More Than a Game

Next weekend’s Giants Patriots game seems like just a normal regular season football game.  However, it is a lot more than that.  This is a very exciting game for the state of Connecticut because we are right in-between New York and Massachusetts.  Therefore the majority of the state is either a Giants or Patriots fan.   This is the first time since Superbowl 42 that these two teams are playing each other.  The Patriots were 18-0 and about a two touchdown favorite.  However the Giants were not afraid.  The Blitz the whole game and sacked Tom Brady multiple times.  They ran the ball effectively and controlled the time of possession.  They played to the Patriots weaknesses and won the game 17-14.  Although that was four years ago, the Patriots are looking for revenge.  Another reason this is an important game, is because both teams are in the Playoff race.  The Giants are in first place in their division, but they have the Philadelphia Eagles Breathing down their neck.  The Patriots are tied for First place in their division with the Buffalo Bills.  So whoever loses this game could be in a lot of trouble in their divisions.  The Giants have had a moderate schedule through the first eight weeks of the season.  However, their next five games are going to be very hard.  They play the Patriots this week, then their next four games they play the Eagles, Packers, 49ers and Saints.  All five of these games are not going to be easy to win.  Plus, they have four more divisional games to play this season (every division game is always a dog fight).  The Patriots schedule does not get easier either.  They will have to play the Bill and Eagles after the Giants so they really need to win this game too.

Lorraine Warren (Safari 12)

On Wednesday October 26^th I went to the Lorraine Hawkins presentation about ghost hunting.  This took place in the Lyman Center on campus.  She talked about how she has been ghost hunting for about 60 years.  I do not think she could have faked having a sixth sense for 60 years.  There isn’t a doubt in my mind that she is the real deal.  One thing that really interested me was that she was a big part of the Amityville Horror.  She and her husband Ed went into the house and tried to talk with the demons.  This only made it worse off for the Hawkins.  They would have demons appear at their own home.

Goals for Part Two of The Semester

Over the past few days I have been looking on vista for my midterm grades.  This has been a very scary process.  Everyone wants to do well so that is why it is a very nerve racking process.  The first midterm grade that was posted was in my anthropology class.  I received a B which I was very happy with considering that I do not understand the class. I also got a B on my math midterm.  I was satisfied with this grade but I know I could have done better.  The next grade that I got was in my Inquiry class.  I got a B- on that midterm.  I will usually never complain if I get a B, but I know that I could have easily got an A in this class.  I slacked on a couple of the blog assignments, especially the campus safaris.  I also forgot to put pictures in a couple of blog posts and this brought my grade down as well.  In my computer science class I received an A on my midterm.  This class has come very easy to me throughout the first semester.  I completed all my work, and studied hard so I felt like I really earned this grade. Hopefully the class stays easy.  My microeconomics grade was not so hot.  I definitely need to try harder or get help from my professor.  For the remainder of the semester I want to set some goals for myself.  In my Inquiry class I want to do all of my blog posts, especially the safaris because they should be an easy A.  In my microeconomics class I want to do well on all my quizzes.  Easier said than done, I will study for all my quizzes and if that does not work I will stay after and get help.  These are the only set goals I have for a specific class.  But my overall goal is to do better in all of my classes.

Credit Cards.

Doing something out of your comfort zone is never easy.  That’s why it is called a comfort zone.  There isn’t too much that is outside my comfort zone.  I consider myself a pretty outgoing guy.  But what I did was apply for credit card.  I figured that I am eventually going to need loans for a car or a house so I wanted to work on my credit score.  Most people would think this is a pretty simple and care free task, but credit cards in general can be very scary.  They have their benefits like booking a hotel.  They are also a good replacement for cash.  If you’re at a store and you do not have enough for something you have to have, you can just use your credit card.  Also one of my biggest fears is not paying attention while I’m pumping gas and putting in more gas than I can afford.  This is where the credit card comes in.  Although all these things are good, there is much more to it.  I took business classes all throughout my high school career and they warned us about the risks of having one.  If you are not responsible with it, it could ruin your life.  if you do not pay your bills on time it will negatively affect your credit score.  This will result in higher interest rates and possible denial of loans.  You also have to make sure you do not lose it.  If you misplace is or by accidentally lose it, someone could steal it and purchase items in your name.  You are also risking identity theft.  This is what scares me the most.  Getting your identity back is a long and difficult process.  This is why I am so worried about getting a credit card.  I have not gotten the card yet but I know I will be responsible with it.

Majors Expo (safari 10)

On October 19^th I attended the major’s expo that was held on the third floor of the adanti student center.  It was held in the ballroom and was very interesting.  Although I have already declared my major I thought it would be fun to check out what Southern has to offer.  Me and a couple of my friends who are undecided on their majors decided to check it out.  We looked around and found the psychology table.  I have always been interested in psych so I grabbed three very useful pamphlets from the stand and took out feeling accomplished and able.

How my Project is Going

Time management on a big project is very important.  You have to make sure you have enough time for everything.  This is one of my first big projects of my college career, so this is a test drive of how I should spilt up my time.  Interviewing people did not take that long.  I spent about an hour doing that.  Brain storming is a never ending process.  I am always thinking of ways to make my project better.  That part of the project is always on going.  Gathering quotes and articles is never easy because you always have to read and dissected them.  And then you have to make sure they fit well with your project.   Finding music is the same way.  You have to make sure that the song fits with the project and flows well with everything else. Naturally I did not have trouble transferring materials to my computer because I am using my webcam to take all the videos.  Learning how to use the video software took a little longer than I thought it would.  I thought windows movie maker would be easy to use but I was mistaken.  I asked my sister who goes to Uconn if she could help me.  She denied me.  I then asked my other sister if she could help.  She couldn’t because she had projects of her own to do.  I finally asked my best friend if he could help me because I know he is a master of Imovie.  He was very helpful in that process.  So far the whole process took about 5-7 hours.  I plan to most likely double that because I want a good grade on this project.  What I could have done differently on this project is take the videos more seriously.  The first video took about an hour to do because we had so many takes.  We could not stop laughing.

Problem Solving

Overall my project has been going very well.  Whenever I asked people to interview they have always said yes and have been very cooperative.  I have three interviews done and they have all gone well.  One of them we had about 40 bloopers.  But, regardless we got it done.  In the next interview we pretty much free styled it which worked a lot better than having a set script.  My third interview also went very smoothly.  We just did it on the spot, which once again worked a lot better than having it scripted.  The editing process is what I’m having trouble with.  I’m pretty new to windows movie maker so the editing process has been a little difficult.  I asked my sister about what to do and she told me she did not know because she is not good with computers.  So I asked my other sister if she could help me.  She told me no she had too much work to do.  It must be a twin thing.  Yes my sisters are twins and do not look anything alike.  It is weird. So I asked my friend Robert what I should do because he is pretty good with my computers.  He helped me add my music in my introduction.  I also needed to cut out all of the bloopers from my movie.  He also helped me with that.  I do not know what I would have done without him.  I am also having trouble with my time management for this project.  I forgot that I was going home last weekend and forgot to interview some of the people I wanted to interview.  I know I still have a lot of time to interview people but I would have liked to get some of the work done last weekend. So I will have to go twice as hard this week.