End Of 1st Semester

    The first semester of college went better than I had ever expected. I was a shy kid during high school, never really leaving my comfort zone to try new something new. When I was a sophomore in high school I took a field trip to PNW, and what I still remember from that trip was how massive the campus was and how friendly everyone was. Back then I never would have thought that I would be with the college life that I have today. The campus, isn't as large as I had initially thought, especially when I looked at other campuses like IU (know that's a big campus). This campus has a super friendly atmosphere that anyone can fit into, even if your just visiting the campus everyone is welcoming and tries to make anyone a part of the campus. The options of classes was also a big plus when starting college, since high school class selection was limited having a wide variety of options for classes is nice to expand your education, and possibly finding a subject to minor in. I also feel that I have grown as an adult, being able to keep track of spending, managing school and work, improving my skills, and strengthening my characteristics. I would like to thank you guys for making this semester a great start, and hopefully we see each other through put campus, have a great year guys!

Christmas

    Christmas, besides thanksgiving, is one of my favorite holidays through out the year. Christmas is one of those holidays that gets the family together, and celebrates what we have. However, one of peoples biggest hypes for Christmas is the presents that families give each other as a sign of appreciation and gratitude for each other. Over the past couple of years people tend to view Christmas as a time to get stuff, and not understand the deep meaning of the holiday, which is to give appreciation to family. The topic of capitalism tends to get thrown into this conversation because people tend to think Christmas is about the buying and giving of gifts. I can see where people can tie this topic with Christmas, but again that isn't the purpose of Christmas, it's not the holiday's goal to sell products to boost company profits. I feel that over the past couple of years Christmas's meaning was lost, so I wanted to make a little post about how people should view the holiday in a positive light. Also, no one is making you buy those Christmas cookies that are in the store two months before its even time for Christmas. Anyways, hope you all have a nice holiday!

Rational Argument Topic

    For my rational argument essay topic I chose either or not technology helps students learn in school. I picked this topic for my essay, because going to school online was a major part of my high school life during my senior year. My senior year is when my school went completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so it was the first time I had done school completely online. Through my research, it appears that taking notes on paper is more effective for students to retain information than it is to typed notes. However, students that have access to technology have a wider range of information to use than students that need to use a book. Personally, I found that taking notes on a piece of paper does help me remember information, but I use a computer to find my research. Another piece of information that I found is that students tend to like typing papers rather than writing them, because it is faster to get what is on your mind  when typing. On another note, writing a paper makes the student think about what they are actually writing, rather than typing what the student may not have had in mind. So, technology being used in education has its ups and downs, but most of the benefits positively effect a student education. 

Global Food Festival

    On November 8, 2021 I had participated in the Global Food Festival on the PNW campus, and what an experience it was. First I would like to thank the school for having this fantastic event, because with out it I don't think I would have experienced so many different cultures in my life time. At first I was surprised by the amount of people that ended showing up, the entire parking lot was completely filled with people by 12:00pm. At the festival there was a wide selection of food selections consisting of Italian, Mexican, Indian, Greek and Polish. The venders that were at the event represented each of the cultures of the food items that they were sampling, giving a better immersion of what the culture looks and acts like. I highly recommend going to events like this if you like to experiencing different cultures.

Thanksgiving

     One thing that the COVID-19 pandemic taught me was the value that family has on your life. Having holidays each year, seeing the same people over and over again may not leave as big of an impact on you since it accures so often. However, during 2020 I didn't have a lot of contact with any of my family members besides those who live with me. I didn't think much of family interactions as much since it was natural, but this thanksgiving made me realize how important family is and how much I misted it. The changes in people may not appear so blatantly, but when you haven't seen someone for over a year changes are very noticeable. I swear my nieces looked 5 years younger than they do now a year ago. Exchanging stories and laughter, being together under one roof, and sharing delicious food was a heart warming experience is something that I needed, and hopefully it was something that you experienced too this thanksgiving.

Business and The Environment

 At first when I began to take my Environmental science class I had asked myself, "why am I even taking this class for is I'm going into an accounting major?" That was until I had discovered how much influence that business has on the environment around us. Businesses not only need to produce products or services for customers for profit, but they also need to make sure that they do so in which to not negatively affect the environment around them. Business can actual form from the concept of taking care of the environment either through non-profit organizations or environmental science. It's important to take such measures in taking care of the environment because we live here, so it's important that me maintain the earth for not just ourselves, but also for the future generations that will come after us. Just a sneak peak at what our group project is going to be about a non-profit organization called "The Nature Conservancy Indiana" that is focused on improving the environment.

Holy Hell

    The other documentary that had caught my eye during the documentary project was Holy Hell. I had recently finished watching the documentary and had left an impression on how social groups can be seen as cults, and how these groups can hide themselves from not being seen as a cult. The Buddhafield was at first a friend group that practiced in meditation, team work, and religious practices. The "master" of the Buddhafield promised his followers that he would show the group the true identity of God through the "knowing". The group participates in public services, charities, and meditation in order to prepare to receive this knowledge. The unexpected result from these practices is the master was brain washing these followers to get them to do his bidding, stretching to feeding him, building theaters, and sexual favors. The group slowly comes to this realization that they are being used for someones ego from an outsider that was originally part of the group. eventually, the original group members leave the Buddhafield, only latter returning secretly to expose the group. I highly recommend watching the full documentary for yourself, as it is an exhilarating film with a very intreating subject.