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.