Extra Credit: Truffles!

I had never seen a truffle in my life until I went to this presentation. The speaker, Chef Pernell, was very enthusiastic about truffles (obsessed may be a more appropriate word). He let us know right away that truffles have been a passion of his since he tryed his first one in the late 1980s. He went through a powerpoint presentation that included everything you would ever want to know about truffles. I learned that a truffle is a type of fungus that can only be found by a female pig because the scent triggers sex hormones. Lately, however, dogs have been trained to sniff out truffles. There are two main types of truffles. White truffles are quite rare and are found mostly in Italy and can be priced as high as $3,000 per pound. Dark truffles are found mostly in France and are cheaper than the white ones but are still priced in the hundreds. I was really surprised about the price. I also learned that truffles are found growing at the base of only certain types of trees (two of which were oak and hazelnut trees). The truffles and the trees have a symbiotic relationship (they both benefit from each other somehow). The presentation included two short videos. One showed how pigs and dogs scavenge the truffles. The other video showed some sort of church ceremony in France where they were passing a basket of truffles around and the people added money to the basket. French people take their truffles seriously. After the presentation, Chef Pernell took us to the kitchen where we all sampled a truffle soup that he prepared. I was impressed by how much I liked it. I am not a huge fan of mushrooms but the truffle soup had a more mild taste that I really enjoyed. He also had chocolate truffles for us to try. These were amazing as well (especially since chocolate is my weakness)! He told us that the name for chocolate truffles was derived from truffles since they look similar (same size and shape). I'm glad I went to the presentation and got to experience truffles!

Spirituality

Religion, faith, and spirituality are different. Religion is a set of beliefs and practices that give meaning to the practitioner's life by explaining the purpose and meaning of life. Faith is someone's individual belief in a religion's beliefs and practices. Spirituality can be an aspect of a religious experience but may also refer to one's individual belief (not necessarily affiliated with a religion). For me, religion and faith have played a major role in setting some of my values in life. I grew up in a Catholic family and we would always go to church together every Sunday. I've received baptism, first communion, reconciliation, and conformation in the Catholic church. These are the first four of the seven sacraments which are very important in Catholicism. My family also celebrates all of the Christian holidays. I personally, however, am not too spiritual. Over the past few years, I have been having opposing thoughts on some of the Catholic beliefs. Hoping to strengthen my faith, I continue to attend mass weekly at St. Thomas Moore here at USC. I also have joined the Newman Club, which is the Catholic student organization.

Relationships

Some new relationships I have formed here at USC include those with teachers/faculty, classmates, the people that live on my floor, my mentee at Hand, people I've met in student organizations, and other random people I've met. All of these relationships can potentially advocate my success at USC. Good relationships with teachers and faculty will allow me to ask for recommendations when looking for a job or applying for something. The relationships I've made with my classmates and the people on my floor has allowed me to have an open mind by showing me other viewpoints and opinions (especially during the discussions in U101). My relationship with my mentee at Hand has also allowed me to keep an opened mind, however, in a different way than with my relationship with my peers my age. With my mentee I get to see life from the perspective of a middle schooler which is clearly different from a college student's perspective. The relationships I've made with the people in the student organizations I go to favor my success too. These are people who share some of the same intersest as me. This group of people is very diverse since there are three very different student oragnization meetings that I attend weekly. Attending these meetings and meeting these people has helped me focus on what I really want and value in life.

Each of these relationships offers something different and makes me a stronger person in one way or another, which ultimately advocates my success.

Wellness

I feel like I am leading a balanced college student life. I probably spend most of my time studying. I sometimes go to the SI sessions for calculus and chemistry. I go to three student organization meetings per week. I fit in time to practice piano for my lesson each week, and I go to the gym several times per week. Sometimes I meet a friend for lunch or dinner. On weekends I either go to a football game, go on a trip with the mountaineering and whitewater club, or go home. On weekends I usually don't wake up until 11 AM. I wish I had more time during the week to practice piano and go to the gym. I honestly don't know how I can fit that into my current schedule. I've been thinking of signing up for a phys. ed. class next semester so I will be forced to get enough exercise.

First Mentoring Experience

My first mentoring experience went very well. She gave me a tour of the school. She showed me her classes, her locker, the cafeteria, the track outside, and the basketball courts where she has recess. She is a very sweet girl and is very close to her family. Her older brother sounds like a troublemaker. She told me that last year he managed to fail all of his classes. My mentee, however, is very smart. She is taking advanced classes and is making good grades in them. Her parents are separated and she lives with her mother. She told me that she likes to take care of her mother. Last weekend her mother was sick and she did whatever her mother asked of her until she felt better. Her mother works at one of the sorority kitchens at USC. From what I understand, her lack of involvement right now is due to her mother working late hours and not being able to pick her up from an after school activity. My mentee plans to join the choir at Hand next semester. I hope this works out for her.

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!