Esthetic Flare

The Final 4

As fssp comes to an end I'm sad to see it end but appreciative for the opportunity. I did not realize the difficulty level college course stand. I'm glad to have experienced the culture shock of Santa Barbara now and also the shock of  college life now. I feel way more prepared for fall having gone through fssp. And I am excited for the upcoming years at ucsb.

As for my four events, I attended the walk to the co op, the isla vista info with the police officer, the guacho sex info night, and I attended the ethics review study session with our professor (which Gallucci said in the email a review session counted).

The Co op was a fairly interesting field trip due to the delicious food! It took only about 15 minutes to get there and then the woman who runs the co op showed us around. My favorite part was the food because it was all organic and the fruit tasted so fresh, but by far the chips and guacamole was the best. I want to shop there when in the future but it is pretty expensive.

The isla vista chat, honestly scared me out of wanting to live in isla vista. The officer seemed to be a pretty chill man and he informed us what not to do to get arrested. Don't sit down on the sidewalk! Don't back to an officer! And don't walk around by oneself. He also told us that there is a high robbery rate in isla vista and even in the dorms people are stealing so lock up your stuff...

The third event was the guacho sex night. Which I felt I personally did not gain a lot of information. Their main message was that 1) people are not just having sex  willy nilly that most people know each other 2) students at ucsb don't have as many stds as the rumors claim 3) and lastly if you are going to have sex then use protection!

The last event was Gallucci approved in the email and that is the review session I attended for my ethics class. We came the night before finals to an ethics review for about two hours where our professor explained the each answer on our review guide. I would not have done well on my midterm if I had not gone because our entire midterm was composed of the review questions.

Well I wish everyone the best, and I hope we all enjoy the next four years. Live, love, laugh, breathe life!

Final Presentations... The end has come

Last week prior to watching the play Macbeth, the director, Professor Appelwood, presented his life story and information about the ucsb theater program, including information about Macbeth. 

Professor Appelwood lived a fairly adventurous lifestyle. He began in a small town in Illinois where his family then moves to the Windy City of Chicago. During his high school years, his family moved once again to Southern California.  After high school Professor Appelwood attended Princeton (what a genius). And even better studied acting at Juliard the top performing school in the nation! For his career, he worked as an actor in the big apple. I was pretty amazed on how many places this man has lived... Around his thirties he settled down with a wife and child where they moved to Connecticut. But, he felt unfulfilled with his acting in Connecticut, and he wanted to do more, hence ucsb.

He recommended that we all take a theater class at some point because it is fun and it also helps with speech problems especially in regards to public speaking. And if we are brave enough to get involved with theater whether its sets, costumes, acting. And if you do any of these actions a student can earn units toward their transcript.

Another presentation we saw was during int 95 about the Education Abroad Program. I learned that the cost of studying abroad depends on where one studies. The more expensive places are in Europe usually and the less expensive is Southeast Asia and some Latin American countries. I decided that I personally have a strong desire to study abroad for a year because I really want to learn about other cultures. I think studying abroad is great learning experience and if I want to continue to learn another language that is the best way.

Macbeth!

On Friday night, I went with mi amiga Xoe to see the play Macbeth. Overall, it was a very interesting play. The acting was superb even though I could not understand old english/ Shakespearean vernacular I could follow the plot line based on the acting. 

I really did enjoy the play, but there were several alarming decision in regards to the actors and the attire. I felt slightly uncomfortable with a professor playing Macbeth while Lady Macbeth was obviously a young student... I felt that the director should have had people of the same age as the two lovers. It looked icky to watch a fifty year old man make out with a twenty something year old girl especially! When Lady Macbeth grabs at Macbeth's manhood... I understand that the director probably wanted to shock the audience, but it more or less serves as a distraction to the audience and takes away from the performance. 

Moving on, the attire... Gasp! The idea was they were naked shakes which in theory is a pretty nifty idea, so wearing all black would usually blend the the actors into the background and focus the audiences attention purely on the acting not the costumes, but seriously the yoga pants. Bad call because the material was fairly thin and I could see many things I did not desire to. Because the girls in the play were heavier set the ripples and cellulite peered through those pants. And you could say I'm a pervert, but the most commented aspect I heard from other audience members was the yoga pants! It was just distracting to the performance.

None the less, the play was still pretty amazing. I honestly didn't even notice the length and afterwards I felt highly inspired to support or maybe even join the ucsb theater program if possible,

Picture

Blessed to go to school here!

Review

Last week, the fssp students had the pleasure of watching Dr. Don Lu... By far the best presentation yet. I enjoyed his presentation in particular because he mixed comedy with learning. When Dr. Don spoke he engaged the fssp crowd with multiple stories and images instead of the usual one subject lecture which seems to go on for dayssss. Even more so, the doctor seemed genuinely enthused by ucsb and he had an optimistic outlook for all the students. I learned that college is about exploring new things and learning how to critically think. 

Besides his performance, my int 95 group had the pleasure of meeting one of the many librarians. And she also gave us a tutorial on how to utilize the library website. Her main focus during her tutorial was explaining how to find the best articles in regards to research. What I gained from Mrs. Weimer's presentation was that if a student searches for information said student can use different databases that are particular to the subject in which the topic umbrellas. 

As for myself, I thoroughly embraced my weekend :) I spent the majority of the weekend at the beach, swimming in the ocean. I tried to be productive and work on a research paper for my environmental science 2 class, but it just seemed so boring in comparison to what ucsb has to offer. I think my favorite activity this weekend was going to the rec cen and swimming in the pool. I discovered it was not only 17 feet deep but there is also 3 diving boards, 2 lows and 1 high board. I tried to go on the high board except I chickened out... I still had fun though!

Plagiarism

For this week's assignment, the int 95 class was supposed to read two articles on plagiarism, "What Is Plagiarism?" and "How to Avoid Plagiarism." Each article for the most part repeated and summarized the same idea. The idea that most people's ideas are not original thoughts produced solely on one's own rather a paraphrasing of other's idea. And by writing others thoughts and crediting oneself for them is wrong because then credit is being stolen from some one who actually deserves praise for their idea.
How to avoid plagiarism you may ask? Cite you sources! There are many different ways to cite sources such as apa, mla, or even foot notes. I think foot notes are a fun way to cite sources because they are by far the most descriptive in detail, but are also the most difficult way to cite papers. Another helpful tip... if you think it sounds familiar than check to see if you heard it before and if so cite it.
The way I feel about plagiarism is it is a form of cheating either way you spin it. Plus plagiarizing is an insult to the writer of the original piece and insult to one's own brain because plagiarize emphasizes how lazy people are. In my opinion it feels better to be graded off one own merit and receives a lower grade than someone else's. Anyone who plagiarizes is asking to be caught and should be punished. However, I know sometimes that it is unclear whether or not one is plagiarizing, but it is better to be sure and just cite the source than have to talk to one of the professors or T.A.s about a cheating scandal.

Lions, and Tigers, and Libraries... oh my!

Another exciting week finished at the fine institution we call now home. For last week's Int 95 seminar, one of the librarians presented her life and the importance of research to us. There were several objectives I learned from the Librarian such as which items we should utilize for a paper. An example she suggested was books written after the event because they are satiated with adequate research and offer a more accurate depiction of what happened. Another point the librarian made, was that students need to cite their sources or else professors will think we plagiarized our papers. So friendly advice... CITE YOUR PAPERS!
What else did I learn? Hmm, well I realized the librarian lived a fairly privileged life due to her family's ability to travel over seas every other year. I felt sad to hear that, because I also realized how difficult and cut throat society has become. Back in the day people could travel and attend college easily and now competition has become so fierce that most people do not encounter the opportunity to travel or attend any university. I hope one day society calms down and  students are not inundated with pressure it just seems unjust and as if youth is being taken away from the next generation.
Moving on, on Friday our Int 95 group explored the career center. I discovered the career center offers a multitude of resources for students who are searching for jobs, internships, and information about grad school. One important thing I learned was that student can come in during the day time and there are people waiting to help with resumes and cover letters. I also grabbed a ton of brochures about my major and the road it leads down as in career wise or even graduate school. I can see myself visiting the career center often actually, so I found this to be a productive activity!

Academic FUN.

Today was the mandatory academic fair, where different department situated themselves on the San Nic lawn and offered students some interesting information about the possibilities of each field. For me in particular, found the most pertaining information at the Environmental Studies table and the Anthropology table.
First, I encountered the Environmental Studies table. I felt eager to gain more knowledge about this course because lately I have been debating changing my major to Environmental Science. From what I gathered, there are several different course I can take at UCSB. And!!! UCSB is one of the leading schools in Environmental Studies. But the best piece of advice the Environmental representative suggested was taking a course offered by the school which is a one unit seminar on the introduction to Environmental Studies. The seminar would not only serve as an introduction, but would also assist in possible internships and guide through what it is like to be in field restoration projects.
For Anthropology, I learned that I could minor in Anthropology if I would like. I also learned UCSB offers two different Anthropology specialties the first, Physical/Biological Anthropology, which focuses more on the scientific aspect and second, Cultural Anthropology, which emphasizes the knowledge acquired about a certain culture.
To conclude my blog I will list the five helpful aspects I found at the Student Resource Building. What I discovered while exploring was the Women's Center, a small library within the Women's Center, EOP program which offers guidance, a coupon for Woodstock's pizza, and a peculiar magazine called Bitch. The most important thing I learned about SRB was if I need help with a problem or I need to report something that is the place to go.

The Beginning...

Well my name is Bianca, originally from Santa Cruz County, I am 18 years old and now taking the next big step in my life by attending the beautiful UCSB. I am excited to live on my own and to face what new challenges are headed my way.
A little bit about myself... well I'm currently a pre-major in Sociology and I hope to take classes in this field of study as well as classes that broaden my knowledge about life on earth and how as human we impact the environment in which we live on and how our relationships with other people influence one's mental state. I would like to one day work with at-risk youth and assist them to voice their opinion's on life matters. I aspire to live life in a big city and become a social worker to kids after college.
At the moment, I am taking 13 units which includes Philosophy 4; Intro to Ethics, Astronomy 1, Environmental Studies 2, and of course the Freshman Seminar. Out of all the classes on my schedule, I enjoy Astronomy 1 the most because the concepts involved are fairly difficult to wrap my mind around. Also, it helps me realize how infinitely large the universe is. Lately, I have been having difficulty immersing myself in Philosophy 4 not because the subject material is challenging rather because it is simple, so in class I tend to drift off... plus the students in class seem to repeat the professor's speech back to him which becomes tediously redundant. But before I get ahead of myself, I did write my first college paper for Philosophy 4, and I am fairly certain I did not do too well. Because everything I was taught i.e. never write with first person voice we were supposed to toss out the window. Old habits die hard I guess...
Dorm living has been an interesting experience with some good moments and bad. I do enjoy my seventh floor comrades, but sometimes their personalities can be a little too strong for me. Plus, the way people show that he/she likes you as friend anyways is by mocking or poking fun at each other which more times than not rubs me the wrong way since I usually assume it as a personal attack against my character. Also, I question the seventh floor's genuineness for instance do these people actually like each other and feel some sort of connection or is the seventh floor bond merely a matter of convenience which will come to a halt when falls rolls around and everyone meets new friends and joins their activities? Only time will tell!