Thursday, November 24, 2011

My Growth

      Over the past few months of college and Hixson Seminar, it feels like I've grown up a whole lot and learned numerous things about life and education. 
      One of the most important things I've learned was that life goes by quicker than a blind of an eye, and I am already in adulthood waiting and preparing to emerge into the tasks and hardships of baring responsibilities for myself and others.  College is my pathway to a desirable career, and the Hixson seminar is a tool to help me deal with and understand college life. The lessons that we had such as financial aid, writing resumes, and just different guest speakers had opened us to realize our goals and priorities.  
     I've grown from a lazy, care-free high school girl to a responsible, hard-working individual that's ready to embrace the winding future that awaits me ahead.  

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Diversity Event: Eco-mind

     This diversity event was absolutely mind-opening to attend. The speaker Frances Moore Lappe, the author of seventeen  well-sold books, taught everyone about the way we think needs to be changed to improve our agriculture and other aspects of life. Her inspiring messages includes: "Believing is seeing", "Hope is not what we find in evidence, it is what we become in action", and "We don't see what we don't expect to see." All of her stories had proved these points in a empowering way, and she really showed us what we can do for the world.
     She started all of her unforgettable journey out with a simple question, "Why are we together creating a world that we as individuals would never choose?" This question propelled her to go out and discover what is in need to be done and changed for the better. She claimed there's something called a scarcity mind and a eco-mind. The first mindset is what's happening right now within the United States and the latter is what's necessary to be changed to.
     The scarcity mind has the strong characteristics of feeling powerlessness and never have enough of anything. Right now, the people here in the country is quicken to struggle to hunger for over-producing of food which is not what our present economy can afford. People have such a slacken and apathetic spirit that they just sit there and complain and not doing anything to help. The distrust of government had made the country even more cynical in beliefs.
     On the other hand, the speaker took a positive turn and brought up the central point of her speech, eco-mind. What this is basically encouraging us to obtain the capacity for fairness, cooperation and efficacy, also capable of deliberative problem solving, and free from private wealth, and emphasize our democracy. For these goals to be established, there will be no waste of anything, every small input is useful.
     Her speech mostly revolved around the agricultural industry and how people's lives in other countries were changed dramatically just from one small initiation. Whether's it's decreasing the release of green house gases, inplanting of trees, or pesticides inhibition, all of these interesting stories she told were mind-blowing and inspiring. One of my favorite last comment of hers was "It's not possible to know what's possible."

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Hixson Award

The Hixson Award means a whole lot to me. It has guided me financially and spiritually throughout the college semester and in the upcoming years. 
My family and I are extremely grateful for this amazing opportunity of obtaining this huge amount of financial aid from this generous program, and Mrs. Hixson is a great lady for doing this good deed. 
The peer mentors are great leaders and very well-trained for helping us understand different aspects of this university and just college in general and how it relates to life. Also, the activities that we do are mind-opening and fascinating. 
This award really inspires me to keep going with college and encourages me to keep up with my grades. Every time I try to slack off, this award just reminded me why I am here and what my priorities are. My hard work and everyone else's hard work will all be worth this short journey.