Diversity

Prior to coming to the University of South Carolina I defined diversity as the mixture of various ethnicities and other groups such as like skater guys, jocks, those types of stereotypes. Since my arrival here my viewpoint has remained the same. I would still use the definition of diversity that I thought of before I came to the University of South Carolina. I certainly have experienced diversity at my work site. For one thing, my mentee and I do not share the same race. He’s an African American, which is obviously different than me, Caucasian. Hand Middle School has a diverse student body with several different races and socioeconomic groups. My mentee uses some terminology that’s not very appropriate in a middle school setting, but I think it is the product of his upbringing. It gets a little annoying having to police him for an hour but that’s just what I have to do.

Brain Rules Chapters 5&6

So far, I have not participated in too many South Carolina traditions. I did the first year reading experience thing, but that not something I’m going to look back on and remember. In my opinion South Carolina football games are a tradition and I certainly have partaken in those events. The win against Alabama was super fun and probably one of my favorite things that I have done since I have been here at the University of South Carolina. Therefore, I’d have to go ahead and say that football games are my favorite tradition that I have been a participant in. I’m excited to continue participating in the University of South Carolina tradition that I enjoy so much. I especially can’t wait to experience the tradition of Tiger Burn. That’s only about a month away and I think will provide a nice compliment to the already fun football games.

Fall Break

My plans for fall break are to return home and just hang out. This weekend my town holds a Seafood Festival which is where a lot of people will be. I’ll have a lot of friends coming back from college for the weekend which should be fun. Everybody comes back for the Seafood Festival and has a really good time. It will be really awesome being able to see my best friends who I haven’t seen in a really long time. I also plan on spending Thursday and probably Friday to playing out on the water or fishing. I’m also going to use this time to sleep in a big bed and catch up on some sleep if I can. I’m just going to try and use Fall Break to try and slow things down and relax for a bit. Also, I plan on eating a lot of my mom’s food.

Alcohol

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the presentation on alcohol due to illness. However, all the tests we had to do on alcholedu should cover pretty much all I needed to know on the subject of alcohol. That program really went all out in covering all the aspects of alcohol consumption. For next semester I’m still not 100 percent sure as to what classes I would like to take. I will definitely be taking English 102 and Spanish, but I’m not sure whether I’d like to take Math 170 or Philosophy 110. I’m debating whether I’d like to take Psychology or Sociology right now as well. I just need to decide which course I think would be easier and then I’d select it. I also need to take a fine art which as of right now I have no idea which one I would like to do but before long I’ll figure it out.

Brain Rues Chapter 3&4- Undergraduate Research

So far I have enjoyed my time at my service site. My kid has proven to be a little challenging to handle, but I have developed some strategies to try and combat this. Before we settle down to do work I take him outside where we do physical activities such as run around the track or shoot basketball. After I tire him out a little, I take him inside where he is more settled down and can focus better on his schoolwork. I also feel as though I do a good job in making sure he stays organized. Part of the mentoring program requires us to check over things such as a student’s locker, book bag, and folder to make sure all of his schoolwork is organized. The first day of going over this I was able to make substantial improvements to these items which should be beneficial in making good grades.

Mid-term Exam

My favorite memory so far at the University of South Carolina would have to be when we beat UGA. I am from Georgia and a lot of my friends came up here for the game. The victory tasted even sweeter when I was able to rub it in their faces. If I could do the semester over again I think I wouldn’t have decided to drop from pledging. I miss everybody there and I wish I had stuck it out since I’m going back in the spring anyways. My goals that I set at the beginning of the semester are going pretty good. I’ve been able to keep my grades up and also get some exercise. As long as I can keep up my current work rate, I have found myself getting a little lazy as of late, I should be able to accomplish what I set out to do.

Brain Rules Overview

My initial perception of Brain Rules is that it could be very interesting. Discovering how you learn and how you best work is enticing to me. For the rest of the blog I have a bit of a problem, I did not go to the fair. I had an Astronomy lab during the majority of it so I never went. However I do feel pretty confident that the major I chose for myself, International Business. This is appealing to me because it will give me an opportunity to travel and experience new things while making money. I would really like to become a wealthy individual and I believe being a businessman will help me achieve that goal. By becoming a successful businessman, I believe I will have a very strong feeling of self-satisfaction. This major may be extremely challenging but I believe the end result will be worth the hardwork.

Campus Safety Presentation

So far my classes have been going pretty well. I’ve been maintaining pretty good grades and hope that the trend will continue. My favorite class so far has been my Math 122. I’ve been doing pretty well in it which certainly contributes to my favoring it. Also, it’s my largest class so I like how I can just go into class, sit back, and learn. Nobody is pressuring me to learn or asking me any questions trying to make sure I learn the material. I learn best when I am able to just sit back, watch, and absorb the information. I don’t find math to be a very interesting class but the style in which Math 122 is formatted is really appealing to me. I like going to class and just being able to chill. Up to this point, I have not gone to meet with any of my professors, something I will do in the upcoming days.