How I've Grown, What I've Learned

               I believe I have grown a lot since the start of this class and my college experience. I believe I have grown in many different ways socially and academically. I have also learned a lot about this diverse world and how diverse college can be. I have also learned a lot of very important things from this class.

                I believe I have grown a lot socially and academically. Now that I am at college I feel like I can now talk to people more easily since I have started attending college. I can also relate to many different people due to my background and my experiences.  I have grown academically by being able to know when I must get things done and being able to get them done very early while not waiting until the last minute. A thing I must learn is to add more time on the weekends when I go home to complete homework and studying.

                I have gotten a lot out of this class. I learned that we all have styles of learning that differ in different ways and that we are also from different and diverse backgrounds. I learned about many helpful options on campus that are there to help me succeed during my college career. The entire Hixson staff is also very helpful and will be there for me anytime I need help.

                I have learned many lessons from my advisor and some instructors that will help me in the future of my career and life. They have taught me about the difference between ideals and realities. The peer mentor class was also very helpful to allow us to talk and ask questions to students who have already gone through our similar situation.

                So far I have loved going to ISU and many of the classes I have taken are not impossible to pass but yet they push me to my limits to get the GPA I want in the end. Iowa State has been great so far and I hope I continue to learn many things during my next four years.

What the Hixson Award Means to Me

              The Hixson means a lot to me when talking about my college life. This was the make or break scholarship between me attending ISU or me attending a community or lesser known college; maybe even not attending college and going straight into the workforce.  Christina is one of the most generous people I have ever met. Without her support many of the Hixson scholars would be unable to be in the current position that they are currently in.

If I would not have received the Hixson scholarship I would not be in the great position I am right now. I would be going to NICC (Northeast Iowa Community College), a small community college within driving distance of my home, right now and would not have been able to have had the great experience I have had so far in my few months as an ISU student! I would not be able to meet as many new people as I have and would maybe not even have had gone to college. I have been able to meet some leaders within the agriculture and especially the swine industry which will be extremely helpful in my future career.

The Hixson award is also great because we get free printing and the class that we are required to take has taught me so many different things about the university. Without the class I would never have realized that the university has many helpful facilities that are there to help you to succeed while attending college. Without the free printing I would have to buy a printer or put a larger charge on my U-Bill by having to print on their computers.

The Hixson award has helped me out greatly. I currently do not have to get a job while attending college due to the Hixson award helping me pay the U-Bill and my current assets on my father’s farm. This has been a great help because I have been able to experience great social connections and join a few clubs. This will help me greatly in the future by me building leadership skills as explained during class by older Hixson recipients.

Diversity

                One of the most important factors in today’s culture is also one of the most limiting factors in many communities across rural America. This week about diversity was very different and interesting compared to some of the previous talks about diversity I have been able to experience. I learned a few things from this week’s activities that I can hopefully use in my future career and apply to some of my classes. I learned that diversity isn’t as simple as I thought it is. It can be almost anything relating to a difference between two things. Stereotyping is something that will always happen but it has changed overtime and will continue to change as our generations change. We each have our own dimensions that we use to identify ourselves even if other people don’t see us through this same perspective.
                This week’s speaker was very interesting and brought out very different perspectives to view diversity from. When he talked about sympathy compared to empathy I thought that was very interesting because I had never thought about diversity in this way. I thought he was a great speaker that tried to keep the crowd involved. My views related to diversity have changed dramatically since high school because my school had little to no race, ethnic or religious diversity. Now that I’m at Iowa State University I have become very aware of the diversity within the college.
              Diversity is the reason that the world is not extremely boring. Without as much diversity as there is in the world everyone would be the nearly the same and there would be no excitement in meeting anyone new. I know that there would be less fighting in the world about controversial issues due to everybody thinking in the same general ways but then what fun would there be in news and events? I don't think there would be much.

Diversity Event

             For my Diversity Event Option I chose option #3, “How Has the Supreme Court Reshaped American Law?” This event was very interesting because the man who spoke to us was Tom Goldstein, a Harvard University professor and a man greatly involved with the law in many ways. I also chose this diversity event specifically because it also met the requirements for my Philosophy 230 classes extra credit option. (2 birds with 1 stone!)

            Tom told us about many different things happening within the Supreme Court today such as Obama care, continued racism in the United States, and laws dealing with abortion. He said that Obama care was only passed because one Supreme Court justice changed his mind after he had decided what he was going to vote. He told us to think about the “what ifs” of it not happening and how that would impact our current society. He also told us about the different laws being regulated more in the law enforcement areas of today’s society.

            He also told us about the difficulties in the law enforcement area because of continued racism claims due to arrests for drug dealing. This factor has risen to the Supreme Court more frequently. Abortion is the same way because many people think it is a Right to decide on whether to abort their own child or not. The state of the fetus is also a concern. If the fetus is far enough along many people believe that abortion is murder in that sense.

            I think our current court systems still have a long ways to go before they get these problems dealt with but when they finally get those problems figured out new problems will already have risen.

My Twitter Experience

First off, social media is very new to me. I had never had a cell phone, Facebook or anything related to social media until the spring semester of my junior year in high school. I was very connected with people in my family, school and community by meeting them in person and being conversational instead of what our society is moving towards now. I personally do not like social media as much but I realize that I must adapt to it as society changes.

From this week of social I realized that Twitter is more confusing than I had originally thought. I still do not understand the point of having the “#” sign before some words. I learned that I must create a great bio for my online accounts and not make any bad remarks that may affect me in the future. I personally did not like to engage in this activity because I am a less social person sometimes and I feel awkward telling people about what I’m doing everyday on social media sites such as Twitter.

Social media can be helpful in reaching my goal of getting a great job by finding employers for me. I think I could do just about the same thing by networking with these employers in person by going to events that ISU has throughout the year but I will have less time to work on my academics if I go with that route.

Social media is being used all around the world in every country. This is a great thing for society because this allows us to be aware of everything happening around the world. When I read the article about the elevator I was surprised on how closely related these social media sites can be to a first impression in a person to person meeting. I realized that social media can be more helpful than I first thought but I don’t think just that factor will change how much I use it.

Report for when I missed class on October 9, 2012

            I attended the AgEI fall Entrepreneurs round table event on October 9, 2012. I learned many things from this event and I think this event helped me somewhat with my decision about my future. Currently I am stuck with a major life chose, to me. This choice is for me to just go home once I finish college and apply my gained knowledge to my father’s farm or to further my education after my undergraduate degree by going to veterinarian school and then going from there. From this event I learned 3 main things about being an entrepreneur: patent your ideas, you’re in the job to make money but you must still have fun or enjoy this job while doing your chosen job and finally be bold, don’t be a pushover because this will make you not accept or like your business as much as you should.

            I was able to talk with Tom Buman about his entrepreneurial experience. He specified that all people are in their business to make money. He believes that you must also enjoy your job or you will be less happy with your experiences. He said he was working for a government program but quit that job because he finally realized that was not the job he wanted to deal with for the rest of his life. He then went back to college to finish his degree and started his conservation company by creating a system concerned with farming conservation.

            I was also able to talk with Drew Ryder, who is a major contributor to the corporation Feedlogic. He talked to a group of us about his company and how they have made a difference in animal feeding operations. He wanted to make sure we understand that you must be bold in your choices and interests. If someone tells you that your idea has already been disproven try it anyways. Don’t be a pushover to people that think they know what they are telling you about something unless they have proven and honest research. But even at that you should try it anyways.

When you have an idea you may easily want to tell your friends about this great idea. Not such a great idea. Bill Rohlfsen, owner of the Moss Buster Company, had a great idea but he told one of his friends about this idea and lost over $125,000 due to this. When we listened to Mr. Rohlfsen tell his story he stressed the fact that in today’s society you must patent your ideas or else they are as much yours as they are your neighbors.

These three ideas about entrepreneurship that I have taken away from this event have helped me to have a better perspective about what I consider to be a major life choice for me. I hope to have my decision made by the end of fall semester of my sophomore year. I plan on going to more events such as this and am currently thinking about joining the pre-vet club on campus to help me also.

My MBTI

My MBTI results were as follows: I (Introversion), S (Sensing), F (Feeling), and J (Judging). My results from this were not very surprising to me at all because when I read the definition in our booklet it matched my personality and thoughts exactly like they are right now.

My results were pretty much exactly like my current personality. This is because introversion means you are reflective and think before you speak which is just like me. Sensing is just like me because I don’t just blurt out stuff; I let my eyes work with my mind to come up with an educated answer so I don’t look like an idiot when I’m yelling an answer that is completely wrong. I use my heart when I come up with an answer to a situation and take everybody’s point of view and feelings into consideration. Finally Judging, I usually like to plan my day out to decide what I am going to do for the day. I am also very goal oriented which, to me, is a great attitude to have in life because if you don’t want to accomplish your goals you just waste your time.

What about my MBTI results surprised me?

I was a little bit surprised about the sensing part of my MBTI results. I thought I would be more towards the intuition end of the spectrum but when I read the definitions in the booklet we received during class I figured I was more towards the sensing and middle of the spectrum.

How do these results inform my self-awareness?

These results inform me that I am more likely to go with my preferred personality but I will change my personality traits depending on the situation. I now have more self-awareness of my personality traits after looking at my results and am very happy with the results. These results will help me decide which traits to use when I am working on a group project.

Were there aspects of my personality that I had not thought about?

I honestly thought that everybody always had the feeling personality trait because that seems like a very logical thing to me. Everybody has feelings so their feelings should always be considered when a decision is to be made but when I read about the thinking personality trait I was very surprised about its definition.

How do these results relate to my goals?

These results do not seem to relate to my goals very well because my goals, to me, seem very unsophisticated and simple. From my personality results I feel like I should have more in depth and thought through goals. Overall I love my personality just the way it is and hope that I don’t change it overtime.

My "Bucket List"

            I have thought about “my bucket list” and goals many times and for long periods of time before I had been assigned to write this blog. I never called it “my bucket list” but thought about the same things that fit this definition. I have high hopes of being able to complete some of the items on my list and many of my goals before the end of my time but if not then I guess that’s just the way things go. First, I will tell you about a few of the things I want to complete before college ends.

I must have a job waiting for me as soon as I complete my degree at ISU. If I do not have a job waiting for me after college then I will feel as if my involvement in different clubs, organizations, going to college and going to the career day thing will all have been a partial waste of my time. I also hope that this job will allow me to be close to my hometown of Dorchester but I will go wherever my career takes me if that does not work. One of my major goals is to leave college with little debt to pay back. I will hopefully accomplish this task by filling out scholarship applications, getting a job during the school year, and getting an internship every summer. So those are just a few of my goals and things on “my bucket list” but next I will list some of the things I want to do right after my college experience is complete.

 As soon as I have complete my college degree I am going to buy a really nice and fancy truck because I have never owned a vehicle before and that is the type of vehicle I like. I also am thinking about purchasing a decent sized home somewhere in rural Iowa. I would like to also own my own farm but with the increasing prices of everything nowadays this goal may have to wait until I have saved up a lot of money! I have a few other minor and less important goals and things on “my bucket list” but I will save those for another day. My final list is about my goals and such way after I have college completed and before I die.

This final list is for me any time after probably the age of 25. This may sound cheesy but I want to finally meet the perfect girl for me and hopefully settle down and have kids somewhere in rural Iowa. I hope to raise my children just as my parents have and believe in them with whatever they wish to do with their lives. This will be the time during my life when I hope to own my own farm with a little bit of everything on it; beef, swine, sheep, corn and other crops.

So overall I think I have a pretty simple list to complete but who knows, my list may get larger or more difficult as life goes on. I hope to complete all of these just for the feeling of accomplishment and hopefully a better life for myself and my family.

               It was May 9^th of 2012 that we had our senior class’s awards night presentation. This was a very special day to me because this was the day, to me, that would determine whether all of my hard work on completing scholarship forms would pay off or not. I filled out over 10 different scholarship forms taking up many hours during my senior year. These scholarships would be a major help in me paying for college which was greatly needed. So this is how the evening went…
               I drove to my grandparents’ house with my father to pick up my grandpa because he wanted to go to the event. We arrived at my high school at 6:30, I found a seat in the auditorium with friends and we talked until the event started at 7. My friends said not to expect to get more than 3 scholarships other than the Hixson, which I had already been told that I was the recipient of, because they had been told that you only get about 20% of the scholarship awards that you fill out. This made me think that the night was not going to end as good as I had hoped. Then the event started.
               At first my guidance counselor gave her usual introduction and then the event commenced in its regular order. My name had not been called off at all for the first half of the ceremony and I was getting disappointed. I was also thinking that I had wasted all of my time completing those scholarship forms while I could have been doing other more important things. But then I heard the speaker call off my name. That was the first time my name was called off to be awarded a scholarship. I was very happy with myself but then my name was called again, and again and several times after that. I was so surprised with all of the times my name had been called.
               I was extremely happy with how the night had gone and was so glad that all of my hard work had actually paid off for once! I felt at my best because I had actually succeeded in something that really mattered to me. My father and grandparents were so happy for me, which was the best feeling in the world. I could not have asked for a better way to end my high school career.
               In the end I received over $5,000 extra in scholarships other than the Christina Hixson award. To me this is the best explanation to the question of when I felt at my “best” but I feel that everyone is always at their best in current time instead of in the past. This experience has left a lasting impression on me about my town and I will always remember this great night.