The Right of a College Student

We're in a stage of time when we can break out of the program; the mold society formed us in with their rules of everything.
Yet, I'm in a class right now where the professor tells me what to think--gives me the rules that I need to follow. That antonyms are separated into three different types: relational, gradable, and complementary. So I listen. But then I disagree, and the professor doesn't want to hear it. Isn't there something wrong in that picture?

We're in a small class and he asks questions that have one word, yes/no answers.

Prof: What is the object that I sit down on?
Student: A chair.
Me: Can't it be a table or the ground? Isn't the point of college to think outside the box. Why can't you sit down elsewhere. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, just trying to think more. On average, sure I can say chair. But I'm a college student, we're all college students, we already know chair. Let's think bigger.

A relational antonym is when opposites are related. Example: father/son, daughter/mother
I understand.
A gradable antonym is when opposites can have some range of connection. Example: pretty/ugly.
His (the prof's) explanation is that you can have a sort of timeline of when a person can be somewhat pretty.
A complementary antonym is when opposites are complete 180s. Example: on/off, alive/dead
No in-between.

My argument is that complementary and gradable can be easily the same thing. There's a thing such as the partly alive and halfway dead, and zombies. It's part of the English language. And a pretty thing could not be ugly because that, for me, is a complete 180.

Sociolinguistics- means that our language is connected to our identity.
If this^ is so, shouldn't the rules of language fit our description? To what the majority of the population thinks?

We got our tests back, and recently I've been hating on grades and decide that they shouldn't matter. If I want to learn, if I learn, if I end up remembering what I learned...if I disagree with what I learned and want to have a discussion over it. That counts for more. I'll still listen. But remember that we're in college. You should let me respond. Especially if it's outside of class and I'm not taking away any of your class monologue time.

Scholarly Fashion: daily shots

This Thanksgiving break has given me the breather I need. These pics are from a while back and I'm so glad I can finally post them. These peers of mine really know how to strut the college runway, Smiles and giggles really do make the outfit complete.

'We Can Change Things'

Fall of the Berlin Wall

Twenty-five years ago today, we celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall that separated West and East Germany in the conflicting age of communism and confusing period of post-war tension. People climbed over, wrote on, chipped away pieces of the wall and ended the giant division. The energetic vibe that passes from

Scholarly Fashion: everyday

Before              &             After... 

The annual English Department picnic. 

Scholarly Fashion: Shoes

Music Theory Class

Scholarly Fashion: Faculty, Staff, and Alumni

Music Professor for my Music Theory Class

This year I've introduced professors and other adults to the mix because they have good fashion, too. I always enjoy coming in to class everyday and being able to give a compliment to my music professor for his choice in shoes and style in tops. The photo above is one of his most calming fashion selections. This professor has come in crazy, funky, colored shirts calling for individuality.

Scholarly Fashion: Part Two

                             Relaxed walking to class in CFA.

I've gathered enough pictures to post for this entire semester, probably. But the fun part of this blog is the actual picture taking where I can see the style come alive in how people walk in their clothes. I still need to figure out how to have them model for 15 seconds before they rush off to class.

  
Outside CFA                                                                 Across the CC

Scholarly Fashion

Crowe Unplugged

College scholars really know how to strut the collegiate runway. In between classes and after college events allowed me to capture the great styles so many people at my alma mater have. Their great tastes really brighten up this all-nighter work place and allow our creative juices to flow.

"Every day is a fashion show and the world is your runway..."

What most people tend to do is dress up mainly on Mondays. However, the real stylish people have their vogue on all the time. These students and professors I captured in my photographs have that great sense of class that never fades (no matter what day of the week it is). In my search of models for my blog, I now notice different clothes and new accessories people use to spice up their look of the day. And this not only allows me to spot people with cute outfits to take pictures of, but also lets me give an extra compliment or two to a random person walking by with a great sense of style.  

Fiction and Poetry Workshop: Professor

Standing

My self can't take it. I stand so close to the edge of defeat that if one knee bends, i will fall. But I stand. And my fight continues with every single decision I make to not give up. 

My story, is not an exciting one, but it is one full of emotions. Tears have fallen, smiles have endured, but my anger has vented out through the written word or weak shouts of reprimand. No verbal joust has occurred, only thought out debates. As if my mind decides that i have no backbone and no quick wit in any inch of my body. 

Once upon a time, a girl in desire of forever devouring knowledge, went to college and got her heartbroken by friends, her brain destroyed by the evils of deflated energy for the arts, and her own weak stand on staying awake on the road. This girl lavished on her first year and fed on the concerns of the world at each moment she spent time with those she thought close. Then as her second year began, she had no dorm to call her own, a car she trashed with all her possessions, work that kept her sane, friends that stabbed her in the back, papers that only felt half finished from her dreams but fully finished in her physical state. But as the summer arrived. the worst kept mounting. She fell asleep at the wheel, literally and metaphorically, and damaged her car enough to take away her paycheck meant for her school, to now head towards the seller of her next chance of transportation. Why continue? She wanted to change the world. Has she? I don't know. Will she? If she continues fighting. Therefore, there is no happily ever after, because the difficulties go on and the fight occurs with different battles.  

Keep standing: if you're at the bottom, there's no where to go but up.

Goals: be a voice for the victims. Be a light to this shitty, broken world. Stop cussing, it sounds bad on you. Stand. Stay in college.

Tai Chi: a soft spirit

Before, there was wo-chi. After, there was Tai-chi. Therefore, before, there was nothing; and, after, there was movement. A flow, some type of change.

From sunrise to sunset, there's a constant flow of motion.

We have a Tai chi teacher here at Hanover visiting from ...actually, I don't know where. But he's come to Hanover to talk to the Tai Chi class and I happened to visit the class the day when this guy came and was so in awe.

His name is Deng Ming Dao.

We bowed to the teacher, bowed to the guest, and then Deng Ming Dao introduced himself and led us in a stretching routine. Almost like a whole yoga routine. And after showed us his own version of form 24 in Tai chi. It was so different from the one our professor taught us but the concept was the same: "You want to save your energy." You want to keep an ongoing rhythm of breath. After he showed us some rel cool steps and gave us some lessons, Deng then sat us down for some question/answer time.



What's the connection between tai chi and meditation?
-"Meditation should be the objective of Tai chi," "the movement of martial arts with the understanding of meditation," and the goal is to "couple them [tai chi and meditation] together"

What are your favorite ways of gathering your chi?
-Sleep, diet, and don't be stressed

What role do you think technology plays with tai chi?
-The internet gives you more available information but it's not natural to spend eight hours a day in front of your laptop. It should not to be used as if addicted. I want to get a house someday that turns the electricity off during the night, you'd be surprised to how quiet it'd get. There's something of awe to that kind of quietness.

How do you incorporate tai chi into your daily life?
-Mornings, I stretch and do some forms. At night, I practice drills, stances, on the punching bag, and lastly meditation

How would you describe a Scholar Warrior?
-Can you be a person of study and sport? You have to have both skills of action and rest.

Other comments he made:
-Key to my philosophy: can you improve yourself? Can you learn more?
-"I believe in this ideal of cultivating yourself"

The class of 1 hour and a half ended faster than I anticipated. It was a great experience.

In the words of the great Bruce Lee, "Be water, my friend."

Two thumbs up to this spring term Tai chi class, online it's spelled Tai Ji but that's the first time I've seen it that way. Seems like a very beneficial class. And I loved taking specifically's today class, Deng's teaching.

On the Road to Appalachia

Finals week now over, Spring Break becks the free spirit into the wild.

And when I got an email about a service trip to Appalachia, I immediately filled out the application.

It took me a while to decide because I wanted to spend break with my grandma (Mamita), but she died the day the application was due and I knew I could not spend the break at home where I would be reminded of her each day. It was really traumatic for me since I never had anyone close to me die. The trip to Appalachia was my only choice, and I'm glad I chose it.
 Food stops Chipotle and Starbucks in Lexington. And while eating only took us about 10 minutes, the group talked on for about an hour, helping our random group connect even more.
Our group consisted of a few acquaintances and some strangers from my college that I did not even recognize, and my school's a small one.

I wish I could describe the scenery. The road just seemed farmland most of the ride until mountains started popping out of nowhere and the rolling hills captured everyone's undivided attention as my leader and driver and school chaplain (all one person) talked about the mountains and the kind of place we were looking at.
                 
The picture on the right, shows how the mountains of Appalachia contain the black layers and layers of coal.

 And of course, the road trip consisted of the usual rest stop, with a beautiful night sky to remind us of our future adventure.

When we finally reached the cabin where we planned to stay at, we were all worn out from the ride itself. The couches provided a pretty comfy resting place before we once again stood up to figure who has which room and bed. I didn't care, but I did want to see the rest of the cabin. The restroom was normal, kitchen was quaint, then when I looked further into the kitchen I saw a door that I thought led to a closet. However, to my excitement, the door led to one of those dark basements in which to turn on the lights, you had to pull the string from a small bulb hanging overhead. I was the first one down, and the last one to go back up. And when the group leader followed in she told me how there used to have been a bed all neatly made and a small shower with a see-through shower curtain around it. It was all bizarre and she told me that it was pretty freaky when she first saw it a few years back.

This would be our home sweet home for the next week! The excitement within me grew.

Hello Appalachia!

But before we could go to bed, our leader had us gather around the living room to have orientation. Some of the questions below were questions she told us to ask ourselves and figure out throughout this trip we were on:

• What are people proud of?
• What are the important/enduring parts of the culture?
• Who is God/Christ to each person? Where do they believe God is working? (And our group leader made it very clear that 'God' is different to every person. God could be a deity, or nature, or the spirit within us. Whatever it was to the people who lived in this Appalachian region, we would try to figure out)
• What are people passionate about?
• What frustrates them about stereotypes outsiders have?

Within the orientation, the group leader shared this wonderful theory that the best way to serve other, was to worship them, not like actually get down on our knees, but to look up to them like how we look up to God, similar to how we serve God. This way, we wouldn't be people who were looking down at people they were helping, but looking up at them. The connection was incredible. I always felt this way, but the Chaplain talked it out to us in ways we could understand. It felt great that this way could be a way to think and live and serve.

The first day passed by so quickly and my phone had died twice already, so I couldn't take the pictures I wanted again. I guess photos weren't really necessary when we're settling in anyways. So I did not scare my group with too many photos, but I probably did frighten them a little when I broke down about my grandma during orientation. I didn't mean to. But my group put up with it pretty well, I'm so sorry group!  

Life goes on.

Definitions

JAILER 
(noun): an official who takes charge of the prison and checks in prisoners into the jail. (Source: Kimmie, from the UG Grill)

So I was working Papa Johns with Sodexo at my college, and talking to one of my co-workers, when I found out that his uncle was a jailer and that he was working up to be a jailer, too. 

It was really interesting hearing this because I just came back from a spring break trip to Appalachia and there were all these election signs and one of the signs my group thought was weird was the 'jailer' election sign. Then after we noticed one, we noticed multiple hanging everywhere we went, in addition to the tons and tons of other election signs. 

Let it go

Disney and Pixar Sings Let It Go

I just finished Great Expectations for my "Studies in Fiction" class and it really made me think about stuff in my life that I place in a pedestal, only to be disappointed and fall back into reality. The book is basically broken up into sections where Charles Dickens labels each breaking point of Pip's expectations for his life. High class society isn't really all that great. At least, Dickens shows that the levels of society aren't equal and do not hold similar standards. 

The expectations I held for college included passionate organizations and genuine friendships and attentive students in classrooms. I guess you could say that college has broken my heart. But it has also shown me how hard I need to work to make it through the rest of my life. 

I've recently struggled with hypocritical friends. They say they want to be there but then don't seek you out to hangout or talk about you behind your back and say they're just trying to "understand you and only talking about what they're trying to figure out." Cut the crap, please. But now I know I need to let it go. Not my stance; my emotions that get in the way of my success. Yes, my friends and acquaintances hurt me, but I need to still be me. I shouldn't be brought down by them. 

“Letting go doesn't mean that you don't care about someone anymore. It's just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.”
― Deborah Reber, Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul: 101 Stories of Life, Love and Learning

College Thumbs.

The College Dystopia

It's not about a fresh start anymore. It's not about learning new things. The reputation a freshman makes their first year of college can scar that person for the rest of their life.
I hate rumors! I hate drama! I hate unloving, unforgiving, un-forgetting people. Who don't feel sorry or who don't feel as if they should feel sorry.

The biggest problem with small schools is the annoying fact that rumors spread faster than fire.

I have it lucky. I'm the "sweet" and "innocent" friend who is "nice" to everybody...I think. Unless rumors prove wrong. Therefore, people tend to not talk bad behind my back. Maybe because they know I'm more sensitive thus seen as weak and wouldn't be able to handle the mean backstabbing comments people make. But then WHY DO THEY THINK THEY CAN TALK ABOUT MY FRIENDS?! Because that hurts me even more.

What I've seen, is that rumors are made about those who are strong and can joke and can socialize with people. Sometimes, a joke can be TOO MUCH.

I wish I weren't using so many all-caps, yet my heart and my head is screaming for justice. SO much, sometimes, that I cry. And I shake, and I get angry. Because people are getting hurt.


I have two friends who have gone through a period where rumors were made up about them. One just let it go. Person A kept being nice. But I applaud person B for standing up for herself. She is worth the fight. Both of them are, and it's not fair that people talk bad about them. Because they are the people who should be talked good about.

If a girl sleeps with a guy. Don't talk about it. If a girl doesn't sleep with a guy. STILL don't talk about it. And if a girl doesn't sleep with a guy, DEFINITELY don't talk about her sleeping with one. Or better yet, if a girl sleeps with another girl, STILL DON"T TALK ABOUT IT. Rumors hurt.


Picture elementary school.
Girl I peed her pants.
Her three friends, A, K, and M help her by taking off one of their sweaters and let I wear the sweater around her waist. They don't worry about whether or not the pee will get on the sweater, they don't worry whether or not the school will talk about it, they don't tell others on her, and they definitely stand up for her if a random classmate says that girl I peed her pants.
I was girl I in elementary school. And I had the best examples there of what a friend should be.

Now college comes, and suddenly we're more immature than a bunch of elementary school kids.
Looks like our education has hurt our heart more than help our brains.


I am going to be that person who will stand up for anybody who is talked about.

For those of you who gossip, don't do it around me or I WILL make sure you regret it.

And also, a helpful tip:

T is it true?
H is it helpful?
I is it inspiring?
N is it necessary?
K is it kind?
BEFORE YOU SPEAK.

   

And I admit, I do this but it does have the side effect of being unable to talk because you're thinking a lot of what you should say. Therefore, people think that you're "quiet."

Rumors=thumbs down



....End Rant.

No more sleep

4 am resident building lobby
studying for geology and other fun stuff


I really don't know how it's so easy sometimes and so hard other times. It probably depends on the class because I'm so TIRED of taking a class that's so DUMB and BORING. It's not my major. "Well-rounded" my a**. But you gotta do it, if you want that A you gotta stay up those extra hours to study.


Thumbs down; I need my sleep.

Twin flame soul mate

Twin souls: A popular romantic belief that there is one true soul mate.
http://kuriakon00.tripod.com/soulmate/

"For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul." 

~Judy Garland 

  I met this beautiful man October 10th of last year.

Since then, we've cuddled, we've kissed, we've cried, we've fought. But I've never met a man whom I love so much.

I think, at times, it's normal to have doubts. It's just how you act upon those doubts. Although, I wish I just knew for sure if this guy I have in my life is my other half. A friend once told me that it wouldn't be as fun if we knew all the mysteries of life. Yet, I think I would be content and love the life I had if everybody knew for sure that there is a God and if the person they're with is the one they're meant to be with. There wouldn't be any arguments, any worry. I can understand her point. Maybe I'm just not seeing life how she sees it just yet.

 

College Experience = Thumbs Up

Festival of Lights

 

Happy Diwali! My college celebrated the Indian Festival of Lights last Friday. There was food, henna, and fireworks. And the music throughout the night made me want to dance the whole time.

"May the festival of lights brighten up you and your near and dear ones lives."

~Shikha

More info: http://www.diwalifestival.org/ 

Thumbs up!

Waste Your Time Wisely

Missed meeting at 1:15 pm.

Those moments when you realize that you missed a meeting only an hour and a half earlier....

 

It literally hurts your stomach to think that you scheduled an appointment with your professor, yet you accidentally took a nap at that same time or walked around campus just daydreaming.Of course, the right thing to do is apologize right away and try to schedule another appointment. 

However, as soon as I sat down while working at the library, I opened my college email and saw that she had already emailed me, telling me that she had waiting a whole HOUR for me. The misery I still am in right now. 

Therefore: 

    Even though I did miss that meeting, I know that the nap I did take at that time was completely necessary and badly needed.

Lesson for the day: write down your schedule for every little thing. Even the bathroom breaks.

Thumbs down on my part.