Diversity Event

"Buy black" and "support your race" are a few statements the speaker told the audience during the "Our Black Year In America's Racially Divided Economy" presentation. I learned a few things about the speaker and how she precieves the economy.

The speaker started out by telling everyone that this topic was not racist. I felt uncomfortable during the whole presentation because the information given and her opinion seemed like reverse racism to me. I liked the idea of helping build up the African American Communities but she would bring up slavery during her presentation which had nothing to do with her topic.

The speaker and her family only bought from African American owned business for one year. She talked about the sacrifices the family had to make during that year. She also talked about how other races support their own race by shopping at a business owned by a member of the same race. I believe that the races support each other because the businesses are in their communities are usually owned by the same race that lives there. One should not shop at places due to race, just like one should not hire others due to race. The speaker also stated that races hire their own and since African Americans do not own very many business that is why so many are unemployed but she did not mention anything about Affirmative Action.

The speaker made a some valid points. I also really respect her for trying to make a difference in the world but she made the presentation uncomfortable and she lied to the audience. I would not attend a presentation by her again.        

Growth and Learning

I knew coming into college that I was going to be learning a lot of knew information but I did not really expect to learn some much out of the classroom. There is a lot of information to learn here at Iowa State! Information ranges from things learned in the classroom to social information and traditions.

My first week at Iowa State was terrifying to me, especially the first day. After my parents left, I had know idea what to do with myself. My roommate was in marching and so she was never around. I made friends with people on my floor. Destination Iowa State also helped me meet people and I learned a lot about this school.

As the weeks went on, I have made new friends and learned the ways of this college. I have also learned a thing or two in my classes. I feel that my experiences so far have really a loud me to open up more and explore my options for the future. When I returned for Thanksgiving break, I could tell that I have changed since I arrived in August. While hanging out with my friends during break that attend other colleges, I noticed how they have change and it also helped me see how I have changed too.

A semester has not yet gone by but yet I do not feel like the same person I was from a few months ago. I have learned a lot so far at this university and I have three and a half semester to grow and learn a lot more information.    

Hixson

What does Hixson award mean to me? The award gives so may opportunities that I may not have had or known about otherwise.

 The award gave me the chance to attend Iowa State. I would not have been able to afford to go to Iowa State for four years without this award. I also receive assistant if needed from this award, like a tutor. To keep me on track, I also have Kaylene and Dane (peer mentors) and Alli, Debra, or Chelsea (leaders).

I have meet so many people through the Hixson program! I have peer mentors, a section of individuals, and a large lecture class. The award helps me network with other people I may have not met otherwise. The Hixson program also hosts events so we can all have fun while getting to know each other like the Hixson retreat or painting pumpkins.

During the lectures, speakers come in and talk to the class about the university and the options for the future. The speakers have helped me understand the resources I have and how I can plan for the future.

I truly feel that the Hixson award is trying to help me become the best I can be while at Iowa State and for the future. The award means opportunities to me and so far it has helped me see just how many I actually have!    

Diversity

Diversity has a broad range of meaning. I always believed that diversity was people from different backgrounds and experiences in an area. I learned from the presentation last Tuesday that it is much more than that. Sylvester was the name of the speaker that introduced me to the real meaning of diversity. 

Sylvester explained different situations and phenotypes that contribute to diversity. I really enjoyed the way he presented the information. He is a very charismatic speaker. Before his presentation, I would not have ever thought of myself as being diverse, I always thought I was kind of just a standard, boring Caucasian. When  I am compared to someone else I have had different experiences in my life and I may have been raised in a different situation, which would make me diverse.  

Also, when I think of diversity I usually think of a place, like Iowa State, that has a lot of people from other countries. It never really occurred to me how much diversity is in the state of Iowa let alone a community in Iowa. A place does not have to people from other countries or states to considered diverse.

  I believe that it is very important to have diversity in one's community. Diversity helps people understand that there are other ways of life out there than there own. Learning in a community that is diverse helps one understand different cultures and helps educate the persons. People from different backgrounds and experiences bring different ideas and gifts to the table. I mean just look at how diversity affects Iowa State!  

Social Media

When I founded out that the week's assignment had to do with social media, I was dreading it. I have a  Twitter and a Facebook account but I do not really like to write statuses. I have always felt I should only post interesting things, which I run into maybe once a week. I decided to do the Twitter assignment because I already had a twitter account set up.

The hardest part of this assignment, for me, was figuring out what I was going to tweet about. Some of my tweets were pretty decent but the rest were lame because I ran out of things to say. The easiest part was finding businesses and people who shared similar career and major interests as me. I was surprised at how many businesses use twitter, like Mayo Clinic for example.

I like to use Facebook and Twitter solely for communicating with my family and friends. I also have been told through out the years that future employers will look at your media sites. I really do not want to use my social media pages to market myself for a job but I understand people will still look at the page. Some of the articles talked about using Twitter to broadcast yourself to future employers.

One article discussed how the people of Mexico use Twitter for safety. I personally think that this is an amazing and fast way to spread news. I can honestly say I check Facebook and Twitter at least three times a day. I only check the news stations about twice a week. I have learned a lot more than I expected to this week and the assignment actually turned out to be better too.

MBTI

I have not ever heard of the MBTI test before Hixson. When I took the test this summer I could not simply fathom that an test online could pinpoint my personality type. It turns out that the test was pretty accurate.

My four letters were ISFP, which stands for introversion, sensing, feeling, and perceiving. I learned that although my personality seems to fall into these categories, on the preference clarity index, I was in the slight or moderate spectrum for all of my categories. So, I could go either way on my categories.

If asked in high school if I was an introversion or extraversion, I would have most likely picked extraversion because I was friends with most my peers and I usually would say things before I thought about them. Now that I am in college I do not say much in class and I usually think before I talk. I recall my freshman year of high school to be the same way.

My results conclude that I hold my values high, I am reserved, and I live in the moment. I have not thought of myself having those personality traits but the more I think about it the more I find the traits stated to be true. I am not quite sure how these traits will help me with my goals, but hey they helped my get this far!

Goals and Bucket list

Goals, to me, are the serious ideas one wants to set for his or her own life. A person sets a goal to attempt to achieve something. On the other spectrum is a bucket list, which are things one wants to do for a source of entertainment. This blog is all about my goals and bucket list.

I really do not have very many goals set for myself as of right now. My biggest goal would be to graduate college with a grade point average of at least 3.50. I would also like to stick to my major. After graduating from Iowa State I plan on attending medical school, maybe a school in the south. I am not quit sure if I want to be a general physician or a pediatrician yet, I figure that there is plenty of time left to figure it out.

To balance out my life I also have fun things planned in my bucket list. I would love to travel to Ireland someday. My great grandparents came from Ireland and I always thought it would be neat to go see where they came from. Living in Tennessee by the Smoky Mountains has also been on my bucket list for quit sometime now. I love the history and appearance of the Smoky Mountains. I have gone white water rafting once and I loved it, so a road trip to different states to white water raft is high on my bucket list.

I have a lot of things goals and activities that I want to accomplish. I feel that the best part of goals and activities on a bucket list is the journey along the way of achieving them. I'm going to work hard to make sure I can check of all of my goals and bucket list!  

Be The Best

When asking someone to tell a time he or she was at his or her best, one could bring up a variety of different stories. Some people feel they were at their best during a game and others may say it was on a test or academic event. I was at my best when I worked at Little Flower Haven Nursing Home.

I have been working at the nursing home for five years. I know that seems like a broad spectrum of time but I will explain. The past year I had been working as a Certified Nursing Assistant (C.N.A.), in that time I had always tried to be at my best. 

I tried my hardest every day at work to be the best I could be and most days I feel I accomplished that. I had to be at my best because not only was I working for myself but I was also there to help and protect the residents. Each evening eighteen residents depended on me to help them get ready for bed and to actually help them into bed. Some residents required more help than others. I had to be on time and respectful with each person. I acquired the virtue of patience throughout my experience at work. I really enjoyed what I was doing and helping the residents felt natural to me. 

 I really cared about my residents. The residents would tell me how much they cared for me also and how good of job I was I dong. I would dismiss the praise because I thought every C.N.A. had my work ethic. Through time I found out that I tried to spend time with my residents and help them feel comfortable a little more than some other the other workers. I finally started accepting the praise because the residents helped me realize that I am at my best when I am helping others.