Back from Kentucky

I have returned once again! This time, I took a fishing trip with some of my friends to Kentucky Lake near Murray State University. I had a wonderful time but as always I was happy to return to Indiana.

As with any road trip, there is plenty of time for the conversation to cover a wide range of subjects to say the least. Among them was what life has been like for many after college.

What I found interesting was how similar many of the stories were. It seems as if there are a lot of people out there who are trying to move way too fast after they receive their degrees.

From the stories that I heard, the typical way of thinking has become, "Well, I put up with college and now I must be rewarded with a high-paying, high-power position among the elites of our society."

As if it is a right of passage, the entry-level position just does not seem as good as it used to be for some. Instead of wanting to start at the bottom and work our way up, many are wanting to start at the top.

Though I do not discourage a person's strong ambition or lack of wanting to settle for the first job that comes a person's way, I feel that this entry level work is necessary and those who are wanting to start at the top are reaching way too high too early.

I think that doing the little things that people do not want to do (sorting the mail, getting the coffee, etc.) is something that we must all go through. Unless we are those select few who were born into those wealthy families in which everything is planned out for us, we must be willing to climb the mountain instead of taking a helicopter to the summit.

I think that you should aim to get the best job that suits you but I think there is a fine line between wanting the best out there and being just plain ignorant about how far a degree can take you when you first enter the workplace.

Even though many of these people are looking forward to getting their feet wet at very high positions in the work world, it is my belief that they will not be prepared to do so without doing the "muck" work first.

Without it, I believe that instead of wet feet, they will be in way over their heads and be drowned with burnout within the first few years of their cozy upper-level position.

Listen First, Speak Second

Another day and another series of classes to attend. The end of the semester is rapidly approaching and it could not get here any quicker.

Frustration is starting to set in. Most notably in my friends and classmates. The amount of sighs that I have heard during my classes is starting to creep toward triple digits.

I know what you are thinking and the answer is, "Yes, I do keep track of the amount of moans and groans that occur in my classes." Because of this hobby, I chose to sit in the back of the room to get the full scope of every class that I take.

It is a personal hobby of mine that dates back to my sophomore year of high school when my English class took bets on how many times our teacher would say the phrase "in a sense" during a period. The count once made it up to 40! Roughly one "in a sense" every two minutes!

I have found that the best time to do this is during a class discussion/debate. It is especially fun when you have a few people who obviously do not know what they are talking about.

Myself, I usually do not participate in these types of discussions. For me, a discussion should be a sharing of different ideas and opinions. In reality, it usually turns into a shouting match that gets so out of control it makes the British House of Commons look like the United States House of Representatives.

But class debates are not the only thing that make things interesting. Just as Dane Cook once said, "There is one person in every group of friends that no one likes," there is one person in every class that nobody likes.

For whatever reason, whether their beliefs are radical, they have an unusual laugh, or they are just plain rude, this occurs in every college classroom. Granted, I do not condone disliking anyone simply because they are a little different, however, I find it very interesting to watch the reactions of my classmates whenever this person chooses to open their mouth.

Call it sociology. Call it intrigue. Maybe you could even call it nerdy in a way. I am a people watcher and observer instead of a talker in my classes.

I think it best to listen first and speak second as opposed to speaking first and listening second. I was given two ears and one mouth for a reason and I most certainly chose to use them accordingly.

"It is so choice."

The first day of school after Spring Break has come and gone. Even though I miss not wearing my pajamas all day like I did for most of last week, it felt really good to get up early and get back to work.

I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with my schooling. The semester is about complete and all I have left are a couple of education courses over the next few months.

I actually finished my Government Packet for my group project. It looks pretty good. Not bad for my first set of worksheets.

It was also glad to see all of my friends at school again. I have been kind of neglecting them with my outside of school jobs so I am really looking forward to hanging out with them more. Even though most of them are wanting to graduate, I am kinda glad that they will be sticking around next year.

Unlike others in my past, they have been there for me which has helped me through some difficult times.

The other night was especially true when I needed some advice from an outside and neutral source. Of course hearing the truth is never easy but what kind of friend sugar coats what you really need to hear?

The advice put things into perspective and gave me a very good outlook on things. It definitely helped and I hope that things will continue to be that way. Especially if my friends giving me advice involves an iced tea from McAlister's.

Simply put, the tea is amazing. "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

A Tale of Two Games

It's a very blustery day on this Friday afternoon. I have never seen it this windy without snow.

Last night and this morning were both bittersweet. Within the past 24 hours relatively, I went to my last basketball game and practice of the season. Unfortunately, I will not be able to go to our final game on Monday because it is imperative that I go to my excellerated class that starts on the same night.

From my perspective, I thought it was probably one of the most physical games that I have seen us play in this season. It was possibly second only to the Frankfort game when we had a couple of really bad injuries.

If our game was a chapter in a book then I think it's title could have been "A Tale of Two Games." The first half was about as tight as one could imagine. Looking back, I think there were over twenty fouls called total in the first half which led to some of our players getting into foul trouble.

It was the first time this year that we were faced with this problem so I could not be too upset but it was a little troublesome coming out of the locker room. Many of our starters already had their second and third fouls.

Of course, I was momentarily put at ease after I noticed I had a cheering section last night. A few of my friends decided to take in our game that evening along with preparing a sign that said, "We love our Coaches!" It meant a lot to see them there especially since one of them is an alumnus of a rival school.

But, as I said before, this was only momentary because this was when the second tale of the game began. This was because very few fouls were called during the second half of our game last night. If we couple that with an already physical and intense game this leads to potential problems and possible injuries.

In fact, it got so bad at one point that one of our players got scratched up pretty bad on her shoulder. Imagine our shock when she was called for the foul on the play. I am still trying to figure that one out.

She walked to the bench holding her shoulder but I still could not figure out to what extend the cut was. After she sat down, I noticed that it looked pretty bad. Not as bad as seeing one of my teammates dislocate a finger in one of my own seventh-grade AAU games (which is an entirely different book) but it definitely looked painful.

As the final buzzer sounded, I have never been more relieved. I wanted to see a quick end to this game because I was afraid that more people would get hurt. Right now, we are still undefeated with one game left to play in the book that is our season.

Hopefully, the final chapter of the season will end as the previous fifteen. Either way, if the book on this season is ever written, I know for sure that I will be the first one to buy it.