Out of class assignment two

Two weekends ago I went to visit The College of William and Mary which was not my first visit.  This weekend was different for me particularly because I had to tryout for the schools cheerleading team!  As I nervously prepared myself for the weekend ahead of me my mind couldn't stop racing.  I have cheered for about 10 years now but regardless it is such a nerve-wrecking event.  I went up on a saturday afternoon and was invited to hang out and stay with some of the current cheerleaders prior to tryouts.  We went to the beach and dinner and all got together that night!  It was tons of fun and I loved having that experience so they could give me pointers on what to do and not to do.  Sunday morning we wake up and all get ready for the long day ahead of us!  We were together from 9:30-5:00 all showing our best skills to try and make the team!  There are 20 spots available on the team but the coach is required to leave spots for incoming freshman who try out at a different time.  Not knowing how many girls she was taking was very scary!  After a long day we all had to leave, the coach explained that she would let us know the following day.  As I drove home that evening I couldn't wait to find out!  After all day of waiting she finally posted the results and thankfully I had made the team!  This helps me adjust to the college so much easier knowing that I have a group of people who I already know.  I also enjoyed my visit not only because I got to have one of the best experiences of my life, but because every time I go I fall more in love with the school and campus!

Out of class assignment 1

For one of my out of class assignments this semester I decided to go to VCU and tour the school of education!  This was in early February and I had not exactly made up my mind yet on William and Mary!  The School of Education at VCU is wonderful! It was just the area that turned me away from VCU.  I know I would love the city at first, but being that I want to attend grad school for my masters I would be sick of it by that time.  The tour was tons of fun and I loved the program and the diversity that VCU has.  The school of education also has a 5 year program where you can get your masters in 5 years which is awesome!  With me being a year ahead that would've been very ideal because I would graduate in 4 years with my masters in education.  Thankfully I have found this same program at William and Mary.  VCU is a beautiful school, but I have made my choice to attend William and Mary which I am ecstatic about!  This was a very tough decision for me to make knowing that my whole future depends on this one decision.  Like many of you I commute back and forth from home to RBC.  That has been something that I absolutely hate, driving to go to class is something that annoys me a lot. If I would've attended VCU my parents would prefer for me to commute which was not ideal for me at all.  This played a factor as I weighed out my options between the two schools.  I am glad I have had the chance to experience both schools and learns tons of helpful information about each!  I wish everyone here good luck whether you're graduating this semester or not!  Keep reaching your goals and making new ones!

Se7en

In class and out of class we had to watch the movie se7en and write an essay on it.  Luckily this movie was very interesting and wasn't a normal boring movie that professors make you watch.  Throughout this movie two investigators were solving a series of murders that ended up being motivated by the seven deadly sins, wrath, greed, lust, gluttony, envy, prude, and sloth.  The two investigators, Somerset and Mills played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman were very diverse from one another.  This made some comical scenes in the movie between the two.  Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this movie because I love crime scene and investigative movies so I was relieved when we were told to watch it.  For my essay I have decided to write about the seven deadly sins and write about the movie's interpretation of these sins!  Like Somerset in the movie I am familiar with Dante's inferno and the Canterbury Tales, and many more that we saw Somerset research in the movie.  At the end when we realized that Mills had yelled at the photographer not realizing it was the killer I knew he had hurt his wife because Mills spelled out his name and caused a huge scene.  Even though the movie was made in 1995 in reality it still was not that hard to find out where one lived, etc.  The very end when Mills and Somerset took John Doe, the killer, to a field where at exactly the same time a van was brought with a package for Mills with his wife's head.  Overall this was a very good movie that I recommend everyone watch even if you're not required to!

always busy

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These last few months have been the craziest and busiest time of my life.  I have been applying to transfer, registering for summer classes, and next weekend I tryout for William and Mary Cheerleading.  I am so excited for everything that is happening in my life and I have been looking forward to this for a while now. I am extremely lucky to have had wonderful professors to help me through my journey at RBC, my advisor has been so awesome as well anybody I have asked has been more than happy to write me a letter of recommendation and I love it.  Everything has not been easy though once you get above the professor level here at RBC nobody knows what they are doing.  The "higher-ups" have no sense of what it is like to be going through this process and it has been hell trying to work with them.  I just feel like some are unaware of the process and with me personally being the first one in my family to go through college, let alone experience the transfer process this has been difficult.  Although given these difficulties I am making it work and have officially singed up for all 19 summer credit hours that I need to graduate!  I have been trying really hard academically this semester and it has been seeming to pay off, I submitted my mid-term grades to William and Mary and I currently have 4 A's 2 B's and 1 C.  I am so pleased with myself because taking on 7 classes and working has been extremely difficult.  I hope everyone else is working just as hard and is looking forward to their future as much as I am with mine!  

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Poems in class

The poems we read and explain in class are very different we have looked at sad, happy, and weird poems these past couple of weeks.  I am not a fan of poetry it doesn't appeal to me at all.  When I was younger I did like to read "Where the sidewalk ends" but that was the extent of my poetry days.  Writing poetry is even worse for me…I love writing anything besides poetry.  My favorite thing to write would probably be journal articles.  I could not bear writing poetry though, I am a very straight-forward person and do not like to have to figure out what I'm reading I like for things to be self-explanatory.  I am hoping this unit goes by quickly because it is not interesting to me.  I try to stick it through just because I know some people enjoy it and that it is something we have to cover.  I am excited for this semester to be over and am excited for the expo!  It will be difficult deciding what I want to do my expo on and how I want to present it.  That is completely off topic but as I said I hope this unit doesn't last much longer!

Graduating!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am graduating this summer from Richard Bland College and will be attending William and Mary in the fall, I graduated from Thomas Dale High school last year!  I will finish up my associates degree this summer by taking 18 credits and then start my degree at William and Mary.  I am more than excited to start and leave Richard Bland.  Transferring out has been such a difficult process and I have had a difficult experience getting everything together.  My advisor and professors have helped me the most here but everyone in the upper levels here do not know what they are doing at all.  William and Mary has been extremely helpful and they are allowing me to try out for their cheerleading team on april 19th which I am super excited about!  I cannot wait to be at William and Mary in the fall and actually having the college experience.  I'm taking classes at 3 different colleges this summer to finish my degree because they do not offer certain classes here that I need.  With taking 6 classes I'm relieved that majority of them are online!  This will help me with dealing with vacation, and working this summer so I don't have to take time to physically be in school.

how to become a writer

This was a good short story because it was easy for the class to relate to.  Francie the main character was a college student which we all can understand.  I wrote my essay for relating to a character on this story.  Francie was really easy to relate to because she explains the trouble of college life.  She describes living in a dorm and trying to figure out your major.  She also says how she changes her major and was doing something she ended up being unhappy with her major.  Everyone always has trouble deciding what their major is, and will always change it.  Rarely there are people who stick to their major.  The influence of your friends and peers can effect your major choice too.  When she wanted to write her friends and peers were asking what she writes and questioning her.  Being in college is the best time of your life, but you work very hard.  Having fun is always important but figuring out what you want to do for the rest of your life is a hard thing to do.

the glass movie

The glass movie was about a crazy mom and the son goes away and tries to leave and is always"the movies", the daughter Laura is obsessed with glass figurines, Laura goes in the park to hang out but is supposed to be going to business school.  There were many lessons in this movie.  You should not lie to your crazy mom because once she catches you she'll go even more crazy.  This movie took us three days in class to watch, Sweeney ended up falling asleep in class on the last day…This movie was an old movie, and kind of boring obviously.  I thought that this was a weird movie, when the son would always say he was going to the movies because it's a form of adventure for him. I think the kids wanted to get away from the mom because she was crazy and they would find things to do just to get out of the house.  We did a review game in class today that helped us go over the movie.  This helped once we finally got in our groups.  My class is very difficult and doesn't like to do what Sweeney likes to do.  This game helped us know the movie/story better.

white ink??

Considering getting a white ink tattoo sometime soon.  I have one tattoo just done in black ink and want something different and subtle so I thought white ink would be a cool idea.  After going to the tattoo shop today i've learned that a lot can go wrong with the coloring.  Some turn yellow or even gray.  I am pretty dead set on a white ink tattoo though and have seen long term ones that I love.  Majority of them look like a scar but that's what I love about them.  One girl I know has a white ink tattoo and has not went back to get it touched up in since she first got it 2 years ago.  I want a cross with a bible with a specific book name, chapter number, and verse number underneath it.  I would love for this tattoo to be on the back of my neck so in case something does go wrong my hair would cover it.  For these to heal properly and get the best effect you need to take very good care of them.  Anyways I would love to get this tattoo soon and pray that it turns out well!  Hope everyone has had a good start to the semester!

back to school

    Well everyone had their first week back to classes and I'm sure everyone has the same reaction.  Going to school after a break is so hard to get back into routine because you break it over your vacation.  Personally this semester is already seeming difficult given the fact that I am taking 19 credits, or seven classes.  I am going to regret this on the weeks where every professor decides to give a test the same day or even now as I have been doing homework since 10 o'clock this morning; but it is all so I can be at William and Mary in the spring of 2015.  Since I graduated high school in June I have not had a break from school, I was doing summer classes all summer and jumped right into the fall semester.  I am ready to be at William and Mary and to be at a four-year school.  I am hoping this semester goes by quickly and that I will be able to do well in all of my classes.  Thankfully 3 of my professors this semester I have already had so I know how they teach but my other 4 are all new to me.  I have no idea what I want my degree to be in and what job I will want so I hope within the year I will figure it out before I get to William and Mary.  Hopefully everyone has a good start to their semester and that it goes by fast!

Just a little bit of football injuries

This is my boyfriend Aaron, we've been together since we were in 8th grade and our freshman year of high school he played varsity football for Thomas Dale.  He would go to football combines over the summer and he was playing a 7 on 7 at UVA and clearly got tackled.  He sent me this picture and I've saved it, I think it is so funny and he'd be so mad if he saw this.  :) He had this black eye for about 2 weeks and his eye was so red!  I felt so bad but this face will never get old!

Out of class assignment two

The same weekend I went to Radford I also visited Tech, I loved Tech way more than Radford the school was gorgeous!  It reminded me a lot of William and Mary it had an old look to it and I would love to go there if it was not so far away.  Tech was much nicer than Radford and it was fun as well.  Although I loved the look of Tech better I do have to admit Radford was much more fun.  Virginia Tech has a very unique look to it that make all of their students fall in love with the campus!  I am so sure that if Tech was not so far away I would go there, but I cannot be hours away from home.

This is my best friend Kelly who goes to Tech I stayed with her and had tons of fun catching up with her.

Out of class assignment one!

Last weekend, November 1st I went to visit Radford!  It was tons of fun and I got to see some of bestfrirends, the town was beautiful and there were so many people.  In Radford it felt like a real college town it was small and everyone was really friendly.  Although I would not want to go there for school I would definitely go back and visit!  It was great to visit a school that I would have never visited on my own.  This helped me realize that it is tons of fun to visit but makes me not want to go home.

These are all my friends from home, we all went to Radford and got to see everyone we hung out with in high school.

there's a first time for everything!

So I got my first tattoo today and I just have to post it!  I am full Italian and have a very close family, as I've mentioned I have two younger sisters who I love very much, this says sisters forever in italian and it is on my my back right shoulder!  This has a lot of meaning to me because I am very close to my two younger sisters.  They mean the world to me and I would do anything for them.  My one younger sister who is 16 just got the same matching one but she got it on her collar bone.  I cannot wait for my younger sister who is currently 9 to get older so she can match with us.  They are both so sweet and although we have very different personalities we all care about each other and I am so happy that we decided to do this.

just a little late

   Im just a little late writing my blog for the week, oops but just wanted to post a little humor.  I have not had the best luck with cars, this was taken last year it was a rainy fall night and I was leaving my dad's as I pulled into my driveway I decided I would try to back in....given previous experiences I do not know why I thought this would be smart.  Anyways I have my sister in the passenger seat with me and next thing I know I am in the ditch and looking up at my sister since the car was practically on one wheel.  My sister thought that this was the funniest thing ever and calls my neighbor over (the boy in the blue) and they start laughing this was one of many pictures they took that night.  No one was home and I ended up having to call my dad and some other neighbors drove by with a pick up truck and were able to pull my car out!  I was so relieved that there was hardly any damage done.  I think it is so funny how we can look back on things and laugh but during that moment I was crying and thought the world was going to end.

Dance :)

This is my little sister Isabella, she started dance classes last Monday and is so adorable! She is loving at and is wonderful at it!  I know she will enjoy the season and I am so excited for her recital in May.

Something new :)

I cut all of my hair off earlier this week I have never had it this short but I love it!  We have the rough draft due monday which I need to do, I have so much school work and it can be very overwhelming but I am working two jobs on top of going to school! I wish everyone luck with their rough drafts!

reminiscing

This was my right before my senior year of high school started, I cheered all four years and loved every second of it.......okay well not maybe every second, but pretty close to it.  My team was absolutely wonderful and this group of ladies is like a family to me.  From friday night games to early and sometimes late competition days we stuck by each other and supported one another.  I am in the front and center and in the row with me were my fellow senior cheerleaders.  It is so sad to think this is all over with, but I still will go and support Thomas Dale Cheerleading (TDC), and of course wish them the best.

This was my lovely stunt group last year these three girls helped me so much and made everything so funny at practice, we all got very close and I miss them so much! We would always have sleepovers before competitions, go out to eat every friday night before football games, and were just a very funny stunt group.  

This trophy was probably the most rewarding thing all season, as TDC we work very hard in the off season to prepare for all of our competitions, for me districts was the biggest competition to ever compete in because of the factor of rivalry from other local schools, to win this trophy my senior year along with my sophomore year was such an honor and I could't have asked for a better year with this wonderful team!

These are my lovely younger sisters :)

How my journey began

I guess this should be an introductory blog... I've never done this before so I don't know where to begin.  This is my first semester at bland, being a freshman again is different, but it is nothing like high school, which definitely is not a bad thing.  I love the way classes are here, you can pick and choose your schedule and make it when it is convenient for each individual person here.  It is more individual work for you to do on your own time which will take some time getting used to, but the experience is great.  A little about myself, since I could walk I started to dance, I danced for ten years and loved it but when I was in kindergarten I wanted to cheer.  I have done that since kindergarten and continued with it through middle and high school.  I just graduated from Thomas Dale High School this past year and as much as I love college I miss it, especially cheering.  Although I do not currently cheer I do still tumble and keep up with all of my skills.  I am also a big gym person, I am constantly at American Family Fitness even if it is only for thirty minutes I still make a point to go.  I keep a tight schedule and am very busy between being a full time student, working two jobs, and personal daily problems I hardly have time to myself let alone other people.  To some people that may not sound fun, but I absolutely love it, I love staying busy and always having something to do.  I have two younger sisters one is a junior in high school, and the other is in third grade this year, they both keep me smiling every day.  My dad owns Vincenzo's Italian Restaurant in Colonial Heights and my mom owns Pilo Arts Hair Salon in Colonial Heights as well, both are very successful and I love them both for providing everything they have for my sisters and I both WITHOUT a college degree which is a blessing in itself.  My father is one of the most successful men I know considering he dropped out of high school at age 14 to work at his dads pizzeria although he did go back and get his GED he is so lucky that we have a successful business that provides for us.  I am the first person ever on both sides of my family to attend college, so not only is this something completely new to me, but to my family as well.  This just pushes me even more to finish and accomplish my goals.  A little more about me, hm let's see, I have found that I am constantly changing my mind and am battling myself most of the time (I hope that is with everybody at this age though). I change my career choice almost everyday I am very not really shy but I am not the most outgoing either, and when I am in an uncomfortable situation I won't be the first to speak up, but I won't be the last either.  I love music and am a tad bit obsessed with Drake, but then I switch genres and love Ed Sheeran just as much.  I can't really describe myself in words, that is probably one of my weaknesses I love writing in every other way though, my senior year in high school 4 out of my 7 classes were very writing intensive, I had of course english, two journalism classes, and one creative writing class.  I was an editor for journalism at my high school and through all my four years spent all of my time doing some kind of writing.  Enough about me though, sorry for the boring first blog post about my life but I guess we all have to start somewhere right?