Field Journal

ENTRY 1

Date: 4-16-17

Day of the Week: Saturday

Location: Private property off of Sherry Lane in Lower Saucon. Somewhat close to the Jewish temple thing.


Time: 14:00

Habitat: Acres upon acres of corn fields, separated by thick wooded areas. Some of the fields are clean, while others still have dead corn stalks in them. The wooded areas have a lot more downed trees and dead branches than usual, suggesting a storm or high winds recently.

Weather: Roughly 80 degrees and fairly humid. Light winds with clear blue skies.


Remarks: The corn fields look freshly tilled. There will be no wildlife out as they will be shy in this area due to recent machinery use. Aside from birds, not much activity at all. 

Comments: It would have been better to come before the fields were serviced. The weather was perfect, just not the timing. Looking out over these fields makes me want to get my dirt bike ready for the summer.

Personal Account: This land was previously owned by my grandfather. When I was younger me and my cousin would spend all of our time in these woods playing. Whether it be manhunt, airsoft, paintball, or riding some sort of vehicle; there was always something to do. The land was sold when I was around 17 years old so I have not spent some time here for awhile. This experience really brings back a lot of great memories. While I visit every summer to ride my dirt bike, I never sat down and thought about all the good times I used to have here. This land will always be special to me no matter who owns it.

ENTRY 2

Date: 4-16-17

Day of the Week: Saturday

Location: Stones throw away from Bicentennial Park on Snowdrift Road which is right off of Airport Road near Allentown.

Time: 16:00

Habitat: Open field with a couple rows of dead wheat. In the distance there is telephone wires visible. Behind me is a fairly dense wooded area with quite a few large rocks in it, perfect for sitting on. Not much greenery in the wooded area yet.

Weather: Empty blue sky save for some overcast in certain areas. 79 degrees and fairly humid. Around 16:35 dark clouds began to move in, temperature dropped around 10 degrees, and winds started picking up. Time to leave.

Remarks: There was a lot of bees and butterflies zipping around in the field. A pair of robins kept popping in and out of the wooded area behind me. Seemed like they were playing tag. I can hear multiple groups of birds chirping back and forth with each other. The light wind calmly rustles the wheat when it blows. The noise from the bumble bees is the most prominent noise, mainly because one keeps going in circles around me. Besides the faint smell from the wheat, it mostly just smells like rain is coming soon.

Comments: It was very peaceful and made me wish I had brought my guitar with me. However, with it seeming like rain I did not want to risk ruining it. I want to go home, drink a beer, and play guitar on my covered porch.

Personal Account: I found it entertaining watching the robins play. It is very cool to see other living things playing with each other just like we would. They were hopping around on the ground chasing each other and flying around rapidly in the wooded section. It looked like they were having a lot of fun. That made me think about how it is much easier to have fun/be happy when you are in good company. Had it just been one robin, it probably would have just been sitting on a branch doing nothing. Good company can be motivating and rewarding. Good things aside, I also got very annoyed by this bumblebee. There were a lot of bees out in the field, but there was also still plenty of space for this one too. Instead, it decided to circle my head for 30 minutes, giving me the feeling of being repeatedly dive bombed. It got so loud every time it went by my ear that I thought I was going to get hit. No matter where I moved or how much I swung my arm around, it persisted. Maybe it just did not have a bee buddy like the robin did, so it decided to pester another lone soul. I did not appreciate it.

Campus Resources

After 7 years out of school, I returned last fall to start the schooling I need to become a registered nurse. When I was fresh out of high school, I enrolled at NCC in the automotive program. I was not motivated and as such, received less than desirable grades. I don't know the exact GPA, but it was around a 2.3. The program I am trying to get into has a 3.0 bare minimum. That means ideally I would like a 3.5 or higher by the time I apply to improve my chances. After getting A's in both classes last semester,  my GPA is still shy of 3.0. Another 2 or 3 classes and I will finally pass that benchmark, just barely. I was concerned that my past grades were going to make my current endeavor much more difficult. I went to see an admissions counselor to voice this concern as it was really bothering me.

 Linda was nice enough to speak with me even though I had no appointment. I went in with my summer schedule and the first thing she did was pull up my transcript. She saw that I was on the right track with my summer classes. She also saw how good I have been doing since I returned. After a bit of talking, she excused herself to go talk to one of the ladies that does the applications for the nursing program. The news she came back with was not exactly good, but it was very reassuring. She said obviously the past will always stay with you, meaning my GPA is what it is. No way around that. However, she stated that they would notice the 7 year lapse in my classes. They would see that after maturing and gaining new motivation, my grades have been very good and consistent. In the end, she said to just keep doing what I'm doing. I will easily meet the 3.0 by the time spring 18 and if I keep up the grades I should not have a hard time getting into the program. While I was hoping to hear that the 7 year old classes would not affect me, this reassurance was certainly well received. Slacking off fresh out of high school just means I have to work twice as hard now to make up for it. Thank you Linda!

Safe Haven

If someone asked you where your home was, how would you answer? There are many different views of what home means, let alone where it is. Some might say home is being around loved ones. Some might say home is where you sleep. Everybody has their own definition of home and they are all right in their own way. To me, home is comfort. Home is where I can relax, de-stress, and have my own space. The place I correlate home with right now is my bedroom.

Sure I could call the whole house home, but that is a bit vague. I do not feel the same comfort in the rest of my house. I'm not saying I am uncomfortable in the rest of my house, I am just saying that my room is mine. The rest of the house is shared amongst roommates and friends. Whenever I need to concentrate, wind down, or recharge I go to my room. While everybody is different, personally, I need somewhere I can be alone every so often. Constant interaction can be very draining for me so I value solitude when I am tired. Other people cannot stand being alone, so obviously my definition of home would not appeal to some people. That is why there are so many different definitions of home. There are countless types of people in this world, each having there own personal definition of home. Ultimately, maybe home does not have a definition. Home is whatever or wherever you make it. It is something that helps you keep moving on through life. It is limitless.

What do you consider home?

My Educational Journey

My journey began many years ago when I attended Central Christian Academy. There I learned the basic building blocks for any education, including how to write in cursive. I was never good at penmanship and I struggled with my sloppy handwriting, still do. I did eventually get through it and moved on to Northeast Middle School in 6th grade. Coming from a Christian school, it took me a little to get up to speed in my science classes. Once I caught up I found I really enjoyed science, as well as math. I liked the clear cut right or wrong type of responses such classes entail. That being said I struggled with English classes, especially when I moved on to Liberty High School. I dread writing papers because there is no right or wrong. Besides the basic outline and formatting, writing is very free and unrestricted. I found this difficult because I work better when I have clear cut guidelines to follow. I graduated from Liberty in 2009, even though my writing skills were still sub par. I took roughly a years worth of automotive classes at NCC before I got a job in the field. Since I had the job I was going to school for, I did not re enroll for the next semester. I now have a good career that allows me to support myself, however over 5 years later I am realizing I do not want to be stuck in this career. It was good to establish myself and stake my claim as an actual adult, but does not have much room for advancement. Two years ago, I decided on a career change to become a RN. With that job, I will have almost limitless ways to branch off and specialize based on what I enjoy. It is also a job that does not fluctuate with the economy so it will be a lot more stable. After a year of saving money to avoid taking loans, coming back to school rekindled my interest in science. My only fear is my writing skills. They were by no means good when I graduated 8 years ago. Not having written a paper in so long, I was quickly reminded of the anxiety that writing papers entails. Am I doing it right? Will it be interesting? Will it be good? Is my format correct? How am I supposed to feel comfortable when the main indication on how I am doing, the grade, is not given until after the paper is written? These questions plague my mind whenever tasked with writing a formal paper, hopefully I will be able to answer some of these questions and have more confidence in my writing by the end of the semester without tanking my GPA.

Interview

Hello all, today's blog is about an opportunity I had to interview one of my fellow classmates, Kyle R. In the allotted time we had to talk, I learned quite a bit about him. For starters, he is a very easy person to talk to. This could be attributed partly to his job, where he handles logistics, scheduling, and customer service. He is currently going to NCC to get his business degree in hopes of advancements with his job. Having a degree could also open up other potential career moves, which is always helpful. Next, let's back up a little to take a look at some of his backstory. He was born in Easton, although shortly after he moved to Philipsburg. It was here that he was raised with his sister(26) and brother(27). He later moved back to Easton, where he lives with his 6 year old daughter, Savannah Rose. From what I've heard, she is a sassy little girl that is very independent. She is currently in Kindergarten. One thing I found very interesting was that she is already learning to type. This really made me realize the large shift towards technology these days. I think it is cool that the kids are being taught about it early on. After all, it is a necessity nowadays to be competent with technology, a fact I am slowly coming to terms with. That being said, I think it's time to talk about what Kyle does in his leisure time. For starters, he likes to keep active. He goes to the gym often and has a basketball team at the YMCA, where he used to play a lot. When not staying active, he likes to watch TV and listen to music. Don't we all? More specifically, he likes to watch WWE, the Pittsburgh Steelers, House of Cards (good show, check it out), Gotham, and pretty much any horror movie. He also really enjoys all the Marvel superheroes, he has an office area in his house with posters and such of all of his favorite heroes decorating it. I thought that was a really good idea. If you need to have a workspace at home, might as well make it as fun and comfy as possible. For his musical preferences, Red Hot Chili Peppers is his favorite band. He likes how they incorporate multiple styles into one beautiful sound. He also had a chance to see B.B. King play live. I am super jealous of him as King is one of my favorite artists, who I unfortunately will never be able to see live in person. He also talked about his interest in making family trees based on Ancestry.com. I never really looked into it too much, but after speaking with Kyle I am very interested in checking it out. He told me how receipts from purchases, amongst other things, are available from many years ago. It seems like a great way to learn more about where you came from. Kyle currently has one tattoo, but would like a few more. He mentioned he wanted the Jersey state with the Puerto Rican flag in it and a rose for his daughter. While quite happy with where he lives now, he would ultimately like to be able to move south to Georgia. Hopefully you now have a general idea of who Kyle is. If you want to know more, just ask him. He is very personable.