One last week till freedom

Alright y'all, it's that time again. Time to take finals and be off into the summer! After a long semester of work I can't say I'm sad about it and I have a feeling you aren't either. I encourage everybody to hold on for just ONE more week and you can claim freedom! Trust me it only makes it more worth it. I'm not going to be in Tyler for the summer, so this will be my last blog post in a while. I wish everyone a fun and safe summer. Live it up!

I won!

This past week has been really awesome. The main reason being it was my 21st birthday, but another really cool reason is this little guy.

Ironically, this little guy's kind of a big deal. After receiving word I was nominated for an award, I attended the UT Tyler Computer Science and Engineering honors banquet on Tuesday. Not knowing what to expect I went hoping to win but if not, then at least enjoying a good meal with friends.

Upon the event finally reaching the Computer Information Systems department, my heart began to beat a bit faster as I listened earnestly. Next thing you know my name is announced for the outstanding junior award and everyone around me is excited. A certificate and a plaque later and I'm the happiest guy in the room. Yea, a pretty big deal after all.

Mondays it is

It's the day of the week I wish not to mention

The day of the week that feels like detention

The day of the week I look at with rejection

What rhymes with rejection, oh yes, injection

The day of the week that feels like injections
Poor day, it receives no affection

Of what day do you think I speak
Of what day could seem so bleak
The day of the week that makes us students squeak
Poor day, always critiqued
But as first of its mates, it is unique
The first day of our week, Mondays it is

Improper Table Manners Needed

After the crawfish boil yesterday for patriot days, I have to say I was quite impressed with UT Tyler’s ability to devour some crawfish. There were however a few stand outs that looked lost with the delicious creatures or some even scared on how to go about eating it. For those special people, I’ve decided to give you a quick guide on how to eat your crawfish. Before you can even eat the crawfish, you have to be prepared, here’s how.

• First of all, the crawfish is dead. It can’t pinch you so please don’t act all afraid.
• Secondly, you can’t eat a plate of crawfish and do it cleanly. If you plan on enjoying it, it will get messy! Get napkins, newspapers, whatever.
• Thirdly, it’s spicy. Please don’t pull a rookie move by having to run back and grab a bottle of cold water to quench the fire. Have it ready!

Now to actually eat the fish.

• Attack the crawfish. Yes, pull the tail from the body
• Next, pry apart the shell and get the tail meat
• Finally, eat the tail and if you choose suck out the juice from the head
• On to the next one

For full details, go here. Now that you’ve been informed, next year please step up to the challenge. No mercy on the crawfish!

Soccer Skills

Went to the soccer intramurals last week and got some footage of it. Here my friend shows off his 'great' goal keeping skills. 

Easter-Sunday-Going-Home-itis

My coworker T.J wrote a blog about Spring-break-itis. Which I think I may be suffering from similar strand. It's Easter-Sunday-Going-Home-itis. The anticipation of going home has made me suffer from a lack of motivation.  The essay that I have due tomorrow seems more like a 500 page essay on the Korean War rather than a 1,500 word essay about my major. The Accounting test I have Wednesday feels like Organic Chemistry final exam. Every little thing I have to do feels like it's so ridiculously hard to do. When it's not. At all. Truth is i'm about 200 words short on the essay with two paragraphs left. The Accounting test will be easy.
.....
Maybe I just need some sleep
that sounds good
actually quite awesome..
I think I'll do that in a couple hours. Yeah. that sounds like a plan.
Bye! zzzzzz

                               

The Blog Team

On-Campus Convenience

Spring Pollen

It's spring time and we all know what that means. Allergy season! Specifically, pollen allergy season! Spring time can cause really bad allergies especially in East Texas where the pollen levels are significantly higher and clearly noticeable even on cars. Whether you suffer from a runny nose, itchy eyes, or sneezing, pollen allergies can make your day and nights horrible. Now it's easy to say just avoid the great outdoors, but when you live in or around it, it's kinda tough to do. So if u suffer from pollen allergies like I do, here's a couple points to help you understand it.

• There are several types of airborne pollen - tree, grass, flower - and you may be allergic to one or more of these
• Histamines are the most common cause of allergies, and reducing this histamine level is needed in order to minimize these symptom

One option is to try an antihistamine i.e claritin, and see what works for you, but the best option is really to just ask your doctor. To learn more information you can click here and avoid the allergy season trauma this year.

Simple Kindness

      Last night, after a nice late meal at Ihop, my friends and I decide to make  a quick Walmart run. This story actually begins at the end of our run as we are loading our stuff into the trunk. A man gets out of his truck and begins to walk toward us. We immediately stop and stare in order to be ready for anything that could happen and as he walks towards us he explains that he's from out of town, has run of gas, and needs some help. My friend who was also about to purchase gas tells him okay and he would help. He didn't want to give him money in case he was gonna use it for drugs or something. He has him pull up to the gas station and buys him enough gas to help him get home as we all stand around to protect just in case. After we bought our gas, we were then on our way.
      The point of this story is to remind everyone how a simple act of kindness can still go a long way. Nowadays most people are reluctant to help others and shy away from people asking for help. This simple act reminded me how much of a significance we can make in people's life by simply helping in a small way; Something people seem to be forgetting lately. It might not even be money but just taking time out to listen to a friend or helping with a task. Hopefully this serves as a reminder to you too.

Spring Break is Over!?

Um time out! Where did the week go? Seriously, spring break is already over? Dandy. Getting up this morning was needless to say unpleasant. It's amazing how one week can utterly erase your sleeping pattern. Upon walking out, I saw my fellow students walking like zombies to their classrooms and soon realized I wasn't alone. This week is in a sense karma. This is the week when you have to get used to getting up early again, going to work again, and also studying for those tests your professors were waiting till after the break to give. Oh yea, real dandy. So when's the next break? Took a peek at the academic calendar and found there's none! Sad I know. Guess we'll spend the next two months gearing up for summer. At least it's nice outside.

CAB Trip

Couple days ago I took a trip to the American Airlines center to watch the Dallas Mavericks play the New York Knicks in a basketball game. The trip was just one of the many activities planned by UT Tyler's CAB (Campus Activities Board). CAB provides many opportunities for students to get involved through entertaining, cultural, educational, and recreational activities on campus. All these all strive to promote student life and unify the campus. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Spring-Break-itis

The week before spring break is always a peculiar one. You're excited to get a week off and wanna blow off doing anything and everything. There's a definition for this by the way, it's called spring-break-itis. Of-course though, professors are always on the prowl to ruin such plans and feel the need to give their last minute test before the break. It's really quite a dilemma. It's hard to process a test when all you can think about is the sunshine hitting your skin on a beach or even chilling at home playing video games and blasting music. But I guess you have to weather the storm before you get to paradise. In the meantime hang in there people.

Guys Turn - Intramurals

In my last blog I showed you footage from the women's intramural game. In all fairness this time I got some footage from the guys game.

Overtime Madness!

Some of my friends were playing in the UT Tyler intramural league, so I decided to check out the ladies final match. A close game, the footage kicks off at the beginning of overtime. A friend and I give you the color commentating. Enjoy!

Information Overload

If there's one thing you should learn through all your years of education, it's how to take a test right? I mean from the TAAS which became the TAKS which is now the STAAR test through your years of school, to the ACT and SAT at the end of your high school, we should be pretty good at test taking by now right? Well that's what I thought. I was wrong. Don't get me wrong, all those years of test taking do help in knowing how to predict tests and also taking it efficiently but there's just no substitute for learning the material. Let me explain further. I'm like the master of last minute test taking. I can cram information quickly and dish it out for an A, but certain professors (like one I have now) try to make sure you don't get away with that. How? Give a 100 question test over 7 chapters. It's times like this I'm glad I paid attention in class and don't have to learn 7 chapters worth of new information in a day. I still however, get to study those 7 chapters. And here I thought it only got easier after the SAT.

UT Tyler Pink Out Basketball Game!

The College Nap

When you're a college student with a hectic schedule, there's nothing more essential than a nap! Naps re-energize you to go into your day and finish out strong. After a morning class, you can nap between classes. Or even after lunch, you can nap before work. Naps, to me, are just as effective as coffee or any energy drink. For example, after staying up till 4am studying for a test today, I woke up, took it at 9:30, and went off to other classes and finally lunch till about 1pm. At this point it was time for a break. My favorite nap spot? The couch! After a 30 min nap I was ready to go to work (well not at first, but a few min after getting up). Depending on the amount of time you have, you can take 30 min naps or an hour or two. Try not to go above as that may ruin your sleeping pattern, but everybody's different. Grab a pillow, a cover, boring background noise, and you're good to go. The only downside, you won't wanna get up at first.

Valentines day? Nope! Valentines Week!

It's Valentines day! The wonderful day of the year when you show your significant other or that crush just how much you care and how special they...ugh...sorry I almost barfed. I like valentines day. Notice I didn't use that other four letter word. But you might ask how could you like valentines day if not for that word? It's really quite simple. Baked goods! Every year around this time, our apartment is filled with candy, cupcakes, cookies and other wonderful junk food. The best part? They're home made and not by me. People, please don't wait for that one day of the year to show someone they matter. Bake cupcakes all year round! But seriously, do it often and you might even find..oh here we go...Love! See I said the word. There's hope for me after all. With that said I'm off not to go celebrate Valentines day, but Valentines week. Cupcakes usually last a while.

Their Evil Plot!

It's been a fun fun day for me! Then again not so much. I already failed my so called New Years Resolution. Remember that blog about staying on top of reading and stuff? Yea well it didn't exactly go the way I planned. Now I thought to myself no worries. I can always read at the last minute and do very well. But it seemed my evil professors found out about my plan and decided to put their tests at the same time period giving me a total of four this week with two on the same day (today). Now you might say why didn't you look at the calendars, but that's beside the point. My professors were obviously out to get me. It's alright though. After my night and day of studying that only included 4 meager hours of sleep, I have wised up to their devious ways and will be better prepared next time. At least I hope.