For a while now, I have been trying to battle the idea that I’m not as happy here at SUNY Oswego as I could be just because I feel as if I’m not in the right residence hall. As it happened, I, for some reason, made a lot of friends who live in Johnson. Well, I do know why that is, but it wouldn’t really be necessary or productive to this blog entry to explain.

I live in Oneida Hall, which, of course, is basically all the way on the other side of campus, opposite of Johnson, so needless to say, walking over to Johnson to see my friends is a long walk. It’s a walk that I don’t mind, however, as long as the weather is nice, but the weather isn’t always going to be nice. I already find myself incredibly cold some nights on my way back to Oneida, and that’s only going to get worse.

It would seem like the most sensible option would be to cut down on how frequently I visit them when the winter hits, and it starts getting cold and snowy, but that really isn’t an option to be honest. My friends here are my world, and it isn’t my fault that they just happen to live in Johnson. Another sensible option might be to simply try to make more friends in Oneida, but I don’t see that as an option either. I just don’t feel like I belong in Oneida. I have one person in Oneida that I feel really close to, and that’s it, which is opposed to the seven that I can think of who live in Johnson. I am therefore proposing to move into Johnson for the second semester, or if I can’t get into Johnson, which would be preferable, then at least Riggs, which is located right next door to Johnson.

When I’m in Johnson with my friends, I feel like I belong there, and it feels like home to me. I simply don’t feel that way in Oneida. I have filled out a wait list form and have my fingers crossed, praying that this is going to happen. Like I said, I see myself feeling a lot happier as well as more emotionally and physically comfortable here at SUNY Oswego, so I’m really hoping that my request is accepted!

Hey guyss!

I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a few days now, but on last Thursday (11/6), The Men’s and Women’s Swim team participated in a National fund-raiser called “The Hour Of Power”, which is a program that raises money for cancer.  The theme of this year’s fund raiser was “Cancer Sucks”.  On Thursday, Many Collegiate and Club Swimming teams all participated from their respective practice pools.  Starting at 5:00 we split up into 6 different relays (one relay per lane), and did continuous 50 relay sprints for an hour.  Prior to this event the swimmers ask different people or companies to sponsor them for this event, thus matriculating a profit that is all given solely to cancer research.  This was a really fun event to do, and the atmosphere that I felt during the actual event was very powerful.  Although it was very difficult, our team held together well and swam in good spirits for the event.  I feel that everyone gave it their all, and this proved to be a very moving event for our team.  I’m not sure how much money we raised, but it felt good to know we were swimming towards a cure to this detrimental disease.

Cancer is a horrible  disease that has effected an immense amount of lives, and many people that are close to me.  I really enjoyed participating in this fund raiser because cancer really does “suck” and any opportunity that I get to help others get answers to finding a cure, I’ll take.

Oh how I love the winter time! Last week, I was heading to the library with a friend and we had to body slam the door leading out of our dorm building. It was so windy, and when you add a little bit of rain or snow in the mix, it’s a blast.

I really do love the winter time. I love snowboarding, snow shoeing and throwing snowballs of course, but I could easily do without the cold temperatures and the wind. Everyday I ask myself, why would the blind chick choose a college on a lake, where it will snow ten feet and the wind will blow you around? Well, because I love Oswego, that’s about the best answer I have for you.

Sometimes, walking to class, my white cane will just fling up in my hand and it looks like I’m carrying a flag with just the pole part. I think I need ten pound weights at the end of it so that it will stay on the sidewalk when it is very windy outside. That way, when I am at a store, they won’t ask if I’m buying that mop, shower curtain rod, or fishing pole. Putting weights at the end of my cane will help me in so many ways. Could you see me trying to walk with a light-weight cane, with huge weights at the bottom of it?

Oswego is such a beautiful campus and city itself. It is so nice being in my dorm room when the waves are crashing and the sun is shining. Or walking to class along the lake and the leaves are changing colors, but wow do we get a crazy winter!

I’m so happy that the bus picks up and drops off right in front of the doors at my dorm building. This will be my means of transportation 100% during the winter, because there is no way my broken mop, shower curtain rod and I are traveling across campus in the snow. The bus is nice and warm, the drivers are very nice, and there are no snow banks to get lost in.

No matter what the weather is or how cold it is outside, there are so many things to do both indoors and outdoors, whether it be snow sports, or staying in, keeping warm and watching a movie with some friends in the lounge. Sometimes I wish I was down South going to college, using my cane in the sand on the way to class, but in all honesty, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Last week was a fairly busy week for me, but honestly I learned so much in one week. I would say that this week I spent so much time observing everything around me,  from people I spoke with, to the environment I was working in; and I found  out that observing is good for the soul it allows you to self reflect.  There was something that sparked my attention last week, and it struck me to think about my observation; Now when reading further, I ask that you do not think about this blog as an opinion or a judgmental statement, but rather as a simple observation theory about true self development.

This is what I learned, People love to compete, and often they create secret competitions that allows them to compete; but they don’t compete to win, they compete for self fulfillment and completeness, and this I will explain later on. People who compete for those reasons are the ones who I believe have missing elements in their lives.  So to explain things a little better,  I would say people hate to feel incomplete or out of the loop. So remember when I said that people who compete in that way are the ones with the missing elements in their lives; Well because they have missing elements they find things that will fill the spot of the missing elements; and this is where the competition starts.  Now because the spots of the missing elements are filled they begin to feel like: A) They are ahead of the competition B) they are complete because the empty spots are filled. But here is the problem, in order to be in the competition or ahead of the competition; you have to find elements that have substance and elements that have true meaning. This is a lesson that can help towards finding true happiness. By no means am I trying to define “True happiness” but most importantly to say that really there should be no competition, people should not just do things for their “secret competitions.”  Honestly the competitions are not meaningful at all.

So with that shared, you’re probably thinking this girl is about to get real philosophical on us, but that is not what this blog is about.  It’s not even about my theory. The theory was needed in order for you to understand what I would be saying in the rest of this blog. This Blog is about Self Evaluation; Evaluation of one’s self, your purpose, your circle, your commitments and even your engagements.  There is something that I learned from my advisor, and not necessarily that he taught this to me by telling me, but more so because of a little joke  that I have with him, but I realize that the joke is true.  I told him earlier last week that the reason why I enjoy going to him is because it’s like a counseling session, and he is no ordinary counselor who tells me what to do and how to do it; but he allows me to evaluate myself and find those elements with true substances.  

So to put an end to the competitions and those  elements  with no substance,  the first step to take is to find someone,  a mentor, a friend whose perspective you trust, or even yourself.  Just simply take some time on your own and evaluate yourself. In order for it to work you have to evaluate with an open mind logically and critically. The main purpose is to find those elements with substance that works for you and eliminate the ones that don’t. Now remember elements can be anything; from the things you eat to the people you hang out with, “your circle.” When you find the elements with substances, enhance on them, and if you have tons of elements with no substance but don’t know how to let them go, first thing I would like to encourage is trying something new, take the opportunity to step outside of your element and those things that constrict you. Then you should also try this thing that I would like to call “process and Progress.”  Think like this, slow process can bring forth huge progress, but only through deliberate and critical engagement of defining a purpose.  Try it, it might work for you!

To end this I would like to say self evaluation is not about being in the competition, it’s not even about winning the race, it’s about YOU having what it takes to deliver and accomplish through empowerment and true achievements.

It’s coming!

I am voting for the first time this year.  I could have voted 4 years ago but did not understand the importance of my vote, or take the time to become knowledgeable of the candidates or issues.  This year I have taken the time to do just that.  For COM416, my Public Relations capstone, we are working throughout the semester to create an information campaign about a political issue.  The issue I have been researching for this semester is Education (the No Child Left Behind Act, charter schools and vouchers) and during my research I became extremely interested in reading what Barack Obama and John McCain had to say about all of these issues.

I understand why I did not vote when I was 18, and why I find it so important 4 years later.  I am not saying that the issues and voting were not important 4 years ago, but I think a person can grow up so much in 4 years.  I understand more about the government and more in general now than I did when I was 18, but also I will be graduating soon and taxes, job opportunities and other things are so much more relevant to me now.

Something else I have found interesting through all of the debates and campaigning is how different my family feels about each of the candidates.  My family is completely split between the two and I love the heated conversations we get into about each of them.

Personally I will be voting for Barack Obama and am very proud to say so.  I think there definitely needs to be a change in the United States and I think he will give that to us.  Either way you plan on voting, I think it is great that you are doing so.  It is so important and obviously it can change the future of this country.

(I have also really enjoyed celebrity PSAs like Five Friends and Tina Fey’s amazing impersonations of Sarah Palin.)

So one of the many things that I love about this place is it gives us the ability to do things.  As simple as it sounds, this school give us so many opportunities to do what we want to do to further our education and prep for our careers, plus all the support behind it that we could want.

For example, I want to get into event coordination (and be a rockstar) so I plan concerts for the school… so shameless plug goes here:

TONIGHT @ 7:30 in the Hewitt Union Ballroom

Ball in the House is performing, this amazing vocal group from Boston, they’ve been on national TV, they’re the makers behind the cool whip jingle (extra emphasis on the ‘h’ in whip).  If you want to check out their stuff go to www.ballinthehouse.com

and my group Still in Progress and another local band Closer still (www.myspace.com/stillinprogressband; myspace.com/closerstill), will be opening up the show

Gen Admission-$10, Students/Sr Citizens-$7

But the point of this.  A group of us really wanted to bring them to the school, talked to the music dept, artswego and campus life, and we got it off the ground.  Now having coordinated this whole event, it’s definately something I can add to my resumes, and it’s things like this that one, make this all worthwhile, and two, show me that maybe I can make it when I finally get out of here.

Tuesday was one of those days that I began to question my decision to attend SUNY Oswego, and as a freshman, I am aware that that is a very premature statement to make, since I am completely unaware of what winters are actually like here. However, I just can’t believe the wind here, and what’s worse is you don’t just get wind, you get wind and rain, so going outside leaves you with no choice but to get wet, because you can’t use an umbrella because of the wind.

It was just one of those days that really made me start thinking about the winter. Wednesday sort of played its part as well because of how cold it was. I couldn’t believe how I was dressed in October! All I know is that experiencing winters here is definitely going to be an interesting experience, and it’s going to take a lot of adaptation, adaptation that I am hoping is a lot easier than it seems right now.