How I've Grown, What I've learned.

This semester has flown by so quickly.  Within these last few months, I have managed to learn so much about myself and how I react to unfavorable situations.  In this wonderful blog post that I LOVE writing oh so very much, I will give examples of situations I've been placed in and what I've learned from them. 

My Roommate-

The Situation: We don't necessarily get along the best.  We come from very different backgrounds and have very different beliefs and room cleanliness habits.  Before coming to Iowa State, I had never encountered anyone like her, much less had to live with them.
What I Learned:  I learned how to talk to people and the best way to confront people.  I learned that drawing a line down the middle of the room with duct tape isn't the best way to solve a situation.  I learned that problems don't fix themselves by themselves and sometimes, you have to take a stand.

Unfriendly People-

The Situation:  Upon arriving at Iowa State, I made a friend who turned out to be....not very nice.  She did very not nice things to me. Needless to say, we're not friends anymore.  However, I am friends with her roommate who has to be friendly with her.

What I Learned:  I learned that everybody deserves a second chance, but never a third chance.  I learned that liars are liars...and I don't like liars.  I learned how to be civil to people whom I kinda want to punch.

I've learned so many things within just this first semester at Iowa State.  I'm definitely looking forward to my next three and a half years here and the experiences to come.  

PS-This is the last blog post, so here's Luke Bryan, yum.

PSS-26 Days, 3 Hours, and 7 Minutes until CHRISTMAS!

What the Hixson Award Means to me

To me, the Hixson award meant choosing Iowa State.  It meant that I could go to school without having to really worry about how I was going to pay for it.  It meant less loans and not having to have a job through school.  This scholarship literally meant the world to me.  Without this award, I probably would have chosen to go to a smaller university or a community college at least for a couple years.  Either that, or I would have to be working and had to have taken out a TON of loans in order to make this work.  The Hixson award meant everything to me and I am so thankful for the everyone who keeps the program alive.

Social Media Week!

What did I learn?

I learned a lot about how important what I post actually is because employers are actually on these sites.  I have learned to make my profiles a lot more professional!

How did I feel about engaging in this particular medium?

I chose Facebook, so I feel as though I was pretty familiar with it beforehand so it was nothing too different.

How can social media help you reach your goals?

It can definitely help you begin to establish relationships with employers and help with first impressions with the people that could possibly hire you.

What did I learn?

In the article "How Facebook Can Ruin Friendships", I could really relate to many of the points the author was making.  How we communicate electronically and post ridiculous, trivial things that absolutely NONE of your friends care about no matter how much they love you, is hurting friendships and our natural ability to communicate with one another.  It will definitely make me think twice about how I communicate and keep in touch with people in the future!  

And here's a cute puppy.

MBTI Reflection

When I first reviewed my MBTI results, I was super surprised to see how accurate I had predicted them.  I was an introvert, obviously. That one wasn't too hard to predict but I feel like the people I tend to be attracted to and interested in hanging out with are almost completely opposite of me in that sense.  Separating in class on Thursday really made me realize that.  I think that trait is the easiest to tell in people and the one you can tell the fastest after meeting them.  The middle two traits (which I currently don't remember) were kind of confusing to me because they seemed fairly similar. But I do remember that my results did seem accurate.  This analysis really helped me think about my study habits and how I can change them to better adapt to my specific learning style.

My Bucket List

Things to Do Before I Graduate Iowa State:
1) Make Dean's List EVERY semester
2) Travel Abroad (to Europe preferably)
3) Become a "true" Iowa Stater ;)
4) Get some solid internships and begin to establish relationships with employers


Things to Do Before I Die:
1) Own a dog
2) Have a successful career
3) Have a cute little family!
4) Travel to EVERY continent

Hixson History & Campus Resources

History-
After digging through newspaper articles dating back to when I was two years old, and reading about all of the students that the Hixson program has helped and continue to help really made me grateful for all that I have at Iowa State.  Reading stories of brain injuries, diabetes, car accidents, juvenile arthritis, death of parents and siblings and beating anorexia was very humbling.  Considering all that the Hixson program and Christina Hixson has done to help so many people over so many years is really a tough concept to grasp.  So many people, including me, owe the fact that they were able to attend college, largely, to one program and one outstanding woman.  Knowing that Christina was not able to attend college herself but has become fortunate enough to help so many others a similar position is so strange to think about.  I can not wait to meet this woman!

Resources-
1) I have taken full advantage of the Hixson study lounge, as I am writing this blog from it right now.  I feel as though I will be spending many hours here in these super comfortable chairs doing homework and printing lecture notes.  There's not many distractions here, which I love! I always seem to get a lot of work done.
2) I plan to take full advantage of the tutoring program although I have not recieved an e-mail back from the program.  As pathetic as it is, Math 150 is kicking my butt! I definately need to get a tutor as soon as possible!
P.S. If any of you are good at math, let me know!
3) I joined a business learning team which I believe will be very helpful.  Just meeting people in similar classes with similar intended majors has been really comforting and has helped to create a smaller community inside of Iowa State.  As the year progresses, I plan to take advantage of all the career and internship opportunities that coinside with the business learning teams.

Blog One

I never thought that doing my best work would involve me losing.  However, that is exactly what happened.  My senior year of high school, I was the captain of my competition cheerleading squad.  We had all sorts of problems from the very start.  Our choreographers were completely unorganized, our counts were ridiculous and our stunt sections were impossible.  Knowing all of this, it was hard to keep everyone's attitudes positive; especially at six in the morning.  However, that was my job as captain and I made sure to do my best to do everything in my power to keep smiles on these girls' faces who were practicing before the sun had risen. 

I was completely out of ideas as to how to boost the attitudes and abilities of my squad.  I brought food, hosted team bonding activities and made more little crafts than I could ever imagine.  Nothing seemed to work.  Attitudes continued to degenerate as well as the good attitudes and good health of my squad.       

Our first competition came all too soon.  We had been battling the flu, strep throat, bad attitudes and missing practices for months now.  Our counts were not dead on, our stunts were not sticking and to top it off, one of our girls had fallen really ill and was not physically able to come to the meet.  We all knew we were not ready and the pressure started to wear on us.

As you can imagine, as we stepped onto the big blue mat at the Westdale Mall Cheerleading Competition, everything fell apart.  Our stunts did not stick, our counts were completely off and frankly, it was the most embarassing three minutes of my life.  Watching the crowd's faces as I knew what had to be going on behind me was devestating.  Having to smile through it was even more devestating.  Getting off the mat and seeing the disappointment and embarassment on the my teammates' faces was terrible.  Seeing my fellow seniors who had been working for this for so long just like me was heart-breaking.  All I could do was keep myself from crying when everyone else was and try to be the best leader I could be. Reflecting on it now, I know this was one of the times in my life where I was at my very best.  I know that that meant so much to me at the time and it was not easy but I did what I had to do.