O2: College: What We're Really Paying For

This article makes absolute sense to me. The reason some folks are against higher education is because they look at the cost only. Skeptics thrown around names such as Mark Zuckerburg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to try and make a point that they dropped out of college and became Billionaires. The reason they dropped out is because they felt something in their gut. They knew exactly what they wanted to do, and how they could do it, or they at least knew their heart was in another place. 

The purpose of college isn’t to obtain a degree. The purpose is to refine your-self as a human being. College is a quirky, stressful renaissance of education and growth and to put yourself through it you’re doing yourself the largest favor. College is a time when we come into our own. We start discovering what we want to do and what we don’t. At the same time, we’re becoming more educated and therefore, useful human-beings. As the article states, College graduates normally do find more success in the job market. It’s not just their degree, it’s who they’ve became by getting that degree. 

This fall I’ll be attending Columbia College Chicago. The tuition there happens to be a bit pricey but when compared to other schools of the same nature, the cost isn’t bad at all. In the future I plan on working in the television industry, possibly a little journalism on the side. Entertainment is my passion and I’d be wasting my time entering a different field. I’m following my strengths and dreams. 

In my opinion, the world we live in has become far less about the strength of the group and more about the strength of the individual. The way I see it, a group is only as powerful as its people and how well they collaborate. It is time more than ever where we must focus on ourselves and what our strengths are. Follow your passions, follow your heart and you will find success.

Original Article:

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/print/2012/03/whats-more-expensive-than-college-not-going-to-college/255073/

O1: Space Shuttle Recycling Program

As most of us know, NASA’s manned spaced operations have been cut. Although optimism still remains for the future, the current cost seemed unfeasible to executives. Now you may be thinking what will happen to all the shuttles? I’ve just read an article published in the Chicago Tribune which explains the future homes of a few of the crafts. The article tells how many are currently being flown to various cities in the United States to be rolled into museums for display. This all seems a bit ironic to me. These titans of technology, explorers of the unknown are now being sealed inside of museums. 

The way the shuttles are getting there is actually quite impressive. They’ll be flown there via “piggy backing” on a regular jet-engine airplane. The article talks about a shuttle headed to New York City and how it took a specific route past the Statue of Liberty and over the George Washington Bridge. I wish I was there when it flew over these landmarks. If I was there I’m sure I would have felt a surge of patriotism. Here you stand on a bridge named after one of our founding fathers, looking at the statue of liberty and all it represents and then suddenly a jet flies over with a space shuttle on top. Honestly, it had to be a breath-taking experience to of been there to see it happen. 

More occurrences like this have already been planned and performed. Reading about happenings like this reassures my faith in this country, the people and our economic state. Although NASA has cut manned missions to space they do plan on returning to the future, but this time in more technologically advanced crafts which can carry astronauts to farther distances more safely. Who knows what will be parading around our skies two hundred years from now.  

Original article link:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-shuttle-enterprise-newyorkbre83q0x6-20120427,0,5234797.story 

P4: Tuesdays With Morrie, Change, and Character

I've been reading, "Tuesdays with Morrie." As I've been reading, I've slowly been opening my eyes to how I view other people, as well as how I view myself. I feel I can closely relate to the character and author, Mitch. He's focused on the future, focused on his job, carrying an "every man for himself" mentallity and letting his friends and family slip away.

Lately, I've been extremely focused on moving up at work, getting out of high school, and becoming an independent self-sufficient indivual. One of my long time friends has virtually disapeared, my band's falling apart, and so is my relationship with my family. I'm more stressed-out and short-tempered than I've ever been. I have been letting petty school asignments go to focus on working more and filling out scholarship applications. I've never felt such a surge of arrogance and pride run through my veins. I can't let things go on like this much longer, I'm driving myself insane.

I'm not sure how to ease-up on myself or others. I'm only seventeen so I'm going to attribute these behaviors to stress, change, and just growing up. As always, I maintain the ability to rise above the situation I'm in and analyze it. I don't always have the answers, but I can identify problem. Being away from everyone next year is going to be interesting. I'm excited and opptimistic about the move. I'm going to give it my all and continue trying to become the person I've always wanted to be. Things are coming together and I feel I've been learning, or at least making myself aware to a lot of good lessons lately. I need a good nights sleep, and a day off from everything. I'll leave you with a couple good quotes from the story. Enjoy!


"You closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too-even when you are in the dark. Even when you're falling."

“Accept who you are; and revel in it.”

P2: Senior Accomplishments

This past September, I wrote about my goals and aspirations for the upcoming school year. With less than two months left of my senior year I figured now would be a good time to check back to see where I stand.

When I read this assignment I didn’t think much of it, although when I read the post I realized how much I really have accomplished. An extraordinary amount actually. Reading the post fills me with nostalgia. September didn’t seem that far away until I read what I wrote back then.

At the time I was still considering attending Buffalo State for a few years and then moving out to Chicago where I would finish my education. Since I wrote that, I applied to Buffalo State, and Columbia College Chicago. I was accepted into both, visited both, and then won the Presidential Scholarship at Columbia. Buffalo State may be a good school, but Columbia is located in the heart of downtown Chicago. With twenty-two renovated high-rises located in the South Loop of Chicago, the third largest city in the United States will be my campus this fall.

 

Another topic I discussed was my band. I wrote about how we planned to record a few songs in New York City and at the Goo Goo Doll’s recording facility right here in Buffalo.  Plans turned to action and we accomplished everything we planned. We also had the opportunity to meet and talk for a bit with Robby Takac, Goo Goo Doll Bassist. He’s a very humble and cool guy. The whole process was inspiring. New York city was absolutely amazing. We were there for an entire week. Navigating the city, and living there was a great time full of memories I’ll forever treasure. Another cool thing which happened there was meeting my drummer Jeff’s godfather. I found out that he happened to be an executive at SirusXM Satellite radio. One day he invited Jeff and I to lunch. We felt like rock-stars having an appointment with him on the 36^thfloor of The McGraw Hill building in Times Square. He gave us a tour of the company’s headquarters and then took us out for lunch. What an experience, honestly.

With the last few weeks of my high school career flying by I look forward with excitement. Some students are filling up inside with fear. They’re leaving the place which played home to what they consider the best years of their lives. I sure had some great times and inspirational experiences, but my life’s just about to begin.

Group N: Interview with Tara

I just had the absolute pleasure of interviewing fellow bulldog member, Tara Hammerschmidt. Might I say, she’s quite the young lady. She told me her name is Tara and her mom gave her the right. This response was very dry and I have to say it did make me chuckle quite a bit. She told me her favorite band was anything but Larrabee. After that cruel remark I assumed she must like the differently pronounced and spelled band, Larrabe. On the average Friday night she finds herself going to McDonalds for dinner, going home to talk to herself, doing girl things with her friend Cindy, making popcorn and then watching a girly movie before bed. I asked her for a few keywords about herself, she responded with the following: outgoing, motivated, intelligent and positive. When asked manual or automatic transmission she quickly responded with automatic. This actually surprised me, especially since she earlier told me that her dream car was a Chevrolet Corvette. She couldn’t mean driving an automatic corvette could she? I don’t think so! Anyways, her favorite food is Mexican, presumably Mighty Taco. When asked if she enjoyed this interview, she responded with,  “No cuz I had to talk to you.” She did though mention that she considers herself to be a “mac” and that is very well. The interview in my mind went well. I got her to talk about a few tough issues, many of which she denied to comment on or made me promise not to put it in my article. That’s all she spoke!

N3: Spring

Bone-chilling rain, muddy lawns, and overcast skies. How a person could enjoy the time of year which conditions like this are the norm perplexes me. A reason why I dislike it so much is that it's a period of transition in weather patterns. I think I've already brought this up, my ideal weather pattern. Nine months of summer, three weeks of fall, one of spring and a month of winter. That to me is ideal. I'm actually happy that I've grown up with Buffalo weather. I've found the positives in all weather conditions. People who live here get to experience it all. Throughout the year Buffalonians experience beautiful clear days, adrenaline-jolting thunderstorms and blizzards, cool fall days and blistering hot summer afternoons. Experiencing weather like this for the past seventeen years has had an effect on me. I love a good storm, but I also enjoy a nice summer day. I love the snow in the winter, but I don't like it when winter lasts for five months. Springtime has its positive times and features but for the most part I don't like it. One of the few good things about it is that it gives us hope for the summer season around the corner. Sadly, this is only a tease. Last week we had beautiful weather, sunny days, highs in the seventies lows in the sixties. If the trees had leaves we would of thought it was summer. This week it's back to the forties, overcast, and rain. It's miserable outside. This right here is why I don't enjoy spring. As Buffalonians, we've got to take what we can get.

Group N Blog: Employment

I currently work at Delta Sonic. As far as I've seen and from what I know, it's probably one of the best places to work in Western, NY as a teenager. The company has a great model, it's professional, most of the managers are great, the workers are friendly, and honestly, I have more friends there than I do at school. The companies success begins with it's hiring process. To be considered you need to have a referral from someone in the company. Next you must pass a drug test and an interview. If you pass those steps successfully you'll sit through an eight hour orientation class, and then train for two more days before you can be let off on your own. So not just anyone can get a job there. We also have secret shoppers who come through daily and make sure that we're not getting lazy or rude and that we're following procedures correctly. This keeps the hardworking, logical, friendly employees in and the undesirables out. The services and products we offer are great, and the work environment there is fast paced, friendly and exciting. I love my job. <br>


In the fall of 2012 I will be moving to Chicago, IL to study Television at Columbia College Chicago. Luckily for me, Delta Sonic has nine locations there, one of which I'll be transferring to. I'll see how it is there, if it's not as great as it is here I'll try and get a job at the Apple Store, which is only a few blocks from my apartment there. I'd love to work at the Apple Store just as much as I would at Delta Sonic. At Apple, I'd drive less, possibly make more, and get to stay downtown which sounds better than driving out to the suburbs everyday. I love the business model and culture that Apple has built and I'd be honored to represent their company. <br>


Towards the end of college I'll have a better idea of where I'll want to work. I know that I want to produce television shows. I'd love to work for the Discovery Channel, NBC, or the BBC. They all feature great shows that I'd love to be a part of. I don't know what company I'll end up working for, maybe I'll even end up self employed. In this time of economic uncertainty and job-loss I'll never have to worry. I''m not saying that I'll never lose a job. That can happen to anyone. I'm not worried because I'll always keep my options open and in the right environment, I'll always be a hard working, logical, friendly employee.