Traditions

Traditions.... Well at my old school we had something called Spirit Week. We participated in Spirit Week the week of Homecoming and each day was a different theme. The first day was Character Day, the second Tacky Day, third Decades Day, fourth College Day, and the last was Spirit Day. On Character Day, we dressed up as different characters from movies. This past year, I dressed up as Mulan. Tacky Day is self-explanatory. My friends and I went all out for this day, planning our outfits weeks in advance and essentially matching the most outrageous parts of our wardrobes together. On Decades Day, we took different styles from the past like the 50's, 60's, 70's and dressed up as people would have then. On College Day, we wore attire from colleges that we had accumulated over the years. Spirit Day we dressed up in our school colors, green and white, and paraded our school pride. I know that at Converse we have 1889 week and while that was fun, I really missed having a Spirit Week. So I propose that one of our traditions be to have a Spirit Week and an 1889 week. That way we can parade our school spirit and pride in two different ways!  

Music..... My favorite music.... Well, first off let me say that I genuinely love every type of music. There are some songs in every genre that I feel the urge to roll my eyes at, but I can honestly say that I have every genre of music on my iPods. I have to say that yes, I do love Drake. Mr. Aubrey Drake Graham. I have every song that he has ever sung, rapped, collaborated on, or even wrote. While his genre is hip-hop/rap, I am not limited to liking just that genre. It really bothers me when someone assumes that I only listen to that particular genre just because of what I look like. What a stupid thing to judge about me. Because being a musician ensures that I must listen to classical as well. My favorite classical composer is none other than Mr. Ludwig van Beethoven. Once again this is kind of a cliche because he is one of the first composers thought of when the genre classical is brought up, but I really do like playing his music. I personally feel like his style of composing covers all aspects of my life, from the happy parts to the more dismal parts, to the dramatic parts and the energetic parts. I also really like artists like Colbie Caillat, Jesse McCartney (I also own every single song he's ever been a part of), and Jason Mraz. These particular artists fall into the genre I like to call "feel-good music". I can never be depressed when I get done dancing around my room listening to music like this. It just makes me feel good! These were just a few artists that I like but I really do have EVERY GENRE!!!!!!!!!! 

Drinking Age

  I, like many of my peers, have been affected by the use of alcohol from middle school. I am not the type of person to drink at all and I have never had a drink once before in my life. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for everyone. Before I discuss my views on lowering the drinking age, I would like to tell a little story. There was this crazy party near the end of summer, and everyone who was anyone was there. There was drinking involved and one of the guys involved was going into the military. Well, this particular guy (let's call him Joe) got so drunk that he started throwing up uncontrollably. He passed out. No one knew if he was even still living because there seemed to be no chest motion. In the city that I live in, everyone knows everyone. Not because Charlotte, NC is small, but because everyone that lives in South Charlotte goes to school together and participates in societal events together. Imagine seeing someone that you've known since the 6th grade passed out and not moving on the floor. Maybe you should have stopped him from drinking so much. Maybe if you had tried, his eyes wouldn't be rolled back in his head. None of that even matters anymore though because the damage has been done. 
  I can see why some people would argue for the drinking age being lowered. It's true that at 18 we can register to vote and are not allowed to drink legally. It's true that in other cultures, alcohol is introduced at a young age not as something to abuse, but more as a sign of cultural respect. It's true that in America that type of culture is not present. But does the fact that we haven't been exposed to it mean that we are allowed to take drinking to an extreme just because we weren't gifted with the ability to limit ourselves with its use? 
   The answer is no. If the drinking age is lowered, some people will still take advantage of it and if we continue with this level of illegal drinking something will break. It seems to me that the drinking age will have to be lowered anyway, because jail time is a repercussion of underage drinking already and it doesn't seem to be having an effect. If we were all taught to drink responsibly instead of sneaking an excess of alcohol I believe that the level of illegal drinking will be lowered. Underage drinking won't be completely obliterated by lowering the drinking age, but perhaps America's youth will not take advantage of alcohol and situations like my first-hand account will not be a regular occurrence anymore.

Hmmmmm.... If I were to give advice to new students what would I say? I think I would start off by saying that while boys are nice to have around, it's actually easier to get work done when they aren't always there. Being a music student, whenever I have private practice time, I thank God that there are no boys here because they really throw me off my game. Instead of focusing on my music, I would focus on if looking good while playing my music and those two actions just don't mix. Girl drama is also something else that can be detrimental to focusing in school. At this point, I'm just witnessing all the drama around me and I'm wondering how on earth living with the drama and doing what I am supposed to do is going to work. Hopefully, I'll see my way through this and then I'll have something to advise my little sisters about. On the positive side however, going to an all-girls school definitely has it's upside! There's always someone to talk to and there's always someone to have a girl's night out with. Whether it's a spur-of-the-moment thing to order Chinese takeout and have it delivered to the dorms or a crazy midnight IHOP run, it's fun to know that because we are all girls, these types of things are the norm.

TIME MANAGEMENT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY 2 ME!!!!!!!!! So this week's blog assignment is to discuss our biggest challenge with managing our time. I believe that my cell phone is definitely a huge hindrance when it comes to attempting to manage my time. However, my piano seems to be an even bigger one. Attending Converse College has given me a chance to make practicing the piano my homework instead of something solely extracurricular. Once I get involved with a piece and I really start to understand it, I always always want to practice. I never want to go to class or even to bed, and that can end up being one of the worst things because then I don't want to wake up the next morning! My computer can also be a huge distraction. At this present moment, I have about 6 or 7 tabs open to Facebook, Mickel Library, both of my AOL accounts, my Converse Email, this blogging website, and an open email. I also have iTunes and Microsoft Word open. This evening I was trying to get my work done so that I would have absolutely nothing to do on my birthday but then some of my friends wanted to go out to eat, I had to go to Zumba, there was a late night food run.... Basically my time management is impacted my cell phone, my laptop, my piano, my friends, and just my overall surroundings. And at this current moment, my time management is being impacted by my 18th birthday!

Response to SSS Questions

I decided to come to college because I didn't want to be the one to bring disappointment to my parents. I never really had an option but that's totally fine. I don't think I could experience life without trying to get the best education I am capable of. I don't even know what I would have done if I had chosen not to come to college. Instead of all this worrying and angst over my future, I suppose I took the easy way out and chose to come to college. I chose to attend Converse College because that it was the best choice for me. There is a wonderful music program and that definetely played a big part in my choosing to come here, but the atmosphere just feels a little like home for me. Of course my parents loved this school and I don't think I would have had the guts to go against their wishes. I decided to study music at Converse because I'm not really very good at anything else. I mean, there are things that I am good at but not at the level that I play piano. I was lucky enough to earn a scholarship just for playing the piano as well and I don't think I would have been rewarded with that scholarship if I had performed any of my other "talents". I am not actually a fan of bread. I will eat it if I have nothing else to eat, but I would most assuredly prefer to eat cereal for the rest of my life instead of sandwiches.