Well it's a new year and a new round of blogging for the Hixson Program.  Although blogging is not my favorite thing, to do I do think it is a good chance to get to know each other on a level that you may not be able to reach in person.  The things we write reveal more than you realize so I guess it is a good thing.  I guess I don’t like blogging because I sometimes find it difficult to find the words I want to use.   But that is enough complaining for today.

I’m really excited about being a Hixson peer mentor.  I am so happy that I am getting the opportunity to give back to the Hixson program, and the change to get to know more of the Hixson scholars.  So far our course this spring is going well.   I think it seems like it shall be a fun and insightful semester.  I am a little nervous about the learning sessions, but that is mainly just because I do not know what to expect out of them.  Hopefully those nerves will go away after seeing Easten’s presentation and a few of the other presentations too.  I am kind of looking forward to going to the Iowa State Leadership experience and the Learning Community Mid-year Institute.  There were several sessions that sounded really interesting.  I hope that I will be able to get some useful information from the sessions I have signed up for.

I have started reading the first to chapters in Students Helping Students.  So far I like how it is organized.  The discussion questions keep you engaged and give you something to think about while you are reading.  It is also nice to have a clear definition of the different types of student helpers on university campuses.  Overall from what I have read so far I think this should be a book that will actually be interesting to read rather than just another textbook.

Learning so much in a few short months

          Throughout the last few months of school I have learned so many new things.  Within the first few weeks I realized that I had to completely rethink my learning style and how to manage my time since nobody is here to say what to do and when to do it.  I have learned to step outside of my comfort zone and to try new things, such as applying for leadership positions or to talk to the people across the hall just because they live on your floor.  I have met so many amazing people here at Iowa State and I wouldn't want my freshman year at college to be any other way.
          I have also had the opportunity to learn about myself here.  Our Hixson classes aided in my learning with activities such as the MBTI and the learning styles.  I have learned more about my abilities to be away from my family and I am more confident when I think about doing things my own way in the future.  I have learned how to adjust to living with someone I barely know and becoming pretty good friends with them.
         This doesn't even include the things I have learned in most of my classes, but even without that I know that I have grown so much as a person throughout these last months.  I know for a fact that I am more knowledgeable overall when I compare myself to the person I was on the day of my high school graduation.

What does the hixson award mean to me?

          Going to college has been one of my biggest goals since I was about ten.  I did not know where I wanted to go and what I wanted to was constantly changing, but I knew that someday I would be a college student on my way to my diploma.  Although, some of my family members had gone to college, none have recieved a four year degree or more.  They had all attened community college and I knew I wanted more than that.
          At ten I never thought that my dad would lose his job right as a recession hit or that my mother's alocholism would cause other health issues leading to her being unable to work and struggling to support herself.  But, those events hit home during my high school years.  Entering my senior year I still knew I would go to college, but at that point I realized I would be doing on my own.  That realization struck doubt into my mind.  How could I afford tuition at Iowa State University?  Would I have to settle for community college for two years? 
          So what is the point to the story?  That's simple!  Recieving the hixson award made it more feisable for me to afford college.  It took a large proportion of the stress off of my shoulders.  By being able to make my goal of attending a university come true, the hixson award also is allowing me to show my nine year old brother that he can do what ever he puts his mind to and that there is so much more to life than the life our mother has created for herself.  To me the hixson award means so much more than money for college; it is an opportunity to make my dreams come true and to have a positive impact on the person that means the most to me, my brother.

Social media week

          Social media.  It's something that most of us engage in on a regular basis via Twitter, Facebook, and many other social sites.  Most of the time you do not necessarily think about the future implications of your updates, but in recent years employers of all kinds are turning to social media sites to get a better view of their potential canidate.  Young people need to be informed of the possible negative implications of the information and posts on social media websites.
           What I learned from the social media week is to think before posting on socail media websites.  There are things people should just keep to themselves.  I also learned that social media websites can be a tool to connect you with people who have similar interests or could potentially aid you in the future.  For the socail media week I decided to try Twitter.  I found it less distracting than Facebook and overall more enjoyable. 
          I had never thought about how a social media site could help me reach my goal of becoming a child psychologist, but I now know that by following current child psychologists I can find out what is going on currently in that field.  It could also allow me to connnect with potential employers.
          I was surprised at the variety of ways that people use social media around the world.  Especially about how people in Mexico are using it to inform each other and to keep the people they know safe.  By reading the article I learned that social media networks are not just to connect with "friends" from high school or to share links of funny videos.  Socail media is changing our world at a rapid pace.  Now whether it is for the good or the worse is up to you.

MBTI and ME a ESFP tactile/kinestetic learner

        Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing our results from the MBTI and different learning styles people have.  In class we did a self assesment of our MBTI type before getting our results and I am pretty proud to say my self assesment was really close to what my actual results said I am.  I predicted I was a ESTP (Extraversion, Intuition, Thinking, Perceiving) and my results said that I was a ESFP (F for feeling).  After I read about both types, I agreed more with the actual results.  Some of the things that hit home the most were the fact that I am very energetic and I love to be around people (the extravert in me).  That I am very open and caring.  Most of all that people who are ESFP make the most of the moment.  I believe that you have to make the best of every situation you are put into. 
       By taking this MBTI I have learned that I work well with people and am able to connect with what they are feeling more than others.  I also learned that people who are very extraverted, like me, can overwhelm intraverts, because we can be loud and rarely think things through before we act.  This also reaffirmed my opinion on how I learn best.  People who are ESFP learn best by doing hands on activities.  I have know for a long time that I understand things better if I can do things myself rather than to have someone just show it to me.
       How can all of this relate to my future goals?  By knowing what my personality type is and the strenghts of that type I can put those to good use when I meet new people.  Knowing the learning style that works best for me can ensure that I make the best of my education which will ultimately lead to better career opertunities.

Diversity Event- Women in the media

Women and other "minorities" struggled to obtain equal rights in society, so why is it that the media potray's them as either a negative light, sex object, or as a "Susie homemaker?"  This was the basic question and main point of Rekha Basu's speech.  She has been a writter for paper's in New York, Florida, and now right here in Iowa for the Des Moines Registar.  During her speech she told of how women have been potrayed in the media in the past.  One thing that I found interesting is that there used to be "women's pages" in papers that primarily focused on "soft" news and housekeeping articles.  Rekha Basu's speech made me realize that the media needs to focus on the different communication styles that men and women have and that they really need to pay attention to how they are potraying not only women but any minority. 

My bucket list

Before this assignment, I had never thought about things I wanted to do before I die.  Mainly because I prefer not to think about my death; I would rather live for today then to think about the end of my life.  That does not mean that over looked the goal setting aspect behind the idea of a bucket list.  I have always tried to set a few long term and short term goals for myself just to keep me motivated and focused.  So, late last night I sat down with a pencil and a piece of paper and thought of a list of 11 things I want to do before I die. 
These first few on my bucket list can be looked at as my short term goals or other wise known as those I want to do while in college:
1. Go Campaniling- It's tradition! :)
2. Maintain at least a 3.0 GPA (preferably higher)- School and a proper education is important in today's society
3. Be the first in my family to receive more than 4 years of college- I am the first in my family to leave home for college and the first to pursue more than a two-year degree.  This would not only mean so much to me, but to my family as well.
4. Get into grad school- I know that grad school is necessary to get where I want to be in my future career.
These next few things are fun and interesting things I want to do in my life to make it that much more interesting:
1.  Go to New York City- My grandmother went to NYC last year and had a wonderful time.  She suggested I go sometime in my life and I plan on taking her advice.  NYC is full of so many things to see and do.
2. Visit at least 10 other countries- I have never been outside of the United States, but it is something I desperately want to do before I die.  There is so much of that I don't know about the world and you can only learn so much from books or other things like that.  Nothing compares to actually going to visit the places you see in those books.
3. Go on a cruise- I'm pretty sure I am the only person on my dad's side of my family that hasn't been on a cruise and to be frank about it I am jealous.  That is why this ended up on my bucket list.
4. Build a tree house-  What little kid didn't want a tree house in their backyard?  I know I always did, but we never had a good place for one or just weren't able to build one at all.  So, when I have children of my own I want to build them the best tree house they can imagine.  Complete with a slide and electricity.
The last few things on my bucket list are a bit more abstract or have deep meanings behind them:
1. Pay off my student loans and be debt free- This is not the easiest thing to do in life.  Our nation as a whole is in an unimaginable amount of debt.  I feel that to be a financially stable person you need to do whatever is necessary to keep yourself out of debt.
2.  Make a difference in someones life-  As cliche as this sounds it has a lot of meaning.  There were several people that made a huge impact on my life and I want to have that affect on at least one other person.
3.  Learn not to take on the world alone-  I am the type of  person to want to fix all the problems in my life and in the lives of those that I love even if there is no "fix" and I am beginning to learn to tell the difference between the two.  I now need to learn to ask for help for those situations when I feel overwhelmed.
That's it the 11 things I thought up last night for my bucket list, but a bucket list is always expanding and changing as you cross one thing off; you add more.  With this in mind there is no way someone can finish their bucket list and I don't really plan on it.