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Visiting Austin Texas!

This last semester, I went to Austin Texas with my boyfriend and a few of our friends! We all loaded up in cars and made the seven hour roadtrip to Austin from Norman. We rode in the car with my boyfriend, Colin, his friend, Dane, and my friend, Raiah. On the way there we face a lot of traffic and some rough weather, but when we got there, it was totally worth it.

The hotel was in a super cool location in Austin and super close to 6th Street, where everything was poppin’! We unloaded our bags and waited to get our hotel keys because the line was super long, then we headed to our rooms to get ready for the evening. We went to the first location (which was super cool) that even had an aquarium inside! We ate dinner then headed back to our hotels to hangout and get ready for the next night.

The next day, we visited a celebration called “Eeyore’s Birthday” which Colin was super excited about. At the celebration, everyone dressed very brightly in celebration of the Winnie The Pooh character. There were hot dogs, lemonade, turkey legs, souvenirs, and all kinds of things. We ended up grabbing some lemonade and hot dogs, then Colin ran up to a guy who had a sign offering “free hugs”, to whom he then gave a hug. The man excitedly told Colin “happy birthday!” then he continued on his walk through the park.

After the birthday celebration, we went and ate lunch at a place that supposedly served “the best breakfast tacos in Austin” then we headed back to the hotel to regroup. We changed and fixed our hair, then headed to dinner for the evening.

We ate a super delicious sushi restaurant called The Blue Fish, then we went to checkout 6th Street, which was super busy.

After our exciting trip, we made the drive back home and unloaded our bags. Overall, it was a great experience and I will be visiting Austin again soon!

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Game-Day Fashion

At The University of Oklahoma, game-days are extremely important. Everyone puts on their game-day gear and heads to the stadium for a full day of football. Prior to the games, hundreds of people also tailgate and take pictures to prepare for the intense game. One of the most exciting part of packing up for college and putting together some cool outfits, therefore game-days provide for the perfect occasion!

As a sorority girl at The University of Oklahoma, game-day fashion is very important. Girls from all different houses come together dressed in red and white, wearing cowboy boots, hats, and all sorts of accessories. Being in Oklahoma, when attending a game you’ll definitely see cowboy boots everywhere! What else would pull an Oklahoma Sooner outfit together?

Another important part of game-day fashion is to add buttons! Buttons can show your support for your sorority, your favorite player, or even a celebrity. Buttons can also contain funny sayings or quotes that you can wear around all day to get a kick out of your friends. One of my sorority sisters actually created and sold custom buttons this last semester, (which made a pretty big profit) and created a very successful business.

My friends and I always dress up, head to our sorority house, Theta, then take a ton of pictures. After we take pictures in our Sooner gear, we then head to the tailgates for cheeseburgers and hotdogs. With full stomachs, we’ll then meet up with some more friends and head to the game! After the game, we usually head to Campus Corner and check out the restaurants. Some of my favorite spots on Campus Corner include Pickleman’s, Fuzzy’s, and our newest addition, Cane’s!

Happy game-day Sooners!

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The 5-Step Media Literacy Process

When it comes to deciphering media, you can break down basically everything into the 5-Step Media Literacy Process.

  • Description – Summarize the media and describe to the reader what the media is about, down to the specific details.
  • Analysis – Here, you describe to the reader all the patterns you see and create a vivid image to the reader.
  • Interpretation – How do you interpret the media? Here you discuss what each pattern means and break down the media as a whole.
  • Evaluation – Here, you evaluate the media for the reader and give your interpretation of how it impacts you and how you think
  • Engagement – How did people react to the media? Here, you can look up facts, statistics, and other evidence that shows the media was either affective or non affective.

The 5-Step Media Literacy Process helps us determine how a form of media appeals to us and if it is affective at gaining the reader or audience’s attention.

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Essay Advice!

When writing an essay, I find it easiest to begin with choosing a topic. Most people suggest you create a web or planning sheet before hand, but I find it easiest to go with the flow and write as I come up with new ideas for my paper. Sometimes it’s harder to start an essay than to actual write the body and conclusion. Without a stable starting point, it can be hard to find the flow of the writing and can lead to the dreadful writers block.

When I was younger, I would often face a lot of writers block because I hated doing the planning and rough draft part of the essay. I write my best when I can improv and write as I go and with what I’m thinking of in my brain. Writing comes easy to some people, but to others it can be very difficult. Sometimes, one may be better at math than they are writing, but here are some tips that I hope can help someone who may be facing some essay trouble.

  1. Choose a topic and stick with it.
  2. Write some rough paragraphs. What’s the Introduction about? How many body paragraphs will there be? How will we come to the conclusion?
  3. Research your topic!
  4. Ask your peers for advice and read other scholarly articles about your topic.
  5. Ask yourself some questions: Would I want to read this? What makes my paper stand out? Am I writing down ALL the information about my topic?

Writing can be difficult, but it can also be easy when you stick to a plan. Hopefully these tips help!

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Deep Sea Fishing

I’m writing this blog post in honor of one of my dear friends, who has a great passion for deep sea fishing.

Here is one of his deep sea fishing stories:

“We woke up at 5:30 in the morning to get ready for the day. Everyone was super excited to take a boat out to the deep blue and to possibly catch some rockfish. My family loaded up at the marina and headed down to the dock to start our journey. We meet our captain, Diego, who introduced us to the crew and gave us a little tour of the old boat. He asked us if we were ready to go, in which we replied “yes!” and then we took off deep into the ocean. Twenty-six miles later, my Aunt Shelly started throwing up all over the back of the boat while we were all trying to dodge the mess. The waves grew bigger and journey seemed more and more treacherous as more and more of my family members began throwing up on the boat! Diego and Uncle Chris were the only two who didn’t throw up, leaving everyone else with very empty stomachs. Uncle Chris ended up catching six rock fish which provided for a large group of us. A little later, the boat was trolling for some fish, when we suddenly snagged a big one. Everyone leaned over the edge to check what was on the line, even though they were all exhausted from throwing up. Not even five seconds later, we saw a giant sail fish shoot out of the water! Everyone jumped to their feet, finally found their sea legs and watched in awe as the fish was reeled in. Uncle Chris fought the fish for forty minutes, then FINALLY the fish was brought in! Fortunately, the sea sickness was all worth it in the end!”

Colin Gormley, Student at OU
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Belonging at OU

Throughout the year, I learned much about belonging and what it feels like to really fit in with a group. I took a course second semester called “Gateway to Belonging” which highlighted the importance of belonging and how it can change someone’s entire outlook or experience.

After I finished the course, when it came to the true definition of belonging, I came up with this definition:

Belonging is a psychological feeling of being at home, or feeling like you are a part of something. According to Lisa M. Nunn’s research, she refers to belonging as “feeling as if you are meant to be there” and that you can “truly be yourself.” There are different realms when it comes to belonging, such as social, academic, and community. Social belonging comes down to feeling as if you are a part of a social group and that they are people that are similar to you and might like to do the same things that you like to do. Academic belonging can be described as feeling a part of a percentage at your school, possibly according to your major, GPA, or other academic placement numbers. Community belonging is when you find a group of people that are similar to you and possibly share the same ethnicity as you, making you feel like you are already a part of a group. In short terms, belonging is something you decide that you are, no one else can decide for you.

Therefore, before you decide you don’t like a place, try first to look within your self to welcome new changes, then look to others.

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Summer!

As all the projects, homework, tests, and finals are reaching their final deadlines, summer is creeping closer and closer in.

As I watch students begin to pack up their belongings and head home for the next couple of months, it’s brought me to the realization that I’m going to have to head home and leave my friends pretty soon… which sucks. This year has brought me a lot of incredible people, as well as some not so great people. Overall, the amount of really cool people out weighs the not so great ones, which means I’m going to especially miss a good amount of people that I’m used to seeing everyday. Even so, my mom is very excited I’m coming home, even though she’s going to have to start doing my laundry again (sorry mom!)

When summer comes around, I always get super excited to be home, hangout with my hometown best friend Abby, and to go to the lake! In Oklahoma, I feel as though summer is directly associated to the lake, therefore summer means lake season is here with family and friends!

Along with lots of relaxation, I’ll also be heading to Ireland this summer for a couple of weeks, which I am very much looking forward to. My family has visited once, but we loved it so much that we’re going back, and this time we’ll pretty much be “locals” while walking the streets of Cork, Kilkenny, and Dublin. And hopefully, we’ll stop to see our good friend, Phillip, who was our toured guide the first time around.

Therefore, I can’t wait for summer, and I hope everyone has as much fun as I know I’m going to have!

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OU Dining Recommendations

As a student, we all know that eating and maintaining a steady diet is important when it comes to your overall mental and physical health. Without a steady diet and full stomach, we’re not always destined to give our best performances when completing school work and especially during testing.

Some of my favorite places to grab a meal as a freshmen at OU are located in the Cross Dining areas. Basic Knead, Glow, Acre, and Credo are all great places where you can use your meal points or exchanges, to grab a delicious meal without having to spend any personal money. Incoming students can choose a meal plan at the beginning of the semester where they can choose the amount of meal swipes and points they’re allotted for each week. For me, I received 650 meal points for the semester with 6 meal swipes per week.

Even though the Cross Dining options are awesome and consist of a very large variety, my favorite place on campus to eat would be the Couch Cafeteria, or what we call the “Caf”. My friends and I love to stop by the Caf after class to grab our favorite foods from all over the world. The Caf consists of dining from all over the globe with my favorites being the Chinese and Hispanic restaurants. Also, our Caf contains an UNLIMITED Chick Fil a…

Do what you want with this informant, but I highly suggest you checkout these food spots when you venture over to the freshmen dorms!

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Greek Life & Rush!

Throughout your first year of college, you face many new challenges and mean so many new people. One of the best ways to meet people in college is to join an organization or club, such as OU Greek Life.

For girls, you complete a week of “rush” which is the process you go through when selecting which sorority you’d like to join. For the boy, they go through a different “rush” process that is a lot less formal. The boys like to relax and get to know you, while the girls go through an uptight rotation of small talk, interviews, and overall trying to impress all of the eleven houses they visit.

Each day, a new dress up code is recommended, and the girls go through a process of being “rushed” by going house to house and chatting with the recruitment members that are present. The houses want to get to know you and ask about your background, in hopes of finding something in common and possibly creating a connection.

The entire process can be stressful and overwhelming, considering it is also 100 degrees in the middle of the August heat. Even so, it’s important to keep your head and to try to be as genuine as possible when being interviewed by the recruitment members, in hopes of finding a place where you really feel like you belong.

Even thought the process is a lot, I’ve met some of my best friends through Greek Life and I’ve made connections that have helped me throughout many of my classes. You and your best friends may all end up in different houses, therefore it’s a great way to learn branch out and meet people you may have never talked to before!

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The First Amendment and Its Limitations

When it comes to freedom, is there a right to restrict anyone in how far their freedom goes? In order to figure out more about how we view our rights as American citizens, I conducted four different interviews and asked these people the same questions, to find a conclusive idea on what we, as Americans, think about the First Amendment.

“Would you approve of the following law if Congress were considering it?”:

Congress can make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting its free exercise. It protects freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

These are the responses:

Colin Gormley

  • Do you agree or disagree with the freedoms? Explain.
  1. I agree because I believe people should be able to speak their minds and incite change.
  • Which do you support, and which do you think are excessive or provide too much freedom?
  1. I agree with all of them wholeheartedly.
  • Do you recognize the law? (Note how many identify it as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how many do not. Note the percentage from each age group.)
  1. Yes.

Audrey Grace

  • Do you agree or disagree with the freedoms? Explain.
  1. I agree with this law because I personally believe that everyone deserves those rights.
  • Which do you support, and which do you think are excessive or provide too much freedom?
  1. I don’t think any of them provide too much freedom or are excessive.
  • Do you recognize the law? (Note how many identify it as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how many do not. Note the percentage from each age group.)
  1. Yes, it’s the first amendment.

Brenda Sullivan

  • Do you agree or disagree with the freedoms? Explain.
  1. Yes, I agree because these are our God given rights.
  • Which do you support, and which do you think are excessive or provide too much freedom?
  1. I support all of these because we deserve these freedoms.
  • Do you recognize the law? (Note how many identify it as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how many do not. Note the percentage from each age group.)
  1. Yes, the first Amendment.

Andrea Knight

  • Do you agree or disagree with the freedoms? Explain.
  1. I do agree because everyone should have these freedoms.
  • Which do you support, and which do you think are excessive or provide too much freedom?
  1. I support all of these freedoms.
  • Do you recognize the law? (Note how many identify it as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how many do not. Note the percentage from each age group.)
  1. Yes I do.

Judy Smith

  • Do you agree or disagree with the freedoms? Explain.
  1. I do because all people deserve these rights.
  • Which do you support, and which do you think are excessive or provide too much freedom?
  1. I support them all.
  • Do you recognize the law? (Note how many identify it as the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and how many do not. Note the percentage from each age group.)
  1. Yes.

Conclusion:

After finishing my interviews and asking people these four questions, I found it clear that most people recognized the First Amendment. Also, when I asked people about the “law” I noticed that most people were offended when I asked if they recognized it, which showed to be a common pattern. By the way these people reacted to being asked about it, it shows that people were shocked that others didn’t recognize it or that it was even a question to be asked. Most people probably just assume that everyone knows the First Amendment, which is usually the case among educated citizens. Everyone also came to the same reasoning why they supported this Amendment, and the reason being that everyone deserves their freedom. The group unanimously agreed that we all deserve the right to have our freedom of speech, assembly, the press, and the right to petition the Government. 

After these interviews, It also goes to show that these people, without a doubt, believe that everyone should have their “God given rights” and that freedom is automatically what we all deserve. To most people, when asked the question, rather they believe they deserve certain freedoms, they will always come to the same answer, no matter what the specific freedom is. The answer by most free American citizens will be a definite yes.

When looking at the article “High School Student Views On The First Amendment: Trends in the 21st Century,” it goes to show us the ideas behind our younger population’s thoughts on the limitations of the First Amendment, which range in wide views, stretching from beliefs the First Amendment does satisfy all of our rights to freedom to the idea that the Amendment gives us way too much freedom. A common trait that is found in all surveys, shows that “BOYS AND WHITE STUDENTS ARE LESS INCLINED THAN

GIRLS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR TO AGREE WITH THE

STATEMENT: “THE FIRST AMENDMENT GOES TOO FAR

IN THE RIGHTS IT GUARANTEES.” 

With this being said, many populations still have a variety of opinions about the limitations of the Amendment and some people even see it as far to protest their beliefs (which is an ability given to us by this exact Amendment).

With all of this being said, do you believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, or should anyone even be able to label how far our rights range?