Final Blog

Reflection

This is it, the final blog. I am just so happy that I have made it through freshman year. The statistics say that freshman's are most likely to drop out of school than any other grade out there. Let me tell you that I am very happy that I beat the odds because as of now, I will most likely succeed and continue to invest in my education. 

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I guess the biggest barrier for me was to just continue because there were times in my freshman year that I wanted to give up and not do anything anymore. I wanted to ditch class or something like that but that is not the case anymore.I want to finish this semester strong and with a decent GPA because it is possible. At least that is what I heard here in college, this is where the GPA truly matters. So now that I am passing most of my classes, I feel extremely confident and I am grateful for all the experiences for my first year. 

I just want to say thank you to all the students that made my freshman year an awesome year here at Stanislaus State. Honestly, I am not one for going to this school, or this school, I just want to get in, get out and get a job. Also, they are supposed to destroy the ASI building this summer I believe to reconstruct the new ASI building which is due to be open in 2020 which really sucks because that's the year I want to graduate lol. I also want to say thank you to all the professors, especially the one who would cancel class. You guys are the real MVP! Keep going and keep on educating the next generation of freshman's or whatever grade level y'all teach. 

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This is Oscar Rivas, signing off from being a freshman at CSU Stanislaus State. Hasta Luego! Hope to see y'all around!

Recovering

Recovering

I can honestly say that I am gaining confidence now that we are headed towards the end of the semester. I said this before in one of my other blogs, but I was not doing so well in my statistics class where my grade was in the trenches. My grade was in F status level and I thought my whole career was over. 

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I told myself that I would pick up my grade because that grade was unacceptable in my eyes. Little by little I started doing the homework assignments and actually paying attention in my classes so I could at least pick up my grade. As the professor would put in the assignments and homework in the grade, little by little I could see my grade start going back up and I could honestly say that there was one tear that ran down my face. This by far was the hardest semester that I have ever had from the two semesters that I've been in school lol. Life is great. 

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So the grade that I have now went from an F and it is now climbing to a C plus. This is great news because the only thing that I have to worry about is completing the homework assignments and doing decent in the final which is not worth as much as an exam. So the only thing that sucks is that the exam is next Thursday and it's not going to be easy studying all those chapters that we went over and hopefully passing to get at least an A. I am shooting to at least get a B in that class when the school semester is over. 

Wish me luck y'all!

Food on Campus

Food on Campus

One of my friends here in campus took off to the bay area to San Jose over the weekend to see the band which is called, "The Weekend". One of the things that my friend decided to do while in the bay area was visit one of his dream schools which was San Jose State. I decided to send him a message about how it was over there in his dream school but decided to respond today actually while we were playing pool.

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He says he does not like Stan state anymore because in San Jose State, they have really good food, and food companies that are there. He mentioned that Taco Bell, Panda Express, and a few other fast food restaurants chains were present in the campus. He also stated that the food quality in San Jose state was overwhelmingly better than that of Stan State. I mean I could not disagree with him because the feature restaurant here at Stan state is called the Warrior Grill. First of all, I am just happy that the Warrior Grill makes good food at least. They make decent food but when I was talking to a friend of my sister that works here in DBH, he said that it is better to go off campus and pay just a little more to get better quality than here at Stan State. A burger meal here at Stan State will cost about $5 without adding bacon or anything extra, plus tax. At In-N-Out however, we are able to get for the same price a quality hamburger that you can really taste plus soda and sometimes some restaurants near the school offers special perks to students. For example, Wing Stop will give you a free drink if you show the ID card. It's pretty amazing. However, I hope that when the new ASI building is built, they will include more restaurants now that the Stan State population is increasing. The only brand place I've seen at campus was only Starbucks, that's it. Plus, it's closed at 3pm or something like that which really sucks for those who want to get an afternoon unicorn frap or something like that lol.

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Hopefully Stan State will pick up its food game because the school is losing potential money to other students who would rather go around campus and get quality food for the same price or a little more expensive. 

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GO WARRIOR'S

Stress Time

Stress

So I was walking down to my classroom and all of a sudden I see a lady with parrot walking to her classroom. I first thought to myself, what the heck is a parrot doing on a student's shoulders. The parrot seemed cool and like it was meant there for a purpose. All of a sudden it hit me, because finals are coming up and it is that time to start stressing out. Many people need therapeutic animals to help students with anxiety stress. So I think that it's cool that animals are being used to help the student body after all. 

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It's that time of the year again because now there's four weeks left in the semester and all the professors are gathering up their classes and preparing them for finals. The good thing about this year is that I only have to worry about 3 finals rather than 5 finals because some professors are cool like letting us do an essay for our final. I think he knows who I am talking about. God help me, because although I only have 3 finals, that does not mean that I am not gonna be stressed out. I have  to study for Bio, Economics, and Statistics. Statistics being the worst of my subjects because I have a tough time understanding the teacher. Economics should not be a problem but I know what I am going to be focusing on these last days in the semester. I can only be grateful that I had the opportunity to even go to school this semester because it's been a great semester full of learning and making new friends in class. 

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Good luck to everyone because we will need it. Our future depends on our grades this semester. 

Turlock's Atmosphere

Turlock's Atmosphere

Sometimes when I drive around Turlock during the weekend or when I am heading home, I really love the vibe this small little town gives me. At least, not just the country side of Turlock, but also the surrounding area of the school. I mean, compared to Modesto I can honestly say that I would rather live in Turlock than live in Modesto. This was my first experience in college of me commuting and actually thinking about Turlock and moving there. Here's some of the reasons why. 

1. Turlock's Shopping Center

Although Turlock may not have a mall or anything huge, I really love the atmosphere and the vibe the small shopping centers on Golden State Blvd. Sometimes I find myself driving throughout Monte Vista I think it's a beautiful small city little shopping center trying to copy San Francisco. Personally, I am not a city type of guy to want to live there, but visiting, I would. I think the reason why Turlock is beautiful in this certain area is because of Stanislaus State which obviously gives visitors a certain image of the school. Plus, Turlock is growing because before, there were just buildings on Golden State Blvd who did not have as many stores, but now it's expanding.

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2. The Quiet Town

Since I am not a city type of guy, I really enjoy the small town and usually a quiet town. I do not want to be up staying at 2am to hear my neighbor partying or having a college graduating party. I like it when neighbors are respectful and do not violate my sleep rights lol. 

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3. The Country

I am more of a country type of guy in the sense that I would rather see the green fields than seeing the city. This is just my personal opinion. The green fields is what makes the view for me. Especially looking at the mountains west of Turlock and looking at the beautiful green fields. It gives me hope for the future somehow.

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Stan state made me realize something about myself, I prefer small sort of busy towns than huge cities like Oakland or San Francisco.

Out of Ideas

Out of Ideas

So being that school is almost over and doing these blogs every Monday, I have officially ran out of ideas because I do not know what to write about this blog. Just doing it for the grade haha.

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 So throughout high school, I always was an A student but this semester I am mostly getting B's and from what high school counselors have told me is that college is so much more different. What I also heard from high school counselors and past students is that college workload is much more different than high school AP workload. When I was in AP US History, the workload was reading every day and I was like stressed out, but college is on a whole different level. Professors usually say that for every hour spent in class, there needs to be at least 3 hours of studying for every hour in a class. To me, it just depends which class he is talking about. I usually tend to do better in a hands on class rather than a class that is just sit and watch me lecture. I wish college classes were less theoretical and more practical so it can be more engaging for those students who are bored out of their mind when they are in class. I just can't wait to be done with college already to be honest, because I feel like I will be stuck here for a while but the reality is that eventually, I will be out of here and I will have three years to go if I do pass and get credit for one of my classes. So that is something to look forward too, right? To finish high school?

Time in College

Time in College

Time in college goes by too fast. I remember that last year I was a senior in high school and now I'm about to complete my second semester in college which will mean that I will complete my first year as a freshman. Let me just say that this time flew by and I cannot believe that I am already in this stage. Thank God for my parents for motivating me and so for my sisters for motivating me as well because I did not feel like continuing in my first year because I am done with college. 

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I am grateful that time goes by fast especially when one is busy and building their future here. I hope that the four or five years I decide to take will make life and pulling up my career faster because I want to get in and get out of school. The only thing that sucks is that now I have to get my General ed out of the way because that is what the school requires sadly. However, I am happy that I had a first easy semester gaming up in the game room and now I rarely go there at all. I think I've been there only once lol, or just chilling in the grill, or having a three hour break which was amazing by the way.  

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Time however, can never go back so what we make with the time we have will eventually become memories and will become things that we will never be able to do in the future which is why we live for now but not tomorrow. So being in college for about two semesters already has challenged me to make the most with the time we have now. Don't waste it on useless things basically. 

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Take care y'all

Spring Break

Spring Break 

Man do I miss Christmas vacation, because this break was very well needed. Like I feel energized as much as I did before I started first semester. I think it's because after a while, I got my eight hours a sleep at night now that I am working long shifts. I wake up to my own sleep cycle and man do I feel good. Honestly, I am just happy that the school decided to give us spring break a week early from the UC system because I know that we only have a month left of school before finals, it was a break well needed. 

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The only thing I did not like about spring break is that it is only a week, when it could be a week and a half or at least two weeks. However, I am grateful for even a week off because my job is not giving me a week off whenever they feel like it. I guess this is the workplace now, so yeah I am going to enjoy as many breaks as I can. Also, we get a generous holiday this Friday which is amazing because now I get to crash in and sleep another day. Hopefully the school and government will prolong our spring break. For many, this spring break went by too fast, but for me, it went by really slow. When I was walking into campus today, I felt that I haven't been in school for a while. I kind of missed school because sometimes I spent most of my mornings on the internet or catching up on chores that I could not complete during the semester being in school.

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Now that I have gotten my rest, I am ready to tackle this semester and go for one more month of school before finals. I feel so energized to finish this semester with a bang and to have my GPA be above a 3.5. I wanna get a diploma after all, right? Isn't that what we are all here for?

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Struggles

Struggling in School 

I do not consider myself someone who is horrible at math because I've done math throughout my high school  years and even took AP Calculus in high school and passed the class. However, I never did take statistics in high school because it never ran through my mind. I should have however. In this semester, being one of the most challenging yet, I have never felt so stressed in my life about passing an exam for this class that I am not doing so good in. The class? Statistics for Decision Making, 1610. It sucks man. 

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The reason I say it sucks is because I know the math because I've been attending the tutoring center for a while and it has helped me a lot in managing the problems in statistics. To my surprise, the math is EASY but when I have to come to my Tuesday and Thursday class, it can be overwhelming only of the fact of having that fear that I am not going to understanding the concept behind the math. The hardest part for me however is that it is in the morning and the professor has an accent and I sometimes have trouble understanding the professor. Of course because it's the morning I'm also thinking about what time the class is going to end. But after Tuesday and Thursday classes, I usually head to the tutoring center so I can receive help and I cannot thank the tutors there more enough for being there and helping me along the way. So, tutor if you are reading this, thank you. I do not think I would have the patience to become a teacher but either way I admire each professor that took time off their life to pursue a career into educating the next generation even though at times it may not be easy. So Thank you!

Distractions

Distractions 

One of the things I hate about being in college is that one lacks accountability from teachers. It's a good thing and a bad thing because obviously we take on the role to develop our own personal responsibility. But after 12 years, I need to recondition myself to break this habit of not prioritizing my tasks of the day and destroy distractions. One of the things I distract myself is by being on my phone sometimes on YouTube on the web. Last semester we wrote an essay about this and did an activity about how we can change the way we study and be less wasteful to do things in order and be in more discipline. But then winter break happened.  

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As soon as winter break started, I knew I didn't have homework so obviously the time I spent on the internet increased by a huge margin. Then, I knew that there was this show that was popular because my sisters would always watch it. The show was called The Office. I gotta say that this show is one of the best shows I have ever seen. I got through all 9 seasons in a span of 6 weeks lol I'm a nerd. The thing about the show is that each episode is only about 22 minutes long compared to other 30 minute shows. Those 8 minutes make a difference so I was always left like "Aw man I gotta watch the next episode. The show is so funny. These were and are my distractions until today. When I don't have nothing to do after I took care of everything I had to do, I would go watch The Office or YouTube. 

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These are the distractions I have today that I still need to break because sometimes I have homework. Like this blog was due yesterday but now I'm doing it today lol. This sucks but it will all be over soon after May! So that is something to look forward too! Here we go to get rid of some distractions as students.

Millennials & School

Millennials 

I could not think of a title so I just titled this blog, millennials. Now, being born in the late 90's would classify me as a millennial. Now if you were to bring millennials up to your grandparents or parents, what would they think of when they hear millennial? Some of the things I heard were pretty much in this list: Lazy, entitled, think they are special, addicted to phones, etc. Now, is this true? Well that's a source for debate. 

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Most of my classrooms I mostly sit with people that are a year older than me or a couple years older than me. They would be classified as millennials because it is a safe assumption that they were born in the 90's.  I saw this really interesting video that maybe most of you reading this blog would want to hear about. It's about millennials and why we are so complicated as a generation. One of the things that I have been struggling to do with my generation is form solid friendships and relationships because most people are on the internet more than they have conversation with one another. It low key sucks because sometimes when I sit with a group of friends, there is going to be a moment where everyone will be quiet and just be on their phones.

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 Sometimes it even influences me at times and do my best to change these destructive habits. I see this mostly in my communication's class, where everyone is on their phones 5 minutes before class. Thank God I sit with my group and we are all really talkative and don't really rely on phones to have meaningful conversations. It's ironic though, how in communications class, there is no one communicating. Oh the irony! This basically impacting me to develop stronger relationships outside of school because at school, mostly I just want to get in and get out. I value my friendships even though I joke around with them. I hope my generation will not be lost and will not lose the traditions of having an effective relationship with one and another. 

Simon Sinek on Millennials in the Workplace

School of Thoughts

School of Many Thoughts

One of the things how school has made me realize about my personal life, is the way that many people think. Not only that, but what they think of subjects in this world. When I was in High School, I already knew that college was going to be a place where many individuals would have their own set of ideas and beliefs. I was ready for this type of environment especially because I know that since there are many conflicting philosophies and beliefs, there would be a lot of disagreement between myself and other students. 

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I believe I addressed on side of the way students think in my last semesters blog but I do not remember since I recently did delete it. 

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Being in school has made me become independent in my own way of thoughts. Why? Because I know that I do not hold the same opinion of almost any subject, as most students do. Which is why sometimes I'm afraid to jump in the conversation because sometimes I do have many things to say and respond to many students claims but because the fear of the backlash, I will not. I have been engaged in really fiery discussion and that is fun when you're doing it with friends, but maybe not strangers.As I've been growing up and coming to college, I've became a little more vocal. I just see that so many people think the same thing and use almost the same thought process and their reasoning behind their thinking. Through college, I have learned to become a little more of an independent thinker, usually having a different approach of many topics of discussion. I hope that as we go through the year in English class, I would be able to offer a different point of view rather than what would I consider the norm. 

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If you reading this blog, mostly have different points of view than the norm. Be unique and independent. Somebody's viewpoint could always change and see the reasoning behind your point of view and could probably change the way they think. That is my goal at least. 

Balance

Balance

There was a quote that got my attention a while back and it said, " A long time ago, people who sacrificed their sleep, family, food, and laughter were called saints.... Now they are students"

I can agree with this statement to an extent because now being a full time student and a part time worker can take its tolls. Of course, I decided to take the job that I did and pick out the schedule for school that I did. However, I really do not like how in a federally funded university we have to take general ed. To me personally, it is a waste of the first 2 years that could be used to focus on a major of our choice. I wish it could be a choice because for some people, they do not know what their major is and they have not decided so they need to take a lot of classes to see what their likes and dislikes are. However, some of us know what we want to do and we have to take an extra 2 years to study things that we do not need to study that is not gonna be beneficial to life. This is not to insult anybody, this is my opinion. To me, it's like high school all over again. The thing I was trying to escape. 

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Overall, now I am getting less sleep especially waking up on Thursdays because I am working all the way until 2 am from Tuesday to Thursday. I do not know how I am doing it but school can be stressful at times because when I get home, I want to take a power nap but cannot because I have to worry about homework from classes and readings. I do not know whose idea it was that college had to be a stage of homework overload because rather than benefiting students, it can actually be destructive. I guess our education system could change. I am open for that idea. This is college however, it is what it is and I think I cannot do anything about it. From what I heard, college is getting easier but it does not compare to what has happened in the past. My high school teachers told me that their professors were much more strict and old fashioned with chalkboards and would not take questions until the end of their lectures. However, I am just happy to be living as such a time like this. Times are changing.          

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Beginnings of this Semester

This Semester 

It's been a really long break. At least this is how I feel because all I would do is just work and relax at the house doing extracurricular activities and that's how the day went. Now that the school year started, I realized that I made a huge leap of faith without even thinking about it and now I have a load of homework that I didn't plan on having. However, I am grateful for the opportunity to even be coming to school on this day and age where the federal government is granting students with free money which in itself is controversial. I am also grateful that I am a part time job so I can pay for my own books and other extracurricular things that this life demands with choices that I make. I really hate however that school is just much more expensive and that books are also super expensive. The most I had to pay for one book so far was my economics book with connect costing almost 200 freaking dollars. Like what the heck man? 

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But like I said earlier, I am grateful to be working a job that pays a good wage that I could pay for that. This semester has a lot of reading to do which means that my weekends will most likely be busy because I will have to catch up on homework and assignments on the weekend. If this is what it's going to take to graduate in about 4 years rather than 5, I would rather take it because usually Financial Aid stops funding after the 4th year. What I would recommend every person who is reading this, do not pull out loans. Rather, work a job or a summer job so you can save up for tuition so you won't have to pay back the banks loans with interest. The last thing you want to worry about when starting off in life is about paying back loans. Other than that, this school year is opening up the doors for me to make new friends and work together in groups for projects. I do miss my fall experience having a 3 hour break and not worrying about so much homework. Now all that has changed and I am back to doing business by doing homework. God give me strength because I am not used to this.