Last One

At first when I heard we had to write blogs, I really did not want to. First of all, we already had a lot of writing to do and, putting a blog each week on top of that seemed a bit too much. I also thought that a blog was a lot like a journal and I would not like it. However, once we started writing them, I started to like them; especially some of the topics. I am actually really glad that we did the blogs because they turned out to be my favorite part of the class. I did not mind writing a blog about what is going on in my life, especially compared to the papers we had to write.
During this blog I learned that writing them is a lot of fun. Everyone likes talking about themselves so why not write about it too. But on a serious note, I think the blog actually opens you up and allows you to write what you are thinking and not just what the teacher wants to hear. Hopefully I will get the initiative to continue blogs even though I doubt it. I would definitely suggest blogs because although they seem like they would be a pain, they are actually kind of enjoyable. As for advice, I would say write in the blogs as if no one else is reading them. If you open up and do not hold back, it is usually more interesting and real. I would also suggest picking topics you have a lot of knowledge about. This way you will be able to meet the word requirement and you will not be boring.

Normal Normal

The town of Normal is not bad. A lot of people think that it is crappy but from my experience, there is plenty to do and a lot to see. My only discretion with Normal, Il is that it is anti-college if u will. My reasoning behind this is the laws that they have set. One being that you cannot transport a keg after ten or ten-thirty. Another being that to get into bars you have to be 21 unless it is rented out by a frat. This makes sense but in most college towns like Champagn and Carbondale, they lowered the age to 19. This being said, I like the town of Normal and there is a lot to stay busy.
My first suggestion for someone visiting the area would be to go to the movie theatre in uptown Normal. It’s an old fashioned movie theatre with crazy lights and just one room. Beverages and popcorn are only a dollar and with a student I.D. addmission is only $5.50. The theatre only shows old movies and documentaries so you are always getting a piece of history or some sort of information. The theatre also briefly talk about the history of the theatre and show a cartoon before the film. I saw Winchester ’73 which was an awesome western fil and they showed Salamity Sam and Bugs Bunny before it. Another suggestion I would have for someone visiting Normal is to go to Brewhaus for lunch. A burger basket is only $2.50 and it’s a great burger. You have to go for lunch though because the kitchen closes at six. For dinner I would suggest going to Pub II or go to Bloomington and eat at Meatheads which has awesome burgers and fries but is a little more pricey and more of a fastfood restaurant. For the outdoor experience, I would suggest going to Lake Bloomington and walking around and fishing, or to Comlara Park which is right across highway 39. If you want some exercise I would take a jog on Constitution Trail or just run a round campus. I would also suggest heading over to the Bloomington mall and doing some shopping if that is what you like to do. I would not, however, suggest going to Chicago. The two towns are very hard to compare because they are so different and there is so much to see in both of them that I would make separate trips for them.

Thanks God for the Summertime

There are only about 6 or so weeks left of school and I am looking forward to summer a lot. I have a lot of plans for this summer and I hope that I can accomplish all of them but with work it may be hard. This summer, I will continue my job as a truck driver and helicopter loader for a crop dusting company in Dekalb, Il. The only difference this year is that I will start in the spring, late May, by spraying gypsy moth in their larvae stage in the suburbs. I will also be building a new truck by welding new tanks on and getting all of the pumps hooked up and working. The normal spraying season starts around the fourth of July.

I will also be going on many vacations this summer in between the spraying seasons. Right when school gets out I will go on the usual vacation down to St. Petersburg, FL to my friend’s vacation house. We’ll go there for about a week to get all the stress of school off and get a nice tan to start off the summer. I am also planning a road trip with the same group of friends that I normally go to Florida with. Our plans are to spend a few days driving to California and then staying there a few nights at one of my friend’s cousin’s house in San Francisco. On the long journey to Cali we will stop a few times to camp in tents wherever we want. We’ll shower at truck stops and live on the road. I think this should be really fun since we’ve never done anything like it before.

I am also going to South Dakota with my dad to go prairie dog hunting. We have done this three times already but this year we will be going to the black hills in the southwest corner of South Dakota which is a lot different than the barren northern tip that we are used to seeing. We are also going to a different guide than normal and we will be staying in cabins rather than a motel. The cabins do not have bathrooms but there is a lounge with one and that is where all of our meals will be eaten and hunters can hang out and exchange stories. There is also a campfire every night by the cabins so hunters can have fun. I am looking forward to this summer a lot and I can’t wait for sun, the ocean, bonfires, cooking out, boating, and having a good time.

Environmental Illinois

Since I am new to Illinois State University this semester, I felt like I should try to get involved so that I could meet people since most people met right away last semester because no one knew anyone else. Since I am a renewable energy major, I decided that it would be a good idea to attend a speech about the environment put on by an organization called Environmental Illinois. I thought the speech would go over strategies to help the environment and give interesting ideas on what can be done, however, all the speech did was talk about the problems with the environment. I was very disappointed with it because most people already know there is a problem with the environment and that’s why they would attend a speech like that one.
There were five speakers and all of them said basically the same thing. One of them worked at a Bloomington, IL solar energy company but she did not really give enough information about it and I was looking forward to learning more about it. Another speaker was actually taught by Al Gore to give a speech about his movie An Inconvenient Truth which I thought was very interesting even though I disagree with much of the movie and do not like Al Gore, however, she did not actually give the speech, instead she talked about the fact that that’s what she does.
Although I was fairly disappointed in the content of the speeches, I think that gatherings and environmental organizations like that are important and all of the speakers do good for the environment. Everyone was also very friendly, with greeters at the door, and very casual and friendly speakers. The overall mood was very bright with joking from the speakers, even though they were talking about the problems with the environment. I did not actually meet any people, which was disappointing, but it was worth a shot. I hope to continue to go to speeches like this and hopefully the future ones will give more information, and I will be able to meet some people with similar views.

Spring Break

In the past, I have gone to St. Petersburg, Florida for Spring Break since my freshman year of high school.  This year, however, my dad asked me to go to Missouri with him to hunt snow geese for the second time.  Since I had just gone to Florida over Christmas Break, I figured I should go with my dad because it was more important.  So my dad and I drove six and a half hours to St. Joseph, Missouri.  This was much different than most places we stayed on hunting trip because it was actually a city, and not just a town with only a gas station, maybe.  Most people shoot around a hundred snow geese in this special season because they are migrating and they are overpopulated and there is no limit.  However, this was not the case for us.  Last year we did not fire our gun once and this year we only shot fifteen geese.  We may sound like bad hunters but that does not have anything to do with it. It is all about the weather and it was not in our favor.  The second day of our trip we got stormed out and drove forty-five minutes to Kansas City, Kansas to a Cabelas.  It was actually nice to sleep in because the other two days we woke up at 4:30 AM to go to the field and meet our guide. 

I got back from the trip on Tuesday, February 10^th.  It was good to be home and see the rest of my family but it was short lived because I went to Dubuque, IA the next day, to visit my friends at Loras College, which is where I went last semester.  I had a really good time visiting them and it was very odd to be back but after a while it was as if I had never left.  My friends convinced me to stay two nights and I am glad that I did because I miss them a lot.  Then I went home to finish out my eventful Spring Break and I relaxed for a few days and took care of everything I needed to get ready for college.  My mom drove me back to ISU last night and was finally able to see my dorm and go out to dinner with me.  It was a good Spring Break and I cannot wait for Summer in 8 short weeks.

Blog 8 Without College

If I had the $60,000 that it will most likely cost for college, I would most likely use it as a down payment for a plot of land in the woods that connect with the land that my family owns.  It would be nice to buy land that connects with the woods that I live in now because if I ever inherited the land, I would already own a piece and it would be even larger.  I love the area that I live in now because it is beautiful woods and prairies and that is what I miss the most when I am away at college in a city.

Then I would most likely work for my dad doing construction or driving a semi for my stepmom’s trucking company.  I would live at home so I could raise enough money to pay off the land and have a nice truck and also be able to eventually build a house on that land.  Working for the trucking company would not be very difficult because I already have my Commercial Drivers License (CDL).  However, being a trucker would be very boring and is not a job for someone that is young to do all the time.

I would also get a dog.  I really wanted to get a hunting dog last summer but I was unable to because I was going away to college in the fall and my mom would have to assume the responsibilities of a puppy when she already has 2 dogs to take care of.  So if I were not at college, I would have a dog, most likely a wirehaired German Pointer, because I think they are cool looking and they are pointers.  They look a lot like a mutt of some kind.

With all of this said, there are a lot of things that I would have liked to do but was unable to because of college.  I will also have a large amount of debt, but in the long run, the education is completely worth it.  When I get out of school I will hopefully get to do all of the things I mentioned and more because, hopefully, I will have a good job in Renewable Energy.  I also feel that most people are not ready for the real world when they get out of high school and college is a good transition and a time to mature.

Incoming Freshman

            Surviving college is very simple.  The first thing that you should know about college is that it is much harder than high school.  You have a lot of free time, which is great, but you have to manage it well with the large amount of studying and homework you have.  General education is completely pointless and its renaissance belief is completely outdated and used as an excuse for universities to suck more money out of you.  However, gen eds are still very important because they make up the start of your GPA and are what determine whether or not you get into your major.   Try as hard as you can to suffer through them and get to your major classes that actually matter.

Another thing you should know is that getting involved is important.  Getting involved makes time management easier because rather than sitting around all day playing halo and then studying right before you go to bed, you will have set times that you have to do your activities and then in your spare time you will be more likely to spend it doing something productive rather than just sitting around doing nothing.  Getting involved also makes it so that you do not go insane from just studying all the time.  It also allows you to meet people with similar interests.

There is also a stigma at ISU and campuses all over the United States that drinking is a huge problem and everyone in college is an alcoholic.  This stigma should be broken because the town of Normal has many laws and law enforcement that keeps parties somewhat under control.  Another thing to consider is that not everyone drinks and there are PLENTY of things to do to stay out of trouble on the weekends. 

Exercise is also very important.  Exercising also gives you something to do in your spare-time and makes up for the unhealthy cafeteria food that is easy to give in to.  Exercise is also important because most people did sports in high school but do not in college.  This makes a big difference in your metabolism.  Exercise also makes you feel better about yourself, sleep better, and essentially get better grades.

There are a lot of things to know before going to college.  Some of these things I was told, and some of them I had to learn on my own.  You too will learn a lot in the first few months.  Good luck.