool to watch kids change throughout the months or even years when they get involved with my family. They become a part of my family.

Blogs

My first assignment for this class was over time management.  I talked about what you could do to help organize yourself and manage your time efficiently.  At the beginning of the term I found this job very easy, I even had free time.  Now that I've gone deeper into each of my classes, I am finding it a lot more difficult.

I am a hypocrit in a way, because I was preaching about something that I, myself, find unable to accomplish.  I have fallen behind on these blogging assignments.  If I would have taken my own advice and had been more organized, this may not have occured.  Now, I have to make up for my missing assignments by writing four this week.  I do not know if they will even count, but it is worth the effort. 

Some things I have changed since I have realized how unorganized and stressed I have gotten is the idea of writing lists.  I try to write on my dry erase board all the activities, homework assignments, extra credit, and random requirements I need to accomplish that day and erase them as I achieve them.  This activity not only helps me visually see what I have finished, but also keeps me on top of things.  I also copied all my sylibi into  my planner.  I am hoping this will keep me aware of what I need to go over before each class period and when assignments are due.

School

The fact that school has actually started has finally hit me.  It has a been like a nice little vacation with a bunch of really cool friends.  Now that my first assignment was completed I have snapped back into reality.  I need to work on my time managment skills and be more organized.  Becuase I am slightly behind in this aspect of life, I feel rushed and out of control most of the time. 

I stayed up until 2:15 last night trying to finish a bio paper that I forgot about.  I, then, got up at 6:00 to finish it.  I knew about the paper and wrote it in my planner but forgot to start it.  I, also, have an IS paper due today and I still need to finish that. I will have time between classes, but I'm still pushing it and it makes me uncomfortable. 

I was never like this in high school.  Even with two sports at the same time, a job, and school, I finished things before the actual due date.  I have no idea what is different now.  I've made a deal with my closest friends that we will not "hangout" until we have everything done in every class for that day and two days after.  I hope this helps the three of us! Wish us luck!

Roommate

I have had a terrible roommate.  We met on soar day and decided to be roommates after ten minutes.  We really hit it off! My parents thought I should room with a fellow cross country runner, but I didn't mind the fact that she was in basketball.  I thought of it as a way to meet even more people. Boy was that right.

She has people in the room everytime I'm here.  I meet about five more people each time I come home. My room is the "party room".  We have a three person room with only the two of us so there is plenty of room for a large gathering.  I have not received more than 5 hours of sleep for the past two weeks, because she keeps me up late and I have to work early in the mornings.  This lack of sleep is hurting my running and my attention span for classes.

Another thing she does is let her friends use my belongings.  On two occassions I've found open pop cans and a cup that have spilled in my fridge.  Both of them were from her friends, and they were my drinks. I've, also, found wrappers and containers on my desk from her dinner, and I know strangers have been in my bed when I was gone.

Because of all this I will be moving out shortly.  I have talked to her three times now and each time she claims things will change.  I cannot believe her anymore. As soon as I can I will move out! Yay!

Cross Country

I have five seasons of cross country under my belt.  I had gotten used to the 2.5 mile races and the very low mileage my high school team put in each year.  Yet, my team competed for the state title every year.  College cross country is a whole different story.

I have doubled my mileage per week! It takes a lot of effort and determination for me to make myself run that far.  Every person on the team has blisters on their feet from all the miles they put in.  No one can escape them.  The workouts in college are much more intense so far, also.  Not only do we run farther, we also run faster.  We have coaches that run with us to push us along. Another motivation is the fact that the boys and the girls teams run the same thing everyday. This makes it possible for teammates to run with.

Of course, when workouts get more streneous, the body starts to break down.  My body, unfortunately, could not quite take this much change so fast and I got injured. I have had to miss the first two meets, because of two mystery injuries and tendonitous in my right foot.  These injuries made it harder to train, because I had to do most of it on my own at the W.  Luckily, I am almost completely recovered and ready to race! :)