Patrick

Finally Finals

2009-05-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I'm about half way done studying for my last two finals that I have tomorrow. In less than 20 hours I'll be done with classes and just waiting for graduation.

I'm typing this one in a hurry since it is 9 PM already and I'm not sure where the time went. I'm about to go eat with some friends and then study till my test tomorrow. I might make it to bed. The other day I was trying to think back to where many of you are now and how I prepared for college. I had no idea what I wanted to do and really I was pretty disinterested in even going to college. Something I did was talk to my teacher, get on the schools web page, take those test that are supposed to tell you what you might enjoy doing as a profession. The schools web page has a lot of information that can help you find a major, and if that doesn't work it is never too early to head to the career services department and check have a chat with them.

It's cool if you already know what you want to do, but I recommend branching out a little bit.

If you look on Lauren and Erin's blog you can see the video from the rave they had in the library the other night. It reminds me of the streaker that ran through my sophomore year, which was more random than the rave, but had the same effect.

-Patrick

2009-04-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, school became a little hectic right after spring break. Spring break provided a much needed rest, but I also had to study for a couple of test and write a couple of papers that I had due the week we came back from the break. We also had a couple of races in the following weeks which provided some good excitement.

We had a race in Tuscaloosa at that other university which is located down there, which we won't name, but after some very successful races we decided to stop for a good dinner and when leaving the restaurant this is what the sky looked like. We should have known that the storms were about to be real bad but we had a long drive ahead of us which was soon broken up due to the tornado's that were reported on the radio. We took precautionary measures and got off the interstate and took shelter in a Wal-Mart. If you have every been in a Wal-Mart during a tornado warning then you know that they lock down the store and require everyone to hang out in the middle of the store until the storm has passed, so needless to say this added an extra two or three hours onto our trip and made for a very long weekend.

The following weekend I participated in a fund raiser for the Cocke County High school football team. We had no idea what we were getting our selves into except that the race was entitled " The Navy Seal Extreme Challenge". I got third in my age group and ninth overall, but it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but I definitely plan on participating next year.

This past weekend we had the SIRA race here in Oak Ridge which is one of the largest races of the season. We had beautiful weather on Saturday but Sunday was nothing but rain and I am just now starting to feel as if I am not sick.

You're probably asking yourself when I have time to get my work done, but I'm telling you all this I guess to help you understand that even when you are in school and seem busy, you can always find time to do extracurricular activities, and I actually recommend it so that you are not burned out on school and you are able to focus better when it comes to school work.

It's coming down to the end of the school year with finals approaching quickly and, for myself, graduation. I'm pretty excited. For the seniors in high school that may be reading this they are faced with the same experiences but are also looking at where they want to attend college. Juniors in high school are also probably looking into where they want to attend. Over spring break I visited a couple of more schools and the travels with the rowing team have taken me to other schools that are quite different than UT. I have to say that I am very glad that I chose to attend UT. People say that "Oh, UT is just so large, there is not way that I could go there." But as I visited other schools that are considerably smaller than UT, I realize just how grateful I am that I went here. There is always a lot of activities going on and never a shortage of new people around to meet. As large as the campus is I am constantly running into people that I know which can be attributed to either the activities that I am involved in or the people I have met in my classes.

As large as the campus is, it quickly starts to feel compact and friendly. If you are in the position of choosing between different schools, take the time and opportunity to visit the campus and talk to those that have gone there if possible. Try not to make a decision based off of the schools catalogues alone. Keep in mind that everyone has a different experience and views things differently. I will have to say though, that I would not trade in my time here at UT for anything. The valuable education that I have received culminated with the nonexchangeable life experiences helped prepare me for what lies ahead. If I hadn't chosen to go onto law school, I know that I would be prepared for whatever else I wanted to accomplish.

You always here that you should get to know your professors and a good example of why is found here in these tough economic times. As a senior my friends are graduating and looking for jobs and you hear tons of stories of how their professors have helped them with job contacts and good letters of recommendation. Here at such a large school you may think that you are just another face in the crowd but I know this not to be true, your professors will take that extra time to get to know you and help you when you need it. Recently my friend who has transferred here to UT this past semester is not doing so well in one of his classes but he visited his professor during office hours, and, in his own words, "Man, he helped me so much, I should have been going to his office hours all semester."

I don't want you to think that since the university is so large that the professors can't or are unwilling to help you with your work. If you don't understand the material professors are able and willing to help you, their TA (if they have one) is there to help you, and there are plenty of other sources here on campus that provide extra help if you need.

Now I need to go write this paper for art history and maybe get a head start on some of my finals that are quickly approaching. As I come into my last couple of weeks of college I can't help but think of all the good times that I have had and all the things that I've learned. I was thinking just last night that I felt the same way after high school and that life really can be a large cycle repetition, just with different scenes. One of the biggest things I've learned lately, not just with myself but from seeing others and their experiences in college, it's important to remember why you are here and to remember what your priorities are. You'll have time to do everything, just take it in stride.

-Patrick

2009-03-04T11:02:00.000-08:00

The weather is finally starting to change for the better, and I like it. I had an Art History test today, I'm pretty sure it well. Unfortunately I skipped my Religious Studies class today in order to study for it, and I believe it was a wise decision. I rarely skip class, and I don't condone it, but sometime it is a must.

We have spring break in a week and a couple of days. I just have to take two more tests and write a paper before that. and I have a test and a paper after spring break. but I'm still looking forward to spring break even though I'll have work to do during it. I could just push it off till that next week, but I may be doing a triathlon that last weekend of spring break, but maybe not.

Over spring break, I don't plan on doing too much. the rowing team usually goes on a training trip but this year it was going to be too expensive so we're not going anywhere. We could obviously stay here in town and train, but it would only be half-hearted, so we're not going to. So I'm looking forward to going home for the week since I don't get to make it home very often, but I am planning on visiting a couple of law schools over the break, so that should be fun.

As we get closer to the end of the school year, which also means graduation, I'm getting more excited. There was a time when I thought I would never make it to the point of graduating. So I'm here to tell you that it is possible to find a major that you enjoy and be able to graduate. It's a determination that must come from within you. Just like a coach can not coach effort, a teacher can not teach the will to succeed. I know that sometimes it is hard to find that will to study and work hard, but when you know what you want to do afterward college and have a goal to work towards, it becomes much easier. so stick with it.

-Patrick

Still hanging around

2009-02-10T18:05:00.000-08:00

Preface: I wrote this over a week ago, Monday Feb. 2. I was unable to post it immediately though because either the UT server would not accept it or Blogger's server would not accept it. That is why you'll find some references that are out of place. i.e ground hog day.

As I walked out of my house this morning I realized that the winter weather is still hanging around, which is probably appropriate since today is groundhog day. I wonder if he saw his shadow? When I say that the winter weather was still hanging around I mean that it was snowing like crazy pretty much all day.

This past weekend we had a rowing competition in Chattanooga. It's an annual event and is always accompanied with anxiety. It's an indoor competition and as you can probably guess rowing indoors on the machines is no where as fun as rowing outside. It is also more of an individual competition but on the team relay portion we came in second, so I was happy to get a silver medal, but we missed first by about two seconds. I feel we represented the school well.

When I got back in town late Saturday it had been brought to my attention that in my previous post, which I feel was pretty bold for my blogs, that I had some "factual" errors. I would consider them more technical errors than factual, but really they go hand in hand. But, as you could probably tell from the previous post, I'm not going to make bold statements from no where. I tried to place sources where possible in the post, I hope you can see them, they are the highlighted links on the page.

The first error that I want to talk about, and one that I feel is the most important, is the section about the bonuses that are being awarded to certain employees. I said that the bonuses were going to be awarded to teachers who had helped raise money for the university. I waited to make this post till today so that I could get to campus and find a paper from Friday. So after looking around extensively and digging a paper out of the recycling bin, I found one. And here is what the article says:

"Amid belt-tightening and possible layoffs, the University of Tennessee still plans to pay nearly $416,000 in bonuses to 202 employees who woo alumni and donors. The bonuses are for raising $184 million in donations in 2006, surpassing the year's goal by $9 million and putting UT $44 million ahead in a seven-year schedule to raise $1 billion by the end of 2011."

It goes on to say that they university intend to honor the commitment for 2008 but the incentive program is currently suspended and under review pending economic factors.

What was brought to my attention is that the incentives are not necessarily for teachers, but for staff who are employed with the sole purpose of raising money for the university. I don't have a problem with corporate incentives, it gives employees a reason to work harder and it has apparently worked. And as I said in the last post, $416,000 really isn't that much compared to the full amount that they had raised, but still, that money could be used for much needed teachers.

Now, the reason I said that this was more of a technical error in my view than a factual error is that the article says "employees" which is left to the reader to interpret as to what kind of "employee" it is. So I probably jumped the gun and asserted that teachers were the ones receiving these bonuses, in reality it is the "employees" of the university, those with they job of fundraising. Whether or not they hold teaching positions, I don't know. They probably don't. If they do, it's sure to be a very small percentage of those 202 that are to receive the bonuses.

The other factual error that was brought to my attention was when I said the university had been rated by the Princeton Review as the best value in college education. If you had clicked on the link that I provided you would have read that the University of Tennessee had been selected as "one of the best values in college education". I think where I got the terminology wrong was that the school news paper said that UT was the only public school in Tennessee to make the list and was the best value in Tennessee. I wanted to link that article but I could not find the article from the school news paper. Regardless though, the University of Tennessee is worth the money, as of now.

While on the Princeton Review website the other day I was reminded of the bad, and in my opinion, unworthy reputation that UT has received as one of the more non-beautiful campuses. As I was walking across campus today and seeing everything covered in snow, I just didn't see that. And I realize that snow has that ability to make everything prettier, but even without snow I still think campus is nice looking.

I consider UT's campus as an eclectic mix of architecture and landscaping. There are buildings from many different eras of architecture which together gives you something interesting to look at with every turn. The grand Neyland Stadium can dominate your view from many locations and the hills provide a rolling land scape. The trees that surround campus provide plenty of shade and are really nice with the changing of seasons as the leaves begin to change.

People say that there is not enough green space, and I agree, we do not have much, but I consider this as a sign that the university has taken advantage of their resources and have used what land they have rather than spending money on more land. Being on the rowing team and also just the fact that I travel often, I've seen quite a few campuses. Probably the nicest campus I have seen is the Clemson's. They have some rolling hills with plenty of green space and are right on the river as UT is. Sure this is nice, but what good is it? More grass that has to be mowed? (Which equates to more expense for the university.)

When making your decision to come to UT, don't let it come down to the beauty of the campus and what others have said. I know people that have left decision to much more arbritrary details. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you can find it if you really look for it. Also, does it really matter? The campus is located in the downtown portion of a thriving metropolis, at least I consider it a metropolis. It's a great school as the Princeton Review has told you already, and how the campus looks doesn't have anything to do with how much you learn.

With all that said, I've got to start doing some homework before it becomes too late. I want to apologize for the errors I made in my previous post, but with the articles that I cited you can read and decide for yourself. That's the good thing about an opinion, (take for example the campuses beauty), in the end, my informed opinion really isn't worth too much more than your informed opinion. But I want to give you the facts first.

-Patrick

Where does it go?

2009-01-30T11:02:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late getting around to writing this post, but I have some good reasons for this delay:

When I first got this gig of writing this blog the other students and I had to sign a "contract", and included in that stated that we agreed not to write while we were mad. So I had to wait a few days, and I've just had a couple of busy weeks here at the start of the semester.

But you're probably asking yourself, why was I mad. You may not be though... but I'm going to tell you regardless. I was mad because of the University of Tennessee. It had just come out that UT had been named the best value in college education. Princeton Review. But I was having a very hard time seeing this, a very hard time. I had finally finished buying all my books that I spent A LOT of money on, which isn't unusual and is just part of coming to college, you have to buy books and for some reason they are really expensive. I just hate it when teachers assign books that they wrote which they receive royalties for... I try my best to always buy my books online, even if they aren't cheaper I like knowing that I did not give anymore money to the university. But while buying these books I saw that the "list price" on Amazon of $103.00 was the same price the book was being sold for in the bookstore on campus. After seeing this my disdain for the campus bookstore become a little bit less. When it comes to selling books at the end of the semester, you can't beat selling them to a friend or on the Internet compared to the bookstores.

But not only did the mass amounts of money I was pouring out make it seem like the price of my education was ever higher, the university had just announced a new budget plan which was a drastic change than the normal raising of tuition. Those in charge thought that it might be a good idea, and good fiscal policy, to cap the tuition at 12 hours. This means that the tuition you paid for would only cover the minimum 12 hours and anything after that you would have to pay extra for per credit hour. To put that into perspective, I'm taking 18 hours this semester, most students take 15 or 16 hours. The minimum graduating requirement is 12o hours for most majors, which means there is no way to graduate in eight semesters (four years) so either way you would be paying grossly extra for your education. The Art and Architecture department put out a flier to inform their students that they could be paying roughly an extra $3,000 since they normally have to take about 20 hours a semester. While all this was happening I cold not help but think of a long list of things to write about:
1) First of all, I don't see how the university would be keeping with their "Best Value" standing by, in my view, gouging the students
2) I understand that the athletic department of the university is a separate entity and that they can do with their massive amounts of money as they see fit, but without the university there would be no athletic department. (As I'm walking across campus I was hearing the construction noise of the rumored $80 million addition/renovation to the football stadium. The UT president is predicting a $66 million dollar budget cut from the state...) Though I don't know the exact amonts of the renovations, I, and many others, feel that the athletic department could give back to the school a little more than their usual general scholarship donation.
3) And I guess lastly, will my kids be able to afford to attend college? I sure am glad I'm getting out while I am.

In the school newspaper today there was an article saying that the plan to cap tuition had been removed from the list of options, which is a huge relief, especially for those that are still in school now. To me though, and this is my personal opinion, just having the idea to take drastic measures such as that is not constructive. Here at the university we have some of the best economic and business minds in the world and it astonishes me that they can't come up with someway to save a massive amount of money.

This article used to be on the front page of the schools web page, it's a creative way to save money in my opinion. It gave me the idea that I would like to propose to President Peterson. The university should field ideas from the student body to find new ways to save money, and in return the students that come up with the best ideas to save the most money can receive a break in tuition for one semester, or two.

In the paper today was an article informing the public that the university was going to award $416,000 dollars in bonuses to teachers who had been able to "woo" donors enough to help with the fundraising drive. I can't help but think that some of these professors are also the ones who already make a great deal of money. There is a really interesting web site you should check out. And then check out the extra links, such as this one(scroll down to page 4 of the pdf, 35 of the book, and you'll see the average salaries for teachers. Notice how the average salary of the Business Department isn't even rivaled by another department except for the Law school which is somewhat of it's own entity. Go a couple more pages and you'll see the raise in tuition over the years. 19% since I started school.) Check this one, it's just plain interesting, not fiscally though. But this one too. Scroll to page ten of the file and check out the disparities in the salaries of male professors to those of their female counterparts.

I realize that by offering high salaries to be a professor you can attract the best individuals out there to be a educate the student body, but is it necessary to have an average salary for a business professor of $100,000+.

Today the students of UT received a letter from the president of the university, John Peterson. You can see it here on Jessica E's blog. Notice the last paragraph that Mr. Peterson wrote:

"Today's economy presents challenges to all of us. We will have to make sacrifices, but we are determined to position ourselves to be a stronger University once this economic crisis is over."

Mr. Peterson, I have to ask, who is making the sacrifice by handing out $416,000 in bonuses to teachers who "woo" donors? I believe it is shared by the teachers who will unfortunately be laid off because of the economic situation of the state, and also the students who will have to sit in larger classes due to the fewer teachers available. That $416,000 dollars is to be split between 202 faculty members which equates to $2,059.41 per person, if each one gets an equal share. But how many teachers salaries could that $416,000 save. Per year probably, 6 of your average assistant professors, unless they are in the business department and then it's only four... And I understand that you have to look at the long term, not the short term, so that money could pay one business professor's salary for four years or one assistant professor's salary for six years. Is putting that money in a savings account an option?

My point is, Mr. Peterson is correct, we have to make sacrifices, but should it be the education of the students that is sacrificed.

When I was asked to write this blog at the beginning of the fall semester, I was told to tell of my experience here at UT and let people know why they should attend the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. I don't want you to think that you should not come to school here at the University of Tennessee, you should. Despite what is going on, it is still a great school and you will receive an excellent education. For the high salaries you really do receive instruction from very smart individuals. My public finance professor is a world renowned economist who instructs states and foreign countries on their tax structure. You can regularly see him on the news.

I'm a political science student and the only poli sci class I have this semester is taught by a man that could inspire someone that doesn't have an inkling of inspiration to be involved in politics to get up and change the world. How you change it though is left up to you. By saying that I mean I've never had a professor try to influence me one way or the other on their views. That's just my experience though. I noticed this most though in my business ethics class where the teacher made sure we read a plethora of articles on each side of the argument. He himself was in high demand which we came to realize when for class one day we participated in an online debate that he was invited to by the pharmaceutical industry. He debated, we listened.

My point is, UT is a great university, but take the time to know what is going on and where your money is being spent. I think one of the main reasons the tuition cap was taken off the list of proposals was because of the outcry from students. The university is just like the federal government, your voice will be heard if you take the initiative to be heard.

-Patrick

2008-12-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I posted, I'm sorry about that. I went home for thanksgiving which was nice and then we came back and got started on finals right away. I usually enjoy finals because i enjoy the pressure of having to study hard and what not, but this year not so much. I spent a lot of study time in the law library. It's nice in there because it's guaranteed to be quite and you'll find a spot to study. The students on campus that generally don't go to the library on a regular basis pack the main campus library, so it's usually really loud or you just can't find a place to study.

A couple of years ago we were studying for finals on the main floor of the library one night and a streaker ran through. It was pretty hilarious.

All in all I think that this semester went pretty well. I feel that I let myself down grade wise, but then again the new minus grading system that UT has installed is somewhat of a bummer. I'm still trying to figure out the logic behind the whole thing.

It's pouring down rain here in Knoxville which is good because we need the rain, but the rain makes it a pain to have to walk across campus. You always need to remember to check the weather before you head to class to make sure you dress appropriately, but please, whatever you do, don't carry an umbrella. Wear a raincoat, their nice and there is much less of a chance that you poke someones eye out.

The weather men are calling for snow for tonight, I'm not worried about it snowing here in Knoxville, but as I try to drive home tomorrow the snow may be a hindrance. But I'm glad it is finally winter time and that it might actually snow. My friend who attends LSU said they had six inches of snow this morning. Is it me, or does snow in New Orleans and Baton Rouge seem like the opposite of global warming.

As I go into my last semester of school, which seems hard to fathom, I'm pretty excited, but at the same time apprehensive. I have yet to hear back from any of the law schools that I have applied to on whether or not I have been accepted. I plan on applying to more over Christmas break. I feel like I've come a long ways since freshman year when I was on the verge of dropping out and now I'm not only about to graduate, but I'm hoping to continue school for another three years. When you go to college try and remember to keep an open mind and look for possibilities that you may not have considered before.

Have a good Christmas and stay warm

Finally

2008-11-26T07:27:00.000-08:00

Last week was pretty busy for me so I didn't get around to posting. And these next couple of weeks may be even busier, so it may be a little longer till I post again. With finals coming up I go into ultra study mode and don't get around to much else.

This past week I had a test and a 12 page paper due on Thursday. By Wednesday afternoon I only had three and half pages finished, but no worries, I finished the paper with plenty of time to sleep and make it to class. And I got a pretty good grade on the paper.

With finals coming up I've already begun studying for my History final, it's open book and open note, but that doesn't mean that it'll be easy. If anything it'll be even harder. My other finals will be somewhat difficult, and I need to do well on them, but not as well as I need to do on my history final. My freshman year we had two study days before finals started. A study day is where there are no classes or tests, but starting my sophomore year we only have one study day. Personally I think that's lame.

I really don't have too much to talk about right now. Not much has been going on since school is starting to wind down and the pre-finals papers/tests are taking place. Basketball season has started up which is always nice. The Lady Vols lost the other night... shocking. The football team beat Vandy, pretty exciting, I hope we can get past Kentucky.

My friend James was in town the other night and he talked our other friend Zac into eating a spoonful of Cinnamon. If you don't know, it's one of those things that your body won't allow you to do, but Zac thought he could accomplish this task.

As you can see, Zac was getting rid of the cinnamon and james was cleaning up the spilt cinnamon. A pretty funny attempt.

Well boys and girls, I'm headed home for Thanksgiving. My brothers and their wives are headed home as well. It'll be a fun time. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by. This is why you should come to UT, you have so much fun and it is so enjoyable, time just flies by.

Once Again

2008-11-11T21:17:00.001-08:00

Here I sit once again at the library in the early morning hours tyring to make up lost time studying. I guess I don't have to be here, this paper is not due until next Thursday, but I would like to have some idea of where I am headed with it.

I have not had the chance to post for a while because I have been pretty busy and also I have had some technical problems with the computer and what not. Luckily UT provides a very good technical support group called OIT that is beneficial when you need them the most. I took the comp in this morning when I had some free time and they had it fixed for me in a matter of minutes. It was very reassuring.

Rowing is over for the semester and in a way it is sad, but mostly I'm glad because now I have a good deal of free time. Really rowing doesn't take up that much time, I just do not use my free time wisely. Mainly I put off studying as much as possible. To be honest, I'm writing this while I should be looking up sources for my paper. But we ended the rowing season on a very good note, we won two of our last races and one of them was the second largest race of the season. The first largest race of the season is the same weekend as a race that we host so we do not get to attend that one.

This is a picture of our winning varsity boat. It was a good feeling.

Now on to a complaint that I have. I feel that it is a pretty common one. I can not tell you how many times I'll be sitting in the library and someone will come sit down near me, and when I say near me I mean it could be as far as 50 yards away from me, and I can hear the music that is playing on their ipod even though they are using ear phones. I bring this up because the library is dead quite right now, except for this girl and her unnecessarily loud music. If I can hear it, surely she can hear it.

So since my last post a lot has happened: basketball season has kicked off which is always fun, Phillip Fulmer was relieved of his duty, and the country elected a new president.

I say that Fulmer was relieved because I highly doubt that he stepped down on his own, but he might have... I know that some people draw conflict with his pay out, but I say more power to him. The good thing about a free market society is that you can use it to your advantage, and if he found a way to succeed, good for him. But I'm glad to know that my tuition is not going to pay his salary, not because the team did not do so well this year, but because I want that money to go towards the facilities that matter most.

Mr. Obama was elected president. This was the first election that I was able to participate in. Unfortunately I have not been able to participate in any of the local elections due to me being out of town all the time, which is sad because, in reality, they mean more than the presidential elections. But I did take the time to drive home and vote in the election. I hope everyone took the time to vote if they were eligible and that they took the time to make and informed decision, which is the most crucial step in voting.

It is now 12:35 AM and I need to get some work done. So I'll get off here. In the next few weeks I have this paper to turn in and then finals. Exciting times.

-Patrick

One more down

2008-10-31T12:08:00.000-07:00

It's another Friday which means that's one more week of school down and something like 3 or 4 weeks of school left. It sounds great that the semester is almost over but when you really think about it thought of being that much closer to graduating is daunting. I am hoping that I will have my law school applications sent out by the end of next week. I'm planning on sending the one for UT in later today, I just need to revise one of my essays.

The rowing team has a race this weekend down in Chattanooga, we're headed out later this afternoon. I'm pretty excited for it but it'll be nice when the season is over so that I can have some extra time to do other things. We had a race this past weekend which we won. It was pretty exciting. I had a good video of it but due to some technical difficulties I can't upload it. Maybe I can get it up here next week.

After the race I went to the UT/Alabama game. Even though we lost, it was pretty fun. This is the first year that students have had to pay for tickets, usually it was free for students to attend the football games. Even though we are loosing this year and we have to pay, it is always fun to go to the games, but sometimes its also fun just to hang out and watch it on TV.

I have a paper due Monday... which I finished already. And then I have a test Tuesday and Wednesday. It wont be too bad, but I definitely need to study for the test on Tuesday.

As I said I would do, I'll relate a little bit about my college career so you can have a better understanding of what it's like.

When I was a freshman, I had no desire to be here. My parents and I came up for orientation the summer before my freshman year and I was dreading school starting more and more. My mom, as only a mom cold, was able to tell that I was not enjoying myself. We were sitting in the UC and she was asking if I really wanted to go to school or not and even suggested that I could take a year off and just work before I went to college. I thought about that for about a minute and then decided that was definitely a bad idea. If given that chance I would probably not return to school at all, and given the chance to take a year off, I would still make the same choice.
Even though I did not want to come to school, I knew I needed to. It was almost Christmas break in my freshman year and things were not going well. My disinterest in school was affecting my grades and I was struggling to make friends. I thought about dropping out and returning home to attend MTSU, but I didn't want to give up. I came back for my spring semester and made an effort to get involved here at school. Part of which was joining the rowing team.
This was by far the best decision I could have made. I now thoroughly enjoy school and realize that it's incredibly easy to make friends even on such a big campus. My advice is to not miss the chance to say hello to someone your standing next to. You never know if that will make their day brighter and could very well make yours brighter as well.

"Why didn't I bring a jacket..."

2008-10-22T08:44:00.001-07:00

(Before I get started, (I was going to put this at the end but I should probably do it before hand,) the way write a "blog", which to me isn't a term I care for, is I basically talk about whats on my mind or more or less what I've been up to. It's not rambling, but I want to make it like a conversation. So if it seems random to you, I'm sorry, just imagine someone sitting around "chewing the fat" with you. I do have another "blog" that I use to keep up with my old friends that are dispersed around the country/world, and that's why I have the syle I do. Just imagine we're friends already.)

The title of this post is what I said as I was walking to my class this morning and wondering why I did not bring a jacket to campus with me. Sometimes I don't mind toughing it out cause I don't like having to keep up with the jacket while sitting in class because, when you are sitting in one of those single desks you don't really have much to do with your jacket. Yesterday though, I actually utilized the coat racks that every class in the Humanities building has, for the first time in my college career.

I can't remember if I have talked about this or not, but this semester I have been putting off studying until the night before or maybe two days before a test. For one test I put it off until midnight one day and I was so tired from rowing practice I couldn't really study. I know I talked about that. If you don't know by now, preparation really pays off. I know that already, I just don't listen to myself. Haha. Anyways, I was up until 4 A.M. studying for a test I had yesterday (Tuesday), which is the class I had in Humanities. I'm pretty sure I did well on it. We had a take home portion which was a six page paper/essay and then I wrote two, four page essays in class. But I have to say that I enjoy essay tests much more than multiple choice tests.

Moral of the story is study often, study early, and study hard.

On campus they often have lectures and forums you can go to for free, and I strongly recommend everyone to try and attend one occasionally. It's really great because at a university such as this there are so many things you can get involved in and since UT is so large and well known they can generally attract very well known individuals in any particular field of study. So no matter what you are interested in there is something for you. Last night there was a political lecture which I was unable attend because of practice, but some of my friends went and they said it was amazing. But just be aware of things you can become involved in.

I went to the game this past weekend, which I probably should not have gone to because I was so sick this past week. After fall break I came down with a horrible cold which kind of felt like I was getting the flu, but it wasn't thank goodness. I was able to not miss class but I did get to sleep a lot because of it. I'm generally not the mid day sleeper kind of guy. Napping basically. But I digress. The game was great, we looked more like a UT team and stomped Miss. State. We play Alabama this weekend which I'm going to try and make it to. The rowing team has a race earlier in the day in Oak Ridge and my boat is the last race, but we should make it out of there in time to get back to Knoxville.

You can see downtown in the distance.

This is a picture of us heading up stream. It was a great day to row.

This post has taken a lot longer than I thought it would, so I gotta get going so I can be more productive in studying.

Another Disclaimer:

I've read a few of the other posts that my fellow UT "bloggers" have done and they talk some about making the decision to come here and why they did that and their big life changing experiences while here at school. Which I think is great, I'm not knocking it one bit. I've done that a little as well. My next post might be a little bit more like that, but with my "blog" I was hoping to let you know how things go on a regular basis, no so much how things came to be. College has been a great adventure for me and my interpretation of the purpose of this "blogging" was for others to follow along on our adventure of college. That's why I try to relate my daily, well, weekly, happenings. It's kind of hard to post daily.

But, I will make more of an effort to relate to you how I got to be where I am now in college and how I developed my interests.

Boys and girls, please leave a comment/question. I'll respond. Or if there is a certain topic you want me hit on let me know.

-Later

2008-10-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day back from fall break, and while my friend and I were volunteering at a local school today the principal told us that they had all of next week off for fall break. My friend and I looked at each other and said pretty much at the same time, how come we only got two days off for fall break and these little kids get a whole week. But I mentioned to him later that we have the privilege of skipping class whenever we want. But don't get me wrong ladies and gentlemen, I'm not advocating skipping class on a regular basis, or at all for that matter.

My fall break was pretty good, I didn't do much, I just went back home to the 'boro and spent some time with the family. I haven't been home since the 4Th of July so some time at home was much needed. It's always nice to catch up with some old friends. I'm not the kind of person that needs to go anywhere or do anything big on a break to make it worth while, just slowing down and not worrying about school for a couple of days can really help me get back in the groove of doing school work. I had some friends that were headed down to Athens, Georgia for the UT football game this past weekend and I decided to let them have it, I didn't feel like taking a road trip to a football game I already knew the outcome of.

Don't get me wrong, I support the football team in the good times and the bad, but I didn't want to drive all that way and spend my long weekend in Atlanta. There are a lot of people that criticize the football team and the coaches for their poor performance, but I'm always an advocate of not criticizing someone unless you can do it better and are willing to get out there and do it. I feel bad for the players that get booed at the games and slandered in the newspapers and on the radio talk shows. They have a lot of heart to go out there every weekend.

I had a pretty big test on Tuesday before fall break and for some reason I put off studying for it till midnight the night before the test. I had just taken the LSAT on Saturday so I guess that I felt "entitled" to a day off on Sunday. Throughout these past four years here at school, I have learned that no one is entitled to anything. Nothing comes easy and you get out of college what you put into it. I knew better than to wait till the last minute to study for a very long and heavily weighted test. So after I took it I knew that I did not do well and I had heard that grades had been posted online by Tuesday night, but I waited till Friday to look at my grade, and my suspicions were right, I didn't do well. But we still have two tests and a lot of quiz's left, so I still feel confident about my grade.

The moral of that little story is that nothing comes easy and you have to work hard if you want to get anywhere in life. You might be able to float by, but it'll catch up with you after a while.

I'm feeling pretty sick right now, which I hate. I'm planning on going to bed quite early tonight so that I can get some rest. If I'm feeling any worse tomorrow I'm going to try and run by the health clinic Wednesday. That's one great thing about the university is the health clinic, you can make an appointment and go get some seemingly free health care. It's not really free because you are paying for it, but when you feel deathly ill, their life savers.

One time I woke up at about 3 AM and thought I was going to die, the next morning I called and made an appointment and the nice lady on the other end of the phone asked me if i could be there in 10 minutes because there had been a cancellation, so I broke a few speed limits and made it to campus just in time and with the knowledge of the doctors I was good to go in a couple of days.

This up coming week promises to be pretty easy for the most part. The most pressing matter is that I have to write some essays for my law school applications. I have a test on Friday and one a week from Tuesday which I need be working on a little at a time. I'm supposed to run in breast cancer fundraiser 5k on Saturday, but if I'm still sick, that may not happen.

All in all, barring sickness, it promises to be another great week here at the University of Tennessee.

Oh ya, I also tried to put pictures up on my last post, but apparently it did not work, so if anyone has any tips for me on that, let me know.

Intro Post

2008-10-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Since this is my first post I'll go ahead and introduce my self. My name is Patrick and I am a senior here at the University of Tennessee. I'm majoring in Political Science with a concentration in Public Administration. I've pretty much taken a class in every subject/major, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to major in. I'll be graduating in May and then heading to law school, hopefully. I took the LSAT (Law School Acceptance Test) this past saturday so I need to send out my applications this next week. Thats probably what I'll be doing over fall break, which starts this thursday. I'm pretty excited that we only have a three day week this week.

Now that I'm done studying for the LSAT I have infinitely more free time. I'm on the rowing team here at UT, so Saturday after the test I made a quick trip down to Oak Ridge for our first race of the season.

Another organization that I'm involved with is UT's Service Learn program. The Service Learn program is a way for students to volunteer in the community, generally the students go to local schools and help tutor some of the kids that need a little extra help. The past couple of weeks I have been going to an elemantary school in my neighborhood and helping a fourth grader with math.

Now that I don't have to devote my spair time to the LSAT I am able to tutor more often and today I helped a first grader with reading. It was my first time to work with him and he was very eager to learn. We finished with his assigned work about ten minutes early so I had us play a game where we just said words and he had to tell me what the first letter of the word was, which was pretty much what the assigned homework was. After we got done we stood up and I told him we had to go back to class and came up and gave me a big hug and and told me thank you with a huge smile on his face. I patted him on the back and told him he was welcome, but I didn't really know how to respond, but I got the feeling that maybe I actually was making somewhat of a difference. As much as I love rowing and the good times that his has provided here at school over the past four years, that single moment today meant more to me than anything else I have experienced over the past four years.

Just real quick before I end this post. I would put into it but I have a pretty big test tomorrow at 8 AM that I still need to study for. If you are interested in UT, that's awesome, I hope you come here. When looking for a college to attend you should consider all the activities that you are interested in and see if they have them, but also look for something to new and exciting to get involved in. Doing the same thing all the time gets old after a while and you'll get burned out, so consider all the options.

Through this blog I hope I can help future college students with their decisions. I feel like I have experienced college fully, there was a couple of semesters there when I was about to drop out of college and now I've worked my way up to going to law school. So take it from me when I say you really can do what ever you dream, you just need to have the motivation and the determination to stick with it, even when it doesn't seem possible.