"You can dance. You can jive, having the time of your life."

I apologize for such a long blog post last week. It was not intended to be so long, and the second after I posted it, I noticed its length and how it took up most of the page. . . on a 22 inch computer monitor.

I'm straying away from the stresses of tests and projects for a moment to reflect on something quite exciting: My 21st birthday!!

Not only was it an epic age to be turning, but it was my "golden" birthday, which means I turned 21 on the 21st, so it was supposed to be extra special!

It was very special! Friday, I was told by my roomates that we were going to see a movie to celebrate together, but when we arrived to the Regal Cinemas in Boone, they sat there in the car and looked at me and screamed, "SIKE!". The rest of the car ride was a dark blur, literally because I was blinldfolded. I had NO idea what was going on and I gave up trying and took a quick nap. About an hour later, the car stopped and my friend woke me up. Still blindfolded my roomates guided me to our destination. I was really scared that I was going to trip over something or fall in a hole so I was quite hesitant.

After what seemed to be a very long trek, my roomates untied my blindfold, and to my HUGE surprise, we were standing right in front of Forever 21 in Winston Salem. I was able to pick up an outfit and accesories to go with it as a birthday gift from my roomates! I got a brand new dress, a purse and a top. It was awesome! After that we went to the Village Tavern and grabbed a luxurious dinner. The special trip became even more special when our not so enthusiastic waitress forgot to tell the chefs to make my order. One of the managers offered me a free dessert to alleviate the situation of the late order. Needless to say, the entree was delicious and the GIANT piece of key lime pie was equally as delectible.

Saturday night, we threw a party at my house on King Street to celebrate my birthday. The theme was "Redneck/Nascar" so all of our friends showed up in their best redneck/nascar gear and we had a great time! One of my roomates and I went to the Dollar Tree and found temporary tatoos. They were a hit!
It was a fabulous 21st birthday with great friends and fun times! Just a bunch of friends decked out in their best redneck/nascar attire, dancing around to the latest hip/hop hits. HAHA. Well, the time has come for me go back to studying for an important Cognitive exam.

Have an awesome week!

Until next time,

-Abbie

"Fall is here, hear the yell. Back to school, ring the bell."

The fourth week of the fall semester, and the second full week of classes is coming to a close with the sights of Friday in the horizon as I sit at my desk in the Edwin Duncan Center Media Lab.

I am many things at Appalachian State, one being an employee for the Reich College of Education. I am what one might call a "techie". It really is not as nerdy as it may seem; I just sit at a huge desk in a room full of brand new Macs and check out digital cameras, video cameras and laptops to students and teachers. Oh yeah, and all of the necessary accessories, tripods and fire wire cables, etc. As a Media Lab tech, I have to be familiar with certain applications on PCs and Macs. Thankfully, my love for computers and background using them for so long has helped me excel in my job!

A plus about working in the Media Lab is that I have a lot of time to do schoolwork, which leaves me with plenty of time to review for upcoming exams and complete blogs for everyone to read :)

This week has been a great week! The weather is slowly moving more closely to a Fall atmosphere: cool, breezy evenings and sunshiny afternoons perfect for tossing the Frisbee or laying out in a hammock. I can't wait for the leaves to start turning, because I'm going to head up to the Blue Ridge parkway and capture it in all its beauty with a Nikon D40 I've been so lucky to rent from the Media Lab.

With the semester in full swing, my classes have started to really buckle down, which is understandable because being a junior, I'm having to focus on mainly major and minor courses, which require a lot of attention.

Something that has really helped many students out with deciding academic paths to take is what is known at ASU as Peer Career.

A Peer Career volunteer is also another thing to add to my list of what makes me a part of ASU. It's really tough trying to figure out what to eat for lunch or wear to school some days. Trying to decide something to keep my attention for four years seems even more overwhelming! Luckily, colleges provide advising which provides students with a professional to guide them into an academic path.

But sometimes, professionals can seem intimidating or maybe they just don't seem to understand what a student, who is much younger, wants out of their life. That's where Peer Career comes in. Student to student communication can not only be helping but a little bit more comforting too! I know it's a lot easier for me to talk to someone my own age who is going through similar issues than to someone who had a similar experience. . . . 15 or 20 years ago.

Coming into college, I had decided that psychology was going to be my major, but last year during my Sophomore year, I became discouraged and was questioning my decisions. I talked to a few of my Peer Career co-volunteers who are also psychology majors, and they helped to encourage me that what I was doing was alright. I felt at ease to know that even though it seems tough at times, you can get through it! Schoolwork and obligations to outside activities and jobs and sports teams can really be a big ball of stress sometimes, but being able to sit down with someone for 20 minutes to talk about academic paths that later turn into career paths was the best comfort for me last semester.

Peer Career offers peer to peer counseling as well as professional counseling. Sometimes we would see students who did not want to talk to us because "we didn't know anything about the future or working in a professional environment", so our professional counselors as well as our pre-doctoral interns were there to take the stress off of us.

Some people relate better to their peers and others relate better with older individuals, nevertheless, having the luxury of talking to someone about something as important as academic paths and career paths is a great thing!

I'm glad that I am a Peer Career volunteer because I love the feeling that I've helped someone, even if it is a small step, it's still a step in the right direction for someone. Helping others is a passion of mine, so I guess that's why I am so excited to be a PC volunteer.

Have a safe and wonderful weekend! I know I will, because on Sunday I'll be 21!

Until next time,

-Abbie