HixsonScholar2014

Well this blog is  WAY overdue but better late than never. In october, I went to Noche de cultura or culture night at the MU. Culture night was about learning about different latin cultures. There was a guest speaker, John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas and different types of food. There was a performance by  a Marachi Band. My favorite part of the night was the capoeira performence. Capoeira is a type of dance from Brazil and it was really interesting to watch. Afterward there was a DJ and everybody was dancing and the dj played all types of music. I was really tired by the end of the night.

I chose to attend this event because I thought it would be really interesting to learn about different latin cutures. I learned that not everybody has the same culture.

When first coming here, I was so nervous. I did not want to leave my younger siblings and close friends. Having to be around new people and knowing almost no one. I was not ready.  I mostly did not want to feel alone. I had to learn to be by myself without someone being there telling me what to do. I pretty much had to grow up a bit more.

I feel I have grown to be more responsible. I never used to have a planner or write stuff down in high school. I have learned that if I don’t write stuff down, i’ll forget what it is and if it is important. For assignments, I ,have to write it down or else I won’t remember to do it.

I also have become more financially responsible. At the beginning of the year, I would just go and spend my money on whatever. I have learned not to do that and only spend if I have a need to.

I have also become more open. It normally takes me a bit for me to open up to people and be myself but I felt comfortable in our group. I felt comfortable around them and I didn’t feel shy. I’m grateful for the people I’ve met and a thanks to Nikki and Sam. You guys are great!!

When I first learned about the Hixson Opportunity Awards, I almost didn’t send in my application. I felt like I was not good enough for the award and I more than likely wouldn’t get it. I mean, I was going against everyone in Muscatine County and I felt that people who were smarter than me would get it. About a week later, I was talking to my physics teacher and she was talking about how her college life because she also went to Iowa State.  Then we eventually got on the topic of Financial aid and scholarships. She told me about the Hixson awards and told me I should apply for it. I told her how I felt about it. She soon talked me into applying for it. When I found in the mail that I had an envelop from the Hixson awards, I was already mentally prepared for the worst. After a few minutes, I worked up the courage to open it. I was bawling like a baby  when I read my letter. I was so happy and the stress about having to pay for college was gone.

Being a Hixson scholar means that someone believed in me. Someone who I have never met and spoken to, believed that I could do great things with my life. By having her believe in me, I feel it gives me motivation to do great things in school.

Being a Hixson scholar means having a second family. As cheesy as it sounds, its true. I feel everyone in my section are very close to one another. We are not afraid to speak to each other and we have a blast with our peer mentors. I feel I can talk to my peer mentors about anything. I truly believe I have made friends that will last a lifetime.

Being a Hixson scholar means everything to me. Thank you once again Christina for believing in me

I thought the presentation during lecture was pretty cool. I never gave much thought into the meanings of people’s name. My mom didn’t pick my name because there was meaning but because she thought it was a pretty name. Fun fact about my last name is if you take out the R, it means rabbit in Spanish.

The line activity we had to do during class was a real eye opener. I have already done the line activity before and it was really interesting to do it again. It made me realize that there is more diversity than i originally thought before.

In my high school, there was not much diversity. It was mostly Caucasian people. Coming here to Iowa State, there is so much diversity. There are people from all walks of life. Everyone can involved in something they like and not feel left out, which is pretty cool. Having diversity is important is important because it means not everyone is the same and each person can contribute something different.

I realized diversity isn’t just about race or ethnicity but religion, sexual orientation, gender and income. The list could go on and on. Also that names have special meaning to them and we are more diverse than we originally thought.

I want to think about is how much diversity is here at Iowa State,I think it would be cool to know specific numbers. Hopefully people have pride about being diverse.

One thing I want to do is if someone is being singled out for some reason, I want to stand up for them and help them out.

 

For social media week, i chose to to make a LinkedIn. I chose to make a linkedIn because it seems more professional and I think i will use it in the next couple of years. It felt weird because I’m not used to using LinkedIn but i’m hoping in the future i will have more information and it will be easier. I did not have much information because I am not experienced with many things yet. I don’t  think i am very involved  with social media. I mostly use Snapchat, Facebook., and yik yak. On facebook, I don’t normally post things, I normally just scroll to see what is going on and to stay updated on what everyone is doing.

I learned that Social media is hard. You have to keep posting so people recognize you and knowing what to post because EVERYONE can see what you post. Which is not necessarily a good thing because future employers will see what you posted. Social media can help achieve your goals by helping you connect with future employers and stay connected with friends and family. Social media is not a bad thing, it just depends on what people choose to post.

Goals

• Manage my money better
• Study abroad
• Graduate college
• Become a Marine Biologist
• Become successful
• Fall in love and have a family
• Give my mother what she has always wanted

I want to try to manage my money better because I feel i am spending too much on things I don’t need. I want to save that money for when i need it. Currently I have not taken out any loans and I hope to be debt free by the time I graduate from Iowa State . Hopefully at Iowa state, I will be able to study abroad in South Korea. I’ve always been fascinated with their culture and language ever since freshman/ sophomore year of high school. Soon after, I hope to graduate from college with a degree in my major and make my mother proud. I’ve always wanted to be a marine biologist ever since I was little and my mind hasn’t changed since then. I just want to be swimming in the water, surrounded by marine life all while studying them and enjoying life. I also hope to become successful and not have to worry about money. By becoming successful, i want to buy my mother something she has wanted such as buying a house or sending her off on a paid vacation.Just something to show that I am grateful for everything she has done for my siblings and I. Lastly I want to fall in love and have 3-4 children.

Bucket list

• Go Campaniling
• Rush the field
• Attend VEISHEA
• Climb a mountain
• Skydiving
• Travel
• Speak 3-4 languages fluently

Everything on my bucket list I hope to accomplish during my life.Firstly I want to go campaniling sometime during these 4 years. I then want to rush the field or court after a big win. After seeing videos/ pictures of people doing that, seems like an awesome time. Since this year’s VEISHEA’s was cancelled, I hope to attend it, within a couple of years.  I also want to climb a mountain. I don’t have a mountain that I particularly want to climb. If I had to pick one, It would more than likely be Mount Everest. Skydiving sounds sounds awesome! Just the idea of Jumping out of a plane and  falling and feeling like you are flying, sounds like blast. I hope to travel around the world and explore different countries and experience different cultures and cuisines. The last thing on my bucket list that I absolutely want to do is being able to speak 3-4 languages fluently. I can already speak English and Spanish and I am learning Korean and French. I’ve been learning Korean and French, on and off for about 3-4 years. I can read, write and understand Korean more than french but french is easier to learn since it is similar to Spanish.

While taking this MBTI quiz, I thought it was long and I did not think it would be accurate to my personality. I kept trying to pick the same answers but I just picked what I was feeling at that time. When I got my results back I learned that I was ENFP, which means that I am an extrovert, Intuition, feeling and perceiving. Personally I thought I was an introvert instead of an extrovert. Usually I tend to be quiet but then reading some of the results I see I relate to pretty much all of them. Some descriptions of ENFP people are value harmony and goodwill, often seen as friendly, open and perceptive and base decisions of personal values and empathy. Knowing my results lets me see parts of personality that I didn’t know I had. I showed my friends my results and they said that is dead on how I act, which I thought was pretty cool.

I have never liked writing assignments like these. You know the ones where your teacher tells you to write about different times or an event that happened in your life and you never know what to write about and you’re sitting around like this…

 

Unlike those times, I actually know what I want to write about and I am very excited to do it. 

It all started my senior year of high school. Starting senior year, you realize you only have one more year and then you start college and you have to figure out what you want to do with your life such as: figuring out which college to go to? what are you majoring in and how are you going to pay for it? All these thoughts were racing through my mind the first half the school year and I didn’t know what to do. Until I sat down with my counselor and she helped get organized and figured out what I wanted to do. I eventually started filling out applications to a few colleges and hoped I would be accepted but the college that I really wanted to go was Iowa State University. Even though Iowa State was my top choice, I knew if I didn’t get in, I needed a back up plan. Which was to go to a community college. I was so nervous filling out the application, I kept  thinking to myself ” what if I’m not smart enough to go here.” I eventually mailed the application in and it was at least a month till a letter arrived at my house. Having that letter in my hands was the most nerve-wrecking time of my life. Before opening the letter, I was already preparing myself for the worst. I eventually worked up the courage to open the letter and I found I GOT IN!!

 

I was crying tears of joy. I have never been so happy in my life. The entire time, my mother kept saying how proud of me she was and at the same,  I was also proud of myself. I made it into my dream school. Everyone has a time in their lives where they were at their best. Mine was getting into Iowa State University. 

If I could incorporate that feeling of accomplishment into my first semester, I would do it by reading all materials and making sure that all my homework is done.