I finished my last class of Junior year today. I can't say whether I am excited or sad about it. I am now officially a senior in college. Where has time gone? I feel like I was just moving into college for my freshman year. Everything was new, I was going to be away from home, I was going to make new friends, and my mom would not be there 24/7. Now I am in the process of looking for a job/internship and I will be 21 on move in day of next year. I have had to grow up so much in the past 3 years.

The one good thing is that I don't have any finals. The only thing I need to do is finish a take home exam which is due during finals week. I don't really have many plans for this summer. The only thing I have planned is going to NYC for Phi Sigma Sigma's convention. The sorority that I am apart of is celebrating 100 years of sisterhood. We were founded in 1913 in Hunter College, New York. So when I go to NYC over the summer we will be visiting Hunter College, exploring the city, and partaking in a variety of other events around the city. I am looking forward to this, I think it will be a lot of fun.

This blog entry is going to be very short. I feel like I don't have much to say anymore and I am looking forward to going home and relaxing, even though I know halfway through summer I am going to be bored and wish I was back at school.

I can't say I have heard anything interesting these past two weeks. It is kind of hard to write a blog about that when I have had presentations on presentations. I had two presentations today, a few last week. If I am not prepping for that I am working on projects or doing Phi Sig related stuff. We did just initiate 7 new girls and couldn't be happier about it. 

After just getting back from break, the last thing I want to do is any school work. I was able to spend a week in Florida relaxing and soaking up the sun, even though it was only around 70 degrees there. At least I wasn't back at home dealing with snow and cold weather and was able to come home with somewhat of a tan. I feel like I just got home from Florida and it is already half way through the week. Where does time go?

Today I did a presentation about media. It was on a theory called media dependency theory. Basically in this theory people automatically go to a news source for information about a topic. This could be the newspapers, TV, friends/family, social media (Facebook, Twitter), and online newspapers. This theory says that people are going to go to the source that they are most comfortable with and can meet their needs or interests. This explains why there is so many different ways to obtain information. You don't really think about it how you get your information until someone may ask you. 

I personally don't watch the news or read it on an everyday basis. I also don't usually follow up on stories. But when I do hear about something or read about something it is usually through the local news (TV) or on CNN.com. But to further explain this theory I will give you an example of where I did not turn to these things first. 

Everyone has heard about the Sandy Hook school shootings. Well the first time that I heard about Sandy Hook was through Twitter and I had no idea what Sandy Hook was or what had even happened. I kind of avoided the subject for a little bit and then my mom called. She was very upset and started telling me about what had happened at Sandy Hook. The reason why she was so upset was because my older sister is a first grade teacher. She was so worried that it could have happened at her school. After hearing this news from my mom I turned on the TV and was watching the news about the shooting. It was either CNN or FoxNews that was broadcasting the shooting. I didn't really keep up with it after that unless I happened to turn the news on in the morning or someone had a post or tweet about it online. 

I think the main reason why I turn to CNN if its online is because I feel like they are more of a source to state the facts and provide less bias (but here my bias gets in the way because other people could feel differently). I try to avoid social media sites at all cost to get information because it catches me off guard and doesn't have the full story. I feel like I cannot keep up with all of the information that people are posting to comprehend the immensity of a story. 

But the media dependency theory varies between ages because older generations rely on newspapers for information, while the younger generation goes to the Internet or social media to find out information. People will start to hunt around to other sources when they want to know more, but in general stick with what they are most comfortable with. 

My housemates are not your typically set of girls. We are loud, obnoxious, messy, pretty much the opposite of what you typically think of when you think of girls. Don't get me wrong we have our moments. We call these our 'girl moments.' We also shamble a lot...I mean a lot. A week doesn't go by that something doesn't happen. It is actually pretty scary if there isn't something every day. But on the outside people would have no idea that we are this way. You can tell that all four of us are close, its evident. We have a lot of inside jokes, we go to meals together, we laugh a lot together. But if you only knew our life. Laura and I are probably the closest ones in the house. Seriously, we are the same person in so many ways. When we get sick of people we want our alone time. We are loud. We over exaggerate things. We also have the same viewpoints on a lot of things. We love food, sleep, and procrastinating. I am so glad that I have gotten the chance to be closer with her this year and to live with her.
 
There is always something going on at our house at all times. Like last night, we had a carton of expired eggs, instead of throwing them out like normal people we decided we were going to throw them outside. They laid out a black trashbag on the ground and stood on our back porch and were going to launch them onto this make shift tarp. Unfortunately I was sicker than a dog yesterday so I did not participate in these activities but I mean seriously this is how much fun we have all the time. 

Some other favorite moments are when we have random dance parties at midnight, board game nights, baking, bellowing across the house, Laura hiding behind the grill (yeah she might kill me for that one), playing tag across campus, mating calls, stabbing chicken, and just recapping our events of the weekend. I seriously have had the best year ever despite all the bad things that have happened. Of course this year is flying by, next week is going to be spring break, and then we come back and only have about a month and a half left of school.  

Not to name any names but when something cute or exciting happens to Laura or I, our true girliness comes out. We geek out and usually ask each other "did you girl too hard?" Usually when something normal happens we complain about it and have long talks. It is always story time in our house. But we do love to embarass each other. When Laura or I receive a cute message or recieve something cute, we geek out, start grinning from ear to ear, occaisonally jump up and down. These are our true girl moments because they don't show that often. After these girl moments occur, we of course have to pick on each other for them. But as long as it is only the housemates that give me crap about it then we are fine. Unfortunately, for me people can read my face like a book. I have gotten so much better about it though and now it is harder for people to read how I am feeling (which is helpful in so many ways). If you only knew how I felt about you or what you did (tisk tisk). But our house is the house of no judgment for a reason (seriously it is, it is rule number one on our list of house rules posted on the kitchen cabinet). The amount of stupid ridiculous stuff we do would make anyone else judge us hardcore.
But our house has way too much fun for us to care. We get over it and move on. And if your lucky we will give you crap about it until you do something new *wink wink* *nudge nudge*.

So I am going to try and not girl too hard this week, but I can't make any promises, but trust me Laura, Aislinn, and Nicole will be there to make sure I never hear the end of it.   

This week has been incredibly boring. The only thing exciting that has happened is that I am now a grand big, which makes me feel really old. I joined Phi Sigma Sigma a little over a year ago, acquired a little, and two leadership positions all in that time period. Plus now I have a new little nugget in my family line. Makes me wonder where time goes. I have to be a big girl after next year and that freaks me out. I don't want time to fly by, I want to be stuck in my junior year forever. Okay that's enough of my sob story for the day. I really am in a happy mood. Things are finally going well for once. Yay me! (knock on wood.)

On brighter new, I didn't have my current events quiz this morning. They are terrible and I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to take a politics and media class. I don't follow the news or watch news or even have the slightest interest  in politicians. Honestly the only reason I took this class was because of the teacher and because it fulfilled the requirement for my communications concentration. 

Lately, in the news conspiracy theories have been popping up. They come up all the time when a major event happens around the world. The most recent one publicized in the news is about the Tea Party. Dr. Pettice (professor of the Politics and Media class) has been getting fed up about all the conspiracies lately. She said "It's like herding cats with conspiracy theories." Could you imagine a room filled with all cats. I mean who doesn't like cats. They are cute, cuddly, and super adorable. I just thought it was funny that she compared conspiracy theories to herding cats. Clearly, Pettice thinks they are absolutely ridiculous just because of the comment that she made.

Here is a link to a conspiracy theory about the Sandy Hook shooting http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/videos/the-sandy-hook-shooting-fully-exposed/. 
I personally find conspiracy theories to be interesting. They really do make you think, what if thats really what happened. It also makes you question what the government is hiding from you. I try not to go into depth about them but they really do make you think. 

Working in retail can be a nightmare. There are always crabby customers and people who are demanding, just to name a few instances of working in retail. But when someone says to me "excuse me, but do you work here?" they are really proving that people are not that smart. Obviously I work here if I have on a walkie talkie and a badge. Also if that isn't obvious enough, I am folding clothes or talking to other customers. So umm yes I do work here, do you really need to even ask. It gets even better, many customers ask what is 50% off an item. 50% off is an easy percentage point to determine. You simply take half of the number on the ticket price. It is not like we are asking you to take 70% off, that would be different because I would still have a hard time doing that in my head. It just amazes me how lazy or dumb people really can be. 

Another one of my favorites is "umm, the sign says that this shirt is $15, how much is it?" Seriously do people not think before they speak. It is moments like these I have to bite my tongue before I speak or it will not be pretty. What is the world coming to. Why would we mark the table as a certain price and then have it be a different price point? Ugh! People can be so frustrating and most days I come out of work feeling very aggravated. 

On top of these questions that we get on a daily basis, we also get the customers that  get really cranky because we don't have anymore of their size or of something else that they want. The worst is when someone's credit card gets denied and they blame you for it!! Yes, because I made your credit card deny your purchase, yup all my fault, how'd you know! It just amazes me how people can be so rude and inconsiderate, I work retail, this is not going to be my job forever, so chill out. Also I work at Aeropostale, not some expensive boutique or ritzy store. We are not going to give you our undivided attention 24/7. One we don't have enough employees to do that and two if we are busy we are more worried about getting people through the register and into fitting rooms, than running around for you. 

Continuing my rant, what really bothers me is when someone either waits in line at the cash wrap for a fitting room, or when someone snaps and waves their hand at me to get them a fighting room. Excuse me but I am not a dog, don't wave at me to get my attention, that is beyond rude. Simply just ask me for a fitting room, no problem there. Also please don't wait in line for a fitting room because I am the only employee that you see. Your going to wait in line and I am going to tell you that if you want a fitting room that you can go over to the fitting rooms and someone will get you one. Clearly I am unable to help you if I am ringing out someone's items. But what do I know, apparently I can be in two places at one time. I wish! I could get so much done. 

What makes me feel better is that most of us will joke around with one another about what someone just said to us. Its easier to vent that way than to build up the frustration. Another great moment is when we close the store and are trying to recover it. We all usually de-stress by grabbing a snack or drink (nonalcoholic but sometimes I wish I was 21 and could just go out and get one). We also plug in our own music and have a jam session. We are loud, obnoxious, and joke around. If it wasn't like this after we close I would still be very stressed (especially around holiday time). Anyways retail can be a pain, you definitely need to be a people person to work in any type of retail. I would much rather work in retail than in food. But hey we all have our own preferences. And as for people, they will never change, there will always be nice ones and difficult ones. Welcome to our society!

The way that we learn is through others, by observing their behavior, actions, or by listening. There is so much knowledge around us. This week has consisted of many Native American tendencies. In my usability class our group had to design a one dollar coin that had many similar mental models to other coins or paper money that we already have. We used to have a coin with Sacagawea on it that was worth a dollar. In reality the United Sates picked a Native American, who was a woman, and put her on a coin. Yes she did help Lewis and Clark along their journey but other than that most people don't know about her. She isn't a huge person that impacted the whole society. I know that sounds harsh but it makes you wonder why the United States minted a coin like that. It makes sense to put the president's on it because they helped shape and create the system that the United States has today. I guess they did it to make a point that females are important too. Don't get me wrong, being a woman I think that we should all have equal rights compared to men. We have come a long way from how it used to be. In society today, most men and women do get paid equally and have the same opportunities.

My religion class is such a laid back class. We all sit in a circle and talk through the reading. There really are no dumb questions in this class. We were discussing Buddhism the other day and my professor used an analogy to describe something about Buddhism and a student commented on it. My professor replies with well "Pocahontas got it from me!" Totally random and out there but its fine. He would have to be really old for Pocahontas to learn something from him or she would have to be from this century. It is funny what people say especially when it is unexpected. I wish I could remember what his analogy was. I think it had something to do with how a river flows, but thats beside the point.  

Oh Hitler, you are man known throughout the world. I guess it becomes perfectly acceptable to make jokes this far along down the road. I feel like any major event that happens people try to make jokes out of it. Some people even go as far as the next day and say, "Oh was that too soon." But Hitler comes up on a daily basis. 

In my politics and media class, my professor was ranting about how political blogs have become a huge part of journalism. Which is true, they really have. Many news sources such as cnn and the new york times have blogs featured on their websites. They are easy ways to find out information and viewpoints. Sometimes breaking news is presented in a blog or through social media first before it hits the news stations. But of course not everyone is going to agree with what someone writes. My professor said "They go from saying one thing wrong to being Hitler." But in order to be taken seriously political bloggers need to be edgy and not care what others have to say. They are out there and in your face about stuff. This can be good or bad because it could get someone recognized or provide bad publicity. 

Jon Stewart from the Daily Show has a funny clip about Hitler references in the media especially when it comes to politics. We have taken a horrible man and situation and compare it to everything in the world (yes some of it can be funny but how can we compare people to Hitler, that's just terrible!) Anyways here is the link to the daily show, it is quite comical : http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-june-16-2005/a-relatively-closer-look---hitler-reference

"It's a lot of balls in the air." Haha what? Yup this comment really happened, and by a professor too! It was one of those comments that had nothing to do with the subject matter but was beyond funny. When your in college you don't really expect teachers to use profanity or make vulgar comments because you are so used to your teachers in grade school holding their tongue. But when they do it always catches the class off guard and makes people giggle. 

A big part of my major is learning design techniques, whether it is improving an already existing object or creating something from scratch. Yesterday in my Usability class we broke up into small groups and were told to redesign an alarm clock (since college kids generally use their cell phones as alarms instead of a traditional alarm clock, so we had to design an actual alarm clock that college kids could possibly use). Having this class at 9:30 in the morning generally entails that most of us are not awake. We are all usually riding the struggle bus in the mornings, shuffling to class with our coffees in hand. Anyways our alarm clock idea came from an already existing alarm clock and life alert. Some people may know that there are alarm clocks that are mats that you sit by the side of your bed. You have to stand on the mat to turn off the alarm, which in turns means that you got up to start your day. But what if you end up just falling back on your bed and going back to sleep, then the alarm clock defeats its purpose. 

But wait "I have been launched on my computer and can't get up." Alarm clock 2.0 is being introduced with a version similar to life alert, "Help I have fallen and can't get up." Kevin, a senior, and one of my group members came up with this idea and it only continued to get funnier as we developed it. 

So here is how the new and improved alarm clocks works. First your bed starts blasting music in the head board to warn you that you are about to woken up and sprung out of your bed. Then you are launched from your bed onto the alarm clock mat (or your computer, depending on the force of the springs). To make sure you don't go back to bed after this has happened, the mat gives you a slight shock and you have to call a service aka "life alert" to let them know that you are awake (please refer to image posted above as a visual element on the workings of this alarm clock). How funny would this be if you were actually woken up like this every morning. Okay, so it probably wouldn't be funny to you but if it was your roommate then it would be a different story. I know I would try to get up before my alarm clock went off so I wouldn't be scared to death every morning. There is definitely no need for a snooze button on this alarm.

I wonder how it would work for naps though, would you still have to call in to "life alert" to let them know that you are awake from your nap? I nap all the time and they are usually longer than what I intended. Don't take naps away from college kids, there would be a lot of grumpy people and nobody has time for that.