No Coffee No Workee

                I decided to read the article for Valerie’s group. The article was about how stress can affect you mentally and physically. I found it very interesting because I never knew stress had so many physical side effects. It mentioned such things like stomach cramping and increased asthma. This article really helped out and made me realize I should second guess the sources for my headaches and muscle tension. Recently I have been having trouble with these headaches that I get almost every day. The worst part is that I still can’t figure out what is triggering them. When I read the article I kind of just dawned on me: the headaches could be caused by stress.

                I really enjoyed the tips to prevent stress like yoga or meditation. These are really good ideas, yet since we are college students, how do we have time for these activities? May be for a class discussion we should try to come up with other ideas for stress that we can fit into our busy schedules. Here are some of my easy and quick tips and ideas for stress:

-Some times stress is caused by bad sleeping habits. If you have trouble winding down so you can sleep, try putting lavender scent or oil under your pillow. Lavender is proven to relax you. What I do is blot some lavender oil on a tissue and I put this under my pillow.

- Coffee is great for a wake up but it some times gives us that crash at the end of the day and because of this we sometimes don’t get everything done for the day. Sometimes I like to cut down on the coffee in the morning. Instead, I have a cup of tea. It still wakes you up in the morning and you don’t end up crashing later. (I prefer English breakfast tea in the morning)

Red Flag

                Everyone has heard of abusive relationships. Most people think it’s the whole idea of physical abuse. Yet it can be mental abuse too. It can be subtle too, and many people don’t even realize it. The worst part is that the victims of mental abuse think it is their fault.

                Sadly, I know from experience that mental abuse does exist. I dated someone for only about a month and a half, and now that I have spent time away from this person, I realized what they were doing to me. I thought nothing was wrong when we were together even though everyone around me said I was being treated badly. I feel stupid because I never listened to my parents and best friend. The person I was with literally brainwashed me and I was so oblivious to it. He would try to convince me to come live with him, even though I was already taking care of him every night because he was always drunk. I was also stupid because I thought his drinking problems would pass, yet one day I realized he was an alcoholic. Every time I would try to tell him he had drinking problems, he would end up convincing me that I needed help, not him. When I finally listened to my friends and family and broke up with him, he threatened me. When he was drunk every night, he would call me multiple times screaming at me.

                After his threats and showing up at my work, I ended up becoming terrified of him. He finally left me alone when I told him I was going to call the police if he didn’t . To this day I am still afraid of him. This blog is to show people that they should never go through this. Also, this is to show the signs of abusive relationships and the signs of alcoholism. 

http://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health/spotting-the-signs-of-emotional-abuse.aspx

(A link about the signs of mental abuse)

High school VS College

                I thought I would discuss the connection between Southern and I. To boil it down more, I wanted to express how I see and relate to SCSU. For me, it’s all about the people. I tend to want to express and have input in everything with people. That’s why I was scared people would not take me seriously.

                When I came to Southern, I was afraid it would be just like high school. The typical idea of the group you hang out with (stereo types) and having to watch yourself around people. Yet it was much different. I noticed that here, every one is the same, we just want an education. But at the same time, we all come from different towns, back rounds, and different ideas. There are no boundaries with people here, we are all similar, yet we are all not. There is no such thing as a stereo type, I mean overall, we are just people. Everyone gets along with everyone.

The Mean Girls Map to the high school

 cafe

                We all remember in high school when all the freshmen got picked on by the upper class men. At Southern, this does not exist. I end up meeting new people every day, and it doesn’t matter whether I am a freshman. I’ve hung out with kids in my grade, from seniors to professors. We are all one, we’re all  just college students.

                The other difference I noticed is that everyone is nice. So far, I don’t think I’ve met one mean person. For example, when I walk from Engleman to Morril, a complete stranger will hold the door for me, even if I am ten feet behind them.

                Sadly, there is still that group of people that never quite transferred mentally from high school. However, I am lucky enough to notice this in people, and I am smart enough to stay away. Overall, in college, people are so much more real and honest about anything and everything.

Girl's Night

                I told you guys I was going to give you an update on my plans for Thursday. Since it involved me being on campus at a school event, I decided to make it this week’s campus safari. (Hopefully it is acceptable) Anyways, I’ll discuss my night out. I ended up staying in my friend’s dorm and I went to the Halloween Dance at the student center on Thursday night. I had a blast.

The Girls and I dressed up at the Student Center

                I originally wanted to go out and party with people to get over my fear of crowds and I think I definitely got over it. I’m pretty proud of myself. We all dressed up and went out. At first, there was not a lot of people at the dance but, after about twenty minutes of us being there a lot of people showed up. I was a little overwhelmed when so many people arrived yet I just tried to enjoy myself. My friends know I am not good with crowds so we decided to take water breaks every now and then to get away from the clusters of people.  

                 It got a little over crowded and sweaty, so we left after about two hours. Overall, I am happy with myself because I really wasn’t nervous and I had tons of fun. It was awesome going to such a fun school activity. I never realized the school has so many events (practically every night) for all the students. It’s a great way to get students involved and to keep them out of trouble. Also, I was excited that it was free and we got free candy.

Me going to bed (At 3 am)

                After the dance, we went to my friend’s suite and had girl’s night in because the weather was nasty. We ordered pizza and goofed off all night. We even got in trouble for being too loud. Even though I was tired because we went to bed late, I am glad I made new friends and enjoyed a new experience.

In A Crowded Room

                One of my worst fears are crowds of people. It’s really hard for me because I love music and I attend a lot of concerts. Even though I love going, I get scared because people get really into the music and start acting crazy and start moshing. Before, I have freaked out in crowded places and my friends have had to calm me down.        

                                Now I have realized I am in college now, and I should enjoy myself. I am not a big party person but I think it would be nice to go to a party or club and enjoy myself. I am excited yet nervous. I want to do this because I’ll be 19 in two months. I should have fun, enjoy myself, and not be afraid of crowds.

                So, here’s my plan: I am staying in my friend’s dorm tomorrow night because we are all dressing up and we are going to go out. I am really scared because this is definitely out of my comfort zone. My fear is all these strangers I don’t know all around me. It’s not like I feel they are judging me, it’s more of the mystery of people and how some outburst. I don’t know how to deal with belligerent people that make me uncomfortable. I am sure I’ll be fine because I will be with all of my friends and if anything happens they will be there.

                A lot of people on campus are dressing up in costumes tomorrow night to go out. My friends and I are doing the same. Some of us have our own costumes and others are in groups. My friend and I are dressing differently. I am going as an inmate and she is going to be a Ninja Turtle. Even though this isn’t about the actual experience, I haven’t gone yet and will update on how it went.

VIDEO PROJECT

Link to project:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48N1cbVyBA

Midterm Mazes

     Since it's the peak of midterms, I thought I would discuss how my grades are. I have mainly As and Bs. I do need to bring one grade up but I know I can do it. Even though I need to bring up one grade I am overall pretty happy with my grades. I honestly thought I was doing a lot worse than what my grades reflected because I was lacking a little in effort in all my classes all together.

     But yes, I am happy overall. At least compared to other students. There are some kids I only know briefly, but they told me how they miss class all the time and how they are dropping a class because they are failing it. So, I consider myself lucky and accomplished. All the freshman may have bad grades because it's really hard to adjust from high school to college. But, as time goes on most will get the swing of things like I did.

     I am happy where I am at because I could be doing worse. I am also a lot further along in school so far than I expected to be. Before school started I was actually really scared that I was going to do bad. Even though I am doing good I knew and still know that even though I get all my homework done every night, I still need to work on time management because I still tend to do some assignments last minute. I know that if I do this, I can most likely become a straight A student. My goals for this semester are to bring my grades up to mostly As. I really want to get honors or the dean's list. All I have to do is get better time management and push myself a little harder and I know I can do it.
HERE'S A LINK WITH STATISTICS AND TIPS FOR FRESHMAN COLLEGE STUDENTS:
http://www.anycollege.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/7/29/college-freshman-survival-guide--statistics-social-advice--freshman-fifteen-part-2