Study Abroad/National Student Exchange

I am very interested in both studying abroad and the National Student Exchange Program. I love traveling and changes and this is a great way to do that. It also requires me to step outside of my comfort zone and push myself to experience the full college experience. If I could go anywhere in the world I would probably go to Australia. I have wanted to go to Australia since I was a little kid and I would love to spend a semester there. I would also like to do the National Student Exchange Program. If I could go to any college across the United States I would either go to NC State, UNC wilmington, or the University of Indiana. I have a lot of friends at NC State and UNCW and I would love to visit and spend a whole semester with them. It would be a great way to stay close to them while also getting a whole new college experience. I would want to go to IU because that is where my dad went and I have been a huge IU fan since I was a kid. I also love the campus and it would be a nice change from Columbia. I think that I would rather study abroad than do the National Student Exchange Program. I have never left North America and I would love to experience the rest of the world. My favorite part of my service site is definitely meeting all of the kids. It brings back so many memories from my childhood. I would go back to middle school in a second.

Brain Rules 7 & 8-Student Leaders perspective

Leadership is when you show others how to do something. I have been a leader many times. I enjoy being a leader much more than following in others footsteps. The biggest and most rememberable leadership experience is my Eagle Scout Project. This project required me to lead a few dozen of my fellow scouts and friends through a project that I designed. This project really required me to step up and take charge. It was an amazing learning experience and once it was over it was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. I have also held many other leadership positions in scouts. I have lead my troop on many occasions. My senior year of high school I was the vice president of my schools men's service club. This was a much harder task than I ever imagined it would be but I loved it. I lead with a bunch of my friends and we really made the club take off. It was a great experience. I am very interested in leadership opportunities at USC. I hope to lead at least one of the clubs that I am in now by my junior year. Leadership is a great way to get your voice heard and do things that you want. It is also a great way  to stand out on graduate school and job applications.

Diversity

Prior to coming to USC I had already experienced diversity everyday in my high school. It was a much different type of diversity than USC has though. In high school there was much more of a racial and academic diversity than there is at USC. Before I came here I always thought of race when I heard the word diversity. My definition has changed dramatically. I see now that diversity can be anything from what city your from to your political views. USC is a very diverse school and I really like it. You can learn something new from everyone. I really like the diversity in where people are from, especially other countries. It is so cool talking to these people because they are so much different than me. At Hand Middle School there is a lot of diversity. The two that stand out the most are racial and financial diversity. My protege is very well off but I can look around at others and tell that they aren't so lucky. The racial diversity is very easy to notice, especially if you walk through the halls or the lunch room. I think that diversity is a good thing and it opens the kids eyes to a whole new world.

Brain Rules Chapters 5 and 6-Diversity

I am sure that I have partaken in multiple South Carolina traditions without even knowing it. The football games are a tradition in them self, especially the opening, 2001. It is one of the most electrifying and well known college traditions. My family has many traditions, they range from small random weekend plans to big holiday family gatherings. Even this weekend I am going home for a small family tradition. Every year my mom and I walk in the Juvenile Diabetes Walk in Winston Salem. We have done this for many years and I am going home to do it again this year. I really don't want my family traditions to die just because I am at college. My favorite family tradition is definitely Christmas. All of my family goes to Indiana and we stay at my grandparents house. I love this tradition because it is usually the only time all year that I get to see my family. My friends and I don't really have any traditions but were starting to make ones to help keep us all in touch now that were all at different colleges.

Alcohol and Fall Break

I actually did learn some stuff during our alcohol discussion. I think the biggest thing I learned is that a lot fewer people drink than I thought. Almost half of our class doesn't drink. I also learned about all of the consequences that can come with drinking. It really makes me think twice about what could happen if I go out and got caught drinking. During the discussion I felt very comfortable and I enjoyed hearing other peoples stories. I also enjoyed hearing what other people thought about drinking. Next semester I am not really sure what courses I will take. I have not met with my advisor yet so I don't know what I am going to take. The only class that I am sure I will take is Biology. I may also start a language but I haven't decided yet. My plans for fall break are not to exciting. I plan on spending most of it at home with my family. None of my friends from other schools are on fall break so I probably will be really bored. On Saturday I will probably go up to Boone to visit my friend Brody, at Appalachian State.

Brain Rules Chapter 3 and 4- Undergraduate Research

So far my experience at Hand Middle School has been really good. My protege is awesome. He is in 6th grade and wants to be a professional soccer player. The hardest part of mentoring for me is setting new goals with my mentee. He seems to be the perfect 6th grader. He makes all As and never misses school but once we sat down and really thought about what we could do for a goal we finally came up with one. My protege has a little bit of an organization problem. He has papers everywhere. So we sat down and got him organized. It took awhile but I hope that he will stay organized. I will check up on him next week and if he does good then he will get some kind of reward, probably some candy. I think that my biggest strength with mentoring is that I feel like I can relate to the kids much more than their teachers or other adults can. I think that I can talk to my mentee very easily and he feels comfortable around me. I have not volunteered anywhere else this semester but I will probably do a service saturday sometime this semester through capstone.

Mid-Term Exam

My semester so far has been great. I love college. It started out slow at first but now it is everything that I expected it would be. My favorite memory is definitely going to the Georgia game. I had never been to a game as crazy as that was. It was amazing. If I could do anything over again I don't think I would change a thing. I am very happy with every decision I've made and wouldn't change a thing. My goals have been going very well. My main goal of getting at least a 3.5GPA is definitely still in reach and I have done a good job of achieving it so far. My other goal of getting involved around campus still needs some work. I have done a lot but I could definitely do more. My goals have not really changed much. I am sticking with my original goals and I'm going to strive to achieve them. If I keep my goals straight and keep pushing to achieve them they will definitely be completed by the end of the semester. So far I love USC and I would not change a thing!