The War

Today I was walking to the Bone Student Center and as I entered I noticed a wall full of drawings on these walls. The pictures were of American soldiers that had died in Iraq. All of these soldiers were also from Illinois. This really caught my attention. I stood there for a while in amazement. There had to be around 200 portraits. Looking at these portraits really made me think how close to home this war is. I even saw a couple of soldiers that were from my home town. This really made me sad. These men were pretty close in age to me. Most ranged from about 20-24. I just stood there in awe thinking about how these soldiers' lives were gone because of the war in Iraq. The sign said that the death toll of American soldiers as of recent was about 2200. This really kind of upset me. It hurts to know that people like me had their lives taken away from them at such an early age. It was a very sad thing to see. I can only imagine what it must be like for the families of these kids and how crushed they must have been. Usually I would have just walked by something like this but the portraits were so vivid with detail and really gave you an idea of who these people were. So I went around and read their stories. After looking at the portraits I couldn't stop thinking about it for a while. I was really upset with how many peoples lives were taken from them from Illinois alone. I thought about this off and on throughout the day and will always remember how big of heroes these men and women really were. I have so much respect for those in the armed forces. I feel lucky that we have people brave enough to risk their lives in order to keep our country safe.

Wendy's

Within the last year the majority of Wendy's resuraunts in Illinois have been closed down. I am not exactly sure of the reason. Wendy's used to be one of my favorite resturaunts to go to. I especially loved their frostys. I have heard numerous rumors of why they closed. The most popular one seems to be that the owner of most of the Illinois Wendys was having problems and decided to close his branches down which just so happened to be in central Illinois. Although most of them are closed, there is still one Wendy's that I know is still around. It is in Bloomington. A couple of my friends and I decided to go there for lunch today. I haven't had Wendy's in probably 4 months. I was so excited about going there to eat. I ordered my usual and it tasted wonderful. I was very dissapointed that a majority of them were closed down. However if I am ever having a big craving for Wendy's I can always visit this one.

Business Administration

When looking at colleges I decided that I wanted to major in business. ISU seemed like a pretty good business school. It also just got a brand new business building. It really looked nice when I came to visit and made my decision to come to ISU final. I declared my major as business administration. I am still unsure of what I want to do with my life. I have always wanted to be a pilot but have decided that it would be too costly. So instead I chose business because I have a business mindset and am very good with money. I still have to decide what I want to do within business administration. I don't really have any real specific interests within business. For a while I thought I might want to go into marketing but changed my mind. I am only a freshman so I still have time to make my choice. I think I will just take some of my classes and see what catches my interest. By the time junior year rolls around I think I will have a decision on what I specifically want my major to be. It is a tough decision to choose what I want to do with the rest of my life. Most people don't ever know exactly what they want to do for sure, they just fall into something. So I'm hoping that something will come along that I like and make me happy. Until then I will just go with the flow.

Facebook

There is a lot of controversy about facebook. Facebook is a social networking website that allows students to stay in touch with hundreds of friends and acquaintences. It truly is a great website, however there are many disadvantages as well. A majority of the people that use facebook are either high school or college students. These users often times forget of the dangers facebook sets them up for. People openly give vital pieces of information out on thier facebook pages without thinking twice about it. For example, many people that use facebook post where they live, thier phone number, email adress, pictures, etc. These are things that most students don't worry about. They don't think about what could happen by providing basically anyone with this information. It is true that anyone that wants to can find a way to get access to anyones facebook page. Not only is this dangerous in the sense of strangers finding out too much information about students. Possible employers are also able to access these pages. Some potential employees at companies have lost job opportunities because of the pictures (drinking) and other personal information given on facebook. This has hurt many people's futures and lost them jobs they could have had. So although facebook seems like nothing but fun and games, there are also many dangers of using it. I'm not saying students shouldn't use facebook. I am saying whoever decides to use facebook should be very careful about who they allow to see this information and careful about the information they are posting.

Softball

This spring I signed up to play softball. My brother, some of his friends and I all started up a team. I am very excited to play. I played baseball in high school and have been missing it a lot. Softball will be a way to kind of rekindle the fun I had playing. Softball however is much different than high school baseball. The ball is a lot bigger and it is slow pitch. One misconception is that it is easy to crush the ball in softball. It is actually more complicated than it seems. Most people try and swing upwards and attempt to hit a homerun. This actually doesn't usually have very good results. When you try to swing like this, it usually results in a pop fly out. I will try and remember that when I play because I'm sure I might get tempted to do the same. We were supposed to have our first game tonight. It rained all day though and the first game was cancelled. We have our next game next week. I can't wait to begin the season. It will be a fun experience.

New Phone

I recently bought a new phone. I waited two whole years until my contract was up so I could upgrade to a new phone. I went to the phone store and picked out the one that I liked the best. I chose the new LG verizon phone. I chose the LG because I have always been using LG and I am used to how they operate. My phone is also very slick. It is a sharp looking phone. It is very professional. It would serve well as a business phone. It really amazes me how much the cell phone can do now. The phone I bought isn't really top of the line or anything but it is capable of checking e-mail, texting, taking photos, and many others. Some phones now even have live tv feed on them. Ringtones are also very popular. I think it is absolutely amazing how much cell phones can do. When cell phones were first invented all they could do is make a local call. So much has changed since then. I can only imagine what might be next. The technology we are creating is unbelievable and it is only going to get better and better.

Vacation

Last summer our family did not have a chance to go on a vacation. This year my mom really wants to go on a vacation. She is asking where my brothers and I want to go. I have no idea where I want to go. The best place we have ever gone in my opinion is Hilton Head, South Carolina. It was an amazing place. We have gone there three times now so we would like to go to another exciting place. My dad wants to travel to Mexico. I think that would be fun but I haven't decided what my vote will be for. I have always wanted to go out of the country. In my lifetime I have never left the US. I think it would be fun and different to travel some place far away. I really don't care too much where we go as long as I have a good time. My whole family could use a good vacation. My dad is now the owner of the business he works for and my mom also works full time. My brother and I are full time students. I absolutely can't wait until the school year is over. I am ready for our trip now. I am so excited for summer. My first year in college has been pretty stressful. I am still getting used to it. I truly could use a break from everything.