Reflection...

This semester has flown by so fast that I can barely remember the begining. This class was one of the most helpful classes to me and this whole "blog thing" was actually what helped the most. I felt like at the beggining I wasn't sure if I liked the thought of putting all my papers on the internet instead of being able to turn them in and get credit for them. Through the semester I realized that I didn't need a teachers feed back on every blog, I could learn from my previous writing what needed improvement and what worked well. I have never used A blog or a Computer to post things about my life, besides facebook and I barely know how to work that. After learning how to work it, and to make it my own I really liked it.

I feel like this was something new that was tried out with our class and overall it was successful. I'm not saying that I think everyone loved, but just as my own opinion I really enjoyed it. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep blogging or not, but it could be a nice way to get out feelings. I want to try to keep blogging but I'm thinking it might be blogging on Twitter or a sight where I could blog and many people would read it. Maybe it's a way to tell the world how I feel so I can be just like all the celebrities out there who blog about their feeling 24/7, I could be the new Ashton and Demi. Maybe not.

I really do think that these blogs helped me out with my everyday writing, and being a teacher it's something I'm going to need everyday. The biggest things about the blogs was that we weren't just writing for a teacher and trying to "brown-nose" our way through the paper. We were actually writing for people our age and I didn't want to sound like too much of a nerd or too much of a blonde so I really did need to focus on my writing. It also helped that I could look and read other students papers and see how they wrote and use that as example. Also being able to see what the teacher wanted on her blog page was super helpful.

Overall I think that the blogs were really helpful for me. They have taught me to write better and write more like me and not just to appeal to a certain audience. I think that this is something that should be used in classes from now on and alomost be more emphazied then the large papers. So thank you blogger.com for helping me with my writing carreer, and thank you Writ 101 for helping me with wrting those blogs.

Summer Plans

I have so many plans for this summer but my main plan is to just go home and relax. Hopefully I'll find a new job that is outside, I'll find a new appartment to move into, I'll figure out what I want to do next year, and I'll be tanner then I ever have before. I want to go to canada for my 19th and watch some country concerts, go to Michigan with a friend as a annual ritual while enjoying the sun on the beach and fire crackers at night, go to the lake with the family for a week and lay out while they golf and lay out when they're not golfing too, and hopefully just road trip for awhile around the states just to do something and go somewhere I have never been before. Juggling a job with all of these plans is not exactly working out but I'm trying my hardest to have fun and make money at the same time.

Basically I have no actual "plans" for the summer but I have a lot of things that I really want to do. There is so many things that I love doing just in Bozeman too, and I don't have to leave my city. We can back country ski, kayak, hike, and camp out all in the same day and in the same spot. I love just hiking around the mountains and getting lost but knowing that your still in the city. Bozmean is defiantly my favorite city to be in summer or winter. So as for plans I don't have any yet but I know I'll keep myself busy doing something.

2 truths...1lie...Your Guess!

Well as you all already know this game is where I tell two truths and one lie and you have to guess which is the lie, so here it goes...

I have one younger brother. He's 14 and in 8Th grade. He used to play all sports but after becoming lazy he now commits himself to golf in the summer and eating, as a sport, in the winter. His name is Kyle and he looks a lot like me, but I obviously got the better genes in the family. He's loud, annoying, but I have to love him.

Hockey is my favorite sport. Not to say that I don't like other sports because let me tell you, Griz Football, NBA Basketball and even a little soccer are always fun to watch. The rage and fast pace are what really have me hooked on hockey. I love how it's always loud, I love the fights, and I love the players. Sidney Crosby... Call me :)

My middle name is Marie. Yeah I know it's really generic but it was great grandmas name. She grew up on a Ranch in Cardwell and raised my grandpa and 4 other kids. She worked so hard that my parents decided I needed to have her name as part of me. I never was lucky enough to meet her because she died before I was born, but I know she was a really good woman.

Well this blog is short? So now I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you the answers but I think I'll keep you guessing...
:)

Favorite TV Show

My favorite TV show of all time would have to be the classic, FRIENDS. Many people think that Friends is just consisted of a bunch of overpaid bad actors, but these days what show isn't? Friends isn't a reality about the life everyone wants, and it's not a show that makes you sing and dance for audiences who don't even care why your up there (they only like you for your face), and it's not a boring news show that only shines light on the negative topics in the world. Friends is a comedy about average, middle aged people that grow up together and grow with each other everyday. There is six friends that all intertwine with emotional, sexual, and funny relationships. It's a show about an average persons life and the troubles that come with it.

Not only is Friends very funny but it's also very easy to realte to. I love friends because each character relates to someone that I know and each character relates to me in a different way. I like to think that I'm more of the fun loving, out going, and a little slow, Phoebe. That in itself makes me laugh. So if your ever looking for a real laugh just turn to channel 10 around three or four in the afternoon and you'll find yourself having laughs to last you the rest of the day.

~op-ed blog~

www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/theres_more_to_homeless_than_dogs/896

- This article was from the Montana Kaimin and written by Breanna Braaten. It was about how we look at a homeless person and judge them based on what we assume about all homeless people. It talked about how when we look at a homeless man that has a dog the only person were feeling sorry in the situation is the dog. We wonder how someone who can't afford a home can afford a dog but yet needs money for dog food. It also says that there are many different reasons that people are homeless these days and with our environment and the job market how it is today there are over 350 people that come to the homeless shelters every day for help. The average American looks at a homeless person and assumes they're poor because of substance abuse, when over 25% of the homeless are veterans or mentally ill. Basically it says that we are all people and we all deserve a second chance. So when your looking through your wallet and wondering if you should give them money, just put yourself in their shoes.

online.wsj.com/article/SB100001424052748704117304575137731273060788.html/mod=rss_opinion_main#articleTabs%3Darticle.

This article was really short, but you had to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal if you wanted to read more. Basically it talked about how as soon as March Madness starts in NCAA basketball, all political thoughts are replaced by brackets and teams. It says that it shouldn't be this big of an upset in the world and that sports broadcasters basically only get their shine when the basketball games come on. Though this was written from the view of someone who is, most likely, very political it was very interesting to read.


www.montanakaimin.com/index.php/articles/article/the_red-headed_stepchild_concerts_are_more_enjoyable_if_people_follow_a_few/990.

This article was actually really funny to read. It was about a person that wasn't from Montana that was so used to having elbow room and space at concerts. He recently attended Vampire Weekend at the Wilma and was shocked to find that there was room to enjoy the concert, so he layed out a couple rules. One was to please not yell how much you love the band before the band is even on. Number two is that if your going to dress up to be "like the band" and tell people that you discovered the opening band, then the writer asks you to please stay home. The third is that with little room there isn't enough space for everyone to be front row, so he asks people to please stop pushing. And his last rule is that if you find yourself at a show like this, to just sit in the back row with enjoyable adults who are there for the show, where you can enjoy it more too.

sources...

www.iast.net/thefacts.htm
www.dosomething.org
www.ncadv.org/files/HumanTrafficking.pdf
www.doctorsatwar.org
www.international.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=109082

** Molly...
Your probably going to kill me but I literally could not find one source from the peer edited journals on human trafficking. Hopefully you can help me tomorrow with looking for more sources. The sources that I got were all really broad though which is why I picked them, from economy based, to facts, to programs to help stop it. They all were really helpful at teaching me the facts about the human tracking and helping me learn a little bit more about it, and what it is. Sorry I couldn't find more, but I hope this is okay!

Paper topic...

So I'm still not sure what exactly sustainability is but i think that that is the point of this paper. So for my topic I was thinking about either just writing about the whole "going green" thing and whet er it's an actual impact on the environment or if it's only there to help the media and make people more aware off the problem and at the same time raise some money with advertising, merchandise, and green products. The other thing I thought about writing about is the seven sustainable factors of the world. we learned a lot about these last year in Human Geography and how they are helping the world survive today. Or my last idea is possibly 2012 and what it means for the world. Any of these sounding good?

What's Food Without Meat?

When i take a typical trip to the Food Zoo, I find myself either looking at chicken, a hamburger, a piece of pizza, or the main entree, I also always have a buttered potato and a glass of milk. Then there's my friend Tara. Tara has decided to try going Vegan for as long as she can stand it. This means that when Tara goes to the Food Zoo she chooses between tofu, a plain potato, fruit vegetables, and a glass of water or a smoothie. She usually eats a spinach salad with vinegar dressing and vegetables mixed in. Now if this was me, I couldn't go a day with out meat and milk, they're probably my two favorite food groups.
Veganism is a type of diet where you choose to not to use any animal products in your diet. Some vegan's also take any clothing and materials out of their everyday lifestyle. This includes milk, cream, butter, meat, and egg. The merchandise aspect deals with giving up fur, wool, down, and some cosmetics that are tested on animals. The most important reasons for becoming a vegan is to support animal rights, religious regions, to help the environment, and just for the reason of being healthier (Wikipedia.org). When I asked Tara why she went vegan the only reason she gave me was that it sounded interesting and she wanted to work on her health. Veganism is extremely healthy for your heart, and is linked to helping with lung cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, and especially obesity (Vegan.org). Coming from someone who couldn't live without milk, I don't understand why someone would want to do this, but then again some people probably don't understand how I can eat meat everyday and be guilt free. Now Tara has recently changed her mind about going vegan due to the fact that it was hard to get a sufficient amount of protein with what only you can get your hands on at the Food Zoo. Being vegan is a huge commitment, but one that ultimately is better not only for you but also the environment in the end.


*www. Wikipedia.org
*www.Vegan.org\about_veganism\

Short Stories + Bullets= Sad Stories.

This story was probably one of the saddest stories I've ever read. This story painted one of the most real life pictures in my head then a four chapter long book would have. From the celings to the eyes this whole story was completely painted out in my head. I really liked this story and I felt like it had a lot of strengths. Details being one of the prominent features, but also was the voice and character of this story. At first I looked at the main character as rude and annoying and selfish for talking about the teller like that but after hearing his story and realzing how strong and brave of a person he really was it changed my whole view.
Now I've never been in this kind of situation at all and I can't imagine what it would be like to be in one but I know that I would hope that there woudl be that one strong person that would give up his life in order to hopefully save someone elses. When the story started talking about his past I was a little lost about what exactly had gone on. Though I think the jist of it was that Anders was a man that started off being so happy but ended up finding himself in a bad relationship with his wife. I'm not sure if that's true but the story made it seem as if he wasn't as happy with his life now that his daughter is gone and his wife was mood changing. This story was a really strong story and made me think a lot about this type of situation, this type of person, and this this type of emotion that can all be told in a short story.

Another Day in the Life...

So this morning I woke up to the smell of eggo waffles in the toaster. I layed in bed untill I was ready to get up and thinking the waffles were for me I walked fast to the kitchen. Finding that they were, of course, for my little brother I threw in some cinnamon poptarts and swithed the TV from some boring morning news show to Bear in the Big BLue House, even though it's not that great it's better then the two old people talking about the news this morning. After the show I wait for my friend whose in 6th grade to get to the house and we walk to school together.
When I get to school we hang up our backpacks up on the coat rack and get ready to sit through another day with Ms. "Puttbutt". But something different happens today, everyone is acting strange. The TV is on in class and that never happens, and it keeps repeating the same scene of an airplane running into a tall building and that building falls to the groud. At that time an image sticks in my mind of people running with grey faces, covering their faces, and hiding in all small cracks of buildings. After sitting down we start talking about what happened this morning and Ms. Putnam says something about a terrorist. I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing....

Personality Tests Never Get It Right....

So my test came back to be a three, but looking into it i feel like I'm not a three at all. So basically my test said that I'm your everyday over achiever. It says that I need positive, honest feedback to learn, i need to be left alone when I'm working, I need a peaceful environment to be able to work, and that I need to be given compliments when someone is proud of me. It also says that I am friendly, upbeat, provide well for my family, and that I motivate people well. The bad things about being a three were that they always need success, your always trying to impress people, and that you get worn out from the exhaustion of being perfect. A younger three is usually well liked by everyone and extremely hard working and responsible, also that they are engaged in many school clubs and the school government.
When i saw these results at first I thought this was the most opposite of an explanation that i could get. Then I looked more into it and there were a couple traits that resembled me, such as that I'm perky, upbeat, and optimistic. I try to be as loyal as I possibly can and I like to think that I'm on all the time but I'm the most chaotic unresponsible person ever. I also love to please everybody which is another feature of the three, but other then that I don't fall into this category at all. As a child I was never the achiever, not in school, not in sports. I wasn't in any clubs or governments as a child I was simply just the social butterfly.
When I looked at all the different categories I realized that I can't put myself in one category, I was a little bit of each. I guess I was more of a three then I thought but I also was a seven too. I hate being bored more then anything. When it comes to getting out and seeing the world I want that more then anything, but sometimes I do feel like i move too fast. I can become impatient fast at times but on the other hand I'm very laid back and horrible at time management. When a hectic situation comes up I either get frantic and impatient or I just try to stay calm and out of the way. So I can't say exactly which group I'm in but I can say that I'm not in one exact group.

About Me...

Well to start off my name is Meghan Powell. I'm originally from Billings, Montana but six years ago my dad found a job in Bozeman, Montana. So when I was in the 8th grade we moved to Bozeman and i started high school at Bozeman. Going from a town with over 12 middle schools and four high schools, to a town with two middle schools and one high school was a big change, but a change for the best. Throughout highschool I played basketball my freshman year and then got really into volleyball. I played Volleyball through my junior year untill the team got a new coach that wasn't exactly a good one. I also did track and field through my juniour year and then took a year off of all sports.
For right now I'm majoring in elementary education and hoping to teach middle schoool. I've always loved kids but who knows how long my patience can stand. I love going on vacations and laying on the beach all day, playing beach volleyball, and hanging out on the water. I love to water ski, snow ski, cross country ski, play volleyball, go on hikes, basically just get outside and there's no where better to be outside then in Bozeman. After I graduate i hope to get out for awhile before settling down and see the world, ski bum, and just get away. I'm really loud and love to laugh and smile at the wierdest things. So i hope this helps...