I’ve moved into my apartment in Oswego! It’s the cutest little apartment, just right for me, myself and I. I’ve spent the last week decorating (buying some things I probably didn’t really need) but I purchased all the necessities. I have an extra bedroom that I turned into ‘my office’. When I’m in there… I’m doing business as my mom would say. I’m not allowed to have pets which kind of makes me sad because I LOVE animals but the more I think about it, I won’t be home that much. It wouldn’t be fair to them to be alone most of the time. Some things have gone wrong, the refrigerator blew up at me when I was cleaning it last week, sparks flew, very scary! But my landlord is taking care of it. The light bulb blew, that was all. The shower is either scolding hot, or freezing cold. But if I play with the nozzle the temperature adjusts to just right. It wouldn’t be a new apartment if something didn’t go wrong, right?!
I still can’t believe that I’m living on my own, paying bills, cooking my own meals and everything else that comes along with living alone. I spent two years on campus. I met so many great people in the residence halls I lived in. Now that my class load is getting a little bit tougher and I’m taking two extra classes which puts me at an overload, I just need my own space. Sharing a room with someone I didn’t know was a great experience I learned a lot about myself but it does get tough sometimes.
Another reason I moved off campus is because I’m looking at grad schools out-of-state and I figured I need to learn how to cook and manage money and things of that nature by myself; where mom isn’t going to be there to cover my butt quite as easily.
It’s been a great experience so far. I never really saw the beauty of Oswego in the summer because I’ve been busy with orientation the past two years. It’s nice being able to go to the farmers market and just sit out at the lake and relax, go running, visit some little shops and other things. It’s been great.

As you may or may not know, I am an orientation leader. We do a skit called Life on Campus that describes issues that happen on college campuses, some scenes are specific to Oswego State.
It hit me the other day that at least four of the scenes deal with technology; specifically cell phones, how rude people are becoming because of it and the distractions it causes in everyday life. I guess I knew it subconsciously but never really thought about it, if you will.
I actually sat down at the mall last night, I was by myself, for about three hours just observing the people. There was not one person who did not have a cell phone on them. The sad part is, every single person I saw was with someone else while they were on their own phone. Is it so hard to communicate with the people we are with? Face to face communication? Is the company of the people are with not good enough that we have to resort to texting and calling other people? If this is the case, why doesn’t everyone just sit at home on their cell phone or instant messenger and have multiple conversations at once and not have to worry about being rude, if they even think about that. I just can’t believe how much this really happens.
I remember back in the day, in elementary and middle school where I would pass notes or talk in class and get in trouble for verbally speaking. Today, children starting as young as age 5 have cell phones and are texting their friends in class. It is absolutely ridiculous that we are so reliant on technology to speak to one another. What would happen to the world if the cell phone towers suddenly had a disconnection and cellphones stopped working? It would be a mad rush and people would probably start hyperventilating because they don’t have their phone and might miss an important text or a phone call. I may be a little biased on saying all this all. But I challenge you, for one day. Don’t use your cell phone. Don’t take it to work, don’t take it to class and see how you feel at the end of the day. I mean seriously, what did we all do before we had cell phones? We survived. We actually had to speak to people face to face and we got to see reactions on faces rather than a smiley face on a screen. So I challenge you all, feel free to let me know what you think or how it worked out for you if you’re brave enough to not use a cell phone for a day.

Since the argument for and against climate change has gained more speed in the past couple years, people are becoming more aware of what’s happening on the earth around us. These global changes, however, have been happening for hundreds of thousands of years as part of a cycle. In more recent times, global warming (happening through the hole in the ozone, polar ice caps melting, rising sea levels, and increasing temperatures) has become a common phenomena with many people saying “Oh, the result must be global warming,” or “It’s hot because of global warming.” The words “global warming” are widely used, but how much of the actual problem is being recognized?

I went to the mall the other day to get some scrubs for work, and while I was there I noticed how green everything was. Green for green, if you will. Handbags, countless t-shirts, wristbands, necklaces, socks, posters, bracelets, flip flops, and tons of more merchandise shared the same words “Go Green,” “Respect Your Mother,” “Save the Planet,” etc. Being “green” and environmentally friendly isn’t in the interest of the environment; it’s in the interest of manipulating a global awareness trend into a marketable venue.

This wouldn’t be too much of a bad thing if this awareness was actually getting somewhere. Most of the t-shirts and handbags made in the name of “eco-friendly” ideas were made in very unfriendly, polluting ways. Just by looking at the tags of the products alone, you see “made in ______.” Insert China, India, Brazil, Indonesia at your convenience. Items traveling from China go over 9,000 or more miles to get to my mall in Elmira, NY. More than ten tons of CO2 is dumped into the atmosphere for each load of clothing or tote bags. Not to mention the materials of which the clothing and totes are made. How does this make it more environmentally-friendly?

I fully support spreading awareness, but how effective is this awareness? By wearing a t-shirt that says “I recycle” makes the statement that obviously you recycle. But, then you go home with your smoothie from the mall and throw out your plastic smoothie container when you’re finished. It’s recyclable; you can surmise this from the recycling sign and a number on the bottom. If it’s recyclable, why aren’t you recycling it? It’s one thing to claim to the general public that you’re eco-friendly, and it’s another thing to actually be eco-friendly. If you’re going to represent the trend, represent it! Offset the carbon footprint from buying that t-shirt through www.carbonfund.org. Buy from local vendors. Research where the items you buy come from and where you can find some of the same products closer. Do something in the movement!

A movement starts with awareness, but it needs action to actually move.

Do the research and help move society into an actual “eco-friendly” atmosphere.

Other sites:

http://ecoproducts.com/cms/index.php

http://www.ecozenboutique.com/catalog.php?category=43

http://www.ecomall.com/biz/clothing.htm

I have been on a plane for almost 2 days now. Overall the trip has been successful. We will be touching down in about an hour. I did find a place to live, it panned out last week but was a little bit close for my own nerves. I will be living in a place called College Hall. Creative right? I am very excited though I get to be transported by some international shuttle, it sure sounded cool in the brochure. I have to say though that the staff at the University of Waikato are great so far, they arranged practically everything for transport.

I still don’t have classes to attend though. Everything is topsy turvy because there was a mix up in my return dates. I will have to take finals in the states or make special arrangements to take them early in NZ. It’s a good thing that their international center has free international calls because BASAC and Career Services are going to have become even tighter to try and figure this out.

(BASAC = Business Advisement Center. Career Services = Part of the Compass in the bottom of the Campus Center with career advice, graduate school searches, internships, volunteer stuff and everything that you could think of that you could need. The staff at both places is so great. However if you are a business student, go to Lisa at BASAC; she is my personal favorite, she always figures it out. I will be calling her as soon as it is a normal hour for Oswego again. I wrote this at 5am July 2 in NZ and 1pm July 1 back in Oz.)

Cruising through the skies, thinking of everything to put it bluntly, crazy days ahead but it is going to be one of my best adventures yet.

Be Ozzy.

Yes, can you believe it? I sure can’t. It’s already been a month after I graduated. I remembered walking through the hall ways not as a college freshman but just as a high school student. I remembered the days of passionately hoping and praying for better ones. I wanted a change in my environment. I yearned for new opportunities to grow and challenge myself in ways that would impact my life. My journey to and through Oswego brought all of those experiences to me. Now that, that chapter is over you ask me what comes next huh?

I have worked as hard as possible and exceeded my goals to this point. I as do thousands of recent college graduates are faced with today’s tough economy where hundreds of thousands of already full-time and part-time workers have been laid off jobs, businesses have foreclosed, and even major corporations seek bailouts. Where do we go from here you say?

Despite these harsh realities I find myself being frustrated but not concerned. Frustrated of course because I wish circumstances weren’t this challenging. But, I’m concerned that people won’t utilize a moment like this to work harder and become more than what they had envisioned from the start for their lives. Yes, that is difficult to do. It’s a challenge and you have to be up for it if you expect to move forward.

Dr. Phil, from the Dr. Phil Show recently published a blog that was dedicated to recent college graduates, “Ten Things I Wish Your Kids Would Hear at Their Graduation.” I couldn’t agree with him more and I think that all of my peers should take the time to read it. What I take from him is to be flexible, loosing a sense of entitlement, and not to be afraid to fail. I am more content now than I have ever been in my life as a result of the job market and the economy. I have learned to be content in being less than what I want and more of what I need. It comes from the expectation of having a degree, wanting the job of my dreams, my own home, and so forth.

It’s so simple and easy to want those things in a condition where the possibilities of having those things in this tough time are highly unlikely. Even if the job market and economy were great I still couldn’t expect that all my wants should be satisfied. It’s just not a reality either way when attempting to get what you want. It takes time, blood, sweat, tears, and dozens of detours on your path to getting where you would like to go. So on that path, on that journey, in your book or however you determine your guide to your ultimate success, you have to be creative and flexible to finding what you need in place of what you want in order to eventually make it to where you would like to be.

Therefore, I chose to focus on what it is that I need. I need balance. I need to work harder. I need to seek opportunities not for money, but for experience and growth mainly. Overall I’m in love with the condition of what is going on around me. It’s shaping me to being a stronger, wiser, and better person. Of all the things I can’t control I shall make it my best and for all the things I can control I shall make them INCREDIBLE! I sincerely encourage that you seek out your passion and go for it. You can make it happen. You can make it WORK! I remember the days of passionately hoping and praying for better days sometime ago to get to this point. The amazing part now is that I will be doing the same thing to get through to this next phase.

So, I moved back to Oswego June 14 to begin working on orientation for first-year and transfer students! Things are going GREAT so far! The team is connecting really well and we starting learning LOC, Life On Campus, today and it is going to be amazing. I can’t believe that it’s been 4 days already. I feel like I was just moving all my stuff in to Johnson, where I’ll be living until August 1.
It’s funny how fast time flies when you’re having fun. It’s scary more than anything though. Take college for instance, I remember moving in my first day, August 26, 2007. I remember what I was wearing, the first people I met and meeting my roommate for the first time. Now, I’m going to be a junior! Where has the time gone?! It’s so important to make the most of your college years, in the right way. Make friends, join organizations, get outside of your comfort zone and push yourself to see just how far you can go. You’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish with a little bit of uncertainty and unfamiliarity.
Becoming a college student is invigorating and such an honor. Take it for everything it is and don’t waste the time away. I’ve seen too many people flunk out because of poor decisions and here for all the wrong reasons. Staying on top of your grades doesn’t necessarily mean being in the library every free minute you have or hitting the books, it’s about making smart choices, getting to know professors and where to go for help.
Have fun and enjoy the years, because soon enough you’ll be walking across the stage in cap and gown shaking your head, saying to yourself, where has the time gone?