Thursday, November 20, 2008

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

So!!..lol.
Today has been pretty good...not really a whole lot going on lately...Practicing like Crazy for my women's choir and Christmas concert!!..Good thing I LOVE singing!!!....
I get my grade for my persuasive speech tomorrow. Be praying for me!!!..lol. I really need this grade to be a good one...
Other than that..not much...getting ready for Thanksgiving...o and I've been missing my bestest friend like CRAZY this week...I don't know why..But i sure do miss him!!...
welp. I probably won't get to write again till next week. My women's concert tonight and then Im going home this weekend!!!!

Keep It real!...And Keep the Faith.
Peace out! =)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

That's What's Up! =)

So. Today I gave my persuasive speech!...It honestly wasn't bad at all!!..If I do say so myself...Although I did have some help from my mom so I could get a good grade on it!..lol. But it was worth 500 points althogether!!...that's a lot seeins how we only get about 2000 pts in the whole class!..anyways..I changed the topic of it to The Importance of Parental Review Committees in Public Schools!!!..I will post my outline down below after I finish writing..That way if you want to read it you can..but if u don't want to, u don't have to!!.. =)
Anyways...Next week is Thanksgiving which I am super excited for!!..As I do love to eat!.. But Friday night is our women's choir concert!!...I am looking forward to this very much because a lot of my friends and family are coming to it!..My favorite part would happen to be the song that we are singing in Latin!!!...=) I can sing in Latin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't that so cool!!!!!!
Other than that, not much going on lately.
Ya know, singing, dacning, playing the piano...eating, sleeping, movies, procrastinating homework, and then doing very well under pressure!..pretty much the life of a college student! =) nightey nite!


*************************************************************************************
PERSUASIVE SPEECH


Title: Importance of Parental Review Committees in Public Schools

Proposition of :This is a proposition of Policy because it states an issue, and the solution that should be put into place.

Specific Speech Purpose: To persuade the audience why it is important to have a parental review committee of text books and curriculum in public schools.
Introduction: Imagine as a parent, your child coming home saying that they’ve seen pornography. Not on the street corner or in a store, but rather in one of their classrooms. As a child who went through the public school system, I understand firsthand how difficult it can be to maintain Christian values with opposition of selective school curriculum. Today I challenge you to consider the benefit for a parental review committee of selected classroom materials in public schools.
Transition: These committees are beneficial for not only the child, but the Christian community, and the school district as well.
Body Outline:
I- The children of the schools would benefit from the parental review committee because the curriculum being used would be balanced in what it taught instead of being one-sided.

A- Most public school curriculums involve required reading, where the children do not get to choose what they do and don’t read.
1- According to the website Education Seek, Christian parents prefer sending their kids to private schools because they are almost always in a Christian environment (Christian Schools, Education Seek).
2- The children are able to learn what is needed for life, and handle any situations that are thrown their way.
3- They can continue to grow in their beliefs and further develop their values as Christians.
4- By contrast in the public schools, students are required to complete reading assignments and classroom activities that are selected by a teacher for the entire district.
B- An example of this selection process comes from my life. The summer before my sophomore year, my A.P. English class was assigned a book to read over the break entitled Bless Me Ultima. Being the great, overachieving student I am, I waited till about three weeks before school started to even pick the book up off the floor, let alone start reading it. I got approximately halfway through the book when I began to discover things that I didn’t think I really should be reading. The book was full of witchcraft; not only did it talk about it, but it also gave instructions on how to perform it. I immediately took the book to my parents who, I might add, were infuriated. They then proceeded to take the book to the school board to have it taken off of the required reading list. Long story short, only after about two months, and the backing of approximately 500 parents and people from my church and community did the school board decide to take the book of the list.
Transition: When it comes to their beliefs and values, the Christian community can have a tremendous effect on decisions made within the school district.
II- By involving more Christians, and placing them on the review committee, the Christian community, as a whole, would have more say about what was going on in their local schools.
A- As referenced by their online website, the Technical Journal found that approximately 90% of people surveyed would prefer to have the theory of evolution and the Creation story taught in public school systems (Bergman, "Teaching Creation in Public Schools”).
1-My personal belief goes back to Genesis 1:1 when the Bible states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Bible, Genesis 1:1).”
2-Although my beliefs are of the Creation story, to keep the balance of the curriculum, as stated before hand, the theory of evolution would also have to be at least explained.
B- According to the Constitutional Conflict Website, the evolution vs. intelligent design case controversy in Dover Pennsylvania of 2005 demonstrates the influence the Christian community can have while in the school district. Originally the school only taught the theory of evolution excluding the Creation Theory. The parents took the issue before the school board and it eventually wound up in the state supreme court resulting in a six week trial (Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, The Evolution controversy). The outcome of the trial stated that the biology teachers of Dover High School in Pennsylvania were required to explain Darwin’s theory along with the definition of a theory (Kitzmiller v. Dover). They were also required to say that “Intelligent Design differs from Darwin’s point of view and is an explanation of the origin of life (Kitzmiller v. Dover).”
Transition: That was a result of the public outcry of the Christian community that kept Christian students within the public school system.
III- The parent review committee recommends curriculum which complements the students families morals and values, which ultimately maintains the student population in the district.
A-Maintaining or increasing the student population within the district preserves revenue within the school district.
1- It the students leave because they aren’t happy with the curriculum the revenue decreases and the local economy and community suffers.
B-When interviewed the chairman of the Johnson O’Malley committee for Vinita Public Schools, in Vinita OK, stated that, “The School District received $160,000 in revenue in 2008 due to a 38% Native American student population(Cheryl Crawford, Vinita School District JOM chariman).”
1- If the Native American population were to decrease, because they were not happy with the school curriculum, the amount of money, received by the school, would decrease as well.
Transition: By installing a parental review committee, the curriculum in the school would be made satisfactory to everyone.
Conclusion: Today you have heard why the parental committee would be beneficial for the students of the public school system, how the committee could have a positive effect on the Christian community and how the parent group would support the school’s district by maintaining the student population. As young men and women of God, in the future, please consider implementing or serving on a parental review committee within your public school district to maintain the beliefs and values that we hold as Christians.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Speech!

Ok. So I really hate to public speak..I can, and for the most part I do a good job, but I hate to!...
But I did really well on my Informative speech, and now we are working on our Persuasive Speech. Im really excited to get to do this speech beacuse I have picked an interesting topic; The Importance of a Nucular (spelling?) Family...basically why a divorce is destructful...
I havent spent very much time researching-only about an hour so far-and already I've found a bunch of information; a lot coming from James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family. I love this organization because they give a Christian view/advice/perspective on everything.
Anyways, that's a sneak peek of my persuasive speech.
We also recently had an Oral Comm. test..(Oral Communications=Speech)..and I got a 94 on it!!!!!!!!!!!!! =) ...that made me VERY VERY VERY happy!!


SO now. Im doing nothing. Sitting in my dorm room, procrastinating more research, debating wether or not to take a nap, and wondering what time I should go eat.
Yes. I guess you could say, the life of a college student.
God Bless. =)

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Thanksgiving!!!!!

SO!!..my friend Krystine's family is going to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving...and they called her and told her to buy a ticket so she could go too...They also said that it would be ok if she were to invite me if she wanted!!..
SOOOOO!!!!!!!!...Im going to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!!!!..Im so excited!..That's one of the states that I've never been too!...

anyways!..
nothing else really
gettin ready to fix my schedule for next semester..and then some homework
...just the life of a college student!! =)

Monday, November 10, 2008

A Rainy Day..

So today has been a VERY rainy day...all I wanted to do was climb under the covers and watch movies...unfortunatly I had class!!!...It was also VERY cold outside today...which isn't good. If it keeps on raining, and the temperature continues to drop, it will start snowing!!!!!..That's not really what I want to do with my weekend... =/
Anyways. Not much is happening around here. I went Blues Dancing last night..I am growing to love it more and more which seems impossible!!!!!...and one of the really good guys and girls thought I was doing excellent, which was super exciting to hear!!.. =)

So I talked to my dad about changing majors...Right now Im majoring in Worship Arts...but I've been thinking and praying about Psychology for about 3 weeks to a month now...I find human behavior very interesting, and It's been on my heart a lot lately. Im going to get a degree plan sheet on Wednesday so I can reorganize my schedule for next semester. I will have to take a foreign language, and Im going to take French...im so excited about this!!.I've wanted to learn French for a LONG time...I think it is such a pretty language...

Anyways, not much else going on...Eat, Sleep, Go to class, Dance and Homework...pretty much the life of a college student!! =)

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Around campus...






So here are a few pictures around campus. I don't have very many right now, but will try and take some more sometime soon. The campus is so beautiful, although they are doing a lot of construction around here at the moment. The picture on the left is of the Timko Barton (T.B.) building. This is the music building where most of my classes take place. The picture below on the right is of the Prayer Tower, which is in the background, and the T.B. again. And the picture below on the left is of T.B. while walking from my dorm.

Anyways. Life is great. I went Blues Dancing last night!!..It was so much fun!. I love to dance, and have a new passion for it...I want to dance all the time now... In fact we are going again tonight, and probably tomorrow night as well!!.. =)

It's a lot of fun when you get a guy who actually knows how to dance..They make you feel like you know what you are doing...and they make you look good!...

In other news..(this is a little late)...we have a new president-elect...Barak Obama..hmm. Im not exactly thrilled with the outcome..(I voted for Senator McCain)...but I know that God is in control..He will take care of his people...although I don't like the fact Mr. Obama won, the Bible says pray for your leaders...so that's what I continue to do....And I am alive to see history made...an African American president...that's pretty exciting... One of the teacher's found a quote that describes the situation well... "Rosa sat so Martin could walk. Martin walked so Barak could run."..it refers to Rosa parks not giving up her seat on the bus...so Martin Luther KingJr. could walk for peace/equality....so Barak Obama could run for president.

Anyways..the first basketball games are today...So I better get going..they start pretty soon..then Blues Dancing!....

P.S. GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =)

Friday, November 7, 2008

Playing Catch-Up!!

Well!! Hey There!!..It's been a while hasen't it??!!!...
So much to talk about, so I better get started!!...

Hmm. What's been happening lately?..O yes...I am in full fledge swing of College Mode!!..Im attending ORal Roberts University and I absolutly LOVE it!!!....It's so much fun...I've made so many new friends...everyone here is so nice...It's absolutly amazing to be in a Christian environment 99% of the time!!...Most everyone is here because they WANT to be...not because they have to be...Anyways...right now I'm majoring in Worship Arts, or learning to be a praise and worship leader....but i've been thinking heavily recently about changing my major to Psychology, and minoring in Worship Arts...I don't know how to explain it, but lately I've had psychology on my heart...now I'm still praying about it, and

I have to talk to my dad...but IDK...it could be...

The past 6 months have been crazy...as you may recall back in May, a month before my BDAY exactly, my grandmother passed away...It was so heartbreaking, and I still miss her terribly..some days, to be honest, I really don't know what to do.... But I continue to lean on God...He is helping me make progress, and a hope that keeps me going is that I will get to see her again Someday!!..Which makes me so excited...It is so much different living without her...whenever I think about anything, somehow it always drifts back to my memories with her...They were so good. And I love to think about her. She was so sweet, Loved everyone, and was so precious....

..And then.. In July, I found out my mother moved out of the house, (She moved out while I was @ camp.)...This was devastating as well. Growing up in a home with both your parents in the same home all your life, and then all of a sudden them getting a divorce....WOW...but I knew it was coming...My relationship with my mother is not well at all. In fact this past summer..right after I graduated....Our relationships status was so bad, that If my grandmother would've been alive, I would've moved in with her in a heartbeat and stopped talking to my mother....and my father would've been ok with it...Boy would she be disappointed with my parents if she was here today!!...anyways..Im working through this...MY HOUSE...I still consider to be where my dad live..because it is MY HOME...and my mothers house is just my mother's house. It's still so hard to deal with the divorce factor right now, that I can not consider my mother's house, my home as well....but gradually God is dealing with me...and my heart...
So we will not dwell on these things right now...


As for some crazy awesome new skills I've learned while @ college....
..well. My youth pastor and friends say that they can see a difference in my piano skills, and how they've improved... yay!!! =)
..AND!!..I've learned how to dance!!..SWING DANCE!!!...it's so awesome!!..I've learned 2 versions of swing...Lindy Hop and East Coast Style Swing...I've also learned a Blues/Tango fusion, and to Blues Dance....which I'm doing tonight!!! =)

As for my school work..overall, it's pretty easy...
Oral Communications is my least fav. class, and I am working hard to bring up my grade!!..In fact I have a test in an hour, that I've been studying for all week!!...

well, Ill put some pictures of the campus and stuff on here soon!!..ttyl!! =)
Keep the Faith and God Bless!