Blog #11: The last blog

We are finally here, the very last blog. I am quite proud of myself for starting on this blog on a Wednesday when it is due on Friday. I can finally say that I am not procrastinating this assignment this time. I'm going to miss doing these blogs. Even though they were tedious to do, and I was always checking to reach that 800-word limit, I still liked to do them. Kind of. I would rather do blogs over a learn smart homework assignment or studying for my physiology test that’s for sure.

For my final blog, I am going to write about my favorite genre of writing that we have been discussing so far in class… I would have to say that blogging would by far have to be my favorite genre so far just because I feel like I can express myself freely. Personally, I think I have a very creative and fun personality, so I like how I can express myself with pictures, quotes, and memes. I also like how blogs do not have a specific structure to them. It is a nice get away from ethnographies or a 3-4-page research paper for example. Blogging throughout this course has made me want to start my own blog. So last week I bought a website off of word press, and I created my own blog! It is mainly about fashion, makeup, and my personal interests. So I am super excited about that J

With all the genres that we have been studying so far, my least favorite genre would be Ethnography. I haven't even started writing my Ethnography yet and I already don't like it lol, maybe because we have to write so many pages, and the project is worth a lot of points. Even though ethnographies are not my cup of tea, I do appreciate how we get to do these assignments in small increments.

On another note, I am semi-excited to start this resume project. I haven’t been up to date with my resume in a while, so it will be quite refreshing to redo it. I am glad we are doing a resume project in this class because it will benefit us outside of school for jobs and internships.

I remember writing my resume just for gigs in high school just because everyone was starting to get one. I never really used my resume for anything because all of my jobs were family related, BUT I am applying to this internship here in San Diego as a Data Marketing Analyst for the Breast Cancer Awareness center. I am so fortunate to have all the resources that Professor Flewelling gave us in class; I would have never thought that there would be so much going into a resume. 

Blog #10 Where are YOU headed

Good morning fellow bloggers!

This will be my eighth blog so far; I can't believe we're more than half way done with this semester! I'm loaded up with upcoming midterms, so I am not really happy about that. I am glad that we get to do extra blogs for additional credit. Anyways... 

The discourse community of practice that I want to research is Electrical Engineers in the Bay Area. The reason why I chose this specific discourse community is because most of my family members are Engineers, and my boyfriend is currently studying to be a Civil Engineer. My uncle and my grandpa are both Electrical Engineers. I was thinking about doing Engineers in the Bay Area in general... but I wanted to be more specific, and two of my family members are Electrical Engineers so I would have more information about it. This community interests me because I have always been around them, so I have knowledge of engineering. I would also like to see what they have to say about that field of Engineering, like, "How do most engineers in training act once they first get the job?" or "What is it like in the office?” 

In this community, I already know what it takes to be in this field of work. You have to take a lot of physics, chemistry, and some really high-level math courses. My boyfriend always tells me how late he stays up doing his physics homework or how he is studying for something about fluid dynamics. I know that it is a hard job, but can be

really really rewarding. Engineers in general make a comfortable amount of money. You have to take two tests to become a professional Engineer in California. My grandfather took both his FE and PE, and also got his masters degree in business at the University of San Francisco. I am very excited to interview him, just because he has a lot of experience and knows the in and outs of Engineering. 

 

With this paper, I want to approach my uncle and grandpa with interview questions about what it costs to be an engineer, how they talk to each other, and what kind of language they use. Other questions I can ask are the questions from the readings...

How are these communicative practices acquired? (Swales, Johns, Gee, Wardle)

What does it take for members to enculturate themselves? (Johns, Gee, Wardle, Mirabelli)What literacies to members need to acquire? (Mirabelli)What is this community's "way of being" (Johns, Gee, Wardle)What does it cost to take on this community? (Wardle, Johns)What values are reinforced by this community? (Devitt, Wardle, Johns)How do readers need to see themselves? How do they need to consider authorities? How do they need to align themselves? (Wardle)

 I am really excited about this paper, just because I feel like I have enough information about it. I am also unsure about my subject, I feel like it is not interesting enough. I think I should still brainstorm more ideas that are more eye catching to my audience. I think this paper is due after thanksgiving, so I will have time to be able to observe my grandpa and uncle in their work environment. 

Blog #9: Wardle and Work (Who Are You?)

Hello fellow bloggers,

Wow, thinking about my future job is kind of scary. We're starting to get closer to the big real thing... Adulthood! How I wish I can go back to being ten years old again :-(

What I got out of Wardle's article, Identity, Authority, and Learning to Write in New Workplaces, is that it talks about identity and authority she explains that joining a new workforce is not about the matter of solely learning new skills, but also adding to and fixing your identity. In other words changing your identity kit. For authority, Wardle says that the person of authority must maintain appropriate expressions of his trait. They must command attention, confidence and respect of their audience, and once the person of authority gains their trust the audience will pay attention because he/she portrayed the traits of a leader and they will listen because he/she is who they are.

With this being said, with my profession that I want, I have to apply these traits to myself and contract a new identity kit.

I am honestly kind of scared at what will happen in the future, but I am also very excited at what it has in store for me. I am currently studying Health Science with an emphasis in Public Health. I eventually want to become a Health Care Administrator in a nursing home. I believe that since there were high rates of births after WW2 (baby boomers) there will be a high demand of jobs in nursing homes.

Future Me :-)

Health Administration is not an easy job, sadly... but you do make a good amount of money. Being in this job requires you to basically, supervise clinical units, departments, or an entire hospital. It manages staff, finances and practices according to the law of Public Health... basically everything. In my eyes, Health Care Administrators are the heart of the hospital. Being a hospital administrator, you have to be a hardworking leader. You have to deal with pressures on the spot. Sometimes you will have unexpected problems that will happen and you have to deal with them in a smart and quick way. For me, I do well under pressure so I don't think I will have a problem with dealing with issues on the spot.

I would have to develop excellent communication skills. As you can see up above of the image I posted, the Health Care Administrator (in the picture) is probably talking to doctors, nurses or any other medical provider. The Administrator will have to know how to speak their specific language and fit into their discourse community to communicate with them. The Health Care Administrator would also know how to speak to people internationally (not their language, but maybe make the information understandable to their knowledge). I would have to change my ways and be more assertive and change my identity kit to have the impression of someone being in authority. I would want people to take me seriously (and it doesn't help I am 5'1). I would want them to listen to me. I will also have to talk in a very professional manner to people in healthcare, and have to write a lot of emails to doctors, nurses, CNA, and other hospital administrators in a professional way.

I am applying to an internship for next summer and I know I will have to do a lot of paperwork. I am used to filing and sorting out the paperwork, but I have never filled out paper work. What if I get things wrong and mess up everything? Hopefully, it will not be that challenging. But with a job like this, maybe they will want to prepare me for it.

I think being in this job will cost a lot. I have heard from many of my family members and friends that this is a stressful job, but it pays good. I know I will most likely work long hours, which means I won't have a lot of time to spend with my family. But with any job or internship you have to make sacrifices in order to provide for yourself and others.

-Vanessa

Blog #8 What are YOU learning to read?

Hello Peers!

I can't believe we are already on blog #8 already. Time is definitely flying by. I usually do not start my blogs till the morning of... BUT since I finally have a break during this on-going midterm season, I figured why not get this done now. I am usually a huge procrastinator, so I am trying my best to change this habit.

When I read Learning to Serve: The Language and Literacy of Food Service Workers by Tony Mirabelli, I could not believe what the email respondent said in the first paragraph of the article. I was appalled at how ignorant this email sounded. Especially about the part that said, "Stop being such a weakling, go out and learn something, anything, and go make a real contribution to society..." like what a jerk... Being a waitress, waiter, or server IS a contribution to society. Being in that type of job field actually teaches you a lot. Learning to talk and communicate with different kinds of people are one of the best learning skills you can achieve. I was never a waitress, so I don't really know anything about being in that job... but I would assume that it is a hard job to have. Dealing with rude customers, getting tipped poorly when you know you gave them your best customer service is all part of the job. With all these experiences you can learn patience, which is a skill that is usually learned and not taught in college. Although you may not need a college degree to be a waiter, you have to have skills that they do not teach you in college.

With the responses that this email got I was like...

Even if you have a college degree or not, having a waiter job does not mean you are less of a person. It does not make you worse than a person who works as a lawyer. A lawyer could be the rudest person with a bad personality and would be lower than that waiter with a more humble personality. I know so many college students who work as a waiter or server, and it does not make them less successful. Just like the respondent of the ignorant email said, "not everyone has a trust fund and can't work for a living" even though people have college degrees and want to have big jobs in the future. They have to make ends meet, and having a job that doesn't require a college degree is probably one of their only options. And honestly, not every job hires off of college experience. If you are cocky in having so many internships and jobs they probably will not hire you because of how you act. They would probably hire someone who is willing to work, even if their only job experience is working in a restaurant. I mean personally, I would respect someone who has personality, not someone who has more stuff on their resume. 

Economist Peter Drucker says that service work is "mindless", invoking repetitive tasks that require little education. Although some may agree with Drucker, I do not agree with his statement of a server's job being "mindless. They usually have to cover multiple tables, serve difficult people, and make sure everyone is getting taken care of. Imagine taking orders from 5 different tables, and having to get them right. What if one of your orders gets messed up? You then have to go back to the kitchen and tell them to make a new one, which would probably make the cook mad... So it clearly is not an easy job. I would not classify this work as being mindless, but rather "challenging". I would like to see someone with an "unmindless job" try to be a waiter. I know if I tried to be a server it would be a Sh!+show! On my first day, I would probably cry at how hectic it gets. 

I wonder if Drucker would think working at in-n-out would be a "mindless" job. I mean if you see the way these guys work and how fast they do their job, it is quite insane. They are constantly running around everywhere trying to get the order right and getting it out there fast, and to top it all off they always seem to have a cheerful attitude. So to Drucker I say, "try to do your job with a big smile on your face!"

:-)

Blog #7 My Identity Kit

Holaaa!!!

I am sitting here writing this blog in the morning once again because I have been studying for midterms all night long. This past week has been rough for me, just because I have been having midterms back to back. It seems like it never ends. Will it ever end? I have no idea.

One of the main times I acquired a new discourse community was when I was in middle school. I just moved from Texas and I didn't know anyone. Texas was just so different from California. In California, everyone cared so much about what they looked like and they were so confused about other states. I remember someone asked me if rode horses to class... Like really. I even got asked if I rode bulls, or if I liked wearing ten-gallon hats. I also moved to a different dance studio. Everyone had their own ways of doing things, and I just felt like I didn't belong.

 I started dancing since I was 5 years old, but then I took a 5-year break just because I didn't want to do it anymore. My parents thought it was a good idea to put me back into dance again, but I hated it. I remember my first day of dance class, I felt so out of the loop. All the girls were so good, and I just remember thinking that they would never want to be my friends. I didn't want them to know that I wasn't that good at dancing anymore. If they knew, they wouldn't want to be my friend. I also remember how the owner of the dance studio wanted to put me in an advanced ballet class, so I could catch up to them. I was like, "Why would you do this to me, I just started woman!!!" But if I look back at this time, I would not change a thing. I am so glad she put me in those advanced classes just because I got to adapt to the other girls. I pushed myself to be as good as them, and it worked. I think I push myself really hard sometimes, but I think its for the better. Over time, I started to get to know these girls better and better. I basically knew everyone that walked in and their moms. Before I knew it, the whole team became on big family.

In middle school, I began to see the same thing. The only person I knew in my middle school was my cousin Anna. I was so attached to her because she had her own group of friends, and she just seemed so established. I was such an introvert in middle school. I just knew if someone were to come up and talk to me, I would be so fun to talk to. But because I was so shy, my identity kit back then was that shy, small girl who is nice and quiet. So no one would really talk to me. I ended up joining the cheer team in 8th grade, and thats when I started to open up to people and show them how outgoing I could be.

Dance Team: Senior Night

Overtime, I ended up wanting to get out of her group of friends. I wanted to be friends with people that I clicked with, not because they were my cousins friends. So once I got to high school, I joined my school's dance team. It wasn't easy at first just because the girls had their own friends and cliques, but a couple weeks later, they started inviting me places. Before you know it, these girls because my ultimate best friends in high school. I started to realize my change within the past years and now. I feel like once I had a solid foundation of friends, I started to be more of myself and not worry about what people think. I am really bubbly person once you get to know me, and usually when people see me dance on stage they know I am confident for even being up during halftimes. I started to for this identity kit. The bubbly nice girl on the dance team. That how people knew me in high school. I was just so focused on dance and that is all people knew of me, and I figured this out when I got voted "best dancer" in my high school. I remember thinking to myself, it this what people just know me as?

Sometimes, what people think of you isn't what you think of yourself at all. I feel like my identity kit does not define me entirely. It only outlines what I am on the outside.
-Vanessa

Blog 6

Hello fellow classmates! 

I can't believe it's October already! This semester really flew by, next thing you know it will be fall semester of senior year for me... Okay, I'm kind of scaring myself. Anyways, Hallothanksistmas (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas) is coming! and cold weather woot woot!!!

After reading Professor Flewelling's blog post about Discourse communities and cost affiliation, all that comes to mind is that I can't believe how Steve Jobbs and Bill Gates dropped out of college and made their own billion dollar companies. If I dropped out of college, I honestly do not think I would be as successful as them. I shouldn't doubt myself like that, but sometimes it just seems that the possible is impossible.

In highschool, my mother was really strict on me, I never got to go out with my friends that much and do hood rat things with my friends. It was always just school then dance team, and after dance team practice I would have to drive 45 minutes to get to my studio where I competitively dance. Finally, after that I could have time for homework, but I usually got home around 10:30pm and I would just pass out when I got to my bed. The only thing that I really looked forward to was Friday night football games. In high school, it was kind of hard focusing on academics because a lot of my friends were not really focused as I was on going to college. But once I got to college, EVERYONE is focused on getting their degree, so it made me work extra hard than I did in high school.

Leaving my family back in the Bay Area was one of the hardest endeavors I have ever come across. I remember when everyone had to say goodbye it was a crying fest. Literally, my whole family was sobbing and then before you know it I was sobbing too. I was just so used to being with my family my whole life, and now I have to leave them behind and adventure this knew city BY MYSELF? It was terrifying at first, but once I got to meet friends along the way it got better. After 3 weeks of freedom, I missed my family more and more. I couldn't wait to be with my family again for the holidays. Sometimes it is really tough being at school, while your family is celebrating your sisters 12th birthday party. I hate missing out on things, and the one thing I hate the most is not being able to spend the time with my grandparents while I can... but I know in my heart that they would rather have me in college than be at home taking care of them. My gift to them is graduating college and getting into grad school. Being away from them sucks because my roommates are all from San Diego or LA, so they can just easily drive to see their family... and I am not going to lie I get jealous of them because if my family lived that close I would see them every 2 weeks if I could.

When I got to applying to schools, I applied to be a dance major and a minor in business. My plan was to open up my own dance school and make $$$$.... but come to my surprise I hated the dance major. In dance, I was into jazz, hip-hop, and lyrical. When I came to SDSU and took some classes, we had an 2 hour and 40 minute class of just straight breathing... BREATHING. Like i don't know how to breath. I hated it. The only class that I actually like was the ballet class, but that class started at 9 in the morning and who likes to dance technical ballet with an old lady screaming at you half the time to "straighten your back" when your back is perfectly 90 degrees. (FIX) I am not trying to bash on the dance major, I just think there can be more improvements to to it. I decided to switch my major to Public Health. I always had a passion to become a maternity nurse, and I just loved health. So why not? It was kind of a struggle for me because I changed my major sophomore year and I felt like I was so behind. I had a couple break downs here and there but with some summer classes ya girl is graduating on time!!! (if i continue to do good lol)

Sometimes I think, is college really for me? What if I don't get a job, would I be better starting something off with something on my own? I often think about those rare stories of students dropping out of college or even high school and making billions. Then I realize 1) my mom would kill me if I dropped out and wasted her money and 2) If i dropped out, I honestly would do nothing and just work my life away at a job that I don't even like.

Overall, I believe if you're going in the right direction in life, for instance, going to school, paying your bills on time, and staying healthy your going to be successful in life. If you believe that you can do or create something that is for the good of the people and it will make you tons of mulllla in the end, all power to you! I know midterms are going on right now, so stay strong guys!!!
-Vanessa

Opinions and Articles

Blog #4

We come across different kinds of literature in our daily lives. Op-eds and JSTOR articles are one of the many examples of literature. Op-eds are reading that you usually find in a newspaper, a piece of literature that you may come across a lot. They are usually strong and opinionated, and are a response to a current situation. JSTORs on the other hand are academic articles that contain more research. 

When coming across the three articles that I read, the one that caught my interest the most was the article about "Viral Black Death". Overall, this article is explaining it's side on why society should watch viral videos of police brutality on black citizens of America. Kimberly Fain, a licensed attorney who teaches African American literature at Texas Southern University, wrote this article. 

I agree with Fain in her article when she explains that society should watch videos of police brutality to get another side. A lot of times, police brutality is thrown to the side because society turns to the idea that it was the black mans fault for being murdered due to their crime like behavior in the past. I agree that black people are more susceptible to being hurt by police officers due to their previous behavior, but usually the videos perceive them as simply (in Alton Sterling’s case) "selling his CDs outside a liquor store" which I believe has nothing to do with their previous crime record.

On a side note, I remember the day I watched Philandro Castilles viral video. His girlfriend Diamond Reynolds captured this video and posted it using Facebook live. In the video, right away you see Philandro Castille covered in blood due to a shot in the arm by a police officer. Reynolds explains that he was shot because he was reaching for his gun license, which was misinterpreted by the police officer as "reaching for his firearm". After watching this video, I was stunned at how a black man getting pulled over for a broken taillight gets killed. After this video went viral, many celebrities including Beyoncé, Chris Brown, and Wiz Khalifa showed their sorrows on social media about the case, which lead to many riots across America. 

In this article, the author makes herself seem believable by being extremely knowledgeable in African American History and current events. She provides hyperlinks from previous occasions such as Philandro Castiles and Alton Sterling’s videos. She also adds some history of African American lynching, and the case of Emmit Till. Being that she is an African American literature teacher, I would believe she has a lot of knowledge in this subject. Fain adds hash tags to relate to a younger audience reading this, so that they can get more involved in the social media movement against police brutality. In addition, she adds quotations from of different sides to the article. The quotations show that she is fair and objective which shows her strong use of ethos. 

Fain uses pathos in her argument by including hear wrenching videos of black citizens that were killed due to police brutality and how their family members reacted to it. This would make the reader feel a lot of emotions while reading this because they feel sorry for the victims. In addition, she uses logos by including quotations from victims and history facts to state her point. 

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this JSTOR article. See you all in class!

Vanessa Lim 

Blog #2 Genre Awareness

I must say that I do agree with Professor Flewelling from last Friday's class when she said that this is probably the most hardest reading we will have this semester. At first, I was thinking to myself "this shouldn't be too hard" but then I started reading the article and saw how difficult the words were and I was like

Then I started to read the article more, and I couldn't really understand what she was saying. So I had to re-read a lot of parts and I was like

"Teaching Critical Genre Awareness" by Amy Devitt was a challenging article to read for me. It had a lot of complex words that I have never hear before like "pedagogy". I'm not going to lie, a lot of these words I looked up. Never did I ever expect to explore the world of genres with so much detail! I do agree with a lot of Amy Devitt's points like, how it is important to know how different genres can have an effect on a variety of relationships

and how you can relate to the reader on different aspects. Genre awareness is important because you can include attention to contrasting genres and how they influence people. For instance, if you didn't know much about genre awareness, you wouldn't be able to contrast other genres with another or relate to certain kinds of people because you don't have a grasp of different ideologies that they all have. In her article she also points out that she wants to, "help students understand genres both intellectually and experientially to prepare them to accept that genres represent particular sides that shape their existence of their world"(348). I agree with this statement because, its completely different when you're writing about a genre that you have never experienced before. Like for example, if you don't listen to rap music, but you end up writing about it, the statements won't be as accurate as a person who listens to rap music on a regular basis. To further elaborate on this, she also shares projects that she thinks will better students about exploring different genres. I admire that she wants students to analyze a genre from different cultures and to, "work in groups to gather sample, analyze the genre, and learn about the historical or cultural context" (349). This way the student will have way more to write about because they have experienced it first hand and it offers the audience the delight being familiar with the subject.

I am a Public Health major, so I am used to taking a lot of science and math classes. So you would imagine that essays were not really my forte. The only thing close an essay in my science classes are lap reports. In my lab reports, we have to write down every little detail we did in a experiment. We would write what we would change, what materials and methods we use, and we would add some diagrams here and there. (Even though it was still a 10 page lab report, I would rather write those brutal 3-4 page essays). I always dreaded my English class because when we had to write essays, we would have to follow the teachers structure, and if we didn't write them precisely her way, it was wrong. This all changed for me once I got to college. I remember when I first took a communications class my freshman year at SDSU, and we had to write outlines of our speeches, which I thought was way more fun than writing essays. Going into this RWS305 class, I was kind of nervous because I thought we would write essays the whole time, but once I saw all the different genres of literature we were going to do this semester, it made me more interested in the class. With the blogs we do in this class, I don't have to follow a certain structure, I can just write freely and add my own pizzazz to it. It kind of makes me want to start my own personal blot about my interests and passions. I feel if I explore different genres of writing, I will feel more comfortable with writing in general.


When I think about genres in my life, I automatically think about dance. I have been dancing competitively for most of my life and there are many styles/genres to it. There is lyrical, jazz, tap, pom, modern, contemporary, hip-hop, and many more. With all those different types of genres, you can see the different ideologies and stereotypes that come with them. For example, people who dance to the style of lyrical usually have long legs and have to express a lot of emotion that will make the audience feel a fuzzy warmth in their hearts after they watch it. Where as people who dance to jazz are more spunky, tiny, and energetic. I also think of how each dance gives off a different reaction to the audience. For instance, at competitions, usually lyrical will win because it attracts the most emotion and it is very beautiful to watch. Jazz on the other hand, makes the audience feel more excited and gets them on their feet the whole time. Unfortunately, jazz doesn't always win first place. Maybe this is because of all the ideologies that come with lyrical dancing. Some of these ideologies may be that its more deserving to win because of the story it tells, or just how it makes the audience feel good when they watch it.

We might not even think about how many different genres that we come into contact with in our everyday life. For example, I write a lot of emails to my professors. Even though I write a lot of emails, I am not aware they are a category in literature genres. I always want to come off as professional to my teachers. So even though I am unaware I am participating in a different genre of literature, I gained language that was important to my professional development.

Overall, Devitt's article explained a lot of good concepts about genre awareness. One of my favorite points in her article was about when students write the same old five paragraph essay that we've been writing ever since middle school. From those essays, we "carry ideologies, norms and values that come to seem unquestioned"(339). I agree from a personal level that when we usually come into contact with the repetitive genres we tend to be inattentive to the subject and students do not really engage in their emotional interests. We are so used to writing them in a certain structure, like making sure they have a thesis and three good examples.

Thanks for reading,

Vanessa

Vanessa Lim

I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. -Michael Jordan 

Whats up everyone! My name is Vanessa (I know, cheesy opening) here's some fun facts about myself :-)

I am currently a junior at SDSU pursuing a Public Health degree

I am half Filipino and half African American

My favorite shows right now are Grey's Anatomy and Jane the Virgin

I was born and raised in Houston, Texas (Go Longhorns!) (& Beyonce)

I have a shih tzu named Snookie

I am the eldest daughter of two sisters

I was the captain of my dance team in high school 

I am a part of Delta Gamma sorority

I am a Leo

Sunny San Diego 

Now that we got some of the facts out the way, we can talk about some cool stuff! It's kind of crazy to see how far I have come. For instance, college. I honestly never imagined myself to go to a big successful school like SDSU. "It never rains in Southern California!!!" (It's a song just in case some young people are reading this; that song is 100% true). The day I moved to San Diego it. never. rained. but then just last year it started raining like no other because of El Nino. long story... but ANYWAYS. Moving to San Diego for college was one of the toughest yet best decisions I have ever made. It was so hard leaving my family back in the Bay Area, but moving to San Diego made me find my true self and helped me learn how to live independently.  The one thing that makes San Diego stand out to me is that I feel like i'm on vacation all while I'm going to school. I moved to the Bay Area from Texas when I was in fifth grade, and the even though the Bay Area and San Diego are in the same state, they are totally different. San Diego is different because because I feel like there is more stuff to do here for the young ones like me and I never run out of things to do. 

Waves Don't Die

Me at Mission Beach!

I have to go into more depth about the beaches here because c'mon, we have a free called "Beaches" and I think that's pretty cool! My favorite beach is Mission Beach. I don't know why I'm obsessed with Mission Beach because it just gives me this vibe of the typical California stereotype. The only beach we have in the Bay that is similar is the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. I love Santa Cruz , but I don't like the fact that I have to drive two and a half hours to get there. So that's why I think Mission beach is 100 times better.

FAMILY

Mom, Me, G-ma, Aunt

My Papa & I

If it wasn't for my family, I probably would not be here right now. They are my support system, my rocks, and my best friends. I probably hang out with my family more than I do with my friends. It was tough leaving my family to go to college here, I literally call them everyday. I know some of you are like "omg what a baby" and you know what, thats kind of true. I was the first grandchild of my grandparents, and I was the first child out of all my aunts and uncles. So I guess you can say I'm the baby of the family. Well, not really cause I'm the oldest, but I'm sure you all get the point.

Little Sister

 The picture on the right is my grandpa (I call him Papa). He is the strongest, most loving man I know and I hope to find someone that is exactly like him one day. My mom is a single mom, and growing up I looked up to my Papa as my dad. He always strived to give me everything I wanted and always cooked for me (I swear he was a chef in his past life because nothing beats his food). I don't know what I would do without him, and its gets harder and harder to leave every time. The picture on the left are the three main women in my life; my mom, my grandma, and my aunt. They all raised me  and my sister together, and has made such a big impact on my life. To me, they are all role models and I hope to be half as good as they are when I am older. Finally, on the bottom is my little sister. My sister and I are complete opposites, she's very sporty and tom boyish, and I am nothing like that. I honestly suck at every sport there is. Even though my sister and I don't get along that much we both know that at the end of the day we love each other and we will always have each others backs.

DeeGee! 

At SDSU, I am a part of Delta Gamma sorority. I've been a part of it for two years now, and it's made my stay here in San Diego so much more enjoyable. To me, Delta Gamma is my home away from home, I'm always excited to see my sisters when I come back to SD. From all the events, philanthropy work, to recruitment, my bond with these girls grow so much stronger everyday. It's such a relieving feeling when I walk into a new class on the first day of a new semester and see a familiar DG face smiling back at me. Joining a sorority is so worth it. Ignore all the stereotypes and rumors and just try out the recruitment process, you will thank me later! You also make great connections for the future, and hey, it looks good on your resume! :-)