Four weeks. Just four more weeks of class left. Out of that four weeks, I have two presentations, two final papers, and two finals to take. I really can't wait to get all it over with. I really can't wait to get back into North Carolina, even if it is for 3 days. A little more on this later, right now, I'd like to talk a little bit about my wonderful fiasco last night.
So, being the responsible student that I am, I completely wasted the past two days, vegging out on my couch, knowing that I should be devoting that valuable, limited time to my papers and presentations. Well, my damned couch just happens to be really comfortable. Trust me. If you eat a good meal, and then relax on my couch watching TV, you'll soon be passed out. That was me for the past two days. Anyways, if I happen to nap on my couch, I usually have trouble sleeping when I actually do go to bed. Fortunately for me, I kind of stayed up into the early hours of the morning chatting with a friend on my Mac. Finally, I got my shower, went through my nightly routine of shaving and skin care, and after a bit of surfing the internet, I finally got in the bed. I laid there, quietly, listening to my radio that was in the other room. It was 1:45 in the morning. I tossed and turned a bit, and finally found a comfortable position on my back. *BAM* My apartment erupted with the sound of an eerie screech that only a residence hall smoke alarm can make. I've been through this routine before at UNCA, but for the first time in my graduate career, a fire alarm happened without me knowing it was going to happen.
I laid there, my eyes wide open. "Shit!" I thought. I covered my ears and laid there for a second more. The sound was so annoying, so penetrating. I didn't want to take my hands off my ears, but I knew that I had to get up, throw something on and get the hell out. Finally, I took my hands off my ears and rolled out of bed. I was kind of grateful that I hadn't been woken up. That would've just annoyed me even more. I put on some sweatpants, but had some difficulty putting on my shirt. With the deafening sound of the smoke detector, I managed to put my shirt on backwards, and struggled a bit to get it turned around. Then, I had to locate my ID, my keys and the damned duty phone (because it just so happened that I was on duty this week) which were all scattered through out my apartment. Finally locating everything I needed, I stepped out into the hallway and started to vacate the building.
Stepping out, I realized that I was one of the first out of the building, so I had to tell everyone else to get away from the building, because I was the grad assistant, and a bad ass. As more people came out of the building, I turned to look at the building. I stopped, and stared at the lounge area for some reason. Something didn't look right, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Maybe it was because it was so early, or because I was so distraught by the aural assault on my ears, but I was able to finally make the connection. As I looked up into the lounge area, I saw the gushing torrent of what could only be a ruptured sprinkler head. Water was everywhere, it was even leaking down on the first floor and even in the main entry way.
Immediately I called the main duty phone to report the problem, and then followed up with the appropriate people. The fire department and the police department both show up, along with people from facilities management. Facilities entered the building and began the process of turning the water off so they could get up there and assess damage and clean up. It was probably about 2:15 in the morning at this time.
While standing there, watching the sprinkler head rain down on the floor above me, a resident who assumed I was just another resident approached me and asked me if I was a resident of my building, to which I said yes. He then told me that he had a friend who lived in the same building who was very drunk. Well, I had to act on this, so as we walked over, this particular resident looks at me and says, "Uh, you're not a person of authority, are you?" To which I looked at him and said, "Why, yes. I am." Although I was not looking at his face, I could tell that the expression "Oh shit" crept across it. I approached the drunk resident, and damn. What a site to see. This girl was stumbling all over the place, and generally, a mess. I asked her how many beers she had, to which she said, "A couple." "Oh really? How many is a couple?" I asked. I took her ID and did what I needed to do, and told the both of them that I would be documenting them. Then I turned to the resident who confronted me. I could tell he was scared shitless. I asked him for his university ID number. "I forgot", he says. "Well, can you tell me your name?" I ask. "I don't know what my name is," he replies. "Are you intoxicated too?" I ask. "No sir." Obviously, this kid wasn't playing by the rules. "Alright," I said. "You can be cooperative with me, and I can take your information and document you, and call it a night, OR I can end this right now and you can deal with the Police Department." "It's your call," I said. That must've softened him up a bit, because he immediately took out his wallet and produced his university ID card and his name. That was fun.
Back to our sprinkler, it's now about 3:00 AM, and facilities management has shut off the water and is up in the community room, wet/dry vacs a-blaze trying to get all the water up. In addition, they tore up all the water logger carpet in the lounge, and removed all the furniture. But not only did the lounge receive some damage, but the office directly under the community room below, completely flooded. This particular office happened to belong to our Residence Hall Director. We gathered RA staff, and checked rooms, initiated "fire watch" and called it a night. All this, took place over the course from around 2AM to 5AM. Finally, I crawled back in the bed, only to get up 3 hours later for an open house event.
This morning when I got up and was getting dressed, I noticed that some of the water had seeped into my apartment. Although my carpet was not heavily saturated, it was damp. So once again, I call maintenance, who comes in, rearranges my bedroom, and sucks up the water. They brought me a blower to so I could move some air over the carpet, and I've been running it since.
So now, I'm pretty sure that you can see just why I want to get this semester over with. I just really would love to get home, eat some good food, not worry about classes, and just play with my dogs. I want to enjoy life again, and not worry about what's due, or what I have to work on. Another year and a half of this. I can do this. I can do this.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
All I Want...
Heads up! This is a long one.
Needless to say that history was made last night, and I could not be happier. I am proud to be involved in such a pivotal point in our nation's history, and I am proud to say that I helped to bring about that change. I am excited to see the changes that will happen, but I'm setting this aside for the moment, to discuss what is really on my mind. I'll talk a little about this later. But for now, below are post-graduate plans.
As an individual, this autumnal season makes me reflect back to life back at home. These cold weather seasons, autumn and winter, really get me home sick. Perhaps it's the crisp weather, the warm clothing, or the smell of wood burning in our stove at home when we start heating our house. Then again, maybe it could be the holiday decorations, holiday music, home cooking, or just a time of tradition and family, I have begun to think about my life, post-grad school.
I see the bottom line as this: in its most common sense, I want the American dream. I want my slice of the pie. I know I belong back in my home state of NC. I've discovered that a while back. What I want after I earn my Masters degree is a space to myself. A place that I can call home. A place that I can paint, decorate, and make mine. I also want to add a dog to that. I've really been looking into breeds lately, partly because I do miss all my animals back at home. After some extensive searching, I think I want a Boxer to add to that space of mine. A fawn boxer, male, with a docked tail and un-cropped ears. I want to raise him from a pup. I want him to be a dog that will bark and play the very minute I come home after a long day at the office, who wants to lay on my lap while I watch tv, and lay in the bed when I am asleep. A big dog, nothing that someone could stomp into the ground. A dog that people will respect, but adore at the same time. That's the kind of dog I want.
As for my job, I know after I earn my Masters, there will be lots of opportunities out there, because the world of Student Affairs is so small, and the demand is so great. But I feel like I am being torn between my family and a career that could potentially pull me away from them. Being 6 hours from them is bad enough, as I have not been home since July, and will not be able to return until Thanksgiving, and then again for Winter break.
Where I am torn is this: Part of me wants to go into the community college system. Being a former community college student myself, I want to go back to the same institution that I went to and serve and help others there. I want them to realize that there is so much potential beyond the Associate's degree. Perhaps now, even more than ever this is what I want to do. Just this week, I learned in one of my classes that 50% of the undergraduate population in the U.S. are community college students. Out of that 50%, only 10% of those students go on to earn their Bachelors degree. TEN PERCENT!!! I was taken back. To think that I was part of that 10% blows me away. There is some definite room for growth in this area.
What is troubling to me is this: the "four year college" does not lend any respect to the community college. In fact, if you're an educator, student affairs personnel, or work at a community college in any way, and then decide to work at a four year institution, you're chances of getting a job at that four year institution are pretty much ZILCH, simply because you worked at a community college. I think this is a huge inequality. And what scares me is, if I have this interest, I could get an internship at a CC while I work on my masters, but if I apply to a 4 year institution, what will come of that CC experience? What if I get in at the CC and then after a few years decide I do not like it? Where would I go from there?
Regardless, right now, I would love to get on the level with first year community college students, as well as the non-traditionals and encourage them...advise, poke, PROD them to push themselves, to motivate themselves to go beyond the Associates degree, and to work and earn that Bachelors. There would be so much more opportunity out there for them.
And now, back to the political issues. I've posted this on my Facebook, and my MySpace. I might as well post it here. Below is a brief note that I wrote about people's concerns for America's future under the leadership of Barak Obama:
I hope this makes sense to people. No matter what, we've got to come together and support Obama as our next leader. Whether we like it or not, he's the guy we put in charge. We need to support him.
That's all for now. Told you it was a long one.
Needless to say that history was made last night, and I could not be happier. I am proud to be involved in such a pivotal point in our nation's history, and I am proud to say that I helped to bring about that change. I am excited to see the changes that will happen, but I'm setting this aside for the moment, to discuss what is really on my mind. I'll talk a little about this later. But for now, below are post-graduate plans.
As an individual, this autumnal season makes me reflect back to life back at home. These cold weather seasons, autumn and winter, really get me home sick. Perhaps it's the crisp weather, the warm clothing, or the smell of wood burning in our stove at home when we start heating our house. Then again, maybe it could be the holiday decorations, holiday music, home cooking, or just a time of tradition and family, I have begun to think about my life, post-grad school.
I see the bottom line as this: in its most common sense, I want the American dream. I want my slice of the pie. I know I belong back in my home state of NC. I've discovered that a while back. What I want after I earn my Masters degree is a space to myself. A place that I can call home. A place that I can paint, decorate, and make mine. I also want to add a dog to that. I've really been looking into breeds lately, partly because I do miss all my animals back at home. After some extensive searching, I think I want a Boxer to add to that space of mine. A fawn boxer, male, with a docked tail and un-cropped ears. I want to raise him from a pup. I want him to be a dog that will bark and play the very minute I come home after a long day at the office, who wants to lay on my lap while I watch tv, and lay in the bed when I am asleep. A big dog, nothing that someone could stomp into the ground. A dog that people will respect, but adore at the same time. That's the kind of dog I want.
As for my job, I know after I earn my Masters, there will be lots of opportunities out there, because the world of Student Affairs is so small, and the demand is so great. But I feel like I am being torn between my family and a career that could potentially pull me away from them. Being 6 hours from them is bad enough, as I have not been home since July, and will not be able to return until Thanksgiving, and then again for Winter break.
Where I am torn is this: Part of me wants to go into the community college system. Being a former community college student myself, I want to go back to the same institution that I went to and serve and help others there. I want them to realize that there is so much potential beyond the Associate's degree. Perhaps now, even more than ever this is what I want to do. Just this week, I learned in one of my classes that 50% of the undergraduate population in the U.S. are community college students. Out of that 50%, only 10% of those students go on to earn their Bachelors degree. TEN PERCENT!!! I was taken back. To think that I was part of that 10% blows me away. There is some definite room for growth in this area.
What is troubling to me is this: the "four year college" does not lend any respect to the community college. In fact, if you're an educator, student affairs personnel, or work at a community college in any way, and then decide to work at a four year institution, you're chances of getting a job at that four year institution are pretty much ZILCH, simply because you worked at a community college. I think this is a huge inequality. And what scares me is, if I have this interest, I could get an internship at a CC while I work on my masters, but if I apply to a 4 year institution, what will come of that CC experience? What if I get in at the CC and then after a few years decide I do not like it? Where would I go from there?
Regardless, right now, I would love to get on the level with first year community college students, as well as the non-traditionals and encourage them...advise, poke, PROD them to push themselves, to motivate themselves to go beyond the Associates degree, and to work and earn that Bachelors. There would be so much more opportunity out there for them.
And now, back to the political issues. I've posted this on my Facebook, and my MySpace. I might as well post it here. Below is a brief note that I wrote about people's concerns for America's future under the leadership of Barak Obama:
I Just Don't Understand.
I feel the need to get this off my chest. Since the results of the presidential election were announced last night, I have seen countless amounts of Facebook updates and MySpace postings by my friends who say that "socialism" is going to reign now that Obama is president-elect, and that they are ready to move out of the country. This is something that I do not understand.
First off my friends, I ask you to examine the past 8 years. A lot has happened. Yet, some of you say they have been some of the greatest years. I ask you, where were the good times? I challenge you to examine the past 8 years and name me one time where America was great. Under the current administration we've seen the stock market plunge, a failing economy, gas prices soar, and have heard countless tragic stories of so many women and men who've lost their lives, fighting a war that should have ended years ago. We currently live under an administration that subscribes to the philosophy, "If we give to the rich, the benefits will trickle down to the rest." If such is the case, I am still waiting on my Ferrari.
My friends, I think you need to be reminded of the phrase, “The only thing constant is change.” If we cannot adapt to change, then we cannot make it in the game of life. I firmly believe that Obama is going to make America great again; that America is a phoenix, preparing to rise out its ashes and restore its place where freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness again are placed at the foundation of this wonderful nation.
Some of you argue that under Obama’s administration, our faith and freedom of religion will surely suffer. I ask you to consider this: If God is omnipotent, omniscient, all powerful, all knowing, and all loving, then don’t you think He knew this was going to happen? If His will is done in everything, then maybe couldn’t this maybe somehow be a part of His plan? Think about it.
This past election demonstrates to me how great America is. For the first time in a long time, I have actually been excited about my country, excited for change, and excited to see what is going to happen. The journey that America is about to go on is going to be one wild ride, and I am so glad that I have my ticket.
Finally, I leave you with this: Some of you may agree with me. Some of you may disagree with me. Some of you may message me back telling me how dare I write something like this. Others may give me kudos. Either way, I say that’s ok. That’s a part of what makes America great. But no matter who you are: Democrat, Republican, Christian, Atheist, Gay, Straight, Man, Woman- I think we need to follow the words of Senator John McCain, who stated in his secession speech, that we as a nation, as America, need to support Barak Obama as president-elect. America has spoken, and we have said that we trust Obama to be our next leader. I urge you to extend to him that trust. Pray for him, and this great land that we call home.
With all my love and respect,
Mark
I hope this makes sense to people. No matter what, we've got to come together and support Obama as our next leader. Whether we like it or not, he's the guy we put in charge. We need to support him.
That's all for now. Told you it was a long one.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Hanging in the Balance
What a pivotal time in US history, as well as world history that is occurring right now, at this very moment! Either way, despite WHO becomes our next president, history will be made. On the Republican ticket, Palin becomes the first woman to ever enter the Whitehouse in such an administrative role, where as Obama's victory would leave a benchmark for obvious reasons.
Personally, I do not care who becomes President...Ok. I lied. I do. All I know is that I want to see change. The past 8 years have not been so great, and regardless, I think the entirety of the U.S. can agree that something needs to happen. I wasn't a political science major. I can't exactly discuss politics in depth with someone. I can explain what I believe, what a candidate says they will do, how they will benefit me, and how they match my ideals.
All I know is this: this is really the first election that has really mattered to me. While this is my second election which I have been able to vote, I have actually surprised myself by paying attention to this issues. Really, this is for my family. While I do not agree who THEY are voting for, I am hoping that my candidate pulls through, for their as well as my benefit.
Change is coming. Are we ready?
Personally, I do not care who becomes President...Ok. I lied. I do. All I know is that I want to see change. The past 8 years have not been so great, and regardless, I think the entirety of the U.S. can agree that something needs to happen. I wasn't a political science major. I can't exactly discuss politics in depth with someone. I can explain what I believe, what a candidate says they will do, how they will benefit me, and how they match my ideals.
All I know is this: this is really the first election that has really mattered to me. While this is my second election which I have been able to vote, I have actually surprised myself by paying attention to this issues. Really, this is for my family. While I do not agree who THEY are voting for, I am hoping that my candidate pulls through, for their as well as my benefit.
Change is coming. Are we ready?
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