I found out a few days ago that someone that graduated from my high school was killed in combat in Iraq.  Coming from such a small school, everyone knew him and it has been something that has been really hard for the whole community to understand.  I hope he knows how extremely proud so many people are of him and how brave he is for sacrificing his life for the country.  In times like this, I can only help but think that God makes everything happen for a reason.  It really is a reality check.  I’ve been thinking lately that people, including myself, take so much for granted.  A lot of us (and no, I’m not saying everyone) walk around and act like our lives are so horrible and stressful all the time and really, we should all just be thankful that we are living.   I find it incredibly sad that most people forget that there are soldiers still fighting in a war and to be honest, if someone asked me why we have soldiers in Iraq right now I would have no answers.  I’ll admit, it’s the last thing that I think about most days but in the end, it should be something that I pray about every single day.

RIP Mike…so many people are proud of you.  I hope I can do something extraordinary with my life just like you did.

Unfortunately, as most of you most likely know, we didn’t declare victory over Plattsburgh Friday night, or over Potsdam on Saturday. However,  I did get some footage of the game. Unfortunately, my camera broke, and I didn’t really get any footage of the actual game. There is some footage of the fans, nearly all of them dressed in white as well as footage of the Plattsburgh team throwing pucks at the window as fans chant, “Plattsburgh sucks!” There’s also some footage of my friend Danielle as she is immensely enjoying her soda. Enjoy!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GixTrNxHGdM

I can’t believe how rapidly the weather keeps changing! I have been so sick for the past couple of weeks, and the weather just won’t let me shake it. Last week, there were a couple of days that were like spring. All of the snow was gone, and it was around fifty degrees. Now, it’s back to being well below freezing with what appear to be multiple tornadoes made of snow.

Every time I complain, people always ask me, “why did you choose Oswego?” since Oswego is infamous for its relentless winters. Although choosing Oswego wasn’t exactly a “choice,” I do think that Oswego has its pros that contrast with its weatherly cons. For example, making friends is typically very easy here, since the campus is so diverse. A diverse campus increases the chance that you’re going to find a person, or better yet, a group of people, that are like you.

Oswego’s campus is also relatively accepting when it comes to differences amongst people, and it can’t be denied that that is highly beneficial to any campus setting. Besides, as far as the weather is concerned, there are also pros to that! When Oswego is not undergoing winter, it is amazingly beautiful. The lake, for example, under a setting sun in the summer time is unlike anything I have ever seen, and it’s a nice place to visit and reflect. I feel confident that I am just as happy here as I would be just about anywhere else.

Then, of course, there is the hockey team! Tonight, we play Plattsburgh, which means it’s White-Out, and of course, the weather saw it fit to correlate. A lot of students, including me, are really looking forward to this game. It will definitely be interesting! I realize now that this blog is a little scattered, but it is kind of just a collage of random thoughts thrown together.

I know that I am suppose to pay attention in class, focus on what the teacher is saying, and take notes etc. but today was just one of those days where my mind could not stay on task as hard as I tried. I was thinking about anything and everything possible. I was thinking about Spring break which we have in a few weeks. I am heading to Florida for the week with some family and friends. I was also thinking about how I am excited for nice weather, laying on the beach, jet skiing and so much more.

One of the things that I began thinking about was my life. My sister and my parents always tell me that I should write a book about my life. For those of you who don’t know, I am blind and have had a degenerative eye condition since I was born. I do not let it get in my way, I actually have fun with it sometimes and that is what I think I would talk about if I wrote this book. So many funny things have happened to me and so many great things along the way.

I always have this problem with writing a paper or even a blog. I never know how to start what I am writing. Usually once I get a good start I can write or type for hours, but I am trying to think of how to start a book and that seems impossible right now. I am trying to figure out what will catch the readers eye or lure them into my life story. If anyone has any interesting ideas, please share them with me.

This is what I was thinking about all during class and before I knew it, I had taken no notes, and the class was almost over. I better go and read the chapter and jot down some notes.

As any Oswego resident knows a warm winter day results in melting snow and ultimately the formation of “problem” puddles.  I have to say there are a lot of problem puddles on the Oswego campus.  Case in point, the Funnelle resident parking lot…there’s quite a few potholes in that blacktop!  They are unforgiving to automobile shocks and, when filled with water, to the shoes, socks, and pant legs of unsuspecting, casually cruising students’.  Obviously, potholes happen, especially in the northeast.  So why am I blogging about puddles?

Well tonight my teammates and I made the trek from practice at the campus center over to late-night at Cooper and we came across a pathway puddle barrier.  I’m sure anyone who eats at Coop, or lives in Funnelle and Hart, has come across this puddle on a rainy or warm winter day and knows exactly what puddle I am referring too.  For those of you that are not frequent Coop customers, well the puddle covers at least a 1/3 or more of the pathway extending from the backside of Hart and Cooper (towards the campus center) on any given wet day.

From what I have seen, a few pairs of kicks have been lost to this puddle, or to the mud on the sides of the path, over the last year and a half.  So I am wondering if there is anything that can be done about it since it is such a high traffic area.  As my teammate Kendra Lemire suggested, maybe Oswego should consider investing in underground tunnels?

Despite the fact that underground tunnels would provide a respite from walks to class in Oswego’s winter weather I’m not sure starting a “Big Dig” around campus would be the ideal solution to the the Cooper pathway puddle problem.  I’m thinking a little drainage pipe should suffice.

On a side note…I don’t think the tunnel idea should be thrown out completely.   Considering the extreme snow and wind that hits our campus, especially over by the Seneca area, it might be practical to put a walking tunnel or two around campus.

I am sure engineers have fine tuned the underground tunnel-digging process since Boston!

You are all probably wondering why I haven’t written in a while, or maybe you aren’t, but the Winter break has been crazy and so has the beginning of this semester.

Over Winter break, I joined an adaptive ski program. Of course, I being the daredevil wanted to snowboard instead. Many say that it is difficult to snowboard with sight, well it was time for me to try it with very little sight. It has been such a great experience. I have done it every Sunday until one week where I decided to attempt some tricks. I did a few 360’s which is when you are facing the board down the hill, lift up and completely spin around and land facing the same direction that you started in. After a few of these fun tricks, I landed on my arm and hurt it pretty bad, resulting in my arm being in a sling for the past three or so weeks.

Snowboarding with very very little sight is extremely interesting. It’s quite funny; I wear an orange vest that says “blind snowboarder” on the back of it, just to let other people on the mountain know that I cannot see. The person working with me or being my guide has an orange vest that says “blind guide.” One week, one of the guides decided to try this radio/microphone system out. In each of our helmets, we had an ear piece and a microphone that was always on. This ensured that he could always tell me where to go or which way to turn etc. It also made it so that he did not have to be right near me, we could have some space in between us on the mountain. People would get very freaked out when they saw a man with an orange vest that said “blind guide” and had no idea where the person was that he was guiding went. We got a lot of laughs out of that.

My computer also decided to crash, which is always nice. It was very difficult for me because I cannot just go onto any computer and start using it. The speaking software that I use on my computer isn’t on other computers, which made it difficult to use any type of internet or word processing over the January break.

Enough of all that. This semester is going great! I have quite the load of work and classes, but I am very motivated and feel that this semester will go very smoothly. I am doing my practicum at the Onondaga County Probation Department which is located in downtown Syracuse. I worked at this agency over the summer as an intern and enjoyed it so much that I picked this organization to complete my practicum as well. The practicum consists of 120 hours of fieldwork and it also has a class attached with it. Even though it is a lot of work, it is a lot of fun, very informative and I have met so many great people along the way.

In the spare time of my busy life, I hang out with friends or my suitemates. I am still also involved in martial arts and snowboarding. I will be writing blogs much more often now, sorry for the lengthy break of time between my blogs.

For those of you who followed my blog entries last semester, you know that I was pushing strenuously to get into Johnson for a variety of reasons. Well, I got in. The Friday after second semester began, my hall director at Oneida told me that the Johnson hall director told her that he had a place for me here, and I moved in the following Monday. I was so happy. Johnson is my true home here, and it’s going to be very difficult having to leave it at the end of the semester.

What do I love about Johnson? At Oneida, there wasn’t as much room for me to spread my legs. I had my room, and that was it, and that wasn’t very much room. I didn’t really have the space to have my bed delofted, so the only place I had to relax, watch TV, read and chat on AIM was my desk. Here, not only is the room bigger, enabling me to have a delofted bed, but there are also other places to go. There is a lounge on each floor as well as a circular desk space outside of each lounge. If I need to stay up a little later than usual doing homework or something to that effect, I can do so without having to worry about disturbing anyone who’s trying to sleep.

As I’ve said before in an earlier blog, a majority of my friends on campus are also Johnson residents, and I was here all the time as it was. Of course, some of those friends don’t act much like friends anymore. They seem to have forgotten the main reason I pushed so hard to get in here, and it also seems as if they’ve forgotten how much they used to care. If you are one of my Johnson friends, then don’t automatically assume I’m talking about you. Chances are good that you know if you are. If we haven’t talked or hung out in a while, because you have either ignored me or lied to me, then you know who you are.

I’m not writing this blog to be cynical. I am really happy about this for the most part. It just shows that sometimes, if you set your mind to something, you can do it. I was told that the odds weren’t good, that the list of students wanting to live here was relatively long and that there wasn’t any room for me anyway, but I didn’t give up. I kept pushing, and here I am writing this blog from my Johnson dorm room. So just keep that in mind. If you really want something for whatever reason, then put your mind to it and fight for it.

I have classes all day Tuesdays and Thursdays and no classes on Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays.  Yes, I’m lucky I know.  I thought Tuesdays and Thursdays would be torture, but really they’re not bad.  I would recommend all of my classes to anyone.  My first class is BRC200 (Social History of American TV&Radio) with Cliff Kobland.  I normally don’t like history classes but I like it because it’s all just practical information like how broadcasting changed from primarily radio to television and now to the internet.  It’s pretty interesting stuff.  My second  class on these days is my favorite.  ENG486 (World Cinema) with Bennet Schaber.  We watch movies and then talk about it.  Schaber is hilarious.  I could listen to him lecture every class and not be bored.  If you despise science classes like I do but have to take it for a gen ed take CHE300 (Environmental Science) with Cynthia Lawniczak.  She makes it so easy to learn and not as boring as I thought it was going to be.  My last class is PSY340 (Social Psychology) with Sandy Waldron who is definitely one of the best professors I’ve had here.  She treats us all like we’re her peers, which makes it so much easier to learn and makes her so much fun to listen to during lectures.  Definitely take a class with her if you get the chance!

Here goes my final semester and its off to a quiet start which is much appreciated. I’m looking forward to a really productive time. But, really and truly the semester seems very mysterious not in a since of leaving, graduating, and/or anything like that. Its all just so mysterious because I don’t know what is to come in the next phase. Yes there are plans of job seeking and graduate school. However, beyond that are questions of who? what? where? why? when?

It was never a thought in my mind that I wouldn’t find my way. I actually found great privilege in finding and discovering new paths. These new paths represent so much including places untraveled, friendships not yet acquired, food untasted, and even romance unfounded to name a few. I’m excited about the road ahead. I would say that I’m not unsettled about much in terms of whats coming forward. I’m certain everything shall pay off for the better. Even in High School I would have never fathomed being at this stage in life; I just didn’t, nobody does. It is almost like a puzzle to me and the pieces to the puzzle are always changing and transforming leaving it to never be a complete configuration of what is to happen until I match the next puzzle piece to add a further portion to the picture; my life.

Some would find the stages that require a person to wait for the next step to be nerve racking. This is also known for many if not all as transitions in life. I find transitions to be great! Part with the old and and set sail with the new and embrace the changes as they come is how I see it. Thats what I did when I first entered SUNY Oswego and it has brought me great enthusiasm on the many types of opportunities I can have just by me wanting to explore and embrace my transitions. So despite what good or bad of a transition one can be I will look to embrace and learn as much as I can from each one.

After all, life is about growth, hardships, success, struggles, and change to name a few things. I’m just attempting to find as many puzzle pieces as I can when setting sail on each transition and journey. No I don’t always have the answers but I would definitely like to find them. I’m certain not all transitions will be good ones, but I intend to make the most of them. I may not always have what I want but I will work even harder for what I may need. Be not afraid of what is to come! Is what I say to myself on the quiet evenings as I think rapidly before I fall asleep. I say myself, champion all odds because each goal, each achievement, each trial, each error strengthen me.