My Song

The song that I have chosen for our paper is " No woman, no cry," by Bob Marley. If you do not know Bob Marley is a singer who was in the band "The Wailers." His music is known as reggae which is very laid back. I picked this song because it reminds me of struggles you have to over come to get to where you want to go. That's why I feel like it relates to the story "A long way gone." Ishmael had to over come obstacles to get to where he is now. That could be from leaving your family, to knowing your life is in jeopardy that you have to act fast, no matter what the cost is.
I am not for sure what my thesis statement is going to be or how I am going to make all this information turn into 4 pages. After reading the pages for Thursday I do have some ideas on how to write a proper paper and how to organize the information from the notes that I have been taking for the song, writer, and story. I have a feeling I will probably be living at the writing center for a while before we turn in our drafts and final papers.

The Perfect Date

The perfect date to me would be a beautiful sunny day in the Fall. The guy would leave a big bouquet of sunflowers and daisy's right outside my door with a card on it saying "Today is your special day. Get dressed and come down stairs." I would be so excited, I would run into my room and get ready really fast. When leaving my room I would see daisy's of all colors on the ground leading downstairs. When I would get downstairs there would be another bouquet of flowers that my date would be holding. We would walk around the town, but then he would lead me to a big park area with a beautiful fountain. There would be a picnic set up right under a big tree of with all my favorite foods in a big picnic basket. We would eat and talk for a while about sports and different things.
After our picnic we would walk around, I not knowing where he was taking me. He would lead me to an old pumpkin patch, where he would tell me to pick out any pumpkin. I would pick one and so would he, not knowing what would happen next he would lead me right outside the pumpkin patch and there would be a pumpkin carving area just for us. He would carve his and I would carve mine. Later he would pull out a big wagon and we would set our pumpkins in it. We would walk home with him pulling a big red wagon. We would get to my house and I would invite him in for a cup of coffee. That would be the perfect date.

Coffee Cupcake Shop

If I could open up any type of shop it would be a coffee cupcake shop. The name on the shop would be called "Beans with Sprinkles." It's location would be in an area where a lot of college students like to hangout and close to a lot of neighborhoods.It would serve many different flavors of coffee, which may include Snickerdoodle, Hazelnut, and Vanilla. There will also be lattes, cappuccinos, and for the kids hot cocoa. Every Wednesday and Thursday it will be 50 cent coffee days and 25 cent refills, and on these days kids will be allowed one free drink.
At this shop it will also be a big seller in cupcakes. People from all around the world will be placing orders for these cupcakes. My shop will be featured on "Oprah's Christmas Special." Every cup-cake will be decorated in a different type of theme. If someone wants a princess cupcakes we will make a princess on top of the cupcake. On Saturdays cupcakes will only cost eighty cents for one, and kids 12 and under will get one for free. Everyone will be wanting to come and visit "Beans and Sprinkles," because it's that good.

Rain-boots

Looking out the window Monday morning made me very excited for the day. It wasn't a beautiful sunny day, but a rainy day. I love the rain, it makes me want to curl-up in a big blanket and watch "Breakfast at Tiffanie's," but I couldn't do that since I had a History exam at ten o'clock. While I was getting ready I thought " My mom just bought me some rain-boots!" I was so excited to pull them out of my shoe box and put them on. They are tall rain-boats with different colors of strips all around them. I put them on, under my jeans and was ready to go.
My first problem with the boots was when I was walking down the stairs to the elevator. When I took my first couple of step I heard this weird squeaky noise. I looked around and thought " There must be something in my bag," until I noticed that every time I took a step the boots squeaked. After getting down the stairs I thought I was OK, until I walked half way down to the teachers building and felt pain around my foot. I knew if I would have gone back to change my shoes I would have been late for my exam, so I kept going. By the time I was sitting down for my exam my feet killed. As I was walking to turn in my exam I felt like a duck wobbling around. After turning in my exam I hurried to my room to change my shoes. I have never been so pleased to wear flip-flops in all my life. Today I have band-aids wrapped around my feet because of those rain-boots. No one never told me rain-boots were so painful.

Ishmael Beah

Sitting in the audience knowing you will soon be face to face with a national best selling author is an amazing experience. Seeing Ishmael with his black suit and crazy hair, I first thought "this is going to be a long night." Then everything changed, rather than reading the book page by page he talked about himself in funny, but serious ways. One of them was when he said "I remember talking to the man I use to play soccer with at the kids center, and if my team lost there would be a fight, but if we won there wouldn't be a fight. So I was talking to this man and brought up how we use to win a lot, when he told me that they use to let us win, because they didn't want another fight. Before this I thought I was an amazing soccer player, now I'm just like well I tried."
The village that Ishmael lived in was nothing compared to what we have today or twenty years ago. Ishmael said "If you want to take a bath you have to fetch the water, then make a fire, warm up the water on the fire, then you have a bath. This was very different from his first trip to New York were he was explaining how he was so amazed from the shower, and when he went back home to tell his uncle, his uncle said "There must be a guy on the other side of the wall heating water and putting it through the hole.
At the end of his speech had to be one of the most remember able sayings I will always remember. Ishmael said "I got through this with a fight, everyone has that in them, they just need to find it in themselves first." Ishmael is one of my idols after listening to his speech and I hope he does come back to "Ball State" soon.

KD

Going through sorority rush is a very tiring experience. You have to attend lots of meetings. Meet a lot of amazing people. Make it so you can only have seven hours of sleep a night. I am so glad rush is over, but I know I had one of the best experiences of my life.
Rush started last Thursday and ended Monday. It was a little scary at first to meet knew people and know that they are judging you. Finding out which one you are in had to be one of the most exciting experiences for me. During rush you are put into a group from where you live. My group was number one and we all hit it off right away. On Monday we met in front of Woody Hall. The rush leaders who take us to all the special events were waiting for us. When I got there I saw a big tan envelope which had the bid of your sorority. My leader handed me my envelope.
I was so nervous. I ripped open the envelope and saw in big letters it said "Kappa Delta." I have never been so excited in my life. I jumped up and down and started screaming I was so happy.
My group next had to walk to the field, where we would re-night with my new sorority sisters. All the girls around me were going crazy because they wanted to go to their own sorority. It finally came to 6 o'clock when we were aloud to go to our new sorority. I ran as fast as I could to my sorority. I knew with all the hugs and cheering, I was home.

Tea Room

During the summers of my freshman, sophomore, and junior years I worked at a tea room. It was called (Tea in the Country) which was owned by a little old lady named Caroline and her daughter Jana. They opened the tea room in the summer of 2004. It is located in Yorktown Indiana, in a small little white building that was built almost one hundred years ago. I can still remember how I got my job working at the tea room.
It was in the summer, and I was about to be a freshman in high school. I had told my mother about the tea room before, because I had visited with my friends. My mother made a reservation at noon with her, my grandma, my mothers friend, and I. When we got there we sat right by a big window that was filled with flowers, and big hats of all colors. I can still smell cinnamon scones when I think about it. Jana was the first one that came to take our tea order. I ordered (Raspberry Chocolate Chai) while my mother and her friend ordered a white tea and my grandma ordered a black tea. When Jana left I was telling everyone at the table about the myths of teas. That Jana had told me the last time I visited.
Jana had come with our teas to the table, and was explaining information about teas. After the talk my grandmother said that I was trying to find a job. I remember the feeling that I had felt after my grandmother had said this, total embarrassment. Jana looked at me and said "We need someone to help out, Mom needs as much help as she can get." I shot up and asked "When do you want me?" Everyone looked very excited " How about tomorrow?" "Sounds good to me!" I said. That's how I came to work at a little tea room in Yorktown.

Car Ride

It was July 3rd 2009. My family and I were heading down to Hilton Head Island for our annual family vacation. We always went down to Hilton Head every July 4th week for the last four years. It is a beautiful small little island that is very private. To me it is a place to go and relax, and forget about the real world around me.
My family and I left at 5:00 a.m. In the first five minutes of the trip when my father had slipped coffee on his pants, my older brother was complaining because he and I were smashed in the back. My mother, well she was reading her People magazine that she had purchased the night before. I knew in that time that this was going to be a long trip.
In the first hour we had to stop at a gas station so my dad could wash the coffee off from his pants. Evan was pumping the gas into our four runner car. Mom was inside the gas station buying water with me when my dad walked out and looked like he had just gotten out of the shower. "What happened to you?" my mom said. "The water wasn't coming out so I turned it on high and then it shot out all over me." My mom and I could not stop laughing. When we walked out of the gas station my brother asked, "What is so funny?" I looked at dad and then Evan looked at dad and we just started laughing.
We all got in the car to finish up our eleven hour drive when it started to smell. We all looked around and realized it was coming from my dad, because of the water. Finding out later that we think there was a back up in the water and some could have been from the sewage. That was one heck of a drive all the way down to Hilton Head, with a horrible smell right in front of me.

Moving in

It was a hot summer day in August. My mother was finishing folding up my clean clothes. I could tell she was in a little sad to see her baby girl leaving home. She had kept telling me all summer "What am I supposed to do with your father, he doesn't talk." We made it out to be a big joke in the family. I went in and gave my mom a big hug, I can still smell her " Angle perfume" that she had put on that very morning. I felt my mother to finish off the rest of my clothes, and to see how my dad and brother were doing with loading the car. They were working on packing up the SUV with all my heavy boxes. Making sure they didn't forget anything I asked repeatedly " did you remember the fan, sheets, purple container,etc." "Yes Amanda we packed everything out of your room!."
When everything was packed and checked twice, we sat off for Ball State University. I don't live that fare, so the drive was really short. We pulled in right beside Woody Hall that would be my new home for the upcoming year. " I'm so glad we survived the long car ride" my brother would say, sarcastically. We'll I went inside to get all my living information, my brother helped unpack the car, and my mother and father were in there own conversation which was mainly "Why does Amanda need all this stuff?" Every time they asked me I would say " You wouldn't understand if I told you."
We unloaded everything into my room which took an hour. My parents know that I like my stuff a certain way, so they knew that it was time to leave. I said good by to my brother first which considered me standing on my tip-toes since he is so tall. Then my dad who smelled of after shave from that morning. After letting go of my dad I looked at my mom who tried to look strong, but you could tell she was in a little bit of pain seeing her baby leave. I went up to her and gave her the biggest hug and a kiss on the cheek, she still smelled of her angle perfume from that same morning. They opened the door and were leaving, but them my mom looked back me. With a smile on her face she said " I am so proud of you," and that memory will last forever.

Never chew gum on a roller coaster

Mother's always knows whats best for there children. They can always predict the outcome before there children do anything. Dad's just go with the flow, they always say when the going gets ruff just say "Yes dear." Older brothers are more of the protectors of there younger siblings, but are the best complainers. Daughters are the ones that think they are right about everything, and love it when they go against there mothers wishes.
It was a hot day on the east side of Virgina, the high was 103 degrees. I can still remember my brother in his Michael Jordan jersey complaining to my mother " It's so hot why did we have to come here." My mother is a very wise woman when it comes to finding something fun to do. She looked at my brother and I with her big brown eyes, which meant don't complain, I have something fun for you two. The family got in our new gold van which had a big Colts sticker on the back bumper. While my father was driving my mother turned around and said "we are going to an amazement park." My brother and I looked at each other with our big grins and then our mom, we couldn't believe it our first roller coaster.
We got into the park, and then headed for this on amazing roller coast that goes up and down, it looked amazing. We waited in line for about an hour. I was very nervous, it felt like I had butterflies in my stomach. My mom gave me some spearmint gum to calm me down. She said " just remember to spit it out before you get on the ride," " OK mom" I said. We were at the front of the line and we were the next to go. I remember they kept having this Pepsi commercial showing while you were waiting in line, because this was the roller coaster they used for this commercial. It was our time to get on the ride, and forgot about spitting out my gum. I got into my seat and buckled up. My dad sat right next to me and, and my mother and brother sat across from us.When we took off I can honestly say I have never screamed that much in my whole life. It had to be one of the best experiences ever.
We got off the ride and were about to get into the line again, when my mother noticed something in my brothers hair. She looked at me and asked " Amanda did you spit out your gum before the ride?" " Umm no" We didn''t get back on that ride instead we got in our van and headed back to my hotel. My brother had to get all his hair cut off. I have learned never to chew gum right before going on a roller coaster.