Josh

I love my students...

What up!?

   So yesterday was one amazing day because my placement teacher allowed me to have the entire time I was there as the teacher. It was such a great experience to be completely on my own with the students, and I absolutely love those students. Amy has really taught them all extremely well and has built such a strong community within her classroom. All of her students know each other and seem to love one another because of all the work that Amy has done as their teacher. Because of this, they are all used to having other people come into their classroom and I feel that they have accepted me with open arms. They are such an amazing group of students, that I am even proud of them and know that they all are going to succeed in life.

   Whenever I teach the students they always listen, are quite involved, and treat me as their teacher. Being that I am 7 years older than the bulk of them, they do respect me. It is great because I do look young but still get the up most respect out of them. I remember that during my first lesson they showed empathy, yeah they showed empathy!!! This is something that most students never do in a classroom because they are not willing to open up enough. Well, I used to say that I wanted to teach high school to avoid the middle school age but that it not the case anymore. I love this age, they are always up for fun and are missing the I hate school attitude. they really are amazing! I was asked by Amy to student teach with her and I am doing it with no second thought! I will know the students a year by then and thus student teaching I know will be the most amazing experience in my life.

  I know that for most students when they have to student teach there is normally a lot of nervousness and worry about all the wok that you have to do. For me, that is not the case whatsoever. I am so excited to be able to student teach because of the amazing opportunity I have been given. I am so glad that I was placed this semester with Amy, because we are not just teachers, but are very similar people. We both feel very comfortable with each other and I feel like I can ask her anything. I also feel that she will be completely honest with me about designing a lesson or how I taught. She knows what it takes to be a great teacher because she is a great teacher. She is then willing to help me grow into an amazing teacher as well, with her under my wings for support. Thank you Amy for all that you have already shown me and are going to because I know there is so much more to come!

  I was also very touched by my students yesterday because of what they had said to me. I had brought them candy because I would not be there for Halloween and I wanted to show the students how much they have meant to me, all of them. I explained to them of how they have been respecting me and have been amazing students. I really do feel as if one block are my own students because I teach them almost every Tuesday and Thursday. I really love them and appreciate the respect they give me as their teacher and they deserved the candy. They all then got worried because they thought it was my last day and that was the best thing that has happened to me this semester! They really like me in the class and did not want me to leave. It was such an incredible feeling that I felt as if I could have cried, but being so manly I did not of course! But my students are absolutely amazing and I look forward to getting to know them even more in the next year!

   So this is my blog today that is dedicated to Amy Sherrer and her students at Winooski Middle School in Winooski Vermont. I feel so fortunate to have placed with this amazing class and these amazing students. I can not wait for what is to come and look forward to that amazing future!

                                            Joshua AKA Mr. Pastina AKA Mr. Little Pasta (inside joke!)

I just blew up the stove...

Holla!!

   Ok, so I do not think that I have mentioned it yet, and maybe you have figured this out from previous blogs, but I do not really have any common sense. I can say that I am a intelligent student, but I do not always appear to have brains because of some of the things I say. It is the little things that most people can just figure out because of common sense I can not. As an example to explain my stupidity sometimes I can use the example of the stove...which I BLEW UP todayyy!

  So I come home from work and one of my roommates approached me and was saying how the stove was not working. He said that it has blown a fuse yesterday and whenever he tries to turn it on, the stove makes a loud popping noise and then nothing happens. I was honestly not that concerned about it because it was an electric stove. So this told me, that no matter what happened, it could not explode or anything because there was actually no gas. So when Logan said to pull the switch, I was hesitant and then remembered that nothing would happen. So I pulled the switch and there was a loud popping smell, but nothing else other than that besides this bad stench. So once I saw Nick some into the apartment on the phone, an idea popped into my head.

   He was on the phone and I thought about how much fun it would be to pull the switch and really freak him out since he had no idea something was wrong with the stove. So I told him to look at the stove and I pulled the switch. This time, there was no pop, there was an explosion!!! Now it was not loud or big but the stove made some noise, we saw some flames out of the back, and then we saw the smoke come out of the back of it! It was so freaky to watch and let me tell you that I got the reaction out of Nick that I wanted. He actually yelled a little and was swearing out of the fear of the explosion. It was beautiful, but then again, I have NO COMMON SENSE!!!

  At the time it did not even hit me that something must worse could have happened by me pulling the switch again. I should have figured that by pulling the switch a bunch of times nothing else would happen besides a loud pop, but lets be serious here! Eventually something bad was going to happen and now I have killed the stove. Then the apartment smelled terrible. So I went around the apartment and was spraying febreze all over the place. I was actually kind of hopping around the apartment like a Febreze fairy if you will, but it was pretty funny regardless. We were even trying to make jokes about how Gary and I could not go to class from the emotional stress of the explosion. Or, I could just start screaming in the middle of class and say the trauma of the explosion was affecting me, although that would be a lie.

  The funniest part of the whole experience was that Gary was not here. So we decided to start calling him and scaring him. We were saying how the stove exploded, the alarm in the building went off, and we were running around trying to save our stuff by throwing everything out of the windows. This was funny because he was in an interview with someone and actually started to freak out a little. So he came back within 15 minutes and was looking around to see what he could do, to find out that nothing was really that wrong. So luckily for tonight we are going to get the pizza I have been wanting from Pizza Hut. It is the kind that is all cut up so you can dip it into the different sauces that they give you. Hells yeah baby!

  So I guess there are a couple of things we can learn from this event. If you are going to be left alone with a stove, lets use some common sense and not try and blow up the apartment. Yes, this was only the stove but imagine the possibilities of what could have happened! Also, if you do end up destroying your stove I guess you technically could finally get the pizza that you have been dying to try. But by blowing up the stove? That is not the right way of getting that pizza, just hound your roommates until they want to get it. Also, febreze can basically save your life, stench wise. So make sure you always have some in the house!

                                      Joshua 

They are more than just Professors...

Hello All!

   Well, I would really like to take the time to talk about the Professors here at SMC because almost all of the Professors that I have had here have been absolutely incredible that they deserve some amazing recognition. These are men and women that have gone through intensive years of learning to become the skilled scholars in their content knowledge that they are. They are also professors that truly want us to learn and will go to amazing lengths to help any one of their students if they need the help. I am always amazed at the love and admiration that they all have for their students and for the subject that they teach. I am learning so much more than just knowledge from these Professors, but also the motivation and drive to want to learn more.

   I would love to first talk about both of my advisor's because they are bot equally significant people in my education life and I feel that I have become such a great learner and college student because of them. The first advisor that I had here was George Dameron. He is a Medievalist that is so knowledgeable of the Medieval Ages and so much more. I am taking a course right now called the Historian's Craft, and it is amazing all of the information he knows outside of the Medieval Times. I was first attracted to his classroom because of the passions that he had for his subject and the fact that I would love to become a Medievalist some day because that is one of my favorite times in history. He is such an amazing teacher that he knows how to spark conversation. I have a three and a half hour long class with him once a week and he does an amazing job at it. He has picked a lot of great books that have been very interesting to spark some great classroom discussions. He just knows how to teach so well and I love having him as an advisor as well. Even once during a PowerPoint show, he added a picture of Homer Simpson to lighten the mood, so he is quite funny as well. He has such a nice dry humor that makes class interesting. Also the care he has about my advising is amazing.

   He is constantly checking in with me to make sure that I have everything under control. He has always been very supportive of the classes I want to take and always offers great courses without saying I need to take them. He just knows what it takes to be a good student, since he was one at Harvard at one point, and he shares that drive with his students. He also has a class that has a good amount of work, but it is not a ridiculous amount at all. He just knwos how to teach so well that no matter what he is teaching in history I would be thrilled to take it because I know he will teach it well and somehow will get me to love it through his passion for the subject. He also makes sure that all his students are capable of doing well on their assignment. We have a 15 - 18 pages historiography paper due at the end of the semester and he is meeting with all of us on a one on one basis next week to make sure everything is going well and the topics are good. He is such a caring teacher, but my next advisor is equally very amazing.

   My education advisor is Mary Beth Doyle. She is also one amazing education Professor and I can not even tell you the amount that I have learned from her. I have had a class with her as well, and she is equally just as amazing. She is very knowledgeable, caring, and has so much to offer for her students. She truly wants all of us to be the best teachers we can be and she even has sit downs to tell you your strengths and even weaknesses if necessary. I know she constantly encourages me because she feels I am going to be such a great teacher, and to have support like that makes me feel so good and confident about my career choice. She also has so much experience and knowledge to give I know she will be one of those Professors that I keep in touch with email about teaching because I will want to know her opinions. I truly look up to her as a role model because she is ridiculously organized and anal about things as I am. She is also one of those Professors that if I have a meeting with her and nothing else to do, we could talk for hours.

  I just love talking to her because we do not just talk about education and the classes I need to take, but about my family and many opportunities around me with education. She is also funny and sarcastic and says things such as "ohh, sugar puffs!", so you have to imagine that I get a kick out of that lady. She also has such a passion for inclusion and students with learning differences that have the upset respect for her. It was also funny going into my advising meeting because I have misplaced my four year plan. So she made me sign my folder that said if I did not graduate on time she could not be held accountable. She has me sign it, but I know she will not allow me to not graduate on time. Thinking of it, while I was there we did not even talk about the classes I am taking, but she knows that I am organized and on track! God she is amazing!

   I hope that you got from this blog that our Professors here are more than just Professors, they are very intelligent people who care about us and want us to succeed in life, no matter what career path we chose. I am very glad to be in the education and history departments because I love them both! I am learning so much and feel that I am going to have all the experience I need and then some from this perfect size liberal arts school. Again, I could not imagine going to a different school and having the same amazing experience, thank you Saint Michael's! (Faculty too!)

                          Joshua

When you just need to laugh...

What up y'all?

   So this is going to be a post that is dedicated to one of my good friends Nick, who basically felt he deserved to be recognized in my blog. I would like to mention how dedicated I am because the computer did something weird the first time and I lost that blog but I am still willing to send out this second one. At first, I was thinking to myself that there was no way I wanted to write a blog about Nick because there was really not much that I could say. But then I decided that I should be able to do it without becoming too sentimental even though I do not really like him that much. (tehehe, just joshin you!) We were a couple of people that did not even meet each other until our sophomore year, but from then on have grown into a great relationship that is based on laughter.

   We actually first met because we both singled into the same suite. So, of course, he facebook stocked me and we were friends on facebook. The funny way I first talked to him what that I was moving into our suite early because I was an orientation leader. Well, I ended up moving into the wrong building and had to move into the right one the second day I was there. This was bad because I did not just move into the wrong room, but the wrong building entirely. He decided to write on my facebook wall writing some comment about how that sucks and it was a smooth move on my part. I think he wrote something about how the envelope my keys come in say what building I was in, but regardless that started our friendship. From there on out we became very good friends based on laughter and having a good time. We have many other great stories, but it is crazy to think that we did not even meet till last year and now I consider him one of my best friends. (You had better think the same thing you douche!)

  We really now do have a friendship based on laughter. He is just one of those people that if I am having a bad day I will call him or see him and tell him to make me laugh. And no matter what he says he will always think of something that makes me laugh. It is quite incredible because I think that he is one of the funniest people that I know. However, he was just telling me last night that he gets all his jokes from his twin brother Brad, and thus again I think Brad must be cooler then, he is the older twin and all. Nick is also just a good genuine friend that has always been there for me and I am always there for him. We just have a good friendship and I guess overall I am glad that we became good friends. (See here is the sentimental stuff.) I guess I am excited because I got to get to know his mother.

   Let me tell you, he is just like his mother. It is quite funny because he is so like his mother it is awesome. I have her aim and cell phone number, and their away messages are always so similar just the way they write. I also thoroughly enjoy calling or talking to her because I never go one conversation without laughing with her, she is extremely funny as well. So getting to know Nick has its perks I guess, Now, this is not a bad thing whatsoever because I am also just like my mother as well. My mother is great and I have no problems being just like her because she is the closest person there is to me. She is funny, sarcastic, and beautiful! I was also thinking the other day that I bet my mom and Nick's mom would become good friends. Since him and I are good friends, and we are both like our mothers, I figured that they would probably hit it off pretty well too!

  Well, there you go Nick, there is the prompt for you or the shout out you wanted. I would also like to say that we have many good stories and laughs that we still make everyday. Just like how almost two weeks ago we played shot for shot and still have the bruises to prove it. For those of you who do not know what this is, this when you punch each other one at a time in the arm until one person quits in pain. Because I am the man, Nick did quite first. But he left my arm with a huge bruise and I got him pretty well too! So it was a fun game and now a great memory. Have a good one buddy and I am sure there are a lot of good memories to come! (You owe me now!)

                                   Joshua

When you just need to vent...

Hello y'all!

    Ok, well you know what really grinds my gears? (Family guy what?) I absolutely hate it when people come into work and have the worst attitude and then bring every other employee down. Now I know that sometimes you can have a bad day and you just are not in the best mood, but do not bring that to work. One of my biggest issues with some of the girls (Yes, I say girls for a reason!) at chilis is that they constantly come into the restaurant with an attitude. They keep saying how much they hate to work there and do not want to be there. Well, here is my simply solution for you people...QUIT THEN!!! I know that I can not stand your complaining and bad attitude so it would really be no skin off anyone's back if you just quit. Here is the reason that I feel those girls do not deserve to work there.

   In the state of Vermont and New England I believe, we are the busiest chili's. This means that we make the most money out of all of the New England Chili's, so what does this little fact tell you the reader and the employees who work there??? That we make a lot of money working there! I worked on Saturday and Sunday this weekend and took away $350!!! That is a lot of money to make in one weekend and even if I did hate the job there is no way in heck that I would complain about it! Where else can you make that kind of money. I come into work with a huge smile on my face because I know that I am going to make a lot of money. Also, if you come into work with an attitude and your tables see that, forget the tips baby, because the guests will pick up on it!

  Now I know that I do not go into work every single day with a huge smile and positive attitude. However, I will stick to myself and be as happy as possible, but fake, to my tables. I know that the type of attitude that you have is key in this business and I really want to give my guests the best experience at our Chili's so they will keep coming back. We are a well known restaurant and are hired to carry that name, so leave all your problems at home and come into work ready to do your job and at the end of the night you will be better off. You will be a hundred dollars richer at least and for a few hours you would have forgotten your problems. I am one of those people that all I need to do is vent and then I am much better, so when you just need to vent do it and move on! It is money making time! This is the reason I mention the attitude thing.

  This weekend at Chili's on Saturday night there was one person that walked in with a bad attitude. Now most of the servers who were on had been on the floor all day with no break, like myself. We still had our spirits high since we were very busy and most of the servers were going to continue working late into the night because of how busy we were. There was no time for breaks and no one really cared because we were all making very good money. Then one girl walked in and had the worst attitude I could ever had imagined. She was complaining, making snide comments at everyone, and quickly her attitude began to rub off on everyone else and tensions ran high. For one, this was not fair because she had the entire day off and did not have to come in till four, she did not have the right to have a bad attitude. So once we were busy, she was getting more upset because she did not want to be there and eventually tensions got so high people were screaming at each other and getting frustrated!!! I will never forget that time with her and hope she realizes how her bad attitude hurt everyone in the end.

   Most people do not really realize how the bad attitude effects everyone and that girl was complaining that she had too much homework to do to be there. What??? Almost every single one of us there are college students with plenty of homework to do so do not sit there and complain to us that you need the night off! We all need it off to catch up on work but we know the harsh realities of needing money and thus we shut up about homework and do our jobs well! Most of us barely have to work any shifts for the money we need. So to that girl, stop your complaining you are not the only one that has a lot going on and if you can not handle the heat, get out of our kitchen! We want to be there and make a lot of money and if you can not take it, then get away and let one of the 50 other people that want to serve at Chili's Bar and Grill in Williston VT!!! Wow, man do I feel better now!

                                                     Joshua

Doing laundry....

Hey y'all!

     I know that the title just may not appeal to the senses that much but I felt like that was an appropriate title because truly I could think of nothing very good this morning. Yet, I did just put a load of laundry into the washer and soon in the dryer so I thought why not, it can kind of symbolize the fact that I have a lot of little things to do today. I guess for me that is what Fridays are normally like, just getting a lot of little errands done around the apartment, some homework, and anything else that needs to get done. I am actually hoping that my roommates will be back soon so they can help in the cleaning adventures which should be our apartment!

    Isn't also one of the most frustrating things when you wake up in the morning, the last one to get up, and you find that you are out of something and you had no idea it was even low in the first place? Well, that happens to me all the time because I never really pay attention to what is going on, I just kind of live my life until I find out, I am out of coffee. Now I am sure for some of you that would not really be a big deal because you may not drink coffee, but the amount of homework I have had lately, I am thriving every morning on that cup of Java that is going to boost my day. I also have not really any food for breakfast this morning because I needed to go to the grocery store a week ago and have yet to do so. But it is really not that big of a deal because I am working all day tomorrow, so I wont need food and I will go on Sunday. The next thing I really have to do is lesson planning.

  This is one of those activities that I also think to myself of how awful it is going to be to do them. But then, the moment I start writing one, I get really involved, creative, and actually like doing it. I am really just one of those people that I dread having to start reading, or studying, or paper writing. But the moment that I start I actually have no problem doing so and get it done quite quickly and diligently. It just takes me such a long time to start it. The idea for me is that this is actually the start of my unit, which is 450 minutes of lesson planning. For those of you non-education people, that means I am writing 2 weeks worth of lesson planning!!! Yeah, that is certainly a lot but luckily I am starting them now because they are not do until the end of the semester. My idea, is that I will do two lesson plans a week and then I should be able to finish them just before thanksgiving. Then I can complete my unit requirements and hand it all in after thanksgiving. Then at that point I need to dedicate my life to a 20 pages paper due at the end of the semester as well.

   I know that the amount of homework I have may seem really harsh for those of you who are not in college, but it is really not that bad. Okay, so yes, sometimes I literally spend all day doing homework and it is very stressful. But you have to think that I have no classes Wednesday and Friday, so I do have quite a bit of time to get work done. The thing that works for me is time management. I just know what I have to do and I allot the time that I need to get everything done. I am a very organized person and do homework in a very organized fashion. I have already finished half of the homework for next week, which means my work is done up to Thursday. I will do my lesson planning today and if time permits, I will start the other half of my work. But I am not stressed out because I know I have almost a week to get the rest of my homework done, so I have more than enough time.

  Whelp, I just realized that I need to go and put my laundry in the dryer and then I need to start my lesson planning so that I am done within a few hours. I have done no research or found my standards yet, so I should probably get right on my lesson planning! I am actually very excited because my topic is Ancient Civilizations, Mesopotamia, and this is one of my favorite times in history because that is the first civilization!!! Have a gooooood one!

                                                    Joshua

We are the Q generation...

Hello all!

   Well, at our SA meeting last night there was one amazing video that was shown, an article read, and a spectacular presentation made by one of our phychology professors, Dave Landers. He is a professor that has been with Saint Mike's for three decades and has actually been teaching an AIDS awareness class here for about 25 years. The reason that he addressed the SA was just to make us more aware of things that are going on around us. He really hit on many great points, and although at first I really had no idea what his presentation was for, I realized that was the problem. I was trying to listen to Dave and figure out what he was telling me to do, I could not figure out what he wanted from me. All he wanted from our student body was awareness of what was going on around us, and that was all.

  He opened up with talk of the Iraqi war and how one of our alum had been in the war for a very long time. The alum asked him if our students were even aware of the war, and Dave said he did not know. He knew he hold peace vigils and put on an event last year about experiences in the war and that we are aware of it, but he does not know how much we are dealing with it. He knew we were dealing with it, yet we were being silent about it. That was the whole point of his presentation, from an article he had read to us, we are the Q generation, the quiet generation.

  I know that for a fact when it comes to voting, ages 18- 25 are the worst with only about 1/4th of our age group getting out to the poles and making a difference. I am honestly quite awe struck by this idea because I have so many friends here who are highly involved in politics and have a strong voice for it. It is as if they are constantly arguing about politics, who they want as the next President, and the wrong direction that our country is heading in today. Yet, when it comes to election time, they are say they were too busy to vote or forget to get their ballots in on time. Wait, what? You argue with everything and have such a strong opinion but when you finally have the chance to make a difference about what you are fighting for, you don't! After the video came out about Al Gore and global warming, many college students felt and around the nation, that if he was elected President instead maybe the US would be in a better place. Well, you can blame yourselves somewhat for that for not voting, 20 million of us did not vote, that is a staggering number. We as a generation have an ability to change the world since we will be the next doctors, teachers, lawyers, professors, and Presidents. We need to start making a move now before we forever remain the Q generation.

  We are a strong generation that does a lot of volunteer work in foreign countries and are getting extremely involved, yet outside of the College community this may not be known about us. Instead, we are known as the technology generation. There was one amazing power point show that he showed us that gives a lot of statistics about our generation and it is absolutely incredible. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU WATCH!!! Go to youtube.com and then search for Did you know and pick the show  Did you know 2.0!!! This will seriously open your eyes to our generation, but there are a few facts that really hit me and must be shared/

  We are the technology age and it seems that if it is not done online, we do not care about it. For instance, Ebay started in 1996 and by 2006 it generates $6 billions a year in revenue! That is a very high number for only 10 years of operation. We also receive more text messages in a day than the population of the entire planet. Email and the internet seem to run our lives and truly I feel that everything needs to be quick and available to us and if it is not, then why have it? One depressing fact that that millions of websites are made everyday with an average 21 year old, 50 percent have put content on the internet. Yet, only 3,000 books were published last year. This worries me because books that are centuries old and available for us to know today. But will we be able to say that about computers and the internet centuries from now? Well, I highly doubt that if you ask me, I am pretty sure one of my roommates computers crashed 5 times in the past 3 years, my other roommate's computer a mac, just crashed and he had to service it to get it back, and mine is definitely on its way after only 2 and a half years. So, where are we heading then in this technology age and will our computers and technology be able to stand the tests of time? Well, who knows and only time will tell but I know my computer can not!

  This was one amazing presentation that made all of us think. I know that I do not want to remain as the Q generation. We are not much of activists and it almost seems that when we want to help an organization out, we feel good about just handing out money and sitting back to watch. I am not saying that is true about every college or every college student because there are many out there who are being pro-active and making amazing contributions to change our world as we know it. But issues such as global warming, AIDS, and being quiet is something we need to get a hold of now. What will the world be like for our children and our grand children? Will we be leaving them a world that if they do not fix what we ignored it could dramatically effect the outcome of their survival? That does sound a little dramatic in talk, but it really is a scary thing to think about.

  I am also not trying to be almighty here and say that I am the perfect example of trying to change the world. I know that I have led no movements or made any contributions to helping to end world issue, but this writing is a start. I am not well aware of what is going on around me more than I was before. The whole point of awareness is to be a constant reminder that things around the world need to change. In India, 100 percent of college graduates know English and it is thought that by 2010 China will be leading English speaking country. What does this say about us, the most powerful nation in the world? How many of you out there can fluently speak another language. I highly encourage you to view the website and just become fully aware of the world around you. And if you are passionate about one of these issues, you can make a difference. By sparking the flame of change you could light a fire under us all to start and change this world altogether. Let us not be the Q generation, but the the generation of change. We are capable of so much, so lets get out there and do it!

                                    Joshua

How enterainment has changed...

What up y'all?

    Ok, so this at first may seem like a very interesting topic, but this is something that I recently discussed in a history class and find it absolutely incredible. I am sure that all of us Americans and other countries know that the US is known for its entertainment and how that industry has grown so much. It is an industry that makes or breaks people. It is really an idea that almost takes over our entire lives with reality TV shows, music, movies, and amusement parks. It really is a huge part of our culture and something that will probably only get better. (Although there are those out there who feel things are only going to get worse with entertainment.) But let me now tell you about on of the first American people seeking fame: Sam Patch.

    I am sure that you are thinking to yourself right now, man that name sounds familiar but you can not really put your finger on it. Well, you should know the name because he was one of the first entertainers, but there are also numerous plays, stories, and children's books written about this man. He was known for being a famous cliff jumper into water. There were many high falls that he jumped off of especially being the Niagara falls. He was a man that lived during the Industrial Revolution and started out as a mill worker. He was actually a young boy that started in the Mills, and the entertainment for the young boys was to jump off cliffs into water. They would do only heights of 30 - 50 feet, but Sam Patch seemed to have a knack for jumping and made a career out of it.

   First, he was doing little jumps and telling citizens about it and quickly he gained quite an audience. He went from jumping 50 feet to his highest at 125 feet. He also had spectators from a couple hundred to 12,000 people!!! That is absolutely amazing since he would have town or city size numbers of people coming out to watch him jump, dangerously, into the water. It really was quite an amazing feat because with those heights if he moved wrong or slightly jumped off the cliff wrong, he would die. This was extremely dangerous and had to be done very well. The most amazing fact about his story was that whenever he jumped off the cliffs he was drunk!

   That is a part of the story that many people may not ever realize. But almost every single time he jumped off a cliff he was very drunk. He was actually a man that was known for using his fame and fortune to get drunk. His whole life eventually revolved around getting drunk and finding the next big spot to jump from. Of course, that whole idea of perilously jumping off cliffs from 125 feet up into rushing water drunk caught up with him, and he did eventually drop to his death, Although, he actually jumped extremely well but at the last second he made a terrible mistake that killed himself. Yet, his body was not found for months and many myths about him were made about his whereabouts, but he did infact die. His legacy did live on however through stories and plays, but that just shows how enthralled our culture is with entertainment.

   I feel that sometimes we are so wrapped up in entertainment and people will do anything to be successful. I am one to admit that I love entertainment and movies. I love all those ideas but know that it is not really the life for me. After the death of Sam Patch many people questioned his morals and character to eventually decided he was a drunk sinner searching for fame and fortune. It just seems that so many celebrities still now wind up in the same situation at the end of their reign. I enjoy entertainment, but not some of the outcomes. There are many celebrities that wind up being fine, but those that slip away, really slip away! But is it not great that we can look at history and compare it to today and where we are now? That would be change and continuity baby and I love it! Yeah, I am that history dork and this stuff rocks my world!!!

                                       Joshua

Fall is setting in people...

Hello all,

    I am actually sitting at my computer right now writing this and wishing that I had never left my window open all day because of how cold it is. I can honestly say that it must be less than 40 degrees outside and I am not happy about it. I am one of those people who does not like the cold. I do not care how hot it is outside, bring it on. I hate the fact that I have to layer up and I always feel that no matter how warm it can get in the winter, I feel that I am cold through the entire winter. I really think that my body becomes permanently frozen or something, because I fear that from now until spring my hands will not stop being cold. I must say how pathetic this is, my mom as picks on me because I was born and raised in Vermont. She always says that by now I should be used to the weather by now, but I am not. My body is just not used to it and is effected greatly by it, I will just have to man up!

   I must say though that I really love the Fall, especially being in New England. I actually really love being in Vermont specifically because of all of the beautiful foliage that we have. I was actually quite surprised when foliage actually came and this may seem like a blonde moment I guess. I went with one of my friends downtown and was looking at the trees and was absolutely amazed by all of the spectacular colors. I then was thinking, wow, how come the trees are still so colorful? I kept thinking that it was still summer and it made no sense to me that the tree were not completely green. I then looked at my cell phone and realized that it was the end of September and foliage had begun again. And thus, I really feel that time is just flying by this semester.

   I was honestly so busy with everything and running around that I was losing track of time. I knew exactly what day it was to make all my meetings, but I did not realize what time of the year it was. It was as if I was letting the world pass me by while still being apart of it if that makes sense. That was why when the cold was setting in and I noticed the foliage I was really extremely surprised by it all. I was just unaware of everything that going around me, naturally. I guess though that I am excited because although I can not handle the cold whatsoever, I think it is one of the beautifulest parts of the year. One of my favorite memories from home was right after a big snowstorm I was leaving for school while in high school and saw outside. As I stepped outside, I could tell the snow was a little heavy to stick on the trees and there was about five inches of snow on the ground, but untouched. The scene looked absolutely beautiful, and I hated having to drive on the road to move the snow out of the way. It was one of the most picturesque sights I have ever seen, so the snow is not all that bad after all.

   Also, being that we get a Season's Pass to the local mountain for $30 is amazing! This is a very great mountain with over 100 different trials that are over three different mountains, each with their own difficulty level. I have actually been skiing and snowboarding there for about 6 years and used to pay almost $400 a year, so having the price being so low is amazing. Well, I think I am now going to lay down on the couch and watch some TV for a while. I think that I am going out with some friends for dinner and then out for the night. It should be fun tonight but it is going to be a cold one, I know I plan to staying inside baby!

                                 Joshua

And so it begins again...

Hello youuu!

   Ok, I honestly can not believe that the long weekend is already over and we are back in the swing of things. (Who am I kidding, I have two classes tomorrow and then nothing till Monday afternoon, haha!) It was crazy to think that the four days flew by but I am so excited that they did! The reason is that I had so much homework to get to that I did not do last week and got all of it done except reading one book! I am so excited that is all I have to do! Now, these weekends are usually a really good booster for college students. For one, it is in the middle of the semester so you have lots of work to do and you can do it. You also get to go home, see the family, and sleeeeep! (thats the most important part.) This makes it so that when everyone gets back they are ready for anything. As Mal put it so perfectly, "I am like a big battery and when I go home its like I am in a huge charger that fixes me right up, now I am ready for anything!"

   I love the fact that everyone gets back and they just feel less stressed about school and life in general, there are just so many happy faces! (As if there were not as many before.) But I loved it when I was sitting in the apartment getting work done on Monday evening and two of my roommates arrived within thirty minutes of each other, and then they pulled me from my work to hang out! It was great to see those guys come back and for me, to not be so lonely since I did not go home this weekend. And although I did not go home this weekend, let me tell you why that was actually a very good thing.

  The first great thing was that my mom, brother, and his girlfriend came up on Friday night to go to the movies and then we hung out a little before hand, so I at least got to see the family which was great! Secondly, one of my friends were still here Friday night and Saturday night with one girl who transfered out and I know her, and her friend. So we all had such a blast together and it was so much fun to be around them. The last fact was because I worked all weekend long. I am not kidding, I worked two twelve hour days on Saturday and Sunday, and then 5 hours on Monday. Wow, that might seem like, wow, why does he enjoy that much working? Well, it is because I am a Waiter at Chili's in Williston and I made sooo much money this weekend!!!

  We were actually very busy for two reasons. For one, it was UVM parents weekend and thus so many of those students avoided downtown craziness and came to our restaurant. The second reasons was because it was Canadian Thanksgiving and so many of those Canadians came down and ate out! We were actually so busy that for our lunches we had two hour long waiting time for people to get a table and for dinner at least three hours or more we had people waiting in line to get a table. It was so incredibly busy, but I made about $400 so all is right with the world because of that kind of money. But I had to fill up the car, buy groceries, I owed someone money, and my car payment was on Friday, so half of the money is gone, but I will get it back next week!

  The one reason I really liked this weekend is because I thrive on the fast paced life of a Waiter. It can get so crazy, the kitchen is freaking out, people are yelling at each other, but the tables in the restaurant are quiet and relaxing. It is such an amazing sight to see how crazy the kitchen is but how calm the floor is! I also liked to be able to talk to a lot of the first year UVM students. I was able to ask them how it was going and relate since I was there two years ago. Some of them were so nice, but also so happy to know that another college kid was working and still managing it all being a junior in college. My passion lies in prospective students and first years, so this weekend in particular was just wonderful for me, I had a blast!

  Whelp, that is all I have to say except that there is another phone-a-thon tonight, so if you are from NY or NJ you just might be getting a call tonight you big bad seniors in high school you!

                                                    Joshua