As I have previously relayed in some of my blogs, I am currently a senior here at UNCW. This semester is technically my first semester of senior year, and I will be graduating a semester early this coming December. As it sits right now I have ZERO motivation for school.
I am currently finishing up COM 340 which is one of my last two required communication courses. I will be taking 490 in the fall. The rest of my classes I have taken because they look interesting, they look easy, or a combination of the two. Either way, it entirely too nice outside these days for me to have any motivation to go to class or to finish the last little bit of work I have left in each of these classes. It is the worst. I was the exact same way when I was finishing up high school too. My senior year I did not want to do anything once spring semester started.
Next semester doesn’t look like it’s going to be much different for me either. Like I said, my last required COM class is 490 and that will be the only class I am taking in the communication department next semester. Other than 490, which are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am only taking one other class on campus, which is on Tuesday and Thursday too. To finish out the last part of my required 12 hours before graduation I am taking two online classes in the criminal justice department. I know this seems like such a slack schedule, but I am just ready to be done!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Summer
We are finally coming up on summer time and I cannot wait. I’m so sick of cold weather, cold rain, or snow that summer could not come sooner. Other than the weather, summer means a break from school, and for me it’s the last summer as a student at UNCW. I may stay down here after graduation, if I can find a job, but this time next year summer won’t be near as significant.
This being said, I want to make this summer memorable. I didn’t get to take a trip for spring break, and since I’m graduating in December, that was technically my last spring break, so I definitely want to take a trip of some sort. Right now I have a couple of options. One of my good friends from high school is in the army, and he’s stationed right outside Honolulu, Hawaii. Since he has been there he has been begging me and my twin brother to make a trip out there, and he has a couple weeks of leave at the beginning of July. My roommate and a few of my friends are also looking at taking a cruise around the Caribbean sometime midsummer too.
The pros of a cruise is that it’s all inclusive (except alcohol), and you get to see a bunch of different sites. It would definitely be cheaper than flying out to Hawaii and back too. But Hawaii is Hawaii and that’s a pro in itself. Plus, I know my friend and he is likely to pay for a lot of what I and my brother would do once we got over there. Sufficed to say, both trips would be a blast, but I can only take one. So I ask my blog readers, what would be the most memorable for you?
This being said, I want to make this summer memorable. I didn’t get to take a trip for spring break, and since I’m graduating in December, that was technically my last spring break, so I definitely want to take a trip of some sort. Right now I have a couple of options. One of my good friends from high school is in the army, and he’s stationed right outside Honolulu, Hawaii. Since he has been there he has been begging me and my twin brother to make a trip out there, and he has a couple weeks of leave at the beginning of July. My roommate and a few of my friends are also looking at taking a cruise around the Caribbean sometime midsummer too.
The pros of a cruise is that it’s all inclusive (except alcohol), and you get to see a bunch of different sites. It would definitely be cheaper than flying out to Hawaii and back too. But Hawaii is Hawaii and that’s a pro in itself. Plus, I know my friend and he is likely to pay for a lot of what I and my brother would do once we got over there. Sufficed to say, both trips would be a blast, but I can only take one. So I ask my blog readers, what would be the most memorable for you?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
March Madness
So I couldn’t quite decide on what to discuss for this Blog so I figured I would piggy back off a discussion I heard on ESPN this afternoon. Obviously the biggest thing going on in sports right now is the NCAA tournament. The discussion I heard centered on the question, “is the first 2 days of the NCAA tournament the best time of the year to watch sports?” Several of the sportscasters argued that yes, this is absolutely the best time of the year for watching sports, especially basketball, but I would take a different side to this argument.
I would say that March Madness is a crazy time of year for sports, but for a whole different reason than most people would look at it. It is madness, not because there are so many basketball games being played, eventually resulting in a national champion, but because it is the first month since August that there have been no football games on TV. This thought is slightly depressing. I would argue that any Saturday and Sunday filled with College and Professional football is far superior to the NCAA tournament. As a matter of fact, I would rather watch most teams play in football before I would care to watch them in basketball.
This is not to say that I don’t like to watch basketball from time to time, or that I don’t enjoy the NCAA tournament. I personally would prefer football over any sport that I can watch on TV or see in person. I feel that the game is so much more exciting, with the opportunity for a big play at any moment. It doesn’t consist of watching teams run back and forth across a court hundreds of times in a game. I know that there of many people who would disagree with me on this, but it’s just the way I feel.
I would say that March Madness is a crazy time of year for sports, but for a whole different reason than most people would look at it. It is madness, not because there are so many basketball games being played, eventually resulting in a national champion, but because it is the first month since August that there have been no football games on TV. This thought is slightly depressing. I would argue that any Saturday and Sunday filled with College and Professional football is far superior to the NCAA tournament. As a matter of fact, I would rather watch most teams play in football before I would care to watch them in basketball.
This is not to say that I don’t like to watch basketball from time to time, or that I don’t enjoy the NCAA tournament. I personally would prefer football over any sport that I can watch on TV or see in person. I feel that the game is so much more exciting, with the opportunity for a big play at any moment. It doesn’t consist of watching teams run back and forth across a court hundreds of times in a game. I know that there of many people who would disagree with me on this, but it’s just the way I feel.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Motivation
Recently, a friend and I were having a discussion on what motivates us. What is the driving force behind the things that we do in our life? As I have stated in previous blogs and responses I am a Christian, so a big motivation in my life is to try and be like Christ. I know for a fact a fail at that on a regular basis, but I am a work in progress. But I got to thinking, other than religious motivation what pushes me in my life?
For me, motivation lies in trying to be the best at everything I do. Although I try to be the best I don’t always succeed, but it’s about giving 100% in all aspects of my life. If I am at work, waiting tables, I want to be the best server there. I want my drive and motivation to be reflected in the way I interact with my tables and want the guests to enjoy their experience because of what they see in me. If I am training at the gym, I want to be the best coach that my clients work with. I want them to appreciate the fact that I push them to their limits and enjoy coming and working with me every time they are in the gym. If I am working out myself, I want to beat my previous time or previous weight on a given workout. Not only do I want to beat my old times, but I want to beat every person that posted a time or a weight for that workout. Even in relationships I want to be the best. I want to work hard and earn your trust and respect so that you can come to me time and time again for advice or just to talk.
I don’t want you all to confuse this motivation for being cocky or arrogant, because that is the last thing I am. I have a strong competitive drive in all aspects of my life, and when I got to thinking about it, that is what motivates me day in and day out.
So what about you? What motivates you to work, to play, to get the most out of life? I hope it’s something that comes from deep within you that allows you to get the most out of your existence, because mine sure does.
For me, motivation lies in trying to be the best at everything I do. Although I try to be the best I don’t always succeed, but it’s about giving 100% in all aspects of my life. If I am at work, waiting tables, I want to be the best server there. I want my drive and motivation to be reflected in the way I interact with my tables and want the guests to enjoy their experience because of what they see in me. If I am training at the gym, I want to be the best coach that my clients work with. I want them to appreciate the fact that I push them to their limits and enjoy coming and working with me every time they are in the gym. If I am working out myself, I want to beat my previous time or previous weight on a given workout. Not only do I want to beat my old times, but I want to beat every person that posted a time or a weight for that workout. Even in relationships I want to be the best. I want to work hard and earn your trust and respect so that you can come to me time and time again for advice or just to talk.
I don’t want you all to confuse this motivation for being cocky or arrogant, because that is the last thing I am. I have a strong competitive drive in all aspects of my life, and when I got to thinking about it, that is what motivates me day in and day out.
So what about you? What motivates you to work, to play, to get the most out of life? I hope it’s something that comes from deep within you that allows you to get the most out of your existence, because mine sure does.
Monday, February 1, 2010
CrossFit
I’ve been doing this relatively new and innovative workout program for a little over a year now and I have seen so many improvements in my life from it that I decided to become a certified trainer in its methods. The workout program is called CrossFit and I became a CrossFit trainer a little over a month ago. In a few short words CrossFit is: constantly varied, functional movements, performed at a high intensity. I’ll break down each of these for you.
The first tenet of CrossFit is constantly varied movements. This is contrary to what you see in most gyms today. Most gyms will suggest something like chest and back work on Monday, legs on Wednesday, shoulders and arms on Friday, and sprinkle in some cardio on your days off. CrossFit, on the other hand, mixes up the workout every day you come in the gym. For example, my workout today was 100 shoulder presses with 95 pounds for time. But, the workout tomorrow is 5 rounds for time, each round consists of rowing 250 meters, 7 thrusters (essentially pushing the bar overhead) at 135 pounds, and 10 pushups. With these constantly varied workouts it doesn’t allow your body to get in a routine and always keeps it guessing, which helps you see maximum gains.
The second component of CrossFit is functional movements. Notice in the workouts I described above you didn’t see curls or shrugs or bench press, because those movements aren’t functional. Functional movements are movements that you are more likely to see in a real life setting. Things like pushing something over your head or pushing yourself off the ground, these are functional movements. Also, functional movements tend to utilize what things that you already have, like sandbag carries or body weight lifts like pull ups.
The final piece of CrossFit is combining these constantly varied functional movements and performing them at a high intensity. You may be asking what is considered high intensity? Well, scientifically speaking intensity is always equal to power output. Power is equal to weight moved times distance moved all divided by the time it took to move that. I won’t get too technical and go into the mathematical equations behind this. But just know that the workout I did today was done in 15:36, and the power output from that is much greater than a typical day in the gym doing three sets of bench, three sets of curls, and so on.
If none of this make sense to you then look at the results. My brother has lost 20 pounds since doing CrossFit and is in great shape. I have lost 10 pounds and am in the best shape of my life, even better than when I was playing high school football. I can recount countless stories of people at my gym who have had the same or better results from following the CrossFit methodology. If this sounds like anything you would like to know more about let me know, I would love to take you through the basics of CrossFit. If this sounds too hard or too “intense” for you, keep in mind that everything can be scaled to your fitness level. I guarantee if you were to try CrossFit and stick with it for just a few months you would never go back to your old workouts.
The first tenet of CrossFit is constantly varied movements. This is contrary to what you see in most gyms today. Most gyms will suggest something like chest and back work on Monday, legs on Wednesday, shoulders and arms on Friday, and sprinkle in some cardio on your days off. CrossFit, on the other hand, mixes up the workout every day you come in the gym. For example, my workout today was 100 shoulder presses with 95 pounds for time. But, the workout tomorrow is 5 rounds for time, each round consists of rowing 250 meters, 7 thrusters (essentially pushing the bar overhead) at 135 pounds, and 10 pushups. With these constantly varied workouts it doesn’t allow your body to get in a routine and always keeps it guessing, which helps you see maximum gains.
The second component of CrossFit is functional movements. Notice in the workouts I described above you didn’t see curls or shrugs or bench press, because those movements aren’t functional. Functional movements are movements that you are more likely to see in a real life setting. Things like pushing something over your head or pushing yourself off the ground, these are functional movements. Also, functional movements tend to utilize what things that you already have, like sandbag carries or body weight lifts like pull ups.
The final piece of CrossFit is combining these constantly varied functional movements and performing them at a high intensity. You may be asking what is considered high intensity? Well, scientifically speaking intensity is always equal to power output. Power is equal to weight moved times distance moved all divided by the time it took to move that. I won’t get too technical and go into the mathematical equations behind this. But just know that the workout I did today was done in 15:36, and the power output from that is much greater than a typical day in the gym doing three sets of bench, three sets of curls, and so on.
If none of this make sense to you then look at the results. My brother has lost 20 pounds since doing CrossFit and is in great shape. I have lost 10 pounds and am in the best shape of my life, even better than when I was playing high school football. I can recount countless stories of people at my gym who have had the same or better results from following the CrossFit methodology. If this sounds like anything you would like to know more about let me know, I would love to take you through the basics of CrossFit. If this sounds too hard or too “intense” for you, keep in mind that everything can be scaled to your fitness level. I guarantee if you were to try CrossFit and stick with it for just a few months you would never go back to your old workouts.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Faith
What is faith? Webster’s first two definitions define it as, confidence or trust in a person or thing; belief that is not based on proof. However, the third definition seems to be the one most people think about when they think of faith. Here it is defined as, belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion. When I think of faith this is what comes to mind for as well; this is because I do have faith in God and Jesus Christ, and believe the doctrines that back it up. I would also argue that it takes more “faith” for someone to believe in nothing than to believe in a God who created the universe.
Let’s take a step back real quick. As stated in the first paragraph I believe in the God and the teachings of the Bible and Christianity. This means I regard the creation story as more than a theory. But what about those who do not believe as I do? I would assume they fall under the belief in the “Big Bang” theory, and the theory of evolution. Back to my first point, I feel that it takes more “faith” to believe in this, rather than creation. Why? Well, let me break it down for you.
One of the components of the theory of evolution is how the world was created. This particular creation theory hinges around a “Big Bang” that brought the earth into existence. Then from this the earth cooled and life began to form and gradually it became the earth as you and I know it today. I realize this model is widely accepted, but I would argue that to believe this, you must have more faith than me.
The main problem I see here is the “Big Bang”. Have you ever tried to create something out of nothing? Think back to when you were a little kid and played with Lego’s or Lincoln Logs. The premise behind these toys is taking them and putting them together to create something unique. However, if you were to simply take a new set of Lego’s or Lincoln Logs and shake them up, nothing in the box would take form, because you can create something out of nothing. It takes a set of hands knowing what they are doing to create something incredible. For me, the “Big Bang” theory takes loads of faith to believe in, because it requires believing that something could be created from nothing, without a divine hand putting things into place.
Just stop and think about small details that make life possible on Earth. The fact we are the only planet in the solar system that can sustain life is incredible. The fact that if we were a slightly closer to the sun it would be too hot for life or slightly farther away it would be too cold is awesome. The beauty of the sunrises and sunsets every day is simply amazing. Every creature on the Earth working in harmony to make life move on is a phenomenon in itself. Believing that an all powerful being created something so perfect is not something I find farfetched. In fact, all I have to do is take a look out the window, take a walk on the beach, or just wake up in the morning to have the faith that there is something divine that allowed me to have life on this earth. It would take so much more for me to believe that we all somehow got here from nothing.
Let’s take a step back real quick. As stated in the first paragraph I believe in the God and the teachings of the Bible and Christianity. This means I regard the creation story as more than a theory. But what about those who do not believe as I do? I would assume they fall under the belief in the “Big Bang” theory, and the theory of evolution. Back to my first point, I feel that it takes more “faith” to believe in this, rather than creation. Why? Well, let me break it down for you.
One of the components of the theory of evolution is how the world was created. This particular creation theory hinges around a “Big Bang” that brought the earth into existence. Then from this the earth cooled and life began to form and gradually it became the earth as you and I know it today. I realize this model is widely accepted, but I would argue that to believe this, you must have more faith than me.
The main problem I see here is the “Big Bang”. Have you ever tried to create something out of nothing? Think back to when you were a little kid and played with Lego’s or Lincoln Logs. The premise behind these toys is taking them and putting them together to create something unique. However, if you were to simply take a new set of Lego’s or Lincoln Logs and shake them up, nothing in the box would take form, because you can create something out of nothing. It takes a set of hands knowing what they are doing to create something incredible. For me, the “Big Bang” theory takes loads of faith to believe in, because it requires believing that something could be created from nothing, without a divine hand putting things into place.
Just stop and think about small details that make life possible on Earth. The fact we are the only planet in the solar system that can sustain life is incredible. The fact that if we were a slightly closer to the sun it would be too hot for life or slightly farther away it would be too cold is awesome. The beauty of the sunrises and sunsets every day is simply amazing. Every creature on the Earth working in harmony to make life move on is a phenomenon in itself. Believing that an all powerful being created something so perfect is not something I find farfetched. In fact, all I have to do is take a look out the window, take a walk on the beach, or just wake up in the morning to have the faith that there is something divine that allowed me to have life on this earth. It would take so much more for me to believe that we all somehow got here from nothing.
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