Home Away From Home

It's finally that time I thought would never come. Time to start shopping for my home away from home for the next four years. I will be attending the University of South Carolina Aiken starting August 16th. I'll admit, I was overwhelmed when I first clicked on the list of what to bring back in April. The items that they have on the list vary from necessities to... things you may want to have, and yes, that list is pretty extensive. I'm not about to list every single item, but some of them were: bed sheets, a comforter, mattress pad, “egg crate”, a laundry bag/basket, personal hygiene products, school supplies, any special personal items to feel at home, a stereo, and a bathing suit. Now of course most of the items on the list cost a pretty penny, so I was extremely happy when I racked up on gift cards for graduation. I have gotten almost all of my needs without coming out of my pocket more than $20. It helps if you catch sales on the things that you know cost a good bit, and also if you buy things like toilet paper/paper towels in bundles. I'm beyond excited to decorate my dorm room and bathroom. The colors I'm using to decorate my room are purple and zebra print. I am also in charge of decorating our bathroom, so I'm combining zebra print and my roommate's color, turquoise for the bathroom. Once I get all of my other things, I'll be officially ready to move in! For the entire list of items to bring, you can access it at http://web.usca.edu/housing/future-residents/WhattoBringlist2014.pdf .

Courtesy of: http://web.usca.edu/housing/future-residents/housing-options/

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure is a common issue among teenagers. Considering that my classmates and I are going to be freshmen in college, I understand that the amount of peer pressure we are exposed to will greatly increase. Growing up, we've always been taught to “Say no to drugs”, practice abstinence, etc. But, now that we're out from under our parents' wings, what will we do? Will we give in to our “friends”, knowing that what they plan to do is wrong? Some of us may go along with whatever they're pressuring us to do simply to fit in, throwing away everything we've been told. Yet some others may continue to stand strong in their own beliefs. Before doing something they don't really want to do, they should take a minute to ask themselves, “What am I risking by making this choice?” We have to continue to keep in mind those around us, along with ourselves. We shouldn't want to cause harm (emotionally or physically) on others, and especially not ourselves.

24 Hours

In college, students are faced with having an active social life, time for relationships, and of course making time to study and do homework. If they haven’t practiced time management in high school, they’re really going to have a rough time with it in college. To help me with this blog, I went on https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/inside-the-classroom/8-ways-to-take-control-of-your-time to help me with tips to better manage your time in college.

1.      Make a to-do list every day.

2.      Keep your work with you.

3.      Don’t be afraid to say no.

4.      Find your productive time.

5.      Create a dedicated study time.

6.      Budget your time.

7.      Don’t get sidetracked.

8.      Get a good night’s sleep.

For a more detailed description of each tip, you can go online to the website I listed above.  I know that I will be trying to utilize this information, because I will need assistance managing my time. In high school, I was a procrastinator, but I’m trying to change that once I start college.

Friendships

I've always been told that as you grow older, you tend to find out who your true friends are, and that high school changes people. I can honestly say I have experienced both of those sayings. High school made me realize that the amount of time you've known someone can turn out to mean nothing in some cases of friendship. No matter how much you try to deny it and hold on to them, if it's not meant to be, it's just not meant to be. I have about six true friends, but, although I'm happy with them, that number probably will decrease. It's one of those things that your mom warned you about, but you didn't listen to her. I know that my mom pointed out my friends to me a while back, but I wanted to prove her wrong. It's been said that parents can spot fake friends before you can, and that is exactly what happened. I'm not bad-mouthing them, though, because we still are friends. We're just not as close as we once were. I don't have a problem with it, because everything happens for a reason. Sometimes certain people are removed to make room for others.

One "Week" Down...

Well, the first “week” of school flew by pretty quickly. Getting up at 8:30 a.m. wasn't easy at all considering I'm not a morning person, it's the summer, and I'm going to school of all places. The only motivation I had to get up was the reminder that I'll be getting two classes out of the way for college. I must say, I learned a great deal of information in three days in both of my classes. I also started to open up to some of my new classmates for the next three weeks. People from Denmark, Allendale, Bamberg, and Edisto are in my classes. My Biology class is from 1:00-5:10, and my classmates helped make the time go by. Our professor is cool, but of course she had her serious moments. In English class, we got deeper into parts of speech than I've ever gotten in all my years of school, and I really appreciate that. The lunch was pretty rough, and that was just the first week! I thought they would've wanted to give off a good impression in the beginning, but I turned out to be very wrong. That's about all I have to say about the first week.

My First Day as a College Student

My first day as a college student was... not quite what I anticipated. I say this because on June 18th, I started attending Denmark Technical College's high school summer program. I signed up for English 101 and Biology 210. To start things off, when I got on the campus, I went to the wrong building for my English class. I was terrified of being late, so as soon as I realized I was in the wrong building, I practically ran across the street. When I got in the classroom, it was not like I expected it to be. I was greeted with a warm smile (much different from my vision of a stern looking professor). We spent that class period pretty much getting to know each other, kind of like high school. After class was dismissed, we went to lunch. Lunch was a not so appetizing meal of pizza and fries. A few other people from my school had to go to Spanish at the same time as my Biology class, so we wasted time by going in “The Den.” In Biology, we found out that the class was actually Anatomy and Physiology, which we weren't too pleased about. Our professor seemed to be pretty cool, but isn't that how most teachers are on the first day? To make a long story short, even though my first day wasn't at the college I plan to attend, it was a good day.

http://www.fortuneacademy.com/wp-content/themes/fa/im/logo/DenmarkTechnicalCollege.jpg

Entrepreneurship

My career of choice has been what I wanted to pursue since the 6th grade. I can't see myself doing anything other than becoming an entrepreneur. I was my class' president every year in high school, the vice president of our Beta Club, and a member of the Student Council, so I have some leadership experience. I took the Entrepreneurship class in the 10th grade, which gave me a better understanding of the policies and procedures. Also, my dad and mom have been co-owners of a restaurant and my dad had his own car dealership, so I've had some one-on-one experience. I understand that my first business attempt may not be successful, but I won't give up. As outlined on http://www.mymajors.com/career/entrepreneur/ , some of the duties of an entrepreneur include: interviewing, hiring and training new employees, preparing work schedules, assigning specific duties, managing staff, reviewing financial statements, sales and activity reports, etc. to measure productivity and goal achievement, determining goods and services to be sold, and setting prices. My dream is to start a successful business, and that is what I plan to do.