Every other week I religiously check Lauren Conrad’s blog. I found out she had a blog over a year ago when she was on The Hills, a reality show on MTV. I love everything about Lauren, the way she acts, the way she dresses and especially her creative ideas. She updates her blog about once a week with new fashion ideas, comments about what she did on her weekends and fun and creative arts and crafts. She even sometimes posts sneak peaks of her new clothes line and photo shoots for magazines and commercials. Her blog styles are always very colorful and artistic. She uses visual images and videos to describe what she is talking about, which grabs her reader’s attention and makes us feel much more involved. If you are huge Hills nerd, then click here to see what Lauren is up to!

            I am the kind of person who is always looking for inspirational quotes to help me get through my day. A few weeks back when I was trying to look for quotes on google I came across this site. I never really considered it a blog till I actually became a blogger. This site if filled with inspirational essays, quotes and even positive feed back on how to accomplish goals. I have shared this site with my family and close friends because I love the amount of information it attains.

            These two blogs are very different from each other. Lauren’s blog is more of a personal blog and her style of writing is much more colorful and entertaining to the human eye. But if you go to the inspiration blog page, you will notice that it is not a personal blog. The writing style varies from quote to quote, and the objective of the site is to give positive feed back, not entertain the viewers with color and photos.

What's your procrastination style?!

Yes, procrastination is something that as a college student, I fall guilty of. But why is that? There are three types of procrastinators; decisional, avoider and arousal. Decisional procrastinators tend to procrastinate due to the fact that they just don’t know how to make up their mind. Avoider procrastinators tend to be scared of either failure or success so they find it much easier to just avoid the situation as late as possible. Lastly is the arousal procrastinators; these are the people that specifically wait to do things in the last minute because they get hooked on the energy and thrill they get when trying to accomplish something last minute.

Now the question is, how do you change that? If you are a procrastinator and so is your best friend, chances are…you will never improve unless you force yourself to. Psychologist say to surround yourself with people who don’t procrastinate. They will motivate you to be more like them and subconsciously you will become less of a procrastinator.

From reading the motivation article I was able to learn the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is more short term motivation such as doing this blog before Saturday so I can get a short reward of getting a better grade in the INQ course. This type of motivation doesn’t last too long and it isn’t a very life changing kind of motivation. But intrinsic motivation is long term motivation that comes from within. For example, I have a motivation within myself to do well in school overall because I have a goal of one day being a successful nurse. Intrinsic motivation cannot be pushed upon you; this is a goal and motivation that only you have created. People tend to be more motivated with intrinsic motivation, than with extrinsic motivation where they are told to do something.

Being a college student I feel as if I have both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. And when I am procrastinating I first think about my short term goal to get an assignment done, then followed by my long term goal of wanting to be a nurse, therefore pushing myself to be overall more motivated and less of a procrastinator.

Here is a fun site that I found on how to discover your procrastination style. I found it to be actually pretty fun. Once you know what kind of procrastinator you are, it gives you information on how to improve. Find out what kind of procrastination style you have and post it here!

Outcasts United

                Although reading “Outcasts United” over the summer was not my idea of fun, I have to say that I’ve grown to like it. Being a college freshman I can finally relate to all of the boys coming into a new world and having to adjust. That is exactly what every other freshman has been doing these past three weeks.

                After being assigned this blog, the first thing I thought of relating the “Outcasts United” book to was Professor Jennifer. She reminds me of Luma Mufleh or her coach Brown. Luma’s coach planned to accomplish a lot with her team and she wasted no time trying to get them to be successful. She would work her team so hard that at times they wondered if it was really worth it. As stated by Warren St. John, “Though she disliked Coach Brown, she wanted desperately to play well for her.” Luma stuck through all of the insane amounts of running and conditioning because she liked to push herself and wanted to impress her coach.

                This reminds me of Professor Jenifer because when I first walked into inquiry I figured it would be an easy A. After just a few minutes with Professor Jenifer in the room, I realized that I was horribly mistaken. Inquiry is the classroom that I focus on the most due to the fact that we always have something else due and we are not in high school so we aren’t reminded daily to do it. Though I don’t like the amount of responsibility that Professor Jenifer gives us, both Coach Brown and Professor Jenifer assign us these tasks because they know it will benefit us in the near future. After being in inquiry for only three weeks, I realized that her style of teaching is already helping me manage my time better and be more organized. 

Decisions Decisions...Help!

            I came into SCSU with my mind set on becoming a BSN; Bachelor of Science in Nursing. But after quite a few psychology classes, I realized that I have a great interest in it. I find it to be my favorite class this semester and it easily catches my attention. Lately I’ve been thinking about whether or not I made the right decision about basing all of my classes around nursing. I figured it would be a great idea to revolve my entire schedule on trying to complete the required classes in order to take the NCLEX-RN Exam in two years.

            I chose nursing because I find a joy in helping people and it would make me feel wonderful to know that I was a big part in saving someone’s life. Also, being a nurse gives you an opportunity to work in pretty much any department in a hospital, pediatrics’ office or even a nursing home. Having so many opportunities to work assures you that if you ever get bored with one department, you can move on to the next one. Although I still have my heart set on nursing, I keep questioning my decision.

            Lately psychology has caught my attention. Psychology majors can work in the human services field. This gives you the opportunity to work with people one-on-one whiling trying to help them cope with stress or teaching them certain life skills.

            I want to include more psychology into my schedule but I’m afraid it is going interfere with trying to quickly take all of my required nursing classes. Does anyone have advice? Help!

My Vision Board

Take it easy :)

The biggest challenge that I have had to deal with since moving to SCSU was having roommates. I am lucky enough to have my best friend as one of my roommates, but that didn’t make adjusting to having to share a room with people, any easier. I don’t want to sound spoiled but I have been very fortunate to always have my own room. I have always seen my room as my peaceful zone. I have my radio, TV and computer in there, so when I feel a little overwhelmed I like to come home and shut my bedroom door and have some time to myself in my peaceful zone.

Although my roommates are relatively quiet and respectful, my dorm room cannot be compared to my peaceful zone. I am also a very controlling person and I like things my way, and my way only. Therefore, two weeks ago I would easily get bothered by the TV being too loud, the girls talking while I was studying, how messy their side of the room would get, or random people coming into my room and sitting on my bed since I have the bottom bunk.

The reason why it was so hard for me to adjust was because everyone loves routine and when their routine gets mixed up, it makes a person feel a sense of discomfort. But after carefully communicating with the girls and getting to know each other, we have found a good medium of how to make everyone in the room happy. Tomorrow being two full weeks since living in SCSU, I can safely say that I am finally getting the hang of things. I do not get as bothered by the small things and I am trying to stop being so controlling and going with the flow.

Are You a Deep Thinker?

                 To be quite honest, reading online articles is something that I find extremely hard to do, due to the fact that I have a short attention span. Unless I find something to be extremely interesting, it is extremely difficult for me to try to analyze the articles and ask myself questions about it. Of the three articles that I was assigned I did find an interest in one of them, “How to Become a Deep Thinking at College”.

            Right away that article caught my attention. I attempted to read the previous article that I was assigned but found it impossible to be a deep thinker because the article bore me. Needing some immediate advice, I quickly began to read the next article. As I began reading I realized that this article sounded a lot like Professor Jennifer.

            Jennifer has explained to my class that college students are on their own and anyone can go through college as long as they learn to manage their time correctly. She also says that college students are expected to be thinkers, something that the article cannot stress enough about. Every college professor has a syllabus, and it is our job to manage our time correctly to be able to do those days of homework. Professors also assign work to be done online, since your professor is not there to answer questions, you have to use your college thinking skills and try to ask questions and analyze the homework to the best of your ability.  College thinkers also ask a lot of questions, if there is something you do not understand or something that bores you, you can write down questions about parts of the homework, or article that confuse you and ask them the next day.

This article was interesting to me because it reminded me that all of the advice that my professors have given me is very useful and close to the advice that this article gives me. I guess I never really paid any attention to them because just figured they were over reacting and trying to scare the freshman, but after only one week as a college student I can easily agree that all of my professors including, were right. 

College

       To me college is a place filled with opportunities to succeed. You can accomplish anything you want if you try. Academically, being a college student is a job, it is our job to manage our time correctly and hand in things on time. Socially I want to meet, good and memorable people. I want to be able to feel proud of myself when receiving my diploma and prove to myself that I can do it..

       So far I am having a great college experience, being away from home for the first time is hard to deal with. I miss my family already but I try to push it aside when I go to class so I can have my full attention to my professor. I feel very fortunate to be considered part of SCSU.

       I plan on joining a few clubs and getting involved with the school. I feel that the more involved I am, the more fun I will have living on campus. Joining clubs is also a great was of making new friends and bonding with new people. I am also very interested in the Omega Zeta Pi sorority. After talking to Kristen, the head of Omega Zeta Pi, I became very interested. She explained how her sorority does various community services and they host many fun and active events.

       The goal that I have for myself is to be a well educated and well rounded person. To learn how to manage my time wisely and make good choices for myself.

Here are some sororities and clubs, read and get involved!

Who is Alyne Rodrigues?

       Seeing as how everyone loves to talk about themselves, I figured writing this blog would come easy to me. But thirty five minutes later, I have gotten as far as creating a dull title. After great procrastination and facebook stalking, I decided to buckle down and take the challenge of trying to think of five words, things or concepts that define who I am. 

       The first thing that popped into my head was the word independent. When I was seven years old my mother, brother and I moved to the United States from Brazil, automatically forcing me to put myself out there and learn the English language. Since my mother learned to speak English slower than I did, it taught me to learn to do things on my own, such as homework and school projects. Every since my twin brother and I were nine years old, my mother has always worked nights. Meaning that we had to fend for ourselves and mature much faster than most children our age. Having to learn independence from a young age made me the very goal oriented, persistent person that I am today.

       Coming from a poverty struck place in Brazil to being a successful eighteen year old at SCSU, has made me a very confident person. If I were to live in Brazil, I would not have the opportunity to go to college, or even graduate high school. Because I now live in a country filled with freedom and opportunity to succeed, I have full confidence in myself that I will one day be both successful and happy. 

       I  think that coming from a different country has also made me a very realistic and unique person. I can see that things are not just handed to you. Seeing my mother struggle in this country to provide my brother and I with food, shelter and a good education has made me appreciate the small things. I am realistic that trying to live the American dream is not as easy as it seems, and that if you want to succeed you have to go through hell and back. The bigger the success, the harder it will be to get there. Leading me to be realistic that I will struggle in SCSU with the challenges that awaits me, and if you want to succeed you have to work hard.

       Inescapable, I am a very family oriented person. The only family that I have in the United States is my mother, twin brother and a five year old brother who I have helped raise since I was fourteen. Since we only have each other, we have an indescribable bond. My mother being a single mom and only thirty seven years old, has become my biggest support system and bestfriend. When I was fifteen I began watching my little brother while my mother was at work. I loved being able to help raise my little brother and watching him grow into a toddle, and last week when he got on the bus for the first time for his first day of kindergarten, it brought tears to my eyes. My twin brother is my other half. We have been through everything together and I feel as if he is the only person who truly understands me.

     Although I feel as if describing oneself in just five different ways is a conflict on its own due to the fact that there is so much more about me to get to know, I feel as if I have chosen the five most important words that defines who I am as a person and what is  important to me.