Well I made it back from Spring Break all in one piece and am getting back into high gear with all my school work. I went on a cruise with a bunch of friends on my water polo team and we all had a blast. The cruise left from Charleston, SC and traveled to the Grand Cayman Island, then on to Cozumel, and finally at Key West before heading home back to Charleston. I don't want to bore you with all the details of all my adventures but I will let you know that a bad day in the Caribbean beats a good day anywhere else... except JMU of course.

Coming back home was a little rough as is to be expected. I had to hit the ground with my feet running because this past Tuesday I had a midterm in my Wilderness Techniques class. I don't really know how well I did on the test which makes me uneasy since I have no idea. But I can't stress out about it now because what will be will be.

In other news the job hunt is coming in full steam. I'm going to a career fair next Monday, where the U.S. Census will be represented. I never really thought about a job with them before and I'm not really looking for a career right now, but it's a starting point to go off on, so any job is a good job at this point. I'm also applying to more jobs online. I don't know what will come of these but it can't hurt. It's scary to think there are only 8 weeks left in my college career, so I don't really, but the job searching doesn't really allow me the liberty to let my mind wander too far from the subject. It's been a good run though so I can't complain.

Well that's all for now. Hope everyone has a good day.

I am applying for several year long internships through the organization "The Student Conservation Association." Now I'm applying for these interships because they offer me the opportunity to travel and live outside of the VA area. The SCA actually will provide me housing and a living stipend for the year, so I have taken this opportunity and applied for internships in Florida, Colorado, Georgia, Mississippi, and even Hawaii. I don't know when I'll find out about these but then again I'm not in the biggest rush right now either, I can always just bum off my parents for the time being (just kidding Mom).

Besides the internship I've also applied for several jobs mostly in the VA/DC Metro area near where I live. No harm in living at home and saving up money so I can get my own place sometime soon. This is just one option right now, but we'll see where it takes me.

Well that's all for now, Hope everyone has a great day!

Last week was my birthday and so I got to celebrate it, which I am really thankful I was able to do considering how sick I was the week before. Turning 22 isn't that special. I didn't have anything to look forward to - in fact I felt like it was the beginning of me getting old. However I got over those feelings quickly, and had a great time on my birthday. My best friends took me out to Outback where we continued to stuff ourselves to the point of gluttony. I usually don't eat out that much so this was a real treat. On Saturday my family came down and I celebrated my birthday with them again. We didn't do much but talk and I enjoyed it a lot. Not until I see my family again do I realize how much I miss them sometimes.

In my classes there isn't a lot going on. In Advance Remote Sensing we're still working on a project with Blacks Run Greenway on doing spatial analysis of the creek that runs through Harrisonburg and a lot of Rockingham County. Right now we haven't done that much, but I think in the next week things will really start to pick up because with spring break coming up all the teachers feel the push to get a lot of assignments in before we go on vacation. Another project I am beginning to work on is one in my GPS class. A group of us in the class are working with Potomac Appalachian Trail Club plotting a section of the trail which the club oversees. I'm really excited to begin working on this project because I'm going to be applying my skills in a real project, which is always beneficial and fun, and this means that I'm going to get to do a lot of hiking and camping, which is definitely a lot of fun.

Well that's all that's been going on with me, Have a great day!

Yesterday (Tuesday) was assesment day. JMU makes all Sophomores take assesment testing to test how much they all know. Seniors take assesment tests too, but it is up to the discretion of the department. For our department, we took a quick test and then had a meeting with the Department Head of the ISAT and Geography programs. It was really great timing to have this talk because we were just notified last week that the Geography Department is going to be restructured. The department is going to gear its degree towards more GIS oriented classes. Right now there is a lot of confusion on what is happening, but after the meeting yesterday I think a lot more things were cleared up and will only continue to get more clear.

Talk to you all later, Have a great day!

My basic acting class is going along superbly. I really enjoy the class, and it is so nice to try a curriculum entirely different than the one I have been doing since my Freshman year. We are starting to do scenes now and soon I will be acting out in front of my entire class. I'm really excited about it.

I would really like to write more right now but I can't. I think I'm coming down with the flu and it is really taking its toll on me. My throat is sore, and my body aches. I think I'm going right to bed after I write this.

I'll talk to you all when I'm all better.

In my Advance Remote Sensing class we are continuing work on our environmental assessment project on Blacks Run. Last week we did some GPS on several points around the stream so that we can use them as georeference points later on, to help us with the correctness of the data that we our analyzing on the stream. It was really nice getting out of the classroom and just walking along Blacks Run recording GPS coordinates. I am now working with my professor, Michaela Buenemann, on analyzing the history of Blacks Run and to see how the run has shifted over the years by looking in JMU's archives of aerial photographs of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. I'm really excited to have this extra work because any experience I can get with such a real project I know will help me in the future.

Last week I also had the Mr./Ms. JMU Greek Pageant. I'm a little embarrassed to say but I actually won the pageant. It was a lot of fun doing it, although a bit nerve racking at times. But I knew it was all in good fun, and more importantly for a good cause, i.e. The Big Event. What was also really great though is that as part of my prize I won my organization $200 to put towards our philanthropy so I was really happy that I could contribute in such a way.

Some other really exciting news is that tomorrow I am going down to Tampa, FL! I know it sounds like a crazy random road trip, but I am actually going to a Water Polo tournament down there. The teams down there are usually really good so I don't know how well we'll do, but I'm not too worried about that. What I'm really looking forward to is the warmer weather, and the beach. It should be a nice change from the Shenandoah Valley, although lately the weather has been really nice here as well.

Well that's all for now, hope everyone has a great day!

Wilderness management sounds like it will be an interesting class. It won't be your standard lecture according to Professor Cook, but instead we will be going out into the field into areas that are designated as wilderness areas. Here we will learn about qualities which the government looks at when making it a wilderness area. We will also be investigating the wilderness in general to learn to appreciate it more. In the classroom we are learning about government regulations, because the government determines which areas will become protected and which areas could be used for timber, and other industrial resources. Learning all of this will hopefully prove me well in the future because I would like to try out the field of wilderness conservation at least for a while in my career.

In my GPS class we are learning the basic fundamentals of GPS. This is one of the classes that I am really excited about because GPS is turning into one of the fastest growing and most in demand technological fields in the geographic and business community. So far we learned the basics of how it works, and later on are going to learn how to collect data in the field with one of the several GPS units the GIS program has, as well as learning to process the data. It seems really interesting and I look forward to going to the class again.

Finally I have a class which seems to come stright out of left field, Basic Acting. An easy elective... maybe... but I think I could learn a lot in this class as well. I know that when I graduate I want to work with people, and what I am already learning is how to present myself better in front of my peers because of this acting class. Overall the class makes me more cognicent of my actions and words, and so I think taking this class will prove to be beneficial in the way I present myself. Plus I'll admit it, I like being the center of attention, so acting class seems like a natural fit.

Besides classes, last week I also got back into Water Polo. I did a lot of swimming leading up to the begining of practices. Also last week I started rehearsal for the Mr./Ms. Greek Pagent at JMU. The pagent is a fundraiser to help raise money for a campus wide volunteer event known as "The Big Event" wherein all of the JMU community comes out and volunteers in Harrisonburg. The pagent is between all of the Greek organizations that were willing to participate. I am representing my Honors fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. Honestly I am just having a lot of fun with it, so I really am not taking this or myself to seriously and my talent and the way I dress I'm sure will show that. Hopefully there will be a photographer at the event so I can post some pictures of it later.

Also I enjoyed a long weekend this past week due to Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, so me and 8 of my friends spent the entire day hiking at a mountain a couple minutes from Natural Bridge called Devil's Marbleyard. Now I know I am not the most experienced hiker and definitely do not even consider myself a climber but the Marbleyard was probably one of the best, most fun, and coolest hikes/climbs you could probably ever do. I called it a hike/climb because the entire mountain consisted of huge boulders that we climbed all the way to the top. It was such a great view to look down from once we made it to the top, and it was also perfect weather. It was cool but not cold.

 
Climbing the marbleyard, and the creek on the trail up to the mountain.

 
Me and my best friend Sam having some fun crossing the creek, and maybe 1/7th of the mountain we scaled.

Overall it's been a great week and I can't wait to share more of it with you all later!

But I'm glad I'm back. Classes started and it is looking to be a very promising year. I'm taking some really interesting Geography classes and one awesome elective. This past Monday I had two classes, Advaned Remote Sensing with Michaela Buenemann. She is one of the new professors that started last semester. From what I hear though she is a good teacher and I look forward to learning in her class. In Remote Sensing we work with a lot of imaging and try to take as much data from the images as we can using many scientific techniques. In our class we are going to apply what we learn in a project on Blacks Run, which is a creek in bad shape here in Harrisonburg. I'm really excited about this because the environment is something that I am very passionate about and to use GIS with it is what I hope to do at some point down the road. The other class is one of the core classes I have to take for my Geography BS. It is Human Geography. I'm taking it with Dr. Tacy. It seems like its going to be an interesting class because we are going to watch movies that really portray the culture of an area, and talk about it within a geographic context.

That was the first day of classes for me. I'll write soon to let you all know how my Tuesday/Thursday classes will shape up.

As you all know last week was Thanksgiving, and I of course went home for the holiday. It was really nice to be home again, to see my dogs, and of course my family and friends. I had a really big reunion with a bunch of friends from high school, some whome I hadn't seen since graduation. To catch up with everyone was a lot of fun, and to see how much we've all grown up in just 3 1/2 short years. Also I ran a 10K "Turkey Trot" on Thanksgiving morning so I wouldn't feel so guilty about stuffing myself silly later on that night. The rest of break I helped my parents around the house getting ready for Christmas. Usually we wait until my winter break to put up our Christmas decorations, but this year school is letting out so late, Dec 17, that my family and I got our tree early so I could be there to help decorate it. Overall, it was a great break that was extremely relaxing which I think I really needed.

Coming back though was another story. I've had 2 papers, volunteering hours, water polo, fraternity obligations, and computer science to keep me busy. It hasn't been overly stressful, but it has been enough to keep me extremely busy for the week. And I have a feeling that this trend of lots of work is going to continue for the rest of the semester, which is only one week longer! Hard to believe that I'm almost one semester away from being done. It's getting scary, but I'll save the nostalgia for another time.

Well that's all for now, talk to you all real soon.

I really look forward to going home. Although I have gotten to see a lot of my family, and even my pets, I really miss home. Plus it's going to be a lot of fun being at home with all my friends hanging out. Even in the summer rarely are we ever in town all at the same time, so we really take advantage of the holidays when we are all in town at the same time. Plus how can I overlook the best part of all, the food! Now I know JMU is a well deserved #6 in food rankings in the country, but nothing will ever beat a meal made by my mom. Turkey, mashed potatoes, and my favorite canned cranberry sauce (I especially like it when it still is in can form.)

Well enough day dreaming about what is to come, and back to my usual marathon Wednesdays. Have a great day everyone!

Well this weekend my mom and grandpa came down for the football game, and my mom brought tons of great food. We were the best tailgate out there by far, food wise, and the DUKES WON! thus making another great Saturday.

Me, with my Mom and Grandpa at the game. Click to enlarge.

The rest of my weekend was pretty low key, not doing much except hanging out and watching TV. I've had a lot of work in my other classes the past week so this week doesn't look that stressful for me. I'm hopefully wrapping up my research with my Senior Project soon. My advisor is looking to have it done by Thanksgiving, so I'm going to try to wrap that up for him soon. And because of my CS test that class won't start giving me work until at least Tuesday, so I'm going to relish the time I have off before its back to the computer screen and the Java language.

Not much else to write for now, have a great day!

Wednesday was a really interesting day for me because I had a administrator shadow follow me all day. As you may recall I am in a leadership class taught by our Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Warner. Well Dr. Warner also teaches a class for directors of various administrative areas, about student administration leadership. In this class he made the directors shadow a student for an entire day. Dr. David Onestack, the director of the Counseling and Student Development Center, was assigned to shadow me. So he and I went to all my Wednesday classes, meetings, my work, and other appointments I had that day. Basically all we did is go through my normal routine, and just hold casual conversation all day. We talked about everything from what I'm looking forward to, and what being a senior is like, to what a Facebook account is. In turn we also talked about what he does. It was really interesting talking to him, and finding out more about a service that I really don't know much about. The CSDC is an incredible service available to all JMU students, and it's run by some pretty incredible people. JMU students are so lucky, and I don't know how many even realize it.

Today is going to be a very relaxed day. I don't have any classes because my one class of the day is computer science and the lab was cancelled because of our test later tonight. So besides writing this blog all I'm doing today is studying, relaxing, and eating brainfood so my brain is good and fresh at 7pm tonight.

Well that's all for now, talk to you all soon.

Besides my mom watching me play polo, she also took me out grocery shopping (one of the best parts of my weekend honestly). Parents visiting is the best! My mom totally spoiled me. We got ready for the final tailgating of my JMU career by buying lots of food for the game next week, as well as lots of food for the desperately empty refrigerator that I came home to for the past 2 weeks. She also took me out to eat, which I haven't done a lot considering I am your typical poor college student who can't afford to go out to eat a lot. With all of this weekend so packed with sports and family, I really didn't have time to do a lot of other things *coug*schoolwork*cough* so Sunday was a bit of a crazy night for me. I had to complete another programming assignment, and I'm also starting to study for my CS test I have on Thursday. I did fairly well on my last test, so I'm hoping to get a lot of studying in, because I have a bad feeling that this test is going to be A LOT harder. I'm not looking forward to it, but I can't wait until it is over.

Well that's all for now. Hope everyone has a great week!

After going to the BBBS club house, I went Halloween costume shopping. We had a lot of ideas but we decided on going as "Care Bears", and it was hilarious. Two guys over six feet tall dressed from head to toe in baby blue and pink respectively is a sight to see. It was a lot of fun preparing the costumes as well. After that we went to the Homecoming parade, where we watched all the different organizations display the floats they had worked on and grab all the free candy they were throwing out. Also another chance for my friends and I to get a free picture in with the Duke Dog. After the parade we went to the Pep Rally where we received the legendary JMU "Purple Out" shirts. For all of those who may not be familiar with this tradition, every year at the Homecoming Pep Rally our SGA gives away over 2,000 of these shirts. And they are about the most coveted shirt on Homecoming weekend.

 
click to enlarge

Saturday I had to wake up early to help volunteer and coordinate UREC's annual Homecoming 5K. It was pretty chilly, and considering it was 8am nothing had warmed up yet and I froze cheering on the racers. Saturday we also had a tailgate with the alumni in my fraternity Phi Sigma Pi. It was great to see them all. I saw a lot of them last week at our friends wedding, but it was nice to hang out with them yet again. This was my last Homecoming as a student at JMU and it got me a little sentimental, but it's nice to know that I will come back to this next year as an alumni as well.

This past monday I registered for all my classes. I'm taking all the ones I explained in my previous entry. I'm taking Advanced Spatial Analysis, Wilderness Techniques, GPS, and Cultural Geography. But I also preemptively signed up for a class that is way left of what I am used to. I'm taking Basic Acting, a theatre class. I've never done anything like this before and that is precisely why I'm doing it. Over the summer I realized that I enjoyed being on stage and acting out, although I was just being myself, in front of people. I want to see what I have when it comes to the theatre and how it is done in a more professional manner. Plus, it being my senior year, when am I ever going to have another opportunity to take acting lessons? This is what college is about, stretching your borders and discovering more about yourself then even you realized.

Well that's all for now, have a great day!