Life

Life is short, beautiful, and sweet. It is taken for granted every day. That is until something makes you stop and realize just what you have. My Aunt Dorothy just passed away. It's sad that I will never see her again, that her life is over. Did she have a good life? Did she accomplish her goals? What were her goals? What did she learn through it all? I always seem to go through the daily grind without stopping to truly enjoy life. In the summer time is when I typically get to slow down and relax. But this should not be how life is. I have been putting school, homework, and studying all on the front burner of life while shifting family and friends to the back. This needs to change. One day those people who get shafted (for lack of a better word) won't be here, and then I will be sorry that I didn't spend more time with them. Live Laugh Love. You have one life; don't screw it up.

competition

This past week has been Greek Week. It seems that it has brought out the best and even more so the worst in people. This should be a time to come together and have some end of the year fun. It has turned into a blood bath. Thank goodness not literally. There is yelling, name calling, and other not so panhellenic friendly banter. I have had so much fun cheering on my sisters and watching the events. Greek week is something every Greek member looks forward to. It brings us together.

Appearance

What is the first thing you notice when meeting someone? Their appearance. Yes, this is superficial but true. It is the first thing to be noticed, to be judged on. As a waitress for the past nine months I have noticed a correlation with appearance and tips. When more of an effort is made on my part the tips are generally higher. Typically I go to work just as I would for school, hair wavy (natural), no make-up, and glasses. When I make an effort, I straighten my hair, put make-up on, and contacts. This has resulted in over a $20 difference. This has something to do with the weather and time of the year however too. So it is difficult to really gage these things. But that is the overall trend that I have noticed time after time.

Crack

Shivers run up and down my spin. Not only is my nose going numb, but my back, thighs, and face are too. Moist plumb droplets of rain plaster my face and hair. The frizzes are already rising. It's beginning to get harder to see clearly from my glasses. Crack. The ball makes contact with the bat. We have a home-run! The deephers roar with joy.

To begin

It's now time to begin the writing portion of my final research paper. Typically I have been told that the writer is not suppose to have their input on the writing. However, in this paper it is necessary. I will argue my position on Granholm's new scholarship while providing both sides and the people in the middles opinion. My thesis will be something along the lines of "The new scholarship Governor Granholm has proposed to take the place of the MEAP scholarship needs to be redeveloped and restructured to have a greater emphasis on grades." I like the idea of her scholarship. But at the same time there are things I don't agree with. For example, I understand why she wants to wait two years before handing them out, but at the same time when I began college that scholarship was like a treat that my years in high school paid for. I will ask some people in my graduating class what they think and some kids still in high school about how they will be affected. It would be awesome if I could write Governor Granholm an e-mail. But i highly doubt I would get a response back because she is so busy. Time to begin.

Granholm's Proposed Scholarship

Governor Granholm wants to eliminate the MEAP scholarship ($2,500) and put in place a $4,000 scholarship. This would start with the high school class of 2007. To be eligible the students would have to complete 2 years of post secondary education. A few articles that I have browsed about are listed below:

http://0-proquest.umi.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/pqdweb?did=1014918451&Fmt=3&clientId=8511&RQT=309&VName=PQD
This is from the ProQuest website. This is about all the different scholarships and figures on how much money is allocated to this program.

http://0-proquest.umi.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/pqdweb?did=1215009181&Fmt=3&clientId=8511&RQT=309&VName=PQD
This is about the Promise Scholarship and the transition to it from the MEAP scholarship

http://0-proquest.umi.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/pqdweb?did=983633641&Fmt=4&clientId=8511&RQT=309&VName=PQD
This article talks about the necessary 2.5 GPA in order to qualify for this scholarship.

http://0-proquest.umi.com.wizard.umd.umich.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=1243130321&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1175442268&clientId=8511
This article is about how education is the key for the future change. Granholm stated: "Experts across the country agree that investing in education is the single most effective strategy for stoking a state's economic growth. That's why our schools and our kids are the foundation of our state's economic plan."

False assumptions

It's strange how your thoughts or assumptions usually come true. If you assume something or make a judgment about someone and then act how you would treat them if that assumption proved true it will typically come true. For example, one of my best friends and I went out to dinner last night at Olga's. We had Robert as our waiter. Two college/teenage girls walk in, (ourselves), and he assumes that we will not tip well because typically the younger clientèle does not tip very well at all. Well, by judging us so quickly and then treating us as if his judgment were right he self Prophesized his own future. By treating us like we would give him a mediocre tip he earned a mediocre tip. In the end we didn't want to be rude. Both of us are waitresses and we know their pain. So we gave about $3 for the two of us which was around 15%. He could have earned himself more, but by judging us so quickly and making false assumptions he did not earn it.