English Class+Inquiry Class=Same Students in Both?

When I found out we were going to be with the same class for inquiry and english I didn't know what to think. I have never had everyone in the same class be in two classes together. I didn't know what to expect. It turned out I really liked having it this way. We all became comfortable with each other because we had two classes together. I knew I could talk to anyone if I had a problem, and I think we all felt this way. We are not only classmates, but we became friends. The downside to having the same students in two classes is you don't meet as many other people. If we had different students in the classes than we could make more friends with the different student. You're missing out on meeting twenty different students that can also be your friends. Although this is true, I did overall like having the same students in both the classes. I will miss them a lot next semester. If we were stressed about something, we were usually stressed together and could talk about it and help each other. We got very comfortable with each other and could talk about our problems and knew everyone was there for us. I know some of us have some classes together next semester so we will stay in touch. If we don't have a class together, I'm sure students will still stay in touch because we formed a bond by being together for six hours a week instead of just three. I am going to miss this class of students and it was great to meet everyone.

Crystal Ball...What Lies Ahead in my Future?

What do I want my life to be like after college? I mean everyone probably wishes they could have all the money in the world so they can do whatever they want, but that is not realistic. My best friend Marisa and I, have lately been talking about how we want to move to California after college. I know this really isn't the most realistic dream ever because we need to get a lot of money first, but this is what we would really like to do. Marisa and I have been best friends since we were five. We have done gymnastics together, gone to school together, and pretty much everything else. She is really like my sister and I know we will be best friends forever. Although she goes to school in Illinois and I now go to school in Connecticut, we still talk everyday. When we get to see each other, it is like we were never apart. Our original dream was to live all over the place for a couple years, then decide where we want to live. We wanted to live in NYC, Italy, and California. We soon realized this was never going to happen so we decided we really want to live in California. Marisa wants to be a teacher, and I want to work with animals, so we could easily find these things in California. However, the money is the issue. Also, I would miss my family a lot. I am very close with my family and to move that far away from them would be extremely hard. This would be my ideal life after college, but I am sure it is going to take me a while to get there.

Happy Turkey Day...Dig In!!!

When I called my parents a couple weeks ago about planning for Thanksgiving, they were already getting ready for it. They started calling butchers, bakery's, and spending their three hundred and fifty dollars in groceries to earn their free turkey. Orchestrating what everyone brings for the thanksgiving meal is an art in itself. Planning who brings the vegetables, stuffing, pies, and other delicious items. Also you have to worry about whose recipes to use, Grandmas, Moms or the one we heard from Rachael Ray. This Thanksgiving we had family and friends come over our house for dinner. My grandma, uncle, and aunt and other grandma came. Our close family friends, Carol, Larry, and Ari also came. My brother, Brandon, dad and mom were here too. It was great to see everyone because I had not seen most of them since I left for school in August. The day started with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade, which we do every year. My family came over at twelve. We had snacks for a while because we weren't eating until five. We had assorted candy, pretzels, chips and dip, cheese and crackers, and a new hersheys kiss that tastes like a chocolate covered cherry. We made our pool table into a huge dining room table which sat the twelve people comfortably, so we could all fit at the table after we ate. We had delicious juicy turkey, three different stuffings, olives, corn, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mushrooms, peas and carrots in a special sauce, fresh rye bread, and sweet potatoes. Hours later we sat down reluctantly but excited about the blueberry, apple, pumpkin and strawberry banana yogert pies, assorted cookies, and blondies. After all of this food, we couldn't move and we sat on the couch watching football. It was a great day seeing our family and friends and eating all of that amazingly delicious food. All of the weeks of preparation for this feast, the hours of cooking, the shopping, was it really worth it??? You bet it was!

shannon final inq project.mov

Jumping Over Hurdles as a Freshman!

Not only am I the normal freshman that has to adjust with being away from home, the college life, classes, homework, trying out and making an athletic team, doing my own wash for the first time, and everything else, my chocolate lab, Candy, was diagnosed with diabetes in the beginning of the school year. Also, before I left for college, we realized my cat Blitzen, had a lump on his back. So on top  of all of these things I had to adjust to, I was now worrying about them from a distance. A couple months later, when I went home for the first time in October, we brought Blitzen to the vet where he was diagnosed with aggressive cancer and was put down a couple days later. I had to come back to school knowing that I would never see Blitzen again and had to deal with this away from my family. Thank god for skype and all of these new technologies because I was able to talk to and see my family over a computer, so it felt like I was there with them. This was a big struggle for me because it was the first time I lost someone I loved. The things that I said earlier in this blog, that are usually a hurdle for freshman, turned out to be a good distraction to keep my mind off of what happened. Another issue I have had so far this semester, is being in a dorm room and dealing with complications this could cause. For example, I live in Farnham Hall, and there is constant construction. I have to deal with hearing loud construction work being done every day and trying to focus and get my work done with all of the distractions. Also, because of the construction the heat was not turned on until about a week ago, so we were freezing in my dorm. With this being my first year at college, and jumping over these hurdles, I am convinced that I will be able handle anything thrown my way in the future.

Varsity Team Captain!

It was my senior year of high school and going to be my fourth year on the varsity gymnastics team. My friend and I were the only girls who have been on varsity since freshman year. When it came time to vote for captains I was nervous. There were six senior girls that the team and coaches could choose from. Although I was always very nice and helpful to everyone, I wasn't sure if they were going to pick me. Personally, when I think about who should get captain of a sports team, I think it should be the people who are the best and know the most about the sport. Also, someone who could help inspire the team and keep a positive energy. My friend and I were the only girls out of the seniors who did gymnastics outside of school, so obviously we had more skills because we have been doing it longer and more. We thought, along with many others that it was going to be us as captains, however this was not the case. My friend had a very bad attitude and really only cared about herself. So it was a not a shock to me when she didn't get captain. I was very excited when I heard my coach's call my name as one of the captains. I thought I deserved it and would be a great captain and leader of the team. My self and two other girls were captains. Although I didn't think one of them deserved to be captain she ended up proving herself and was a good captain. We always made sure to motivate the girls and keep a positive energy. If anyone had a problem we tried to resolve it and deal with it. As one of the leaders on the team, I knew I had to step up and do everything I could for us to be good. Everyone had fun that year and always had a smile on their face. Overall I think I was a very good captain and I really stepped up to be a good leader. At the end of the school year, there was a varsity awards dinner. I got the leadership award for my high schools varsity athletic club. I was very honored to win this award and am very proud.

What does it mean to be Intellectually stimulated?

I think intellectually stimulated is something that makes you think. For example a class. It can be a class that gets you thinking like philosophy, astronomy, history classes or pretty much any class you take. If i had to choose a class that makes me intellectually stimulated, I would have to say it is inquiry. Before inquiry I was not creative at all. I hated writing, and was bad at coming up with creative ideas. I feel that having to write blogs every week has definitely made me intellectually stimulated. I feel that the quality of my writing has increased a lot since the beginning of the year. Every week I feel more and more confident about writing them. Also, for the midterm project I learned a lot. I was not very computer savy before the project. I learned how to use imovie which will be useful in the future, especially for the final project. I learned how to make slides, put music in, put pictures and videos in it, and so much more. I feel like my creativeness is coming out by doing the video projects because you have to be creative for it to look good. This class really gets me thinking about everything we do. Whether it be the readings, the blogs, or the projects. Overall, I believe my inquiry class is the class where I feel intellectually stimulated.