Hello everyone. I just wanted to do a little bit of a follow up of the Bullying blog that I posted yesterday. Today, in my Criminal Law class, we learned about the criminal repercussions of hazing and I would like to share it with you today, since it is a big deal on college campuses.
Hazing is a serious offense. It is defined as, various ritual and other activities involving harassment, abuse, or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group. This happens a lot on college campuses when it comes to sororities, clubs, and sports. It is ridiculous and unnecessary. Whatever happened to proving yourself in a civilized way? I mean, honestly, what does it prove to a sorority when you sit naked, duct taped to a chair, and blindfolded? Let’s help end that bullying I mentioned and find cleaner, nicer, more polite and efficient ways of initiations. For example, send your pledges out on a mission to find something to help the sorority or even just sit down one day and talk as a group about what you want to accomplish in this world. Is it too much to ask to expect us to act like grown-ups?
If you experience a hazing, see one take place, hear about one that might happen in the future please contact campus safety and the police. Help stop the useless and humiliating act.
After being a “college kid” for nearly three semesters, it has become easy for me to recognize the pattern or “timeline” for each semester. Allow me to explain,
Stage 1: The Honeymoon
Typically, the first week of every new semester can be classified as the “honeymoon” stage for students. For the incoming Freshman, there is much anticipation and excitement when looking forward to the new chapter of their lives which is about to begin; and the returning students always seem to miss college life over the summer (come on, you know you did) and are happy to return and get back into the swing of things.
For me, I always end up promising myself that this semester will be “different.” “Emily, ” I say to myself, “this semester you’re not going to skip so many classes. You’re not going to turn in so many late assignments.” (In reality, I do not turn in that many to begin with, maybe two or three, but to me two or three feels like a ton!) “You’re going to get to class on time!!” (More often than not….I am late.)
So, while it is easy for me to make these “new beginnings” promises, I always end up finding out how hard it is for me to keep them. This reality ushers in the second stage of the semester, which I realized today has begun. This dreaded stage seems to be hitting the students (well, at least me….and everyone I talk to) earlier and earlier as their careers as “college kids” continue…
Stage 2: Exhaustion
Now, while it may seem extreme to some to go right from the “honeymoon” to “exhaustion,” it’s really not that big a stretch. Think about it. We all have professors who assign large amounts of course work that is due at the same time; everyone knows that this is a struggle, even the professors will acknowledge that to you. On top of that we all work, possibly multiple jobs, and some of us even have children to take care of.
The life of a college student is among one of the hardest out there.
What is important to understand during this time is that,
A: This is worth it. All the stress that you are feeling right now, all the anxiety; the headaches, colds, sore feet, (from tramping around the campus in heels…I will admit that I am the biggest offender of this and that it is most certainly my fault that my feet hurt) and being tired. all. the. time. is going to be worth it. You are on a path to a bigger and better life that only a college education can give you and it is an incredible blessing to be enrolled in an institute of higher learning. So many people in our country and around the world do not, and may never, have this opportunity. We need to be thankful for what we have.
B: Procrastination is not Your Friend
I am the biggest offender of this. Right now, I am saying to myself, “Emily, do not wait till the night before to do that big project. Why do you complain about being tired if you refuse to do your work during waking hours?” If we all just got the concept of time management under our belts our lives would be so much easier!!
C: Comic Relief Helps
My wonderful business professor Lauren Paisley introduced me to Youtube Friday, where we as a business class take about 15 minutes to watch funny Youtube videos as
TGIF tradition that is both a form of comic relief and an incentive to come to class (very ingenious, Lauren!!)
Youtube Friday is a fantastic idea and also a concept which I plan to utilize whenever I feel like tearing up my text books in sheer frustration (which is often, with my schedule).
Despite the fact that it is Wednesday, I am uploading one of my favorite Youtube videos for your enjoyment below. It is a very popular video, so you may have seen it before, but even so, I hope that it will help to relieve some of your stress today.
Keep your chin up; the weekend is almost upon us!!
Today I witnessed an act of bullying on our campus and was appalled by it. I would think that we, as college students and not high school students, would be above the act of bullying for the mere pleasure of it. What sort of satisfaction comes from being a bully? Do we even know? Do bullies even know? Do they think it is cool?
Does This Look Cool?
Physical Bullying
Bullying is a serious issue and there are many forms of it out there. There is physical bullying when you push someone into doing something, acting a certain way, or when you physically shove them or do something to them with the intended result of humiliating them in front of others. There is verbal bullying, when you say something to or about another person that is meant to cause harm or hurt feelings.
Verbal Bullying
These two are the most known sources of bullying, but there is a third that I believe more people should be aware of. It is called
silent bullying or out-casting, in other words. When you purposefully exclude someone who is willing to participate from a conversation or an activity, it causes them to think that they are not wanted and are not good enough or smart enough to have an opinion.
Silent Bullying
It is wrong to participate in any of these acts of bullying and it would be in everyone’s best interest if we were to abolish bullying. I know it is a lot to ask to live in a world with absolutely no bullying or violence, because let’s face it there will always be people out there that feel the need to commit these acts for some reason or another.
However, what I am asking is a lot easier to accomplish. I am asking that we abolish bullying on our college campus and start making friends with each other. Remember, it is often the people who are “different” “unique” or “quiet” that become the best friends and most interesting people you will ever meet.
So, stop bullying in our school and next time you see that quiet girl with her head stuck in a book, ask her what she is reading and actually engage in a conversation. Who knows, you might even end up liking her and gaining a friend for life.
To report bullying, find the nearest professor or call campus safety at 585-343-0055. Of course for emergencies you can always dial 9-1-1.
I have a pretty steady routine on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My arrival time for work at Student Activities is 8:30 am and its usually pretty quiet; my morning consists of getting the office ready for the upcoming day and handing out ping pong paddles and pool stuff to our dedicated students who arrive in the union to play games before the office is even open.
Once those tasks are completed, I am able to turn on my computer and set about my usual “news binge.”
I am a news junkie. Literally. I go from www.yahoo.com; to www.foxnews.com; to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/weird-news/ (they have some really interesting articles, whether they are true or not is the lure which pulls me) and so on and so forth goes my endless stream of news websites intermixed with a healthy dose of my favorite blogs.
I believe it is very important for our generation to be “in the know,” so to speak, about what is happening in our world today. With the policies of our country changing so quickly and news flying at us a mile a minute, we need to stay well read and up to date on current events. Now sometimes this means reading an article about economic policy reform (something that I am interested in..amazingly) and other times it means that you get to read an article about conspiracy theories involving a UFO sighting over Austin, Texas (another topic that I am interested in).
Other times, you come across an article that is in the middle of these two topics, and could affect you.
Today as I was going through my daily news cycle, I came across an article on a blog about texting during classes. It was not your normal “children should not be allowed to carry cell phones in school, let alone text message!!” lecture. Instead, the article was about some schools right here in New York, who are integrating texting into their curriculum.
Now, having the evils of texting thrown in my face by every single high school teacher and college professor I have ever had, has made me cautious when hearing people begin to accept texting as anything more than a nuisance. Don’t get me wrong…I text during class just as much as the next person. In fact, there was,at the beginning of my Senior year of high school, serious talk amongst the school administration about banning cell phones at my school and my mother was up in arms about it, not to mention the students who attended with me. But would texting assignments really be beneficial?
I don’t really think so. First of all, it really is a distraction, whether we as students want to admit it or not. No one thinks anything of sending a quick text during class, but we’ve all been in the situation where we hear little buttons clicking during a lecture and just wanna grab the hidden phone out of our classmates hand and chuck it across the room.
Secondly, texting is not meant to be “work.” It’s a form of communication between people. If all schools were to add texting “assignments” to their curriculum, suddenly, a quick LOL would turn into 2+2=4….do we really want that?
I will post the link to the website below, and granted, this article is about the new pro-texting policy being implemented in middle school; but tell me what you think about the possibility of it being implemented in college. Would you enjoy texting assignments? Would they bother you?
Also, let me know what you think about how informed our generation about what is going on in our world. Should we, as young adults be taking more steps in order to be “in the know?” Non-traditional students, what do you think about the information the younger generation cares about?
Actually, photography is a little of both art and skill. A lot of people think that take a good photograph means having a good camera, but that’s not the truth. The camera could be a simple disposable one and you could still capture great images. I mean, yes, if you had a camera with a telephoto lens or a flash or certain settings, there are some things that could be captured that couldn’t be captured with a simple point and shoot camera (I.E the moon, night time shots, or an action photograph). However, even with out all those fancy gidgets that are put onto more expensive cameras, anyone can capture a photograph worthy of publication as long as they believe they can and have patience.
The camera that I have is a Nikon D3000 with an 18-55mm lens (as pictured below). It is a fairly advanced camera, but in all honesty I barely ever use the “gidgets” that are available. For most photographs that I capture, I keep the settings on no flash and no specialty filters. I simply see something that I feel should be captured and frozen in time and I point and focus the lens and BOOM! Masterpiece. Focusing the lens is where the skill comes into play, but importantly then that is the art part of photography. Anything could be a fantastic photograph as long as you have, what I like to call, “the vision”. The vision is when you snap a photograph and you know in your heart that it came out exactly the way you intended. The vision is seeing something that is worth a look in a photograph that others might find boring or even “horrible”. That vision is a special gift to possess. Don’t ever let anyone make you believe that you don’t have the vision, because in my personal opinion we all have that gift; some of us just choose not to use it.
I am so excited to begin my writing career as a blogger for Genesee Community College!!
I spent a lot of time this weekend trying to figure out what to write about as my first blog post…and could not decide. Being a blogger, there are so many things that you can write about, it can be intimidating trying to figure out where to start. I finally decided that my first blog post should be a little bit about me and my life here at GCC (seeing as how you shall be spending quite a bit of time in my brain this semester).
I have been a student at GCC for almost 3 semesters now, this semester will be my last. The normal amount of time it takes for a student to complete their Associate Degree is 4 semesters. I was very blessed to go to a high school that allowed me to participate in the ACE program and finish a semester of college before I had even graduated high school (ACE is a program that GCC offers, which allows kids to take AP high school classes for college credit, such as Psychology 101 and English 101/105. If, by chance, you are a high school student reading this and you have not graduated yet, I would really encourage you to check it out).
For my entire college career I have worked in the Student Activities office in the Student Union. You can almost always find me there, and if I look familiar to you it is because I have most likely taken your student ID photo and/or sold you a locker. I love working in the SA office; its my favorite thing about GCC. Student Activities is just what it sounds like; our office plans activities for the students. Being able to see this process first hand (from imagining the event, to booking the entertainment, to helping set up) has been a wonderful and eye-opening experience for me. I also enjoy working so closely with the student body. Sitting at my desk and talking to students on the phone, providing answers to their questions and even something as simple as handing out ping pong paddles has allowed me to meet many different people from countries all over the world. I am very lucky to have this opportunity in the area where I was born and raised.
Because I have worked at the college for so long, I have a unique view of GCC which I am excited to share with students. For instance, GCC has become my home in a way that is unique to me and a completely different experience than those students who get the opportunity to dorm here. Call me crazy, but I miss the office when I am not scheduled to work, which is one of the reasons why you can almost always find me in the union. My bosses and coworkers have become my work family; I will always enjoy sitting in my chair with a cup of coffee and discussing the latest event or happening at the college with our staff.
So, there is a little bit about my home, here, at GCC. As I said before, I am excited to have the opportunity to let you guys poke around in my brain every day, and am equally excited for the upcoming semester that we students will share.
I’m not really sure what I can say about the dinner/ movie night that took place from 5-7PM on the Batavia Campus today. So, in order to bring you some sort of information from the night, I decided to review the movie. Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides was shown to the students. It was an excellent movie, as all the Pirates of the Carribean movies were and always will be. However, I found that Penelope Cruz was a little unbelieveable in her role. She played the sword fighting, Jack Sparrow intimidating, Angelica. The chemistry between Johnny Depp and she was a lot less then was expected. Her character was interesting and actually an important part of the story, but I believe the part could have been casted a bit better.
Angelica
Aside from that, the movie was fantastic. It had a lot of action, sword fighting, rum drinking, and comedy; all of the things that make it a Pirates of the Carribean movie. We still find ourselves falling in love with Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny Depp) through the challenges and the quirky moments. As always, Jack gets himself into various jams and finds creative ways of getting out of them. The one thing that was missing, was an end to end the series. Maybe that indicates a fifth move in the makings? We will have to wait and see!
The cougar; a majestic, complex, and fascinating creature. They can run anywhere between 35 to 45 miles per hour and the longest recorded leap is about 18 feet. Due to the low pitched sounds from the cougar, their prey is unsuspecting and taken by surprise. They stalk their prey, taunting them with the possibility of a chase, and then they attack with quick precision and barely a sound.
The Genesee Community College Cougars are also fast and efficient. They are organized, planning out their attack strategy, waiting for the other teams to let their guard down. They use what ever is at their disposal to bring down their prey. In sports like baseball, basketball, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, volleyball, and even swimming (even though cougars are not fond of the water) they attack unsuspecting teams with their skill. So, check out an upcoming athletics event and watch our proud teams go head to head with the other animals of the college kingdom. In fact, there is a men’s soccer game taking place tonight at 4:00PM against Monroe Community College. However, be warned, cougars are very territorial. So, if you hear the low growl of the GCC Cougars, you know they are ready to strike.
Adjusting to eating when you are away from home can be difficult, but with only a few simple ingredients you can make the most delicious chicken dish ever! It’s called Chickeroni Pasta and all you need to buy is chicken, a box of pasta, pepperoni, a can of simple pasta sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. It feeds at least two and only costs about $15! Simply cook the pasta in water, like usual, while simultaneously frying the chicken in a pan. Make sure you fry it in water, instead of oil; too much oil can actually ruin the dish. After the chicken is just about finished, add the pepperoni to give it a bit of the chicken flavor. Once that is to your liking, place the pasta on a dish and top it with the chicken and pepperoni. Then, in a small bowl, heat the sauce and tomatoes in the microwave for about 15 seconds. After it is warm, place on top of the whole dish; the chicken and pasta will help the sauce heat to an edible level. Using your discretion and your personal tastes, you can add parsley on top (as show above), or any spice you wish. Now, simply cut, bite, and enjoy.
Smooth and Creamy!
Small note: Any sort of drink that you are in the mood for will do, but in my family we drink milk with this dish to help with the bite of the pepperoni and spice. It is not an overpowering spice, but sometimes you just need that cooling sensation on your tongue.
From the very beginning of our lives, our parents held our tiny little feet in their hands; trying their hardest to keep us from walking away. Except, no matter how long they held on to our wiggling toes we still had to walk away one day. College might not be a forever moment, like marriage, but it can feel lonely. Being away from home for the first time in your life is an adjustment that takes some getting used to, but I have learned that there is an advantage to living on campus and away from home. As I found out when I came home for the first time this weekend, you get excited when it comes your turn to head home and visit your favorite people. Those people could be Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grams, or even aunts, uncles, and siblings. No matter who they are, they are family and family is the most important thing in the world. Education is important, making a living is important, and living is important, but without family those other things wouldn’t be possible.
Don’t forget the people that helped get you to this point in life. Yes, living away from home can be hard, but with the great invention of technology, there are ways to keep in contact with those loved ones. Email, cell phones, chatting, Facebook… Utilize them all and talk to your family. It might not be the same as being with them, but at least you can see their faces and reassure yourself that they aren’t really that far away. If you think about it, they are right with you; in your hearts.
Genesee Community College Blog 