FAUX LOCS

I don’t know if everyone knows or not but I am a hairstylist and I specialize in faux locs. Faux locs are temporary loc extensions. I know a lot of you have thought about getting dreads but you’re scared of the commitment. Faux locs are a way to achieve the look without actually locking your hair. Faux locs are a good protective hair style as well.

You can create fauxlocs with marley hair or yarn. Me personally I don’t like the way they look with yarn so I don’t do them with yarn. I just cant see myself doing someone’s hair with yarn. I just can’t get into it. But there are a lot of pro’s for yarn locs. They are very inexpensive. Depending on how thick your hair is, alongside with how short or how long you want your hair- the cost of buying the yarn should not cost you more than $10-$20. The yarn also comes in a variety of colors. You can also wash your yarn locs and they will become softer.

The cons of yarn locs are they can cause serious breakage if you do not moisturize your hair. Your hair is covered by a thick covering of wool- don’t neglect it just because it’s a “protective hair style”. The yarn locs can start to smell like mildew if they are not properly taken care of. When you wash the yarn locs they take forever and a day to dry. The yarn locs are also time consuming. You have to measure out the yarn, and measuring out the right length of yarn can have your hands hurting all the time. They can easily collect lent, and anything that can cling on to your hair.

Some pros of the marley locs are the hair already comes pre stranded so you don’t have to worry about cutting or measuring out the yarn to achieve this style. The hairstyle can last from weeks to months. You have to be careful not to leave it too long because it will lock with your real hair, unless that is the look you are going for.

Its also great for those wanting to actually grow out locs but don’t want to go through the awkward phase. It is also gentler on the hair.

Some cons are this hairstyle is way pricier than using yarn to wrap your hair. Wit the method that I use you’re going to spend around  $60-$85 on the marley hair. This hairstyle is easy to collect lint, and anything that can cling on to your hair. The hair tends to snag onto everything. They can also cause breakage if you don’t properly take care of them. These are harsher on the hair than the yarn.

A lot of people ask are these locs heavy. I’m honestly not sure which form is the heaviest on the head. I think it all depends on how big or small your locs are as well as how many strands per hair you used which achieving the style.

Gay Marriage.

As we all know, the Supreme Court legalized gay “marriage” across the country. I honestly don’t know if I support it or not. I am a Christian and I know that in the bible it says that being gay is wrong. But many people argue that people are born gay, and if that is true then how could it be wrong? I do believe that God intended marriage sacred only for man and woman, thus same-sex marriage goes against the laws of nature. I also believe that a union between a couple is also to reproduce, and with the same genders you can’t do that. Since they can’t have kids some would adopt children, and this is not fair to the child. A child has the right to have two gender opinions for a healthy upbringing. Adopted children need both love of a mother and a father, not a mother and a mother or a father and a father. I do feel like children should have these rights. People try to compare gay rights to civil rights and women’s\’s rights but that is nowhere near the same thing. You cannot change the fact that you were born an African American. Every male and female was born with innate ability to reproduce with the opposite sex. This is supported in the bible and by science.

Everyone has an opinion; living in the U.S where we have ‘freedom of speech’ it is important not to forget that. I don’t think that it is okay to bash people’s opinions, but to respect them instead. I know people that are gay and they are just the same as everyone else. Also, how would you tell if someone was gay? I mean, what if there was some twins and one of them was gay and the other wasn’t? How would you tell? You don’t, because they deserve the same rights as everyone else. I accept people no matter what they are, gay, lesbian, or transgender. People commit suicide over this because radicals tease and bully them. Is that right? No its not.

Happiness is all that matters. I don’t think it is fair to tell someone who they can and cant love. If you love someone of the same sex and that person makes you happy then you should be able to marry them without it being wrong. Even if you are gay you still have rights. People don’t support gay marriage and think they should not get married but they have the right to marry any one they want. Even a killer has rights.

Discipline

Being discipline can get you a long ways in life with just about anything. One example can be with using sports. I have been a part of a lot of good athletic programs in my life. But it turns out that the team I was a part of with the least amount of talent had more success throughout the season because we were more discipline. Another example could be something as simple as being discipline enough to wake up out of bed to show up to your destination on time. Therefore, being discipline can be used as a slight edge over and opponent, co-worker for a position, and etc. How do you feel about this, do you think being discipline can help you succeed in life?

When Hunger Strikes

Man, I could really go for some Krispy Kreme donuts right now. They are too good, especially when they are fresh. I could wolf down a dozen of them. I can imagine stepping into the donut shop and staring at the yeast rings as they go down the conveyor belt. They would pass under the waterfall of glaze, gleaming as they filled the box of twelve I had just purchased. After having acquired my fresh box of donuts, I would drive over to the nearest Mickey D’s and pick myself up a double cheese. Hold onto your chairs because I am about to go into uncharted territory here with a prepossessing combination of donut and double cheese. As I sit in my parked car, I come up with an ingenious idea: “What if I use the donuts as buns for my double cheese?” I ponder this quandary as I open the box of donuts. If donut and double cheese were to become one, then what would happen? Would there be an explosion of happiness or would there be diabetes ahead? I throw caution to the wind and proceed to create my masterpiece. I rip the buns off of the double cheese and slap the donuts where the buns previously lived. Then, as if I had just won a game show, confetti popped out of my creation. Bob Barker suddenly appeared in the passenger seat and told me to make sure I spayed and neutered my pets. I stare blankly at the famous dude sitting beside me. Have I unknowingly found the secret to becoming the winner of a game show? Do I even have pets? Did the donut/double cheese combo create a hallucinogen when combined? The world may never know because like this class, this blog post is coming to an end. I’m definitely going to create my donut/burger combo in the near future.

Does social media distract you?

Social media sites play a big part in most teenagers lifestyle, and some adults too. I believe that social media sites cause majority of students to become distracted from their school work, which in return causes them to not do as well as they could've if they were more focused. I can attest to this statement because I have constantly found myself scrolling through Twitter or tapping through Snapchat stories while in the middle of an assignment. I also feel that a person should have more self control of their actions, such as choosing social media over paying attention to their assignments. Do you find yourself easily distracted by social media at the wrong times?

The New Jim Crow

I recently completed the reading of a novel titled as The New Jim Crow. This piece of literature by Michelle Alexander is about how the nation’s government is set to target African American males and keep them in somewhat of a cycle. The book has a part where the author talks to a guy named Jarvious Cotton and how he is the third generation that has been affected by the biased judicial system and how it kept him and his forefathers from doing certain things. Another key point that the book touched on was that the fact that black men are targeted more by the police, considering the statistics given throughout the book. The police use certain tactics such as the "stop and frisk" method to harass. This tactic is used by the police to stop, question, and search anyone who they believe are acting in a suspicious manner even if that person hasn't done anything lawfully wrong. One of the main quotes that stuck out to me from the book is "...how exactly does a formally colorblind criminal justice system achieve such racially discriminatory results?" Do you believe that the judicial system is biased towards African American males?

Phobias

There are hundreds of phobias that exist today. Phobias can range from the smallest thing such as amathophobia, the fear of dust, to something such as chiraptophobia, which is the fear of being touched. Most phobias posses little to no danger and are merely a unreasonable fear of an object which causes a person to have anxiety and potentially avoiding the object that they have a fear of. One might ask how a person can become afraid of something that possesses little to no danger at all. I believe that having a phobia toward something is somewhat like a psychological thing because they can affect your social life and how you may perform or react in a certain situation or area. Phobias can stem from past incidents that may have occurred during childhood, teenage, or even into the adult years. Not all phobias affect people the same even if they were to have the same exact phobia as someone else. There are treatment options for people with phobias and there is a possibility of overcoming a phobia but it may take longer for some than others depending on how deep their phobia is.

What's the point? A question of college and General Education

Students have always asked why they needed to take some classes beyond a certain degree of difficulty, math more often than not being the main target of question. Some classes go above and beyond in order to teach students things they may or may not need to know. If we continued on the subject of math, sure basic multiplication and division is cool and more than likely I will need it in life but why do I need to know the square root of the circumference of a scalene triangle? (That was a joke, you can laugh) In truth not all of us will be or seek to be math majors or mathematicians so why would I have to learn information on par to that of what they might be learning? In my field when would the opportunity ever arise that I may need to utilize that information? I basic question that has no basic answer. While some would argue that it helps build you as a person and makes you more rounded in life and your endeavors. Others would argue that it's just extra headache and useless information. General education is taught all throughout high school so why must it be instilled into us even more if we already have the information? If we don't wish to pursue the direction why force it on us. Disagreements are bound to be had but whether or not you agree or not education can only be taken to a certain degree in areas before people find it to be a deterrent. Would you agree or disagree? Keep general education at the collegiate level or focus on the studies of the major you're pursuing.

Why Do People Judge?

While in college, your main focus is to make good grades and more importantly create a good connections with people. With that being said, to complete that task, you must meet new people and leave a good impression. Despite this, in my latest encounters with newly met students and professors, I notice these people judge me before we even get into a deeper conversation. It's not bad judging, it's just the fact that why am I label as this or that  just because of the small details you notice  before we even speak. For example a really nice professor I met a few weeks notice the earrings, watch, and small necklace I had on as soon as I got into the room. Then later in the conversation he tried  to give me a lesson on dressing properly. It was interesting to me but I just wonder why do people do it on first encounters. Is it to make you feel better seeing as you can possibly place that person in a specific category or is it just a natural instinct? Let me know what you think about judging or past experiences with the issue.

Being Emotional

A lot of people tell me that I am very emotional, but I think that being emotional to a certain extent is good, do you? Like I want you to really think about it, if you were dating someone would you rather have a person who is cold and does not every show emotions or someone who is emotional and is going to show you how they feel? I am glad to be emotional, because it allows me to get in touch with my mind, body, and spirit. It allows me to understand things that bother me and things that makes me happy. As females we are born more emotional than men, because of us having a high level of estrogen in our bodies and also it’s a part of the way God made us. Whereas guys usually do not show emotions because society looks at it like it is something bad or they think it is only for women. But, showing your emotions can be a good thing, because you’re allowing your spirit and mind to exhale instead of inhaling all the time

Is College A Necessity?

There are plethora of individuals that are extremely wealthy who do not have a formal education or dropped out of school and were still successful. Before a person is born it is perceived that they will attend college. Parents already start accounts for their college experience by the time they are in the womb. So is college needed in order to be successful? What is the purpose of college? Answers vary from person to person some say networking others say just to obtain a degree and further ones education. With the internet, one can become an expert on any field of study but will never obtain a degree to verify that. So again, is college a necessity?

Early Draft

In recent years there have been athletes that opt out of their college experience in order to go straight to the professional league of their choice. Specifically basketball, in the past players such as LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have come straight of high school. Now, these players have had enormous success within their tenures as professional athletes and are en route to go down as two of the greatest basketball players of all time, and are the two players in the NBA with both being paid at least 20 million from the NBA alone, not factoring in the funds the receive from sponsors and endorsements, however not everyone has been or will be this lucky. Even Michael Jordan left college after three years and went on to become the first athlete to become a billionaire after basketball. My question is it a wise decision to leave college early in hopes to achieve the same acclaim and financial success as these former players or continue to obtain one's education? It would be wise to take into account that of lot of these players and great college players are coming from backgrounds that involve childhoods in which they resided in violent and dangerous neighborhoods.

The Bird

The Bird

The bird wasn't born special
In fact as an egg the bird fell from a tree and cracked
This would become pivotal later in the bird's life

When the bird tried to fly for the first time it realized it had a broken wing
Still the bird was ravenous, determined, and ambitious to one day fly away
The bird only let certain birds assist him but was to stubborn to let them help for long

The other birds admire his tenacity to learn how to fly
But they turn their beaks in disgust at his pride and arrogance
At this point the bird can only glide but he won't stop until he learns how to fly with a broken wing

This poem came to me in dream. Tell what you think.

Does A&T need more security on campus?

With everything that happened during AggieFest week, do you think we need more security on campus? Although we have our own police station, it still seems as though the campus isn't safe enough. Being an open campus allows for lots of local people and randoms to just roam the campus. They have been known to start trouble, cause fights, get our events shut down, and even sexually harass our students. Aggie Suites had three incidents where female students were sexually harassed after dark by a person that doesn't even attend the school. It is insane that we can't walk freely on our campus without feeling safe and secure. During GHOE is when extra security is needed especially. There are people out here that will take advantage of every bad opportunity just because it sounds fun to them. I would hate to see our students get hurt over senseless acts of violence. I think the university needs to take action and actually consider hiring extra security.

Should children be legally held accountable for their actions?

Should children starting from age 10 legally be held accountable for their actions? In my opinion I think they should be because in the society that we live in today there are more and more children killing their parents and/or fellow children there age. Just because the child is young does not mean that they should not be head accountable for their actions. If that were the case then children would be able to do any crime and not be punished for it. I feel if you feel like you are "grown" enough to commit the crime then you should suffer the consequences. I know that parents are going to protect their child or children and do anything for them, but isn't masking what they do and not holding them accountable only enabling them and in the future that child could potentially become a danger to society? How do you feel about this? Should children be legally head accountable for their actions when it comes to certain crimes and behaviors? For example, take a child that is 10 or 11 and loves to kill stray cats or dogs in the neighborhood. No one suspects anything of it and the child grows up. As the child grows up he or she is in and out of jail for assaulting his teachers, students, and others. The child now grown up commits murder and kills 5 people. Should the parents have addressed this issue at a young age? If they did would the child be the way he or she is now? 

Generation Switch

I remember our childhood days when we used to have the good life, well good times. That is when we kind of not had to worry about money at the time. Also, there was not really much stress. Everything was all fun and games until we started to grow up. But, the cartoon shows, playing outside, riding bikes, no homework, and everybody used to be out till the street lights came on. Those were the good days. I look at the kids in this generation now and kind of worry. Well, I would not say so much as worry, but I can see a difference in some of the kids compared to us when we were kids. The cartoons nowadays compared to our cartoons are not as good. Many of the kids are playing video games, games on phones, games on laptops, and/or stay inside nowadays. I am not saying all kids do this, but I know a lot of kids who just stay inside or do something with technology. No one really goes outside anymore. I remember when my parents used to tell me all the time, "Be in before the street lights are on." I do not know if some kids will truly understand or even hear that saying anymore. Maybe this change in generation is because technology is much more advanced nowadays than back in our days. I played the game system sometimes, but now it is different. The game system is much more serious now. The systems are way more updated. I know for a fact some kids still read. This did not change. Some kids now days will still read books if not read more than I ever did. I hated reading. I feel technology is the cause of the change of the young generation. What do you think?

$15 minimum wage

April blog

What do you guys think about the government raising minimum wage to fifteen dollars?  I think it is a terrible idea and it would have more of a negative effect overall that would affect a larger portion of society. Theoretically fifteen dollars an hour as minimum wage sounds great! That is sometimes the starting wage for people with degrees and lots of experience in a field. But fifteen for an entry level job obtainable in highschool? Sounds unreal. That's because it is and I'll tell you why.

If the minimum wage was raised to fifteen dollars and hour inflation will be the only thing we here about on the news. For example let's say McDonald agrees to pay its workers fifteen dollars an hour, how would that affect prices of the food they serve? How will this effect the number of people they employ? Something has to give. They're either going to raise the price of a Mcdouble from $1.29 to $10 dollars. Imagine the average McDonalds that might employ twenty to thirty but if they have to raise minimum that number might drop to eight to twelve. Why would this happen? Corporate greed. You might be able to force these companies to pay more by law but you won't be able to limit how much money they make and want to keep as profit. They would use those methods to combat the new laws along with increasing work load to balance out the higher wage, all so they can make the same profit. Therefore things would cost more and more people would be unemployed. Putting us in a worst position than we are now. What do you guys think about this?

My Favorite Movie

My Favorite Movie

What is your favorite movie? Why is it your favorite movie? What’s your favorite part in the movie? My all-time favorite movie is Love & Basketball.  I have watched this movie over and over. I don’t get tired of watching the same movies that I love. My mother and my brother hate that about me. Its’ like every time I watch the movie, I catch something new. I think I should watch it now!!! I know some of you love that movie as well. How can you not like it? This is one my favorite movies because I love romance, and love stories. Also, Sanna Lathan is my favorite actress.  My favorite part in the movie is the end.  At the end, Sanna and Omar played each other for their heart. I was in the movie theatre cheesing from ear to ear as though it was happening to me. Even though Sanna loss by one, because Omar knew that she was his true love he had to say, double or nothing. That moment, I was crying. I love, love. Love & Basketball movie tells a story that is so relatable and I seem to can’t get enough of it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDWfrmLkoc4

Music

Am I the only one who thinks that music was the greatest thing ever invented? I don’t really like saying invented though, because music has always been around us even in the very beginning.  From the birds singing in the trees to the wind rustling leaves on the ground.  I didn’t realize how important music was to my life until I came to college.  I honestly use music to get through everything that happens to me.  The first thing I do when I wake up is turn on my music. I go to sleep listening to music. I walk to class listening to music. It is a very big part of my life.  When I’m sad I listen to slow vocals, when I’m happy I turn on something upbeat.  When I do homework I put on classical – oh how that soothes my soul.  I absolutely love discovering new artist that move me and when I say move I don’t mean physically. I mean when they can make me cry or raise my spirits.  I try to be open about every genre, but my favorite type will always be R&B or really anything I can sing along with.  I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even like watching Netflix when I’m bored anymore. I prefer to just sit and listen to whatever is playing.  Actually music got me back into reading.  I love curling up with a good book and even better background music. I like to think of my life as a movie and every great movie needs an awesome soundtrack. 

Does anyone else listen to music this much? Who do you guys listen to in different situations?

Give up or keep pushing? That is the question!

Often times I feel like the world is out to get me. School has really taken a toll on me and I feel like giving up. I look back on everything I have accomplished and what I did to get here and then I'm like, "you can stick it out." My mom always told me "never give up on any thing in life and always finish what you start." The anxiety, the fear of failing, being homesick, being BROKE, it just all overwhelms me. I honestly don't know how I feel about college anymore. I would say I'm stuck in between a rock and a hard place. College seriously has had me reevaluate my whole life in a matter of two seconds lol! Dealing with financial situations, personal problems and other issues can effect you mentally, physically and emotionally. I'm learning to deal with stress and trying to have a positive attitude for the rest of the semester. I know I am not the only one feeling this way. What do you guys do to help yourself to keep pushing? What are some tips that you think would be helpful for me?

Suicide

Recently my best friend tried to kill herself.  I think the scariest part about it is that I was there with her when she tried it.  I remember the rest of the night I held her tight to me and I kept murmuring over and over how much I loved her. She expressed to me how she had been depressed for quite some time and as I thought back over the past weeks all the warning signs were there.  The mood swings, the depression, the loss of interest, the isolation.  Over and over I kept blaming myself for letting it get this bad. How did I not know and I was the closest one to her? Behind closed doors I couldn’t stop crying – I didn’t know what to do.  I ended up calling my mom and telling her what happened. She gave me advice I’ll never forget.  She said that at that moment it was not about me.   This was a cry for help and I needed to be strong for her, but most importantly I could not keep this to myself.  When I got off the phone with her I made sure my friend was with friends I trusted and then I went to visit counseling services.  The person I spoke with was very friendly and told me I did the right thing by telling someone.  I was certain she would hate me for giving them her name, however she wasn’t. I realized that she was not strong enough to go get help on her own and I like to think this is why I was placed in her life.  Suicidal thoughts may be out of her head for now, but we are far from over this crisis.  I wrote this to say that you never know how important you are in someone’s life and to never let your fears get in the way of getting someone help.  Below is the suicide prevention hotline and a website to help you recognize warning signs.

1-800-273-TALK (8255)

http://afsp.org/about-suicide/risk-factors-and-warning-signs/

Weird things that frighten you?

Thinking back on our personal narrative assignment about a frightening situation and I started thinking about how weird a couple of my fears are. I understand that as a child there are a lot of things that scare us and everyone seems to understand. However, what's the grand rule that tells me at what age I have to stop being afraid of the dark? I have many fears, some of which I have developed as I have matured. I'm deathly afraid of snakes, and natural disasters. The thought of being in the middle of a hurricane with a snake around my leg, makes me cringe. Of course this is almost the type of thing that is supposed to make someone uncomfortable but I also have a fear of those large statues that tower over me, just think if they were to fall of magically come to life and not see me standing under them, that'd be the end of me. I however am not afraid of the dark, or spiders but I am afraid of situations I can't control. My questions to you guys are: Are my fears as weird as I'm making them seem? What are some of your fears, and have they always been terrifying to you?

Do People Still Talk on the Phone?

Being a bit of a traditionalist, I prefer to talk on the phone. To call and share my thoughts vocally. To be able to hear the sound of my friend or family members voice. To hear their mood. Talking on the phone takes so much guess work out of the equation compared to texting. Don't get me wrong, I do text, but I try to refrain from having any serious conversations via the keyboard. Now people use emojis to convey emotion. How are men and women supposed to learn about the exasperated sigh, or sorrow tone or even genuine laughter?  I grew up during a time when guys had to work up the courage to call a girls house phone and HOPE she answered and not her mother or father. Or if a parent did answer, the young man in pursuit of my conversation, had to politely and respectfully request permission to speak with me, and it had better not been past 9:00! Nowadays,  a guy gets a girls number and all he has to do is send a text....WHERE IS THE COURAGE? WHERE ARE HIS BALLS? Probably sitting under his iPhone, waiting for the girl to reply back, "hey". I miss those days. That truly separated the timid and the weak from the gutsy. Or even the romantic back and forth, "You hang up!" "No, YOU hang up first" exchanges. DO PEOPLE STILL TALK ON THE PHONE?

Movie series

     With the new movie Batman vs Superman continuing the marvel series of movies, an interesting question is what one of the best movie series created? Most movie series are based off books in which fans love. However if the movie doesn't follow what the book had plan then, there are problems which the fans have. In most cases a series of movies tend to run off the book to either cut time or just because the director didn't think that scene from the book was important. With that being said its difficult for people to have a series of movies which they enjoy because it happens so often that the director doesn't add a scene which you personally wanted. Also sometimes for the director if the first movie was good , it's difficult to keep that same success for the next movie. Personally my favorite movie series is Star Wars because it keep the important scenes from the book in the movie. It doesn't follow the book entirely however; it does a good job with trying to follow the story. Also while making the movie the people involve take their time and do not rush the process, allowing the movie to be great. Despite this what is your favorite movie series?

Classroom Comfort Rant

Classroom chairs in this school are too hard and unforgiving. I’m a big dude, so I need something a little more comfortable than flat plastic to sit on. Where is the cushion to these chair/desk combos? As one student pointed out the other day, it seems like A&T has dropped the ball on student comfort in the form of a clock tower. College cost a lot of money and I would expect our chairs to bigger and more comfortable than they are now. If the school can afford a big-ass clock tower, why can’t they help out big-ass students by providing comfy places to sit? I’ve only had one class where they let you sit in office chairs and it was awesome. I could actually sit and learn without focusing on the uncomfortableness of the chairs. I’m only asking for a half inch of some kind of support. Sitting on plastic for hours isn’t a fun time. Imagine you were at a movie theater and you paid 15 bucks to see “Insert awesome movie title here”. Now, as you walk into the theater, you see rows of desk/chair combos like the ones in our English class. Sounds like a horror movie, doesn’t it? Must be very satisfying to spend 15 bucks on a movie only to have to sit through the whole thing in a terrible chair. That’s how I feel about our classes. We/grants/loans/scholarships pay for our schooling, so why would we want to be learning in a place that supplies only the finest of wooden planks for us to sit on? Don’t get me wrong, I like learning here, it’s just that it could be a whole lot better if they had nicer places to park our behinds as we learn. What do you guys think? Does this school need to supply us with read-end support?




EDIT: oops, the clock tower didn't come from tuition money. (Thanks, Kayla Joseph for making this clear on a different blog post.) Insert whatever you think money was wasted on in place of the clock tower.

Lost At Sea

I watch as the chopper passes by
Can you tell that I'm drowning
Or do you just not want see

As I call out for help
People don't seem to hear
And it's not long before sink to an all time low

Now I reach out my hand
Hoping that someone will save me
But again I'm all alone in this unknown sea

As I sink to the bottom I see a ship pass by
I relax my body so that I appear to be dead
Now as the last of my oxygen leaves my body as I face my life's end

I'm saved by the boat that I'd seen
But as I awake all I can see is the storm approach
As the last rays of sunshine fade into darkness

The storm now rocks the ship
As I hold on dear life
Uncertain of what may happen next

Then I began to feel the ship tip
And when it flips over
I'm again back to square one

Alone in this unknown sea

Waiting to be saved

Or should I save myself

I wrote this poem when I was in a really bad place and it made me feel better to write this. I have learned that even when you feel like you are alone in this world, someone will always be there. If you ever feel alone that you should always find solitude in a place that makes you comfortable and brings happy memories. Please feel free to tell me how you feel about it personally or if you can connect in any way. 

Violence at Campaign Rallies

This election seems to have our country showing its craziest of colors. I am not a big fan of politics, but I do not believe I have ever seen anyone protest possible presidential candidates before. When Donald Trump began to run for president was the first time I have ever seen this, and the protests are not always silent and peaceful. The may start off that way but tend to turn violent once supporters antagonize them and vice versa. This happened recently on March 9th in Fayetteville, NC and again on March 12th in Chicago, both at Donald Trump rallies. In Fayetteville, at the Crown Coliseum there were protesters being escorted out, while supporter booed them out of the door.  As they were being escorted out a protester held up his middle finger to the booing crowd, which almost immediately after got his punched in the face by a supporter. The protester was then retained and removed from the coliseum. In Chicago, before the rally could start, the supporters, demonstrators, and protesters already had high tension. Shortly after Trump arrived in Chicago the deemed the rally unsafe and postponed it, this caused an uproar at the University of Illinois. Protesters and supporters began to fight while the non-violent protesters and supporters were shouting their favorable candidate.

Questions to Ponder
How do I you feel about the way people respond to Trump?
Is there a better way to express you feelings without it leading to violence in this situation?

Links:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/03/16/deputies-suspended-following-failures-to-act-at-trump-rally-in-north-carolina/

http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/politics/donald-trump-chicago-protests/

What things have you gained from your college experience thus far?

As I take a look back over my college experience thus far, I realized that I'm not the same person that I was in high school. College has taught me to be my own cheerleader and to stay motivated through thick and thin. I’ve gained a sense of who I am since I've been away from home and how to differentiate my strengths from my weaknesses. I've learnt how to adapt to new environments and lifestyles and become more open minded to different people and their beliefs. Being in college is teaching me how to change my studying habits as well, because last fall semester I was a crammer, who didn’t take the time to study or review notes. But, this semester I’m finding new ways to study. When I start to study I take breaks, and let the information settle into my brain, and then after a few minutes I continue studying more notes while also incorporating the previous one also. And finally, college is teaching me how to get out of my comfort zone and experience new opportunities.

Unnessary attractions? Wasted money? Does our campus focus on the wrong things?

Finding ways to pay your tuition is already a tough task to accomplish. The idea of tuition being potentially raised is an idea that I do not agree with. Our campus is spending money we get donated and things I feel like are unnecessary.  I feel like our campus spends the money we do get back on unnecessary things i.e. the clock tower instead of using it for a good purpose. Using 2 million dollars to build a clock tower instead of splitting that up between the different departments we have on campus and using it towards scholarships just baffles me.  That money should be going back to the students as far as scholarships or grants. Why not use the money the alumni's donate for students who are struggling or need help trying to pay for the amount of college tuition we have to pay now? Am I the only one that feels like this?   

Texting & Driving

TEXTING AND DRIVING

 

Why is it so important that people shouldn’t text and drive? Do you text and drive? How do you feel about texting and driving? Over the past few years, many people have been reported losing their lives because of texting and driving. In fact, most of the deaths are caused by teens and the number is steadily increasing. Is texting and driving that important? No. I was once guilty of this act until I became aware of the dangers that it can cause and have been causing. I have personally had a scarce with texting and driving. I can remember driving down the road one day and hearing my phone buzz. My first reaction was to look down and see who texted me. I glanced the road to see if any cars was around before responding to the text. While attempting to respond to the message, within 5 seconds I had ended up on the other side of the road in a matter of seconds. That day, I realized that texting and driving wasn’t that important and it is dangerous. I never want to be the cause of someone losing their lives or being injured because of my selfish behavior. The process for me to stop texting and driving wasn’t easy. I had to make a concise decision. Now a days, there are different methods and apps that can be used to prevent this. On my phone, I have a mobile app called “Drive Mode”. When I put my phone on drive mode, it instantly send all calls to voicemail and doesn’t allow me to get any text. You don’t have to text and drive!!!

High School into College

I have finally come to a realization that my high school did not prepare me for college. My teachers in high school always told me, "I am preparing you for college." I am sorry to say, but none of my teachers told me college would be like this. Every time I turn around I have some form of test, quiz, or both. This starts to become frustrating when you cannot honestly prepare for your quiz or test like you really need or want because you have so much work to get done in your other classes. Then you will walk into class and the professor starts off by saying, "Clear your desk." When is there ever any time to study especially if you have a job or playing sports? The semester is much shorter than expected. When the semester starts, if you blink it is over. Sometimes it is difficult to remember and learn everything with six different classes in one semester. Now I understand why the professor always say, "Study when you can." this makes much more sense to me now. I still love college though. I am not complaining about it, but my teachers did not prepare me as well I thought they were doing. Also, everyone have different studying methods. I always thought mine would be with the music blasting, television on, and texting. I had to realize I need to be in a relax type of environment. I can focus in any kind of environment, but the best would be with music at a decent level with the lights on. What is your type of environment? What helps you study and actually grab the assignment so you can remember what the professor is saying. Did your college really prepare you for college? Are you able to actually sit down and study what you need to know or try to cram everything in at once?

Does anyone else find it scary how close Donald Trump is too the White House? Personally I don't know anyone who supports trump but he definitely has the numbers and statistics showing that he has a large following. It's sad to say or think but at the pace he is winning I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as our president.

If you don't support Trump, or his views and what he stands for its your civic duty to vote. If you don't vote then you can't complain about the way the country will be ran the next four years.
Yes this years political candidates aren't the best but personally I'm voting for anyone but Donald Trump for this years presidential race.

Is It Too Much A Good or Bad?

Multiple time in my life I was told that I should stop watching television because its not good for me and that it would rots the brain. My argument against whoever would say that to me is that I actually learned a lot from watch television and that I believe it can actually be beneficial (this was how a younger me thought). I do believe that TOO television vision is actually bad thing for your brain and even for you eye. I also believe that some television shows have negatives affects on children today because children are easily influenced and can pick up bad words and try to imitate something they seen on television and get hurt. Television also influence people to spend money on newer products. Television also has its positive sides. A lot of television shows teaches children how to count numbers, teaches them the names of colors, and some shows even teaches children about good personal hygiene. Television helps keeps some people up to date with what happening around them and around the rest of the world. Television actually brighten some peoples day, when your having a bad day just watch family guy I bet it makes your day brighter. I personally know a few people who say they dont watch television at all because it is just bad. I believe that only extremely too much television is bad for you mentally and physically. What are you thought about television? Do you believe it has a negative, positive, or a little of both kinds of effect on people?

Is CIAA overrated in Charlotte NC

Every year the CIAA basketball tournament is held in Charlotte, NC. The people have voted it will continue to be held there for the next six years. The tournament is mainly focused on the college basketball games, which usually began February 20th and end on the 25th. There are also many other events, for example they have concerts, step shows, fashion shows and etc. Most of the family events began in the morning and end around noon.

After the 25th is when all the overrated activities began. I believe February 25th through the 28th is when all the parties and celebrities come and perform.  Thousands of people arrive to Charlotte just to party and see all the celebrities.

 Party entry fees vary from the range of $20 dollars - $150 dollars just to enter the party. Most parties won`t let you in unless you are the of 21 and above. Club capacities vary 400 people to 4,000 people in one party. As all these people are here just to party many hotel are booked. The booking for hotels are so extreme people may place their reservations a year ahead.

 Parking also is a big deal during this event. Parking services and towing services make a lot of money. I believe parking spots can cost up to $50 dollars a night and if your car is towed i believe it`s $250 for the car to be giving back to you. I understand it`s a great experience and lots of fun but is it actually worth all the money being spent? 

Mickey D's

I went over to McDonalds the other day and got myself a double cheese. Boy was it delicious. Now, one might ask,

“Why wouldn’t you just buy the cheaper McDouble? It’s only missing one piece of cheese”.

You say it’s only missing a piece of cheese, I say it’s missing half of its deliciousness. The whole point of a double cheeseburger is to have 2 pieces of cheese. The second piece of cheese is essential to balance of flavor within the sandwich itself. A McDouble only has a single piece of cheese which is usually stuck between two all-beef patties. This mutes the cheesy goodness by sealing off the cheese from your taste buds. Compare this to the double cheeseburger. You have a piece of cheese sandwiched in between the all-beef patties, just like the McDouble. However, a second piece of cheese is draped over the whole thing, adding to the delectability of the burger.  Now comes the second question:

“Would you like fries with that?”

Hell yeah I’d like fries with that! What’s a double cheese without some over salted potato sticks? A lonely double cheese, that’s what. To say if I’d like fries with that is akin to asking someone if they would like to get an A in English class instead of a B. Fries are great with a burger, but is there a way to take both fries and a double cheese to make it into something better? After a long and hard 2 minutes of pondering this quandary, I have come up with the ultimate solution.

Wait for it…

It’s…

Putting the fries inside the burger!

It’s the perfect blend of meats and vegetables all mixed into one super burger that I hereby dub:

“The Double Cheese W/ Vegan accents”

People can finally feel good about eating burgers because of the veggies that are in it.

Old Generation vs New Generation Music

    As time progresses one thing that seems to change is the type of music that people in this generation enjoys. Whenever I talk to my parents about music ( who are in their middle 30's, so they have a good balance of past music and the music today) they always say old school music is better. Their reason for this is because the music is cleaner, it relates to their lives, and it makes them feel good. However, I always reply that the music now does make people feel better or motivated. The music might not always be clean or have a positive influence; however it does make people feel good. But still to this day I can't determine what makes a generation of music better. People who enjoy older version of music, tell me to listen to what the artist is saying and how it can still relate to today. In that sense I do feel as though, that yes older generation of music is better. Despite that, there still are people who believe artists do relate to today's problems and make good music that is better than past music. That statement also makes sense because the technology today, allows for beats and just the sound in general to be better. From my own research there are plenty of songs which are not that good in the older generation. Despite this, to avoid conflict with the argument of which generation of music is better, I just say if the music gets you going and makes you feel good then it's good music. Which generation of music do you prefer?

Boys will be boys

     This is a poem in response to this article about a fraternity at NC State that was disbanded after a notebook full of offensive content was found. And that the term "Boys will be boys" is used too liberally.
      Link to article: http://www.wral.com/nc-state-fraternity-placed-on-interim-suspension-after-embarrassing-scary-book-found/14528066/

Boys Will Be Boys

Boys will be boys
they say

Boys will be boys
even when they’re holding
a gun to someone’s
throat screaming
‘second amendment”

Moldy green journal
filled with their
hearts’ desires

Southern trees that
bear strange fruit

The intimacy of
a cold body

Replacing ‘no’
for ‘yes’

Trading humanity
for lust

Stealing the innocence
of a child
hoping it replaces
their own

Boys will be boys

Their polo shirts
And pastel shorts
smell of
rotting flesh and
decomposing childhoods

But boys will be boys

Flaunting themselves like
mating flame bowerbirds
because the law
will only tickles
them on their noses

Boys will be boys

Boys will be boys
as long as they
don’t paint their
hands crimson
when the cameras
are rolling

But remember boys
will be boys

Who's more stressed?

So, I went home last weekend and I was having a conversation with my family about how school is going, the classes I'm enrolled in and also telling them that I have a pretty heavy workload this semester. As I'm explaining my classes and giving examples of the assignments I'm having to do, my uncle abruptly interrupts saying: "Jocey, you have it so much better than we had it growing up! Kids kill me nowadays thinking that they're stressed out, you haven't experienced stress until you have a family to take care of and bills to pay." Now, I'm not the type to disrespect my elders, especially members of my family but the things he was saying just really got under my skin. This type of thing always happens when I talk to him and a few of my other family members. It's like my stress isn't significant enough to talk about. I feel like if I'm stressing over school or feel like I have a lot on my plate, I have the right to feel that way. I don't understand how others fell as though they can judge how intense things are, especially for us as a younger generation that doesn't get the credit we deserve for how hard we work. Many people are quick to assume that because I am a part of this generation where technology advances have quickly taken over, that I don't know what it's like to work hard. My questions regarding this topic are: Do you feel that we as a generation have it way easier than the last? Do you think the work load for college has increased since then? Do we think about how bad other people may have it, or simply assume that no one is worse off than we are?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/education/27colleges.html?_r=0
Above I have attached an article I thought was pretty interesting. It's about college freshmen and their level of stress. I've never really taken the time to think about the things that we as freshman go through. There's leaving home for the first time to start a brand new chapter without all of your friends and family that you've been around for 17+ years. When you finally get to college some students take on responsibilities such as an SGA position, band, ROTC, etc. Making the transition somewhat more difficult being that then a trait of time management is even more essential. Do you think that college freshmen stress more than college sophomores or juniors? (I would add seniors, but I think their stress level regarding graduation is more than enough.)

How the Internet gets into our heads

 Read this article first, then my blog post response:  Google Search Results Can Influence an Election 



Someone sent me a link to this article about how Google can influence an election and I found it to be a little frightening. We are all so connected to our devices these days, that I think we forget that the constant stream of information coming at us can affect the way we think about things without us even realizing it. I know for a fact that Facebook has done social experimentation on its members. They admitted as much in 2012 when they altered the feeds of 700,000 member to see their reactions to a variety or negative posts. (Facebook's Not-so-secret Mood Manipulation Experiment ).

I've also heard rumblings about the"gay marriage rainbow profile filter" app that was made available to Facebook users following the Supreme Court's decision to uphold gay marriage. Rumor has it those were a social experiment too. I've read various reports that never definitively corroborate or disprove that it was, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if it were true. Can you imagine what an immensely powerful tool that would be to have access to the thoughts and feelings of a wide and varied range of the population? Old, young, conservative, liberal, crunchy, hipster, religious, atheist, ethnic, white...they're all represented on Facebook.

To be fair, marketers and politicians have always tried to figure out which ways work best to sway us, so none of this is really new.  There have always been polls and surveys and even controversial social experimentation, like the Obedience Experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram, but I think there's a fine line between trying to figure out what makes humans tick so you can learn about human nature either for purely academic reasons or to hopefully persuade them to choose something, and controlling people with manipulation. Some of this stuff just plays out to me a little bit too much like some of the dystopian literature I've read (Fahrenheit 451, A Handmaid's Tale, Nineteen Eighty-Four etc). What are your thoughts? Do you think the "powers that be" are using our Internet activity to manipulate and control us (or at least working hard to figure out how to do so)? If so, what can one do to counter it?

PS: I promise I was not wearing a foil-hat while writing this.  :)

Respect or trust?

I attended a conference meeting Friday, and the speaker was demonstrating how you can respect a person even though you do not trust them and vice versa. He displayed his theory by asking a female student to sit in a chair, then to stand up and fall back into his arms. As she began to fall into his arms, she seemed a little nervous. After that, he asked her “How can you trust the chair before you trust me, even though I am the human being?” He then proceeded to present another example. He said “If someone told you they were going to kill you; would you respect them or trust them?” A lot student said they would trust them but not respect them. One student was not having it. He felt as though respect and trust are the same, and if you respect someone then you also have to trust them, because when you trust someone you also respect them. So the question is, can you respect someone without trusting them? And, do you think that trust and respect are the same?