Tuesday, March 31, 2015

When you can't fall asleep...

Things are really getting crazy at school now. I have 46 days left here and a to-do list about ten years long. Tonight, I tried to get at least semi-organized.

Operation Finish Line
Last Day of Classes: May 4, 2015
Graduation May 17, 2015

v  Major Deadlines:
            - April 7th: Paper #2 due for Dr. Imholt
            -April 13th: Paper #2 and eportfolio page due for Dr. Robichaud
                                Breakwater emailed to Dustin
            -April 14th: 6 Literary Journals due for Dr. Cole
            -April 18th: Online CJ final exam
            -April 28th: Term Paper due for Dr. Cole/ Presentation in class/eportfolio                                                page
            -May 4th: Paper #3 and eportfolio page due for Robichaud
                             Paper #3 due for Dr. Imholt
                             Final Portfolio Presentation Due in class

v  Timely Unimportant Deadlines:
            - Function advertisements due April 2 and April 9th
            -May Duty calendar due April 20th
            -May bulletin board due May 1st
            
v  Not Timely, Not Important:
            - Work on Resume and cover letter/apply for jobs
            - Work on manuscript
         
v  Graduation Checklist:
            - Attend grad fair
                        -Reserve spot in line
                        -Purchase cap and gown
                        -check in with career services
                        -Learn about Alumni Association
                        -Get info on free Financial Management Services
                        - Schedule Exit Interview
                        -Receive final account balance/Pay degree completion fee

My Operation Finish Line naming was chosen from my favorite show in the whole world, Gilmore Girls. Paris and Rory were much more organized and ahead of the game than I am. Of course, I have to find a job, but just not right now. I am going to the career services table at the grad fair and I am paying the office a visit sometime next week. Right now, at this moment and with all of the assignments awaiting completion, finding a job is not top priority. Finding myself gainful employment is May 18th's problem, not April 1st. I had to organize and prioritize. My boss, Justin, he told me about this system he has for organizing all the tasks he has to complete. I could only remember two of them. Next Friday, during my one-on-one, I am going to ask him what the other two categories were. 

If anyone has any free time and wants to help out a suffering and over-burdened college senior, please help. 

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Hate Free Zone

Tonight was my last March dorm function in Sansbury. I hosted a "Hate Free Zone" night. My residents were able to get creative and make signs that are now hanging in the halls declaring that their rooms are hate free zones. I felt that this was something that was important to do because of some attitudes I have been witnessing on social media, on campus, and just in casual conversations. Sometimes we do not realize just how powerful words can be when you talk about a particular group or an individual, even if you do not mean it to be destructive. 

Back in February, I read an article in the times that talked about former Director of Communications for IAC and how her series of tweets during a flight had her desk cleared and her name off of her office door before she even landed. She was flying from JFK to Africa and her tweets went from rude to ignorant and un-educated.

This is a snippet from the article, "How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life" in the New York Times

“ ‘Weird German Dude: You’re in First Class. It’s 2014. Get some deodorant.’ — Inner monologue as I inhale BO. Thank God for pharmaceuticals.”Then, during her layover at Heathrow:“Chilly — cucumber sandwiches — bad teeth. Back in London!”And on Dec. 20, before the final leg of her trip to Cape Town:“Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!”

I was honestly appalled when I read this. She really did not understand her position or the fact that on social media, everyone sees you. Even when you are not acting in a professional capacity you should maintain a professional face. My mother is constantly warning me to watch what I tweet, and I completely understand why. No one wants to be the next Justine Sacco.

The girls had so much fun tonight and that made me really excited. It felt good to know that they are comfortable taking this pledge with me. I really think that this is something that Albertus needs in each of the dorms. 

Well, I am going to go back to watching The Hills, doing my nails, and sipping on mint tea. I am heading for home tomorrow. I am so excited!



Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Experiential Learning Day 2015

Today, Wednesday, March 25, 2015 was Experiential Learning Day (ELD) here at Albertus Magnus College. I attended five panels, participated in two Art Therapy Graduate research projects, and had the honor of lunching with Professor Kendrick and Dr. Bourgeois.

The first panel I attended talked about the differences between the education systems in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. My friend, Kirsty, is here in America, from Belfast, studying business. Back home, she is a math major, but here she chose to tackle business. What I learned about their education system, I found extremely fascinating. For example, in the UK, students are expected to know what they want to do by the age of 16. You will either go into College, which is like trade school, or you attend University, which is where you would study in your chosen field: math, in Kirsty’s case. I thought that was crazy! To be expected to know what you want to do in life, by the age of 16, seems insane to me!

The second panel I attended was all about Japan, its population crisis, and how the world forced its way back into Japanese affairs. My friend, Ben, was the speaker. He is a Global Studies major and right now he is writing his thesis paper on Japan and different aspects of it. I really hope that he lets us read the paper before we graduate.

By 10 o’clock, Ben’s panel was finished and my friends and I picked up our belongings and hustled over to Aquinas, room G9, to go and listen to our friend, Matthew, talk about New Haven’s ex-utopian status. At 10:30 AM, we were high-tailing it back over to the Tagliatela Academic Center for Emili’s talk. During the fall semester, Emili had written this amazing research paper discussing the uses of Virtual Reality and its potential downfalls. It really does get you thinking about all the technology we use during the day. Why do we use it? Do we need all of it? How do we feel when we use it? Don’t use it? It is quite the hot topic right now, especially in regards to children, early development stages and the effect that technology has on children.

Have you ever noticed that children are no longer satisfied with just the attention of their parents or with the interactions with toys? How much attention does a child really need? Is it the instant reaction time of a smart-device that they seek?

Does human contact still matter?
I have been asking myself questions like these all day long.

The final panel that I attended for the day was focusing on Punk Rock. Where has the punk rock genre gone to? Is it gone or is it just slowly re-emerging? Who are the key punk bands currently? What issues are they targeting and protesting? My friend Sam is working on an independent film project. Her goal is to define punk for herself and possible on an international level. It brings up awesome questions of feminism/anti-feminism, war promoters/rejecters, and civil rights questions. 

What is right? What is punk? Ah…that is the question.

During the lunch hour, I had the pleasure of discussing the definition of a “young adult” in terms of literature. Professor Kendrick is a sociologist and studying people, behaviors, and classifying them is a big part of it. I was telling her about my dreams of becoming a writer, and when she asked me what kind of writing I do, I replied, “Mostly fiction, short and longer works. I am currently working on a novel.” We got into talking about the use of the phrase “Young Adult (YA) literature”. It really is a fascinating time to be a writer because the genre classifications we know and love could very well change right before our eyes. Students are not on the same reading levels as others simply because of circumstances out of their control. I feel that the YA age bracket could change drastically, based on how kids are educated; but, this is merely my opinion and thoughts I had today. I do not know if they truly fit together, but they are mine and I will continue to work on them.

I almost wish that I had to write a thesis paper for my major.

Oh well…

Monday, March 23, 2015

But who's counting?

There are approximately 55 days left to my time here at Albertus Magnus College, this institution of higher education. My to-do lists are getting longer and the time frame in which I have to complete all of the these tasks is getting shorter.

This past Saturday, the Breakwater committee met and in four hours, we had picked all of the poems, photos, and short prose pieces that will be published in Breakwater this year. 
This is an exciting time for me because this is my chance to really play the role of Editor. My Co-Editor and I make hard and fast decisions about layout, formatting, fonts, font size, and the order in which Breakwater is put together. I am proud to say that this year I have a poem and a short prose piece being published in the magazine. “Just Like Breathing” has also been entered into a writing contest held by the Room of Her Own Foundation’s Short Fiction section. I am still waiting to hear back from them. I can’t help but feel these knots in my stomach every time I think about the contest. 

In fifty-three days, my room will be packed up, and I will walk across a stage after earning my diploma, four years in the making. I am trying my hardest to stay on top of my school work and bask in the glory of being a senior, but sometimes it is difficult to concentrate. Operation Finish Line is about to go into action. In this plan, I organize job prospects (already in the research and organization process); I map out assignment deadlines, final exam dates, and important graduation dates. My criminal justice final is on April 18. Once that class is completed, I will have one less course to stress about. I only have one real final and I think I can handle it. As long as I stay on top of my grades from now until final’s time, I should be fine. 

Right now, I am taking school one day at a time. Tonight, I am taking my senior yearbook photo and I have work in the pub until 11. Tomorrow I will tackle Breakwater stuff.