Friday, April 23, 2010

4-23-10

During the readings this week in class I had a flashback to my earlier childhood. When I was little we would take a long road trip every so often. My favorite trip is the year I first went out west. We spent a total of a month traveling the west and ending the trip at my grandmother’s house in Las Vegas. My parents and my two older sisters packed in my family’s vehicle and pulled a small pop-up camper throughout the West. We visited many historic sites and national parks. That trip I got the chance to visit Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mt. Rushmore, and others. I will never forget that first time we visited Yellowstone national park. I loved it from the very moment I laid eyes on the national park. The animals that would roam such as buffalo and dear caught my eye as a little kid. I thought it was astonishing you could drive around the corner and se snow on the mountain during the summer months. I also got the opportunity to ride a donkey into the Grand Canyon which I still remember years later. That summer was the first long trip I had ever had. I was only six years old but I can remember some parts of that trip like it was yesterday. I have since been back out West many times but that first trip as a child holds a special spot in my heart. When reading this week it really hit home with me. As Americans summer vacation has almost become a tradition. As the book states, since World War II summer vacation really started to take tradition in American lives. If I ever get married I will certainly gives the great memories of a summer vacation that my parents gave me.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

4-17-10

This week’s writing assignment was unique compared to any other I have had in college. It made me think about how a change in scenery or a place could make you bring about different thoughts. When you really view the scenery and take in nature it can quite inspiring. It also made me think how much I enjoyed nature. For a couple of year I have not enjoyed nature like the previous year before. I used to go hiking quite often and fish the rivers of western North Carolina and North Georgia. It seems I have gotten too busy to do anything in nature like before. Nature can be very relaxing and used to help me with stresses of everyday life. When my father and I would taking hiking trip for days it would be some of the best times of my life. I took in nature and enjoyed the surroundings. When you are in nature the world is an after thought. I remember the state of mind I held on those hiking trips was much superior than the state of mind I continue to have every day.
It makes me wonder if I need to take off time and go immerse myself in nature. I think everyone at times should do this because I believe it would help each individual. It might not have the same effect that it has on me but it will have an effect. Like me many people are just too busy but we should all make time.

Monday, April 12, 2010

4-12

This week my journal summary was on the NCAA basketball tournament. I was very happy to see this article in the database. The article showed how significant the American public believed the NCAA tournament has become. When writing this journal summary I was thinking about this years NCAA tournament. A Cinderella in Butler who was thought to have no chance at the beginning of the tournament made it the championship game. It just shows how every team had a chance if they make it to the tournament. In other collegiate sports the big named universities have the chance and the smaller teams are put to the side. Being that the tournament had just finished I thought it was a great time to read this article. I was still in the tournament mode and thought the journal article was a great read. I did think that the author of the article gave the tournament too much significance. It’s just a sport and the author gave it religious type significance. I didn’t like that aspect about the article because I believe you should separate religion form everything else. Especially when you are describing a game that should be played for fun. Then it made me think how crazy Americans are for their sports. These teams we root for becomes part of our lives. When looking at it we have no impact on the outcome of the game. Even still we go crazy if teams you like lose. I think as a whole Americans take their sports too serious.