Diversity Event

The diversity event that I went to was Candy Crowley discussing what happened during the campaign process and her post-election analysis. Walking into the Memorial Union I didn't know what to really expect to listen to during this talk.

Having this be the first presidential election that I could actually vote in, I was actually interested in what each candidate stood for and their policies for different things. So when I found out that she was going to talk about why she thought that Obama won the election my interest immediately increased. Once I saw what she what she looked like I realized that I had seen the election that she had moderated.  

One of the main things that she talked about was why she thought the election went the way that it did. I agree with a lot of things that she said. For example, she talked about how the Democrats focused on getting votes from the cities, which is usually the case for every election, and that the Republicans focused on the suburbs, also usually the case. But during this election the Democrats got more votes than usual from the cities while the Republicans got less than usual from the suburbs that they counted on to bring in votes. The other main reason that she gave is that Obama won a lot of the votes from the Hispanics. Obama won around 70% of the Hispanic votes, while Romney only got around 30% of the remaining voters.

It was really interesting hearing an expert in politics talk about the election and why everything turned out the way that it did. I'm glad that I went to this event because it drew my attention more than the other ones would have. Would I have gone to this if it wasn't for the Hixson program? Probably not. But am I glad that I went? Absolutely.

How I've grown, what I've learned

This semester has been really good for me as a Hixson Scholar. I have been so blessed to have a great section and two peer mentors that really care if we do well or not. I couldn't have asked for a better first semester as a Cyclone. Over this semester I have grown a lot and learned a few things and this is that this blog is about.

This semester I learned a lot of things, I learned that you actually need to study at college and work hard to get good grades, you can't just coast by like I could in high school. I needed to actually put myself out there and talk to people in order to make friends, the talking part isn't very hard for me. I learned how to work as a team and that everyone learns and communicates in different ways. This was a big learning experience for me because I like everyone to learn and do things my way.

I have also grown a lot this semester. I have grown in my understanding of who I am and how I react to certain situations. Whether this was with the MBTI test or other tests that we had to do. I grew in a way that I found out that I can live an entire semester away from home.

My first semester at Iowa State was fantastic and I couldn't have ased for a better experience. I have been surrounded by great friends and fellow students. I am looking forward to see what happens in these next three years.

What The Hixson Award Means To Me

Finances has never been a worry for me. My family was in the middle class and I just assumed that we were normal. Then when my dad passed away because of cancer the Spring of my Junior year, while everyone was thinking about what to do next, I was thinking about how I was going to pay for college. Fear crept in when I couldn't think of a way to pay for college, especially with price of college not getting any cheaper, without taking any loans. My Junior and Senior year I worked as hard as I could in hopes of possibly getting a scholarship. I have heard so many stories about people getting in a large amount of debt because of their college loans that they couldn't pay off. My dad has his masters degree in Biology and I remember seeing him mail bill after bill to try and pay all of his loans off. 

When I started to look for scholarships, I was trying to decide whether to go to The University of Northern Iowa or Iowa State University. When I saw the Hixson Scholarship I knew immediately that this was the perfect scholarship for me to get. The fact that one of the requirements really showed me that they were looking for people who had gone through something tough and was able to persevere through it. The fact that it was worth a lot of money also attracted it to me. What I decided, without telling anyone, is that if I got the Hixson scholarship then I would go to Iowa State. Then when I received the news that I had received the scholarship I ran around the house yelling. Not only because I had just received a great honor, but because I knew finally where I was going to go to college. 

In conclusion the Hixson Award means more to me than an amount of money. It means to me one of the reasons why I came to Iowa State and that I have people that are willing to support me and believe that because of the things I have gone through they think that I have the ability to succeed in college and in life. 

Diversity

My initial reaction when I heard that we were having a diversity talk, was "Oh great, another talk about diversity." But the talk that we had was different, it changed my thoughts and outlook on diversity a lot more than all of the other talks. I think the thing that impacted me the most was the difference between empathy and sympathy. Usually when thinking about diversity I usually just think in a sympathetic way. Feeling sorry for the people that are discriminated against instead of actually thinking about how I would react in their situations.

In high school I just thought that diversity involved race. Now after been to many diversity talks I have realized that it is about so much more. It includes: race, culture, social status, sexual orientation, age, gender, and much more. It really showed me that diversity isn't just limited to what color your skin is.

Diversity is important to our culture for many reasons. It is what separates everyone of us and what makes us unique. Without diversity our lives would be pretty boring. Everyone would be the same and that doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.

Social Media Week

When I first heard what our assignment was for Social Media, I was actually kind of worried because I didn't know what I was going to do. I have always heard about Twitter but never thought about getting one. At first, I didn't know what to tweet about, or who to follow. But once I got the hang of it, it became a lot easier to know what to talk about. I think that tweeting things that envolved our careers was a lot harder than tweets that were meant to be funny.

Connecting with different people was a hard task. Because I didn't know where to start or who to even follow. Following people is probably the most important part of Twitter. Because who you follow determine what you read on your home page. It also shows the kind of person that you are. When people look at who your are following they can get a pretty good idea of what you enjoy and what your hobbies are. This goes for employers as well. Employers may look me up on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. They can see what kind of person I am in a short amount of time. As long as I keep my sites looking professional, they could possibly help me achieve my goals later on down the road.

The articles and video surprised me quite a bit. I didn't know that people overseas are affected by this as much as we are. Also this week has really showed me how much time I spend on social media sites. Such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

My MBTI Experience

After taking the MBTI test i figured it was just a survey that they wanted us to take so they could learn more about us. But when I learned that it was actually geared towards us learning about ourselves I was kind of surprised. I assumed that I already knew everything about myself, (which is far from the truth), but after reading the results of the survey I realized I was wrong.

My results were E - Extraversion, S - Sensing, F - Feeling, and J - Judging. I didn't expect the results to be accurate, but they surprisingly were. First off I am extraverted. If you are around me for more than 5 minutes you start to realize that I like to talk a lot and I voice my opinion frequently. When they made us take a self evaluation before we saw our actual scores I put myself almost completely extraverted. But when I got my scores I realized that I was completely extraverted. So I pretty much already guessed what I was going to be for that letter.

The next letter is S for Sensing. With this one I feel like I could have been either and S or an N, I didn't really know exactly what I was. So I placed myself exactly in the middle between the two. When I got my results back I realized that I was barely an S. I can understand how I am an S, it actually helps me to realize how I gather information and what I can remember.

My third letter was F for Feeling. I put a lot of value into my relationships and friendships that I have. I work hard to preserve them and make sure that I am keeping everyone happy. I knew that I was going to be a F instead if a T.

My last letter was J. This one was completely obvious to me of what I was going to be. I keep 4 calendars and I make sure to plan out my time. When I don't plan it out I get distracted easily and I end up regretting how I used my time in the end. I was almost completely a J and I predicted that I would be that as well.

This test allowed me to learn more about myself and figure out my learning style and how I retain information. It also allowed me to be a better leader because now that I know how people act and how I can involve everyone that I am in charge of.

Life and ISU Bucket List

After watching the movie "The Bucket List" I started to think of the things I wanted to do before I die. Some of the main ones I came up with is: Climb a mountain, go to a Green Bay Packers game, and have a family. 

There are many reasons that I want to climb a mountain. First of all just because then you can say, "I climbed a mountain." Recently I went with my family to go visit Niagara Falls. Seeing the power and force behind such a beautiful sight amazed me. I want to be able to reach the top of the mountain and look out at all of the beauty that is before me. 

Having being born in Wisconsin I am a huge Packers fan. Although I only lived there for 2 years I still consider myself a "Cheesehead". Unfortunately I have not been able to go to a Packer game at Lambeau Field where they play. Being in that atmosphere of everyone cheering and yelling for the team that I love is something that I couldn't go my whole life with experiencing. 

I know having a family usually isn't on someones bucket list, because we usually assume that it is going to happen. But after seeing how much my parents loved each other and the love that they continually show me, I don't want to miss out on that. 

I also have some things that I want to do at Iowa State before I graduate. They include: Rush the field at Jack Trice, go campaniling, and riding the CyRide all day.

After seeing time and time again the fans that rushed the field after Iowa State beat number 2 ranked Oklahoma State last year, it makes me want to be a part of that. Last year I went to the Iowa State vs. Baylor basketball game. Baylor was ranked in the top 10 of the nation and heavily favored to win the game. But, somehow ISU won the game, the student section rushed the court and celebrated the victory. While I was not sitting in the student section thinking to myself, "I can not wait until next year when I can be out there with them." I can't wait until I get to experience this tremendous feeling of pride for my school. 

Another thing that I want to do is to go campaniling. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is where you take that special someone to the campanile at midnight and kiss them while the bells ring. Although once again this sounds kind of cheesy and lame, it is something I want to experience before I leave this school.

The last thing on my ISU bucket list is to ride the CyRide all day. Although this sounds boring to most people, I think that the conversations and the people that I meet would be a memory I would never forget. As long as I had someone to go with me I would be fine. 

After looking at my goals and wishes that I have for these next four years and the rest of my life, I can't wait to get started on them. Of course I can't force all of these things to come true, because some of them aren't up to me. But for the ones I can control, I will make sure that I get them done soon. 

Time When I Was At My Best

Time When I Was At My Best

For the past three summers I have worked as a counselor at a summer camp called Hidden Acres. I was a camper at Hidden Acres since I was in 3rd grade. Growing up I couldn't wait until I got back to camp. Every year I would get a new set of counselors and I would always think that they were the coolest people ever and had everything in their life worked out. Throughout all of those years I couldn't wait to be a counselor and have kids look up to me and impact their lives as my counselors impacted mine. This summer I had a time when I was at my best. The young girl in the picture's name is Kyra. On the first night of the week that she was there, she was crying in her counselor's arms. I went over and introduced myself but she wouldn't talk to me. The next day she ran up and gave me a hug and her counselor told me about all of the terrible things she has had to go through in her young age. Hopefully throughout that week I helped show that there are people out there that love her and treat her with kindness. It was crazy to see how someone that has had so much pain in her life can still smile and be joyful every day.

That same week I had two campers named Kadin and Colin. They both went to the same school and were good friends. Kadin, in the white, came from a really great home and was always energetic and really cared for the others around him. I saw him last weekend and he ran up and gave me a hug. Someone told me that he had said that I was his favorite counselor and that he couldn't to see me. Colin, in the red, was less talkative and not involved in what we were doing. I made it my goal to get him excited for each activity and to make sure that he got along well with the other boys. At the end of the week Colin's mom wrote me a message on Facebook. She told me how much the week meant to Colin and he had a lot of fun. She also said how he seemed a little than he did before he left. He was more passionate for certain things and seemed more outgoing. This was just gave me reassurance that what I was doing was important and that I was making an impact in these young boy's lives, even when I didn't feel like I was.