Progress Journal

12/5/09 2.5 hr

Today we finally finished our PSA, and began working out the details for our presentation. We divided our topic into three subtopics. Each of us researched and wrote a mini report about our topic. We are each going to present what we wrote, to share more information about our topic as a whole. Everything is now finished and we are ready to present!

Progress Journal

12/3/09 1.5hr.

After receiving feedback from our rough draft, we made a good amount of changes to improve our PSA. We cut out some unnecessary things in the PSA and added some new things that we received from our feedback. For example we changed the introduction and music to be more suitable for our audience. We added more pictures and were more selective with quotes. We finished adding the final touches on it.

Learning Style

After taking the learning quiz on Peterson my results were: Auditory: 30% Visual: 45% Tactile: 25%. These results are accurate after reflecting on it and reading the paragraph at the bottom. When it comes to learning I work a lot better if I see what is going on. I am not much of an auditory learning, but it will work if necessary. I retain information much better if I see how to do something and then am directed to do it. This quiz was very interesting to take and just reassured what people have told me about my learning style.

Group Progress

Last night my group and I met to compile our information that we found. We put the pictures, music, and facts into iMovie. We got a rough copy completed and published it to YouTube to view. The rough copy is good so far, but we think that we want to make half of the PSA touching and the other half showing what your contribution will go to. Overall we are having a great amount of group work going on. All of our contributions are making this PSA great and I am very excited to see what the final will look like.

Group Progress

This week so far my group members and I have come together and discussed the project for about an hour. We decided how we are going to divide the work and what each person would like to particularly be in charge of. It was decided that Amanda will be in charge of collecting pictures. Marisa will be finding appropriate sounds. I will be finding texts and facts to be shown throughout the commercial. At the end, when we all have a variety of things to pick from, in about a week we will come back together. Then we decided that we will pick which couple things from each group we would like to use. Then, we will put them all together in iMovie as a group to make our commercial. We found that this would be the best way and are really making progress.

PSA research

For the research to look for PSA's I found one organization, Christian Childrens Fund, that really stuck out. They have created a variety of ads to promote aid for needy children all over the world. Their website is http://www.childfund.org where you can find more about their concepts and the commercial was http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_aRUUdEFRY. I viewed many of their ads and they all had the same basis. Ethos is used by saying that to help the children, it in the end makes you a better person. Logos is used by saying that its only about 88 cents. 88 cents a day is about how much you spend on coffee, but at the same time it could aid and even help a child survive. Pathos is used the most with the pictures, music, text, and words being said throughout the whole ad get to any viewers emotions. When they show their living conditions, it challanges the viewer to do something and donate to the children. This in return expects the viewer to immedietly feel bad. The ads are extremely emotional and show how unhappy the children are in their horrible conditions. The pictures show the absolute worst for some of the children, the text establishes credibility for the agency, and the words being said tell the story about how bad the conditions truely are and express what you can do to help. I really enjoyed researching the different kinds of PSA's. They all got me thinking and even more motivated to make our own. A lot of great ideas were found in this research.

World Issue

For our PSA in my group we decided to work on the abandoned children of China. We names our organization HACC (Help Abandoned Children of China). For our work we are going to create a commercial. My group members include me, Marisa Weachter, and Amanda Carpenter. We are going to use various images, texts, and sounds to get our point across to the viewers to create awareness about the topic. Our target audience is going to be the older audience (30-older) since they have money and the capability to adopt and help the children. We are excited to start with our creativity!

Out of Season

For the past four months every day from 2-6 I had field hockey practice. Last week out season came to an end. That meant no more lifting no more scheduled running and no more playing the game of field hockey until after winter break. At first I was so excited to have a life. However now that it has been a week I do not know what to do with myself. I paint my nails atleast 3 days a week. My team mates and I go running everyday but that only fills about an hour. I do my homework and take showers, long showers, just because I'm bored. It has also been a huge shock to my body with the change of exercise, my immune system is not as strong. I hope that I can quickly find things to keep me entertained.

Hurting Our Own Kind

Recently in my psychology class we have been discussing mutilation of ones own kind. We all know that some animals eat one another simply to live and survive. But why do humans kill other humans? You don'y usually hear about us eating eachother, so what is the reason? If revenge and anger and maybe sometimes to protect ourselves is the only answer, I find it shocking. Reflecting back on past events our society has always been like this. World Wars, Holocaust, Jonestown, and many others. Why do we do this and what drives up to that point.

Scary Movies

With all of the horror films coming out due to Halloween, it makes me think about the horror films. I personally am not big on horror films, simply because I am very easily scared. A new movie that has come out is Paranormal Activity, which seems beyond scary. Oddly enough though I would like to see it. so why do we enjoy scary movies so much? Why do we like the thrill of being horrified by a movie? As scary as they can be for me, I always seem to be going back for more.

Halloween Costumes

The night before I left for the weekend this past Thursday my team mates and I saw a group of girls going out for the night. They were all dressed in what they labeled as their costumes. Little white shorts and bunny ears. Short skirts and tank tops, with cat ears. I found it appaling and did not agree with these "costumes". I believe that over the years for college students and teenagers what is considered a costume has changed a lot. I do not agree with what many decide to wear. The less clothing that you wear does not make you more attractive. To quote the movie Mean Girls "Halloween is the only day that girls can dress in tights and bunny ears and get away with it."

New House

At most schools students have to stay in the dorms for two years. Here at Ball State, we are not forced to and can choose whatever you want to after your freshman year. Weather it is a house, apartment, or going back to commuting a lot of different options are available. For me, my two other team mates, and our two friends on the softball team were interested from the very beginning in getting a house for next year. Our team mates all have houses. The field hockey house on Neely, and the softball house are all the popular places to hang. Well, for the past two weeks the five of us have been looking for a house. We would make appointments for the weekend on Monday, but by Thursday would get a call that a lease was already signed for the house. We got really nervoud about loosing time to find a house, even though we thought it was so early. So, finally, this past week we all found a house! It is perfect, and all of us agreed on it. It is neat and just our style. We are extremely excited to move in in August and make memories together as our friendship builds at this house on North Calvert.

World Series

With the World Series kicking off and game 2 done, it is all even at this point. The Yank's won one and the Phill's are right up there with them. 1-1, who will win next? While watching my friends who are obsessed with the Phillies, it makes me think about my hometown baseball team, the Pirates. With 17 consecutive losing seasons now, it has been awhile since we have even come close to the World Series. With that said, I have been accustomed to cheer for my old home town team, BoSox. Also while watching these games, I wounder who do people here in Indiana root for? Since both teams that I would like to see in did not even make it to the Series this year, I am simply cheering for the Yanks to make my friend upset. So far it is working.

Missing it?

Being away from home and coming to college, do you miss home? This past weekend was parents weekend and I saw a lot of families being reuinited. At the end of the weekend, tears and hugs were exchanged and the families were seperated. One thing that I could not get out of my head though, was a certain thought. "I bet that family only lives about one hour away!" My whole family has not been out here once yet, while there other students are too close to their home. I miss it, but guess that a lot of kids really do miss their family, regardless of how close they are.

Pet Peeve

Everyone has that one thing that makes them tick. That one thing that bothers them and really gets on their last nerve. For me, that one thing is lieing. I can not stand people that lie to my face about something. Recently I have had a couple of people just lie to me, assuming that I would not catch it. I find it belittleing to my intelligence and just annoying. Tell the truth. I am not talking about little white lies that bother me, not little fibs that someone says to get around something. I am talking about big things that I could easily find out about. Things that people would tell me the truth about.

"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

-Honest Abe

Malawian boy builds his own.

In Malawi, Africa William Kamkwamba always wished to power his village with free resources. He was determined to change things for his village after horrible times so he has developed five windmills. He was kicked out of high school due to inability to pay school dues, so spent his times in the library researching. Now, he has helpe his village tremendously. The windmills now generate electricity and pump water to north of the capital. Everyone thought that he had gone crazy with his original idea, but he proved them wrong. This got the attention of Al Gore who was impressed with his green work in society. A book was also written about him by Bryan Mealer of Texas. I am very impressed by Williams determination and drive to do this for his society. Obviously, politicians and educated people have recognized his efforts and I think that it is a great sign of things to come. To take advantage of this technology along with the fact to never give up, a lot can be achieved.

Karimi, Faith. Malawian Boy Uses Wind to Power Hope, Electrify Village. New York. CNN. 2009.

Daily News

Every morning that I sit down and eat breakfast, I read our Daily Newspaper. As I flip through the pages and read the story, one thing seems to remain the same. Since the first week of school and I started reading it I feel that every article is negative. Wether it be Homecoming week or sporting events, the articles seem to belittle and tear apart whatever topic the writer is talking about. I mean, I understand that it is not all perfect, but do we need to degrade a sports team every time it loses? The writers need to understand that many readers are taken back by the articles. I am even repulsed at times by the content and material within these articles.

I am not saying that I could do a better job by any means, just suggesting that they could lighten up a little bit with their vocabulary and word choice.

Peoems

The Never Ending Dream of Life

"I had a dream it was a vision no it was a fantasy but deep down i know that last night i had a dream i dream about the never ending dream of life a dream that goes on for eternity the only one dream the last and first dream but i had a dream the dream of a never ending life i dream of life i dream of eternity but now i know that the dream is a fantasy i try to belive that i had a dream but i dream of a never ending life i dream for eternity." -keisha lenn This poem is something that I have always loved. I really enjoy reading it and love its meaning. Dreaming is something that we do every night and dont always take the time to think and reflect on them. I like the symbolism that Keisha takes by having the poem be one big run on sentance, showing how the dream goes on and on. How it was a dream of never ending life.

Peer Review

The one question that I am finding really helpful with the peer review is the question "Are you convinced of a significant interpretation of the song, independent from the book?" I really think that this is big because in my analysis, I wanted to make sure that the reader was convinced. With this question it really helped me see what I need to work on in order to convince the reader. I will really pay attention to the comments that my peer reviewers made in order to improve my paper.

Differant College Life

Coming into college there are a lot of expectations that kids have. The new friends that will be made and the knowladge that will be gained. For me, arriving to campus two weeks before everyone else made me more settled in and I had a good amount of friends, all on the field hockey team. Since then, I have gained a couple of friends but socializing is not my top priority right now. I do not get to go out every weeked like the others in my dorm and defanitly can not drink. However, I wouldn't change any of it. I love my team and the immediete friends that I made. After season though, I am interested to see how my social life grows.

Major Change

During our senior year one of the hardest things that we had to decide was where we would be attending college. After that decision was made, we then had to decide what our major would be. For me, I thought that I always knew what I wasnted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. Since as far back as I can remember I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. I love kids and everything that the education field had to offer. During my high school years, I volunteered after school with children and was convinced that this was my calling. When I arrived to my first class in edel100, it was a lot differant than I thought. Also, when I look around and see what other students majors are, it makes me wounder. I have never really investigated other majors. Needless to say, now I am. I am not giving up on this major but dropping it for now. I am officially undecided and hope to know what I really want to do by the end of this semester.

Our life without...

As I sit here trying to figure out what to write about, I keep changing Internet windows. Blog post, Facebook, e-mail. Blog post, Facebook, e-mail. However it seems that for each minute I spend on my blog posts, there are ten minutes that I spend on Facebook or e-mail. I know that I should just be focusing on this site, but am finding it hard to. So then I thought, what would our lives be without this social networking? What if you did not have a Myspace or Facebook? What if e-mail was not possible and the only way to talk with someone was a letter or phone? What if there was no instant messanger? All of these questions that I thought about really shocked me. I thnk that we have not only become too consumed by this social networking, but it is also a main point in the problem that our professors call procrastination. I have gotten better at not surfing the web when I am supposed to be working on homework, but these questions can not leave my mind. I really think that our society would be completely different and I know that it would be a lot easier for me to post my blogs and complete essays without feeling the urge to check my e-mail every five minutes.

Homecoming

In high school homecoming week was a week that consisted of Spirit Days, a Friday night football game, and a Saturday night dance with your friends. Homecoming week here is a lot differant in many differant ways. I really like how there is a wide variety of events that one can participate in. From a dance contest to a bonfire, there is something that suits everyones interests. Of course, to round it off the football game is on Friday which everyone enjoys. I am personally very excited for the Air Jam on Thursday and we also have a "Think Pink" home field hockey game on Friday to promote breast cancer awareness. Overall, this week has been great so far and I know that it will end with a bang. It will be my first college homecoming and something that I will never forget. I can see this really being the "Best Week Ever".

Weather Changes

When I came to Ball State for orientation, I arrived to sunny skys. About one hour later, it was a downpour outside. This continued to happen each and every time that I came to Muncie, the weather was too inconsistant. It didn't bother me, but it was quite confusing. Then as I expressed my confusion to a girl in my group she said, "If you don't like the weather in Indiana wait five minutes." I will always remember this quote.

This week would be a great example. At practice on Monday it was steaming in the late morning. As we arrived to the field, a large cloud was moving overhead. Sure enough, about twenty minutes into practice it was as if a small hurricane hit our field. Then, thirty minutes after the rain the sun was right back out, with the humidity high again.

On Tuesday night I had an appointment in North Quad. Upon arrival, it was nice outside and just a little chilly. As I was walking back, no more than five minutes after I started to go back a turrential downpour started. As soon as I got back to my dorm, the rain was gone.

Even though I've only been here for about a month, I am now more prepared for the inconsistent weather here in Muncie.

I now know to always have my sunglasses and umbrella ready at the same time.

Realizing I need them.

Due to NCAA regulations, it is mandatory that all Division 1 athletes attend a life skills class. Here it is on Wednesday nights and I actually like attending it. Last week, my two other team mates and missed class due to competition so we had to go early last night. While there, the teacher was explaining how to deal with stress, and how we all deal differently. Through this hour discussion before class, she made the three of us realize that we have differant aspects about ourselves that balance the other out. I get very angry when I'm stressed, my other team mate Marisa MUST be on time, and Devon is always happy. I need Marisa to keep me on track, and I need Devon to take my anger out on because in the end she evens it out. I'm glad that I realized this last night, to take me into the rest of the season. I now know why I really need all of my team mates, since we all need people to go to since we are so far away from home.

Ishmael Beah

Last night Ball State University welcomed a very gifted and talented writer to campus to speak about his book that was assigned for the freshman to read. Before even walking into the auditorium I was extremely excited. I read his book over the summer and it seemed to be one of those things that I could just not put down. There was a new turn or some kind of drama with the flip of every page. I had edtremely high expectations going into his speech. When he stepped on stage, first of all, he looked nothing like I imagined. He was dressed very nicely and looked a lot younger than anticipated. Throughout his whole speech he amazed me with every word he spoke. He was so uplifting and how he looked at life, regardless of what he went through was incredible. How and why he wrote the book was something that I found very interesting. The fact that he wrote it with no intention of it being published and just for himself was not what I expected. How he wrote the book to give other people a "voice" was very deep. In the end when he responded to the questions he was great and very down to earth with it all, even when asked to rap. I really felt like you could connect with him and he was not another celebrity author. All in all I really enjoyed what he had to say and learned a lot. It was my first time hearing an author speak, and I really hope it's not my last.

Kanye's Outburst

By now everyone has seen or atleast heard about rappers Kenye West's outburst at the MTV video music awards a few nights ago. His actions have been labeled as "rude" and "not needed". His actions of taking the microphone from Taylor Swift, the winner for best female music video, just so he could voice his own opinion about who "should" have won was completely unexpected. Last night he was featured on Jay Leno and now many writers are woundering if it is due to his emotional buildup, mainly on his mothers death. Why did Kanye do this? Was he really disspoointed by the winner or was it just his emotions speaking? Regardless, we do now know that he is indeed sorry for his actions. After all how can you have an awards show without some exciting drama to make the next days news headlines?

Freedom

Now that we are in college a lot of things are differant than high school. One of the biggest changes that I have noticed and embraced is our umlimited freedom. Getting to class late here is no big deal but in high school, that was a detention. Do your laundry when ever you want. Eat what you please. Do what you want. It is all hitting me as a shockwave, but it is fun. Are you embracing the newfound freedom or taking advantage of it?

Stress in College

College is a time that everything is new. There are new classes, new people, and new experiences every day. Along with this there is also a new feeling of stress. For me, I am trying to deal with it day to day. Between practices and classes and study tables, it all seems too much. Everyone says that I will eventually get in the swing of things, which I can sense happening slowly but surely. I know that if I keep working hard at my time management and everything else that college has to offer I will soon be enjoying myself and not be so worried about it all. But isn't a little but of stress good?

Season in full swing

With field hockey season now in full swing, we have started our game schedule. We just arrived from this past weekend from Connecticut, a nice 32 hour drive on a bus with my team. Our first weekend we played in North Carolina and arrived back with two wins. This past weekend, we came back with two losses. Regardless our coaches and upperclassmen have expressed how much potential our team has this year, and our prescense on the field is known. We are working together great and loving every day so I am extremely excited about what this season will bring.

Reflection start...

Being an only child was something that I loved for six years of my life. All of the things that people would buy for me and neverending attention was great. My friends would have brothers or sisters that would prevent them from coming over to my house, but not me. I was a lone soldiar, living the life of luxury and independence. But, that was only for six years. February 28, 1996: the day that I was no longer the sole “Hammer child”. I was no longer alone and I was forced to welcome Thomas Hammer to the room next to mine. Getting a sibling was something that I was excited for....

Involvement?

With the first week of college almost over and everyone being pretty adjusted, have you found your niche? With all of the opportunities that we have had to meet people, have you joined any organizations? I have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in athletics here and have made a handful of friends that way. What have you done to get involved?

High school vs college

It seems like just yesterday that we were graduating from high school and were so excited for college. Now that the time is here and we are officially freshman, how do you feel? It seemed so surreal two months ago that we would be on our own and now that its here, is it everything that you expected? Have you met any new people that you were so anxious to meet? Joined a ton of new clubs? Love your classes? For me, it has been interesting. Between preseason, practice times, and classes, I haven't met anyone other than athletes. Everyone here seems to either be from Muncie or Indy. Being on my own is everything that I expected, so much freedom. My classes seem fun so far, but no "ice breakers" like there were in high school. So, overall, college is pretty much what I expected and I look forward to the future. However, I know that everyone has different opinions on this...

About Me

I am from Pittsburgh, PA but I was born in Boston, Mass. I play on the field hockey team here at Ball State and intend on graduating with a major in either exercise science or elementary education. I have one brother, Tom, who is 14 years old. My favorite pro sports team are the Steelers. My favorite food are Gala apples.