Diversity

The word diversity is such a vague term. When I hear the word, the first thing that comes to mind is racial, cultural, and religious diversity. However, during my time at USC thus far, I've learned that on top of race, culture, and religion, there are so many more types of diversity. Diversity is defined by every aspect of humans: personality, beliefs, values, appearance, gender, backgrounds, family income level, etc. These are the things that set people apart from each other and make the world a more interesting place. Imagine a world where everyone was the same--it would be so dull. Thank goodness for diversity!

At Hand Middle School, there is a high level of diversity. The differences in age, maturity, and family income level among the students provides for a richly diverse school. I can't wait to see more diversity through further experience at Hand!

ACE

This week I failed to schedule an ACE appointment. I called to schedule one on Thursday, but I was told there are no available times on either Thursday or Friday. So, for this blog, I will write about a writing ACE appointment I had a few weeks ago.

English is my least favorite subject, and I needed desperate help with writing a paper for English. I had a rough draft for my paper but was having some organizational issues that I didn't know how to resolve. Also, I needed help with focusing my argument and deciding exactly what the argument was in my paper. I always have the worst time writing papers, so, hoping ACE could help, I scheduled an appointment. At the appointment, the writing coach sat down with me and read through my paper aloud so both of us could more easily hear the mistakes. This was really helpful because as she read aloud, she pointed out where revisions could be made. She helped me learn some organizational techniques that really helped me focus my argument. Also, she was very nice with explaining the flaws in my paper.

I would definitely recommend the writing ACE sessions. ACE isn't only for those of us who are bad writers (like me), but also for good writers that want to make their paper even better. A second opinion never hurts!

Advising/Major

I am a biology major and a music minor. At the moment, I really don't know what I want to do with my major. I chose it because I've always been interested in biology. I might want to go into genetic research, marine biology, or dentistry/orthodontisrty (all very different desires-I know). I almost majored in marine science because I have an interest in marine conservation. However, I wanted a broader major, so I chose biology hoping it would keep my options open and and hoping to be able to explore other branches of biology to find which one I am most passionate about. I chose my minor, because after 11 years of piano lessons, 8 years of playing clarinet, 4 years of marching band, learning a lot about music theory, etc, I could not bare to part with music. I don't think I could make a career out of music but I most definately want to keep it in my life and develop my piano playing abilities to their full potential. Perhaps I will teach piano lessons, play piano in church, or do something else low-key with music while pusuing my real career in biology.

If money and education were not factors, I would travel. I want to explore the world and experience different cultures (this desire is probably due to the fact that I've never left the country and that I love trying new things). After traveling, for a while, I would settle down somewhere. I want to learn Italian and live in Italy for some period of time in my life. (My mother is full-blood Italian and has lived in Italy. The way she describes it, the life-style there is so much more appealing than in America-not to mention to food is really good!) Since Italy is a penninsula in the Mediterranean Sea, I could definately pursue a marine biology career in Italy. Also, people in Italy need dental higene too in case I want to be a dentist/orthodontist. I'm sure I can work something out.

Mid-Term

So far, I'm really enjoying life at USC. There is so much that has been great-like my first USC football game. I've only experienced high school football games and I was a little surprised to see everyone so pumped up about the USC game. I felt like there was so much more energy in the student section at William's Brice than at my high school (probably since it is WAY bigger than my high school's student section). Other things that have been great are the clubs I've joined (Newman Club, Mountaineering and Whitewater Club, and SAFARI Club) and the people I've met. My classes aren't too bad either-I'm keeping up with the work and making good grades.

The only thing I can think of that has been hard is eating right and finding time to go to the gym. I am normally really good about eating healthy, but since I've been at USC, I've found it hard to resist eating the entire restauant portioned meals. And even though I feel like I'm walking more that I did at home since I have to walk everywhere, I still wish I could get some time in at the gym. I've only been a few times this semester. I think the gym's distance from Capstone is a turnoff for me sometimes, but also, I haven't taken the initiative to work it into my schedule. So, something I am going change is managing my time better so I can make it to the gym three or more times a week. Also, I will make a stronger effort to eat healthier.

Service Learning

The name "service learning" can be very misleading. At first you may think one person serves while the other one learns. This, however, is not the case because service learning is a learning experience for both participants. To better understand service learning, one must have a clear understanding of the words "service" and "learning."

Service, in the context of service learning, is volunteering your time to provide a helpful activity with clear goals to meet the needs of the community. In our case, the activity is mentoring and our goal is to aid at-risk sixth graders with their transition into middle school. We will provide advice to our mentees to help solve their problems and hopefull make the difficult transition into middle school a smooth one for them.

Learning, in terms of service learning, means to gain knowledge on a subject, in our case mentoring, and all of the elements that accompany it. With mentoring, I hope to gain knowledge and experience with communication, interaction with the community, collaboration, and diversity.

Through the mentoring program we will provide mentoring to sixth graders while learning what they think about middle school, we will give advice to help them through their transition.

Campus Safety

I was looking forward to hear about campus safety from this "Brotha Man" guy that I've heard is really funny, so I was a little disappointed when I walked in and saw we had a different speaker. Though it wasn't as exciting as I had expected, I still feel like I learned some things I didn't know before. I didn't know about all of the night shuttles and vans. Also, I learned that you could get a cop to watch you walk at night to make you feel more safe at night. Both of these could be useful to me because I've had to walk back to my dorm alone when it's dark and have been a little scared when I can't see what's around me well. I'm glad I already lock my dorm room at night because it would be easy for someone from outside to slip in through the stairs without anyone noticing. I'm also glad you have to swipe your card to get into the building at night, because one time I came back from a football game and this sketchy guy followed me and my friend in through the first door. Me and my friend were both hesitant to swipe our cards with him there. After he tried to open the second door and realized it was locked, he asked us if he could by drugs there. When we answered him "no" he finally left. Me and my friend thought he was an idiot to think you could by drugs at an on-campus dorm! If we had swiped in and opened the door, he could have easily walked in behind us and done who knows what. From the presentation, I also learned about the train track laws, and that if you stant too close to a train, it can suck you in. Overall, even though it wasn't as exciting as I expected, the presentation was very informative and I learned a lot.

Information Technology

I've joined three student organizations. First I joined the Newman Club. This is the Catholic student club. I was looking for an organization for Catholic students to enrich my faith in my religion. This organization was up to par. I really found what I was looking for because I can compare and discuss my own thoughts on the religion with other people's ideas and opinions. I plan to stay involved because I feel like I am learning a lot.

Another group I've joined is the Mountaineering and Whitewater Club. With this one, I was looking for a way to get away from the monotonous, busy city atmosphere and a way to be more active. I'm really excited about this one because they are planning on going on several really cool weekend trips this semester. Some of the things they do is hiking, rock climbing, caving, camping, and of course whitewater rafting. I've never done any of these things but have always wanted to. I plan to stay involved with this organization because I want to experience these things. I'm so excited for this weekend because I get to go on a whitewater rafting trip!

A third group I joined is SAFARI (students advocating for Africa's regional improvements). I only joined this one because a friend told me to. I didn't even know what it was. I'm really glad I joined because it is about devastating issue I'd never heard of. Apparently, in Uganda, there is a rebel army called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) led by a man named Joseph Kony. He started the army to rebel against the Ugandan leader in hopes of overthrowing him so Kony can become the leader. The army raids villages and kidnaps children to make them soldiers. The children are taught to terrorize and kill. Recently, LRA attacks have been reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The SAFARI club is about raising awareness about this issue and raising money for an organization called Invisible Children to stop this. At meetings, we discuss funraising ideas. I plan to stay involved with this organization as well, because I think I can contibute to raising awareness of the issue.