Tara Donovan - Of Paper Plates and Straws

 

     Tara Donovan is a world-renowned artist that innovates with everyday materials to create extraordinary sculptures. Donovan broke onto the art scene in the early 2000’s. Her work deals with space and light, with industrial materials that appear organic when assembled together. She mostly creates site-specific installations that are either wall-based or free standing. While her works use found objects and mass-produced materials, they are never ready-mades. Also, Donovan’s pieces are never outsourced - she and her assistants undertake the development of every project. 

     Each project begins with a singular material. It could be a cup, or a button, or a straw. Donovan starts by experimenting with the material and seeing what physical elements she can exploit. She follows predetermined rules to make modules, or units of what the piece will eventually become. Because of this process, of modules becoming modules and growing into bigger things, her pieces mimic the process of growth and nature, in that order and structure can give way to the unpredictable. Her sculptures gain a life of their own in this process, as they move away from a singular element to an unified armada. The original material is disguised by the sheer amount of units and the method of construction. 

     Many of the materials Donovan chooses have neutral or transparent qualities. This allows her to bring out the inherent qualities and aspects of the materials. As a whole, her work lacks a specific narrative and Donovan does not have a personal attachment to the materials she uses. Instead, her work is more an exploration of what the material could become, from something ordinary into something extraordinary.

Note: This was an assignment for an Art History class studying Modern Sculpture at school.
 

Semester #8

This semester hasn't been as hectic as semester in the past, academically. It also has been very different in a lot of ways. Before I jump into what classes I am taking I want to give a quick update. Over winter break I applied for and received an on-campus position at my university. I am doing graphic design and marketing for one of the offices. That has been a great opportunity to get some experience under my belt and a position to put on my resume. My co-workers and supervisors have really made my work a great place. I am thankful to be working with them. In all of this, I still have a few hours a week at my previous retail job.

However, things are looking quite different now than they did at the beginning of the semester. Starting this week actually, all school has transitioned to being online to 'flatten the curve' of the COVID-19 global pandemic. These are strange times to be living in! This means that in addition to doing home schooling, I am also working from home. This has been an adjustment. However, the semester is almost over! Just gotta push through for the last little bit!

#1 - Drawing for Visual Communication
This class is technically a graphic design course, but it is more focused on the discipline for illustration. It has been fun to take on more 'light hearted' projects and stretch my drawing skills. Some of the projects we have tackled so far are various posters and illustrations. An example is included below.

#2 - Sequential Media

This is my other graphic design class for this semester. It is a more traditional graphic design course. In this class we have designed CD covers and gotten a bit into web design with art blogs.

#3 - Professional Practices

I took this class last semester and will take it for my next two semesters. It is a one-credit course that teaches us the ins and outs of our profession. This semester we have learned about paper and the printing process. Occasionally, we will have guest speakers come and talk to us. Aaron Draplin (a famous designer) was going to visit and give a talk this April, but that had to be canceled unfortunately due to the restrictions we are currently experiencing.

#4 - Art History: History of Graphic Design

I have taken several art history courses before, but this one is special as it covers the history of graphic design. We started learning about illuminated manuscripts and are now learning about the Art Nouveau movement.

#5 - Honors Research

Nothing against this class, I just have a hard time motivating myself to get excited about it. However, it is the last requirement I need to fulfill for my Honors track. We are working on group research projects. My group is studying how technology affects different generations differently. 

Semester #7

     In a lot of ways this semester has been tough. This can be evidenced by the fact that it is now halfway done and I am just now getting around to posting what classes I am taking. But, now that I am taking upper division graphic design classes, maybe that is to be expected.

1. Typography II
     Similar to Typography I, we continue to explore type, typefaces, and typographical layouts. An example of a project was to design a brochure on a period in design history. I had Art Deco.

2. Package Design
     Pretty much what ti sounds like. We design packages, mostly in the 'box' range (haven't gotten into bottles or pouches or anything crazy like that yet). A memorable project was making a paper banana (pictured below). This was supposedly our hardest project of the semester. Good thing we got it out of the way first! As a whole, I am enjoying this class.

3. Explorations of Graphic Design
     My other main graphic design class of the semester. This one is more general in application, as we are exploring various methods of design. So far we have worked on logos, icons, posters, and now advertisements.

4. Professional Practices
     This is less of a regular class and more of a weekly 'how to' seminar. We have learned about resumes, assembling our portfolios, and other bits and bobs necessary to become a graphic designer. I am also somewhat involved in the local graphic design guild.

5. Intro to Marketing
     Funnily enough, this is the only non-graphic design class I am taking this semester. Marketing is connected to graphic design and it has been interesting to learn about some of the other sides of the coin. I enjoy my teacher and the class, but am not looking forward to the two papers we will have to write this semester.

My Top 3 Artifacts

     An artifact is defined as something made by humans, usually for a practical purpose. Looking at artifacts is an excellent way to study another’s culture because each culture creates artifacts that are unique and special to that people group. Over the years my family has gathered many different artifacts from various cultures. For example, on our fridge we have 12 international magnets from 5 different countries. Many of the artifacts we have come from personal travels or as gifts from friends. Some of my favorite artifacts include a basket from Zimbabwe, ceramic ornaments from the Czech Republic, and a carved nativity set from Israel.

     The basket from Zimbabwe came into our family through my mother. She taught science in Zimbabwe for four years and was given the basket by a villager during her time there. She considers the basket a piece of art because it is very beautiful and intricately crafted. The bowl is made with coiled bundles of grass laced together with strips of plastic sacking. Basketry is a traditional art form that spans the entire continent of Africa. Attaining the status of ‘master weaver’ in a community requires the highest level of skill in fiber preparation, dyeing, and weaving. Most of the people who attain this status are women.

     The decorative ceramic ornaments were brought back as souvenirs from a trip my mother and I took to the Czech Republic. They are designed to look like buildings in the town square of Litoměřice, a town we visited. The ornaments are displayed on a shelf in our dining room where we can admire them and be reminded of our trip. Buildings in Europe are much older than those in America. The buildings the ornaments were inspired by are probably 400 years old. While in the country my mother and I enjoyed Czech architecture, especially the many colors. A lot of the buildings are painted in shades of pastel. At one point we visited a manor that was pink. Blocky utilitarian buildings that were built during the Communist era have now been enhanced with strips of yellow or peach.

     The third artifact is a hand carved nativity set made in Israel, with olive wood. Although it was made in Israel, my parents bought it at an international fair sales craft store in Newton, KS. We use it every Christmas and it is a central decoration. The olive tree is a symbol of Israel and has been a native plant since ancient times. Olive trees have a high endurance and fruitful capacity. It is considered a sign of peace between God and mankind. Also, many of the carvings made from olive wood use trimmings from when the tree is pruned. This keeps the trees healthy and means that no tree is damage or destroyed to make the carvings.

     These are just three of the many international artifacts my family owns. However, they are some of my favorites and portray a good variety among the three, coming from three different continents. Our artifacts remind us of our travels and of the connections we have to others around the world. They carry both cultural and sentimental significance, as well as help to decorate a diverse home.

     Note: This is an assignment done for my International Communications class at school.

My Food Culture

     I would like to think that my food culture is wide and a bit more varied than the average American. While my family eats meals that comprise of the meat and potatoes so often found in American comfort foods, we also derive inspiration from other differing sources. My food culture has been influenced by my ethnic origins, American culture, and international tastes.

     Growing up in the United States, my food background was fairly common in some ways, but in other ways it differed. My dad grilled steak and hamburgers and my mom packed us sandwiches for lunch and made casseroles. When I began to learn how to cook, a casserole was one of the first things I learned how to make. There isn’t anything much more American than casseroles. Other American or Americanized dishes that we commonly eat are hamburgers and fries, pizza, or meatloaf.

     Even though a lot of the food we eat in America has foreign influences, those influences have been watered down or altered so that once international dishes have become something traditional to America. An example of this is pizza. My family does similar things to food and recipes, like stir-fries, but there are some foods that have retained their originality. One of these dishes is kima, an Indian curry. The dish came into our family from a family friend who was Indian so the dish is fairly authentic. Another international food that has come to be a cultural symbol in our home is the Mediterranean salad, tabbouleh. It was inspired by a vegetarian restaurant in New York, where my aunt went to college. My mother tried it out on my brother and I, and we really liked it. Now, tabbouleh is a common offering from our family at family gatherings and potlucks. They wouldn’t be the same without tabbouleh.

      Another part of my unique food background hit a little closer to home. My mother's side of the family are German Mennonites. Through this group I have access to a culinary heritage unique to a specific people group. These dishes are different from average American fare, and have interesting names, like verenika (cottage cheese dumplings served with ham gravy) and borsht (cabbage soup). Dishes like bierocks (buns filled with meat and cabbage) and german sausage are common additions to our supper table and my grandmother brings zwiebach to almost every family meal. For Christmas my mother makes peppernuts (small anise cookies), but with her own twist. My Mennonite heritage has played a big part in diversifying my food culture.

     Although my food culture takes references from vastly different sources, they all combine to create one big beautiful and diverse experience. My childhood and my life now would not be the same without these foods. They have had a vast impact on my life. I am able to retain some of my ethnic roots through food, consider myself to be a true American, and am still able to appreciate foods made by other cultures.

Note: This is an assignment done for my International Communications class at school. Some of it was inspired by an assignment I did for my Language and Food class several semesters back, since they were answering the same questions.

Semester #6

     This semester I will be finishing up my junior year as well as applying to my program (fingers crossed that everything goes well). Also, if you are wondering, I have decided to put aside my ambitions of getting a Spanish minor. I guess you could say my last Spanish class quenched what desires I had left, but honestly, it was getting to the point where I wasn't enjoying it as much and was starting to struggle more. I decided it wasn't worth it and while I am glad for the learning and experiences I underwent previously, I am also glad to have that load taken off my back.

     This semester I am attempting to tackle the remainder of my general education credits. I'm pretty excited about my classes and I think this will be a fun semester (if I can survive getting through the program that is).

1. International and Intercultural Communication
     I'm not completely sure how to describe this class. It seems to be a seminar learning about how society is structured and how different cultures interact. Most of the time in class we watch related videos or have group discussions about our own personal cultural experiences. So far, it seems pretty manageable for a 300 level course.

2. Art History: Modern and Contemporary Sculpture
     Similar to my previous art history classes, this one is taking on the theme of sculpture, especially more recent works of art. The first artist we looked at was Rodin, who is most famous for his sculpture "The Thinker." This class also has the most lengthy readings of any other classes so far.

3. Intro to English Linguistics
     Some may remember that a year and a half ago, I took a linguistics course about food. Well, this class was inspired a bit from my experiences with that course. It is taught by the same professor and it is a common class for education majors, so I have gotten to see some old friends.

4. Book Design/Production
     Last semester I thought I had my class schedule all figured out. But then I found out about this class. I really love books and I didn't know when the class would be offered again, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump in. It took a little bit of finagling to get it to fit into my schedule but I am really glad it all worked out. We are learning how to make our own books by hand! It is also an upper-level course with a smaller class size, so that is a fun experience as well.

Graphic Texture

Semester #5

     I am now a junior in college! How crazy is that? I'm going to continue laying out my class schedule, if just for my own personal record of what I did when. So, enjoy!

1. Intermediate Spanish Grammar and Composition (Honors)
     This is the next step up in my journey up the Spanish language ladder. After completing the equivalent of Spanish 3 last semester, I am now on to bigger and better things. Essentially we will be going over what we learned in the past and focusing in on grammar and exposition. Our first writing assignment was a comparison essay of a Hispanic actor/actress/artist/famous person and one from our country of origin, specifically America. I chose Rita Moreno and Betty White. I was going to use Julie Andrews, but she is British and therefore off limits. This being an honors course, my compositions have to be a bit longer than my other fellow classmates.

2. Earth Science and Environment (Geology)
     I think it interesting that last semester I was taking astrology and learning about space, but this semester I am focusing closer to home. The class is technically called Earth Science, but I always refer to it as Geology (or Geometry if I get my words mixed up - it's okay, I know what I mean). Currently, we just finished up learning about  rocks and minerals and erosion and what not. This is an online class, so something have been a bit of a learning curve, but hopefully it will all come together in the end. Also, I've learned that Geology has a lot of potential for puns!

3. Graphic Design Concepts
     This is one of the Graphic Design courses I need to take before I can apply to the program. In it we discuss where ideas and concepts for designs come from. We also have an opportunity to practice coming up with some designs of our own. Right now we are learning about different design collectives, or groups of people with the same design ideology.

4. How to Use Photoshop and InDesign
     Like the class I took last semester for Illustrator, this online course is instructing me in the ways of using Adobe software. Photoshop is a program that works with pictures and pixels. InDesign works to create layouts and formats. I have used both programs in the past. For example, I have used InDesign to create the family newspaper-style for our Christmas cards.

Evidence of my photo-manipulation skills

5. Typography I

     This is another Graphic Design course that is required to apply for the major. In it we learn about different fonts and typefaces, as well as miscellaneous design aspects involving type.

     Five classes is a lot! I am really glad that not all of my classes extend to the end of the semester. My schedule is packed and I am already ready for a break. However, in a few weeks, my load will be lessened to just four classes!

Semester #4

    Usually I write about what classes I am taking at the beginning of the semester, but it didn't work out that way this time. Even though there are only a couple weeks left, I am going to take the time to tell you what I have been learning about these last few months.

Adobe Illustrator
     This was a short one-credit blip I took at the beginning of the semester to learn the Adobe Illustrator program. Illustrator is a digital drawing program that is used in a lot of design work. I had used it a lot in a graphic design course the previous semester, but I was still able to learn some new tricks.

Spanish 210
     This is the third Spanish course I have taken. I think I have progressed a lot since I started! In this course we are learning new grammar principles, as well as building on old ones.

Honors Astronomy
     This course knocks out two birds with one stone for me; it fulfills my honors requirement and also acts as one of my science/math general education courses. Being an honors class, our work is more discussion based and we write papers instead of taking tests. A lot of our discussion is based on recent events and advances in astronomy. At the moment I am working on a project about the recent Cassini mission to Saturn.
     
Art History
     This art history course is looking at different examples of power and propaganda across different cultures. So far we have gone through ancient Mesopotamia, Persia, China, Greece, and Rome.

Photography
     If I had to choose a favorite class this semester, Photography might be it! For the first half of the semester we were working in the darkroom, learning how to work with film and the developing process. That was a fun experience. Now, we are getting using what we learned about analog photography and applying it to the digital realm.

The Origin of Yogurt

     Yogurt, or substances similar to it have originated in cultures across the globe. Where there has been dairy, there also has been yogurt. However, the first area to discover the tangy dairy variation was probably in the Middle East. In his book "On Food and Cooking" Harold McGee states, "Yogurt and its relatives are native to a broad and climatically warm area of central and southeast Asia, and the Middle East" (1984: 45).  The word for yogurt comes from the Turkish language. McGee states, "...it is the Turkish word for milk that has been fermented into a tart semi solid mass; it comes from a root meaning 'thick'" (1984: 47).

     Why and how it originated remains a mystery. Many think it occurred by accident. Most likely a wild strain of bacteria was introduced to raw milk and the mixture fermented in a warm place, producing yogurt (Muskevich, 2015).  The discovery of yogurt was a welcome find. Milk is high in nutrients, but it contains a sugar known as lactose that is often difficult to digest (McGee, 1984: 44). Although they had been fed milk as babies, many adults had difficulty digesting milk as it was. The fermentation process of milk to yogurt turned the lactose into lactic acid, a substance that is more easily digested (Muskevich, 2015). This allowed societies to take advantage of the easily accessed proteins and nutrients provided by dairy products.

     In order to make yogurt, milk must be heated, then cooled to a temperature conducive to fermentation. At this point bacteria is added and the milk is left to sit and ferment. As the milk ferment is shifts from a liquid state to a gel and becomes yogurt.

     Yogurt as an ingredient quickly traveled to the countries surrounding Turkey, however it was not until the 20th century that became more widespread in the Western world. In the 1940's Dannon (originally a French company) introduced yogurt to the United States when it began manufacturing yogurt in the Bronx (Muskevich, 2015).

     Culinary-wise, yogurt in considered a probiotic food. It contains bacteria that helps to maintain a healthy gut. In America many people eat it with breakfast or as a snack. Yogurt is also incorporated as an ingredient in marinades, soups, smoothies, and baked goods.

     According to Worlds Top Exports, Germany is the highest exporter of yogurt (Workman, 2017). I found it interesting that France, where the company Dannon originated from, is now the highest consumer of yogurt in the world.

References:

McGee, Harold. (1948). On food and cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen. New York, NY: Scribner.

Muskevich, Adam. (2015). We didn't build this city on rock 'n' roll. It was yogurt. The Salt. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/07/16/422684872/we-didnt-build-this-city-on-rock-n-roll-it-was-yogurt on 10/04/17.

Workman, Daniel. (2017). Top yogurt exporters. World's Top Exports. Retrieved from http://www.worldstopexports.com/yogurt-exporters/ on 10/04/17.

 Note: This was an assignment for my Language of Food class.

The Majestic vs. McDonalds: The Gap in Menus

     For those who do not know, The Majestic Yosemite Hotel is Yosemite National Park's most prestigious lodging institution. It ranks as a AAA four-Diamond hotel and boasts an award-winning restaurant, as well as a beautiful view of the park. The dining experience at The Majestic is in stark contrast to the experience at a common chain restaurant such as McDonald's. The difference is found not only in the price and the setting, but it is inherent in the menus themselves.





     The Majestic's menu (for dinner) is simple. It is just one page and very little information is given. The McDonald's menu, however, is extensive and almost an information overload. A detailed picture accompanies each item, as well as an equally detailed description.



     The description uses sensory and participial adjectives like 'crisp,' 'ribbon-cut,' and 'smoked.' For the most part, the Majestic's menu just lists the main ingredients that go into the dishes and does very little in the way of description. The ingredients used at the Majestic are assumed to be high-quality while McDonald's tries to pull it's customers in with vague promises. Take, for example, the "Bacon Ranch Salad with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken" pictured above. It is described as 'full of fresh flavors,' but what does that mean exactly?

     Another difference between the two menus is the focus on choice. At McDonald's the focus is on the diner's choice. It is all about the customer. They can customize their meal anyway they choose. At the Majestic, customers pay for the chef to make the choice for them. Each meal is unique in it's own way and a work of art.

Note: This is an assignment from my Language and Food class at school.

Potato Chips and Chocolate

     In 2011 Joshua Freedman, an undergraduate student at Stanford University, did a study on the connections between potato chip packaging and the audience to which it was being marketed to - upper or lower class individuals. Freedman wrote that more expensive bags of chips had more text on the back advertising the product. They also advertised how the chips were 'healthy' for you (ie. no trans fat etc) and declared that only the best ingredients were used in their product. On the other hand, less expensive chips valued tradition and taste. They also had used simpler words than their more expensive counterparts.

     In the spirit of that study, I would like to present some findings of my own. Today I went to the supermarket to see if Freedman's findings applied to a different food product - chocolate.
There were four different brands that I looked at:

• Hershey's
• Ferrero Rocher
• Cadbury
• Lindt

     Among each of these brands were several different kinds of chocolates. I tried my best to stay true to a similar kind, but some variation was necessary. Also, for price comparison I used the price per ounce, instead of the unit pricing for the whole package.

Unsurprisingly, the least expensive brand was Hershey's, at 33.3 cents per ounce, which had no words at all on the back of the packaging. So far Freedman's theory was staying true.



     The next expensive chocolates were the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Carmello (50 cents per ounce).



     The packaging gives history for the company and uses words like 'tradition,' 'passion,' and 'exquisite.' An empasis is place on tradition, as the Cadbury name has been around since 1824. The sentences are also fairly short and simple.

     Next were the Lindt Lindor Truffles (86.1 cents per ounce).



     The packaging declares that these truffles have been made by master Swiss chocolatiers since 1845. So obviously we are dealing with professionals. They also use words like 'smooth,' 'melting,' 'luscious,' and 'delicate.'

     Finally, the most expensive brand was Ferrero Rocher, at 94.2 cents per ounce.



     Ferrero Rocher did not have as much copy on the packaging as the Lindor Truffles, however lots of high quality words like, 'luscious,' and 'delicate' were used. Also, the whole of the copy is comprised of one complex sentence.

     All in all, the body of evidence matches up with Freedman's findings in 2011, even if some allowances are made for the difference in product.

Note: This is an assignment done for my Food and Language class at school.

My Food and Language Background

     Last semester I forgot to enroll. Sort of. Thankfully, I did manage to remember to enroll before it was too late. As I was scrolling through the options of classes I could take one in particular caught my eye. It was called The Language of Food. I had always wanted to take a Linguistics course, and this one fit my schedule, so I decided to take it.

     I am a native speaker to English, but I am currently taking courses to learn Spanish. Growing up in the United States, my food background was fairly communion most ways. My dad grilled steak and hamburgers and my mom packed us sandwiches for lunch and made casseroles. Then again, I got to experience things a lot of kids didn't. Things like home-made bread. Tabouli. And other dishes with an international flair.

     Another part of my unique food background hit a little closer to home. My mother's side of the family are German Mennonites. Through this group I have access to a culinary heritage unique to a specific people group. These dishes are different from average American fare, and have interesting names, like verenika, borsht, moos, and zwiebach to name a few.

     Food is a big part of my life. And to be honest, so is language. I am looking forward to learning about both this semester!

Note: This is an assignment done for my Language and Food class at school.

Semester #3

     The first week of school is now done! One down, so many more to go!

     For those of you who are curious, here is the breakdown of my schedule this semester:

1. Spanish 112
     Obviously, this class is a step above what I took last semester (Spanish 111). Currently we are reviewing material from the last semester, but soon we will jump into the curriculum from where we left off. Today we went over indirect object pronouns.

2. Intro to Graphic Design
     Since my major is Graphic Design I'm pretty excited to start this class! Our professor has promised to deeply ingrain all of the basics of design into our noggins.

3. 3-D Design
     This is a prerequisite for anyone in the art program. It's basically a multi-media sculpture class. Right now I am working on a wire frog, but more on that later....

4. The Language of Food
      This is a linguistics/english course that will fulfill one of my general ed requirements. The title sounds strange, but that's pretty much what the class is about - we will be learning about how what we say about our food says about us. Apparently, this is an auspicious occasion, as this class has only been offered few times before - through out the whole of North America! Also, keep on the look-out - some of my assignments from this class may eventually show up on the blog!

Spring Choir Concert

     Okay, technically this wasn't JUST at choir concert. If we are being official it was an A Cappella Choir and Women's Glee Club Concert with a guest performance by a high school Madrigal group. Also, this was a concert that I dragged my Dad along to (because who likes to go to social events alone?).

Isn't he great? :)

     So, as I was saying, this past Monday I went to a "choir concert" with my dad. It was an experience we both enjoyed. Out of the three groups performing, my favorite was the A Cappella Choir (ironically they had an accompaniment for one of their numbers). They had a great sound that resounded through out the auditorium. They also sang a wide variety of songs, from a pep-rally cheer for rutabagas (don't ask me, I don't know either) to a re-imagined African-American spiritual. 

     Also, one of my favorite pieces performed that night was a rendition of Ubi Caritas by the high school Madrigal group. 

     As a whole, the night was enjoyable. It was fun to get out of the house and hear some MUSIC!

Semester #2

      Along with it being a new year I am entering into a new semester of college. Life has been pretty quiet, so there hasn't been a whole lot to post about, but I figured I could at least list the classes I will be taking this semester and tell you all a bit about what I am learning.

Drawing 1
     This is a class designed to teach us to draw what we see, not what we want to see. The goal is for our drawings to be as realistic as possible. In order to do this we take advantage of two different drawing techniques to help our hands accurately respond to what our eyes are seeing.
1. Gesture drawing
- Quick sketch used to capture movement or the basic proportions of an object.
2. Contour drawing
- Sketching the outline and basic details of an object without adding value or shading.
- Blind contour is a technique where you draw and object while solely looking at it and not your paper. And yes, it is as hard as it seems.

Art History
     The focus for this Art History class is bodies (I will have to take another class with a different focus to meet my requirement). Right now we just finished studying ancient Egyptian art and are moving on to Greece.

English 102
     I took English 101 last semester. It was more focused on grammar and just getting us to write. English 102 is concerned with teaching us how to write academically. As a class we have discussed topics such as critical thinking and what a good thesis statement looks like. The class will culminate in a research paper at the end of the semester.

Spanish 111
     I took a 'Spanish' course in high school (Rosetta Stone) but was unable to test out of Spanish 111. I am enjoying the class so far and think it will be beneficial for me to start over a the basic level and pick up on some concepts that I missed. So far we have learned about greetings, the alphabet, pronunciation, various nouns, the verb 'to be', and some common -ar verbs.

Where I'm From

(Note of Explanation: This is a poem that I wrote for school. I am fairly proud of it, so I thought I would share it with you. It wasn't too hard to write because we used a template. Then again, that was what made it difficult as well. I hope you enjoy!)

I am from notebooks,
From tennis shoes and Microsoft.
I am from the stair rail banister
(brown, sturdy,
worn smooth from many hands)
I am from the rose bush,
The spruce tree,
Which tries to encompass the porch.

I am from signing grace and brown hair,
From Mary Beth and Ken.
I'm from the hard workers
And the domestic artists.
From Walk straight! and Sit down!
I'm from Amazing grace how sweet the sound of dusty piano keys.

I'm from Wichita and 213 Pine St.
Zwiebach and spaghetti.
From the cancer that took my grandmother's life, the hearing my brother lost when he was three.
My background is building the stage on which I live my life. From dust I came from and to dust I shall return, but during this spark in between I will live for the glory of my Creator.

First Day of School

     Never having gone to college before I have nothing to compare the experience of my first day with. So my tale is totally one-sided.

     I did not have to leave the house until after I had eaten lunch, a big change from high school, or any school for that matter. All of my classes let out early because today was an introductory day where we only read the syllabus and introduced the class material.

     Unfortunately, instead of homework, I now have an extensive list of school supplies to purchase. Walmart is currently my best friend! (As well as all the people who helped me figure out what a T-square is. Thanks a bunch!)

Back to School

     The title of this post is 'Back to School,' but I still have a few more days before it happens to me. However, many of my friends and family have returned to their studies and have started a new school year. Being in college, school consumes a huge part of my life. It is the place where I have spent the most time over the course of my life.

     Think about it; aside from a few awkward years of learning to breathe, walk, and talk, and multiple summer vacations, winter breaks, and several sick days, I have spent every day in school. So, it makes sense that school would take up a lot of my thoughts, time and energy. It is also a major stress agent in my life.

     This year the biggest thing I am stressing over is whether or not I will be able to balance work and school. Originally I had not planned on work during the school year, but my job just kind of.... happened. So now, I'm stuck with balancing 20 hours of work and 15 credit hours of school per week. Yikes! It doesn't make sense to sacrifice my grades for more hours at a minimum-wage paying job, so if I feel the need to, I will ask for my hours to be reduced. I will do it if I have to, but getting to that point isn't going to be fun.

     So I hope it all turns out all right. I apologize for my rant, but there is something therapeutic about writing your anxieties down and then throwing them into the abyss that is the Internet. All that aside, I hope to post after my first day of school (which is this next Monday) to let you know how things went.

My Last Semester Resolution

     As graduation gets nearer I have been looking back on the last four years of my high school experience. I have a great class. I truly do. Second day of school my freshman year I sat in my Physical Science class (2nd hour) and told myself, “This is a great class.” And they are! But they are human and have their faults. So do I.

     Just the other day I realized how little I know most of my classmates (I found out the other day that one of my friends had been an extra in a movie when she was younger). I mean, I am really close with a handful of them, but there are some that I have not held a single conversation with. I have gone to school with these people for four years and there are only 33 people in my class. I don’t have an excuse for this.

     It also struck me how little some of my classmates know each other. Keep in mind that my school is a K - 12 establishment, so some of my fellow students have been seeing each other on a daily basis for almost all of their lives. It seems like they are more content to stay where they feel comfortable, in their clique of close acquaintances, than to get to know someone they don’t have as much in common with. In their attempts to be social they isolate themselves from people’s lives that they could make a difference in. Don’t get the wrong picture here: they all get along and I am proud to be in the same class with them.

     Also, there is something you should know about me. When I critique something, often my comments are an equal reflection of myself. I am not perfect. I have failed to get to know my classmates. I have failed to cultivate friendships with all of them and minister to them. I wish we had another year together so I could have a second chance. As it is, we only have half a semester left as a class, but I plan to make the most of it.