My Funny Friday Night

     This past Friday I made a spontaneous trip to Shell on the corner of South University and Barry.  As my roommate and I bundled up in about five layers we faced the cold and started walking. Michaela, my roommate made a pit stop at Sweet Frog to indulge in some froyo as I continued to Shell to get a fountain drink. I tried opening the door but for some reason it was locked. Even though it was about 9 at night, I knew they weren't closed because there were lots of people in the parking lot. I walked around the convenient store and tried the second door. It was unlocked so I proceeded inside. I headed towards the drink station as I look around and realized there was no one in the store, not even a cashier or sales clerk. Feeling slightly out of place, I headed to the door to leave seeing as though if there were no cashier, I wouldn't be able to buy a soda. Somehow both doors were now locked. I walked back in forth inside the store and called Michaela who was just next door.
     Michaela answered as I began to ramble/panic because I was now locked inside the gas station...alone. In the midst of me trying not panic, I could hear keys clattering as the door was being unlocked. In walked the cashier who was probably around sixty or seventy years old. He didn't even notice or question as to why and how someone was inside the store since he had been outside the whole time I was in the store alone. Relived to the fact that I wasn't going to have to spend the night in a Shell convenient store I proceeded to get what I had went there for originally. I bought my Diet Coke and met back up Michaela to walk back to our dorm.
     While the event was happening I wasn't laughing too much, rather I was trying not to have an anxiety attack. But as I look back just a few days later, I can't stop laughing! It was definitely an event I will remember, but I'm so glad I can look back at myself and laugh. It is evident that I was a victim of the relief theory because as I told my friends the story they couldn't help but laugh either. I'm sure they were glad to not be in my shoes in that moment. It's safe to say I can add this event to one of the many events that has triggered myself to laugh uncontrollable.
     As many say, I believe laughter is the best form of medicine especially being able to laugh at yourself. To leave you with one last memory of me as a blogger, I would like to share a humorous video that resulted in me rolling on the floor laughing.   

Farewell my blogger fans!

My Final Meeting With Johnathan

     As I sat in Union Grounds waiting to meet Johnathan for the last time, I began to reflect my time with him and our past conversations. John being as he would like to call "fashionably late," I sat and talked with Ryan. Upon John's arrival he began telling us about his visit to a local museum. He was unsure as to what museum he had just went to, but he showed us some neat pictures. Of them I saw a large building piece that remained from the twin towers and a huge Christmas tree. When I think of museums, I always think of my senior class trip to Washington D.C.. Prior to that trip, I was never interested in going to museums, but D.C. changed my perspective drastically. Ryan and I agreed that John would someday have to visit the National Air and Space Museum since he is so fascinated by aircrafts.
     As I had mentioned in a previous blog, John will be transferring to Kansas State next semester to pursue a degree in aeronautical engineering. He conveyed his excitement being able to pursue his dream job of flying air planes, but was also sad to be leaving behind the many friends he has made at TCU. We reassured John that he would love Kansas even though we all can agree that TCU is the greatest. I am positive that with John's social and outgoing personality he will make friends in Kansas in no time. Of course John wasn't looking forward to having to study "all the time" while at K-State, but Ryan and I encouraged him to find a good balance between school and social activities.
     I am so glad I had the opportunity to meet John. We never had a dull conversation and I even learned from our cultural differences. I am confident he will be a successful pilot and wish him the very best and successful future. Our final conversation was bittersweet and I hope we will all stay in contact over the years to come.

Johnathan and I Meet Again

     After Johnathan graciously agreed to take on another conversation partner, I figured I could at least help him kill two birds with one stone. Ryan, his original conversation partner and I scheduled to meet John last Friday afternoon at 2:45 outside of Chick Fil A. As I frantically ran across campus that afternoon I arrived to our meeting a few minutes late. Ryan and I sat there talking, waiting for Johnathan. Ryan quickly informed me that John was notorious for being late. I'm highly understanding of people being late because as a Bowman, I unfortunately received the "being late to everything gene," not by choice, but because I as well as my family members seriously struggle to be on time, yet alone early. However, John has officially taken "being late" to a whole new level.
     I texted John as I was walking over to Chick Fil A from the library, reminding him of our meeting time. Technology is both a blessing and a curse because in this case Johnathan had his read returns on so I could tell he had read the text and wasn't responding. Ryan and I continued on with our conversation of how fast the semester was flying by and comedic topics we had discussed with John. As the clock struck 3:15 I decided to give him a call. He answered and was uncertain as to who was calling. "Ohhh this is Kate" he said. I questioned him as to whether or not he was coming since he told me he was already there. I chuckled and said we were sitting outside as he said he would be there in 30 seconds. Jokingly, I told Ryan I was going to start counting.
     At last, John finally arrived! Little did I know, when I called John earlier he was on his way to Plano for a dentist appointment. I felt so bad because we could have easily rescheduled our meeting. Ryan and I talked about our plans for the weekend with John as he listed all the exciting events on his weekend agenda. Of them they included going to a new outlet mall with his friends and "lots of partying." I laughed because I began to notice a trend in his behavior. It seems as though shopping, spending time with his friends, and partying are his top priorities. Feeling slightly jealous of his substantial amount of free time, my weekend was going to involve lots of studying and preparation for the chaotic week ahead. We reminisced Halloween, describing our favorite Halloween costumes, hunted houses, and traditions. What I found interesting is that he had never been trick or treating. Although we are too old to do that now, I vividly remember trick or treating as a kid which encompassed most of my memories from Halloween. He noted that trick or treating was strictly an American thing as I nodded in awe.
     What I enjoy most about meeting with John is that I always learn something new. Whether it be about his culture or just differences in our daily activities it helps me gain a better perspective of others. I cannot wait for my final meeting with John tomorrow afternoon, as I'm sure he will come with some humorous stories from last weekends social activities.

Funny Poems

The Seafood Diet

By: Kenn Nesbitt

I've started on a seefood diet.
I highly recommend you try it.
You eat whatever food you see;
a grape, a crepe, a pear, a pea,
a candy cane, some bubble gum,
a piece of pie, a peach, a plum,
banana pancakes, chicken legs,
a dozen donuts, deviled eggs,
spaghetti noodles, sirloin steaks,
vanilla ice cream, birthday cakes,
a hundred pizzas, chocolate mousse,
and gallon jugs of apple juice.

The seefood diet. Just can't beat it.
Whenever you see food, you eat it.
I'm pretty sure you won't lose weight,
But, what the heck? The food is great!

Half Baked

By Joanna Fuchs

On your birthday, it's time to reflect,
For the passing of time leads to change.
What once was important we leave;
Our priorities and goals rearrange.

It's official; you've lived one more year.
You're birthday gifted and caked,
But don't think you're fully mature,
'Cause you're really only half-baked!

Over The Hill At Forty

By Joanna Fuchs

So it's your fortieth birthday;
Four decades have gone and passed.
They say when you get older,
Time goes twice as fast.

I wouldn't know, of course,
Since I am still quite young,
But for you, the music is over;
Your last song has been sung.

You're just over the hill at forty;
You went down without a fight.
Time rushes on, and soon
That "hill" will be out of sight!

Happy Birthday Anyway!

Nerdy, Technology Learning Expereince

     ​I always look forwards to the current event/technology report given each class period in Business Information Systems (BIS). Technology is always changing, improving, becoming faster, etc. The release of the iPhone 5s and 5c struck my attention more so than previous releases. When will Apple ever stop making and updating the iPhone? It seems as though the iPhone 50 will be released soon enough. Why do consumers feel the need to upgrade their products so often? Due to our high dependence and use of technology such as cell phones and personal computers, we are always looking for something that is going to make our workload a little lighter, even if that entails splurging to get the latest and greatest products. We are surrounded in a world of technology and our future careers will evolve around this. It is a critical time in my life to learn and use resources such as SharePoint and Microsoft Access in order to be knowledgeable of different realms of technology. I look forwards to see what the future holds in new additions and upgrades to technology.
      I must admit, BIS requires a large amount of dedication outside of class in order to keep up with the fast paced learning nature of the honors section. When we were assigned individual Access assignments in addition to reading and taking quizzes prior to class I became slightly overwhelmed. The first few individual tutorials felt long and monotonous. However, my interest in the program has exceedingly grown. After each assignment I am always amazed knowing that I, the once technology challenged created the resulting product. When each dialogue box pops up on the screen, excitement runs through my blood knowing that I programed that rule on Access. Up until now, I've always had to call my dad, the computer wizard when I had difficulty navigating new programs such as Access and SharePoint, but these individual assignments and in class labs have been helpful and beneficial. It's nice knowing and reassuring that what we are learning in the classroom will be applied to our work in the future. It makes all the time spent preparing outside of class worthwhile. I've never seen myself interested in pursuing a degree in BIS until now. Microsoft Access has changed me for the better.

Johnathan and I's First Conversation

     After scheduling conflicts with my original conversation partner I was assigned a new partner, Johnathan. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Mohammad, so I was excited to have the opportunity to learn from another international student. Friday afternoon in Union Grounds I met Johnathan and we quickly began getting to know one another. Since we both had a conversation prior to this account, all nervousness and anticipatory anxiety was set aside.
     Johnathan  started off by telling me his life history. He was raised in France and was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He fluently speaks five languages! I had to admit how impressive that was. When I told him I could only speak English, he blatantly replied "oh no! that's so bad!" I couldn't help but laugh because I know how beneficial it is to be bilingual. He has only been in the U.S. since August and plans to complete the IEP program at TCU and transfer next semester to Kansas State where he will study aeronautical engineering. As a pilot, he plans to travel the world and be able to say he has been to every country in the world. He is definitely off to a great start since he has lived in several different locations and can speak five languages. Fascinated by his endeavors, I am inspired to travel.
     Johnathan is in fact a very comedic guy. Throughout our meeting, he saw several of his friends and answered two phone calls to coordinate his plans for the evening. I can tell that he is extremely social and active with with his large friend group. He plays on the club rugby team and stays busy with practice and games. He informed me of his love to party. I laughed as I started to see a common trend among my previous conversation partner and Johnathan. His daily routine for rugby involves practice, games, followed by a party. He is intrigued and slightly confused by the way American's plan parties stating that, "someone just texts me the address and I show up to the party to have good time." Proceeding, he asked me how students at TCU plan parties because they're constantly occurring. I honestly admitted and said I had no idea. I continued to chuckle because I'm the last person that would know the "party scene" and both Johnathan and Mohammad brought the topic up.
     Johnathan continuously asked me "What's up?" I reassured him that his weekend was going to be much more exciting than mine. As my group projects are coming to an end, the stress and work load has reached a maximum. We said our goodbyes and planned to meet again next week. I am excited for our next conversation! I learned so much about Johnathan and cannot wait to see what our future conversations will entail.

Recent Learning Experiences Within Group Projects

     With only a little over a month left of the semester, I have learned more than expected about working in groups. Two of my business classes both have semester long group projects. Assigned to read many Harvard Business Review articles, I have learned the dynamics of the ideal group, how to effectively work as a team, how to confront conflict amongst members and so forth. Many of these articles have come handy and have helped one of my groups successfully work together. We are able to function as a collaborative group without one member being too controlling and most importantly we enjoy working with each other. Fortunately, one of my two semester long group projects is smooth sailing (I'll call this Group A), however, the second group (Group B) poses great difficulty for me and the other members.
     A critical step was taken amongst the group members of Group A that's prove to be successful thus far that was not completed in Group B. Prior to beginning the project Group A met to construct a team contract. Together we mutually established group and individual expectations, goals, and how we expected to treat each other. We agreed that constructive criticism was going to allow our project to reflect our best work. Not only was the importance of attendance at meetings critical, but coming prepared and ready to work. This team contract has proved to be the foundation of our team's success and has established guidelines for us all to abide by. This contract makes our team sound all serious and no fun, but by creating this prior to the start of the project there have been many memories and laughs along the way. Last night after finishing our assignment we reminisced the good ole days of Aaron Carter. Huddled around the computer screen we watched the music video "Aaron's Party."
     Group B is composed of intelligent students, but schedule and personality conflicts have proved to make this group project more challenging than it should be. This project has 5 members whereas Group A has a total of 4. I'm not sure if it's the extra person that makes it difficult or if it's the lack of mutually established expectations.
     As a business student, I know this is only the beginning of group projects. I enjoy working with others, which is why I chose to learn from the experiences in both groups. The team contract has proven beneficial and I would highly recommend creating one for every group project here on out. Whether it's 2 or 10 people, an honors class or not, a short or semester long project, this has served as my groups foundation and has held members accountable for assignments and expectations.
     As we draw near to our final presentations, I will anxiously await the results of each group. I plan to use what I have learned this semester and instill a positive outlook in Group B to ensure we perform to the best of our ability. As we have all worked in groups in Lit & Civ, I hope y'all have experienced great team dynamics and results within in this class and other group projects. I would love to hear some of the learning experiences and success stories you've encountered within your groups.

Here's a little trip down memory lane: