Week of Tweets

I have always liked using Facebook, because it's a great way to keep in touch with friends you don't see very often, but once I got Twitter I was so used to Facebook that I didn't understand what it was. I kept wanting to "like" people's tweets, but I couldn't. I also wanted to "comment" on their tweets, but all I could do was reply! Replying to me, wasn't the same! When I first got Twitter I just imagined that it would be like Facebook, but without photo albums and the walls. I thought it was just going to be a bunch of Facebook-like statuses on one website. Even though I probably won't continue using Twitter as much in the future, I am glad that I was exposed to it and got to learn about another new social network online. It's nice to be able to follow different people that I am interested in, but not have to ask them to be my "friend." A lot of my Facebook "friends" aren't really friends at all, they are just people that I want to be able to keep in touch with if I need to. But, on Twitter, I can follow them and be able to keep in touch, but not have to be "friends."

A Business Case for Diversity

When I think of diversity, one of the first things that pops into my mind is the movie Anchorman. When they are at the meeting and the boss tells them that they need diversity, and Champ Kind asks what diversity is. Ron Burgundy replies with,“ I believe it is an old wooden ship that was used in the Civil War Era.” Well, yes this is ridiculous that this is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of diversity, but if any you have seen the movie, it is actually a good example of diversity, and what Scott E. Page was trying to say in his lecture. During this point in the movie, they get introduced to Veronica, the new anchor for the news. This was based in the 1970s so this was insane for these times, but as the movie goes on and she is the head anchor, the news ratings are up, and nobody is getting along anymore. Which is what was said in the lecture. Scott E. Page mentioned that groups that are diverse rather than homogenous don’t get along as well, but altogether produce better results. If you have a group with people from the same background, you will get very limited results and ideas, but if you have a group of people who are from different backgrounds, countries, cultures, and religions you will get a widespread of ideas, and more views are better than one. That’s generally what Scott E. Page was trying to get at in his lecture. I can’t believe I just used Anchorman as an example for something.

The Best Me I Could Be

My whole life I have always had a very loving and caring family. I have had two parents who want the best for me, and then grandparents who push me to do my best as well. I also have two older brothers who I have always looked up to, and they have always been there for me if I need help or advice. My supportive family has given me the motivation to do my best.
So far, I think I was at my best my junior year of high school. High school is a big transition from elementary and junior high. In elementary you just learn the basics and then in Junior High it’s just a time to get ready for what is about to come in high school. Although, Freshman and Sophomore year were very easy. I had easy classes and I didn’t really have anything to challenge me.
Once I got to my junior year I had a lot of things going for me. I was the Cheerleading captain so I had to run the practices. I was on the varsity golf team, so that took up a lot of time as well in the spring. I also was driving at this time, so I had a job that I worked 10-15 hours a week at. To make matters worse I had tougher classes this year, including my first “Mr. Nachtman class.” At our school, Mr. Nachtman was the history teacher, and the most dreaded teacher ever. He always assigned long, tedious assignments, and he put things on the tests that we never went over in our notes.
I was so afraid to have Mr. Nachtman as a teacher. I had heard so many horror stories from people about him, and how unfair he is at grading. I knew for sure I was going to do horribly in his class. After the first test I was scared, and I didn’t know what to expect. The next day we got our tests back and I had gotten 88% on it! I was so happy! The whole year I did well in his class and ended getting A’s both semesters. I was so proud of myself. I had so many things going on in my life and I ended up doing well in one of the toughest class our school has to offer.

I'm late, I'm late!

Punctuality is an awesome trait. Why, you may ask? Well, if you are on time, you won't miss any important stuff, but if you are late you could miss something important. For instance, a lot of instructors take attendance at the first 5 minutes. So, you could be considered absent even if you showed up.

The Mindset of Our Teens

For most people, when they think of a college student, they immediately think that they are lazy, inconsiderate, and very immature. I guess I could easily put a lot of students I've met and myself into any or all of these categories, but I have never really considered myself to be ignorant, or uninformed. When we are taught history, it usually stops at the Great Depression or WWII. Very rarely will we learn anything beyond that point, and this is simply because anything beyond that point isn't really considered "true history," considering that our grandparents were most likely alive during that time, and in no way would we want to offend them by learning about what they went through as children in history class.
When we think even more beyond that point, like in the '70s and '80s, when our parents were alive, that is still not considered a part of "true history." But, it's in the past isn't it? So, why don't we ever learn about it? A lot happened in those years that we have clue about, but why do we need to know those things? How would it benefit us?
When I worked in retail, there was an older couple that came in, and they used a $100 bill. To me, it looked old, and I had never seen a $100 bill that looked like that, and when I looked at the date it was from the '70s. So, I said, "No wonder this didn't look familiar! It's old! It's from the '70s!" I got the death stare from the old lady who handed it to me. She immediately said, "It's not old! I was born in the '40s! Do you think I'm old!?" I held back from saying, "yes," but it got me thinking. Is the '70s really considered a long time ago? It was 40 years ago, and to me that seems like a long time, but to most of our parents and grandparents it's not at all.
So, my point is, why don't we learn about any of these things? Why haven't I seen a $100 bill from the '70s before if it's not considered "old?" This list really lead me to believe that maybe teens my age are that ignorant, and maybe we haven't experienced the same things that our parents have, but why would we need to? Who cares if teens only know "Fergie" to be a pop star, and not the princess? Why does it matter if Jay Leno and David Letterman have always been on different TV channels?
Personally, I don't view it as a big deal, and we know what we need to in order to survive our generation. There is no need to know about the things on that list, because if it's changed then it's probably not a big deal anyway. We still know about the Soviet Union, and events like Watergate. Isn’t that enough? Just because we are growing up in a different generation, doesn't mean that we are any different from our parents when they were our age. Well, except for the fact that we have cell phones and Facebook now. And, we have better hair!