My Friends and I LOVE SUB Thursdays. Every week, when Thursday rolls around, I get texted if I am going to be there after class. Every Tuesday and Thursday I get out of my second class at 12, but by this time, Sub Thursday has already gone into play. What is SUB Thursday? Well every week, the University center fills up with people; they have kiosks of all different kinds of things, such as purses or t-shirts, but that isn’t what I go for.
What college kid doesn’t love those two amazing words? FREE FOOD! In my opinion, that is probably the best combination since PB&J. The first sub Thursday there was an ongoing line for a delicious Mexican lunch. It included pork, white rice, black beans, plantains, and weird bread, which was scrumptious. It is not the same thing every week, which makes SUB Thursday that much better. Last week was especially exciting because they not only had hot dogs and hamburgers, but Maggie moos, only the best ice cream ever, set up a little stand, letting you have a free scoop of your choice. Even the dessert changes every week from ice cream to snow cones to cotton candy, it never gets old.
It is never boring on SUB Thursdays, because there is so much going on. Between the loud music outside that is enjoyed by everyone, the free food that no one gets sick of, and the possible items you could win, people should definitely get excited every Thursday. A few weeks’ back random people were winning Maroon Five, Augustana, and Counting Crows concert tickets, which usually run for about fifty dollars. There is always so much going on Thursdays, who knows what you will miss if you don’t go. I know I will continue to go to SUB Thursdays for quite some time.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Who Doesn't Love A Little Jazz?
A few weeks ago, my friends and I, were looking for something to do. It was a typical Friday night; everyone we knew didn’t have anything the next day so they were already getting ready to go out and party it up. Since we had crew practice at 6 the next morning, and were all tired from the week that had just gone passed, we decided to stay in which we didn’t feel like doing. Who wants to stay in of a Friday night? Luckily our friend Kyle helped with our situation and told us about the Jazz and Blues festival that had been going on that night. It was going to be the second annual South Florida International Blues Festival, right here at NSU.
Thank G-d we were allowed to use our shark cards to get in because we broke college kids would have really been in trouble if they had asked for money. We were pretty happy just going to something, and it kept us entertained for a good while. We arrived in front of the Library, where the festival was being held, and we had just missed the performance of the University School Blues Band, which was the opener for the evening. We heard them all the way from our dorm and they sounded pretty good for a high school band.
I went to the festival with three of my friends. Two of which were from New Jersey, and one that was from Land O Lakes, Florida. Although Claire and I only live a few hours from school, it is safe to say that we were all pretty home sick. Both Heathers said the festival was fun but it made them miss home even more because of all the festivals they have at the boardwalk in NJ. Claire and I were sad because the towns we lived in had bluegrass, and we wished that would have been at the festival too.
After dancing around like we grew up listening to such music, doing the twist and other strange moves from the past, and a we comments from the old people drinking next to us, telling us that’s how they really used to dance when they were little and we weren’t even born yet, we listened for a few more minutes and went back home. We were pretty happy that we decided to leave our dorms and check out the festival because even though it made us a little more homesick, it kept our minds positives and who doesn’t love a little jazz?
Thank G-d we were allowed to use our shark cards to get in because we broke college kids would have really been in trouble if they had asked for money. We were pretty happy just going to something, and it kept us entertained for a good while. We arrived in front of the Library, where the festival was being held, and we had just missed the performance of the University School Blues Band, which was the opener for the evening. We heard them all the way from our dorm and they sounded pretty good for a high school band.
I went to the festival with three of my friends. Two of which were from New Jersey, and one that was from Land O Lakes, Florida. Although Claire and I only live a few hours from school, it is safe to say that we were all pretty home sick. Both Heathers said the festival was fun but it made them miss home even more because of all the festivals they have at the boardwalk in NJ. Claire and I were sad because the towns we lived in had bluegrass, and we wished that would have been at the festival too.
After dancing around like we grew up listening to such music, doing the twist and other strange moves from the past, and a we comments from the old people drinking next to us, telling us that’s how they really used to dance when they were little and we weren’t even born yet, we listened for a few more minutes and went back home. We were pretty happy that we decided to leave our dorms and check out the festival because even though it made us a little more homesick, it kept our minds positives and who doesn’t love a little jazz?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Coach Carter
At the beginning of the year, Ken Carter, otherwise known as Coach Carter, coach of the Richmond Basketball team in Richmond, California, came to visit our school.
Every athlete knows that when you join a sport, you sign a contract stating such things as the promise that as long as you are on the team you are to do well in school. When one goes below their expectations, they are to sit out of whatever athletic event they are suppose to attend and are put on academic probation. In 1999, when 15 of Coach Carters 45 basketball players did not meet the standards of his contract, he took immediate actions. With a successful attempt, he refused to let his undefeated Varsity team to play the season; he closed the gym to the high school, and banned everything that had to do with basketball until his players lived by the contract. Ever since his actions, a movie has been made based on his life. Samuel L. Jackson plays him in the movie Coach Carter.
Hearing him speak was very motivational. All the students in the gym listening were fellow athletes and I knew every coach in there was listening to every word he said. When it comes to motivational speaking, I give coach carter an A because he knows exactly what he is talking about. He talks about actual examples that have happened in his past and teaches people you can do it (anything you set your mind to).
Looking around the gym I saw that no one single soul dared not to pay attention. It wasn’t that he was intimidating, even thought it WAS Coach Carter, but because it wasn’t hard to listen to what he had to say. Unlike other speakers, he really kept everyone’s attention the whole time.
After he spoke, he gave out Dvds of the movie and signed autographs, talking to anyone who wanted to take his words meaningfully. Before he left to catch his plane he told me and two of my friends that we could do anything as long as we set our minds to it. He said it a little better than that, but it was still pretty cool to talk to him. After he shook our hands, he thanked us for joining his speech and he left.
With his jokes, expert advice on winning, in the game and in real life, and his words on education, we were all thankful that Coach Carter made it out to Nova Southeastern University.
Every athlete knows that when you join a sport, you sign a contract stating such things as the promise that as long as you are on the team you are to do well in school. When one goes below their expectations, they are to sit out of whatever athletic event they are suppose to attend and are put on academic probation. In 1999, when 15 of Coach Carters 45 basketball players did not meet the standards of his contract, he took immediate actions. With a successful attempt, he refused to let his undefeated Varsity team to play the season; he closed the gym to the high school, and banned everything that had to do with basketball until his players lived by the contract. Ever since his actions, a movie has been made based on his life. Samuel L. Jackson plays him in the movie Coach Carter.
Hearing him speak was very motivational. All the students in the gym listening were fellow athletes and I knew every coach in there was listening to every word he said. When it comes to motivational speaking, I give coach carter an A because he knows exactly what he is talking about. He talks about actual examples that have happened in his past and teaches people you can do it (anything you set your mind to).
Looking around the gym I saw that no one single soul dared not to pay attention. It wasn’t that he was intimidating, even thought it WAS Coach Carter, but because it wasn’t hard to listen to what he had to say. Unlike other speakers, he really kept everyone’s attention the whole time.
After he spoke, he gave out Dvds of the movie and signed autographs, talking to anyone who wanted to take his words meaningfully. Before he left to catch his plane he told me and two of my friends that we could do anything as long as we set our minds to it. He said it a little better than that, but it was still pretty cool to talk to him. After he shook our hands, he thanked us for joining his speech and he left.
With his jokes, expert advice on winning, in the game and in real life, and his words on education, we were all thankful that Coach Carter made it out to Nova Southeastern University.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Alcohol.
It is simple to say that almost (key word is almost) every college kid experiments with alcohol. It's common curiosity, but for many, they never knew that curiosity killed that cat. It being only my first semester at college, I can truly say that is rare to meet someone who hasn’t at least tried some form of alcohol. The more power to you if you if you stood strong throughout high school and now college without wondering once, “what if?”Growing up in a household where your father comes home late from work and you know, at age seven, that when you walk into the living room he will have his whiskey on the rocks in the same glass he used the night before, you figure out that is not the way you want to live your life. Pushing those images from my head, and now living a few years away from his used to be bad habit, I know that is one thing I never want to become. Alcohol and I have a nature vs. nurture relationship. I was not only around it growing up, which would be the nurture aspect, but my birth mother was known to be an alcoholic as well. It honestly does not bother me at all, and I do not think that will affect me in the long run, but my decisions to and not to drink have been based around my, what I consider, real mom. Since I started high school, she knew I would be surrounded with what adults call peer pressure. She would tell me numerous times that my birth mom was an alcoholic and she drank while she was still having me. Her outlook on it is that because she still continued to drink while I was in her stomach, My body is naturally “addicted” to alcohol. Since she still tells me ‘til this day that I need to be careful for that such reason, I continue to reply that she has absolutely nothing to worry about because what I do and decided is and never will be a reflection of my birth mother. I know it reassures her but she is still going to worry.
Being around it made me curious, but hearing stories of college student dying from over consumption of alcohol, frankly scares me. It is an ongoing problem which I do not think will ever reside, ever. But with colleges like the University of Virginia, and many others taking action, the more “social norming”, the less lives taken each year.
I will be completely honest and say, yes, I have tried it and I have learned that at certain times it can be fun, but over a course of time I realized I don’t need it to have fun. I do not want to end up like my mom, relying on substances to make me happy and feel good. When the time is right I’ll have a drink, but that time isn’t now. I would never want to jeopardize my spot on my rowing team, my college career, and possibly my life.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Responsiblity.
According to dictionary.com, the definition of responsible is: answerable or accountable, as for something within one's power, control, or management. In life you need to take responsibility for your actions. You are in control of everything you do, and you need to be responsible of such things. The decisions you make reflect your ability to account for what you do in your life.
In Return to Paradise, Vince Vaughn plays a New York Limo driver just working to get by. Him and two of his friends enjoy a crazy trip in Malaysia, but when one of his friends, Lewis, stays behind to do something good for the world, he ends up getting three years in prison for drug possession. Two years later, both Tony and Sheriff are notified that their friend has been in jail for the last two years and is awaiting the death penalty for something that was their fault. It was the carelessness of the three of them that lead to this disaster, but it was their responsibility to make it right. Whether they take responsibility for what was really their fault in the first place? Or do they just let their friend rot in Malaysia to await his death? That part is for you to find out, but what would you do?
It is easy for someone to say that if their friend was in that type of situation, they would go back in a heartbeat. That is way easier said than done. Would three years in a third world prison be worth it? To me, it definitely would be. I would rather take the same punishment as my friend did and see him in 3 years rather than live the rest of my life never seeing him again. Yes, that is a true friend, but other than that, it is taking responsibility. Whether you like it or not, it was your fault just as much as your two friends, and even though reality can suck, you would never have to live your life wondering, “what if?” I know for a fact I would never be able to live life easily if I just forgot about someone. I personally think that is the right thing to do and that if you do something to that extent, you shouldn’t let other take the blame. It is only fair.
In Return to Paradise, Vince Vaughn plays a New York Limo driver just working to get by. Him and two of his friends enjoy a crazy trip in Malaysia, but when one of his friends, Lewis, stays behind to do something good for the world, he ends up getting three years in prison for drug possession. Two years later, both Tony and Sheriff are notified that their friend has been in jail for the last two years and is awaiting the death penalty for something that was their fault. It was the carelessness of the three of them that lead to this disaster, but it was their responsibility to make it right. Whether they take responsibility for what was really their fault in the first place? Or do they just let their friend rot in Malaysia to await his death? That part is for you to find out, but what would you do?
It is easy for someone to say that if their friend was in that type of situation, they would go back in a heartbeat. That is way easier said than done. Would three years in a third world prison be worth it? To me, it definitely would be. I would rather take the same punishment as my friend did and see him in 3 years rather than live the rest of my life never seeing him again. Yes, that is a true friend, but other than that, it is taking responsibility. Whether you like it or not, it was your fault just as much as your two friends, and even though reality can suck, you would never have to live your life wondering, “what if?” I know for a fact I would never be able to live life easily if I just forgot about someone. I personally think that is the right thing to do and that if you do something to that extent, you shouldn’t let other take the blame. It is only fair.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Agreeing with Sarah
Agreeing with Sarah Vowell
Although Sarah is an American, she seems to fancy the Canadian way of life. Can you blame her? They seem all kinds of perfect, and if you take a step back to realize, who are the only people you never hear about in any negative way? Yes, Canadians, or as Sarah will say, Mounties. Americans for the most part feel as if solving problems mean war, while Canada simply feels that a treaty is a decent way to handle the situation. If you think about it, they have a good way of dealing with problems, if they have any at all. Even in the earlier days, they felt that war would not solve anything and I am going to have to agree. I hate everything about war.
Although Sarah is an American, she seems to fancy the Canadian way of life. Can you blame her? They seem all kinds of perfect, and if you take a step back to realize, who are the only people you never hear about in any negative way? Yes, Canadians, or as Sarah will say, Mounties. Americans for the most part feel as if solving problems mean war, while Canada simply feels that a treaty is a decent way to handle the situation. If you think about it, they have a good way of dealing with problems, if they have any at all. Even in the earlier days, they felt that war would not solve anything and I am going to have to agree. I hate everything about war.
I don’t feel that it is completely pointless, but I do feel that it could be dealt in other ways. Resulting in a major loss of money and lives, I’ll stick with the ‘Mounties’ on this one and say three cheers for treaties. One other major difference between us and Canada would have to be the fact that they are true when they say everyone is treated the same. Everyone knows that as much as we say, “Everyone is created equal” it will never be completely true. Yes, that is an opinion, but who really feels that every single person has the same rights and is treated the same? As for their take on conformity, that is a different story. That is the only topic I will have to disagree on with my fellow Canadians. If it wasn’t for unconformity we would not have some of the things we have today. For example, how do you think women got the right to vote? If it wasn’t for individualism, women would still be house wives and house wives only. I think it is perfectly fine to agree to disagree rather than everyone having the same opinion on everything. At times it can cause problems but this country isn’t perfect, no country is, although Canada comes awkwardly close. They have their way of life and we have ours. I cannot completely disagree with Sarah because the Canadians have a good thing going but I was born and raised in American and I will stand by what my country decides.
Monday, October 6, 2008
My Boy Chris.
Just like everyone else that Chris has met; or should I say Alex, I like him. I think he was a smart individual who knew what he wanted in life and knew just how to achieve it. Unlike everybody else, his idea of the American dream was very non conformist. Most people will agree that their American dream is one in which you succeed to the fullest, but what makes each different is what success really means to each individual. One might say making as much money as they possibly can is one way of living the American dream while others; just like Alex’s way of thinking, is the complete opposite; Working hard and not living by anyone else’s way.
Although he says he does not want to end up like his parents, I don’t really understand why he wanted to rough it out in the wild to the extreme. A lot of people feel the same way as him but I know that is not the first thing I would think of if I just didn’t want to end up like the family. Even though I find his adventure insane; I give him a lot of credit for doing what he wanted because I don’t think I could ever be as brave as he was.
Curious as to what some people thought the definition of the American Dream was; I looked it up on urbandictionary.com, and found numerous results. One was a long, essay written definition, but the one I really liked was short and sweet. The American Dream: “Getting paid a whole lot to do not a whole hell of a lot.” I am going to have to say that pretty much sums it up. Why do people do what they do? To achieve what they feel is the American dream, and to most, that is as follows; make a lot of money by not doing a lot. Sounds easy, but not everyone gets their dream handed to them. I think it depends on the person whether or not they think they have gotten hold on their dream. I think it’s safe to say that some people have reached their, what used to be, unreachable.
Although he says he does not want to end up like his parents, I don’t really understand why he wanted to rough it out in the wild to the extreme. A lot of people feel the same way as him but I know that is not the first thing I would think of if I just didn’t want to end up like the family. Even though I find his adventure insane; I give him a lot of credit for doing what he wanted because I don’t think I could ever be as brave as he was.
Curious as to what some people thought the definition of the American Dream was; I looked it up on urbandictionary.com, and found numerous results. One was a long, essay written definition, but the one I really liked was short and sweet. The American Dream: “Getting paid a whole lot to do not a whole hell of a lot.” I am going to have to say that pretty much sums it up. Why do people do what they do? To achieve what they feel is the American dream, and to most, that is as follows; make a lot of money by not doing a lot. Sounds easy, but not everyone gets their dream handed to them. I think it depends on the person whether or not they think they have gotten hold on their dream. I think it’s safe to say that some people have reached their, what used to be, unreachable.
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