November 30th in class

Today we were introduced to Katherine, a peer mentor who will be helping us finish out the semester. We went over MLA formatting and how to put our essays together. I found the information helpful, but I had already heard it all before. It's never bad to have a refresher though. Anyway, after that we learned how to embed the audio interview into our blogs. That pretty much sums up class for today.

Muse Interview

MUSE Interview with Mina, Karimah for the MUSE 1 class.

 

Group Meeting-Careers

Ansel: Wants to work in communications. Mom works in post office. Dad works as computer engineer.
Ryan: Wants to work in construction, engineering.
Patrick: Wants to work in psychology. Mom worked as music teacher. Dad is a manager at a computer repair business.
Joel: I could possibly work as a PR Representative. My mom works as a student aid. My dad works as the National Director for
Caparnaum.

I Am

I am to the least of these
uncontrolled
Yet wielding an infinite supply of gifts
Taken for granted
Unyielding
Despising the giver
My God
Despising my brothers
Those who shed light
While I drown in darkness
Those who walk on water
While I float beneath the surface

I am to the least of these
An unworthy martyr
A disease within myself
Slowly eating away at my inner soul
Leaving a hollowed man behind
Deprived of wisdom, knowledge, and fervor
Deprived of myself
Turning my back on the world
Attempting to fly
While the others dance
Attempting to be at peace
But I simply can't

Rainy Days

It's Friday and it's been pretty stormy today. I love the feel of the rain. I love the sound of rain pattering on the skylight as I look above. It makes me feel at peace with everything around me. Sometimes we need a moment like that. It lets us forget about the chaos for a while and just relax.

Interview With a Peer Mentor and a Senior :D

Class was very exciting today. I was very excited about the interview with a peer mentor and a senior at SJSU because it allowed for a greater incite into our school and the student body that is involved. I was able to better understand what it means to be an upper-classmen and how much time and effort it takes to be successful in a college environment. The first interview with Mina was very informative and gave me a very good incite into what it means to be a peer mentor. There are many benefits to being a peer mentor such as a close knit community of students and friends that you get to see almost every day. I was also very interested in the way she responded to the questions concerning why she chose to attend San Jose State over Long Beach. I, like her, chose to stay close to home. This really hit home with me because it's something that we have in common. Another interesting question was why she chose to become a peer mentor. Her response was very cool because she talked about how helpful her Peer mentor was when she was in a muse class as a freshman. It's weird to think that time can go by so quickly. One moment I'll be sitting here in my Muse class, and in the blink of an eye I'll be taking my upper division GE. It's a scary thought, but it's a challenge I look forward to.
The Interview with Karima, a senior at San Jose State, was very fascinating to me. She was very inspiring to me because she knew exactly what she stood for and she knew exactly who she is as a person. I found it very inspiring that she chose to be very politically involved as a freshman and sophomore and even more amazing that she is so involved in many different areas of her life. I was most captivated by the information she delivered about Poetry and open mic nights. I love to write poetry and so I greatly connected to this. Going into questions concerning the budget cuts I was a bit surprised at how strongly Karima felt about what is happening at SJSU, yet she did so in a very subtle way. I am very thankful that I was able to meet both of the interviewees today!

Your Guide To College Success chpt. 12 (Your Journal)

The "Your Journal" section of chapter 12 goes in depth into figuring out a possible future career. I've thought about Sports Public Relations and I've thought about trying to find internships but I don't know where to start. I have created resumes before to outline my accomplishments for future reference. Within these documents my strengths may be portrayed such as my writing skills.

Your Guide To College Success-Chpt 12 (Know Yourself)

Chapter 12 talked about figuring out a possible career choice and how to figure out your strengths and weaknesses. I found that I have a lot of criteria outlined in my mind about values that I consider important in a career. I also discovered some of my own qualities that I possess. My greatest is that of getting things done on time. This allows for dependability.

Your Guide To College Success-Chpt 11 (Your Journal)

When faced with the Your Journal section of chapter 11 it forced me to remember some of the financial tricks my parents have taught me throughout the years such as saving 10% of everything I make and tithing 10%. It also made me think about financial aid and the types of questions I should ask the Financial aid office on campus. On another note, it talks about defining my own personal financial success. I would say that my own financial success would be doing something I love and being able to support my family and also allowing for money to be placed in a strong savings account.

Your Guide To College Success-Chpt 11 (Know Yourself)

Chapter 11 is all about managing your finances and it really reminded me of my econ. senior project I did last year in high school because I had to manage my finances for a five year period of time. The know yourself section of this chapter aimed to isolate bad spending/saving habits and I learned that, thankfully, I don't have any spending habits that I struggle with. There are some things I could give up, but they are pretty small.

Meeting With SJSU Leadership (11/2/09)

On Monday I attended conversation with San Jose State Leadership and I was actually surprised at how much information our President and Provost had to offer. The conversation began with a series of set questions created by the MUSE Peer Mentor. I got to learn about the duties of both the President and Provost and what a day in their life looks like. Both must meet individually with other sections of leadership on campus to ensure each student is receiving opportunities to grow. Another question that was asked was what our school will look like next year and each leader had a lot to talk about. They discussed the cutting of enrollment, encouraging more seniors to graduate, and the large reduction of funds we face in the coming years. Soon thereafter the open forum questions began and many of them dealt with remedial classes and it seemed as though students were a bit flustered by the remedial class situation. It doesn't really affect me because I'm not enrolled in any remedial classes, but it could affect my friend who is taking remedial english. If he doesn't pass this first year he won't be able to take it over again because SJSU isn't funding the program past one year. Overall I found the conversation fairly informative. I knew a lot of the information already, but it was nice to hear from the Leaders of our school.

Presidential Debate (Video Project)