New Boarding Passes

I left a comment on new boarding passes here

Its all foreign to me

I am part of the many students that have chosen to peruse a degree form the Meadows School of the Arts and therefore have a language requirement that must be filled. Now let me tell you this is my third time taking beginning Spanish, let me repeat, THIRD TIME! And I still dot understand anything that is going on. I have learned the same things, studied for weeks for tests, and tried out different tutors but nothing seems to work. I do not have a language brain. Some of us were built to learn languages. Take my dad for example he has studied French and Latin and can also speak fluent Spanish just from living in southern California and having many patients that speak Spanish come into his office. He is wired to learn foreign languages. I on the other hand am not. That is why I do not agree with having a language requirement, sure it is great to expand your mind and learn about a different culture, but not if that means I am going to get a bad grade. I would be completely fine with a bad grade if I didn’t try, but I have put countless hours into a beginning Spanish class that I will most likely be lucky if I make a C in. I know that the requirement will most likely never change but I just wish some consideration would be given to students like me that it really is almost impossible for.

SMU, too easy?

It was last Thursday I believe that there was an article in the Daily Campus about how students are choosing to leave SMU after the first year because it is not challenging enough. I'm not sure who these students are that think SMU is too easy but I would love to meet them because they must be geniuses. This has been the most academically challenging year I have had so far and I am only expecting it to get harder as I get more involved in my major. I believe that college is the challenge you make for yourself. If you are not being challenged enough in your major then why not try another one? Or how about double majoring? SMU is a great academic institution and I feel proud to be getting a degree form such a great school. If you can get into a better school after your freshman year then by all means go for it but I don’t appreciate SMU being put down. I have talked to many of my friends who believe that SMU is a challenge, even the ones in the honors programs. We would not be ranked so highly and our alumni would not be so successful if SMU did not prepare them correctly. I feel to privileged to be here at SMU and I hope all of you do as well.

Here is the article from the DAILY CAMPUS

Is TV addicting?

I posted a comment here about Television..

Drinking Age

I left a comment on Powerade's blog about underage drinking. check it out..

Cry it out

As I was reading Finding Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, many interesting thoughts came to my mind. Most people would say it is bad to cry and they would rather not, it shows weakness and just makes us feel bad. I disagree with this probably more than anyone else out there.
Crying to me is one of the best things you can do. I believe you can see clearly after the rain, or in this case after the tears. Yes you may feel weak at first giving in to your weaknesses and just letting it out but it truly is a feeling of relief. My friends and I have talked about this concept a lot. They always ask me why I think crying is so helpful and how I find time to cry. It is a personal thing for sure. I feel so much better after I cry, I try not to cry in public because although I like feeling weak and giving in to my emotions sometimes I don't think others should know this about me because then it makes me seem like I am lesser of a person. Which is not the case at all.
I am happier after I cry. It is a feeling of relief that washes over me because I know that now I can conquer whatever was bugging me or hurting me before. Now I am in control of the situation and feel stronger. I think everyone should try it. Do you feel frustrated, or helpless, or maybe discouraged, stressed out? Then let it all out, shed a few tears, I promise you'll feel better!

No Time for Happiness

It seems as if people are wasting too much of their time trying to be happy that they are really missing out on opportunities to actually be happy. Instead of reading self-help books they could be doing something that makes them smile, like playing a sport, walking their dog, or dancing. People these days seemed too consumed with everything that is going on in their lives that they miss out on the little things in life. I truly believe it is the little things that make you happy and make the next day worth living. You need to learn to appreciate things at face value and not always try to look to the deeper meaning. Sometimes things are just the way they are. Schumaker states "happiness now reigns supreme over noble priorities such as love, health, family, God, wisdom, and honesty" (12). This seems to be contradictory because all of things help make someone happy. At least personally I would not be happy without those other priorities. That is what I think people don’t understand. They cannot just be happy; the things of life contribute to their happiness. You cant just wake up one morning and be happy. You need to take simple everyday steps in order to fulfill yourself and feel happy. Joseph Heller is quoted on page 13 stating, "The idea of always being blissfully happy is scary". I completely agree with this statement. I would not want to feel completely happy all the time. It would provide no room for growth and no way to gauge when I actually am truly happy. You need ups and downs to make you realize what behaviors bring about happiness in yourself and what behaviors do not fulfill you and change the ones that do not make you happy. By doing this you will naturally be happier and you can do it all on your own, without self-help books or someone guiding you along the way. Happiness is a personal journey that one must go at alone. What makes one person happy may not do the same for the next.