Last Blog

This semester went by so fast. It’s hard to believe that there is only three weeks left and then I will be done with my freshmen year. When I first heard that one of our assignments for English 101 was to keep a blog, I was surprised. I didn’t expect for a blog to be an assignment but I guess it makes sense because so much of our lives are revolved around technology these days. I never really had a blog before so I wasn’t really sure what I would even write about because I am not the type of person who writes a blog or keeps a journal. I thought the whole experience was kind of weird because anyone who wanted to could read what I have written. But overall, I didn’t mind this assignment. I liked that I was able to see everyone else’s point of view and to hear other people’s stories. Some of the entries were really interesting and I enjoyed reading them. Although, I found that the blog assignments were really easy to forget about because I always had so much other work to focus on so I had to make sure to remind myself to get it done before Friday. The entries were never that hard though so it did not take too long to write once I got started. One of the things that I liked about the blogs was that people in our class were able to comment and respond to what I have written and I enjoyed seeing what everyone had to say. It will also be nice to be able to look back at my blog and read about the things that I experienced during my first year away at school. Although I didn’t mind writing these blog entries, I do not think that I will continue to keep a blog or a journal. I’ve never really felt the need to keep any type of a journal and I feel that I wouldn’t have enough time to write in it on a regular basis. Overall, the blogs were an interesting assignment but I’m glad for the semester to be over and for summer to start.

Normal

Even though, Normal is a college town, there isn’t too much going on outside of the campus itself. There is always a lot to do on campus and but the actual town of Normal is a pretty small place and there aren’t that many places to go. I am from a bigger city so I am used to having a lot more place around me. Of course Normal still has your basic places such as a movie theatre and a mall but besides that there really is not all that much to do here. If you are coming here to visit, I would definitely suggest staying with someone on campus and just go out with them for the weekend otherwise it may not be that exciting of a trip. If you are spending the whole weekend here in Illinois, I would suggest going up to Chicago for the day because you would be able to find a lot more things to do. There is a lot more shopping especially along Michigan Ave. Chicago also has a lot of nice restaurants. There are quite a few of them that have themes and are really fun to go to. It is also always fun to go to navy pier and just walk around. There is always something going on at Navy Pier and they have a Ferris wheel and some other rides along with all of the boats that go on too. Another fun place to go to in Chicago is Millennium Park. There is always a lot of people there but it is cool to see the bean if you have never seen it before. If you are going to visit in Chicago when the weather is nice then you can also go to the beach. It’s always nice to be able to walk along the water after a long hot day. Over all, Chicago is one of my favorite places to go and you can always find something to do when you go there but Normal is a good place to go if you want to experience life on a college campus.

Easter

For Easter, my family and I typically just go to church together and then spend the rest of the day at my Grandma’s house. I’ve never really found it too be all that exciting of a holiday until now. Last year I saw all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles all the time but now since I am away at school, I barely ever see them. I haven’t most of them since Christmas so I’m really excited to be able to see them all. I am also really excited to have my Grandma make a home cooked meal. My grandma is one of the best cooks that I know and I haven’t her make me a meal in a really long time and since I’m getting pretty tired of the food here in the dining centers at ISU, I think that I will appreciate her cooking even more. Another reason that I am excited about going home for Easter is that I will get to see a lot of my friends. Since I went to Catholic schools, the grade school that I went to is ran by my church. Therefore all of my grade school friends go to my church so it is great to be able to see them whenever I go home and go to church with my family. The last reason that I am excited to go home next weekend for Easter is because my mom will most likely take me out to go shopping in order to buy a new outfit to wear on Easter. Since I always want to go shopping, knowing that I’m going to get a new outfit is a nice bonus for going home for the weekend. The only downside to Easter weekend is that we do not get any extra days off of school here at ISU. That means I will have to leave straight from dinner at my Grandma’s house to come back to school. Therefore I won’t be back until really late which is inconvenient but at least I still can enjoy spending the weekend with my family and friends.

ISU v. Bradley

This semester I went to a few school events, most of which were basketball games. I enjoy watching sports so I tried to go as often as possible since we have a pretty good basketball program here at ISU. My favorite game that I went to this semester was in January, when I saw ISU play Bradley. When I first got there, I was surprised to see how many people were there. I’ve been to the games before, but I’ve never seen the arena that full. The game was sold out and the arena was full of people wearing red since both ISU and Bradley’s main school color is red. Everyone there was really excited for the game since Bradley is our biggest rival. All week long events were set up with a “Beat Bradley” theme, so everyone was excited for the game. There were actually a large number of people at the game from Bradley, so hearing them cheer on their team made the game seem even more intense. It turned out to be a really good game. My friends and I sat in the student section and joined in all of the cheers, therefore the game was even more fun. The score was really close the whole time so everyone in the arena was anxious to see what was going to happen. The crowd was cheering the whole time and there was never a dull moment during the game. In the last few minutes of the game the score was still going back and forth so I began to get nervous but luckily ISU ended up winning the game and beating Bradley. Everyone there was screaming and so excited that we won. The student section ran out on the court and sang the fight song along with the team just as they always do when we win a home game. Being able to beat our school’s biggest rival while playing at home was a sweet victory. I was really glad that I ended up going to that particular basketball game because I ended up having a lot of fun.

My Spring Break

I was more than ready for spring break to come but I wasn’t expecting to go by so fast. Even though it went by quickly I really enjoyed my spring break. Over spring I ended up just going home instead of going on vacation anywhere but that was fine with me. I was really excited to see all of my friends and family. Luckily a large group of my friends goes to a junior college in my city so they were all still in town while I was home over break. Therefore I got to see my friends almost every day which was great. We didn’t really do anything special, we normally just hung out at each other’s houses but it was great to see everyone. I enjoyed catching up with everyone and seeing what they have been up to over the last few months. I also really enjoyed being home because my mom made me dinner every night and I really missed having home cooked meals while I was away at school and I really enjoyed being able to sleep in my own bed again. That is one of my favorite things about being home. Over break I also went shopping with my mom which is one of my favorite things to do so that was fun. I bought some new clothes and some stuff I needed to take back to school. Also over break I ended up going to the movies a few times. I saw “He’s just not that into you” with my best friend Mary and it ended up being really cute and funny. I liked it a lot. I also saw watchmen. It wasn’t what I expected. I didn’t end up liking it that much but I did think that it had a surprising ending. I also spent a lot of time with my sisters. I love being able to spend time with them especially because we don’t talk much while I am away from school because we are all always so busy, but since I didn’t have school to worry about I had tons of time to spend with them. Overall I really enjoyed spring break because I was able to relax and spend quality time with my friends and family.

Italy

If I was given enough money to cover the tuition at ISU for the next four years, on the terms that I would have to leave school and somehow spend the money, I would go to Italy. There is nowhere else in the world that I would rather be. I’ve wanted to go there ever since I could remember. I would love to stay there for an extended period of time so I don’t miss anything. I would also bring my sister with me, since going to Italy is one of her dreams, too.
First I would want to go Venice because I think it is absolutely gorgeous. When I got there I would want to go on a gondola and enjoy all of the sites. Every night while I was there I would want to go out to a different restaurant and experience all the different foods because Italian food is my favorite and my sister is an amazing cook and wants to become a chef so I know how much she would appreciate the experience.
After I spent some time in Venice, I would travel to Milan. I love fashion and since Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world it is somewhere that I am dying to go to. I would spend days shopping, trying on clothes, and looking at all of the new fashions. After I did that I would want to go see all of the Cathedrals throughout the city since all of the architecture is so intricate. They’re all so beautiful and they would be something that I would really want to see.
The last place that I would have to make sure I go to would be Rome and Vatican City. Being raised in Catholic schools, I’ve learned a lot about the Vatican and I would love to actually go there and be able to see everything first hand. I want to be able to go and see part of ancient Rome such as the Coliseum or the Pantheon. They’re such a large part of history and I would love to be able to experience part of that.

3 Rules for Freshmen

In order to better adjust to college life at ISU, there are three rules that all incoming freshmen should know.
1. Bring an umbrella.
Walking to class in the rain is horrible and it’s even worse if you don’t have an umbrella to keep you dry. Without an umbrella you end up getting soaked and then you have to sit through your classes in wet clothes and it’s definitely not comfortable. An umbrella is also helpful because it helps keep your backpack dry so that way you don’t get to class and realize that you paper you spent so much time on is now ruined from the rain.
2. Eat dinner early.
When I was back at home, my family didn’t eat dinner until around 7:30 so I have always been used to eating dinner at a later time. But that’s something that quickly changed thanks to the dining centers. On Fridays and Saturdays the dining center closes at 7 so If you don’t eat before that, and then you miss out on dinner. Another reason to eat dinner early is to make sure you actually get to eat something good. Whenever there is a popular dinner offered, the line is extremely long all night. That causes the dish to be gone quicker. Therefore all the good things go quickly so make sure you dinner early.
3. Avoid 8 AM classes.
Since my high school started at 7:50 every day, I thought that having my first class 8 am would be no problem. I was wrong. I never felt fully awake in my 8 am class last semester. There’s a lot more going on during the weekdays then there was in high school and because of that I didn’t go to bed as early as I did while in high school so I was getting less sleep. All I wanted to do while I was there was sleep. Therefore, it’s safe to say that I didn’t pay as much attention as I should have. Now this semester I don’t have any classes before 10 and I am much happier with my classes.

Without a doubt, my favorite television show would have to be One Tree Hill. I started watching it in the eighth grade and five years later, I still watch it every week. When I first heard of the show I thought it sounded okay but it didn’t sound like anything special. But as soon as I watched the first episode, I fell in love with it. The show is about two half-brothers named Lucas and Nathan. They don’t live together and rarely spent any time together until high school. They have nothing in common and are different in every way yet they go to the same school and they both are on the basketball team. Throughout the seasons there lives become even more intertwined and they have to learn how to become friends with each other. The show is constantly filled with drama and you never know what is going to happen next. Now that the show is in its sixth season, all of the characters are out of school and are trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives.
It is my favorite show because I am always waiting to see what is going to happen because it is very unpredictable. I also love the show because the story line never seems dull. It is always very interesting and I love watching it. I like not knowing what could happen next. The show also plays amazing music. They constantly have bands on the show and they are always some of my favorite bands, so that makes it even better.
One Tree Hill is a great show. It is definitely a show that is targeted towards girls therefore I don’t think guys would be that interested in it but there are still aspects that a guy could like. For example one of the main characters, Nathan’s life revolves around basketball so there is constantly a story line that has to do with basketball on the show. No matter the reason why you decide to watch the show, the drama, the music, or basketball, I highly recommend watching it.

An advertisement that I can easily recall would be one of the commercials for Cingular. The commercial is showing their new phones that make texting simpler and they are trying to get the customer to purchase unlimited texting. In the commercial the daughter is constantly texting. Because she sends so many text messages, she only speaks in acronyms. The mom is upset that the cell phone bill costs so much because her daughter texts so much so she asks her who she could possibly be texting so much and the daughter responds with only acronyms and says “IDK my BFF Jill”. That line has been repeated by many people after that commercial aired. It is probably the most memorable part of the commercial. The mom then takes away her daughters phone so that she can no longer text. I think that it is an effective commercial because it successfully gets the message across which is to buy Cingular phones and add texting to the customer’s cell phone plan so that they won’t have to pay extra charges. It was a good idea for a commercial because just about everybody in today’s society uses text messaging as a way of communication. It is also humorous and very memorable and many people know the lines that are said during the commercial. The main reason that I remember this commercial so well is because off how many times I have heard people say “IDK my BFF Jill”.
Even though the advertisement was successfully done, it did not want to make me purchase the product. I have a different cell phone company and I don’t have any problems with it, therefore there is no reason for me to begin using Cingular but I did end up buying unlimited texting on my current cell phone plan so that I could avoid extra charges. So even though the commercial did not persuade me personally, I think that it was still very effective with getting its point across and I think that many people are able to remember that commercial.

I’m not a fan of a cold weather at all and I can’t wait until it warms up. Because I hate the cold so much, summer is my all time favorite season. I love everything about it. I love that it is warm outside. I love being able to wear just shorts and a t-shirt instead of having to bundle up every time I want to go outside. I also love going swimming and since I have a pool at my house I can go swimming almost every day in the summer. My family always has cook outs and people over to swim during the summer so I can see everyone that I haven’t seen in a long time. Another one of the things that I love about summer is that there is no school, so that I can have a break from tests, studying, and doing homework. Therefore I have a lot more time to relax and just have fun with my friends. I also get to see all of my friends a lot more because we won’t all be separated and off at different schools like we are now. We normally end up going to a concert or two over the summer since that is when most bands go on tour or we will take the train up to Chicago and spend the day going shopping. We all always have so much fun when we are all together.
The main reason that summer is my favorite season is because my family and I end up going on vacation almost every summer. We normally end up going out to Arizona because that is where most of my family currently lives. Arizona is one of my favorite places because of the warm weather and it rarely rains so being there makes my summer even better. I love seeing all of my family since that is pretty much the only time of year that I get to see them so I look forward to it all year long. Every time I go there I never want to go back home.
I’m already counting down the days until summer comes and it is warm outside once again.

I absolutely love to travel and this summer I went to California for the first time. My two best Mary and Kaylie and I decided that we all wanted to o on a trip together after graduation so we decided to go to San Diego. I was really excited to go but as our trip grew closer I became nervous because I don’t like airplanes and I’ve never been on a plane without my parents before but the plane trip ended up being very smooth and quick.
Our vacation ended up being the best vacation I’ve ever went on. The weather was perfect the whole time that we were there. We went to the beach almost every day which was great because I love the ocean. We also did a lot of shopping. We went to Fashion Valley Mall which was a huge outdoor mall that had tons of stores that I have never even heard of before. It also had lots of stores by top designers that I can’t find around home, so that was a lot of fun.
While we were in San Diego, the Padres were playing the Cubs. My friends and I are all huge Cubs fans so we bought tickets and went to one of the games. Petco Park ended up being really nice and the game was a good one. On our last day in San Diego we went to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was cool because we were able to get really close to all of the animals. We even got see Panda bears which was cool because none of us have ever seen them before.
Once it was time to go home, none of us wanted to go. We loved our trip so much and we didn’t want to go back to Illinois. Even worse our plane ended up being delayed because of bad weather in Chicago. It turned out that the whole time we were gone there was bad thunderstorms at home, but luckily we missed them. There was a little turbulence on the ride home which was kind of scary so I was really glad to get off of the plane. Even though I didn’t enjoy the plane ride, I can’t wait to go back to California again.

Yesterday was the presidential inauguration. Although I wanted to watch I wasn’t really able to. I had my chemistry lecture at ten and then I had my math class at eleven until a quarter after twelve and since the inauguration was scheduled for eleven I ended up missing it. Once I got back to my room after class I did watch ABC for a while and I saw the presidential luncheon where both Barack Obama and Biden gave speeches so I was happy I got to see that. I also watched the parade and I was shocked by how many of thousands of people were there to see Obama. I also saw that he had family there that flew in all the way from Africa in order to see him and I thought that was pretty cool.
Later on in the day, I ended up watching Obama’s speech on YouTube. I thought that he did a good job and that he is a very good public speaker. He made a lot of promises and he gave lots of ideas on how he plans to fix our economy and improve our country and I hope that he is able to do so. I’m glad to see that he is now our president and I am proud that I ended up voting for him since he has now made history. Most people I talked to also seemed to proud that Obama is now our president and they feel that he is capable of being a good president. Later on at night I was flipping through the channels and I watched the news for a little while and I watched part of the Inauguration balls. I was surprised to hear that there were ten different balls that the president had to go to. There were tons of activities throughout the day that Obama and his wife had to attend.
Throughout the day I was surprised to see how many people actually did watch the inauguration and all of the news coverage that occurred. It was on in all of the TVs in the lounges and the dining center and most people seemed to be genuinely interested in what was going on. I am glad to see that that happened since Obama being elected as president made such a large impact in the world and since it will go down in history. I was glad that I was able to witness this part of history.

My name is Katie. I’m nineteen years old. I am and Elementary Education major and I’ve wanted to become a teacher for as long as I can remember. I am the oldest child in my family and I have two younger sisters. My mom is a nurse and my dad is a police officer. I am very close with my family. My family also has a dog. He’s a yellow Labrador and I’ve had him since I was eleven. I am a fun-loving person and I love spending time with my friends. I have two best friends and we’ve known each other since the seventh grade. We talk to each other almost every single day and know everything about each other. I love music. It doesn’t matter what genre it is, I listen to all different types but country probably my favorite. I went to a catholic middle school and a catholic high school, so I’ve always had to wear a uniform. The only thing I got to decide were my shoes so shoes became one of my favorite things. I have over one hundred pairs and I always want more. I love watching and going to baseball games. The cubs are and always will be my favorite team. I travel as much as I can and I love going new places. My dream vacation would be in Venice, Italy. I have always wanted to go there and hope to go there in the future.