Great Deal!

I will probably blog quite a bit about the Miss Michigan pageant coming up since that has been on my mind ever since I won the Miss Lawrence Tech title- so sorry if this stuff bores you.

I have the Miss Michigan orientation this weekend and I didn't have shoes to go with the outfit I am planning on wearing. So I went to the mall yesterday and I am extremely excited about the great deal I got with the shoes I bought.

I went to Macy's and saw some cute Jessica Simpson shoes- originally $80. I saw that it was marked to $40. That was still expensive for me- but I liked the shoes a lot! Sooo I convinced myself I could afford them lol

I went to the cash register and guess what? They were only $20!! 

I didn't argue the prize of course. 

I still can't believe I got $20 shoes from Macy's.

SOUL

SOUL of (Society of University Leaders) is a soon-to-be organization at LTU that I recently joined. (I know- I just can't stop joining stuff! What can I say? I loved being involved).

I am extremely happy that students and staff at LTU have taken the time to come up with an organization like SOUL. From the two meetings I have attended this semester we have a Relay for Life team set up and we plan to participate in a 24 hour relay to fundraise for and fight cancer.

SOUL also has a LTU service day in which we want as many LTU students to participate. SOUL has partnered up with United Way to provide community service. 

The LTU service day is Saturday, April 4th. If you are interested in participating let me know!

There are other activities that are going on to fundraise for a good cause.

I recommend LTU students getting involved in SOUL.

Today at the meeting I won a prize too! An LTU shirt, coffee mug, and two pencils.

What a great initiative to get people to show up!

First Day of the Fast

Today, March 2nd, is the first day of the Fast in the Bahai Faith.

Bahai's between 15 and 70 years of age do not eat or drink for 19 days from sunrise to sunset and set aside time for prayer and meditation. People with illness, pregnancy, nursing mothers, extended travel, and arduous physical labor are exempt from fasting.

Therefore, I have to wake up very early to eat and not eat or drink until sunset.

The first days are always the hardest. I have been tired all day from the lack of sleep and am extremely hungry. It makes it so much harder when you are conscience that you are not allowed to eat. Normally I am so busy with school, meetings, and work that I barely eat somedays (unintentionally)- but now that I am conscience of the sacrifice I am making, I am even hungrier than usual- making the fast more challenging.

I will be fasting until March 20th- a total of 19 days. The Bahai calendar has 19 months, each with 19 days. 19X19 is 361 so the extra days are what we call "Ayyam-i-Ha"- which is similar to Christmas, except it is 4-5 days with the purpose of celebrating, being hospitable, helping charities, and gift giving. I just celebrated Ayyam-i-Ha.

After the fast (March 21st) we will be celebrating our new year "Naw-Rus." So February/March are significant months for the Bahais.

I did not make this blog to "preach" so if you want to know more go to:

http://www.bahai.org/

or

http://www.bahai.us/

The Bahai's believe in the independent investigation of truth- so we never preach. However it was hard for me to write about my fasting without giving some background. 

So don't be surprised if you see me in the Cafe Lawrence stuffing my face around 6:30pm every day.

Obama's Address On Tuesday

Obama made me proud to have him as a president on Tuesday.

If you know me, you know that education is a huge passion of mine.

I am an advocate for High School Drop-out Prevention. I have known about this crisis for a while and saddened that not many people know about this problem. It has been a silent epidemic for so long, and I have been waiting for a president to put a voice to the issue and Obama did just that on Tuesday.

He addressed the importance of education; and when he mentioned the High School Drop-out crisis I was so happy- I can't even describe it. He said "Dropping out of high school is no longer an option. It's not quitting on yourself, its quitting on your country."

I couldn't of said it better!

It is a blessing to have a president who has a great understanding of the Drop-out Crisis. It really affects everyone. 

Here are some facts for you in case you did not know:

- One third of students drop-out each year

- The country loses about $200 billion for each class of drop-outs

- Drop-outs are less likely to vote and participate in the community

- Drop-outs are economically disadvantaged

- Most incarcerated people did not graduate from high school

So I really have my hopes up that Obama will help decrease the number of drop-outs; but one thing is for sure: he can't do it alone.

We need to work together to help keep students in school. 

How?

One way to start is to inform them of the important of a high school degree. How many times were you told the importance of a diploma when you were in high school? And I'm not talking about the "you need to do well in high school so you can go to college."

Students don't know how they will suffer financially is they drop-out. Specially with this economic crisis, jobs are becoming more competitive.

We need to keep our students/children/friends in school- and it is so great to have a president that is behind us, pushing us, to make a positive change.

SiCKO

The documentary that I analyzed is SiCKO by Michael Moore. SiCKO is about the health care system in America. It portrays the negative aspects that health care has on people who have and pay for health care. Moore gives us true stories of people who were denied a treatment and therefore suffered. Moore explores the health care systems in other countries such as Great Britain and France. Moore puts some humor into the documentary by asking the people of other countries how much they pay for health care to get an answer similar to “Huh? We don’t pay anything. We are not America.” At the end, Moore finds out that there is a place in America that has free health care: Guantanamo. Moore takes some people (including some heroes from 9/11) that have been rejected by the health care system in America to get free treatment. However, they end up in Cuba were they get free treatment.

I learned a lot about health care that I did not know previously. I had no idea that America’s health care was ranked 37 within all the other countries. I also did not know that there were actually countries with free health care; I know they probably have high taxes, but at least the people are not denied care.
I had no idea that the health care workers actually searched for ways to deny care; acting like FBI agents to see if you had given false information.
I definitely learned a lot from the film. However, I do keep in mind that Moore did show one side of the argument; I will had to research more in order to get a true opinion.

Midterms

Midterms- there isn't a "right" time for them to arrive.

Because of midterms I missed the Oscars! Yes- I had to study all night Sunday because my Monday was busy for my midterm on Tuesday. While my mom and dad and everyone else sat down to watch the amazing Oscars, I had to study :(

Because of midterms I didn't go out Friday night. I had to decline an invitation to a party, a birthday party, and a get together with my sister.

Because of midterms I was half awake at work- It was the first time I had to drag myself to work, because I normally enjoy going.

Because of midterms I had to miss a couple of meetings at school.

Because of my midterm today, my hand hurts! I had to answer five short answer questions. 

For a whole hour I did nothing but write.

Since both my sister and boyfriend (an some close friends) do not go to LTU I feel like I am the only one missing out because they are on Spring Break right now. This happens every time. 

I can't wait until midterms are over!

Spanish Soap Operas

Not the first one to say it- Spanish soap operas are WAY better than English ones.

However, I am not the type of person to first- watch TV (I know- not very common, but I am too busy to watch TV) and second- like HAVING to watch something this day and time or else I go nuts

My father is the same way- me and him try to not even turn on the TV when a Spanish soap is going on. On the other hand, my mom is obsessed with them.

And this is what ends up happening EVERY time-

1) My mom starts watching a soap in secret

2) My dad or I suspect she is watching one so we ask- to get a "huh? me? no- I just glimpsed at it the other day, but I am not watching it"

3) Mom continues to watch the soap in secret

4) I see commercials of the soap and innocently ask "what is that soap about?" and my mom spills the beans by giving WAY too much detail and gets caught (but is still in denial)

5) Finally mom confesses that she has to record the soap when we decide to go out one night because she is addicted to it

6) Mom watches her soap- usually at night- so dad gets forced to watch it too

7) Dad gets addicted to the soap

8) Mom and dad watch it all the time (recording it if they are not home) and talk about it constantly

9) Many times they watch recorded ones downstairs- so while I am in the kitchen table doing hw I get to hear and glimpse at the soap

10) I get addicted to the soap

11) I hate myself for it

12) After soap is done me and dad make mom promise that she will not begin to watch another

13) Mom promises

14) Start over at #1

Right now the soap we are watching is Las Tontas No Van Al Cielo (not exact tranlation, but pretty much Dumb Women Don't Go To Heaven). It is a really funny soap- unlike those crazy soaps where everyone marries everyone and then everyone gets killed.

So though it is a very enjoyable soap to watch- I can't stand being addicted to it.

I just have way too many things to do to be HAVING to watch something for an hour Mon-Fri.

And though I want to say it won't happen again- it will- because my mom always finds a new soap.