Mind over Matter

Hi guys!

Been super busy with school, so I haven't posted in a while.  But the fact that I was so busy with school to write a blog post sparked an idea for my newest blog post!

After just freaking out about taking my finals (yay for the quarter system!) and just finishing them a few hours ago, I'm finally on Spring Break!  Since I've entered college, I've realized a noticeable shift in the ideals of students as it pertains to their classes.  All through high school, I was taught that it was more important to understand the information than to get a good grade in the class via memorization.  And that has been my mindset since then and through college so far.  What I've noticed lately is how obsessed college students are with their grades!  The want to know what they got on an exam immediately after they finished, they want to know what other people in their class got right away, they want to know their grade updated to-the-minute, they want to know how much the class will be curved, it doesn't end!

I couldn't tell you how many times I've been asked what I got on an exam by a stranger in my class right after I pick it up.  It's not your business to know my grade, that's between me and my professor.  I just calmly tell these people that I don't discuss grades, and they look at me like I have two heads or get defensive.  I don't need to know what this person got on an exam, why do they need to know what I got?  Because we are being brought up to value our grades above everything else, and to measure our self-worth via a letter, and in my opinion, this is exactly the opposite of how we should be handling education, especially higher education.
Learning should be exactly that, learning.  When I walk into class every day, I shouldn't be thinking about whether or not I need to know a vocab word or concept for the next exam, I should walk into class ready to learn about the topics and ask questions that further my understanding, not my pet peeve: "Do we have to know this for the exam?".

The point is, where is the want for learning in college students?  We are supposed to be the ones who are curious about the world around us and want to understand it, not just take exams, get a grade, and get trapped in a vicious cycle.  Grades are important, they do give us a good idea of how well we understand the information as presented in class through the professor's eyes, but they should be second to understanding the material.  Memorization, and not understanding, has been encouraged, and this has the potential to have a detrimental effect on the next generation of academics.

^just for fun :) here's an image of all the neural networks inside your brain!  Yay science!

That wasn't meant to be so dreary, but I really wanted to make a point.  I'm also considering intermittently blogging about cool and controversial science, so be on the lookout for that.  When you start your next round of classes, please go in with the mindset that you want to really understand the information, don't just mindlessly take notes and them memorize them for the final.  Now go and read something academic just because!  If you would like a suggestion, try http://www.iflscience.com/

Kim  

Time to Get Pretty!

Girls are imprinted with the idea that they have to look pretty from a very young age.  Some girls go to college embracing this, while others reject it.  Both are completely fine ways to live life, but I firmly believe that girls need a few times per year where she can really make herself pretty and pamper herself.  I think it's important to feel pretty!

Being a member of a sorority, we have a formal event every quarter.  I am definitely not one to get dressed up on a normal occasion, or spend more than 30 seconds on my makeup on a daily basis.  But put a formal event within five hours of my future, and I get extremely excited about getting "pretty".  I start prepping my hair the night before, spent over an hour on my hair the day of, and got in a long line to have my makeup done (because I am hopeless at doing my own makeup).

Feeling pretty, while it is not essential for succeeding in life, is a great confidence-booster, and I love seeing girls taking time to make themselves as beautiful as possible.  One of my favorite parts of formals is seeing everyone looking beautiful and happy that they look so beautiful.  It's important to feel pretty!

Some girls put hours into their appearances every day, and it's very important to them to feel beautiful, and that's absolutely fantastic!  Some girls wake up, throw on some mascara and foundation, and that's fantastic too!  But feeling pretty is part of being a girl, especially a sorority girl, and I think it's crucial to see how beautiful you can look to help build confidence!

Thanks for reading!
Kim

Sportsmanship is Not Dead

In honor of the Winter Olympics in Sochi (also, if you haven't followed @SochiProblem) on Twitter, go check that out right now, then come back and read, I've decided to write about sportsmanship.  The Olympics are the world's biggest stage, and the best athletes from every country gather for seventeen days to compete and bring pride to their home countries.  The competition is steep and athletes are under severe pressure, even more so if they've been to an Olympics before and performed well.  What many athletes seem to forget, as well as viewers around the world, is that medaling in the Olympics isn't the sole purpose of the Games.

When Olympic athletes fall, are slow, or in any ways don't get that Gold, so many of them are genuinely pissed that they didn't win.  Now I've played sports all my life and been very competitive in softball and skiing, and I completely understand being pissed at myself for doing playing or doing as well as I know I can, but that frustration in myself only lasts for so long.  And I know that I am not a professional athlete, but I am very hard on myself in any sort of competition, and although I am hard on myself and get frustrated at myself, I still appreciate when someone does better than me.  They may genuinely be better than me, or they may have just had a better day than I did.

What bothers me is, athletes are seen as role models to so many people, especially those athletes wearing the colors of their home countries.  When an athlete is expected to medal and doesn't, some take it with grace, while some become verbally upset and make sure everyone knows how upset they are.  Some 4th place athletes tweet about how pissed they are and make it seem like they deserved a Gold just by showing up to Sochi.  In reality, it all has to deal with the day, the conditions (especially in outdoor sports), and sometimes it's just not your day.

*WARNING.  SPOILERS AHEAD* Watching Shaun White tonight was, as always, incredible.  He was the reigning Olympic champion and the favorite to win again.  Sochi was expected to be his last hurrah, since he will be 31 if he competes in South Korea.  Unfortunately, Shaun didn't medal, he got fourth place.  Fourth place.  That's AMAZING.  Honestly.  Fourth IN THE WORLD.  While most only see accomplishment as getting a medal, finishing fourth place in the world in the Olympics is an amazing feat.  But the best part about Shaun was after he heard his score and knew that he wasn't going to be on the podium and would leave Sochi without a medal, he was excited about fourth place and immediately went to congratulate the Swiss boarder who won.  During his interview, he didn't blame the judges or get pissed, he simply said that "it just wasn't my day".  Even after the interviewer tried to get him to complain about the conditions of the halfpipe to fuel the #SochiProblems rage.  Even when it would have been perfectly acceptable for him to say that it was the conditions' fault and that's why he wasn't able to medal, he didn't complain about the pipe, he said exactly what he should have: "the conditions were the same for everyone".  He should be very proud of a fourth place finish, even though the USA might not be happy with it.

Sportsmanship is not just shaking hands at the end of a game and fake smiling at each other followed immediately by "resting bitch face".  Sportsmanship is trying to be genuinely happy for those who beat you, even though you are upset that you lost.  The Olympics are the world's biggest stage for competition, but it doesn't mean that professional athletes are exempt from the values we were taught since we started the sport.  We started playing sports to have fun and make friends, and even when the competition is as steep as it is in Sochi, we shouldn't forget the values that sports teach us.

Happy Olympics!
USA, USA, USA

Thanks for reading!
Kim

Girls Love Sports, Too!

Girls do, in fact, love sports.  Being a female sports fan, I constantly endure questions about WHY I'm a sports fan.  Is it because I think Dustin Pedroia has a great ass?  Is it because I like Troy Polamalu's Head & Shoulders commercials?  While those things are true (I AM a girl), I love sports just as much as I love anything else.

I will laugh and cry and scream going along with the ups and downs of my teams.  I will yell at my TV, bitch about the refs and umps, and stand in line at obscene hours of the morning to get my championship swag.  But I will also comment on beautiful swings, throws, and catches.  I can name a player's stats at the drop of a hat (mostly) and I will talk to you about my teams' history when we fail to win a championship, but I will also talk about my teams' history when we do win a championship.

My sport is baseball and my team is the Boston Red Sox.  And yes, I am a pre-2004 Red Sox fan :)  I played softball for thirteen years, and I will dissect every play made during a game.  And my VERY close second is football, and my team is the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I didn't grow up in Pittsburgh, but my dad did, so I grew up watching the Steelers and fell in love with the sport.  Also, downhill skiing is one of my favourite sports to watch, and I will be glued to the TV for hours watching and cheering and comparing my skiing to that of the professionals (not very comparable, though).  Also guys, THE OLYMPICS START IN T-MINUS THREE DAYS.

Here are multiple struggles female sports fans know all too well:

Being asked if I'm trying to impress the male population

Having a guy try to explain the game to you after multiple assurances that you know what's actually going on

Two words: PINK JERSEYS

Do I think a lot of sports are violent?  Yes.  Does that deter me from loving them?  Absolutely not.

Keep cheering, female sports fans!  GO SPORTS.

Thanks for reading!

Kim

Welcoming 2014 a bit Late....

Whoops....guess I forgot to post for a while.

I thought I'd start off my first post of 2014 with letting you know about something I love to do: try new things.  I make it a goal to do at least one new thing every year.  It can be something simple to trying a new way of cooking to travel and anything and everything in between.  I thought I'd share some of my previous firsts and make some goals for 2014:

2008 - Decided to start ski racing at the age of 14 (WAY too late in other's minds).  I started at Wildcat Mountain in Pinkham Notch, NH, just starting racing with the oldest kids in the program.  I had my ass absolutely handed to me by everyone in the program, including the 8-year-olds.  I came home after the first day and cried, but I stuck with it through that year in the program, and two years of racing for a regional team, and became a solid middle-of-the-pack USSA skier.  Deciding to ski race was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and it has made me love the sport so much more, and I even coached ski racing for two years before I came to college.

2009 - I played in the Babe Ruth Softball World Series.  But to be honest, I barely played.  I broke my radius and ulna about three days after getting the call that I was on the team that was going to the Series, but I still participated in fundraising.  One of the things I'm the most proud of was when I got bored sitting on the bench with a broken arm, I borrowed one of my coaches leftie gloves (I usually catch with my left hand, and this glove goes on the right hand) and learned to field and throw using only my right hand.  I was outwardly told by my coaches at the end of the year that I had really impressed them, and that moment will stick with me for the rest of my life.

2010 - I went on my first Habitat for Humanity trip.  I and 55 of my high school classmates and teachers DROVE (Yes, drove.  It was about 34 hours) from Concord, NH to Slidell, LA (just North of New Orleans) to volunteer for a week with Habitat.  If you want more info on my work with Habitat, just read the past posts about my trip in December. :)

2011 - I skied in Colorado for the first time and went to New York City for the first time.  Both were absolutely phenomenal experiences I had with close family and friends.  Skiing in Colorado (and visiting colleges) cemented my decision to move out here for school, which is one of the best decisions I've ever made, with the friends I have and the beautiful part of the country I live in.  I also went to NYC for the first and second times within a month of each other.  The second time, I was able to experience the "Occupy Wall Street" phenom in its height, just after leaving a private tour of the floor of the NYSE, which was very eye-opening into the division of the classes in America.

2012 - I WENT GREEK.  I went through recruitment because my dad was Greek, and I never thought I'd love it as much as I do.  I am so thankful to have a family and a home away from home, and I wouldn't replace these girls for the world.

2013 - A bunch of firsts happened for me last year.  I ran my first 5K, the Hot Chocolate 5K, which happened to be on my 20th birthday, and I had some of my sorority sisters come run it with me to celebrate my 20th, and to eat a bunch of chocolate after the race.  Also, I traveled to California for the first time during my Spring Break to whitewater kayak for the first time.  It was a phenomenal experience, but if I can be honest, whitewater kayaking terrifies me.  Which is exactly why I try to do it.  There is nothing that puts into context better your mortality than when you flip a kayak and hit your head in a big rapid.  Being in love with something that scares you is a complicated relationship, but one I'm glad I have.  And I also went snow kayaking for the first time, which apparently is a thing, and I LOVE IT.  The event I was at, Kayaks on Snow, was featured in the 2013 Warren Miller film, Ticket2Ride.  Now that was a great "first".

2014 - Who knows?  I've just applied to study abroad in either Zanzibar, Israel, or Thailand, so we'll see what develops!

I highly encourage everyone to try at least one new thing every year, you never know what could happen!

Thanks for reading!

Kim

A Food Tour of New Orleans

New Orleans is famous for its food, and this foodie tried almost everything on her short stay in the city.  From oyster shooters to jambalaya to gumbo to creole, I took in all the food I could in the historic city.

First, an aside that takes place in Biloxi, Mississippi.  This place is called The Shed, and it is one of the most run-down places I've been to, and I've been to some rough places.  These are the places I love the most, they just have so much character.  If you're on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, definitely check this BBQ place out!  They've been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and they are phenomenal.  Definitely get the Mac Salad as a side, but don't be fussy about the meats because everything's great!  Look at this place!

Once in New Orleans, staying in the city for a few days after my Habitat for Humanity trip, the amazing food tour began.  It of course had to start with Cafe du Monde, when we waited for forever just to eat some beignets and drink some coffee, but it's a fun experience in New Orleans.  The place is so obvious by its huge line and green and white striped design.  

Lunch took us to the Garden District, a rickety trolley ride from Canal Street.  We ate at the best taco place (yes, taco place) I've ever been to.  The name is the Rum House, and it is a Caribbean taqueria, if that seems to make any sense, but it is a great combination at this place.  They have an entire flap of their menu dedicated to different tacos filled with everything imaginable.  To start off, we ordered guacamole with a spicy mango salsa on top with homemade chips.  I had a beautiful combination of three different meats in my tacos: a jerk chicken taco with mango salsa, a flank steak taco with homemade guacamole, and a Carolina pork taco with a spicy salsa.  And no matter what you get for your meal, make sure to get their mac and cheese, it's some of the best I've had!  Not exactly traditional New Orleans food, but fantastic nonetheless!

Here are some pics from walking around the Garden District and then around Jackson Square:

Dinner: Gumbo at the Gumbo Shop.  What else?

New Orleans: A city with fantastic food, expensive and sweet drinks, and hundreds of years of history.  Thanks for reading!

Kim

Down in Mississippi & Up to Some Good

Haven't posted in a while because I've been way down south.  I spent the last week in Gulfport, Mississippi working with Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The trip was run by the University of Denver Greek Life, so girls representing every sorority on campus, and one fraternity went on this trip for some panhellenic philanthropy!  This wasn't my first time working with Habitat, I've worked with the organization twice before in Slidell, Louisiana and Franklin, WV, as well as a few days working with Habitat of Metro Denver.  Probably one of the best things about this trip was the view from the dorms we stayed in.  Check it out!

Yup, that's the ocean behind those trees!  An absolutely beautiful part of the country!  My work site was about 20 minutes from our dorms, where we were meant to rehabilitate a home that was previously owned by a family through Habitat.  We were told that the family had lived there for a few years until a lost job and just the recession in general forced them to move out, and it was our job to restore the home to good-as-new condition so a new family could move in.  The house wasn't exactly in bad condition, it just needed some TLC to get it back up.  Most of our work was painting, putting up baseboards, and caulking (yes, I know how that sounds, the caulk jokes never ceased).  Here are some pics from our first house!

Our second home we worked on was a few blocks away from our first, and in much worse condition.  Just by stepping into the home, it was easy to tell that it was not taken care of.  We were told that some sketchy stuff happened in that home, and we found some evidence that supported that hypothesis.  Door frames and cabinets were lined with packing tape so a smell couldn't get through.  In the back bedroom, there were very obvious places on the ceiling where there would have been an array of lights:

^I'll let you come to your own conclusions about this one.

But being serious, it was really sad to see this house in this condition.  Habitat volunteers, employees, and future homeowners put hundreds of hours into this home, only to have it taken over by what we can only assume was a drug business considering the state of the home.  In the past, I've worked constructing homes and doing finishing work on homes with Habitat, and to see something like this in a home is just heartbreaking.  The owners put sweat equity hours into a home, took classes on financing and maintaining a home, and bought an inexpensive home from Habitat only to turn it into something awful.  This kind of thing does not happen often, but it definitely makes an impact when it does.

Also, on our second to last day, we were interviewed by the local news!  After the opening credits, you can skip to about 8 minutes in to see our interviews.

See the interviews here

Overall, this trip was a phenomenal way to really get to know other members of the Greek community at DU and really do some good in a community still recovering from Hurricane Katrina eight years later.  All the homes along the coast were new, and trees 50 feet high were pointed out to us as being completely submerged after Katrina hit.  Traveling and doing these kinds of trips are real eye-openers into a part of the US I don't really get to see.  I worked for a few hours on the last day of this trip with two future Habitat homeowners, and they were so much fun to work with, always with great attitudes and willing to work hard.  This is why Habitat is such a great organization and why I love working for them.

I realized that a lot of people have misconceptions about Habitat, so to clear a few things up:

• Homeowners do not receive Habitat houses for free.  The homes are very simple and since they are built mostly by volunteers, the cost of the home is greatly discounted since the homeowners are mostly just paying for the materials.  
• Homeowners must take classes on maintaining a home physically and financially, as well as put in at least 150 hours of sweat equity into construction of their home or another Habitat home.  

Here are some more pictures from the trip!

Thanks for reading this super long week wrap-up!

Kim