free write #2

These blog assignments are really good for me. It is a great way for me to express my feelings on what is going on in our class discussions. These blogs are also a great way  for us as students to see what other people are thinking and if you and someone else are thinking the same way. I have enjoyed reading other peoples bogs. Reading them sometimes will show me that I am not the only one thinking in a specific way. Sometimes when I am thinking in one way, I feel like I am all alone on that. Then I read someones blog who is thinking the same as me or has something in common with me. Then I know I am not alone. I also like to see peoples comments on my blogs. I like to know what they think of my posts and if they have anything in common with me. When I wrote about being in FFA and raising lambs, I was shocked to see how many of the people in our class did not know what FFA was. I also liked to see that other people raised animals and showed too because the livestock world is not that big, and thats where I have made some life long friends. Most of the time the people who comment on my blogs do agree with me or have that particular thing in common with me, and I really enjoy that a lot.  

I really enjoyed the last free write because I wrote about my lambs. My lambs were such a big part of my life and they are easy for me to talk about. I think it is easy for us to talk about things which we enjoy and are interested in. I would suggest that we have more free writes. I would even suggest topics of writing about what we enjoy the most or our interests in life. I know I personally would enjoy reading those blogs because I like to see people talking about something they are passionate about. I would like to see if any of us share the same interests in life. Maybe it could even spark new life long friendships. We are beginning a new stage in life and need to make new friends and one way to begin that is by finding out if we share anything in common. 

Mike's Interview

The first thing that stood out to me was the student debt issue. I really don't understand why college is so expensive to the point where students or parents are working while in school to pay off their classes. Why? This is my question.

Next he talks about community college. I came to community college to save my moms money while I get my prerequisite out of the way before I transfer to a university. It honestly saves you a lot of money, especially because students change their mind a few times on their major path plan. 

I think his analogy with the toilet was interesting because it is how he started his “dirty jobs” but also showed him the importance in his life. He said that he's not like his grandfather, who told him he needs to work in the way he wants. He is told to follow his passion, which he said was terrible advice because he's met people who were told the same thing but they didn't follow their passion and still love their job and are happy and successful. You have to identify the thing that most people wouldn't want to do, and figure out how to do it and like it. 

Compliance is a problem that Mike sees with a lot of people he's worked with. A lot of organizations aren't there to make your life easier, but more compliant. He said that safety was a big deal and then they started getting hurt. There were falling asleep in their safety meetings instead of being compliant to them. I feel like this is me sometimes in life. I am not being compliant and ignoring the importances in life. 

Next they begin the talk about the crisis in men and women numbers in the work force. The numbers in working women are going up as the number in working men are going down. Mike brings up the impact of technology being a reason for numbers in men dropping which is a good point. Women aren't really taking mens jobs, technology is just becoming more prominent in our world today which are taking up a huge chunk of job opportunities. 

At the end he talks about how he went to college and got a degree and all, but his real education came from reality tv. This to me means that you can learn a lot in life just in your everyday activities, not only college or jobs. 

Electronic devices

My phone is literally my life. I am always on it and never put it down, no matter what. I use my phone to communicate with others, look up things online, or even map my way around unfamiliar places. This sounds really bad, but one time I had failed a test in high school so my mom took my phone away from me for a whole 24 hours. At school that day without my phone, I began to break out in hives, no joke. I obviously have a small obsession with my phone. My phone my way of communication with the outside world. What if I had been in a really bad accident on my way home from school and had no way to call someone like 911. Yes, there might of been other people around, but you never know. We rely totally on our electronics for assistance in our everyday lives. Everyday I use my phone for texting, twitter, instagram, Facebook, snapchat, and FaceTime. I use FaceTime to communicate with my family back home. It is a great way to see and talk to people live! If I didn't have FaceTime I am not sure how I would be able to see my 6 year old brother coming home from his first day of kindergarten, which I am missing out on. Social media is another way of how people connect with everyone around them. I know I use Facebook to keep in touch with family who I either don't see often or live in different states. Snapchat is a way of communicating through pictures, and remember not to lose any streaks! Twitter is just like a Facebook but more oriented towards teens and young adults. We use it as a way of posting stupid things which mostly are our feelings, stalking others,or fighting with the people you don't like, we all do it. Instagram is where people post pictures hoping to get a lot of likes to make them feel good about themselves. I know I'm guilty of all these things on twitter and instagram, most of us are in fact. Electronic devices are what our world is turning into. You need a phone or tablet or computer for almost anything you do in life to be successful in your daily tasks. I know it would be hard for me to go a day without using any electronic devises considering more than half of my homework uses them. 

My lambs

It wasn't until the end of my junior year when I really got into FFA. FFA stands for Future Farmers of America and is an organization where you raise animals as “projects” over the course of months and then show them to a judge who judges them based on appearance and quality. 

April of 2015 was when I went to pick up my first lamb, Chia, to show at the county fair at the end of the year. He got his name from my mom because she called herself a chia pet while her hair was growing back after chemo. Chia and I worked well together. Over the summer we went to a few small jackpot shows where we got 3rd and 4th in our classes. In November of 2015   we showed at our last and final show, the Fort Bend County Fair show. All our hard work and preparation lead up to this moment. We ended up placing 4th in the class and 21st overall. I wasn't too happy with Chia because he decided to sleep while in the show ring. He fell to his knees a few times, but luckily the judge wasn't looking. 

October 2015 I picked up my majors sheep for Houston and Austin, and also got my school lamb. My Houston lamb was a tiny and stubborn little one. His name was Yoda and he got that name because I got him as a baby and he was so small but his ears were huge and such straight out of his head. He was the devil lamb I swear. It took me forever to train him how to walk and id even use a hot shot on his butt and that still wouldn't phase him. Yoda and I only went to one jackpot show together which was a struggle, but we still got second in our class. At the Houston Livestock show Yoda actually showed his little butt off for me, but the judge wasn't feeling him so we hit the gate and onto the slaughter trailer he went. I gladly put him in there 

without any tears!!        

Next comes Delilah, my lamb for school. She was the only female lamb that I ever raised. Our school sheep all sucked because they are the left overs who aren't good enough to go to majors so the breeder is getting rid of them. She was a well put together lamb, but wouldn't eat anything I put in front of her. She would just stare at it and look at me like I was crazy. At show did really well! We placed first in the light weight class and got 3rd overall! I was very proud of her considering that I was force feeding her Pediasure and hay at show.  

Lastly, I had my Austin lamb Taco. Now this is the lamb that I got attached to and didn't want to let go of. Taco was like my best friend and he was there for me at my lowest times in life. As funny or weird as this may sound, he was always there for me and knew when I was upset and needed to be picked back up. Taco and I only went to one jackpot show together but it was a huge success. We got first in the class and Reserve Grand Champion and picked up our first belt buckle. When we went to the Austin Rodeo to show, the judge wasn't feeling Taco like I was and sent us to the trailer. Giving up Taco and putting him on the slaughter trailer was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. Giving up your best friend to be eaten isn't easy.