First day of finals

So today is my first day of finals in college. So far, it's so easy. My Busniess final was just on finance/accounting and it was literally 25 multiple choice questions, worth 50 pts + a 5 pt extra credit reflection question..anout the course. Not even what we learned. So it was simple. The exam time started at 9am, and I was walking out to my car by 9:30am lol. HOLLA.

Then I came over to the UC to sit down on the couches and just chill on my laptop for awhile. Well, I thought it was only going to be an hour and a half, but it ended up being really short. So now I'm waiting til 12:30 for my conference with Kristi. I really hope I get a decent grade on my porfolio.. :/ I need to pass.

Well, just thought I'd add another blog entry for today. Last one! :D yay!

Finals are almost here..

I can't believe it! It's almost the very last week of my first semester in college. Time for finals. I'm so scared..I feel like I'll never be prepared enough. I'm not sure what to expect on college finals. High school ones were easy..the teacher gave you a detailed sheet that told you basically exactly what questions were going to be on the exam, plus you did review games and such. This is the real deal. This shows how much effort you have put in these past couple months, along with how much you actually paid attention in class and learned the material.

I have paid a good amount of attention in class, and probably only missed like two or three days total. I'm just worried about the material on my Sociology final, and my paper for Comp. These two are what worry me the most. But I am going to study for my Soc exam with my big sis Anna from my sorority, and as far as my paper goes, I think my friend Sarah might be helping me outline it to make it easier. Either way, I'm trying so that I pass everything..because that is crucial.

I'm somewhat excited to start over next semester with new classes and all new people. Although hopefully I have some people I know in my classes, either from Phi Mu or any of the fraternities. So far I don't know anyone in my new classes :/ One thing I'm not too happy about is that fact that I'll be going to school five days next semester. Blahh. Only two classes a day, just like now, but still. Classes on Friday?! Not cool.

But it will be better next semester hopefully because now I have the experience of how classes are run (even though all are different), and I won't be AS nervous.

Well, wish me luck on finals!

Restaurant Review - Rocky's Rotisserie

On Friday, November 27, 2009 at around 6:30 pm my dad and I went out to dinner at Rocky's Rotisserie in the Newburgh Plaza, 37337 Six Mile Road in Livonia. This is not your ordinary sit down restaurant. There are three branches of this eatery- Rocky's Rotisserie in Northville, which has a more rustic feel to it (but still a nice, sit down restaurant with waiters/waitresses), Steven Rocky's in Novi which is more fine-dining, and lastly, the location that my father loves going to, Rocky's Rotisserie in Livonia, which is not a restaurant with servers. This location is set up with cheaper prices, a counter that you come up to to order similar to any food joint, HOWEVER still have the same ingredients and delicious tastes and roasted chicken (the signature dish!) and not be fast food. It's healthy, and quality food for the price which is not expensive at all! The most expensive meal on the menu is the BBQ Baby Back Ribs, Full Slab which is served with two sides, with a price of $17.99. Other then that, the meals range from $5.49-$13.99. Very reasonable prices.

I got a chance to talk to the owner who is Dan Meier. He takes pride in his job as chef at this location of Rocky's Rotisserie along with his partners Steve & Rocky. The Livonia location opened up in October 2007, and since has grown business wise a great deal. According to Dan, this Thanksgiving he sold 20 $90 full turkey, stuffing, apple sauce, and more dinners that feed ten, and 45 turkeys alone. Last year, people weren't aware of all that was offered here at Rocky's and probably figured it was another unhealthy fast food joint.

I really enjoyed eating at Rocky's. The first thing I realized about the place was the atmosphere of the place- it's dimly lit, warm, quiet, and not busy at all. I loved how they had Christmas music playing and garland with bows and little lights strung along the counter. The restaurant had a variety of places to sit: two booths by the front windows, lower tables that sat four, higher tables that also sat four, and even a bar-like counter that people could go sit at if they chose. My dad and I chose to sit in one of the booths by the window (we could seat ourselves), and were greeted only a couple minutes later by not a waitress (because you don't tip) but just an employee who took your order and who serves you. This is similar to Noodles & Co. The server brought us the most DELICIOUS garlic bread with butter that I have ever tried! It was warm, soft, fresh and amazing. My father had ordered the Chicken BLT, and said that he loved it. It also came with cole slaw, and not your typical looking cole slaw either. I didn't try it so I couldn't tell you, but it even looked so much  better! I ordered the Chicken Strip Salad, and it was very, very good. The chicken at Rocky's is not comparable to any other place I've ever had chicken at. It is roasted to perfection, an cut up into little crouton like pieces and thrown into a garden salad with cucumbers, tomatos, garlic croutons and lettuce. I poured creamy ranch all over it and was in heaven :)

I was very impressed with how friendly the staff was at Rocky's Rotisserie. They made sure we had everything we needed/wanted, and greeted us as we came in, and as we left. It was cool to get the chance to talk to the owner of the place and get to know how he runs his business compared to other fast food places, which he said he could not stress enough how much he DOES NOT want to be looked at as just another fast food place, because it is NOT. The food is delicious, and just as quality as what you would order at any other sit down restaurant, but cheaper and served so much quicker.

Dan also told us about how he is doing specials on holidays to promote all the new things he is trying such as "waffles and chicken" which is popular down south. He is serving chicken with a maple sauce type deal with buttermilk waffles alongside it. Weird, but it definitely draws in new customers and interests current customers.

Also there is NO wait time whatsoever, which was really nice.

I asked the owner what the most popular dish was and besides the chicken he told me the Meatloaf! I found that very interesting.

Overall, I would give the restaurant a 4 out of 5 stars.

The hours of Rocky's Rotisserie are 11am-9pm Mon-Sun.

a little short on blogs..

So next semester is fastly approaching and honestly, I'm so unprepared. Even just looking at the class choices I become so overwhelmed. There's thousands of classes and I have no clue where to begin. It's so hard putting together a schedule here in college, unlike in high school when you just took general requirements and a couple electives for fun, and they put it all together in one hour blocks, five days a week. Easy. But now? It takes effort and time and patience. I hope I make all the right decisions so that I have an easy schedule like this first semester.

I'm the most worried about passing my Comp class. I'm going to try my hardest on this last final project, and do everything I can to pass and show how much I'm trying. Hopefully my teacher will realize this.

Thanksgiving break is just around the corner, two days away and I'm soo excited to see my family! And eat amazing food and spend time with everyone I never get to see anymore. It's gonna be great to get time off school and relax.

Restaurant Review

For my restaurant review I decided to do Carraba's Italian Grille. I've only been to the place once but it was amazing food and service. Italian is my favorite, so of course I want to do an Italian restaurant for my review when I write the paper.

Here is the link to the review I found: Http://www0.epinions.com/review/Carraba_s_Italian_Grill_44826714/content_9907113604

[If it doesn't work when you click on it..I don't know what to say lol. Because I tried clicking on it and it didn't work for me? So I don't know what's going on. It IS a legit link!]

Other then that, I just wanted to say I am now initiated into Phi Mu so I'm not just a pledge anymore, I'm a member! So that's exciting. I am getting very excited for this semester to be over..it's frustrating me so much. I also can't wait for Thanksgiving and seeing all my family and having time off of school.

I am worried about my grades though :/ Hopefully things work out and  I pass everything because I can't afford to go back and retake classes I failed with no money! I'm so afraid my financial aid is gonna be taken away from me.. :/

broke as a joke

It seems like nothing is going my way lately, but then again maybe I'm being too negative.

I work at my favorite store, Wet Seal. Unfortunately, lately we aren't making enough money as a store to receive a lot of hours from corporate, and therefore they had to cut everyone's hours. Because I never work ever anymore because they keep calling off my shifts, my sales per hour is probably down to nothing. In turn, this has put me at the bottom of the associates in sales, and now i have no actual hours this week, only on-call shifts. The economy sucks for everyone right now.

I have no money because I am not working, and my next paycheck is going to be very small. I drive to Dearborn every single day for class, and have to pay for my own gas. This has created a domino effect in my life. Now I can't do many things for fun because I have to save my money for gas and other expenses my parents do not help me out with, such as my sorority Phi Mu. This is normal and happens to everyone, I know. But it's really starting to hurt me :/

The most ANNOYING thing is when I have friends who are spoiled as hell and get their every little want and need paid for by mommy and daddy. It honestly disgusts me to see a person who has never worked a day in their life. I'm on my fifth job since I was 15. I think it's vital for a teenager to learn how to hold a job, work a register, or whatever it takes to learn how the work force works in real life. If a person has never had a job, ever, in their entire life, and then they graduate college and are offered something, they are not going to do good. Why? Because they have absolutely NO experience with people: customers, employers, co-workers, etc let alone any other work experience.

It just pisses me off to see college students who have no idea what it's like to work a day in their life, and to see their parents pay for college, gas, and everything else they desire in everyday life. This is so not me.

my hallow-eekend.

Hello! So, it's the first week of November already. I can't believe it! I'm really beginning, or at least trying my best, to "step it up" as Kristi has said I should be doing. School is very important and should come before absolutely everything but family. I want to do great here so that I can earn a degree and continue to get my financial aid in the process.

I had an interesting weekend..but it wasn't really bad. Friday I went to a party and dropped my phone on the driveway at a party and lost the battery and back to the phone..and then it started pouring rain and I was doomed for the rest of the night. :/ I was supposed to meet up with my friend after a different party I went to first, although I couldn't get ahold of her in time to get in for free. So..that night didn't go as planned. But I had a decent time. The next night was Halloween. I ended up purchasing a new phone for $100 at the at&t store because they no longer carry or make the battery to the phone I had. Basically I could either go online and try to find a new battery on ebay or amazon, and wait three days at least to get it, OR I could outright by one there. I decided to just buy one of the basic phones because I wanted a new phone anyways, and I was NOT going to wait three days for a phone..being as I was going to Michigan State that night for Halloween.

That night I went to State to visit my friends there, and celebrate Halloween. Let's just say it wasn't all I was expecting. I didn't get to see the boy I was gonna meet up with, and the frat parties we walked all the way down to through the bitter cold, would not let us in because we didn't know anyone in the house. We were not happy to say the least. So we walked my one wasted friend back to the dorms because he was going to pass out, and ended up not even doing anything the rest of the night. So that was disappointing as well.

Then an unexpected visitor showed up and regretful things took place. That's all I'm going to say.

Sunday was a chill day, I just did my homework and relaxed all day. So that was my weekend!

halloweeeeen.

Fall is finally here and I'm so excited for the months ahead! October, November, & December are the best months ever, I swear. Each has a fun holiday to look forward to- to dress up, spend time with family and friends, eat scrumptious food, and open presents!! I always look forward to this time of the year, every year.

Last Halloween was a rough time for me, to say the least. So this Halloween, I want to make it fun! I am supposed to go up to Michigan State to visit friends, but right now that is not a definite plan. I'm going to be a cop this year :) I'm excited. Plus there is a Delta Sigma Pi Halloween Party this Friday that me and my sorority sisters are attending, so that should be fun!

Besides Halloween plans...not much going on with me. I'm not as stressed out as before but I still have a lot going on. I realized I really need to stop going out and focus more on my studies, because my grades are not good. I was good enough to get in, I should be good enough to stay in. I have the potential to be here, therefore I should be trying my best. Which I am not :/

I also have decided to look into switching my major to Criminal Justice instead of Business. Im not enjoying it as of right now so I thought I may like this better because I've always had an interest in law and that sort of stuff.

Well, that's my update for now. see ya!~

campus life

It's funny how different the people are here on campus at the University of Michigan Dearborn then are in the city I live in, Livonia. It's sad how undiverse it is, like I've stated in my last blog.

However, as I walk the halls and outside pathways of this beautiful campus, I notice how many different races and ethnicities we have here. I love seeing the different and new faces, unlike in high school when everyone looked the same to me, and I knew almost everyone there.

Here on campus there are so many different clubs and organizations one can join..for example you could be part of the Lyceum staff and become a photographer for our own literary magazine published each semester, write for The Michigan Journal (our college newspaper), or be on the campus radio station WUMD! Besides these there are also many clubs/organziations such as joining a sorority (like I did!), Fraternity, or maybe the Psych Club. The possibilities are endless :)

College is so much bigger and better then high school in the amount of people, activities you can do, and everything in between. So get involved!

Quick Write p.45 #1

An issue that I noticed that we have here in my community (Livonia) is the lack of diversity among the people. My high school, Stevenson, was probably 85-90% white students, the other being probably mostly black students. I think this causes racism among us becuase we aren't exposed to a lot of difference among our cultures and races, which in turn creates more hostility towards others not of our kind. Not that I'm against anyone that is different then me, but because I have grown up in a predominantly white community, I feel safer and more comfortable being around my own race.

p.71 #1
High School wasn't very difficult for me. Unfortunately I took easy classes, especially my senior year, and in the long run..didn't do me much good. Two classes that I guess helped me out in analyzing or "critical thinking" were my Poetry class I took during my junior year, which we interpreted poems and meanings of these, and then had to create our own. I also enjoyed taking Comp II my senior because we were given a broad'ish topic to elaborate on, and then take any direction we choose to go off on. The majority of the time we got to write about whatever we wanted, and I liked the way my teacher did things. She gave us a lot of time to write it, draft it, etc, and we peer edited a lot.

I also took journalism, but that class seemed to only focus on the newspaper and current events each week. I wasn't on the newspaper staff, so none of that helped me out. I believe I only took it because it counted as a speech/writing credit.

frustrated.

Life is changing around me so quickly, people are changing, new friends, old friends. I'm realizing a lot about myself lately too. It's hard to keep up with all the responsibilities I have, but somehow I'm managing. College isn't easy like high school were you don't have to go and you can still know what's going on the next day. I feel like I can't do good enough here. I write a paper I think is a B, I get a D. I study what I think is going to be on a quiz, I get a D. My first Soc test, got a C. I mean, I don't get it. Obviously I'm not trying hard enough or something. I got straight A's in high school.

Change is a good thing, I believe it, but I think it can be a bad thing too. Although I enjoy all the new things around me, I'm beginning to miss my past. When things were a given, I didn't have to work for anything really. I wasn't rushed day to day, constantly with something taking up my free time. I was truely happy, I felt loved. Now, things just seem different. I feel more adult-like, which is nice, but i miss being younger sometimes.

Anyway..another thing I've been worrying about lately is getting those shots that college students are supposed to be getting (Meningetis shot, H1N1 vaccine(?), regular flu shot, hypetitis)..I hate needles with a passion but I'm really thinking I should get these, and so should everyone. You never know what you might have until you get it. Be smart and get these shots! lol just saying.

-Erin

recap

So I haven't taken a moment to do a blog in awhile, and I don't know if  I have eight blogs so here's one for today! lol

Well things are going okay..still busy as ever. I went from being bored as hell over the summer to not enough hours in the day now! I did however cut my hours at work so that I could have more time to do homework, though still I feel rushed. This paper we have is fine until we have to cite all this stuff from historical events, speeches, and people, which is where I start disliking the whole project. I think I did my paper fairly well, just lacking citations from the book. That book isn't easy for me to read in the first place, therefore that's why.

Anyway..I also have a group project in my Business class and my Sociology class, so between this, work and my LIFE i need to find time to do those. :( ugh.

Hopefully I make it to State this weekend to visit some friends..if not oh well. there's always next weekend :) But speaking of state..i saw the game this weekend! not live, but still, it counts that i watched it on tv :) i was proud of myself for actually caring lol. It was a great disappointment that State won within overtime and we were tied 20-20! boooo. good game though, wish i was there.

but yeah, that's all for today. now im gonna relax until I have my sorority meeting where we all wear white and get "pinned". wonder what this entails..

famous quote by MLK

So I guess we were supposed to blog about the famous quotes from MLK, one being "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." This quote to me means that if you violate another person's rights, you're actually hurting many people in the process. For example, say you talk crap about my sister. That in turn effects me, my mom, dad, sister, etc because we care about  her and love her. It's not just how she is effected by it. So it's like a domino effect.

Besides that..this week has been alright. Still extremely busy, but not as bad as last week i guess. I'm beginning my project on Freedom from Fear..hard for me because I hate politics and history. Not a fun class. But I'm trying.

Nothing else to say really..except for GO BLUE! because we play state this weekend. Wish i could go :/

k byeee.

busy bee

It's been awhile since I last blogged, but seriously, I've been the busiest I think I've ever been the past week. Trying to balance schoolwork/class, working, sorority, and a social life/trying to relax is crazy insane and seemingly impossible to juggle. I'm really beginning to realize what it's like to be stressed.

This weekend I became an official member of the sorority Phi mu at U of M Dearborn. I'm so excited to get to know tons of new people and make friends, go to fun events, and have a blast! It's a positive experience, and I think it will be a good thing for me.

I had my first essay quiz in college today in Sociology..I hadn't had time to study all week, so I was very nervous as to how to cram all this studying in in one night. Luckily, the quiz went good and I think I did okay. Bad news is, I have a couple projects coming up and I'm so behind with those. I'm worried about my project here in comp because it has to do with politics/history somewhat, both of which I never paid attention in in school, and have zero interest in learning about.

As far as social life at UMD, I've met a lot of new girls already through sorority recruitement, and also some boys from TKE Frat, so it's going okay :)

Well, I gotta go, my first Phi Mu meeting is soon. ttyl

-Erin

so happy.

Last week I met someone new on campus named Josh and I'm so happy<3. Honestly, that's why im in such a good mood lately. :) Things are seriously looking up in my life, and I'm so excited. This week I am going to a couple sorority meetings to learn all about them and decide which one I want to be in. Saturday is the big day where there are bidding ceremonies and we get to dress up cute and see what sorority mutually chose us back. It's so exciting! That night I plan on going to the Theta Tau Frat party...soo excited for this week!

Just thought I'd share :)

see ya in class..

The power of words

Words are so important. They teach us a lesson, convey our thoughts and ideas to others, get our point across in an arguement, explain our troubles and fears, and express our opinions in life. Without words we could not possibly tell others how we feel about a subject. Our entire world is composed of words. Just look up at the signs on the roads- without words we would have no idea where we were in the world. Menus in restaurants, textbooks in schools, directions for all sorts of devices and procedures; all made up of words.

The power of words is demonstrated in the popular and moving speech given by Martin Luther King Jr., the "I Have a Dream" speech. During this profound speech, MLK discussed racial injustice at the time and how unequal blacks were treated. His words affected millions of african americans, as well as whites. A better future of "racial harmony" was just ahead, in his dream.

Another example of the great power words on Americans is President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address. In 1961, JFK stood in front our country addressing important issues such as poverty, human rights, and international relations. He strived for unity of all citizens. These words affected millions as well.

So you can see that without words, a lot of things couldn't even exist. We couldn't even go on facebook!! :)

start of week two..

So today was my first Monday in college. It went okay, but i hate having to be there for so long with three classes in a row. I have lots of reading to do in my comp and soc classes..which blows because I barely understand any of it and it's a lot to comprehend. High school was soo easy :(

I went to a sorority meeting tonight with my friend Chelsea and we learned about how the initiation ceremonies and stuff that will be going on next week. I'm excited to be involved in a sorority and get do all sorts of fun activities :) It's kind of a nervewracking process but it will be fun in the end.

Well, sorry today was such a short post but I have to get to my reading.. :/


see yaaa<3

Yay, done for the week!

So I absolutely love being done with my classes for the week on thursday at 12:20pm..that's awesome! That means I have basically have two and a half days of weekend! Yayy! I love that. And having time to both do my homework, work, and see friends for a little bit is a plus. My classes went well yesterday..I didn't like having to be in class by 9:55am but it's alright. It's my business class, the one that is required to earn my Bachelor's in Business (MBA?) I don't know lol. But we have 47 kids in our class and five teachers! It's crazy. I think that's kinda cool though because then we can hear from a different person lecture every couple classes and not get sick of hearing the same teacher babble on and on haha. It sounds like a cool class learning about marketing, advertising, finance and more.

My other class I began yesterday was Math 080, in other words I believe the lowest of the math courses you can take at UMD :/ But whatever, I need to re-learn a lot, I forgot. The teacher is..not my style. He has very strict guidelines, has an accent, and talks very slow. He says, "Don't ask me when the homework is due, that is always posted on CTools" (whatever that is, I've never even used it). He also told us that he will never announce our quizzes, ever. Those are a suprise. And if we can't make class on the day of a quiz, well, snooze you lose, you can't make it up. SWEET. I'm not gonna like this guy. Oh! And, we were told it was required to purchase not only the textbook, but the worksheet book as well..of course now he tells us it's not going to be used. Now I have to try to return it and I may not be able to do that. Agh!

Well, that's my complaints for today. I would have done it yesterday but I was busy visiting my bestfriend up at Eastern! Ttyl.

-Erin

First Day

So today was my very first day of college. First impression? Crowded as hell. Way too many people and cars everywhere. That was very annoying. It was hard to find a parking space as well, and took me probably ten to fifteen minutes to finally find one, totally far away from my clasess of course. The good thing was I got to arrive on campus at one o'clock for my first class, instead of 7:00am like in high school.

I enjoyed both my Sociology class and my Comp 105 classes. Both teachers seemed very nice. My Soc teacher was funny and made his entrance by pretending to be a Spanish 300 teacher. Seems like a funny guy. Plus I really like the comfy chairs we get to sit in :) It wasn't hard to find either of my classes. My Comp teacher seems very easy-going and understanding. I just hope the writing is easy! I'm not sure what to expect yet of the class but we will see.

Now I'm back at home deciding where to begin my small amount of homework..little bit of reading and stuff. Not bad. It's just distractions in my house that are side-tracking me! It's going to be interesting to see how this homework thing is going to go over for me. I feel like I haven't actually sat down to do homework in years! So I'm a bit worried. Oh, and I also realized I definitely need some sort of bag to hold my books..it's not like high school anymore, you can't just get by holding them all day. They weigh more in college and get annoying very easily.

As far as friends go, I met a few girls in my summer math bridge program class and one of them (Etleva) happens to be in my comp class, so that's exciting. The other, Chelsea, and I have decided to join a sorority so we will be participating in a lot of fun events soon :) And then there's Jessica who i met during orientation/class registration, so we have all the same classes together.

Well, im not sure what else to say here..my first "blog" haha. It's kind of weird, like a journal online that everyone can see. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. But here's my first entry :)