My brother is coming to visit

My brother is coming to visit me on Monday, and I’m really excited about it. He’s my best friend, and I haven’t seen him since I left. He goes to Luther College, and he plays football. He’s only a year older than me which I think has made us closer. We always used to fight about everything, but then he left to college. After he left, I realized what I once had. You never really realize what you have until it’s gone. When he left last year, I kind of had a depressed time because I didn’t know what to do with myself. My parents weren’t much better than I was, and they made me feel like I was nothing. They were so unhappy and sad that it was just like they didn’t even care that I was still there. My parents were then drinking more than they used to. I’m completely against drinking, so it was hard for me to comprehend. I didn’t have my brother, so what was I going to do? They also took all their anger out on me which made things worse. Not having my brother around killed me, I realized that having a brother is an awesome thing. Having any sibling is an awesome thing; you just don’t realize it until they leave. He always used to text and call my parents, but he never called me. I would get so upset even though we didn’t get along before he left. Over this past summer, we were really close. We did everything together. It was like we were two completely different people. He has inspired me to do my best in everything I do. He also got me to have the determination to work out and run every day. He made the football team in college, and he’s made quite the impact on me. He’s made me realize that good things are all around you even when you think you’re having a bad day. Life wouldn’t be as good if he wasn’t a part of it. My brother is so protective of me with boys, but I'm greatful for that. He makes sure that I don't get into any boy troubles. He's always there for me; I don't know what I'd do without him!

Roommate!

I had my own room since I could remember. I have one brother, and we never had to share a room since we were very young. I’ve always had my own space, and I’ve always had a lot of privacy. Now that we all have roommates, I’ve had to adjust. Having a roommate is hard for me to get used to especially since my roommate is international. We have many differences, and she’s starting to upset me. She doesn’t come back to the room until early morning almost every night, and she always wakes me up. She also has a guy friend that practically lives in our room. I can’t even change in my own room anymore. She doesn’t ever do homework; she’s always on facebook or with friends. I’ve tried to tell her how I feel, but she’s not listening very well. I have yelled at her, and I have made sure that the things she’s doing are bothering me. I don’t know what else to do. Every morning I have a story about her to tell my friends, and it’s just getting old. I love her to death; she always makes me laugh. I don’t want a new roommate; I just wish she’d change her habits. She has a great personality, but it seems as if she has no consideration. There aren’t many people in this world that do have consideration for other people, and she definitely proves that. There have been times I’ve just screamed at her because I can’t take it anymore! The only thing I have left to do is get a new roommate, but I don’t want to make it awkward between us. I still want to be friends with her, but I need my sleep and study time. She has made this first year seem just awful so far, so I wish I could change my thoughts about college with a better view on roommates. It was hard for me to grasp the idea of having a roommate, let alone having a terrible one!

Jurassic Park

It’s amazing how much actual science is in Jurassic Park. Watching the movie when I was little and when I didn’t really pay attention, I never really noticed how much science was really in it. The movie wasn’t made recently, so it’s cool how it was connects to our world today. The movie uses genetic engineering for example, and that’s something that our scientists are still working on today. The blueprints of DNA and the cloning is something that scientists are still working on today to improve it, so it’s kind of fascinating that the idea was already coming when that movie was made. The movie also talked about natural selection. Natural selection has been around for quite awhile, but the movie made it true. It stated that nature selected the dinosaurs for extinction. That could quite possible be the real reason. In the article we had to read in Past Imperfect, it stated that with dinosaurs that were emergent properties that made a misunderstanding between science and history. This could mean many things. The science of it is finding the fossils of them and finding how they were extinct ect.. The history would just be that they were actually here at one point. Some people get the two conflicted because historians could say one thing, and a scientist could prove something with evidence. It’s hard to imagine that there were dinosaurs on this earth at one time. I think it’d be the coolest thing to see one or even just see a skeleton of one. They come to my mind as being huge and things that were indestructible. The movie made me think about all the things that have to go on behind the scenes with science. I never really realized that almost everything we do and almost every discovery has some kind of science involved. Not only that, but everything we use has science behind it and how it’s made. The science industry is huge, and it pretty much rules the world.

Classes so far...

My classes so far are going okay. My biology and chemistry classes are review so far, so it’s nothing hard yet. I still feel the need to study though because I’m terrified for the big tests. Dr. McClung make it sound like today that the tests are awful and it’s not really on the content. It’s on how you can use the content. I’m worried! My first biology lab was today, and I didn’t have my pre-lab questions done because I didn’t know they were supposed to be done. On the syllabus, it just said A-C, but apparently you were supposed to do the whole page in the front of the lab. There’s not a whole lot I can do about that, but I can make sure I work harder on everything else to make up for it. I like the way Dr.Ventullu and Dr.DeVries teach with the power points and adding more as they lecture. It makes me pay attention and have all the information I need. My macroeconomics class is my worst class in my eyes. I can’t understand what the professor is saying most of the time, so it’s hard to get engaged in the class. He doesn’t teach out of the book or off of anything, so he’s really hard to follow. It’s not like we can really study anything, he goes everywhere that most of the time nobody knows what’s going on. I study my notes, so hopefully that’s what’s going to be tested on. My assumption of college classes were going to be harder was indeed correct! They go much faster, and they don’t stop for one person. I am planning on attending the SI sessions for all three of my other classes to make sure I understand what’s wanted from us. I want to make sure I know the content that we’re supposed to know. Classes may be harder, but there are so many resources here that it’d be impossible to fail if you took the opportunities.

IS 101 first

When I was told to write a blog, I thought about it as a “diary”. I didn’t know where to start, or if I should just write about school. The first thing that popped in my head is dealing with the new transition in my life that’s going on right now in my life. This transition is pretty much taking over my life, so how do I overcome it all? I’m really close to my family. Leaving my family was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do; I cried like a little baby when they left. I didn’t know what to do; it was like I was leaving a part of me behind. My brother left last year which made it a little easier, but it was still hard to even comprehend. The only thing I could do was say goodbye and tell myself I’ll see them soon. I couldn’t dwell on it, but it was so hard to watch them leave. I’m finally to the point where I don’t think about them as much, and it doesn’t make me sad when I see pictures of them. I was also terrified to college classes; I’ve heard from many people that it’s so much harder. I was a good student in high school, but I was still frightened. It just kept running through my head that I wasn’t going to make it and I was going to do terribly in college. I was also scared I wasn’t going to make any friends. I’m generally a very social person, but it was just one of those things that always popped up in my head over and over. There were nights I just cried because I was overwhelmed with all the bad thoughts about college. My brother kept telling me it was going to be okay; I just didn’t want to believe him. I was also told that college is all about partying and drinking, and I don’t do any of that. I still don’t understand why people do it. I got here, and sure enough, there’s a lot of drinking and partying that goes on. Coming from a small town, I didn’t know what to expect out of this whole college thing. I made a lot of friends, and I also feel like I belong here. I talk to my family all the time, and it doesn’t even make me sad. I’ve overcome my fears that used to make me cry. What else can you do? I was strong about it, and I tried my best to not think about the bad and focus on the good. Something positive will always come out of an attitude that’s positive! Some things bother me about college, but it’s a good transition. I have more independence; I have to take care of myself. It’s a scary thought, but this is it. This is the real world.