A few things I’ve noticed when talking with people is your degree of agreeability.  It has a great impact on that positive first impression you work so hard to achieve.  Think back to a time that you have had a conversation with someone for the first time where your responses received some form of rebuttal or pessimism.  What was going through your head?  I can imagine you are beginning to find yourself on the defense, attempting to keep the conversation on track and lead it down its original direction safely.  This becomes a problem that can often be overlooked when actively participating within the conversation.  Begin to take a few moments to think about the responses you make towards people beforehand and see if they are fitting this model of positivity and agreeability.  The point of conversation is to participate in a discussion, not a debate.

“When everything is coming your way, you’re in the wrong lane.”  This quote encompasses a lot of the negative events that occur in our lives, but when we are looking at opportunity, things should always be coming your way.  Let this be an encouragement to place yourself in the real world and experience life to the fullest.  Take as many breaks as necessary for your own personal sanity, but be sure your youth is enlaced with opportunity.  To those who work and are busy on the weekly I send mad respect.  It takes a special person to deal with the stresses of work, school, and home.

With the economy being in the current state that it is, this may not be the best time to rush through a degree and graduate.  The career pool isn’t what it used to be, and undoubtedly could be changed for the next decade.  A large mark that could be overlooked in this whole global crisis is the fact that we are looking at a selfish society that has more or less fallen on itself.  If we can’t survive these events with a strand of sanity then of course we haven’t learned from these greedy mistakes.

Stay on top and be a winner.  Not only is it psychologically part of being a twenty something, but also a mandate if we are to singlehandedly overthrow the world with our leadership and assertion.  Be driven.

The proofs for the business card design have been finished.  Soon we will be on our way to saving the world.  T-shirts are being printed as we speak and should arrive by this time next week.  It will be interesting to gauge the responses of others to my campaign material.  It’s about time someone stood up

for what they believe in and really bring things into perspective in this world.  Where does this concept come from, you ask?  Simply, the printing company was having a sale and I decided to monopolize on the opportunity to print my face and

contact information on every surface possible.  Making my mark in as many ways that were provided through the company.  I will change the

world.

Experiencing the first lockdown on the USF campus since I began school here was frightening and unnerving.  My calculus class lecture which took place in the CWY building had just been released at 1:45PM, approximately 15 minutes after the first report of the gunman on campus.  Students pushed through the doors unsuspecting of the events transpiring only a few buildings away.  As I walked outside the eerie shrill of the emergency alert system was sounding and instructing students to stay inside of the building.  Understanding the severity of the alerts, I retreated back into the atrium of the CWY building and gathered my classmates to search our phones for an answer to what exactly was going on.

The MoBull Plus alert system was sending text messages to us consistently throughout the event and alerting us of new police developments as time went on.  Twitter updates from USF Oracle and various USF departments were flooding all of our phones.  Facebook was a sea of status updates from students who had been in the library during the evacuation, and those who had actually witnessed some of the suspects on campus.  We huddled around our laptops and phones eagerly, scared for our own lives.  Little did most of us know we would be spending the next 3 hours locked in the building awaiting the clear.

More alarming to me than the crisis itself was the way most of the students were acting about the event.  One class had been released an hour after the lockdown began and the entire class walked out of the building and proceeded to talk and act as if nothing were going on.

It is to my personal horror that I realized the complacency of my fellow students who are becoming desensitized to these types of emergencies occurring on campus.  Not only are lockdowns performed for personal safety, but also in assisting the police department in being able to spot suspects on campus.  Another concern was the lack of direction provided by the staff members of USF.  A few USF Physical Plant staff members were located on scene but did not stop anyone from leaving or entering the building and also seemed nonchalant about the entire situation.  I found myself in a position where I had to perform crisis intervention and provide updates to students who did not have text messaging plans on their phones or no phones at all.  A group of us remained by the doors to speak with those coming in and out of the building who did not know the situation.

Technology has created a different environment around USF’s campus, and I believe that events such as these feel much safer with the instantaneous methods of communication that are used by the university.  Thankfully no one was hurt, but I personally don’t want to see students fail to take campus wide emergencies as lightly as they have again.  Frequent emergencies may begin to numb some students to them but I believe a better program for emergency education is in the future for students here at USF.  A fatality or injury should not be the wakeup call.

Dear Friend,

Today I found the value of life.  I don’t spend a lot of time with you when you are around, things are easier this way.  We know you are sick but the home remedies won’t work any more.  I know how you love them.  At times I feel like we fall away from each other but I know you love me.  I like it when you smile at me.  You get weak sometimes and fall asleep way before bed time, but you are getting better now.  Slowly I know you are feeling the burden lessen on you and I am very happy.  Things are looking up now, I smile a lot more when I think of you and like to talk about the times we share together.  It all happens suddenly that your pain has gone away and you are much better than you’ve ever been before.  Sometimes the house still smells like your beauty and feels like your love.  Tonight I found out you died.

Today I found love.  She makes me forget about pain, about my future, and time stands still.   We spend a lot of time together.  The nights we spend on the beach together, counting the grains of sand and lying in each others arms.  I look in her eyes and pretended like it doesn’t matter, she smiles back.  She can see through me.  We are traveling together and road trips are a lot less lonely with her.  When she laughs I melt inside.  She is so beautiful when she cries.  She takes care of me when I am sick, chicken noodle soup, warm blanket.  This is the one.  I’m standing on the side of the road and she looks angry.  Why is she angry?  I love you.  We celebrate our time together and miss the time we spend apart.  There are days when we lie in bed staring a the ceiling, she spends a lot of time combing my hair with her fingers.  When I think of her I get butterflies in my stomach.  I am driving home and I call her on the phone, she won’t answer.  There’s a song playing on the radio.  Tonight she told me I couldn’t have her.

Today I found inspiration.  I was always confused when you were hurting.  You break a bond, and they say I will understand when I get older.  Naive, but I remember everything.  How can you let this happen?  I am running away but will be here with you the whole time.  It tastes bitter at first but warms my body quickly.  He stands here with his hands near you but I can’t budge.  I feel out of place and out of touch. These pills are hard to swallow but I know it will be better soon.  Life slows down and my feelings fade.  Tonight I lost hope.

Today I found success.  Can’t believe the news.  Stepping out into this new life feels so wrong but so right at the same time.  Didn’t think I could make it this far.  I feel like a cloud high in the sky.  My friends are waving, as I shake the hands of those on stage, a white rose is placed into my palm.  A beacon calls for me in the distance and I hear the sound of victory.  There are cheers and music is playing, thickly, in the air.  I am proud to be where dreams come true.  Everyone knows my name, and many have adopted me as their own.  Celebration follows but only for a moment, than the moment is gone.  Tonight I meet the world.

Today I found beauty.  I sat at home, angry at you.  Our fight didn’t happen that long ago.  How could you be so selfish?  Revenge was sweet, though, after what you did to me.  We spent a lot of time together riding around in the mountains.  I love you like a brother and brothers fight.  Your smirk always makes all the girls giggle and gets you out of trouble.  I look up to you.  We all miss you since you’ve been gone.  I pick up a guitar for the first time.  My hands bleed the more I practice.  Now I play each string for you, every time.  When I sing I know you are listening somewhere.  I hope harmony that rings is as loud as my love.  Sometimes I sit outside and play to the clouds that I know you hide behind.  Tonight I found music.

Today, I am strong.

First days are usually encompassed with insecurities and nerves.  Since I have already gotten familiar with my university the transition from summer to fall semesters has been easier than usual.  I am entertained. This morning my professor was late for calculus class and arrived confused.  His cryptic speech was difficult to discern, not only because of his thick accent but also due to his unsure nature.  Mumbling the word homework like ‘whores’ and adding emphasis to letters that I never knew sounded so grungy.  Needless to say I rushed out of class in a hurry.  A hypothesis I have about teachers is that if they do not post a syllabus before the first class period it seems to be that they lack in their quality of education.  Time will tell all.

With a first day of class out of the way, I can move forward towards a more important event in my life: my double deuce birthday.

In my head it seems to make sense to make a list.  To make sure that the human mind doesn’t fail me as it has the tendency to do, and ruin plans.  Inconsistencies come up and stomp on all extents of coordination through its bullheadedness.  The bullheadedness of last minute changes, that is.  Down to the T, I’ve planned out and marked off all of the items that I’ll need during my cruise and during shore excursions.  What really is the line between overcompensating for a trip or just simply being prepared?  In addition to all of this I have also taken the liberty of making a “Day of Cruise” check list that I will go through at the last minute to ensure that nothing is left behind.  Travel experience turns a person into a prepared being, and if it doesn’t, than that person will forever sing the tune of forgotten items and unpreparedness.  In the century of technology, over-stress, and clutter, it helps to utilize the resources I have to make things just a bit easier.

A step towards diplomacy has me sending this list off to others to verify that there aren’t any items that were forgotten or neglected from this list.  It helps to have an extra set of eyes.  The final word about the vacation will be spoken and all this pre-planning will come to fruition near the end.  And of course, as meticulous planning will never be perfect, there will be a forgotten item or two.

Coming this Friday, I will be embarking upon a journey out of the country.  My first ever but certainly not my last.  It has always been a desire of mine to travel and experience different parts of the world.  I can imagine that going to an island such as this, a lot of tourists frequent them and therefore you will not get as much of a cultural exposure that you may in a European cruise.  Living in south Florida for the better half of this year has made me even more familiar with the sights usually seen in a tropical setting.  The Gulf of Mexico has a different feel than the Atlantic coast.  When I lived up north there were times where I would frequently visit Daytona Beach and enjoy the positive aspects of the east coast.

Maybe the most exciting part of the whole trip is leaving behind my responsibilities for the weekend to get away completely and enjoy the sea breeze.  The ocean has a serenity about it that is indescribable.  Hopefully this description wouldn’t be tainted with stories of motion sickness, as a trip recently in the past was plagued with.  I plan to pack plenty of Dramamine and other supplements to hold me over in the case I get the blues.

Man, let me tell you Twitter is something else. I began using it, oh probably a few years ago, but still I didn’t expect it to get as popular as it has the past year or so as the small San Francisco based company has excelled in promoting this interesting tool for the technological age to use.  Recently I’ve used it more as an outlet of micro blogging in a sense of comedy and humor rather than a constant roll of, “I just stepped outside of my apartment.  I just turned on my car.”  Many who fall into that sort of Facebook status update fallacy feel like the service is no different.  In this way I believe that they are mistaken for the service is more than just a ‘where are you’ tool.  There is no right or wrong way to use it, but when challenged with the usability of the program, my perception of how it is used varies from those who oppose it.  Even as interested in Twitter as I am, I tend not to follow those who give me a constant update of what’s going on in their life.  I’d much rather turn on my phone and have some thoughtful comments from my friends and build a better sense of community than an agitating list of events which occurred.

Soon society will be so connected that we will be living vicariously through the lives of others constantly and video will become so advanced that we will seldom travel to various locations due to the in depth experiences we can have in our own homes.  Suppose we truly are turning into aliens, with the larger brains and unusable limbs.

It is certainly not my job to bring up melancholy subjects.  I think that most of the time my thoughts just come randomly throughout the day.  Usually at inopportune moments for them to actually be translated into some form of writing.  Someone posted a Twitter that said, “Reading is my water and writing is my air.”  Interestingly enough, that is a great analogy.

Thoroughly I believe the premise of, “If you don’t use it, you lose it.”  Elderly folks who depress into a sedentary lifestyle are doomed to the effects of degrading mind and body.  Countless individuals who strive to challenge themselves daily have prolonged quality and quantity of life overall.  I speak from experience.

We look at ourselves so often in the mirror that I believe we become desensitized to the amount of change we go through during our younger years.  Even looking at pictures of myself only a few months ago there are a lot of differences.  The way I dress, the way I carry myself, facial features, and tons of other things.  Most of them are superficial but certainly the changes are drastic. The day will come where I gaze into that mirror and see an accomplished man in his later years awaiting his number in the deli line of mortise along with the rest of the kids I’ve grown up with.  It’s my mission to enjoy life, and to help others do the same.  As cynical as these words may seem they are truly written with sensitivity towards the movement of time.

My wallet does not contain the same things it did when I was a child.  I had a state issued identification card, since I didn’t drive until I was 18 years old, a few discount cards to a local burger shop that we used to ditch school to go eat at, grungy dollars like the ones you get from a pawn shop, and pictures of my latest crush.  Nowadays my wallet contains multiple debit card receipts, two credit cards, a license, and a few guitar picks.  A wallet says a lot about a man.