Jessica's Blog

I saw a post on Glamour Magazine’s website today about movies and which movies you can watch over and over again.  I thought that I would give you a few of my favorites!

THE LIST

1-      Pretty Woman— I’ve probably seen this one at least 10 times.  Sandra Bullock is amazing, and I think the plot is funny, creative, and sweet all at the same time.

2-      The Last Samurai—  Something about this movie is just kind of magical to me.  I love the culture and the history involved, as well as the emotions.

3-    Rio— Only kids movie on the list, and I probably could have listed a few more Disney classics, but this has been my favorite since it came out.  I have an obsession with Brazil, but in addition to that I love all the colorful birds and the music!

4-      Pride and Prejudice— I  don’t know exactly why I like this one, besides that I love Jane as a character and think it’s an interesting plot, but it’s a good one to watch!

5-      Seabiscuit and Secretariat—Ok- so this is technically two movies, but they are both about famous racehorses so I grouped them together.  Both are great stories about some amazing horse-atheletes.  I’ve never been able to be around racehorses a whole lot, but I’ve always loved to watch a horse run.  There is something about it that just makes you stop and take it in.  These are also both great underdog movies about overcoming the odds.

6-      Devil Wears Prada-– I love Anne Hathaway in this movie.  It’s funny, and for me it also serves as a reminder to do what we enjoy and what is best for ourselves.

7-      Mr. and Mrs. Smith-– Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie- Not only are they married in the movie, but they are also enemies.  This one is great for a lazy day when you want to chuckle.

8-      Two weeks Notice— Another funny one, starring Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant.  I adore Hugh Grant’s accent, and I love watching the dynamics of the two characters together!  This one is laughs!

9-      The Bounty Hunter— Another good Accent- Gerald Butler and another funny movie.

10-    PS I Love You — This one is a sweeter side of Gerald Butler.  For some reason this movie makes me think of “The Notebook” but not quite as sappy, but just as much of a tearjerker.

11-    The blind side— Ultimate feel good inspirational movie!

12-   How to lose a guy in 10 days— This one is just funny.  Boy is trying to keep girl, while girl is trying to get rid of boy.

13-   Dirty dancing— “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”  Patrick Swayze stars in this coming of age movie.  I like the dancing but also the interesting relationships between all of the characters

14-   Runaway bride— Julia Roberts.  This is one of my two favorite movies starring her, but I haven’t been able to find the name of the other one(It has horses in it).

15-   Sweet home Alabama—Southern classic-  Love the song and the movie!

16-   8 seconds-– Bullriding J  This movie is based on the true story on Lane Frost and best friend Tuff Hedeman.  It’s a sad one, but it’s a good one if you like rodeo

17-   Made of Honor — I haven’t watched this movie in a while, and I really want to watch it again.  I have several really close guy friends, and I could see myself as this girl, asking one of them to stand up for me at my wedding.  Cute Romantic comedy

18-   The holiday— This movie makes me think about finding things in unexpected places and going out of our comfort zone to find what we need.  It’s about people who change houses for a few weeks- One is from Los Angeles and the other is from England.

19-   Pure Country— George Strait is in this one, and that’s all I need to know!  Not only is he a phenomenal country singer, but he does a good job acting in this as well! (Maybe another time I could write a list of my 20 favorite George Strait songs?   Is it bad that it wouldn’t be difficult for me to pick out 20 that I love?)

20-   Bride Wars-– Final movie.  Super fun wedding comedy.  I laugh at the conflict between two best friends- but I hope that would never happen to me!

Just for added information- these movies weren’t in a particular order.  It would have taken a whole lot more effort to get them organizes, and I figured it was better for me to just share!  If you haven’t watched them- I encourage you to test them out.  I love watching new movies, and if you have any recommendations for movies you think I should watch, let me know!

I’ve had tons of great ideas for blogs in the past two weeks- literally at least 10 or 15 ides, but I haven’t written any of them for you L HOWEVER, that is changing, Right now!  I have this post, and I’m also uploading a fun post soon!

This is probably just going to be me venting, but being a college Junior is crazy!  Since last writing you, I’ve been dealing with massive amounts of homework for my 18 credit hours’ worth of classes, trying to get horses back in shape on the weekend, working on living arrangements for my senior year, having a freak out few days of “what am I going to do with my life after college?” And all the questions that go with that, a freak out of trying to fit in the classes I need in order to graduate, figuring out summer plans and having my first official interview, all while trying to live some sort of normal college student, happy/fun/ stress free life.

What I have figured out about that “normal” college life— It’s stressful and crazy!  Things don’t go as planned, and things get pilled on all at once, and you just have to keep plugging through and get through it.  I’ve started thinking about the fact that life wouldn’t be as interesting if it wasn’t so crazy.

Point by point blows from above—

Massive homework–- This has taken some organization and creativity.  Any English people out there, I managed to find a couple novels for my English class on audio books- so I have been multitasking and listening to my reading while I clean, do laundry, soak in some sunshine, or work on some other less concentration intensive homework.

Horses-— They are  my relaxation/ sanity time.  Any day I get to be on a horse ALWAYS makes the day better.  Maybe horses aren’t your thing, but find something that you love to do and give yourself a “happy time”

Living arrangements-– These are still do be determined, but I am unbelievably excited for a kitchen since I love to cook!

Freak out 1— What to do after college? And Freak Out 2- How am I going to graduate? — These are going to become their own blog posts in the next week or two, and I’ll fill you in on the craziness!

Interviewing/Summer plans-– I’ve had a plan in place to do a week long internship this summer working with the youth organization I used to show with this summer.  In July, they have their annual youth convention, huge scholarship cutting, and this year are adding back a world finals- ALL in the same week.  I did the same internship last week and go help out working with the kids, overseeing some fundraising, and helping with some different activities.  However, last week I had an interview with the same organization for a full time marketing internship.  I would get to work with all of the youth stuff, but also get to spend 2 and a half months in Texas (Which is my favorite place) and get to work in marketing- which is what I want to do after college.  I haven’t heard back for whether I have the job or not, but I am SO excited about the possibility!

I’m closing this really random- rant of a blog post with a quote that was in my mailbox on Monday.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to change the world.”

I was listening to the Voice episode that aired last night on my computer this morning, and something one of the contestants said stuck me with this interesting realization that I want to share.  (By the way, If you like singing shows- the Voice is great!)

But before I tell you what the contestant said, this goes back to something that I hve been thinking about a great deal for the last several months- the power of your words.  I’ll be honest, I’ve been stuck in this rut for a while- worrying about too many things, and not enjoying life as it comes.  It hit me this weekend how even though I don’t really know where my life is going, its my job for now to enjoy it where it is!  In order to get out of a run, I’m learning how important what we speak and how we think affects what we do and what we get out of our life.

One of the things that has helped me is a book- “Power Thoughts,” by Joyce Meyer.  I’ve also been reading a book called “The Gift,” by Barbara Schulte- This one relates more to showing horses, but it’s still helped me.  Back to “Power Thoughts”… In this book Meyer talks about how much our thoughts affect our lives and how we can change our lives by changing our thoughts and our words.

So know that you know where I’m coming from with this, I’ll give you two examples of other people I’ve heard with their speaking and how it has changed.

Just last week, I was interviewing a fellow student for a feature article for a class.  This student spend the fall semester traveling abroad with Semester at Sea.  In one semester, she got to visit 13 different countries!  How amazing is that!  As she talked about her journey and how it affected her she gave me this incredible quote.

“Before Semester at Sea, I viewed myself as a young black woman that was a United States citizen. During and after the trip, I am an American and everything else comes after that.”

This amazing woman has the choice on which words define her- She shifted from being a singular “young black woman” to become a “citizen” of something collective.  How amazing is that!

Back to the Voice, one particular contestant described himself before his performance as this…

“I want to be a musician that bakes, not a baker that dabbles in music.”

The musician/baker made it onto Team Christina for the show.  I love how he uses his word to show what his big goal is.

So to finish this blog-  Let me ask you a question, or a couple.  How do you describe yourself?  And secondly, How do you use your words to impact your life- either positively or negatively?  Just something to think about on this pretty almost spring day!

… And I’m addicted to Pinterest.  I discovered this obsession over winter break, and now I’m going to spread the disease.  If you haven’t encountered it yet, Pinterest is like having a giant, online pinboard.  Once you register there are a couple ways to pin.  First- you can go through the site and pin the things that you find and like, OR you can download a “Pin it!” button for your toolbar on the internet and when you come across cool picture online you add them to your boards.

Pinterest shot of different places in the world

The site can be a major time consumer, but it can also be really handy.  I have found some really amazing recipes very quickly- and Pinterest lets you keep track of them all in the same place.  I’ve also found some great motivational quotes that are now all together, so when I need a little inspiration, I can look at a whole page full of great quotes!

Food!

Be inspired

By the way- I just learned how to take a screen shot on my computer.  From the looks of this post, I’m overdoing it a little bit, but I can’t help it, I’m excited at the new found discovery. Also, while speaking (or rather, Writing) about inspiration, here are a couple pictures of some inspirational things I have run across just today.

Smiling is Free

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny in comparison to what lies within us.

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others can not keep it from themselves

And a final note on this rather random, picture laden blog post, it was announced yesterday at 1^st slate speeches that B.o.B. is headlining the spring concert.  I really had no idea who this person/band/group was, so today I have been researching B.o.B. is a man, who is a singer- songwriter and rapper.  His real name is Bobby Ray Simmons, and he has put out one album in 2010 and another is set to come out this March.  He’s also pretty young- 23, and is from Winston-Salem.  I’m guilty of a cardinal paper writing sin right now, because I looked him up on Wikipedia.  So it’s a good thing this isn’t a college paper!  Hehehe. But what kind of researcher would I be without listening to his music?  So, although I’m not a huge rap fan, I’ve picked out a few of his songs that I like…

1. Lovelier than You
2. Nothin’ on you
3. On top of the world
4. Use ur love
5. Magic

Yesterday marked the very end of Jan term and the beginning of spring term.  I had my first class of the spring last night, and right now (Thursday) I am waiting for my first two day classes.  Overall, I’m excited to see what this semester has in store.  I am taking a few classes that build on past work, and a few more that are completely new subjects for me.  The classes that build on prior knowledge are accounting, microeconomics, and feature writing.  My new subject areas are an art class, Victorian women writers, and the physics and politics of energy honors class.

The physics/politics class is the one I am most concerned but also most excited about.  I have been fascinated by energy sources for several years, but I know very little about the subject.  This class illustrates one of my favorite things about Converse and the liberal arts education- we get to study different subjects that we would have planned on, but from my experience I have enjoyed almost every time I have studied something new.

Whenever I start a new semester I take some time to get organized.  One of my favorite ways to do this is calendars.  I’m slightly obsessed with them.  There is a monthly desk calendar, my student planner, a weekly calendar on the wall, AND my phone calendar.  The desk calendar has all of my major assignments, plus any important dates.  The student planner has the same as the desk calendar plus all of my homework, and some to do lists.  The weekly calendar on the wall is where I list anything important for the week, cleaning tasks and key homework assignments.

When the semester gets going, I keep to-do lists.  Every morning, I try to plan out my day for class times, homework, meals, workouts, and free time.  If there is a TV show that I know I want to watch, I write it down, but I have to make sure that all of my key tasks of the day are done first- it provides an incentive to keep working.

Back to the topic of beginnings and endings- I think I mentioned in my last post, but I did an internship during Jan term.  I was working for my parents to promote a new horse related product that I’ll spare you the details on, but it was interesting for me J  I’ve known for several years that I want to work in the horse industry in some way.  This internship gave me the opportunity to work hands on and get a feel for what it is really like and I had a blast!

For the last week of the term, I was in Augusta, Georgia and a large horse show.  I was showing two of my horses, helping take care of several more, and promoting the product.  The days were incredibly long (about 20 hours a day) and the work was hard, but it reminded me of how much I love the horses and how much I want to be doing that.  It gave me a light of something to work towards and a renewed enthusiasm.  Even though I’m back at school, I can’t wait to get to go travel and show again!

Horses are what make me happy.  My encouragement for you at this moment is to find your passion and what makes you excited about waking up every day and go for it!

Thoreau quote

One of my favorite quotes- “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams”  DO IT!

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to start a new year!  Starting a new year is another opportunity to make life changes and form new habits.  I suppose they can be started any time, but there is something pretty exciting about starting a new year with fresh ideas!  The past few months have been hectic for me, and I apologize for not blogging as much as I should have.  January is going to be pretty crazy as well, but I’m going to make sure to keep blogging away!

I am doing a business internship for Jan. term, so I won’t be on campus.  This month I will be working on a marketing plan and some other business stuff.  I’m also going to be spending some time getting horses ready for a big show at the end of this month.  The last week of January, I’ll be showing horses AND working for my internship.  Honestly, there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.

This internship is an opportunity for me to gain experience doing what I believe I want to do with my life.  I love showing my horses, and I love traveling to shows all around the country.  Those travels have given me the opportunity to see some amazing places and meet incredible people.  I have known for several years that I want to be involved in the horse industry as a job, and this month will be very exciting to try my hand at working!

At the same time of being so excited, this is also a little scary.  It hit me towards the end of the fall semester that I only have a year and a half left of school.  After that, it is graduate school or working in the real world.  I have to venture out of my Converse bubble.  That same realization is encouraging me to enjoy my time at school more and make the most of the opportunities I’m given at Converse!

Next week I’ll introduce you to my horses, and I’ll make sure to take some pictures of them.  They are quite the bunch of characters, and I am blessed to get to have them all in my life and especially to get to see them all the time!

November represents a lot of things to me.  November is Fall- leaves changing colors and falling, cooler weather, and crisper air.  November is a time change.  November is the last full month before finals.

November is Thanksgiving.  For many college students, Thanksgiving is a time to go home and recharge and eat some good food.  However, Sometimes I think that we forget what thanksgiving is really about- being Thankful for all of the wonderful things we have.  I have had several friends on Facebook who are doing something that I’ll call 30 Thankful days of November.  I really don’t know if it has a name, but that is what I’m going to call it.  Each day, they post one thing that they are thankful for- and I believe that the goal is to have something different every day.  I’ve seen this done before, and decided I would participate this year!

My list so far

• Day 1- I’m thankful for my amazing family
• Day 2- I’m thankful that I have the opportunity to go to school and learn
• Day 3- I’m thankful to have the opportunities to pursue my dreams
• Day 4- I’m thankful to have the opportunity to have horses, and be around the most amazing animals
• Day 5- I’m thankful that I have had some pretty amazing people care about me and take the time to make a difference in my life.
• Day 6- I’m thankful for second chances and the opportunity to change
• Day 7- I’m thankful for sunrises and fall
• Day 8-  I’m thankful to have found not one, but two things that I enjoy studying and that I want to work with in my life.
• Day 9- I’m thankful for actually knowing my professors and having easy access to them so that I can get problems resolved.

Maybe next week I’ll give an update of some more things that I am thankful for, but I want to challenge anyone who may be reading this to take a few moments and count the things that you have to be thankful for.  Sometimes we all struggle with seeing the negative things in our lives and we forget about all the positives.  We think about all of the things that we don’t have instead of appreciating the things that we DO have.  So take a bit of time and realize just how lucky you are.  :)

Today’s blog might be considered cheating- but I’ll give you my reasoning.  I am presently taking Professional Writing here at Converse.  Every 1-2 weeks we have an article due.  A few weeks ago, I interviewed both Dr. DeLapp- philosophy professor- and Brittaney Ray- philosophy major- and wrote an article about the reintroduction of the Philosophy major at Converse.

My freshman year I had a first year honors seminar with Dr. DeLapp, and it has been one of the most influential classes I have taken so far.  So, I am sharing my article with you because I am really excited about the philosophy program.  Before coming to Converse, I never thought much of philosophy, but since taking a class- I would encourage anyone to take a class in Philosophy!

Converse College Reintroduces Major

This year, Converse College reinstated the philosophy major after almost 30 years with only a minor in philosophy offered.

The reintroduction was headed by Dr. Kevin DeLapp, the Harold E. Fleming Chair of Philosophy.  He was hired six years ago by the college and is the first full time philosophy instructor in almost 10 years at Converse.

With DeLapp as a professor, the minor grew from one person in 2007 to nearly 20 in 2010.  Those students minoring in philosophy are the primary reason for the reactivation of a philosophy major.

“I felt that it was really important to have a philosophy major. It is at the heart of a liberal arts education.  It produces sought after skills, and I think it would be a disservice to students if we didn’t offer philosophy,” Said DeLapp.

In fact, the namesake of Dr. DeLapp’s chair position, the father of current college president Betsy Fleming, felt strongly about the study of philosophy at Converse.  Dr. Fleming viewed philosophy at a women’s college to be empowering, as it has historically been a male dominated field.

Dr. DeLapp went through a lengthy process to reinstate the major.  First he wrote a proposal for the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.  Then he made his way through the ranks of Converse for approval. He worked to develop student and faculty interest, received approval of the department of religion and philosophy, the curricular programs committee, faculty senate, and finally the entire faculty.

Presently, Converse has 12 philosophy majors.  Four will graduate this year, and another five are scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2013.

Philosophy graduates hold jobs in a wide variety of fields.  Some students will attend graduate school in philosophy, but others go on to work in law, business, psychology, education, language, and fine art.

“Philosophy prepares people for the work force. It teaches critical thinking skills, the ability to closely read and understand something, as well as the ability to understand different points in an argument,” Said DeLapp.

Brittaney Ray is one of this year’s graduating philosophy majors at Converse.

“Philosophy has given me a more optimistic view on life and has taught me to have an open minded approach of consciously going into whatever I do.  It has helped me to look inward and discover my passions and what I can do with them,” said Ray.

Dr. DeLapp agreed that philosophy allows an individual to know themselves and to find out what they like to do.

“Philosophy helps you develop the ability to express yourself and understand how others express themselves.  After college and in the world, we encounter different people who think differently.  Philosophy gives us the opportunity to know where we stand and to understand where others stand,” said Dr. DeLapp.

Through her self-discovery and a passion for law held since childhood, Ray realized that she wants to help domestically abused women around the world.

“Once you discover your passion and figure out that it’s something that you can do, it is a great feeling.  Philosophy does that for me.  It helped me to realize that my dreams aren’t limited,” said Ray.

I hope you enjoyed the article!  I had a great time interviewing both Brittaney and Dr. DeLapp; and I am excited to get to share it with you!

Hey readers!

I have a bit of a confession to make… and I normally wouldn’t share this, BUT it is funny, and a lesson to be learned.

This past weekend, I spent Friday afternoon and most of Saturday riding horses and pretending like school didn’t exist.  I really just needed a little time to spend away from school and focusing on something else before I went stir-crazy.  The way I look at it is that if we devote all week to school, we deserve a bit of time to do something just for us.  I did however know that I was going to be spending a good portion of my time on Sunday doing homework for the upcoming week.

Sometime over the weekend, I skimmed through my calendar, and noticed that I a manuscript due highlighted for Monday(Oct 10).  The manuscript was due for Novel Writing, a class I am taking for fun, and was supposed to be 20 to 25 pages in length in order to represent a substantial part of the first several chapters of a novel.

Before this weekend, I hadn’t begun working on my novel.  I had  ideas floating through my head on what I wanted to write about and where the story might go, but never got anything onto paper.  So, Sunday I hit the panic button, realizing that I had all of those pages to write Sunday and between classes Monday afternoon.  When I sat at my computer I cried… I had no idea how I was going to get it done and get it done well, and to add to my stress- the story was not coming easily.

I was wrestling with myself in my head to get a decent story out all day Sunday through the afternoon on Monday.  With a bundle of determination,  I managed to piece together an 18 page manuscript.  Was I happy with it? No.  I wasn’t proud of the writing I had done, BUT it was done, and that was the best I could do at the time.

After I printed a copy for each student that would be workshopping my work, I made my way over to the class room and tried to relax.  When it came time to distribute manuscripts, I pulled out my stack, as did two other students.  Wait. Wait. Wait… That’s three people with manuscripts when we should only be workshopping two manuscripts.  One of the girls pulls out a syllabus, and wouldn’t you know it, my manuscript isn’t due until the 24^th!!  All off that stress didn’t have to happen and I could have taken more time to write that manuscript, so that I might actually like it.

Where are the lessons in all this you might ask?

1. Double check the dates of assignments.  I would have never freaked out over that assignment if I had been able to preplan correctly and not do it all last minute.
2. Don’t wait until last minute to do a big assignment.  Sure, I was working on a last minute deadline that didn’t really exist, but I learned my lesson.  I don’t want to go through that stress if I can avoid it.

Hope you guys enjoyed my little story, and let it be a reminder about checking dates and procrastination!

(Oh, and by the way, I love the phrase “Whoopsie-Daisy!”  I have a friend that uses it and I laugh every time to hear a cowboy saying such a silly little phrase!)

Last week was hectic! I always find it ironic that when one thing gets busy, everything else gets busy at the same time. In addition to Big Sis Little Sis week, I was buried under a pile of homework.  To look at it positively, I got plenty of practice at prioritizing!

The sign that our group made for the front of Wilson Hall!

Big Sis Little Sis week started on Sunday.  I had been planning for this week for almost a year, but still felt I was completely unprepared.  Last year I started accumulating gifts for my little sisters. At the time I thought would only be one little, but after hearing the size of the incoming freshman class I decided to take another little. Looking back now, I am really happy that I did. Before the week started I had most of my gifts together, but still needed to finish tails, make posters, and think about door decorations.

Each night during the week the freshmen were delivered gifts. My group decided to go together and give gifts for each other, but still have the opportunity to see our little sisters receive their gift. I loved being able to see some of the girls get so ecstatic over receiving a gift. Some of them were quiet in opening their present, and other ripped into them with the elation of a kid on Christmas.

Sunday night was the most hectic of the nights, but it was one of the most fun.  Our group delieved gifts first, and even had a “princely duel” over our little sisters, decorated our areas of campus, and then went back to the freshman dorms to decorate doors and hang posters.

I delivered the gifts to my little sisters on favorite things

Wednesday night was skit night. It was a little nerve racking to be back on stage again. I realized that morning that I hadn’t done any sort of acting since I was in elementary school. However, looking out of the stage and into the audience at all of the smiling faces eased my nervousness. I love how our skit turned out and I have to give a huge round of applause for the America Best Devil Crew group for their incredible dance routine. I still haven’t gotten over how amazing those girls were!

On Thursday all of the little sisters finally got to know who their bigs were. It was an exciting time for all involved from the anticipation to the cheering of the human tunnel and then getting to meet each other! I am so excited to have two amazing converse girls as my little sisters!

This Converse tradition has been one of my favorites in my time here; first as a little sister, then as a spectator of the pink panther year, and now finally I am a big sister!  I love how this tradition gives us a chance to connect with new people.  In my experience, not only did I get two amazing new little sisters, I met a ton of amazing freshman, and I was able to spend more time with the girls in my group and get to know some of them better!

Little Red Riding Devils group!