Project Proposal

For my final project I decided to do a subject that is not only very interesting to me, but interesting to almost every college student.  And that is staying healthy in college. This is a very difficult task for most people because this is their first time living on their own.  I thought about my options for this project and how I can narrow down what I was going to focus in on.  And I made the decision to focus on three aspects of college life that can cause kids to become unhealthy.  These three characteristics are; Eating healthy, exercising, and alcohol consumption.  Kids do not have their parents around to tell them what they should and should not be eating.  So some kids put on weight.  This is known as the freshman fifteen.   In my video I will talk about how to avoid putting on this weight.  Eating healthy is only half the battle.  You have to exercise a lot if you want to stay in shape.  Most kids do not exercise simply because they don’t think they have time or they aren’t motivated.  I will show how to make time and how to motivate you to go to the gym.  Drinking is also a major part of college.  Binge drinking can cause students to gain weight.  It will be hard for me to tell people not to drink in my video because I know how unrealistic that is.  I will tell them how to do is responsibly so it does not affect your health.

Useful ways of Making Friends

I read the top eight ways to build a relationship in college.  This was a good article because it is very relatable to our class.  Since we are all freshman we are still adjusting to college life and making new friends.  One of the points the article makes is that the first couple of weeks are so important to making friends.  The first three months of college are so important because by then everyone has already found a group of friends that they are comfortable with.  You do not want to be left out of the loop.  Go out and find a group of friends you are comfortable with.  This is why first impressions are key to making a lot of friends.  When you meet a person for the first time you should try to get to know them and take interest into their interests.  If you have something in common that could be a good ice breaker.  People do not want to be friends with people who are not outgoing and who are always complaining.  People do not like others who are just plain downers.  Another point the article made was root for the home team.  By this they mean to sporting events.  What is nice about attending a football or basketball game is that everyone has something in common.  It is also a place where you can yell and just be crazy.  Most people like others who are willing to wear body paint in 20 degree weather.  Also, joining study groups will help you make friends.  Once again everyone has something in common.  You need help in a certain subject.  I have been involved in a couple of study groups and they can be very social.  Everyone has a common goal and if you all achieve that together, you will feel at one with everybody in the group.

The Importance of A Second Language

This week’s readings for inquiry were about why it is important to learn a second language.  One of the articles I read was titled Why Learn A Second Language.  One of the points the article made was about how the child’s parents plays a critical role and having their children learn a foreign language.  Kids look up to their parents and want to be like them.  As a result most of them will do what they are told is best for them.  If a child’s parents encourage them to take a foreign language they probably will listen.  Learning a foreign language also opens up an array of different job opportunities.  One field that particularly likes to have people speak a second language is business.  This is one of them most competitive fields and if you know a second language you will most likely have a leg up on the competition.  If you want to expand your company overseas you will most likely need someone to speak the dominant language of that country if you want to succeed.  Knowing a second language can also help with meeting new people and making new friends.  If you move to a different country and do not speak the language you will have trouble making new friends understanding the aspects of the culture.  Even if you are just vacationing in a different country, it could pay off to know the native language.  It will ultimately make your stay more fun.  A few summers ago my family and I took a trip to Mexico for my sister’s graduation.  As a high school student I took Spanish.  Even though I was not fluent in it I could still have conversations with people and do the simple things such as order food or tell the cab driver where we needed to go. 

The Dangers of The Internet

I recently read the article Social networks: how young is too young?  This article had some very good points in it.  I agree with the article when it states that even though there is an age requirement for social networks such as Facebook and Myspace, there is not a way of stopping someone from lying about their age.  The internet is a dangerous and confusing place; there are a lot of things that children should not be exposed to at such a young age. Children may also post things that could put them in danger.  They could post their address and where they live.  They could also post their phone number or other ways to contact them.  Posting pictures could also be a problem.  If someone posts a picture of them at a place that they always hang out, someone could easily go to this place and stalk them.  There is also a danger of writing on your friend’s wall.  If a social predator sees that your friends with this person, they could find where they are hanging out and find you through them.   Another point that the article made is that if children are exposed to the internet too early in life, they may become addicted to it when they are older.  This could affect the children’s brains and relations.  Children should not be serving the web when they are young, they should be reading a book or exercising outside.  One thing in this article that shocked me was how young the kids are that are using social networks.  38% of kids between 12 and 14 have some sort of online profile.  This is a very shocking statistic.  When I was 12 all I cared about were sports and my school work.  The last thing I was worried about was the internet.

Healthy Choices

The nutrition tips for college student’s article had some good and bad points.  A good point that the article made is that you should include a serving of vegetables and fruit at lunch and dinner.  This is a good tip because if you want to stay healthy in college you will need to eat vegetables and fruit.  That’s common sense.  One thing the article mention that I did not agree with is that it is acceptable to eat a slice of pizza for breakfast.  I’m like most of America and my favorite food is pizza. However I would not recommend eating pizza for breakfast.  You need to have a well balanced breakfast full of protein and grains.  If I wrote the article I would have said for breakfast you should eat egg whites, fruit, or certain cereals.  Another good point this article made is that you should avoid fried foods and bread.  Fried foods are some of the unhealthiest foods you can eat.  They are cooked in grease and full of fat and calories.  I would not recommend them to any college student.  You should also try to stay away from large amounts of bread.  Bread is full of carbs and can be very unhealthy if you abuse it.  However, in small amounts such as sandwiches it can save you from eating a lot of fat and calories.  If you substitute a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for slices of pizza that is going to be a good choice.  It is very hard for me not to think about food.  It is almost impossible to get it off of my mind, so, I also found the healthy alternatives section to be very useful.  I am also looking for ways to avoid going to Conn, and it gave me some good options for things I can do instead.  

Southern Football

One thing I’ve have always been interested in is sports. I grew up playing any sport I could.  Baseball, basketball, soccer, football, it was the best.  I would play hard in every sport because I played for the love of the game.  As I grew up I found out that being a high school student is not cheap.  So, I could not play these sports anymore.  However, now that I am a college student and do not work that much, I have more time for other things.  So I decided to focus in on sports again.  I am nowhere near the shape I need to be in to be a college athlete.  But, I have been following the southern football team very closely.  I have a handful of friends who are on the team and they have been keeping me up to date about the game I could not attend.  Our team has only one loss to division two opponents this season.  That was to our rivals UNH. It would have been so crazy if we won that game.  Their quarterback is a transfer from Louisville, which is a division one school. However, you cannot win every game.  Our last game was last weekend against Stone hill.  I was very upset I could not attend this game.  It was our homecoming game, and those are always the best game.  But, I had to go home for work.  On top of that my town got 18 inches of snow, and the roads were too bad to come back Saturday afternoon.  The owls have a bye this weekend, but next weekend is a pivotal game.  If we win we make the playoffs.  This is very exciting for all of the football players, and all of Southerns fans.   I cannot wait for next week’s game!