Learning Experiences 4

I can't believe my sophomore year in college is three days from being finished. These two years at TCU have flown by so fast it is unbelievable. I have loved my time here at TCU and am excited for the next two years. I just hope they go by a little slower. Sophomore year has brought on new challenges and new learning experiences. Class work has started to pick up and my free time has decreased substantially. To think that half of my college career is over is kind of scary. I have had some amazing times so far at this school and I will be saddened when I am forced to leave here. This year has made me manage my time better and has helped me gain new connections that I will have for the rest of my life. The business school is becoming more demanding and I am having to spend a lot of my time working in groups. I am learning how to better myself as a teammate and strengthening on my leadership skills. I need to continue to learn as I get closer to graduation and the start of my new career, whatever it may be. This year has helped me figure out more of what I want to do in life after school and has also brought me closer to my friends. We have shared some great memories in the first two years together. I hope we are able to enjoy our last two just as much.

As far as Lit and Civ goes, I have been able to learn many new things. I have never had a class that was as active and discussion based as this one. We were able to learn in a fun and interesting way. Anything that can get us students away from powerpoint slide- lectures is a good thing. We have learned about humor in many different ways. What causes it, why we laugh, what makes us laugh, and ultimately came to the conclusion you can't put a solid definition for humor. We learned the different theories and debated the best comedy films. We read great short stories and learned how to be funny. Except I don't think it worked because nobody laughs at my jokes. I think learning through other students can also be an effective way of learning. Student presentations were entertaining and insightful. Hearing the perspectives of others can sometimes be the best way to form an understanding or opinion on a topic. This class was extremely enjoyable and I will miss not having it. Our class bonded over the semester and that rarely happens in the class room setting. Dr. Williams has been a fantastic and respectful professor and I hope he learned as much from us as we did from him.

Anyways, I have truly enjoyed this semester and I can't believe it is over. My time was well spent and I am ready for summer vacation. Even though it is not really vacation because I will be working. But following the mentality of my last experience-blog, I will go into it with a good attitude and enjoy every day.

Conversation Partner 6

Today was my last meeting with Tien. We had to make it a short meeting again due to finals week staring us down. We talked about our semester and the different things we have learned. We talked about how busy the last couple weeks are compared to earlier in the semester. Tien said she is excited for summer and has really enjoyed her year at TCU. I'm happy that she is enjoying her time in America. It still baffles me how these foreign exchange students do what they so. I asked Tien how she takes classes in a different language. She said she really enjoys it. Something I have always wanted to ask someone who speaks multiple languages is, when you're thinking in your head, which language are you thinking in? Might be a dumb question, but I have always wondered. She said for her it depends on what she is doing. She said she is trying to adapt to where she only thinks in english because it will help her improve her skills and vocab. I am extremely jealous she can speak multiple languages because I certainly cannot. I never took my language classes seriously when I was younger and I am regretting it. Anyways, Tien and I spent most of our meeting talking about our summer plans and talking about how much we have enjoyed meeting to talk. She seemed really stressed, but still took the time to meet with me today and say our goodbyes for the summer. She has been one of the best parts of the semester and I have really enjoyed my time with her. I have been able to learn a lot from her and it was fun to talk about Vietnam's culture. I would never be able to go to a foreign country and go to school where I knew nobody. Then again, I am not as strong as these students. I'm glad she has had the opportunity to do this program and I am hoping she learned from me throughout the semester. Tien is a great person and a great friend. This assignment was fantastic. It was a little sad saying goodbye, but she had to finish a big paper and needed to get back to work. We promised to keep in touch and I hope to see her around the business school next year. I will always be able to say I have a friend from Vietnam.

Conversation Partner 5

Tien and I met yesterday at the library for a brief time. Our schedules are so busy this time of year that she only wanted to meet for a short period. She told me about how she did her first ropes course over the weekend which I thought was really cool. I had to do those all of the time when I was younger and went to camp. I shared some of my experiences with ropes courses and team building exercises that go along with them. She seemed really stressed with her final tests coming up. She is ready to complete this year and enjoy the summer. She is worried about the weather being too hot for her though. I told her I don't think I am ready for it either. Tien and I have had such a great time meeting and it truly has been a great experience. I used this as my final presentation topic because I know it is something that will stick with me for a long time. I will always remember this assignment as one of my favorites. We talked briefly about our weeks and plans for dead days and finals, which involves a lot of writing and studying. We are both excited to finish out this semester. We plan on meeting at some point this weekend as a study break, so hopefully we can talk longer. I want to try this bubble tea place she keeps talking about. It is one of her favorite places here at TCU. She had to go back to doing homework, so we cut the meeting off early and I let her get back to her studies. Crazy to think my last meeting with her will be this weekend, but this semester has flown by and I can't believe it.

Learning Experiences 3

This semester is winding down with only 3 short weeks left. However, the work load is increasing. The stress is starting to pile up with group projects and tests. I almost can't wait till finals week because it is one of my easier weeks. I am continuing to develop better and better time management skills. My sleep schedule is getting to be nonexistent. This year has taught me a lot of new things. Not only in the classroom, but at work, social events, and other various activities. We are constantly learning and developing as humans, but sometimes we move so fast that we don't notice it. Our lives are so scheduled and busy that most days I move from place to place or meeting to meeting and forget to take a second to breathe. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time to the days when I didn't have to do crap. I could play call of duty and eat oreos all day with no real life cares or worries. I do not have that luxury now with school and work. I then have to think about how fortunate I am to go to this school. There are people out there that go to bed hungry, and we complain about the BLUU. There are people who can't afford cars and we whine about the parking spots. Some people can't afford new clothes and we complain about having to get dressed up. Sometimes all it takes is looking around campus and seeing how fortunate we all are that we get to go here. That is something I have learned to appreciate. I thank my parents all of the time for paying my tuition to go to such a great school. Granted, they will be expecting some sort of refund from me in the future, but I will cross that bridge when I get there. TCU has been the best decision I have made in my life and I find myself extremely happy here. I never want to leave. It's that feeling of appreciation that allows me to push through my toughest days here in college. I know that the stress will eventually fade and I will be free from school. I wouldn't want to attend school anywhere else. I can't believe I am about to be a junior in college. I remember thinking it was crazy to be a junior in high school. The jump from high school to college is not anywhere near as scary as the jump from college to the real world. This school prepares us so well with what comes next that those nerves and fears simply fade away. 70 years down the road, when I am old and crusty, I hope to see TCU continuing to thrive as a great institution. I would love for my kids to attend here, as long as they are on scholarship… Anyways, I am constantly learning and developing, but sometimes I need to slow down and appreciate all of the little things around me and the great school I get to go to.

Conversation Partner #4

I ran into Tien today for the first time on campus without having a meeting scheduled. We passed by each other outside the library. I said hello and she asked if we could chat for a bit. We sat down on the benches outside and talked for a couple minutes. I asked how her debate went. She said it went very well, but she had to practice a lot the night before. She had just visited a business class and was heading to the library to study for a little bit. It was nice to see her outside of our regular meetings. Our friendship is to the point now where I don't see it as a required event for a class, but as an old friend that I could talk to any day. She was in a much better mood today and was feeling less stressed. We decided that next time we meet we will go to get coffee or a smoothie instead of meeting at the library. We discussed again how strange it is that the year is almost over. With only a couple weeks left, both of our classes are picking up and group projects are taking up a lot of our days. She talked about how she is so excited to move on to the business school. We talked about the cold weather that occurred this morning and she made fun of our dumb fluctuations of weather in the US. She said it doesn't rain as much here though as it does in Vietnam. Tien said her house hunt is getting close to over, because she found a house that might fit her needs. I'm happy for her. She is excited to move off campus and is hopeful that she gets the desk assistant job too. She finished her application and is pretty nervous for her interview. I think she will do fine. We continued talking about random topics for about 5 more minutes, then decided it was too cold to keep sitting outside. We said goodbye and parted ways after setting up our next meeting time. She told me she was going to send me a link to a funny video she watched today so she said she'd send it on Facebook. She always sends me funny videos. I have realized we have similar senses of humor because of the videos we laugh at. It's funny to think that someone from the other side of the world would have a similar sense of humor as me. I look forward to our next meeting and hope to see her around campus more often.

ConversationPartner #3

Tien and I met again in the library today to talk about our spring break trips and various other topics. We had trouble finding a time to meet until today, so I was pleased when she finally told me she had time. She showed up a little late and seemed pretty stressed. She has a big debate tomorrow for school. The topic is gay marriage. It was interesting to hear her perspective on this topic and I found it strange for that topic to be chosen for debate in a classroom setting. She said she had to practice a ton more for it and only wanted to sleep. Tien had a fun spring break while visiting Los Angeles with her brother. She loved seeing the beach and enjoyed the nice weather. She said she wasn't allowed to swim because of the green stuff in the water. I discussed my adventures in New York and she asked a ton of questions. It was fun exchanging stories and talking about our experiences. I'm sure she loved getting to see the west coast. We talked about how busy our semesters are getting and how badly we want summer to come. The school work for both of us is starting to pile up. She talked about how she and her friends are trying to find a house to live in for next year. She is applying for a desk assistant job as well, so she was wondering how the interview process will go. I think she will do a great job and I gave her a few pointers that I have learned in the business school about interviews. I truly hope she gets the job. We began discussing food because of how hungry we both were. She said her home is now getting their first McDonalds. I was excited to hear that because I have always loved McDonalds. She said how it is such a huge deal when her home gets big chains like McDonalds and Starbucks. That was funny to me because here in America, you cannot drive 2 minutes without seeing one of those chains. No matter how stressed Tien is, she always makes our conversations welcoming and fluent. Our conversations drift to strange topics, but that's what makes it so interesting to me. She had forgot her TCU ID back in her room, so she had to go back and get it when we were finished. She doesn't like being on campus without any documentation. Tien is getting excited to graduate from IP and begin taking courses for her major. She said she sat in on a foundations in business class and she really enjoyed it. She is ready to start taking these classes that interest her instead of the IP classes. Tien said she has 27 transfer credit hours, which I was amazed by. I came in with only a few. She seems like she will be able to advance quickly into her new role at TCU. I am happy for her. She had to cut the meeting off to go prepare for the debate that she has tomorrow. I wished her luck. I then thought about what it would be like for me to debate in a different language than my first known language. I have participated in a formal debate and thought it was extremely challenging. I cannot imagine doing it in a foreign language. She impresses me every time I meet with her. We decided to set up our next meeting through text, so I will wait to hear from her regarding this. I would say it was another successful meeting.

Uncontrollable Laughter 2

Yesterday, my girlfriend and I were talking about funny memories from back when we were in high school. This one situation that comes up every once in a while in our conversations always causes us to break out into uncontrollable laughter. Everyone that has heard the story and knows the priest who is in the story always laughs along with us, including our parents. The story goes like this:


 Emily and I went to the same school our entire life, Casady, which is a small private school in OKC. Our school attended chapel every day for 25 minutes in the morning where our priest would give a sermon or we would have guest speakers and do school announcements. We had done this every day since kindergarten at Casady. When we were growing up we had an old priest by the name of Father Marlin. He was a crazy old man with a rambling problem and never quite seemed to know what was going on in life. He had since retired for a few years when I begin this story. I was a 17 year old junior and Emily was an 18 year old senior and we had to attend an afternoon event on school campus. Emily also had to babysit that day. A cute little 3 year old girl named Addelaide. She had blonde hair, blue eyes and couldn't seem to form her sentences together well. But she was a cute little girl. Emily thought it would be fun to bring her to the event and let her play on the playground, because after all it was an outside event. I met Emily and Addelaide there outside the middle school where the event was being held. Emily was carrying an extremely heavy bag on her shoulder, so I offered to carry it for her. It was a colorful bag with bright designs on it, obviously it was Addelaide's bag. There we were, just walking around the event saying hi to parents and friends while watching over this little girl. We come across old Father Marlin in the middle of the lawn as we made our walk through the event. He was standing there in his classic button down shirt, Casady letterman's jacket, and khaki pants pulled up to his chin it seemed like. He greeted me with a friendly "Hello Mac, How are you?" and I kindly replied, surprised he still remembered my name. I turned towards Emily to acknowledge her. He politely said, "Hello Emily, how are you?" This is when it got weird. His eyes quickly moved to the cute little 3 year old in Emily's arms. His eyes got real big. He then muttered out like the crazy old man he is, "Oh, this must be your Baby-Boo. A little young to have a child don't you think?" I was so caught off guard that I was speechless. Emily gave me the most horrified look I had ever seen. Then I quickly responded, "NO NO Father Marlin, this is Addelaide a little girl that Emily is babysitting, Not our child!" He just stood there puzzled, giving me his 1,000 mile stare of confusion. I was mortified, but determined to convince this loony tune that this was not our child. I continued talking to him for about 5 minutes and sort of brushed Emily away hoping he would forget what had just happened. He did. Thank goodness his craziness side tracked him all of the time. For a short time, however, he thought that Emily and I had a 3 year old daughter. Which would have meant I was14 at the time of conception. I just hope this incident doesn't pop back into his head someday to where the next time he sees me, he asks how my daughter is doing. That wouldn't be good. Anyways, that is the story of our crazy old priest who thought I was a 17 year old father of a 3 year old girl.

Emily and I still crack up to this day thinking about that awkward moment. Even our parents get a great kick out of that story. It's funny how awkward situations can be laughed at down the road, however, when you are in one it is hard to react in the best way possible. We moved on from that day and learned from it. I have yet to accompany Emily on her babysitting duties in public since then to avoid the obvious confusion that our crazy old priest had when we saw him that day.  

Learning experiences 2

With spring break now in our rear view mirror the next destination, for most of us, is summer break. I can't believe this semester has gone by this fast, but we only have a few more weeks left. I am continuing to learn everyday with all of my classes picking up and starting to get in the flow of my new job. My time management is continuing to improve along with my curiosity in the classroom. The biggest thing I have learned since my last post on this topic relates to my spring break. I was fortunate enough to be able to travel to NYC over spring break with the Neeley Fellows Program. The point of the trip was to experience the big apple, while networking with TCU alums that now live in NYC. We visited a bunch of different companies and met a lot of awesome people. A huge takeaway from my trip would be I can now see myself working in New York after college. This was the first time iv'e been to the big city and it was an amazing experience. A lot bigger than my hometown of Oklahoma City. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to like NYC. It's way different than anything I have ever experienced. Turns out, I fell in one with it. My major is finance, which means the pinnacle jobs in my major reside in NYC, so I was extremely eager to see if I would be able to live there. I was able to learn more about the different careers in the financial services industry. I have so many takeaways from the trip, but none bigger than being able to really understand more about what I want to do after college. The trip was so helpful and so fun that I will remember my experiences for years to come. NYC is truly the city that never sleeps. It was in constant motion from the minute we arrived, to the minute we left. It is crazy to see how big that city is, even though geographically, Manhattan is smaller than DFW Airport. My spring break wasn't much of a break, due to the early wake ups for our corporate visits. I may not have caught up on sleep, but it didn't matter because I was never bored. This experience helped me learn so much about the real world after college. It's a little scary to think in two years I will be venturing out on my own and leaving college behind. I'm excited, but I know graduation will be bitter sweet. Overall, my spring break experience left me with a lot of answers about my major, and business in general. I now understand why the Fellows program takes the sophomores every year. The learning experience we were able to have is unmatched and can't be found in many other places. I was reminded of how fortunate I am to go to such a great school and be in such an amazing program. Now I am looking forward to summer vacation where it will be my first Fort worth summer. Iv'e heard horror stories about the heat, but I think I will be able to handle it. We are constantly learning here at TCU, and it is crazy to see how fast these semesters are going by. I am learning how to slow down and appreciate the little things, because this time in two years I will be on the last few weeks of my college career. I hope to make the most of my experience here, and I wish to continue to learn.

Uncontrollable Laughter 1

Yesterday, my friends and I were all sitting around watching the march madness basketball tournament and talking about various things. Our conversation led to a point where my friend Drew brought up a time when my other friend Will tripped and rolled down an entire flight of stairs last year. The room erupted in laughter and didn't die down for a good minuter or two. None of us had thought about this event in a long time, but the memory was so vivid in our minds that we all about cried we were laughing so hard. Will even mustered up some laughter even though he was the victim. It's funny how something that happened so long ago can still cause so much laughter in present time. We went through the whole scenario bit  by bit and cracked up while doing so. Thinking back on it, Will was actually pretty beaten up after it, but I guess enough time has passed that he can laugh about it now. When my friend group breaks out in laughter it is hard to stop because one thing leads to another and more stories begin to flow. This event was straight superiority theory. Poor Will just rolled, helplessly, down an entire flight of stairs. The floor wasn't carpet either. Nice hard wood stairs. That didn't make for a soft landing at the bottom. Thinking back on this, it is so easy to laugh and when you are around multiple people who remember it as vividly as you, then it causes an uproar in laughter. This story, even as simple as it is, will always be remembered by us. Will is pretty clumsy, but we would have never seen him roll down a flight of stairs because of it. Poor Will just has to sit there and get made fun of now. Anyways, this story always causes an eruption in laughter and once it starts it is hard to stop.

Learning experiences #1

This semester has been extremely busy for me. Class work is picking up and I have recently started my new job that requires 15-20 hours a week. I am having to work really hard and manage my time efficiently in order to get everything done. I am enjoying my busy schedule though, because I am never bored. I like to constantly be doing something. I am also learning a lot in my classes that is interesting to me. I now know that there are theories behind why we laugh. I always just thought we laugh when we, personally, think something is funny. After learning about the superiority theory and incongruity theory, i now realize the certain situations that evoke laughter. I am enjoying seeing other students presentations and their views on why we laugh. It is very interesting to learn about that. This lit and civ class is different than any class I have taken in the past and it is offering a unique perspective on humor. The active classroom helps a lot with understanding other people's opinions. I am excited to see what movies other students think is the best comedy ever. The presentations will be great. I am also learning a bunch of new information in my other classes. BIS is completely new to me because I am not the greatest with computers. Marketing is interesting to learn about how companies market their products and why we buy them. I am also in a business Law class where we are learning the legal environment of business. I have no previous knowledge of the law and how it works, so it is interesting to read the cases and see why the judges rule the way they do. I am no future lawyer, but it is interesting to see how it works. I have also started a new book for my energy minor course. The Prize is a pulitzer winner and discusses the history of the oil and gas business. I am excited to continue reading this as it is a subject I am extremely interested in. This semester is teaching me a lot about time management. I am having to balance more than I ever have before. I am excited for spring break and to enjoy my time in New York City with the Fellows program. I will be able to take a lot away from that trip and live it up in the big city. Overall, my semester is going well and I am learning new things every week. My days are busy from start to finish, but i am enjoying the ride. I am excited for the rest of this semester and then enjoy a long summer here in Fort Worth.

Conversation Partner #2

Tien and I met for the second time this past week. It was much easier to coordinate a meeting time and place. I also was able to find her much easier because I know what she looks like now. We met in the library and she commented on how I looked tired. Then she told me to drink my coffee to help me wake up. We began by talking about how our day was going and she commented on how busy she has been. She has a heavy work load the week before spring break. She has a bunch of tests and papers due this upcoming week. She had no plans for the weekend except studying. We talked about our plans for spring break and she was jealous that I get to go to New York City. However, she gets to go to Los Angeles. So I was jealous as well. The conversation flowed more smoothly this time than the first one. We talked like normal friends instead of strangers meeting for the first time. She talked about TCU basketball and how they aren't any good. I laughed and was impressed she was keeping up with the team. She even has gone to a few games. Her english has already gotten better since our last meeting. She understands what I say really well and can respond to all my questions. I still think it's crazy to think about what it must be like to be a foreign exchange student. I wouldn't be able to do it. Anyways, she is really enjoyable to talk to and has a lot of great experiences. She is currently in the process of picking a major. She is looking into either Business Information Systems (BIS), or engineering. Two pretty difficult majors. She is thinking of sitting in on some classes to sort of get the feel for them. I am impressed with how much she has to work in school and still finds time to do things like that. She could teach me a thing or two about time management. Tien had to cut our conversation short because she had too much homework and a meeting to go to. We have planned to meet the week after spring break to discuss our experiences. I cannot wait. Tien and I are becoming great friends and I look forward to visiting with her after our break.

Jokes, Cartoons, Videos

Cartoon:

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyMpZTba5Tc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwMONEPz4yA

Jokes:

-I am more pissed off than a dragon trying to blow out candles.

-Want to hear a dirty joke? A man fell in the mud.

Want to hear a clean joke? He took a bath with bubbles.

Want to hear another dirty joke? Bubbles was his neighbor.

Conversation Partner Meeting #1

I met with my conversation partner, Tien, for the first time today. First time meetings can always be a little awkward, regardless of who you are meeting with, so I was a little nervous to first meet Tien. We met in the library computer area and I had trouble finding her at first. She texted me saying, "I'm in a white sweater." Finally, I was able to find her. She offered a handshake immediately and introduced herself. I immediately felt comfortable and the anxiousness left my mind. She was so engaged, and greeted me with a big smile. We clicked instantly talking about where we were from, what we are studying, and talking about the snow. She had never seen snow before. I laughed as she told me before coming to Texas from Vietnam she had always wanted to play in the snow, yet days like today made her curse her previous fantasy. "Too cold and not worth the frost bite." She has a wonderful personality and speaks so well for having english as a second language. She has also studied spanish and chinese. I sadly only know english. Tien came to TCU as a foreign exchange student following in her brother's footsteps. He also studied here at TCU. I was taken back by how curious she was and how she asked so many questions. She wants to visit New York in the future, but not during winter. She said Vietnam has 2 seasons. Sun and rain. I laughed. She had me cracking up quite a bit during our time together. When I met with her, she was reading a fiction story for her homework in english class. She was bored and suggested it wasn't her favorite thing she has ever read. Tien wants to study physics, but her brother said there are no jobs for vietnamese physicists in America. That is not going to stop her though. She asked questions that varied from sports, all the way to class schedule and classes. I found out early on she has learned the American way of, "Facebook Creeping," because she knew all about me before I had told her. I immediately added her on Facebook and did a little "creeping" myself. She thought it was funny. She knew I was a fan of the OKC Thunder and Dallas Cowboys, as well as the name of my girlfriend. I was amazed how she took the time to do some background on me. Overall, our first meeting was a huge success. She is so fun to talk to and I just know I will be able to learn so much from this experience. I thought about how it must feel to pack up your things and ship off to a foreign country, where you only know your brother. I wouldn't be able to do it, no way. I have a large amount of respect for students such as Tien. These foreign exchange students truly are remarkable people. This friendship will be great as we already exchange text and email daily leading up to our meeting. We have already planned our next meeting for after her midterms, as she will be very busy next week. I can tell the language barrier depended on the amount of "slang" words I used. However, she was never confused by anything I said, nor was I when she spoke. I think this assignment will be a rewarding and a great learning experience. I look forward to our next meeting.

Why do people Laugh? What makes people laugh?

Lit and Civ assignment 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LScCZOWmX5c

What is Literature? What is Civilization?

Person 1

Me: "Hey Brandon, What is Literature?"

Brandon: "Literature is um, writing and a form of art that can be expressed in different ways.”

Me: "Hey Brandon, What is civilization?"

Brandon: "Civilization is a bunch of societies intertwined together as one.”

Person 2

Me: "Hey Seth, What is Literature?"

Seth: "Literature is boring writing.”

Me: "Hey Seth, What is civilization?"

Seth: "Civilization is the total diverse human population living amongst each other.”

Person 3

Me: "Hey Tori, What is Literature?"

Tori: "Literature is like, sort of, like, reading and writing.”

Me: "Hey Tori, What is civilization?"

Tori: "Civilization is people that live on earth.”