Random Holiday Calendar: Start Your Year With Cheer!

Let me be one of the first to congratulate you on making it through a week of hardcore celebration between Christmas and New Year’s! Good job! Don’t relax yet, though, because a brand new year of celebrations has just begun. That’s right, it’s time to ring in the new year with a list of crazy holidays to celebrate. As always, for your celebration convenience, I have listed celebration options for each day. So, if you’re not partied out yet or you’ve resolved to make this year a year of fun and celebration, let’s ring in the New Year with some extra fun!

If you’re more into the month-long events, check these out:

• Soup Month
• Tea Month (A personal favorite)
• Be Kind to Food Servers Month (though you should do this ALL the time)

January 1st: Happy New Year! First Foot Day and Emancipation Proclamation Day are also today

January 2^nd: Cream Puff Day or Science Fiction Day

January 3^rd: For the sleep-deprived there is Festival of Sleep day; for you more active types, celebrate today with Fruitcake Toss Day

January 4^th:  National Trivia Day or World Braille Day

January 5^th: National Bird Day

January 6^th:  Cuddle Up Day

January 7^th: 225^th Anniversary of the First Presidential Election

January 8^th: Bubble Bath Day

January 9^th: Static Electricity Day

January  10: Houseplant Appreciation Day

January  11^th:  Step in a Puddle and Splash Your Friend's Day

January 12^th: Feast of Fabulous Wild Men Day (…Not even sure guys.)

January 13^th: Rubber Ducky Day (or Skeptics Day for those of you who are not sure about this)

January 14^th: Dress Up Your Pet Day or Organize Your Home Day

January 15^th: National Hat Day

January 16^th: National Nothing Day

January 17^th: Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day

January 18^th: Winnie the Pooh Day (I firmly support this)

January 19^th: National Popcorn Day

January 20^th: Martin Luther King Day and International Acceptance Day

January 21^st:  Hugging Day! also, Squirrel Appreciation Day

January 22^nd: Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day (or maybe you’d like Celebrate Life Day if you’re not a cat person)

January 23^rd: Pi Day! And Handwriting Day

January 24^th: Talk Like A Grizzled Prospector Day

January 25^th: (Not) Opposite Day

January 26^th: Spouses Day (or Peanut Brittle Day for us single folk)

January 27^th: Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day (appreciate your chocolate cake today too while you’re at it)

January 28^th: Fun at Work Day

January 29^th: Freethinkers Day. Or Corn Chip Day, whichever you prefer. Maybe you can freely ponder your corn chips.

January 30^th: National Inane Answering Message Day

January 31^st: Backward Day

Because... I have no idea.

Celebrate, y’all! And remember, if you actually do celebrate any of these, you should comment here and tell us about your experience.

BACON DAY!!

                Christmas is over….sad face. The best holiday out of the year is gone. All the decorations get taken away. The Christmas lights no longer illuminate your home at night. Your home doesn't smell like pine trees or candy canes. But you know what it can smell like today??? BACON!!!!!!!!!!!

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                Christmas! The best time of the year is finally here. You either celebrated last night on Christmas Eve, or you have just waited for a more traditional morning like today to celebrate. Whether you enjoy Christmas dinner the night before or the day of, today is sure to be a good day!

Winter Solstice is HERE!

Tis the season, people. December is cram packed with cool holidays derived from many cultures, traditional views and olden religious ceremonies. One day that is laden with small gatherings and traditional hubbub is the day of winter solstice. This year, winter solstice will fall on Saturday, the 21st of December.

Via ApodNASA

The winter solstice is commonly known as December solstice because depending on whether you’re in the northern or southern hemisphere… well, it may or may not be winter. This day is characterized by that night being the longest of the year. This day is also a sign of coming light and warmth as the sun begins to shift- causing longer days and more light in the sky until the eventual passing of the summer solstice.

That’s pretty symbolic if you ask me. So let's looks at some different ways people celebrate winter solstice and then find some small things we can all do to remember the coming of lighter, better, brighter days with the new year. 

Via Karuna

Have a crafty Christmas!

               ‘Tis the season to be jolly! These words spark joyous moments as people prepare for Christmas, one of the most beloved holidays. This is the season where you can genuinely feel that everyone is full of joy as family and friends strengthen their bonds. Let’s not also forget that there are presents! PRESENTS!!! We never stray away from the meaning of Christmas as you share memories with your loved ones, but presents are definitely something we look forward to every year!

                It is always nice to receive gifts, but definitely giving them is more fun! It is like a little scavenger hunt you go on. You go on the search to find out what your loved ones love and want. You start with asking little questions acting inconspicuous as possible. You then proceed to find their gifts in stores. There’s no greater feeling than knowing you gave people what they truly like.

                Buying presents can get extremely pricey, especially if you have numerous people on your list. Therefore, this year you should definitely think of a craftier angle. Making presents is just as fun and may cost way less than buying stuff.

Festivus For The Rest Of Us

   Have you ever heard of Festivus? Before yesterday I had never heard of Festivus and so I did some "research" (ie: I looked it up via Google). To my genuine shock I found where it comes from. Was it an old, ancient festival that had a revival in American/world practice? Was it a new, hippie/hipster holiday that is trending on Twitter?

I Graduated from UT Tyler....Now What?

On Friday, December 13th, I graduated from The University of Texas at Tyler with my bachelor's. I walked across the stage and later went out to eat with my family.

Now, I'm still working my two part time jobs and have to get started on what I'm going to do post-graduation. It still hasn't fully sunk in that I won't have to worry about classes next spring. So I'm feeling a bit lost. 

Plan For Next Semester ... TODAY!

   One of my favorite things is to plan for the upcoming new semester before the old one has officially ended. My eyes light up with the thoughts of diligent studying, well-taken notes, and the constant stream of A+ grades I will receive.

Emmy's Farewell Blog!

from Casino Night freshmen year 

I started working here as Freshmen at the start of my spring semester.

This job has always have given me a feeling about how small the world can be (the size of the University might also be a factor). One of my former coworkers happened to be a roommate of one of my best friend’s. I had no knowledge she worked here until I walked in the office. I happened to send a post card and contact my one of my little freshmen roommates last year. One of the current student bloggers Dallas was in my Orientation group.

Now to the present where I am in my Sophomore/Junior year and am now starting on honing in on finding a job that are more in my future field. Thus, I leave my post as a Student Blogger and venture off into the world of computers. I definitely excited for the prospect but a little worried about leaving my first serious job and moving on! I’m searching to find a good internship or anything that would count as experience in my field. While on my journey for the perfect internship and or job, which comes first. I will also be leveling up my interview skills and learning more about answering some of those pesky interview questions.
I am a bit rusty when it comes to that because I only interviewed for one other job before I started working here. I have had a decent amount of interviews already and many more to come! I have found another job while the search continues. Continuing my stint at Jimmy John’s! which in truth, i’m excited about this but mostly I’m more excited about the discounted sandwiches.

So with that, I thank all the readers who have read my blogs and my co-workers and supervisors for being awesome individuals who have made working here.

Dress to impress!

                First impressions are a one time impact in your everyday life. There are those impressions you make on your new friends, co-workers or even potential love interests. You make such impressions with the way you talk, behave or treat others. But there is one fundamental aspect that goes forgone; dressing well.

                There is nothing wrong with wearing active wear such as basketball shorts and a t-shirt. But when it becomes your staple outfit of choice every day, it may give off the wrong idea. There are times where you wake up and say “I am too tired, I’m just going to wear whatever is available,” so it happens. But you’re doing this because you don’t care about what you wear that day, so in turn, you give off the image that you didn't put the effort to look good. It’s ok if it happens once or twice per week, but you should definitely try another alternative so you look and feel great!

The Desolation of Smaug Review

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug – Fun or Dysfunctional?

               The Hobbit as a fun, silly novel that is filled with adventure and light-hearted tomfoolery. While the novel does not easily connect well with The Lord of the Rings, it is hard now to talk about The Hobbit and the LotR Trilogy without connection to the other.

UT Tyler Winter Break? Read a book!

Hiiiii guys! How are you doing? I am a very happy girl today because I finished up my work for this semester, which means no more finals, no more class blogs, no more papers, no more NOTHING for an entire month! Hooray! That means I'm back to the season of Christmas lights, trees, gift shopping, and reading my little tush off. It's been a long time so some of you might not remember that a while back I started my own book blog (www.wishfulinkling.com) , which sadly has been gathering dust for months now because I self-destructed into a tiny little "no writing" zone after the end of last semester trying to manage three blogs and write four papers a week. 

Yeah, nightmares I don't want to relive. BUT! I'm happy to tell you that I'm back, at least for the holidays, and that I would like to share a review for a book you guys might love to read while you too have a month between hectic semesters and may find yourself feeling a little bored. Are you ready? Here goes!

Forget Me Not!

The semester is at it's end. We all can joyously sleep after this week.The excitement of not having classes for a month is still fresh in our minds.  Let's not get to caught up in the excitement! and forget about some important things to consider about winter break!

1. On Campus Students - CLEAN your rooms, make sure you check out and coordinate with your roommate(s).

2. Use your my.uttyler to check both grades and financial aid! 

3. Make sure to get turn in your books and or/ 

important documents that are needed for next semester!
4. Clean out all your papers from this semester (unless you will need them, which sometimes you do) 
5. Graduating Seniors, this is for you, take a deep breath, relax for a bit! because you GRADUATED!

                   

Keeping up everything is extremely important!
 While some things are alright, being done late due to a loose deadline, this should not be applied to all things! When it comes to classes, enrolling and all things that are under that umbrella, this should take priority and do all that you should do! Keeping a planner or using Google Calender are ways to prevent you from meeting your deadline. I say this because I am a serial forgetful person.  The best way to combat this is to make things so annoying that you won't forget them! Setting multiple alarms or reminders are the key! 

The end of the semester!

                The semester is over! Now it is officially Holiday break!  Well for me anyway. This semester was packed with upper level classes for the first time ever. I was able to handle it pretty well. One of the classes that gave me most joy was Visual Design. This is the last class I will take concerning designing. This is truly saddening. I loved every opportunity to make a project in class. This course has evolved my skills in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

No Fear Holiday Shopping

This is pretty much how I would feel if I
had to go Christmas Shopping on my own

It is the time of year again where we all begin to look for presents for our relatives and friends to give to them for Christmas! Shopping is easier for some than others; I know that I am terrible at shopping.  Fortunately, I have a loving fiancé who does it for me.  I also have good fortune enough that she just tells me a couple of things to buy for her and I buy from that list.  Some do not have this luxury, however, so I have done some research and have compiled some tips to utilize while you embark on this year’s Christmas shopping adventure!  

Holiday volunteering!

                Holiday season is one of the best times of the year as everyone is full of glee and love. Some families, however, do not get to have such a wonderful time as socio-economic factors do not allow them to be well off around this time. One thing that helps these families is organizations that devote their services to providing food, clothing and shelter to struggling families. This is where volunteering comes into play. Volunteering creates notions of happiness as you are able to help in contributing into helping people.

                Some great organizations here in Tyler that aid in helping people are The Salvation Army and the East Texas Food Bank.

Literal Hunger Games and Christmas

What do The Hunger Games and Christmas have in common? One is a fight to the death between children ages 12-18 and the other is a religious holiday that has been transformed and reclaimed to be celebrate family with gifts and food.

Tablet shopping, nbd.

The Broke College Student's Guide to Inexpensive Fun Over the Holidays

With holidays approaching and the end of the semester so close we can almost taste it (I imagine it tasting like bacon. Yummy bacon), everyone is making plans for what they want for Christmas or how they want to spend their break. However, this time of the year can leave a student financially drained and exhausted. So what are we students to do? While the idea of sleeping for a few days sounds totally appealing after finals, the inevitable boredom begins to set in.

Bacon is always there for you

Visit other towns/cities!

                I've lived in Tyler, Texas for 10 years. This has allowed me to know the small city pretty well. This does not go without saying that I want to branch out to different places. I have yet to visit any part outside Texas. This has to change. Traveling seems like a great thing to do, yet I am still here. Not complaining, just observing. I actually visited Dallas last week for the second time ever.

                Yes, I am that guy that has stayed in the town he grew up in. I have sadly never been anywhere in the U.S., let alone other parts of Texas. I have only gone to Waco, San Antonio and Dallas. This is sad. I need to travel more.

ACT Reports Shows First-Generation Students Lag in College Readiness

In early November, ACT and the Council for Opportunity in Education released a report that evaluated the discrepancy in students’ college readiness based on their parents’ education level.  The study looks at high-school students who take the ACT and how each student performed on the college-readiness benchmarks, in English, reading, mathematics, and science. They then look to the family history of education to determine if the student intends to be a first-generation college student.

The report’s data shows that about a quarter of high school graduates who took the ACT in 2013 met all four of the college-readiness benchmarks.  However, students whose parents did not go to college fared worse on the readiness benchmarks: only 9 percent of the students met all four benchmarks. These results show that there exists a disparity in students’ readiness for postsecondary education based on the education level of their parents.  This may occur from a lack of preparedness from the parents, or the inability to show the students what to expect on the test, or how they should work toward getting a good grade.  It could be that parents who did not attend college are unaware of the high level of prep work necessary to ensure success at this educational level.

The report did have some positive aspects to its data.  Even though the students that did not have parents who attend college had a lower benchmark result than others, almost 94 percent of these students hoped to earn a postsecondary degree, and two-thirds of those students took the core courses that the ACT recommends.  This shows that even though the benchmark results were low, there is still ambition from the students considered “first-generation” college students.  It shows that even if the statistical odds are against these students and their academic goals, there is always a chance for positive results.

Keep in mind that there are test preparation resources for high school students who are concerned about taking the SAT and ACT.  UT Tyler only requires that applicants take one of the standardized tests, but taking both allows for a better chance for higher merit scholarship opportunities! 

Frozen film review

   Disney and their animated films have been a staple for countless children growing up over decades. The quality of some films has waxed and waned every few years, but as a whole the House of Mouse has released what has to be considered the penultimate American animation features going back generations. While their entry into the field of CGI has been fraught with hits and misses, Frozen is a film that guarantees to please those who wants something new to watch with the family as well as those looking for Disney to continue their efforts into CGI.

Preparation tips for Finals!

               That dreaded time of the semester is just around the corner! Finals week is the time of the year where everyone tends to stress over, and where coffee becomes your best friend. Even though this week can be full packed of preparation and anxiety, there are resources on campus that can help you get mentally prepared for finals.

Finding your Groove/Major!

The decision has been made as I find myself in my final major of choice. The major being Computer Information System.Only thing left to follow my heart and mind, will be filling out the papers! This decision became final as I completed both sections of programming fundamentals this fall! Woo-hoo!

I went through a laundry list of majors but only changed my major officially 2 times.The transition  truly just being from Business(Accounting) to Computer Information System. I was lucky enough to not LOSE ANY CREDITS! or take many(only one) extra course not needed to complete my degree. I will only be semester behind(if I don't take summer classes).

Changing my major didn't allow to escape from  business classes. I still have to take a few of them for my minor(minor I choose because it was easy and I had more than half the credits needed).This spring, I will be taking two management classes! which i'm only partially excited because one of them is online and that just sounds awesome at this point. 

It has taking me a bit to get where I am. I wouldn't change the experiences and friends I made while in business. I made an easy transition from high school and college, because I was apart of the Student Learning Community. I did decently in my business classes and was challenged only in accounting. Right now, everything is a challenging, learning new languages and the proper ways to think. What the fun in doing something that your good at if it isn't difficult?

Alas, the semester is at it's demise, I seem to be passing all my classes and procrastination is just nipping at my heels. Overall, this is first semester I feel content with my major and ready to continue on!
  

The Close of the Year

   Winter is coming in full force soon. This means for many the close of the Fall semester of 2013, visiting family, food, presents, carols, and renewing bonds with friends and kin alike.  As we all approach these wonderful times, there should be a moment taken to consider the state our lives are in.

Finals Week is Upon Us!

So as you may know and may have heard, Finals Week is here and imminent, leading to insane amounts of cramming, an obscene amount of coffee consumption, and all nighters all around. While it may be a little bit better for your test grade because it allows you more study time, it is not the best thing for your health. When your body is stressed out, it is more prone to getting sick! And everyone knows that being sick during Finals is the worst. 

"No, Linus, it doesn't have to be. Not with these handy dandy tips!"