Florida!

I absolutely love living in Michigan. The changing seasons give me a taste of what life is like in a mixture of different weather types. Although, Michigan is an awesome place, Spring Break is coming up an I cannot wait to sneak away to a warm place. My friends and get to enjoy an awesome road trip together, and then we will be spending a week in paradise. We've picked an awesome house located at the Siesta Keys, it is going to be exactly what we all need after working hard in school! The only problem with this trip is the fact that I have to wait until March, because I cannot stop looking at pictures of our rental home! The best part about this entire vacation, is the fact that I am going there to visit my best friend, Sarah. The two of us have been extremely close since the second grade, and even had the pleasure of walking together at graduation. Learning that she would be moving to Florida was hard to believe at first, but the fact that I get to visit her in such an amazing place makes up for it a bit! While on the subject of good friends of mine moving away, a very close (EX) fellow Bronco friend of mine has also decided to move away. Madison had told me previously that she was interested in transferring schools, but I had no idea that things would go this quickly. Along with Madi, I also plan on transferring from Western. However, I plan on leaving after second semester, and I thought that she was going to do the same. I learned that she would be moving only a few weeks ago, and with finals just getting over, I did't have much time to spend with her before she left. I didn't expect things to happen so fast, but now that they have I am very happy for her. She will now be closer to her family, and gets to enjoy school in the place that she actually wants to live. Although, my selfish side says I'm mad at you of leaving, the rest of me is proud of you for going after what you want. I love you, girl!

Finished with First Semester!

Today, as of 2:00, I attended the last class of my first semester! Despite the fact that I had two huge exams within 15 minutes of each other, I couldn't help but smile all day because knew that I finally had an entire month of off school coming up. It's going to be amazing to go home and relax without having to worry about exams, homework, and morning classes. Before I started at Western, I had originally planned on working at my job back at home during every break that I got. However, after dealing with the stress of school, and constantly being busy, I have definitely decided to take a break from working until I return home for the summer. The big thing that I noticed about college is the sad truth that, no matter how much homework and studying I complete, it always seems to just pile up even more. When I go home, I plan to get some Christmas shopping done, spend time with my family, and sleep.... I intend to get lots of sleep. One of the most exciting parts about going home for the holidays, is how much time I get to spend with my dog. Leaving him to go away to college has been tough, and I know how happy he will be when I stay home for an entire month! As much as I am going to miss my new life here at western for the next four weeks, I am more than pleased to be taking a long, much needed break!

Art Hop!

     I am excited for tonight, because I get to step away from studying for a bit. Surprisingly, a lot of WMU students are planning on partying all weekend. In my opinion, screwing around the weekend of finals when you should be studying is a big mistake. Although it would be fun, I know better and will be skipping any type of "going out" that I have been invited to. However, I have been offered a few extra credit options involving registered student organizations. I am assigned to go to and event and write about my experience. Considering my busy schedule this week, my choices were extremely limited. After dreading a boring night of listening to people talk, and friend of mine made an awesome suggestion. He had heard about the Art Hop downtown Kalamazoo, and informed me that it would count for my extra credit business assignment. This was exciting news for me because I have been drowning in school lately, so the fact that I will actually enjoy this event makes me happy. If I had it my way, and didn't have to do any type of assignment, I would spend my entire night studying nonstop. Although, because I am required to do this, it is awesome that this event will be something that I can get dressed up for and attend with my best friend. I hate to admit it, but most events organized by WMU usually just bore me. It is awesome to me that I get to take a break from studying to go downtown and look at cool art tonight, and get extra credit for doing it. After that, it's back to the books for me!

Last Day Of Class!

   Today was an awesome day, because it was the last official day of classes for my first semester of my freshman year of college! It is absolutely crazy to me to think that life has already gone by this fast. It feels like just yesterday, I was starting my first day of high school. I remember worrying so much about how I looked, who I was going to remain friends with, and being upset that people were going to see me ride the school bus on the days that my brother wouldn't have time to drop me off. Even as my high school career progressed, small factors such as these ones remained important to me. My high school was known for our drama, and it felt as if it were impossible to avoid. Shortly after starting college, my priorities changed for the better. I immediately found myself staying in to study, going to class every single day, and trying my best on every assignment that came my way. Although, I have always had faith in myself, I was extremely worried about how I was going to do coming into college. It is an awesome feeling to know that ever since I started here at WMU, I have become an extremely dedicated and mature college student. The best part about this big change in my life, is the fact that it has completely paid off. My grades are awesome, and with those good grades have come many new great friends, who value their studies just as much as I do. Today was especially awesome because after almost completing my entire English project, our class got to have a small pizza party. This was awesome because with all of this studying lately, I have found it difficult to find time to even eat. That being said, finals are next week and there is still a ton of studying to do!

Good luck to everyone this next week, and remember to completely apply yourselves by trying your absolute best when studying for finals!

Finals are coming up!

The start to this week is dreaded by almost all WMU students. It is officially the first week before finals start, which means it is time to crack down and get some serious studying done. I especially had been dreading this Monday because it is my last day to finish up almost all of my homework and extra credit projects for the semester before I officially start cracking down for finals tomorrow. I am known for procrastination, so this week I am making it a goal to be as focused as possible. For the most part, finals are not too scary for me. The two final exams that I am dreading the most are math and my music class. I know, music class sounds like some easy fun right? For the most part, this class has been enjoyable. Quizzes came easy for me, and the tests weren't too bad. However, the final covers nine chapters! Nine! I am not even sure if it is possible for me to remember that many definitions for one exam. On top of that, math is not exactly my strong suit. For the most part, I have done well in this class. But, if I do well on my math final I could finish with an awesome grade. These next two weeks are going to require a ton of determination, and coffee! The one thing that I know will get me through exam week is the fact that we get an entire month off of school right after it is all over. Studying for these exams is important to me so I know I can say focused.
Good luck everyone!

Baby Joshua

Yesterday was very special to me, because I got to meet a new, very important boy in my life. When I moved to Howell in the second grade, I met my best friend Lily. She was a bit older than me, but that did not matter and we soon became great friends. Though think and thin, we were there for each other and managed to stay a part of each others lives even after all of this time. Nine months ago, Lily found out that she was pregnant. I was so excited for her, and promised to be there for her no matter what. College started, and I soon found that I was too busy to spend as much time with Lily as I used to. Although, I kept my promise to her and was there to visit her in the hospital the day after he was born. As a young adult, this was the first time one of my close friends had a baby of their own. Seeing Joshua for the first time gave me such an amazing feeling, and I found myself staring at him for hours. Before yesterday, I did not know that it was humanly possible to fall in love so quickly. I am so happy to be a part of this precious little boy's life, and cannot wait to watch him grow! A cool fact about baby Joshua, is that he was named after a close friend of mine who passed away about a year ago. Baby Joshua was born so big, and healthy. I can't help but think that our friend Josh watched over Lily throughout her entire pregnancy to keep baby Joshua safe. Watching her baby sleep gives me so much peace, and I cannot wait to have children of my own someday!

Thanksgiving Break

This Thanksgiving break was especially awesome for me because I was extremely ready for the relaxation. School has been stressing me out so much lately, and with finals coming up I needed the small break to go home and relax. It is always nice to come home and spend time with my family, friends, and pets. Although, I do find myself missing Western more and more every time I return to my hometown for a bit. The only struggle of coming home for Thanksgiving break, is that it is such a short period of time, so it is hard for me to see everybody! For this reason, I am very thankful that Christmas break is in the near future. For the first time ever, I get a month of off school. A whole month! I couldn't be more thankful for the break that I am currently on, and the long, over due break that is in my near future!

Snow Day

    Today was awesome because it was Western Michigan University's first official snow day! I was especially surprised when I got the alert this morning, considering it is still the middle of November! Although the timing was interesting to me, I was not too surprised because the last few days have been an absolute blizzard outside. This snow day could not have come at a better time, because it was a perfect opportunity for me to catch up on a ton of homework. While most of my friends had the joy of using their snow day to build snowmen and hangout with friends, I was stuck inside finishing up my homework. Most would disagree when I say this, but I couldn't be more thankful for the fact that I used today as a "homework catch up" day. This weekend will be extremely eventful for me back home starting on Thursday, so it was very important that I finished the things that I did today. While the snow has been beautiful, it scares me because driving can be very unsafe. I hope that everyone has stayed safe, and warm enough throughout our first snowstorm!

Going home

I am feeling very happy today, because it is the first weekend in a while that my brother and I get to go back to our hometown and spend time with our family together. With the stress of college really starting to get to me, and two big exams coming up next week, this mini vacation couldn't possibly be coming at a better time. I enjoy living in Kalamazoo, but nothing beats going home and appreciating everyone back home for a few days. It will also be nice because I will be able to finish all of my homework without too many interruptions. As college students, we tend to spend our weekends having fun with our friends. Now that I will be home with my family, I will be more motivated to sit down and finish my homework rather than going to a WMU hockey game, or something else fun like that. Although missing out on fun events with friends may suck sometimes, I know that it will all be worth it in the end because my grades will show how hard I truly have worked to earn what I have. Lastly,  I am extremely excited to go home because seeing my parents means free food and clean laundry, what more could I possibly ask for?

Class Reflection

I did not mind going to class too much today because it was extremely helpful for me. Lately, I have felt very confused in this course as far as homework goes. I find it hard to understand certain homework assignments, along with specific ways of writing different types of papers. I am not one to ask too many questions, but today I went out of my way to really understand what was going on. Today taught me that regardless of if I agree or disagree with something, as a student, I have specific obligations and it is up to me and only me to finish my work correctly and on time. I value my grades in every single one of my classes a lot, so it is my duty to make sure that I am getting everything out of every class I am taking, as much as I possibly can. I also liked today for two other reasons. The first one being that we did group work most of the class period, and the survivor predictions that we did were actually kind of interesting. The last reason I enjoyed class was because we were released early, which gave me more time to go home and babysit, so that was nice. :)

Fall

Fall is my favorite time of the year for a lot of reasons. I love the temperature, the holidays, and the smell of the fresh, crisp air. It's perfect because it's not too cold out, but you get a nice breeze and the option to wear an over sized sweatshirt everywhere. I am especially excited because I have yet to go to the cider mill this year, and that is my absolute favorite part of the season. The hayride is definitely the best part, it gives me a chance to sit back and do nothing but enjoy life for a few moments. I can't wait to pick out the best pumpkin, and carve it whichever way I want to. I'm also looking forward to getting hot chocolate, and eating as many donuts as my body can handle. Overall, this time of the year puts me in and awesome mood and I love it!

Homesick

I'm starting to get really homesick, but I am also starting to realize how normal this feeling actually is for a college student to feel. Although, realizing that it's normal almost makes things worse because it forces me to notice how real things really are. I no longer live with my parents, and I no longer see my friends from high school daily. Sleeping with my puppy ever night is no longer a thing that I get to do, and home cooked meals only happen when I drive two hours to go back home for the weekend. I am coming to terms with the fact that I'm an adult now, who lives on my own and takes care of my own responsibilities. This is a scary, yet awesome thought. Life got a little bit tougher when I moved away to school, but I've also come a lot closer to reaching my life long goals; so I would say that is was a fair trade.
:)

Joshua's Letter

Today was a big day for me. A few months back I lost somebody very close to me. Ever since then, I have had a very hard time coping things. For someone as outgoing as I am, I find it very hard to talk to people about my emotions and how things affect when I am going through something that negatively impacts my life. Today, I was asked by my friend's parents to write a letter about how his death has affected me. At first, I was extremely hesitant. I did not feel comfortable with revisiting those emotions, and I definitely did not feel comfortable with sharing those feelings with someone that I do not know. Although I felt this way, I knew that it was for Joshua so I began writing the letter anyway. Shortly into the letter I realized what was really going on. I was writing down every single feeling that I have ever felt towards losing my friend, and for once since he passed I finally started to feel a little bit better about things. I soon realized that I was coming up with a new way of coping with things. After finishing a letter that I thought would be about a page long, I looked back to see a 4 page long masterpiece. I feel a lot more at ease now, and love my new coping method. Overall today has been successful, when I thought it would be tough!

My Thoughts On Last Friday

Class on Friday went a little bit differently and I kind of liked it. We got into small groups rather than just having a discussion among the entire class. I liked this exercise because we actually got to interact with our classmates a little bit and have an actual debate with each other about a specific aspect of the movie Carrie. Although, I didn't really like the movie to be honest. I did however enjoy listening to music and thinking about it in different ways. At the end of the question sheet it asked: "Do you think about this song differently now?" (or something close to that) This was cool because I've heard most of the songs we listened to in class, but I had never really thought about music in that way before. I overall liked that part of class though because who doesn't like listening to music in class?

Class Reflection

I thought that the activity we did in class on Friday was pretty cool. In my opinion, analyzing other student's stories without any knowledge of the author is a good way of exploring our options as writers.  As far as the Cultural baggage discussion goes, I still do not fully understand where the writer was coming from, but it was interesting to hear what others had to say about their personal backgrounds. It opened my eyes a lot when we made the realization that most of our beliefs, actions and goals have a lot to do with our parents and how we were raised. This knowledge made me think a lot while watching the movie Carrie in class. The main character is the way that she is because of how she was raised, and the actions of her own mother. The feeling that she has towards the world is anger, and she is also afraid in general. She was not given a chance at normalcy because of her background and the way she was brought up.

Cultural Baggage

The one word that I would use to describe the narrator throughout the story would be lost. Her parents believed that god doesn't exist, but she never really had an opinion. Later in the story she speaks to a woman who very passionately believes in a different religion. This pushes the narrator towards the idea of "trying new things". By the end of the story she settles on the idea of a religion called "none". At this point in the story I feel that the woman really began to find herself. I don't personally agree with the way she feels, but I do believe that everybody deserves to have their own opinion.

My First Western Game As A Student

Tomorrow is the first football game of the year and I couldn't be more excited! Not only do I get to experience the student section for the first time, but my dad also got my roommate and I suite tickets. This means that we will have a 50/50 experience of how fun the football games can be! I am also looking forward to the fact that most of my family will be in town for this event. One of the closest members to me in my family, my cousin Corey, is coming from Michigan State University to enjoy the game with me also and I could not be happier! This makes me especially happy because I have been feeling extremely homesick lately. The fact that at the perfect time my family is coming to see me seems to be making everything better!

My Experience

Classes this week were interesting because I started to get the feel for college a little bit more. I learned this week that this isn't high school anymore. My teachers are no longer there every step of the way to help me out, or to pester me when I fail to turn in my assignments. I learned that this is the real world and it is my own fault if I don't succeed. This is both exiting and stressful for me but I know that I can do it. English was interesting because we got to read a poem then actually see the writer himself  in action on a YouTube video. This was cool because I often picture a certain writer in my head and never actually get to see or hear what they are like. Something that wasn't so awesome is homework assignments. I often get confused about when things are due and how to go about turning them in. Although this is a great way of getting me prepared for the real world, it really does stink to have your grade suffer for such a simple thing such as miscommunication. Those issues aside though, I really do believe that I'm going to enjoy college!

All About Me

Hello!
My name is Alex Woods. I'm a freshman here at Western Michigan University and other than earning good grades, a big goal of mine is to get out and meet new people! I am currently studying business but hope to get accepted into the Hospitality Business program at Michigan State University after my sophomore year here at Western. From then on I hope to get an opportunity to study abroad at some point in my life. My ultimate goal is to someday travel the world. Other than school, I like to spend my time with friends, family, and playing my favorite sport; volleyball. I like to see myself as an easy going person and love to make new friends. Shortly after moving to Western I learned that this is the perfect place for me. I grew up here in Kalamazoo, then moved over to the East side and graduated from high school over there. It feels great to be back home and to be able to spend time with family I wouldn't normally see. Thanks for taking some time to learn about me!
Alex