GRADUATION

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The day that I thought would never arrive, has come. On Saturday, I graduated and now am about to start the next chapter in my life! I could not have asked for a better college career. It was not only an academic learning experience, I have grown as a person and a professional throughout the last four years. At eighteen years old, I arrived at college with hope of finding my niche and making many friends but I have gained much more than just that. I finally decided on a career path as becoming an academic advisor and eventually obtaining a master’s in counseling so I can become a career counselor. Coming to college I thought I would probably end up as an archeologist! But through the opportunities in participating/joining clubs,organizations, events, and different courses, I was able to navigate through what I was interested in and what I did not like to help me reach my goal of finding my niche. Although I am sad to leave Brockport, I find myself very lucky to have made these memories and turned this school into a home that I will miss terribly.

IMG_1785     I DID IT!!!!

Writers Forum – Take a Hike

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On Wednesday, May 1st, Cheryl Strayed spoke about her book Wild. The college presented her with the Art of Fact Award. The lecture was held off campus at Temple Br’th Kodesh in Brighton.

I have not yet read Wild, but it is on my summer to-read list. I can’t wait until the semester is over and I can check out her book about hiking the Pacific Crest Trail after a personal breakdown. There have been many times this semester that I’ve wondered what on earth I was doing. Being pulled in so many directions by work, school, and friends hasn’t been easy. There have been many times when a solitary walk in the woods sounded very appealing.

While Wild isn’t a how-to book on hiking, I am curious to read it because I would like to start hiking this summer in anticipation of going to New Zealand in the winter.

In her talk, the author shared some of the things she has learned since the book was published. She has traveled all over the country talking about her experiences. She has heard from many of the people that she met on her trek.

I’m very jealous of the determination that she had in order to finish the long hike. I hope that I’m as dedicated as she was when it comes to preparing for my big trip in the winter.

A Busy End to the Semester…

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The past few weeks have been very, very busy. I’ve come to realize that it seems like my biggest workload each semester is the 3-4 weeks prior to finals! Papers are due, tests and quizzes galore, ontop of homework and studying! Not to mention any make-up work that is due! Whew!

I’m finally all caught up with only two weeks to go!  However, I was accepted into the NYS Crime Analyst Level 1 Certification Exam a week or so ago! Which means the last and final exam for me (through NYS, not Brockport) is Saturday May 18th! I don’t have any plans to do anything yet with certification if I pass, but figured its free, builds on my resume, and who knows what opportunities it may bring! Wish me luck!

Definitely looking forward to summer now that it is finally here! Stay in the mix with me on twitter @Bport_Chris!

My Twitter Relationship

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I was perfectly content with my relationship with Facebook until Twitter came along. It’s like when there is suddenly a new kid in your class and you can’t take your eyes of him/her. Your current friends are great and all, but this new person represents so much mystery and intrigue.

I joined Twitter in November of 2009 because I was curious. I’ll admit that my first interactions with the new kid were a bit awkward. I found 140 characters to be very limiting (you may have noticed I’m a bit long-winded), and I felt like I was just sending words out into the ether of cyberspace and no one was listening. But when I started following groups I was interested in (anything about the Red Sox, New Zealand, or writing), I felt more connected. I even started to get followed back by people just like me.

Twitter and my friendship was growing nicely. I thought of Twitter as social media only and didn’t consider the news aspect of it until Tiger Woods had his infamous car accident. It was actually the New Zealand Herald’s tweet that I saw first.

But Twitter and I hit a rough patch during the Boston Marathon bombings and the subsequent manhunt. Twitter seemed to fulfill my want for information about this terrible situation, but for every informative tweet there were dozens more that were pure speculation or opinion. On Friday of that week I happened to wake up around 4:30 and glance at my phone. I was sucked into the manhunt for the rest of the day. In between classes I was checking the situation. They had locked down basically the entire city of Boston and some of the surrounding areas. It felt like they must be on the verge of capturing someone at any moment. But they didn’t and the hunt dragged on and on. I got so burned out by reading tweet after tweet about what might be happening that I gave up. I almost didn’t even watch the news when they finally did apprehend the suspect. It had gotten to be too much for me.

In the days that followed I spent less time with Twitter. We didn’t officially break up or anything. It wasn’t really Twitter’s fault that someone had tried to hurt the city that I love. But I just needed some space.

This morning I woke up with a burning question: does my parking permit work during the summer session? I poured over Parking and Transportation’s website. No answer was to be found. I send them an email, but who knew how long that would take to be answered, if it was ever answered at all. But then I had a lightbulb moment. This might just be a job for my friend Twitter. I tweeted my question to @BportParking and, sure enough, I had my answer in less than five minutes.

Twitter and I are on good terms again. Just like any form of social media, you have to know the pros and the cons and you can’t let it take over your life.

Now the question remains: what to do with my old pal Facebook?

(For the record, Parking and Transportation answered my email in 57 minutes which isn’t too bad considering I wrote to them before 8am.)

#collegeprobs

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I love college. Seriously, it is like a whole new world after you graduate. But there will be some ups and downs. And one of the problems that you might face is trouble with your roommate.

Over the summer you will go to orientation, and you might meet someone there that you “click” with right away and you two will become roommates/best friends. Or if you’re like me and don’t go to orientation, Brockport has a Facebook page, “Brockport Class of 201_” where people will post things like, “Hey I’m Katelynn I’m a meteorology major looking for a roommate and want to be in the math and science LLC!” And some people might respond, some might not. That’s how I found my roommate actually. She posted on the facebook page and we got to know each other through texts, facebook messages, etc. It was great, we had so much in common! If you don’t find a roommate through one of those 2 ways you will complete a survey online asking you questions like, “Are you a morning person?”, “Are you a night owl?”, etc. and ResLife will pair you up with someone who has similar interests based on this survey. But unlike my roommate and I, a lot of our friends do not have a roommate they get along with.

You might face problems like having their boyfriend/girlfriend come over ALL THE TIME to someone staying up all night hanging with a bunch of friends in your room when you want to sleep because you have an 8am class. It can be incredibly frustrating but one thing you have to remember is that as much as the room is theirs, it is yours. You are both paying an incredible amount of money to live in the dorms so its very important to talk to your roommate if something is bothering you. If the situation is SO BAD you can always ask your RA or RD [side note: I'll be the RA of the Math and Physical Sciences next year! :D ] to hold a meeting with you and your roommate and they’ll act as a mediator so that both of you can voice your thoughts and hopefully resolve the problem.

If you don’t want a roommate and want a room to yourself then you can apply to be put into a single room; however, you have to have a reason why. For example, a friend of mine has sleep apnea and sleep insomnia. In other words, he has trouble falling asleep and has trouble staying asleep. In his case a single would be better for him because his sleep problems would affect his roommate if he had one.

Roommate problems can be tricky, but know that you have people around you such as your RA or your RD who are always there to help you. Good luck to all of you with the roommate situation! With any luck, you’ll be roommates with someone who could be your best friend for the rest of your life!

Scholar’s Day – Dream Travels

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I want to go to New Zealand. Bad. I’ve wanted to go there since I learned that those awesome mountains and fields featured in The Lord of the Rings were not computer generated. I’ve watched every Travel Channel show on New Zealand. I’ve bought half a shelf’s worth of New Zealand travel books. I’ve hung a 3′x4′ map on my wall. But I’ve never actually gone there. Yet. 

On Scholar’s Day the Office of International Education presented 6 students’ experiences with Study Abroad. I’ve done a study abroad program before and it was awesome. I recommend it to anyone who can. One of the many great things about Brockport is that they offer so many Study Abroad programs. These six students all had radically different experiences all over the globe. But one thing was true of them all: they wouldn’t change a thing. Two of the students there had been to New Zealand before and I enjoyed hearing about their trip. I had actually just put down my deposit for the winter session trip to New Zealand. I can’t believe I’m finally going to go!

My dream will come true in just 255 days! Not that I’m counting. ;)

Scholar’s Day – Do It Yourself

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For her Honors project Madeleine Bryant decided she wanted to write a novel. And she did. As a want-to-be writer I’m totally in awe of this. Madeleine presented her book, Nation Nine, on Scholar’s Day. She explained her inspiration for writing. She had done some doodles in her notebook and they seemed to grow personalities. From this humble beginning her novel took shape.

Eventually she finished her novel. When it came time to edit it she used her friends, family, and professors. This saved her money. Publishing a book can be a pricey proposition. She ended up using an online service to publish the novel herself. I love the idea of this. It seems so freeing to know you can present your work to with world without going through a big publishing house.

Now I just need to find time to put pen to paper.