Meet Your Professor

I have never visited a professor during office hours, and probably never would have if it weren't for this assignment. I was a little nervous before I went to see him, but luckily the meeting went better than I expected. I met with my math professor, Dr. Androulakis. I prepared a few questions to get a conversation started and from there the conversation took off. I learned that he is from Greece, that he has taught in Texas and Missouri, that he really likes the friendliness between faculty in the math department, and that he is not a sports fan. He also seems to be a really affectionate husband and father.

I am really glad I made the visit with my professor. Now I will not hesitate to meet with my teachers during office hours if I have a question. If someone asked me for advice before meeting with a professor, I would say to be open-minded. Also, go in there having a general idea about what you want to discuss. This will make the meeting go smoother.

Hand Middle School Visit

After visiting Hand Middle School, I feel a little more confident about mentoring a student. The meetings seem like they will be more laid back than I had imagined. Before the visit, I pictured the meetings being in a classroom with the two of us sitting at desks staring at each other. I was relieved to hear that we have free roam of the campus. This should allow me to learn more about my mentee by varying the setting and let her personality shine through. I was also happy to fill out the interest form so that I can hopefully be paired with someone with similar interests. I hope I can get my 6th grader to be more involved and help with her transition from elementary to middle school.

I hope to gain a better understanding of diversity. The director explained to our group that Hand Middle School is made up of the "haves" and the "have nots." I was inspired when she went on to explain how the school works like a community. They put aside their differences and do whatever it takes to give every student an equal opportunity. I'm excited to witness this diversity with my own eyes.

Patrick Hickey

I am very excited about having the opportunity to mentor a 6th grader as he or she goes through the transition from elementary school to middle school. I still remember how much I hated the transition into middle school. I hope I can make my mentee feel more comfortable than I felt through this transition. I am anxious to hear what my mentee is experiencing. I don't really know what to expect. I always tend to think the worst: What if my mentee doesn't talk? I don't talk much myself, so I really hope the mentee has a lot to say. What if he or she doesn't like me? I'm scared I'm going to say the wrong thing. I feel like the handbook and in-class training helped calm my fears. I'm sure once I start talking with the mentee, I will know what to say. Even though I think of the worst, I hope for the best!

Academic Success - LASSI

I feel like many of my LASSI results are lower than they should be. For instance, I got a 10 for attitude. I think this score should be higher because I have a very positive attitude towards college. I want to do well in college because I know that good academic performance in college will help me get the job I want after I graduate, but I also want to have a fun college experience. One score that I think is well deserved is a 10 for time management. I am a procrastinator. When I know something is due the next week, I put it off until the day before it's due and am always overwhelmed with the amount of work. I sometimes plan to space the assignment out over the course of the week, but I still somehow always manage to procrastinate. To improve this I could make a to-do list. I already use a weekly planner, but a to-do list can help break up the tasks. Also, for a long assignment, I could to break it up and assign myself small portions of the big assignment each day until it's due. Another LASSI score I agree with is the motivation score. This is my highest score although it is only a 60. I am very motivated to do homework because I think it is dumb to do poorly in a class for not doing the homework. I am also motivated to study for the tests because I want to make good grades. If I do not understand the topic, I will seek help by going to the SI session.

Service Learning Experience

I regret that I have a limited amount of service experience. The only service I have done was for my economics and government classes and to fulfill my National Honors Society requirements. For economics and government, I volunteered at Harvest Hope Food Bank. I helped with sorting produce such as oranges and onions into separate bags for families. Also, I helped restock the shelves at the food pantry. This experience was very fulfilling because I knew it was for a good, needy cause. For the National Honors Society, I volunteered at Relay For Life. I chose this service oportunity since my grandfather was a cancer victim. I don't know whether to even consider Relay for Life as community service because all that was required was to show up. However, I did help with preparations. I decorated and wrote names of cancer victims on paper bags. These bags were later filled with sand and a candle, then they were placed around the track of our high school's stadium and lit. During the event, I walked around the track.

Accademic Success

I plan to stay organized by using my Mortarboard planner. I write all of my upcoming assignments and plans in it. I consult it every day to see what's due next. During most of highschool, I used a weekly planner as well and that method seemed to keep me more organized and less stressed. For a year, however, I didn't use a planner. This resulted in a much more stressful year. I relied on my memory and it was hard to keep everything straight. So, for college I will definately go with the planner.

My name is Candice Ellison. I was born in Richland Memorial Hospital, lived in Winnsboro, SC until I was three when I moved to Lexington, SC. I have lived in Lexington ever since. Me, my brother, and my sister are very close. We get along most of the time. I have an older brother, James (almost 21), who is a senior at Clemson. He never smiles normaly for pictures which explains his goofy smile in the picture above. This semester he is studying abroad in Ghana, Africa. He is a biosystems engineering major. He played trumpet in high school and continues to play at church at Clemson. I have a younger sister, Audrey (16), who is a sophmore at Lexington High School. She plays saxaphone in the band and is interested in fashion. She hopes to one day own a clothing store with her best friend. I am a biology major at USC and hope to pursue a music minor. I'm still not sure what my plans are after college.

Science has always been my favorite subject. Last summer I had the opportunity to volunteer with the sea turtle patrol group on Edisto Island. At the beginning of the summer, during "laying season," I helped them find turtle tracks early in the mornng and mark the turtle nests. Later in the summer, during "hatching season," I helped take inventory of the hatched nests and every once in a while there would still be a hatchling in the nest. On two occations, I got to lead the baby hatchlings to the water and watch them get washed away into the ocean. This was a truly incredible experience.

I play piano and clarinet; however, I like piano better. I've been playing piano since second grade (11 years). Throughout high school I've participated in numerous piano festivals and auditions. Also, all throughout high school, I participated in the marching band. This had a very positive impact on my life because I learned some valuable life skills and met many friends. The picture below is me with two of my friends at a marching band competition. I've known the one on the left for thirteen years! I've gone on numerous trips with the band. With the marcing band, I went to Oahu, Hawaii and got to play patriotic tunes at Pearl Harbor in front of the USS Arizona Memorial. With the wind ensemble, I went to Orlando and got to play with Bob McGrath from Sesame Street at a music teacher's convention. This year (again with the wind ensemble) I went to Coke World in Atlanta, GA and to the Chatenooga Aquarium in Chatenooga, TN. One of my proudest accomplishments was making it into AllState band. Every year in high school, I have made it into Region Band and have gotten call backs for AllState. This year, I finally made it into AllState! Some of my hobbies/interests include music (listening and playing), kayaking, tennis (even though I'm not good), and biology.

Before I came to USC I wasn't sure what to expect. I had mixed feelings. I was excited for a new venue but also nervous of how I would adjust. I was scared I wouldn't like my roomate, that I would have no friends, that I wouldn't be able to handle all of my classes, and that I wouldn't be able to find my way around campus. I actually had a dream before move-in day where my roomate didn't speak english!

Luckily, none of my preconcieved notions have come true. So far, during these first few weeks at USC, I am enjoying college. I have met so many new people and have learned about many of the opportunities available to me on campus. I have already joined the Newman Club (Catholic campus ministry) and plan to join some other organizations. The Student Organization Fair was very helpful. It had representatives from almost every club on campus. It was a great way to see what clubs are out there and to get more information about the clubs of interest. Two clubs I may potentially join are the mountaineering and whitewater club and the SEAS club.

The Carolinian Creed is a good creed to live by. The creed is something I would like to live by to make me a better person not only as a student, but for life. It outlines many of the values I already live by and wish to strive for to become the best person I can be.