A First Time College Student's Voyage

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Entry #9: What Does Food Convey?

When viewing this image, what thoughts pop up in your mind? You might sense a feeling of warmth and safety. There is joy in the air, surrounded in smiles and celebration. What is in the center of this image? You guessed it, it's food and drinks. As people, I don't think we take into consideration how much food effects our social life. Think of a party you might have went to. There might have been drinks as well as small appetizer like foods. Parties are typically associated and synonymous with fun gatherings. Think about holidays. On Christmas, many people eat what is typically traditional for their families. Christmas is a time of giving, as well as Thanksgiving. What I am trying to emphasize and showcase is that food really is the heart of gatherings. This is why when we think of "comfort foods" we are often craving a connection. Personally, when I notice I am craving a "comfort" food, (such as pasta and italian food), I am missing family and the emot

Entry #8: Let Me Give You Some Advice...

Losing weight is usually seen as a moment of celebration. It's incredibly challenging and when you see before and afters of those who do lose weight, it seems as though everything gets better for them. It seems as though everything is sunshine and rainbows for them. Losing weight is great, but if you are someone who is going through the trek, it is important to keep your expectations in check. Now please do not take this as a discoragment piece, as this is not the intent at all. I just want to provide some advice and some things that I wish I knew when I first started losing weight. First things first, I am not speaking about this as someone who has never gone through this process. I have lost in total 74 pounds. There are many things to look forward to about losing weight. Maybe it's the projected confidence to wear that new skin tight dress that you have in your closet, or to be able to go on an airplane without a seat belt extender. One thing they don't talk a

Entry #7: Is Food Fresh?

Food. It's something everyone is familiar with. Ever since you were a child food was a big portion of your life. Whether you had basketball practice that ran late and you had McDonalds for dinner or at Thanksgiving, food is a central point in every person's life. It can be used as motivation to work hard or it could be used to be destructive. But do we really think about where our food comes from? I am guilty of just grabbing the first bunch of chicken breasts I see when I walk by the poultry without doing any research on the farm it came from. After watching the film Fresh, I have now been encouraged to rethink that habit. The content in the film Fresh were both shocking and optimistic. In the film, I heard about many practices that were brutal and scary such as feeding cows their own dead species to fatten them up. This also applied to the eating habits of chicken too and how farmers would often cover these carcases with enough sugar to get the animals to eat it. The cre

Entry #6: The Normalization of Mental Health

Mental Health. While commonly talked about, the concept is still very foreign, especially to older generations. Everyone has had some sort of run in with their mental health. Maybe last week you had a bad day but you can't stop thinking about it. Or you continuously made yourself anxious for no reason at all. Obviously, some mental health is more severe than others. When gone unchecked, it can create many more issues further down the line. That is why mental health needs to be talked about more and should be the forefront of the occasional deep conversation. Personally I have had my fair share of mental health hiccups. Being diagnosed with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) at ten years old was definitely not my plan. And it especially was not my parent's plan either. What many might talk about is the effect of mental health, not only on you as a person, but on the others around you. This can be scary. It might make the people around you feel hopeless or out of contro

Entry #5: Are You In Good Hands?

This week, I was tasked with analyzing an Allstate commercial. This sounded silly to me at first, but then I realized how much the ads use rhetoric and how they are a great example to start an analysis on. I had chosen the Tailgate Grill ad, which can be watched here. The author of this ad wanted the audience to experience the game day excitement and dread that would occur after it. Since the grill in the car leads to the car catching on fire, it shows the risks that can happen during a big game day. By stating the product, (insurance), at the end of the advertisement, the author obviously wants to promote safe and wise decisions. The target audience is adults who are looking for a safe and reliable insurance plan. The context of this ad is a football game. This is to hopefully get the audience to relate to the ad, almost to say "what if that happened to me?" You can see how American culture greatly influences the advertisement too. Since football is widely

Entry #4: Fostering Cats

Fostering animals has been one of the most exciting, rewarding, and challenging experiences that I have ever put myself through. Currently, I am fostering three kittens at once. Since my family and I were given these kittens in September we decided to name them after the Sanderson Sisters in Hocus Pocus. They are named Sarah, Winnie, and Mary and they are such energetic balls of joy. Originally, I had began fostering cats because I just loved the felines. Little did I realize the true impact fostering cats had in the U.S. According to ASPCA, around 3.2 million cats arrive to animal shelters just in the U.S. alone. Every year approximately 860,000 of those cats are euthanized. When I initially read this statistic I was mortified at that extremely high number. Since I am a cat lover at large, I realized that I had done some good when deciding to suddenly foster three kittens from the same litter and bring them into our loving home. After looking at such a large number, thr