ECU Teaching Fellows & Maynard Scholars Social Dinner

So, two days ago, all of us got to come together for our third prom. :) Part of being a teaching fellow at ECU consists of the annual holiday social. This dance was semi-formal. It was so much fun. We all got the opportunity to see each other in a way that we are not used to seeing. It was so much fun to see everybody dressed up. Many of the girls had on beautiful party- like dresses and many of the guys could be seen in suites that made them absolutely handsome. :) Everyone looked so great!!! This dance was definitely a fun experience. Special guests were there and we even had a special guest speaker. Her words were such an inspiration. It's wonderful to think that one day, all of us are going to be those teachers that make a difference in the world!! After all of this and the presentations of the senior gifts, all of the ecu teaching fellows got out on the dance floor. It was time to get down! That was definitely the best part of the night. Not only did the fellows and maynards get down, but our special guests decided to join the fun! It was a night full of fun and glamour! I enjoyed it so much! If your coming to ecu as a fellow or maynard, it is DEFINITELY something to look forward to! :)

OVERWHELMING!!!!

The title of this blog best describes college life for me. It has been ridiculous lately! I want to share with all of you what has been up with me lately, but so much has been going on that I need to pull out my planner to make sure I do not leave out any details! :)

The last time I posted was on October 1st. I can't remember if I posted about Teacher Cadet Day or not. Well, teacher cadet day was when many of the teacher cadet students around NC had the opportunity to explore ECU. I was fortunate enough to lead a tour with a wonderful group of kids from Camp Lejeune High School. I loved these kids so much. Each and everyone of them was so delightful to talk to! I have even had the opportunity to keep in touch with some of these students. It was really great to meet students who want to be future teachers. Meetings kids like this, help show us all that we are going to have a bright future for the education department. :)

Later on in the month, the teaching fellows group had their annual summer reading seminar. This summer, each student in the teaching fellows program had to read A Home on the Field. It was a great book that discussed Latino students in NC. We were lucky enough to have a visit from the author where he discussed many of the statistics on Latino families and students in NC. 

I stayed busy in October with many of the halloween activities going on around the ECU campus. Since I am president of my dorm, I led a program where residents could carve pumpkins. They payed $1.00 a pumpkin and the money went towards UNICEF. It was a fun activity that allowed for participation from everybody in the dorm! :) Later on in the month, my roommate and I went to Haunted Health. This activity was a lot of fun! It was a Wellness Passport Program (programs that teach you about being healthy and taking care of your body) hosted in Mendenhall Student Center. There were six booths all discussing different health related issues but centered around halloween. It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of trick-or-treating with a lesson before you "won" your candy. :)

In the teaching fellows program at ECU, you are required to join a committee. Each committee has a certain purpose. I am on the recruitment committee meaning that my job is to work around campus with certain activities that recruit students to ECU as well as to the education department. My job is to show all of you the highlights of this school. Sometimes looking at papers on a school can not define the positives and negatives of it. My job is to highlight each of those points to all of you! Part of the teaching fellows program is the Interview Skills Day. ECU sponsors a day where students can come out and go through a mock interview. This helps the students become comfortable with questions that might be asked to them when they do their actual teaching fellows interview. We had a great turnout for this program. We also received a lot of positive feedback. Many of the students seemed to enjoy it and were glad they had the opportunity to have a pre-look at the interviewing process. 

November has not had as many exciting activities as October did. It seems that much of this month has been filled with testing. Midterms happened sometime between mid-october and November. That was definitely a stressful time. Just as in high school, midterm time requires you to study, study, study!!! Many students here at ECU right now are anticipating Thanksgiving break. Many of us will be going home for the first time since fall break which was in the beginning of October! 

I hope everybody has a wonderful Turkey day! Remember that each of us has so much to be thankful for! I cannot even begin to list all that I am thankful for! :) I hope everybody is doing well! If anybody has any comments or questions please remember to ask at anytime! 

See you all later! Byes :))

Kodak Moments

Just thought I would let everybody know that pictures are coming soon! I am going to try to figure out how to update my profile and make it all fancy dancy. haha :) I really feel that it would be great for everybody to see pictures of the campus, students, and even my room! If there are any requests to see specific places on campus, just let me know!

Hopefully I'll get this up soon! Thanks everybody!! Byes :))

Where's My ECU Football!?!?!

Clearly,
I am slacking as an ECU Pirate Football Fan! It is already almost October and I have yet to attend a single game nor watch one for that matter! This is ridiculous. I am seriously making a vow to attend the game on October 18th. Honestly, who doesn't attend an ECU football game. Well, I'll tell you who and why. Me because of homework! Biology to be specific. The work load in college is ridiculous! There is so much studying to do. The thing that makes it different than high school is that it is all independent. My recommendation to any high school student is take advantage of your AP classes offered at your school! Trust me when I say they DO HELP!!! As far as work load goes, I feel that it is the same as high school but it just feels like more because everything depends on me. Sometimes it can be so hard to sit down and force yourself to study when you have all this free time to do FUN stuff around campus!! So start getting used to focusing now and really learning to independently study. Maybe on your weekends instead of going out with friends, stay home and read ahead in one of your text books. I know it sounds lame, but I guarantee you it will help because you will begin training yourself early on!

Good luck everybody! :) Well that's all for now! Talk to you all later!! Have a great day. Byes :)

King & Queen of the Halls

WHOOT!!!!! GO UMSTEAD!!!!! :)

So I'm pretty late on this. Whoops! But on September 18th, East Carolina University held its annual King & Queen of the Halls. So I'm sure your wondering if it was fun........ummm....YES!!!! :) King & Queen of the Halls was a great experience! Since I live in Umstead, we only had a small amount of individuals show up for this event but it was still so much fun to see the tremendous number of kids that wanted to all have fun together. King & Queen of the Halls was basically a work together activity held at the bottom of college hill. There were all kinds of activities like horseshoes and tons of relay races. They even offered "get soaked (wet)" games. It was so much fun to just go out and show your spirit for your hall. (NOTE: When I refer to my hall, it basically means my dorm.) If you plan on coming to ECU, this is definitely a fun event to look foward to!! I honestly hope to see more like it! :)

Well that's all for now! Bye everybody!!! :))

Get A Clue [Much?]

So once again, we can see that little miss Angelina is up late at night. College life seems to force you to stay up really late. I thought that I would come on here really quick to tell everybody about a little program that ECU offers. The program is called Get A Clue. It is sponsered each year and it was established to make students aware of the different programs, faternities, and clubs avaliable on campus. The event was held from 1 PM- 4 PM outside on the huge central campus lawn. I went with my roommate and really enjoyed myself. I thought it was a great program to participate in because I learned a lot about some of the things this campus has to offer! Not only was this event educational, but I got tons of neat FREE stuff! Who doesn't love free goodies? :) I thought this was a fun activity to go to and I really recommend everyone to participate in this next year!!

Well, I'll talk to everyone later! Got questions? Get a clue and ask them!! ;)
Byes

What Hero Means To Me

So, I do not know if anybody really wants to read this long post but if you are really in the mood to read something that is genuine and that comes from the heart, then this is the essay for you. I was assigned to write about something I felt strongly about in my English class and I chose to write on this topic. I decided to post it on my blog simply because I think it also really explains what the transition from high school to college is like in its emotional state. I hope you all enjoy!! :))

What Hero Means To Me

Every person has been asked who their personal hero is. It is a simple question that generally is followed by a difficult answer. Throughout our lives, people continually influence our actions and decisions that we make and it can be hard to single out one person to whom all the credit can be given to. The word hero cannot be defined because it means something different to every individual. To some it is the firefighter who rescues people, to others it is the doctor that saves lives or even their dog who is simply their true companion. In my life, the word hero has always been followed by a simple definition. Hero means mom.
I have never had to second guess myself when I was determining who the hero in my life was. My mother has always had the biggest influence in my life. She has never left my side. Since I was a baby, my mother has always put me first. She has helped me grow up and has defended me on my behalf numerous times. My mother is always present when I open my eyes upon a new day and close them at the end. I am confident in saying that I know no matter what happens in my life, my mother is the one person who will truly be there for me no matter what.
I have always believed that a hero is somebody that has had an influence on your life and has taught you the lessons that matter most. My mom has definitely fulfilled her job as a parent. Parents have two roles. One role is to take care of their children by providing them with the necessities of life and by teaching them how to care for themselves. A parent generally makes a comfortable life for their child so that he or she may excel in all that they do. The second role of a parent is described in the Bible. The Bible states that the role of a parent is to teach the child about God and what He has done for them. My mother has had a big influence on my spiritual being. My mom has taught me that God died for me and for my sins and that I need to accept Him in my life. The greatest lesson that my mom has taught me is that God is always there and that I can trust Him. As a young adult who is learning to adapt to the real world, these are words of wisdom. I am always faced with situations where I have to handle things on my own. Knowing that my mom is not always right beside me can be quite overwhelming but my mother has taught me that I do not need to ever worry. I can stop what I am doing and sit down and pray for God’s wisdom at any time in my day and He will guide me in the way that He would want me to go. In a rapidly growing busy society, people often overlook that one day we are going to die and be faced with where we will spend eternity. Although this does not affect me now, my mom has taught me that it is important to know that you will spend eternity in Heaven and be with God in a wonderful place. I am so grateful that I was born into a family with a loving mother who cares enough about me to make me aware of the most important things in life that matter most.
As I reflect on the topic of this paper, I realize how much my life has recently changed. As a college freshman, my life is completely different. This time last year, I did not know how to do laundry and I never had to worry about going out and getting my own dinner. A whole year later and I have learned to adapt to a new environment. I have had to learn to do various tasks that I was never used to doing. I even have had to learn to cope with living with somebody. My entire life I was an only child so I was never used to sharing my personal environment. Now that I am in college, I am forced to share a room with another individual. These are all factors that make college experiences different. Many kids often feel like they go to college and are thrown out into the sea like a bunch of fish. My experience with the transition to college life has been amazing. I have not run into any problems at all. The thing that I believe I love the most is that I still feel remembered back home. My mom always seems to be thinking about me. Although the continuous phone calls can get a little crazy sometimes, they always end up making me feel good at the end of the day. My friends always laugh at me because I complain when my mom does not answer my calls. I miss not seeing her everyday and seeing her at my side as we drive to school. I think one thing that college has really done for me is that it has taught me to sincerely appreciate my mom. I realize now how much she really did for me. It takes a lot of work to do the many different things that she did and I appreciate it so much.
There is importance in having a hero in one’s life. Everybody needs a role model to look up to and to have somebody who sets a positive example for them. We all have our times where life gets us down and it seems impossible for us to do anything on our own. Our hero’s are the ones who teach us that we can persevere and do anything we set our mind to. My mom has showed me through her example that life gets tough. There are points in your life where nothing seems to be going right. She has also taught me that she is an individual that is willing to lend a shoulder to anybody no matter what. My mother shows the true character trait of compassion because even in the worst times of her own life, she is still willing to help out anybody. As a future educator, I hope that I can gain this positive trait in my own life.
An 1100 word essay could never be long enough to describe how much my mother means to me and explain the role that she plays in my life. Eighteen years has allowed my mother and I to form a relationship that will continue to grow as we both get older. There is nothing in this world that I am more thankful for than my mother. I often receive compliments on how I carry myself and although I know I have made wise personal decisions, without the influence of my mother, I never would have carried myself the same. My mother means the world to me and I am proud to call her my hero.

Taking an Ounce of Time

WOW! It has been forever since I've talked to you all. I can't even begin to explain how busy college life got. I mean I was living the good life with all this free time, then all of a sudden BAM! Homework, tests, quizes, even midterms already! It's crazy how fast college comes at you. I'm not going to even lie, it is stressful! I'm constantly getting worried about my school work because I feel like I'm not doing everything "perfectly". haha. Anyways, a lot has happened in the past weeks. We had hall government elections. Basically, it's like student government for your dorm room. I was elected Umstead Hall President! I am so excited to have this position and can't wait to begin planning activities and all of that fun stuff. I feel so privelaged to represent my dorm! :) Anyways, I also had a midterm. My first one was in Biology. I studied so much. I studied nonstop for a good while. As far as the results go, I rather not talk about that. I was extremly disappointed. That's all I have to say about that! :(

Anyways, I really feel horrible for leaving you all so soon. But I still have homework to do! I know that I need to finish this all up because I got an early morning ahead of me! So I guess I will talk to you all later on! Bye everybody! :))

A Look at College Classes

So I can’t believe that a little over two weeks has passed as I have experienced life at ECU. So far, I am loving it so much! :) So I am sure that one of the most intimidating parts of college for prospective students are the classes. High school teachers scare you into thinking that you are going to college and taking classes that are so difficult that it seems impossible to do well unless you give up your life. I for one, can definitely say I disagree. There are many differences in college classes than those from high school. For one the class sizes are extremly different. I have a Biology class that has 251 students in it. Now for me, this is extremly different because my graduating class was not even this large! Haha! On the other hand, I have a History class with only three individuals. I guess dependant on certain subjects, different classes will have different amounts of people. I have also seen that attendance is not always required in college. This makes it difficult on a student because sometimes it is easy to be tempted to want to skip class, but you have to realize that in doing this, you will only be hurting yourself. I do believe that one of the biggest differences in college is the homework policy. Teachers do not actually always give you homework. Some teachers give you homework to complete for the next class or ask you to read over some materials, but most of your studying is independent. You as the student, must make the decision to read and study materials on your own. Even though I have not gone through a full semester, I can tell that the only way to excel in a class is by doing a lot of independent practice outside of class. I will admit that it is difficult to sit yourself down to actually study. College makes it difficult to concentrate. There is so much to do and so many people to hang out with. It really takes a lot of self- motivation to make yourself work. If you come into college with a positive attitude and set goals for yourself, you will definitly do fine!

Well that’s all for now! I guess I will update you all later! Byes!! :)

Experiencing the Big One Eight at ECU! :)

Week One.

I can't believe it is actually over. It has been such an amazing time here at ECU. Although I have only been here for a little over 9 days, I feel confident that ECU is my new home and that my stay here is going to be a positive one. College life seems so much different than what I expected. I always knew I was going to have a tremendous amount of independence when I came here, but never did I think I would have this much. I feel like I have so much time on my hands and I am being forced to make the decision to decide how I wish to spend my time. I think the one thing that I have learned most this first week is that a person needs to set their priorities straight before they come to college. I can see that it is easy to feel the urge to stay up late and watch movies with friends, but you definitely regret it the next day. I feel that I have been lucky because I have learned a lot in this first week, enough to the point where it is not too late to be sure I'm making the right decisions. As far as friends are concerned, I feel that I have made so many friends. I feel so honored to be apart of the Umstead dorm room. Everyone is so kind and polite and we all get along. Nobody cares if your honors, teaching fellows, or even a maynard scholar, we just care that we can get along and have fun together. I have met so many people that I truly believe will turn into great friends for the next four years. I have gone out shopping with people, gone to dinner, and even stayed up until 3 AM one morning doing laundry with some of these people! :) I am so thrilled to know that I am able to surround myself with positive people who I know will only enrich my experience here at ECU!

Finally, I had the privelage to spend my 18th birthday here at ECU. I celebrated this day on August 20th, the first day of classes for students here at ECU. Before I left home, I was so disappointed that I would be spending my birthday away from home. I felt like I was being forced to bring in my adulthood on my own and I hated that idea. Now as I look back, I can see that I was completly wrong. I have so many people to thank for making my birthday so great! From Steven and Zach singing a harmonized version of happy birthday to Monica and Jordan making me a special sign with a beautiful quote, I had such an amazing birthday. It seemed liked everyone remembered this day and everyone was making me adorable signs and just showing me so much love. I'll never forget when 12 AM hit, Stanford went yelling down the halls announcing the arrival of my adulthood. :) As I think about all the love that I received that day, I can't help but smile. Events like this show you how great college life can be. Even though you are going through new things and rough times, your not the only one! Everybody is experiencing just what you are. I think this setting with your new "family" really helps the transition from home to college life.

ECU is such a wonderful place. I can tell that I am going to grow tremendously in the next four years. I am excited to see where the road takes me. For now, I am ready to live up freshman year as a pirate and just grow in every way possible!

Well, see you later! Any questions? Feel free to ask! :)
Byess!!