Weekend with the Girlfriend and her Family

Had an outstanding overall weekend this week. First, beginning with the great meet, and following up with a great time with my girlfriend and her family in cedar falls. I started my morning with an enjoyable run with some teammates, and then after that headed out for UNI to watch the game with Rachael and her parents. It was really nice to see them and catch up on things. One of Rachael's friends and her boyfriend also attended with us and he was able to get us 2nd row seats on the fifty yard line! Sweetest seats in the house, and it was even better when the running back for UNI, who we knew from our hometown, tore up the field and played a major factor in blowing Western Illinois out of the water 38-10. After the game, we then went out to a brick oven style pizza place and had what I'd call the best pizza of my life! It was a great night and I can't wait to enjoy my weekends like that again sometime. It was a great way to get away from the stress and pressures of class.

St. Mary's Cross Country Meet

Had a great meet this weekend in Minnesota! We ran at St. Mary's University and it was by far my favorite course to compete on this season. It was located in a very mountainous area with a lot of trees and trails. It was very scenic and diverse with a lot of up and downs that just made it a very enjoyable race. Another reason it was so much fun was that I felt the best I've ever been at a race this season, got a personal best with my time; beating my old time by thirty seconds! I'm very excited for next meet and can't wait to improve!

Coming Home

Whoo! Finally the weekend and I can't wait to see my family. This week has really proven to me what a multi-active college life is like. I had at max, this whole week, six hours of sleep. The homework took on a whole new level as did practice, and I was introduced to my on campus job. I was very exhausted after this week but felt a great accomplishment once I completed it. Now I'm finally home for the weekend and enjoying my time with my parents and younger brother and sister. It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders now that I'm home, and I love being able to relax and just horse around. I like how I get to do my priorities at my own pace again instead of the structured schedule. I was able to run and complete my homework while enjoying a great night with my brother and sister and my lovely girlfriend Rachael, who attends UNI as a freshman. I'm so glad I got her because we are always there for each other when the going gets tough and we team up to get things done. But one more day and then back to the office again haha.

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park has always been one of the classics on my list of movies to enjoy. Everytime I watch it; it still catches my interest. Even in cross this year on runs we'll hum the famous tune from the film when we get bored. It's just a very entertaining and also interesting movie to get into. This year in IS class, I have been introduced to watching that movie through a more scientific standpoint and it actually makes it a little more interesting. I am a biology major, so I love the science in the film and how they structured the genes in correct sequences to create life in what's been extinct for millions of years. On the otherhand though, I just finished reading the pages in Past Imperfect and they seem to have different views on Jurassic Park and how it was developed. They discussed three main problems with the film: how individuals misinterpret information, insufficient recognition of nature's complexity, and stereotypes of science and history. First, they stated that individuals are perceiving the wrong definitions of words and meanings from defintions created in the past. For example, Velociraptor, coming from the root "raptor", means "bird of prey". (Allen Grant pg. 31) But the correct defintion of raptor comes from the latin root, "rapere", which means to take by force. The next problem that arose was the insufficient recognition of nature's complexity. Scientists identify the line of impossibility here because it's not a restriction of imagination, but rather true and impossible to create on planet earth because all available records have vanished. Lastly, the third problem they conceived from this film were the stereotypes of science and history. A quote from page 33 states perfectly the definition of this idea. "Man must not go wher God did not intend." In the movie Dr. Malcom states that the dinosaurs had their shot and natural selection chose extinction. With this being true reviving the dinosaurs throws the course of nature completely out of proportion and messes with the balance of life. I enjoyed looking at this movie from this viewpoint because it let me explore my background in science and how movies can sometimes challenge the laws of life on this earth.

Source Cited:
Carnes, Mark C. Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies. New York: H. Holt, 1995

OH MY GOSH!

The first week of school is over and I'm already overwhelmed with homework, a job, and running. I knew that my major was going to be a stressor on my life and be tough to manage, but didn't know that the stress never takes breaks. We came back from our meet yesterday in Grinnell, where we placed fourth as a team, and came back and got a huge chunk of my homework done. I was very pumped that I got all that accomplished and thought I was going to have time to enjoy myself. Little did I know that when I checked my email this morning that my biology teacher added more homework over the weekend! Just like other freshman this has been a huge change for me that is kind of smacking me in the face from the start.  I don't know If I should keep the job or what but I just really need to find some techniques to make this year work as efficiently as possible. I know that college is supposed to challenge you and expand you as a learner, and I'm very excited for those challenges because I have huge goals. I just want to make sure I'm putting myself on the right path to achieve them and still enjoy my experience here at Wartburg.