Entry #11: Hasta La Vista, Baby!

Hello, Future Blogging Students,

Congratulations, you are in for a treat! Instead of writing additional essays, you get to write blog posts! Though you may not be excited about this at first, I assure you that this is not sarcasm. I wasn't immediately a fan of blogging, but if you take it seriously, you'll get to the point where you will not only appreciate it, but you will also appreciate the lessons it teaches you about rhetoric.


Here's some tips from a seasoned blogger, myself:

-Get started on your blog posts at the beginning of your first week and keep up to date with them as much as possible. We all get busy and have a hard time fitting things in during the week, but trust me, writing 4 blog posts in one day is neither practical or fun.

-Write down notes about your daily experiences that you may want to expand on for your blog entries. Time and time again, I tried to convince myself to do this, but I would also reassure myself that I would remember what I wanted to write about. I didn't. Save yourself the time and frustration and at least send yourself a text about it.

-Only write about things that can be connected to your audience. If you check out my blog you'll see a few posts that are all about "me, me, me," but I hope that you'll also notice where I switched to making it more relevant to my audience. Always remember your audience!

-Try to always be engaging and keep the reader interested by making your post visually appealing. Again, you can look through my blog for both ups and downs in this aspect. Include lots of pictures where appropriate.

-Get to know your classmates so you know who you should go to for help with your essays. You can find people with similar views and writing styles who may be able to provide some necesary feedback. Take advantage of this.

-Most importantly....

Happy Blogging!!!

Entry #7: D'OH!

Do you ever think about how advertisements portray us and our society? If you don't already, you may start to think about it a little more after taking a look at the website Dumb Men.

Dumb Men features many advertisement videos in which the male characters are portrayed in a negative light. In one of the more popular videos, there is a father dipping his son's feet into a plaster mixture of some sort because they can't find socks that fit their feet.

 

As the father dips his son's feet in the bucket, his wife returns home and calls him stupid. She then suggests that they wear Hanes Comfort Fit socks instead. In their comments of the video, Dumb Men's blogger makes a good point saying that a person would almost have to be an alien to not know that there were better sock options available.

In this video, it shows that men are not smart enough to dress themselves and that they require help from a women to make smart decisions. Although the creator of this video may not have meant any harm to how people perceive men, it is all too common that men are depicted in this manner, so this only adds to the perception of men in a negative way.

Most people see these types of videos and rather than thinking deeply about them, they merely find them amusing. What about you? Did you ever think about this commercial or a similar one on a deeper level and come to the same conclusion about the way that men are portrayed?

Entry #6: Truth or Excuse?

 So many times we say, we can't do something, when what we really mean is that we don't want to do it. We tend to defend why we cannot, but in reality, it's not as important to you as what you would be doing instead. For example, sometimes my friend's will invite me out to a bar and I will tell them that I can't go. If you say that you can't do it, it's normally accepted with less of a fight.

When I tell my friend's that I can't go, it might go something like, "I really want to, but I can't. I need to do my homework." Sounds like a pretty legitimate excuse, right? That's because people usually understand that homework is important and that it needs to be done. It's a lie though.

I don't NEED to do homework. I will not DIE if I do not do my homework. I will not FAIL the class due to skipping the one homework assignment. And ultimately, because I am using an excuse, I do NOT really want to go.

SO what am I really meaning when I use this excuse? What I mean to say is, "Although I want to go, I want to do my homework more than I want to go out right now." That right there, would be the truth.

Let's not lie behind an excuse. There is no need to do so. Say what you mean, and mean what you say. Let's work on making communication easy, and keep it that way. :)

Entry #5: Ready, Set, Go!

My time at my community college will be coming to an end in the near future, and because of this, I have been looking into my options of universities to transfer to. I live in Arizona, and like many other students, one of the colleges that I am considering attending is ASU.

I recently ran into an article called Arizona State University to offer more short classes which talked about increasing the amount of 7 and 1/2 week courses to be made available for students. I love this idea! As a math major and lover of math, I quickly grasp the concepts that some struggle to understand. Because of this, I find that I usually get bored in the normal 15 week course, and I need more of a challenge.

The article states that although ASU does not intend to rid the system of the traditional semester, they intend to significantly increase the amount of the shorter course option making it possible for people to graduate with a bachelor's degree in 3 years, rather than 4. I am all in favor of this. I truly would love to get my experience in my necessary courses and run with it.

Although I love this idea for math courses, there are definitely other subjects that I would prefer to take in the full 15 weeks in order to have a full grasp on the concepts presented.  With that said, everyone learns differently, so what may come easily to one person, may not come as easily to another. So how do you know if taking a shortened course will be beneficial to your learning style?

In order to know if a 7 and 1/2 week course will work for you, it is important to take into consideration the quickness of your learning in the subject area. It's also important to understand that the class will not only take twice the time to meet in person, but the weekly homework load will be doubled as compared to a week of the full length class. If you pick up on learning new information quickly and have the time to put into it, a shortened class may be extremely beneficial to you, but if you require more time and have less time to put into your homework, a full-length class may be the way to go.

Of course, we don't all have these options as we go into our future universities, but it seems that this may be a fast spreading concept. Look into it! Knowing that I can finish my degree a year earlier has already put me in favor of attending ASU, but I will continue to do research to see if this is an option at the other universities that I am interested in and if it interests you, I urge you to do the same. Good luck, and happy university hunting!

Entry #4: Jobs: It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3

Some people struggle with getting a job and some have a knack for it. For most, it's not about finding a job, but rather about obtaining it. When it comes to the customer service/food service industry, this is something that I believe I've mastered, almost as if it were an art. Perhaps you already have a job. If so, feel free to share this with a friend or family member in need of some advice.

Step 1: Make a resume. Many respectable workplaces will not even glace at your resume without having a resume attached. A resume shows that you are prepared and that you have planned out applying for the position. If you aren't sure what to include in your resume, please feel free to look at some examples here.


Step 2: Find professional but modest attire to wear for both picking up your application, and for your potential interview.

You might be thinking, why in the world would I wear something professional to pick up a piece of paper? The answer is "first impressions." First impressions are very important, even if you do not meet the hiring manager when you pick up your application.

Step 3: Go into the location in which you'd like to work during a non-busy time and ask for an application. If you are given a paper application, it is usually not appropriate to fill it out on the spot. Instead, take it home with you and fill it out, taking time to mention all qualifications and related skills.

If the applications for the location at which you'd like to work are online, ask if you can speak to the hiring manager before you leave. When you meet the hiring manager, hand them your resume in person while telling them your name. They will now have a face to associate with your resume and online application, and your chances of being hired will significantly increase. Make sure to fill out the online application as soon as you can so that they can quickly look up your information and put you in the perspective employee list. 

Food industries are slow from 10am-12pm, 2pm-5pm, and after 8pm. Managers tend to get off by 5pm, so the 2pm-5pm window is normally your best bet if you want a chance at them becoming more familiar with your face. You should only go on a day from Monday through Thursday as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are food industries busiest days. I repeat DO NOT go on weekends or when they are busy. In doing so, you are showing your blatant disrespect for their business and they will wave you off. They will do their best to remember your face, but in this case, it will be so that you will not be hired.


Step 4: If you receive a paper application, you should return it once filled out with your resume stapled to the front. Make sure that the time at which you return it is also another non-busy time. Ask to speak to the manager and briefly explain to them why you would love to work for them, and why you would be the best employee that they could ask for.

The second impression is also very important, so dress for success! The manager may wish to interview you on the spot, so be prepared with a pen and paper to write down any relevant information.

Step 5: If you don't receive a call within two days of meeting the manager, give them a call.

Persistence is a highly admirable trait and it lets the manager know that you really want the job. Sometimes a manager gets so busy that they lose information on a perspective employee that they would really like to hire, and without that two-day phone call, they would never have been put back in touch. Don't be afraid to show your interest.


Step 6: Repeat as many times as you see fit, and as always, REMEMBER TO SMILE.


As someone who has received many job offers within one job search, I like to think that this covers all of the basis. What do you think? Is there anything that I may have left out?

Entry #2: Life in the Fast Lane

"Hey. Hi. How are you? Good. Okay. Bye."

What happened to the good ol' days where we used to have nothing better to do than chat with the people we ran into on a daily basis? It always seems that we are being burdened when someone makes the friendly gesture of asking how we are. When did life get so busy that we couldn't stop for a moment to share that friendly moment?

I remember that while I was growing up, I would send letters to my friends and wait almost a week before getting a response. That's how we used to communicate. Now, we have house phones, and cell phones. We have computers within our houses, and computers within our cell phones. We are constantly connected with  those around us, for better or for worse. With this mass connection, we have actually created a mass disconnection. We have lost our patience, and have become dependent on receiving a response here and now. We don't have to wait. We are in the time of the here and now.

How has this changed us? How has being able to more easily communicate made our communication so much less valuable?

With the ease of communication, it no longer has significance that we can respond to a person; the effort is minimal at best. Writing a letter took time. Writing a letter took patience. Writing a letter took conversational skills. Writing a letter showed that we really cared. A text is nothing. A text is not personal. A text is not time consuming. We are no longer charged per message, and our messages lack importance. The connections that we once worked to form with people are conveniently continued through an occasional "Hey." Isn't this wrong?

I miss having really conversations with people. I miss real connections and knowing that people cared enough to put forth an effort. How about you? Have you noticed that as we have advanced in technology we have had a steady decline in communicational skills? What can we do about this?

Entry #1: Games, Beer and Food: How Could We Go Wrong With That?

Hey guys! I've been checking out some blogs today and thinking about their purpose.

Blogs can be used to keep friends and family in touch. Blogs can be used to share funny stories, or educate people about something they may have never thought about. Blogs can be used to reach any audience and share whatever information the blogger desires. This truly makes blogging interesting and unique. It's a page designed completely as a blogger would like, with the option to limit the viewers to whomever they like. It's a way to share who they are and how they want to be perceived now and in the future. Through my search today, I've found some fun and interesting blogs.

If you know me, you know how much I like playing games to pass the time. And if you don't know me, I'm sure that you'd agree that it's nice to kick back, relax, and play a game or two to help you unwind. If you do agree, take a moment to check out The Gameological Society. The Gameological Society is a blog specifically designed to provide lists of games that John Teti wants to share with the public. He's even gotten in broken down so that you can find cheap and free games, definitely my favorites!

Another blog I enjoyed was Beer Labels in Motion. The biggest reason that I enjoyed this blog was... wait for it.... that it was about beer (duh!). More seriously, I thought the animations of the beer labels were very unique and creative. If you are a fellow beer drinker, you'll enjoy that they get straight to the point and provide great flavor descriptions of the beers they have chosen to promote.

And last, but definitely not least, we have our blog about food! Looking for something to cook tonight? Check out 101 Cookbooks. Filled with tons of photos, and organized so well that you can find a recipe by ingredients, this blog is one helpful cooking tool. Be careful! Just one click, and you'll be hooked!

While reading through the blogs I definitely learn more about myself. I learn what my interests are, and where I lack interest. I've also noticed that I am a sucker for design.

One blog that did not make my list of favorites was Inky Fool. The simplistic design with black lettering and white background left me bored, and made it hard for me to give the content a chance. Though the blog contained photographs, they were nothing as exciting and 101 Cookbook's Coconut Quinoa Bowl!

What do you think is more important in a blog? Do you lean more toward the fancy looking blogs, or is it the content that counts? I know we say that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but can we make an exception in this case?

Introduction: Round Two

Hello!

My name is Shayla Dybdahl. I am 23 years old, and I attend Glendale Community College. I work as a math tutor with the college, as well as with a tutoring agency, and independently.

Math is my truest passion (other than helping people succeed in their courses) so I've decided that can only mean one thing, I need to become a math professor. For this reason, I am currently in the process of obtaining my Associate in Science, with an ultimate educational goal of earning a Masters in Mathematics. I intend to work at a community college level, so that I can focus my time to helping my students, rather than researching and writing papers.

When I am not in school or tutoring, I spend my time with my family and my animals. We have 4 generations and 15 animals under one roof! Well, it's not the entire generation, but it is my great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother, and I. And before you get to thinking that we are animal hoarders, you should know that we work with local rescues and take in the animals that have the hardest time finding homes.

Lastly, I enjoy cooking and going out to eat. I'm pretty picky when it comes to calling something "good food" and I may be a little hard on my cooking for that reason, too. I hope to getting around to sharing some of these cooking and eating adventures with you too!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for a some of my crazy cool, exciting, and interesting views on life!

Entry #10: Where is the Love?

During the Superbowl of 2014, a beautiful video aired by the advertisers of Coca-Cola. It consists of people from many different ethnicities singing America the Beautiful in their native tongue. It itself is beautiful. You can watch the video here:

Doesn't this beautiful song make you want to cry because of its magnificence? I loved this video because it showed how much diversity there is in America and how people of all types have joined together. There are people young and old singing this song and everyone is united.

SO why was this controversial? Some people thought it was offensive that the people in the video were not all singing in English. These people who were offended forgot that the United States is a melting pot of different cultures, and that it is not required to be an English speaker to be an American or to be proud to be an American.

The comments that the offended people made were racist and rude. They turned something very beautiful into something that has a ruined meaning for all. The video is about love and unity, not hate and prejudice.

I hope that we will be able to look back at this someday and appreciate the video for it's true meaning and for the great work it took to show the togetherness of all types of people from all over the world.

Entry #9: "Beef" That's Not Exactly Beef

I was introduced to yet another lovely video about the delicious food that we eat. Please, fell free to watch the video below to get caught up to speed.

 

Doesn't this process of food separation sound sooo delicious? No? You're right! This is disgusting! I feel violated learning what I have been eating for so long. Don't you? They use this product in 70% of beef sold in supermarkets across the country. If I had known this was in my food, I would have definitely not signed up for this. Who decided that it was okay to rinse meat with ammonia and feed it to humans anyway? It is outrageous that we are not informed about what is in our food, but what is even more outrageous than that is that they serve this in schools! I can almost say that I should have known better than to trust any of the food that is mass produced, but how can you expect a child to know any better about their food choices? How is this okay? I most certainly believe that it is not!

This "pink slime" has been used in dog food for ages, because dogs have stronger stomachs to fight against diseases, but why are we feeding any kind of diseases to our animals? It's no wonder why people and animals have unknown diseases coming out of "nowhere."

Learning more and more about the food we eat makes me more and more terrified to eat anything! Thank goodness there are organic farms that we can trust to get safe products from! The procedures and hoops they have to go through ensure the highest quality and standards are met. Eat healthy. Eat Organic.

Entry #8: Looking on the Bright Side

"Oh, I just work at Burger King, but I want to be a teacher, so it's just a temporary job," I responded defensively to someone new that I met. I was astonished by his reply, "Don't you dare try to justify yourself because you think that I would judge you." We immediately connected and I learned a lot from him this night. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has been in the situation where the fear of being judged was present. Now, I'm here to tell you that what others think is irrelevant. Always keep in mind the following:

-Accept yourself for who you are. Not a single person is perfect, but we each have our unique qualities that make us who we are, and these qualities should be embraced.

-Be proud of yourself. If you aren't yet proud of yourself, think of your accomplishments in life and continue pushing yourself to accomplish more.

-Don't compare your success to another person's success. You are the only one who has lived your life and been through your obstacles. Success is a figure of your imagination, so you alone can determine your success or failure.

-Do what makes you happy. If what makes you happy is working at a fast food restaurant, then don't let anyone tell you that you should do something differently.

-Forget the people who judge you. Those who judge are unworthy of your presence.

-Always be positive. Even in the worst of situations, a bit of positivity will begin to rectify the issue.

-Surround yourself with people who support you and your goals. Being around people who support you will help you strive further than you've ever imagined.

-Always work toward being the best you that you can be. Be honest to yourself and others and help others whenever you can.

-Money is not the key to happiness. You alone are your own key to happiness, and your happiness is found by pursuing what you love.

Some of this information may be new to you and some of it may be a reminder to help you re-visit the way you think about your life. I know that these words of encouragement have really helped me prosper and keep track of what is important to me, so I can only ask that you pass the knowledge on to someone who could use the words of wisdom to benefit their life.

Entry 7: What the Bleep Did I Just Watch?

Have you ever watched a documentary that changed your life and opened your eyes to things you've never thought of before? Food, Inc. was this movie for me. This movie opened my eyes and made me really think about where we get the food we eat. Have you thought about it? If not, I highly recommend that you watch the video.

In the video, you learn that the animals that make the majority of the meat that we eat are abused and left in overcrowded areas for most of their lives. They are hung by hooks and slaughtered in unsanitary conditions. This is disgusting!

The FDA is led by many government officials who really don't care about our health, but instead care about us supporting their organizations in which they are closely entwined. The businesses don't care about selling a quality or sanitary product to us. Their only concern is that they sell as much product to the consumer at the highest price for the lowest production cost. When people get sick or die from the unsanitary product, the businesses only care about keeping themselves in business and try to brush the illness and deaths "under the rug." Is this how we want businesses run? Isn't it wrong for government officials to work so closely with the big-businesses?

Beside keeping the animals in overcrowded and unsanitary environments, feeding all of the animals corn is another way that the majority of meat industries save money while producing the meat. Corn is a vegetable that has been genetically engineered and is mass-produced and used in many different forms. Did you know that corn is used in almost everything you eat?

Ascorbic Acid, Baking Powder, Brown Sugar, Caramel, Cellulose, Citric Acid, Corn, Corn Meal, Corn Starch, Corn Syrup, Decyl Glucoside, Dextrin, Maltodextrin, Dextrose, Flavoring, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP), Iodized Salt, Magnesium Stearate, Malt, Malt Flavoring, Maltodextrin, Maltose, Mannitol , Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), Polydextrose, Powdered Sugar, Saccharin, Sodium Erythorbate, Sodium Starch Glycolate, Sorbitan, Sorbitol, Starch, Sucralose, Sweet’N Low, Tocopherol, Vanilla Extract, Vinegar, Distilled White, Vitamins, Xanthan Gum, Xylitol, Zein Follow the link to this website for more information.

Some of these ingredients that include corn are very familiar, but over half of them are almost unrecognizable and difficult to pronounce. Doesn't that seem scary? The reason that corn is so widely used is that it has been crossed with a bacteria fighting organism that allows it to be mass produced at the cheapest price possible because it withstands both bacteria and the pesticides used on it.

Pesticides used on corn soak into the vegetable itself, so even if you wash your produce multiple times, you will still be ingesting the pesticides that have made it into the core of the plant. This is one of the reasons why it is very important to eat organic foods.

Going organic helps ensure that people are eating safe products that have not had hard chemicals used on them. If you buy organic meat, you are sure to have meat that has been treated properly without the ammonia baths that the conventional meat companies use. It allows ensures that the animals from which the meat is derived have been allowed a natural organic diet and have been allowed outside environment for the majority of their lives. Going organic is a very important change that anyone with the means to, should do.

Watching this video really changed how I viewed food, and I believe that it is a necessary video for everyone to see. Although the video was disgusting, it was rightfully so.  But the reality is that the video depicted real stories, real events, and showed real "farmhouses" from where we get our food products. If it weren't disgusting, I wouldn't be encouraging myself and others to seek the necessary change in the products we eat. I urge you to watch the video, if you haven't already, and make the change to eating organically!

Entry #6: Oops

Missed one!

Entry #5: The Future We Dream Of

In 2008, a very popular animated Pixar movie was released and was one of the top ten grossing films. This film was Wall-E. Wall-E, set in a futuristic time, was about a robot that was left to clean up the mess on earth and was the last surviving robot. He falls in love with a robot, who is sent to Earth by the humans in space to look for signs of growth or life, and spends the movie trying to find and save her.

Although I did not watch the movie until two years after it was released, my friends always made comments about how much they enjoyed it. When I watched it for the first time, I was amazed by how it portrayed the future. With all of the cool new technology we have, I always imagined our future in a prosperous way. 

Watching the following clip from the movie reminded me of some of the shocking, but somewhat believable portrayals of or future that are included within.

Although this video is set in the 22nd century, it shares many aspects of today's society with technology, but it amplifies it to an extreme. As technology has advanced, the number of users have advanced as well, and in this video, it affects how the entire population functions.

The clip starts off with two men having a conversation, through a screen instead of looking at each other face-to-face. This is something that I believe is also happening in today's society. We rarely take the time to see people that we know, since they are so easily accessible via our technology and as we use our technology more frequently, we become blind to the things that are happening around us. With that said, it's also highly possible that the two men are so involved with their technology that they don't realize that they are right next to each other. 

Another way that technology has advanced, is by producing ways for us to complete tasks in less time. Because we are able to do so much with our gadgets, we are becoming lazier than ever before. You can see that this has affected the humans in this clip because they use their chairs and screens for everything. Instead of getting up to get something to drink or to pull an umbrella over for shade, they can simply summon a robot to assist them. The people seem to be unaware of how to walk or support their weight because they have instead been taught how to use their hover chairs to get them wherever they need to go.

Toward the middle of the clip, you'll see that all of the jobs have been taken over by the robots, so that the humans no longer need to work. In today's society, you can already find grocery stores with self-checkout lanes or fast food restaurants with self-ordering systems. Because of these advancements in technologies, we have already started taking away the jobs from the individuals, but in this future, the human worker is extinct.

So what can we do to prevent this from being our future? We can limit our technology usage and increase our face-to-face meetings. We can rely on our own abilities more than technology's to become more active and less lazy. We can avoid self-checkout lanes and self-ordering systems to show the investors that we are interested in keeping our fellow humans in the workplace. All of these things are easy to accomplish with a little retraining of how we complete tasks in our day to day lives. 

If we limit our technology usage, and manage it appropriately, we can establish the future of our dreams. I make the pledge to use my technology less, become more active for my own health, and avoid the roboticized options whenever possible. Can you make the pledge? Will you?

Entry #4: The Worst Days Ever

You know those days when everything seems to be going wrong, and no matter what you do, it seems to continue getting worse and worse? The ones that oftentimes results in us pulling our hair out or going to bed begging for the day to come to be better than the last? I recently had one of these days.

My car stalled at a light and although I got it to start up, it ended up breaking down just a mile or so further down the road. I was on my way to school, and I had no other way there, so my mom picked me up and let me keep the car. We were close to my grandma's house, so she picked my mom up and drove her home from there.

When class was over, I had to hurry and try to fix my car before I attended a meeting, because I had to go to work directly afterward. I went Autozone, a store that sells car parts, where I picked up the cables that I was told I needed a couple weeks before. I was told that it was an easy fix, so although I had never worked on a car before, I was willing to try it out.

When I arrived at my car, which had not been towed, I popped the hood and tried working on it on my own. I grabbed the cables from my mom's car and as I closed the door, I noticed that I had accidentally locked its keys inside of it. At this point, I had no other option than to get my car running so that I could make it to my meeting and to work.

I looked into the engine and realized that I had no idea how to get the cables out, or how to put the new ones in. I called my father, who lives in Florida, and he tried walking me threw the steps. He told me, "Remove the cables from where the spark plugs are." I immediately began to cry. My father had taught me a bit about cars when I was younger, and I realized that I no longer remembered a thing. The severity of the situation started getting to me and I felt desperate. A man saw me crying and came over with his three kids to help.

He began showing me where things were and how to remove and replace the cables. He found out that one wasn't connected properly and when he pushed it back in, my car started up without problem. Another man, who was a mechanic, took over in helping me replace the other cables to make sure that the ones I had were the new set.

After he finished plugging them in, I turned on my car and it stalled. I couldn't believe that we were back to square one. I felt drained of all energy and hopeless. The mechanic replaced the old cables and explained that they were very knew, so they weren't the problem. He said that he thought the problem was the spark plugs and that I'd need to go back to Autozone to exchange the cables for spark plugs.

In order to get to Autozone, I had to take my car that stalled every time I stopped at a light. I had to apply consistent pressure to the gas pedal to make sure that I didn't stall in the middle of the street between lights. After 7 miles of agonizing stalling, I arrived at my destination.

I waited in line and told the worker the spark plugs that I needed. As I was buying them, I asked, "So do I just pull them out with my fingers and pop the new ones in?" (This was the process for changing the cables.) He gave a chuckle and explained that I was wrong. I was embarrassed and stressing about getting my car fixed in time for my obligations. He set me up with the other parts that I needed and I went to tackle the project.

As I was removing the spark plugs, I ran into an issue where it wouldn't come out all of the way. I walked inside and asked if I needed another tool, and they said that I already had everything that I needed. I went back to my car, frustrated and started getting flustered and upset with the tools. The cashier came out for a smoke break and asked if he could help. He pulled all of the spark plugs out quickly and replaced the new ones. I turned on my car and it worked. I finally had something good happen this day!

As I drove to my meeting, I reflected upon the horrible day and realized that I disregarded the biggest parts. I have a mom who is willing to help me when I am stuck on the side of the road. I was lucky to have not have my car towed by the time I returned to it. I have a father who will listen to me freaking out about my car. I was fortunate enough to have a man willing to stop and help me. I was blessed to have a mechanic stop and tell me what the real problem was. I was also lucky enough to find a worker at Autozone who really cared about helping me, and who took his own break time to get me safely back on the road. I even learned how to change cables and spark plugs on cars!

Remember that even on the worst of days, there is someone out there having it worse. Look on the bright side and appreciate life's little moments that really count. Being thankful for these things is the key to happiness, and happiness even on the roughest days will ensure you happiness for life!

Entry 3: Technology and the Future of our Education

When browsing across the video site online I found an interesting video about the insane amounts that technology has increased over time.

See video here.

This got me to thinking, how has this increase in technology affected the way that students learn? Is there a way that we can use this increased technology to the school's advantage? I found another video that I believe really seems to answer these questions.

To see this video, click here. 

What do you think? Can using technology more frequently in classrooms become a beneficial tool to learning in the 21st century? Is the future now or is this hopeful thinking that the students will go through with the new way of learning? I think that the video explains that if electronics are introduced correctly, they will be more than beneficial in the classroom. Your thoughts?

Entry #2: The Best Things in Life

I'm newly 23 and learning what I love! I love Postickers, and animals. I love going to the zoo. I love going to school and working at the same time too. I love sushi and hot wings, and spending time with friends. I like listening to country music in my Mercedes Benz. I'm just kidding on the car part. I noticed I had that rhyming thing going on, so I let it be.

It's my birthday today and I've been able to enjoy almost all of these things in the past 24 hours. I'm going to the zoo tomorrow and I'm probably going to my favorite restaurant in Scottsdale too. I'm very excited. I've been working on homework for the last few hours, and although the homework part might not be my favorite, I'm looking forward to it paying off in the end.

I'm going to school to become a math teacher! I absolutely love math with a passion. I love tutoring people and watching them succeed. I love making people realize that they don't hate math, they just hate how it has been presented to them. I always believe that thinking about math in logical terms will help break down the problem and make it so much easier to solve. I can't wait to have a class full of students that I can help to excel in math!

I'm a huge math nerd, but I also love Spanish. I would love to be fluent in it and to be able to communicate with more people than I am able to communicate with now. I've taken many Spanish courses, but it's really the speaking part that gets me nervous and flustered. Even though it is difficult, I love it and do my best to pronounce the words correctly.

I'm headed out to the rest of my day with a big smile on my face and intentions to continue doing things that I love. Happy Un-Birthday to you! Or Happy Birthday if it happens to be yours as well! Here's a nerdy joke for you!

Entry #1: Blogs Shmogs?

I've never been the type who would blog by choice; I guess you could say that I'm still not that type. My cousin tried getting me into Tumblr, but I lost interest in it after the first day. I do use Facebook, but maybe not the same way that most bloggers would. Going into this I rolled my eyes a bit and groaned with frustration, thinking I'd hate every moment of it, but here I am, not so upset and I'm learning that I might like blogs!

One blog I read and that I really liked was 101 Cookbooks. I love cooking and finding new and delicious recipes, so I really enjoyed that she made this the main point of her blog. I also liked that she made sure to respond to the questions of her readers. It makes it feel like the author and readers are more connected. I enjoyed the recipe she shared for Immunity Soup because I've been getting sick a lot recently. I liked the wording she chose in her posts as well.

One blog that was surprisingly more interesting than I expected was Business Insider. I saw Business and I immediately thought it would be a bunch of things that I wasn't interested in. I was surprised to see that they covered quite a bit of topics and brought in readers of all different interests, so even though I might not be interested in all of the topics, there were also ones that I wanted to learn more about.

One blog that I thought I'd like but I ended up not enjoying was 20-Nothings. I loved her most recent post about adult things that she recently learned how to do, but the next few posts either bored or annoyed me. I don't like the celebrity gossip stuff and I honestly don't care about who said what, but the author was definitely into that kind of stuff.

I'm learning that there are things that I am interested in, and I might even follow a blog or two to keep up to date!

Introduction: "Getting My Feet Wet"

Hi there! My name is Shayla. I'm 23 years old, and this is my third semester at GCC. I love math, science, Spanish and animals. I am attending GCC to take any and all classes possible before I transfer to an unknown university in California or Arizona to further my education toward becoming a math teacher. In my free time I rescue cats and dogs, and raise feral kittens to be tame. Over the past year, I rescued 2 cats, 2 dogs, and raised 12 kittens.

Here are some kittens that my friend's father was able to round up from his yard. I raised and rehomed all four.

Here are some kittens that my friend and I found in a parking lot. I raised and rehomed all 5 of them as well.

My cousin and I found this bugger trapped INSIDE of a dryer. He had fallen through a hole of the roof in the laundry room and went straight down the chute into its vent. We spent 3 hours dismantling and reassembling the dryer after freeing him, but it was so worth it!

These last two little girls were given to me by homeless people because they were sick and the homeless people could not afford to take care of them. My grandma fell in love with the kittens and adopted them from me. The two babes are still best friends to this day!

This is my forever dog, Alice. I found her as a stray and even though I am a large dog person, she stole my heart and I was unable to let her go. She is the sweetest dog ever!

 All of my babies are hard to let go, but I'm always happy to see them go to good homes.

Sorry for the overload of photos; I love to show them off! This is just a bit about me, or maybe a lot, but this is my first blog entry ever, so I hope you enjoyed it!