Class Distractions. Knitting?

In college, everyone gets distracted in class. These distractions can stem from our own behavior, or can be rooted by other people.  I look at it similarly to overplaying a song. I say, “If I kill it myself, that’s my own fault, but if someone else kills it for me, well that’s just really annoying.” If I don’t pay attention in class because I’m daydreaming, that’s fine. I’m only shorting myself knowledge. If I don’t pay attention in class because of other people, well that is a problem.

Throughout my years of college I’ve seen plenty of people off task. Usually, class distractions I see are common. I’m sure you’ve seen them everyday, and can relate fairly easily. It wasn’t until a couple days ago, when I was completely blown away by a fellow classmate…

I was sitting in class, really engaged in the lecture. Pretty soon, I look over to my right and the girl sitting in the front row of class is knitting. Yes, knitting. She had a ball of yarn, her little sticks, and was knitting away. I’m surprised I don’t have whiplash from how many looks I took to make sure I was seeing clearly. This classroom pastime was creative; one I had never seen before. What really surprised me was she wasn’t even attempting to look discrete. No notebook, textbook, or pen. Just yarn. Yarn and her sticks. Completely appalled, I paid attention to her the majority of the lecture. This was a business management class mind you, not knitting 101.  Lucky for her, this knitting ordeal wasn’t a distraction to her. The professor randomly asked her a question, and immediately, she spit out an answer. Unfortunately for me, I was so busy watching her knit, I didn’t even know what the question was. This really irritated me because while she’s over there enjoying craft time, I’m watching her knit. Was she knitting a sweater for her grandma’s 100th birthday? I don’t know. One would assume it  had to be pretty important. Sure, I’d love to bring my scrapbook supplies and make cards all day, but do I? No. I would have to lug in two suitcases worth of supplies and the space needed to craft comfortably wouldn’t be feasible. Oh, and one other minor factor, I’m there to learn. I pay a lot of money to learn. So while she peacefully walked out of class that morning, sewing tote in hand, overflowing with yarn, I was left overflowing with agitation towards this girl…she was the noise in the communication process and I wasn’t receiving the message.

Noise is everywhere. People eating food in class can get pretty noisy. Crunching their chex mix or chips. Why not something like a granola bar? Those can be quiet.  Bringing a three course meal to class is extremely inappropriate too. Unless you bring enough for the entire class. But then again, I’m not in culinary school. It sure seemed like I was when a girl walked in with a salad, soup, and macaroni and cheese. Every week she would come into class, late, accompanied by her piping hot food. The scent would soon flood the room and everyone’s noses started turning into bunny noses…twitching vigorously to find the food. It’s bad enough that you’re chomping away in class, but the fact that everyone has to smell the aroma of your food is distracting. I know slurping your soup in Japan is a compliment, but I’m pretty sure in America, specifically in classrooms, slurping soup is just poor manners.

Facebook. Facebook before class? Fine. Facebook during class? Not necessary. When someone sits in front of you with their laptop open and creeps through Facebook, it’s distracting. No matter how much you focus on concentrating on the lecture, your eyes keep wandering back to the pointless stalking the person in front of you is doing on Facebook. Do I really care if Jane’s ex-boyfriend has a new girlfriend, or what Anna was doing out last night with Taylor? No, I don’t, but it continues to distract me. If  it gives you anxiety to miss out on a couple hours of Facebook, just stay home and ‘Facebook-Watch’ from your bed. It’s probably more comfortable too.

Choosing to not pay attention in class is your own choice, but creating noise and preventing others from learning  is inconsiderate.  Knitting made the list of my top distractions in class. What distracts you in class?

Community College Vs. University Education

Does it really matter if you start your college career at a community college or a university?  Does where you learn impact how much you’re going to learn?  It seems that many people raise their nose when they hear that you spent your first two years of college at a community college, but does that really limit what you can learn? Personally, I believe you can learn as much as you want; the college you choose is just guiding you.

I’m sure you can already guess that I started my college career at a community college.  I had just moved out-of-state with my parents, and the time constraints left me choosing a community college, close to my parents’ new house; it was convenient and economically appealing.  Overall, it was a good experience.  However, I always encounter those people who shake their head at the thought of a community college. Does anyone else get that vibe?

Akin to almost everything, there are pros and cons to attending a community college. Let’s start with the pros:

Smaller class sizes. A community college usually has less than 30 students in a class. Normally, my class sizes were less than 20 students.  This allowed closer relationships with professors and it was easy to learn in a small environment, with fewer distractions. Auditoriums with 200 kids banging away on Facebook, can become very distracting.

Great professors. Just because you’re at a community college, doesn’t mean you are missing the opportunity to learn from intelligent individuals.  Quite honestly, I can remember nearly every professor I took a class from at my two-year community college experience.

Economically pleasing. The cost of tuition at a community college is a fraction of the cost at a university.  I was able to live at home and commute to college, which saved me from being buried in debt.

…And for the cons:

Missing the college experience. Living at home proves to have saved me loads of money, but the college experience was nothing to rave about.  Most community colleges don’t offer campus housing; however, it does depend on the college.  Without campus housing, it’s hard to make friends.  Most students go to class then pack up and head home.  I still found ways to befriend classmates, it just may be a bit trickier than being surrounded by your peers in the dorms.

Parents and returning students.  When you’re attending a community college, you’ll find lots of parents, or people who are returning to school.  This is not exactly a con, because most of these people have great stories you can learn from; they’ve already been out in the world and can advise you, speaking from their experiences.  If you’re looking to be surrounded by recent high school graduates, this is probably not where you’ll find that.

You-Suck stigma. Somehow, people assume that if you attend a community college right out of high school, you weren’t smart enough to get into a university.  This may be the case for some students, but not everyone feels comfortable or ambitious enough to attend a university right away.  Perhaps, they don’t know exactly what they want to go to school for and feel they’d rather take their general education courses at a school that is more economically friendly and transfer later on.  This decision is similar to mine.

Like I said, my parents were moving out-of-state and I decided to move with them.  The community college I attended was fifteen minutes away from their home.  I wasn’t fully sure as to what I wanted to do for a career, so I figured I would get my required courses out-of-the-way and explore the opportunities.  For this decision I am always grateful.

Once I started college, I was very ambitious; I found that I loved college, while I didn’t really care for high school.  The professors were amazing and their unique teaching techniques were so intriguing.  During this time, I obtained a fabulous part-time job at Whirlpool Corporation, in the Human Resources Department.  I found out how much I loved to work with people, in a business setting.  Advertising and Public Relations is what I decided I wanted to do.  Grand Valley State University had a great program for it and that is where I attend school now.  I have one semester left and then I will be a college graduate.  Do I regret spending my first two years at a community college?  No.  I’m going to exit college with minimal debt and still be able to say I had the full college experience.

Do I think community college is right for everyone to start at?  Of course not, but I feel the stigma attached to it is not exactly logical.  Learning is not limited by what college you attend, the person has control of their potential to learn and grow.

Hopefully I don’t come off as a few fries short of happy meal because I started my education at a community college, but I firmly believe learning is in the hands of the beholder.  You could go to Harvard and have no desire to be there, or you could attend some no-name school, that no one cares about, and be the sponge that is raising their hand, practically jumping out of their seat, because they’re so excited that they know the answer, all because they love to learn.  Absorbing knowledge is powerful and exciting; however, it doesn’t take a degree from Harvard to maximize your learning capabilities.

When You Were Young

Dale Apold; my grandpa, my hero.

Seventeen years ago I asked you,

“Grandpa, why don’t you have bangs like my daddy?”

with a full head of hair, except for the bangs that should hang down in the front,

you chuckled at this.

Your face lit up with a smile

and this lasted for the next fifteen years.

Ten years ago I wondered why you had more friends than me.

You had more invites to golf outings, with your closest friends, than I did to sleepovers.

Everyone I met that knew you, raved about you.

“Oh, that’s your grandfather? He is such a kind man.”

It may not seem profound, but coming from everyone you know, you start to glisten.

Your presence overwhelmed every person you touched.

Three years ago you were young,

in the summer your feet were ghost-like white

while the rest of your body was tan.

You were constantly on the golf course

or in the yard, trimming grass.

You never sat still, not even for a minute.

Two years ago you were diagnosed with cancer.

It had already spread to the bone.

You lost some more hair,

Your friends overwhelmed your presence.

Your entire body became ghost-like white.

Last week, after having brain surgery

Your horseshoe scar had left random pieces of hair

growing from your scalp.

You had no choice, Grandma said you were getting it cut.

I’d never seen you look so scared. I said,

“Grandpa, don’t worry, you look very Bruce Willis.”

Your chuckle echoed the one I heard when I was young;

when you were young. This smile stayed for awhile

but it did not even last another fifteen minutes.

Define yourself; Don’t let someone else.

It’s every time you are called by the label, they’re zapping a post-it-note on your forehead.  Post-its keep piling up and eventually, you are the post-it-note.

Growing up, I was known to be quiet.  People that knew me well would know I was full of words, but those that didn’t, thought of me as a mute.  It’s not that I was stuck up, or wanted to live in a black hole, I just didn’t approach people to fabricate conversation.

So this made me shy.  Or at least everyone else thought so, which made me believe I was shy, and eventually I took on the role in the movie and played the part.  That really bothered me because I was not shy; I viewed it as quiet.  There is a difference.

As I got older, I discovered the difference between introverts and extroverts. After developing an understanding for the two, I realized I was an introvert and being shy was a misperception.  Things started to resonate; however, I was still bogged down with all the post-it-notes with shy stamped on my forehead.  What everyone else was saying was still weighing me down.

I’m still not sure how, but I woke up one day and knew how to use my introvert personality to my advantage.  It was not a conscious realization or something I planned to do; it just happened.

After years of remaining cooped up in my shell I learned how to break out of it.  I wish this would have occurred before my last year of college, but thankfully the transformation happened.  I always was a late bloomer.  Suddenly, someone who never voluntarily participated in classroom discussions, became one of the active chatters.

Pick me!  Pick me!

Decide who you are for yourself.  Don’t let other people’s perceptions of you control who you want to be.  Choose your own story line.  Of course, listen to what they have to say, but do not let the post-it-notes hold you back.

You are who you want to be and only you can make it happen.

Create yourself.

Believe it or not, this was me back in my so called "shy days".

Fool the world; fool yourself.

Be a morning person, even if you’re not.

Night owls struggle at pulling themselves out of bed in the morning.  ’Scrambling like a lunatic’ would describe my morning attempt of being ready for work, class, and even opening my eye lids to join the rest of the world and at least pretending I was awake.

Night owls, there is good news.  Just because you don’t roll out of bed in song and find sunflowers blossoming from your ears, doesn’t mean you can’t make your morning transition a little easier–easier on yourself, and those that surround you.

If you’re tired of snoozing through class, try changing a few things about how you approach the mornings. Hey, what did the morning ever do to you? It will take time to adjust, and bonding with your pillow a little sooner every night leaves less bags under your eyes in the morning, but if I could do it…so can you.

1. Drink coffee. Even if you find the taste appalling, drink it.  Add as much creamer, sweetener, and flavored syrup to make it acceptable to your groggy taste buds.  Your stomach may hate you for it, but your attitude towards being conscious so early will embrace the change.
2. Get up earlier. It doesn’t sound appealing, I know; but mornings are not glorious no matter what time your alarm kicks you out of bed.  Your body and brain need time to wake up.  Try waking up 2 hours (you can adjust the time) before you have to be at class, work, or whatever time you agreed to meet your friend to catch up, who is obviously one of those morning-lovers.
3. Watch the news. Once you have your coffee, grab your breakfast too; turn on the news, or even music videos, just something that will connect you with something outside of your cozy cave.
4. Launch into action. Now, you should be energized, at least a little.  Turn up your music and start your routine.  Speed it up by deciding on your outfit the night before. This will eliminate chaos when you realize the shirt you were planning to wear is still wadded up in your hamper.
5. Relax. Since you started your morning with extra time you shouldn’t be in a rush.  You’re alert.  You’re awake.  And you probably look pretty good too.

Minor alterations make mornings a little more sunny.  The lack of sleep dust nested in the crevices of your eyes, just may fool others that your bright mornings come naturally.

First For Everything

As I’m nearing the end of my college career, unraveling as an individual, and seeking the ultimate first career, I figured it must be the perfect time to start a blog.