It's about that time of the year!

Rando!

"First off I just wanted to give a shout out to my brother, Austin. Roomies next year in Sagamore, it's going down. Get it poppin! RB in the building!" I obviously did not write this quote, but nice try Austin, you got busted! Still love you though...we need to get started on that bucket list ASAP! Anyways, I have been slacking on updating my blog on time, no doubt. It's that time of the year, the time where academics take over your life completely.Yes, finals are officially around the corner. Lots to do and less time for bloging.

Academics:

Although I hate admitting to having easy academic weeks at Stonehill, I will say that last week was a little less stressful. Doesn't mean I did not have much to do last week, it just means I didn't stress as much. Because last week seems so long ago, it is best to just go down the line in order of days and make life easier for myself. Well, it is finals season and I am currently working on my portrait workshop and figure drawing finals. I think I did dicuss how complicated my portrait workshop final is a couple blogs ago. It has been about two full weeks going to three weeks since the project was assigned and I have not put in as much time as I should for a couple weeks worth of work. Apparently so did the rest of my class because the professor almost lost her mind last week in class. We presented the  working progress and lets just say, she was not too please about it. She got so angry she could no longer afford to see our slacking fases. Her solution was to send everyone home for the day to continue working on the final projects and submit it at 4:30pm the following day. Lets just say I have been working my ass off on the project since that incident.  For some reason I have been on a role in terms of grades over the past couple weeks. I got my literature paper back after like three weeks of Howe holding onto it, and I got a B+! The paper was about the use of  satire in Gulliver's travels. Although I did well in analyzing Swift's use of satire, I made the silliest mistakes to man-kind. I did not include a title and I forgot to cite my source. Thats about as silly of a mistake as it gets. I am not sure how it affected my grade but I surely am Glad about the B+, especially know how tough of a grader Howe is. Definately one of the toughest I've came accross by far. I also got a 90% on my healthcare quizes, well for the second week in a role. Since the first couple quizes, I always feel like I did terrible, because I am not studying as much, but yet I keep beasting on them.

 Favorite assignment of the week? My philosoply paper on beauty. Of all my options I chose to make a theory on beauty. No wonder I handed it in late, I couldn't think of anything to write about! When I finally got my act together, it came out very philosophical. The entire paper was basically about me indirectly rejecting Kant and Burk's theory of beauty as sublime. It went something like this; "My perspective is that beauty is not always sublime or cute and charming (Burke). It is not always overwhelming or some kind of mental obstacle that needs to be overcome, nor is it ever about fear and overcoming those mental fears (Kant). Beauty can be subjective; an idea, or  the act of something; or an objective, it is tangible or sight". Pretty bad thesis, but I always kill the arguments with my philosophical thoughts. I think I need to see the Thesis gods or something because I truly suck at writing it. Well, I just gonno have to wait and see what Velazquez thinks. I can not wait for my last bi-weekly paper. Now that's going to be a blast because I will be analyzing the biblical scene where Satan  manipulated Adam and Eve into eating the apple, in comparison to a stranger/rapist/creeper tricking a child with candy. Now that's exciting!

I unfortunately didn't get to creep on any applicant's college essay this past week because I didn't work. I was caught up in doing last minute school work and I had a Doctor's appointment on friday. Talking about Doctor's apointment, I actually barely made the appointment. I made it thirty second before the deadline. And as for the rest of the weekend? Well, it was Spring Weekend. That basically explains it all. What matters is that I am still here and ready to go hard in the books for the rest of the semester. Lots of plans going on this summer, I can not wait to blog about it!





Week Back From Easter!

Easter Break, The Benefit of a Catholic School

I had so many plans for staying ahead with work and catching up with rest during the easter break. Like usual, that plan went down the drain. I requested to be scheduled for work all week. From wednesday, the same day I left the Hill, until monday before returning to the Hill. I think I may be the craziest person I know but oh well, there's no such thing as rest for an individual who is hungry for success. Of course I did not work on Sunday, it was my only day of rest. Much like God who worked all six days, rested on the 7th day (Sunday), and nothing like Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. Random connection but I just thought I would test my Biblical skills a little. The last thing I actually got to do all week was rest. I was literally hopping from place to place socializing with friends, and family. I did not once open a notebook to attempt catching up with school assignments. Well, atleast I taught about it a couple times? Just thinking about it definately did not  help me much coming back to school.

Academic Week 

It wasn't that bad of an academic week, suprisenly. Actually I lied, what I meant is I did not stress as much as I usually do, but it was still a challenging week. Major assignments; Reading Response for Literature, a Philosophy paper, usual Healthcare chapter assignments, a quiz and a Scenario. For the literature reading response, I had to write about an artlcle called SF and the Human Imagination. In the passage, the author basically questions; “Why do we so frequently put monsters at the edges of the maps, or under the bed and also_in some of its form_in stories of the adventure-romance type?” Such an interesting question. I Basically responded by admitting to never being aware of monsters being frequestly put at the end of maps. I also testified to only being aware of monsters only being associated with darkness and how they are usually known for living under beds and in closets. The passage then went into Utopia, Distopia, and all that good stuff. I personally love Philosophy because it always requires writing about cool topics and putting my Philosophical skills to the test. For my bi-weekly paper I chose to basically make my own theory about morality. My thesis went something like this; "Much like Burke, I believe that we as humans have similar morals on a basic level. On a complex level, we tend to have different views of life and develop different morals due to individuality". Looking back at it, it is somewhat of a weak thesis but I think he got the point cause I got a "B" on it. I didn't do as well as I expected because I guess I did not provide enough objective. Or atleast I did not gave a detailed enough objective. Besides getting a 90% on my last Healthcare quiz, my Scenario went pretty smooth. The task was, I'm an adult who recently moved into Chicago, Illinois. Because I am new into the environment, I am responsible for finding an Insurance, a Hospital, and a Primary Physician. I did a couple researches through google, came across a couple good government websites, but they weren't relevant to the info. I needed. So I called up an emergency plan, my cool friend Vikki aka Victoria Kane who is actually from Chicago. Well, she basically got on the phone with her mother and just like that, problem was solved. As for my art classes, my overall work from this semester will be publicized soon. Most likely on facebook. At this moment I am working on my final project for portrait workshop. It is pretty difficult to describe in words but it is definately going to be one of the sickest projects I have ever done! It's going to take three pages of 24X26" papers. Yes very big, very exciting, extremely creative, lots of time but very worth it!

General Taughts:

So once in a while I tend to creep on a couple applicant's college essays so I can find something interesting to write about. Last week while doing my usual job, I came across a kid who is basically living my dreams. Literally, this kid has the almost perfect life every adult wants, but he is living it at only 17 years of age. He was born in England, raised in Ireland, and currently an American citizen. He speaks three languages, English, Irish, and French. He also understands lating because he's been studying it for six years! What the hell? You would think, how the hell is this kid only 17? But thats not enough, it doesnt stop there.  He plays Scoccer, Lacross, Football, Rugby, and Tennis! What?! What is he, Superman? Well anyways, This kid is the official traveler everyone wants to be like when they grow up, and he's not even grown! Why? According to him, he has been to Asia, Europe, and obviously North America. Where in Asia? China, the Forbidden City, Terracitta worriors (not sure who they are), the Olympic stadium in Beijing, Walk on the great wall of China! Hong Kong, and Bairritz, France! This kid is seriously living the Dream. According to him Stonehill has a good rep. world wide. How exciting is that? That's how he found out about stonehill. Oh of course his Gand Uncle was a student here in the 1970s. Now thats some good facts. Well thats it for last week. I am loving this blogging stuff more and more every week, and it is getting longer and loger every week. Lets see how what this week holds. Spring Weekend coming up! Woop Woop! Lord have Mercy. 

My NOLA Experiences: The series V

Part V: The Story of Paster Robert Burnside

Direct/Meaningful Quotes:

"I Love People!"

"It's not about religion, it's about your personal relationship with Christ"

"Sanctification by association"- Making an impact on your sorrounding and not letting your sorrounding impact you...

The Story of Forgiveness:

The story of Paster Robert Burnside is one of the most inspiring stories I've ever heard, if not the most inspiring. Talking about an individual who has overcomed obstacles. Paster Burnside is the man behind the scene, the reason why most residence are gradually getting their life back in the community of the 9th ward in New Orleans. He has devoted his life to his community (the 9th-ward), by rebuilding houses as well as the lives of ressidence who never thought it was worth going back. Hint: the 9th-ward of New Orleans suffered most of hurricane Katrina. Paster B. himself was strongly affected by Hurricane Katrina. He unfortunately lost his mother in a nursing home. Him and the rest of his family left to Mississippi after being warned to evacuate the city. He left with the intentions that his mother was going to be transported to Mississippi. The person in charged was selective about who was to be transported and who was to stay. Unfortunately, the Paster's mother was one of those who was left behind. According to him, he never got to say goodbye to his mother, never got to open her casket or have a proper funeral. There were many questions that couldn't be answered. Now Paster Burnside lives an anger free life, with full unconditional love for the man who was responsible for his mother's death; while his sisters still live with anger and hate. Truely an inspiring story of forgiveness.

The Full Transformation:

 Paster B. was saved, AKA became a christian 19-years ago. Before discovering God, his life was a total roller-coaster. Long story short, Paster Burnside got caught up into the street life like most under privilege kids; robbing banks, dealing drugs and living the life of crime. Paster B now carries the burdon. As of today, four of his nephews are incarcerted because of his influence and introducing them into the drug game. In other words, he thought them everything they know. Paster Burnside was also an ex-convict, charged for second degree murder. The roller-coaster life continued for Paster B even when he became a paster. God truly had a purpose for his life because with the the kind of life style he lived, he probably shouldn't be alive right now. Paster B shared with us a couple shocking stories about his life as a christian. According to him, he once met a man who confessed to attempting to put a hit on him, AKA get him killed. "Man..I have been trying to kill you all along, but I just can't. I can never to seem find you". Well the quote is not exact, but it went somewhere along those lines. Point is, he truly had God looking over him because not too long after the confession, the same individual put a hit on someone else who got shot in the head in broad day-light. Paster Burnside also shared a story of a gang member he once knew name Chuky. According to him Chucky had 3-bodies; meaning Chucky was accused for killing three people, but not found gilty at that point. During the lowest point of his life, Chucky made the decision to turn to God. He was saved and became a christian. Unfortunately, Chucky was killed three days after he was saved. How insane is this story? Where did Chucky go? Heaven or hell? Guess we will never know...Couple things I took from Paster Burnside's story; If God says no, no one else can say yes. He is in control at all times, no matter how much others want you dead. Also, life is short, and you just don't whenyour time is up. Crazy stories like the ones Paster B. shared reminds me of the TV show, a 1000 Ways to Die. One second you're here, and the next you're gone..Such a crazy and cary taught, but that's just how life works. NOLA definately opened my eyes to all the realities of life. 

 

Truly A Week from Hell

General Thoughts/Academic

Two people read my mind extremely well this week. They mentioned exactly what was going through my head all week, "the week from hell". First person was my good friend/study buddy Ryleigh who's status stated, "This is the hell week of all hell weeks" Friday at work, I over heard one of the admission counselors saying "this is the week from hell". It is amazing how when you think you are alone, you realize that there are people who are going through the same struggles or possibly having it worse than you. There is no better feeling because it sucks having to be alone in any situation, not only through struggles. Where am I coming from with this? well, it really has been a sucky week. Academically, not so much socially. But then again, isn't every week sucky academically? True, but this week was by far the suckiest of all, if thats a word. Healthcare killed me this week like usually does. Switching from Bio, I didn't think I would have such a busy semester academically. Healthcare, Glavin and my Art classes definately proved me wrong. Had my usual 10 hours homework for Healthcare along with an article, summery and reflection of the next chapter,  on wednesday, two chapter quiz on friday, and a research paper that was originally scheduled for Sunday at 5:00pm. Thank the good Lord he porsponed it until Tuesday at 6:00pm  because it would have been an impossible task. Just when I thought the week couldn't get any worse, I found out last minute I had to have my Literature paper on Swift's use of satire in Gulliver's Travels, done by thursday for an in-class workshop. Life would have been even worse if it wasn't for Valazquez's late three day policy. Why? Because I also would have had to turn in a Philosophy paper! It makes me angry talking about it. All this madness doesn't even include my art projects for class. If I hadn't used my time wisely by skipping a couple unnecessary classes, I wouldn't have been able to turn in anything on-time this week. And of course after having such a sucky week you would think I would have all the time in the world to finally get some rest over the weekend. NOPE, I had an ABS Training from 9-5 on Saturday, and PM training from 12-2 on Sunday. Now it makes more sense why it would have been an impossible task to have my research completed by 5:00pm on Sunday huh? Mhm...Though it may sound like I am complaining, don't get me wrong though, I am not complaining. Well maybe academically, but I love the ABS and PM programs. This week just really got me thinking of my mentor Paul Burton's famous quote, "I wish..I had..more Time". Exactly what it is, can't explain any better.

ABS Training

One of the activities we did for the traing was to draw the idea Image of an ABS leader. Not going to get into details about it but one major charateristic my group's little ABS leader had was being open-minded. We literally drew him open-minded with symbols coming out of his head. A globe, a peace sign, a gay pride flag, and the cross and other religious symbols. The point is,  I have always been an opended peoson, but since I've been at Stonehill and involved with the Diversity program and ABS, my mind has been expanded. Well, mostly in a different way I can not explain. Being at stonehill definately made me realized not everyone come from the same walks of life. AkA not everyone grew up in a diverse environment, we all have different backgrounds. I am constantly reminding myself, mostly through Aristotle's philosophical theory of the identification of catharsis. AkA putting your  self in someone else's shoes and identifying with that person. This help me understand majority of the time where people are coming from when they are being ignorant. In other words, stay patient and keep my cool. Patient and cool is definately not what the high school Thomas would have done. The aggresive, homofobic, sometimes ignorant and unaware Thomas. The don't give a dam what you think or say about me Thomas. In other words, I thought I knew it all.   

My other favorite activity wasn't much of an activity, it was a movie called "The Walkout". It was basically a documentary about five students from East L.A who decided to make a difference. They stood up for their rights to a better and equal education against the school district. Persistence allowed them to continue to push on, despite the police brutality attempt to stop them. Despite all obsticles, they won over the school district and the public by starting a walkout. All it took was five brave and determained high school kids.

The gneral story reminds me of my own personal project, starting a wrestling club at Stonehill College. I currently have the support of Dean of Admissions Dan Monahan who is willing to coach, if everything go as planned. Unfortunately the Athletic Directors refused to get on board with us. Their excuse? "Budget cuts..Too many clubs, blah blah blahh..." Typical excuse they've given to students in the pass who attempted to start a program. Thanks to determination of those five students, I am not giving up anytime soon. I have three more years to make it happen!