SUMMER '11

LAST POST.

In excitement for SUMMER, I have decided to make a bucket list for myself.  Things are of coarse not going to go as planned and who knows what the summer will be, but I am super excited regardless and just wanted to set up a list for myself :)

- GO TO GERMANY/AUSTRIA.
- train to be a waitress at Bdubs - OR - get the internship in CHICAGO!!
- buy a car?? mazda3 pleeeeease!
- run AT LEAST every other day. distance is tbd.
- spend EVERY wednesday night with the girls (a tradition started last summer)
- go to the beach more than last year - it's always funner than it sounds
- don't lose tubing on the 4th of july
- wolf lake on the 4th :)
- get bible study group going again
- SAVE money.
- don't buy stuff for the apartment. wait 'til move in
- COLORADO to visit the Ali?!
- California?! with Molly??
- DO GOOD IN ONLINE EC 201.
- above all, have a good summer and DO NOT get sucked into the small town drama.

Here's to SUMMER '11:) can't waaaaait!

- miner moments.

Easy as Weebly

Preparing for the final and thinking about my presentation I had no idea what I would chose.  I considered making a website but never thought I would find something so easy and helpful to create with!  I was able to make a home page as well as add tabs so easily.  I could choose what I wanted to background to be, as well as my theme throughout the site making it very easy to follow a pattern and help to not make the site cluttered.  I was able to up load documents, and although not how I would have put them, am still happy that I was able to set them up like they were.  I was even more impressed with the ability to add a slide show.  I simply re-saved my slide show as pictures and was able to upload them "piece-of-cake" to one of my tabs within the site.  It amazes me the things the internet and technology can do!!

Check out my site: http://minermoments.weebly.com/
:)

-miner moments.

What If??

As part of the online session this week, we were asked to discus changes we would make to the WRA 110 course.  I really did enjoy this course and learned about myself, my strengths, and my time management - possibly not what the goal was however I'm satisfied.  I really enjoyed the fact that it was part online and part in class.  I was able to do work at my pace but still receive weekly help.  I have never taken a course completely online so can't compare it to all courses, but will definitely look for similar courses in the future.
As far as the work goes, it was most defiantly manageable - at times difficult and overwhelming, but what class isn't?  I enjoyed the cover letter project the most as it was something completely new to me and something I see myself getting a lot of use out of in the future with looking for a job or internship.  I really did not enjoy the research paper and my grade was reflected.  I found that assignment most difficult and had a very hard time putting my thoughts into words and onto paper.  Overall, each assignment was something to learn from and I felt useful.

- miner moments.

Chocolate Bunny!!

Easter Weekend!!

Headed home this weekend and am pretty excited.  I feel like I did just see my family - although it was a few weeks ago, compared to how much I've seen them this semester, this feels crazy that I already get to see them again! 
I've begun moving my things out of the dorm and goodness I over packed when moving in.  I am finding stuff that I remember thinking was so important to bring but have not used at all.  Average girl I suppose.... Moving has gotten me sad though.  I didn't realize how much I liked living here and being on my own.  This summer is about to be weird as it's back to curfews and asking permission on everything - who knows maybe things will change?! I am super excited to move home just to be close to friends and family again but I am so going to miss EL and am already super excited for next semester and moving back. 
It's also hard to believe that I am already scheduling for next semester! Things are happening far to quickly as I am used to figuring out classes in the fall.  I already have my apartment, classes and job figured out for the fall! Oh how things seem to fall in place :)

Life is good and the big man upstairs is really taking care of me!

- miner moments.

Prezi :0

"The Zooming Presentation Editor"

I have heard about this all semester as an option to create something with but never actually seen one.  They are AWESOME. I am now considering learning to do this and using it for my final as it appears to be something easy to navigate and a place where you can include visual as well as graphics.  While we were looking at each others re/mixed projects, one that I looked at was a Prezi, and I was blown away.  How much fun!! This gave me a little hope about my final/ portfolio so I will now see what happens with my brainstorming. 
Also on my mind is the re-write option.  As my research was well under what I would have liked, it was to be expected.  I really did not enjoy that project as my grade reflects it.  I find research papers very difficult because I quickly become far overwhelmed by them.  I was very interested in the topic and believe that I am now very well educated on it, however I could not for the life of me put my thoughts onto paper and come out with a strong paper.  Writing it was difficult for me, and that was before I even tried to start the APA correct citations.  Beginning the research to this paper, I knew absolutely nothing, so is it then correct to cite everything as everything I learned ultimately came from somewhere? Yes, I am still lost and confused with research papers, I don't see them as something that will ever be my "cup of tea".

So hard to believe that we have one class left as well! This has been the quickest second semester ever.  Love College :)

portfolio

I have come to the realization that high school was lazy college courses.  The material is what you make it and in high school it was easy as you did not have to do the homework and could still understand what was happening.  In college, the material can be easy as long as the homework, reading and attendance is kept up on.  So I shouldn't be surprised when we are assigned a "portfolio" as our final and it is nothing like what a portfolio in high school was like.
I was quick to think "sweet, just put my assignments in a binder, give a small presentation and done!" oh how high school was again, so lazy.  As a part of our online work, we looked at other peoples "portfolios" which were in fact super cool web sites, and I quickly came overwhelmed and stressed for our final.  I took my CSE class already so am supposed to know how to construct a website but am still going to be completely out of my element and not know what I am doing to be honest.  We are supposed to have a common theme with our portfolio's as well as address our audience, however after looking over my work, it does not relate other than the fact that each of the topics I addressed I had an interest in, but that's not saying anyone else will care about getting a summer internship, stopping teens from texting while driving and wonder what happened in the 1927 school bombing in Bath, Mi.
This generates a pretty large problem, and I have a LOT of brainstorming ahead of me.

- miner moments.

practice practice practice!

As a part of greek week, there are two dance performances - MTV night, and songfest.  I am a part of songfest this year and it is quite a change from my dance team in high school.  I feel like we have been practicing FOREVER and some people still don't know the dance :( It's frustrating to say the least.  However, last night we had a very long (and productive!) practice and I left feeling better than I ever have about the piece. 
I was honestly embarrassed to be in it and nervous to perform, but with it coming together, I truly believe that we will make less fools of ourselves and it could be fun! So now I'm pretty excited :-)
This weekend consists of Greek Week things for the most part - which is why I cannot go home to see my sister all dressed up for prom.  Super sad about that! I have a four day weekend yet will be so occupied with the practices before the performance on sunday I'm sure it will not feel like it. 

ONLY 2 WEEKS OF CLASS LEFT!!! then it's off to Germany and Austria with my Mom! SO excited :)

- miner moments.

remix

For class today we mainly worked on peer reviewing each others Re/mix projects/rough drafts - something that is way helpful! It's so nice being able to look at other peoples work to help generate ideas for your own project.  The only down side to this is I am still currently sitting in class staring out of the window of this beautiful sunny day :(
Many people are either using powerpoint or a video to create their visual.  I have never used the iVideo on my mac before, but when I started it was SUPER easy so that made me excited.  I have found pictures as well as the song that I wanted to use in the video however cannot seem to find pictures that hold the same common theme.  I want the video to hold some realistic things and I think that if the video is all of different people and shots it's going to be very tough to come across as believable.  I also am struggling with pulling a video offline and using it in my video.  I will continue to work on it however throughout the weekend and am really hoping this turns our great because it was something i was for sure excited for!

- miner moments.

yup!

For the online session we were in charge of taking a previous journal entry and in charge of recreating it into something pleaseing to the eye.  Did I accomplish that?? I'm honestly not sure.  I did not completely understand the assignment so I think I did a good job, but will have to wait and see on my grade! I chose to recreate the entry "the best is yet to come" and feel like it was a great choice to do so.  I was able to incorporate pictures of all the things included in my journal entry as each of them took place after making the journal entry.  It brought back fun memories and made me SO excited for this summer :)
I used elements from the C.R.A.P guide to not only give the journal a visual, but also (hopefully) allow the entry, title and pictures to contrast correctly.  Overall, I was pleased with my assignment and had fun doing it.  It was such a nice reliever from the other homework I am very tired of doing. 

Hope you enjoyed :)

- miner moments.

overwhelmed.

I have come down with a bad cold and on top of that am overwhelmed largly.  I suppose with summer coming up so quick my focus abilities have continued to decrease and it has become tough for me to focus and study which then leads to cramming - not something I am proud of, or good at.  To add to this focus issue, I have recently caught a cold, and I cannot remember the last time I had a cold but sure don't like it.  On top of the cold is the beautiful weather, one of the better parts of my weekend.  It was wonderfully warm and I was wonderfully stuck inside trying to focus and not get my roommates sick.  Overall, a very not productive weekend to say the least. 
Greek week is also being held this weekend and was where I was all night friday night - literally.  I'm sure it didn't help with the cold, but as a part of being in the greek system, we are required to attend the greek week events, and relay for life kicked it off friday night.  Being my first time, it was a learning experience to say the least.  I learned it is much more fun when more people are there, when I am awake, and when I keep myself busy with something.  My night was dull as all I wanted to do was sleep my cold off, but the few times I did get involved, things seemed to go better. 
Overall this week should go by pretty quick because I am super busy, but it's also going to be a stressful one.  Here goes!

- miner moments.

editorials.

For class today we were in charge of looking at 3 different uses of advertisment pamplets and take a close look in seeing the different ways the uses of C.R.A.P were used and if they were or were not successful.  Together, they all seemed to follow a simular pattern, so were much more effective than others however.  Using a black and white theme may be a tad boring, however the final product looked much more professional than the group who had the busy background with the 2 bold shades of blue.  It was very different to look at the 2 pamphlets and then look at the space programs slides for the presentation (I am not completely sure what they were supposed to be used for).  The space program's work was my favorite.  It had color as well as information and although too many words, it was done very professionally so made the excess reading slightly better.  Overall it was a great learning experience and was benificial to myself to see although each of them look okay as a quick overview, when looking closely each of them had flaws. 

- miner moments.

bubble gum.

As part of the online session today we were in charge of creating an advertisement and completely failing at it - I believe... and am hoping I did correct! Part of the new material is learning what is appealing and not appealing to the audience eye as well as what works and what doesn't.  With this, we learned the helpful word of "CRAP".

Contrast: create visual attraction
Repetition: repeat visual elements to achieve the unity
Alignment: make visual connections
Proximity: group related items closer together

Although slightly confusing, I believe I was successful in creating an advertisement which did not succeed in any of these areas and was therefore able to see how much each of these elements work.  A little bit of reverse psychology if you ask me :) This is making me excited to see what else we learn within this session and what kind of projects we will hopefully do!!

- miner moments.

Jayden :)

As I mentioned last week, my family got a new edition.  We welcomed a siberian husky into our small family, and being a quite large dog, he certainly does look out of place.  I am able to go home for the night so this afternoon my mom is coming to pick me up and I am SO excited :)

I'm pretty close to my family and have not seen them in so long, things have just been crazy this semester and I feel like I've had a commitment every weekend so I have been unable to get home and see them as much as I would have liked.  I guess that's part of growing up though - right? Anyway. I get to go see them tonight and am EXCITED. I want to meet my new dog, and I want my mom and I to start planning our tour around Germany and Austria - have I mentioned I'm going to Europe with my Mom at the start of the summer?! Well I am and I am SO EXCITED!!!!

For February being such a terrible month, March has really pulled through and I am currently loving life. 

- miner moments.

bittersweet.

Welcome Back!! Although I really did enjoy having class in my dorm room, it was fun to be back in the classroom.  I was sad at first, but it really is benifical to be there and learning from you verses me teaching myself in my dorm.  Reading other peoples rough drafts today was a HUGE wake up call as I have seen how I am so not prepared to turn this paper in - I mean lets be honest. It's nothing I didn't know, I just didn't realize it to this extent.  Reading other peoples work really helped to give me ideas though on different angels I can write about in my paper.  Although I really didn't want to come to class, it was so very benificial :)

On top of learning so much in class, we also got the dead line EXTENDED! Yes, you read that right.  It is truely wonderful news, however to hopefully save myself, I am still thinking the paper is due friday so I don't procrastinate all weekend and am going crazy sunday allday trying to write a paper. 
Wish me luck. I so very need it.

- miner moments.

abstract.

For today's online session we were in charge of giving input about an abstract part of a paper.  What is an abstract part of a paper? Good question. You and I are both completely lost now.

As part of the final research paper we must turn in an abstract paper along with a title page, and the paper.  I however, have never heard of an abstract page so am thoroughly lost.  I know the abstract page is supposed to give the reader exactly what the paper is going to be about - so like a summary right? no. The abstract must be what the paper will cover, without covering it, and without coming across as a summary.  The following is I believe some very helpful guidelines in writing a first abstract. 

1. THESIS!!!! This starts the abstract off and details HOW this topic will be discussed, not just what the

topic is, and states the quantity of categories that will be discussed.

2. States what the first category types is.

3. Defines this category – leaves specifics and examples for the actual body of the paper to reveal.

4. States what the second category types is.

5. Defines this category – leaves specifics and examples for the actual body of the paper to reveal.

6. States what the third category types is.

7. Defines this category – leaves specifics and examples for the actual body of the paper to reveal.

8. States what the last category types is.

9. Defines this category – leaves specifics and examples for the actual body of the paper to reveal.

I completely understand in how this would help while writing a research paper about something scientific, however I wrote mine on the history of something.  It leaves me with a challenge and hope that I make the connections well enough to write a great paper and abstract!!

- miner moments.

the best is yet to come

I am so unbelievably excited for this weekend. 

Friday night I am traveling to Dearborn, MI for my fraternity's formal night.  I feel like it's homecoming in high school all over again - which make me excited.  It was always so fun playing dress up and seeing everyone all dressed up as well :)
Saturday my besties are coming up to MSU to see me!! My friend plays on the club volleyball team at Central Michigan and will be here for the volleyball tournament! This also just so happened to be the time of my other friends spring break, so what better than come up at the same time right?!  I am so unbelievably excited to see them both as I miss them dearly. 

Oh! and have I mentioned my family got a dog?! totally random as we were ALWAYS the family who was "never going to get a dog".  I guess things have changed at the house since I've been gone - still trying to find a time when I can go home to see and meet this new member!

- miner moments.

"Plus - 1"

Google recently introduced a new technology on their search engines.  With the major hit of social sites like Facebook and Twitter, and things becoming so social, google has decided to go social as well.  When typing into the search engine, google originally would bring up the computers results of what it found was most compatible with what the user was searching with and what they typed in.  Now, google "plus 1" will not only give the user the computers results, but also human responses as to which site was the most helpful.
Google hopes to one day have "friends" and be able to "share" responses on the site based off of what people have searched. 
I have not used the new technology but am interested in how it will work.  I think it could be very useful once it is understood by everyone because I for one and sick of sites being brought up that are not help to me while I am searching. 
Simply put, ttechnology is something that continues to amaze me.

- miner moments.

here is the link to learn more :
http://www.informationweek.com/news/internet/google/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=229400648&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_All

Paint me a Picture.

For our online session, we were in charge of giving a visual as to what we would write.  I have never - before this class - had to do visuals related to what I was going to write about, but have really enjoyed it.  It not only gives me a reassurance of what I am writing, but also gives my reader (the professor) a little sneak peak as to what to expect.  It's awesome.  When beginning my research project I did not expect to find near as many things about the school bombing in Bath, Michigan than I have.  Also, HUGE eye opener, but who know Bath, Michigan was about 5-10 miles north of Lansing? Sad but true.
While putting all of the visuals together for my slide show I realized how big of a deal this school bombing was.  I also really started to question why people are no longer aware of this.  Three explosions went off the morning of May 18, 1927 and 45 people - mostly children - were killed.  The statistics are crazy, but the pictures are what hit home.  After seeing the school before the bombing and then after, it is a slight bit impressive only that number died - although over 50 were left severally injured.  Also, the photos of Kehoe's home, all that was left was the chimney, really just jaw dropping photos, and to think it happened so long ago.
This school crisis happened before the time of cell phones, and instant communication.  To be there at that time had to be unreal.  Not knowing what was going on at all times - like we so much do today.  Although at times it may be annoying having everyone on their phones at ALL times, I am thankful for the instant communication abilities for things like communicating with people far away. :)

- miner moments.

Water for Elephants

Spring break is by far over, however I could not completely accept it finished until I finished the book I started over break.  Laying by the pool/on the beach and reading a great book is by far one of my favorite things to do when looking for relaxation.  Over spring break I did just that :)  I continued to read a book from a murder series I absolutely love by James Patterson.  The book was amazing and I had serious issues putting it down.  I don't think my grandparents knew that about me, and in a way I became less social because was always reading :S
After finishing that book in about 2 days, I started to read Water for Elephants.  I was at first drawn to the book because I had seen a commercial for the movie coming out soon and got really excited because it looked good.  The book was really different than the books that I usually read - the ones with the big murder scene and at times leaves me scared - it was quite the opposite.  It was a slow start and was something that was tough to focus on.  About half way through the book I got drawn in and was stuck on reading it.  Unfortunately, it was the end of the week, and time to come back for class.
I got back and couldn't focus.  I spent a few late nights, and finished the book :) I love love loved it! I am so super excited for the movie to come out! I would most definitely recommend this book to friends and you!

- miner moments.  

it's new although i'm certain i've heard it before.

To capitalize on what was said earlier this week, citations were again reviewed as a part of our "in class" but not really portion.  The "key pieces"  - author, date of publication, page/paragraph number - were again mentioned as an important thing to remember.  I also learned about the in-text citation which is so easy to mix up.  Generally an in-text citation would appear (last name(s), year of publication).  The page/paragraph number will only be used when using direct quotes or data/statistics.
I also learned about the rule while placing an entire paragraph into a paper.  When doing so, the entire paragraph should be indented. 
As part of our homework for the week, we were in charge of reading the different paragraphs and listing which citation was incorrect.  After beginning my own work, I started to realize and catch on to the rules and little things that were otherwise looked past.  How ironic right? Hopefully that grade will be okay as I now understand the work much better!

- miner moments.