Reflecting on Celebrate Learning

One of the first groups that you see with warm and smiling faces, welcoming  you to the Celebrate Learning event, is the Learning Assistant Center. They let you know that everyone at Schoolcraft College wants you to succeed. The LAC informs you that knowledgable students are available to other students, free of charge, to help with writing, studying and strategies with various subjects.

Getting through the first semester of college is probably one of the hardest of your college life. Adjusting to the change of teaching styles and the amount of homework can be overwhelming for a person if you are not prepared. The teachers and veteran students of Schoolcraft College understand the stresses of freshmen and make themselves available for those having a hard time. Many students only attend college because their parents forced them to go. People at Schoolcraft College try to make it an enjoyable and educational experience rather than for it to be a waist of time and money for a person. A person should not have to think of college as the worst time in their life because they did not want to be there.

It does not matter if you have selected a career path or not, someone is there for you and can help you along the way so that you can make a well informed decision about your future. All of the help that is offered at Schoolcraft College makes it hard for a person to fail. The only way a person can fail is by making a choice to go into these unfamiliar grounds by themselves when they do not have to.

The overall event lets a person know whether they are enrolled at the college or if they are thinking about enrolling at Schoolcraft College that this is a place for you. You realize after leaving this event that you are welcomed with open arms and this could be one of the best places to start or restart your life.

Advertising and Consumers

We all have, at one time or another, wanted something for free or cheaper than retail price. But are we really getting a savings or are we going to pay for it later down the road? I learned a long time ago, the reason why they do not advertise prices with a lot of zero’s is because statistically when people see too many zero’s, at the end of any dollar price, they believe it is too much money. Companies do not expect for consumers to be savvy when it comes to them looking out for their own best interest. Some consumer’s think that companies are being nice by running deals on their products never realizing that the price has already been marked up before being marked down for some of these blockbuster deals to be given.

Furniture stores seem to run some kind of sale every week or two. I took it upon myself to shop for deals on furniture for my new home. Every week they ran a sale I would go to the store to see if the prices change along with the sale. When looked at the bedroom suite I was interested in, the sales price and the original sales price did not adjust. That led me to believe that just because they say it is a sale that it does not necessarily mean it is a sale.

While listening to a radio station a commercial came on advertising a product and offering free samples. Towards the end of the commercial the person started talking really fast, telling you about all the exceptions and qualifications needed. I barely understood anything he was saying.

Every day we see commercials advertising some kind of prescription medications. They start by telling you about one person’s story and how great they are doing on that medication. In the next statement they tell you it may not be for you if you have heart or liver problems. They also say for you to tell your doctor if you take another type of medication because it can cause serious side effects. It seems to me that the public is being used as guinea pigs. It makes you wonder about how corporations get away with these advertising strategies. The United States and New Zealand are the only two countries in the world where this type of advertising is legal.

Many people are susceptible to advertisements like these because they have been disappointed or declined for treatments in the past and they are looking for a miracle cure/ quick fix. Companies that sell medication over the television and radio prey on vulnerable people in their weak moments. Though people probably cannot afford to be without the money they spend on those products who can blame them when and if they have nowhere else to turn.  

In another instance I was watching a television infomercial. The writing at the bottom of the screen was telling you about taxes, finance percentage, and shipping and handling. The writing was also so small you would need a magnifying glass to read it. If you have excellent eye sight and you were somehow able to read the writing, the amount of time it is on the screen leaves you barely enough time to get through the first sentence.

Gas stations are not any different. With gas prices going up and down daily, most gas stations have started giving us a so called “break” by offering a cheaper cash price and a higher credit card price. Let us break their philosophy down. They depend on people not having cash on hand. If you do not have cash then maybe you will come inside, use their automated teller machine and pay the $2 or $3 fee for withdrawal. The entire time a person may be thinking they will give up the fee if they can save a little at the pump. Not only is that wrong by thinking that but while you are inside you are probably going to get a snack and a drink before you pay for your gas. By the time you are done making your transaction you have spent 5 to ten dollars more than if you just used the credit card at the pump. In the end how much did you really accomplish by going inside. You would hope, in the end, to at least break even.

In the end you have to be aware of advertisements and try to read between the lines. As with anything in life, you cannot take everything for face value. Everyone should be cautious when venturing out into unknown territory may it be for your health, a piece of furniture or gas. Take your time to make a conscious decision. It may be time consuming but it will be well worth it in the end.

Video Games: Helpful, Harmful or Just Entertainment?

Video games have come a long way over the past decades. What was once meant for entertainment has also become an educational tool as well. Like many of the earlier electronic devices, home video game systems were and still are very expensive and hard to come by. Most people can remember the earliest home system, the Atari. It first hit the scene back in 1977. It was one of the biggest electronic advancements of the time and a hit from the late 1970′s to the early 1980′s. When the Nintendo and Sega game systems hit the scene, the Atari’s future was over.  These consoles’s were far more advanced and took the world by storm.

Video gaming has become a multi-billion dollar a year industry. Video gaming systems today are far more advanced than its predecessor. They now use discs instead of cartridges and the graphics have gone way beyond the 10-bits of the Atari. The Playstation 3, for example, is a 40 gigabyte gaming console. It is capable of playing games as well as playing blue-ray disc movies, using blue tooth capabilities for its controllers and can connect to the internet for a more exciting gaming experience with people around the globe. The Wii, made by the Nintendo Corporation, also use the wireless capability but its cost is more reasonable, by today’s standards, and is more kid friendly by its ease of use.

Company’s like Leap Frog, Playskool, V-Tech and Fisher-Price have created many games and systems to help educate children in their early stages of life. Games systems like Leap Frogs: Leap Start and V-Tech’s: V.Smile V-Motion TV Learning system has helped make the learning experience for children more enjoyable. They can even play with their favorite cartoon characters helping them along the way to add, subtract, divide and multiply. The systems also help them with their alphabets, reading, matching and recognition skills.

Before the regulation of video games and its contents, anyone could buy a game containing violence, blood, a sexual act or vulgar language. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) was created back in 1995 to oversee the computer and video games content by giving them a rating, enforcement of industry-adopted advertising guidelines and to help ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry. Today all video games have to be labeled with an age appropriate rating. The ratings range from early childhood to adults only. This shows the worlds consciousness of trying to keep inappropriate games out of a very impressionable child’s hands.

Although video games are fun and a way to past the times on cold, rainy and snowy days it has caused, what some would say, a rise in obesity in the youth of today. A lot of kids would rather play a video game instead of the other option of becoming more active and going outside to ride a bike or play a sport. Video games, in my opinion, have taken a bad rap for many of kid’s ills today like committing crimes, being overweight and causing harm to other children. With this in mind, it leads you to ask yourself questions about what kinds of rules and priorities are set by parents for their children.

Who is raising our kids the video games or the parents? Why can a child tell you everything about a game and little to nothing about what they learned in school? Are we losing our children to the electronic age? What does the future hold for our children? How can we change the direction our children are headed in?

One kid’s television network, Nickelodeon, is trying to do something about the problem of kids being overweight. The network has aired commercials featuring athletes asking kids to get out and play. The United Way has also aired many commercials with sport athletes showing them interacting with kids in their respective team’s city. But we cannot expect the television stations to get our kids up and out of the house with 30 seconds of inspiration.

If you ask some kids “what is the first thing you want to do when you get home?” many of them will tell you they want to play their favorite video game. A child will be a child and will do what they believe they can get away with, without getting in trouble most of the time. Parents need to get a foot hold early and let children play games as if it were a treat not as a way of getting peace and quiet away from their child.

Becoming a parent is a full time job and if a person does not feel they will have time to spend and nurture a child then they should not have one by protecting themselves from that prospect or give that child up for adoption. Parents need to become more proactive in their children’s lives. Taking the time out of their day to get that child off of the couch, take away those unhealthy snacks and fast food and get them out of the house. I could never blame a child for his/her faults because more often than not it is due to a lack of parenting. It is up to the parent to make sure their child is getting what they need and taking full advantage of the opportunities presented to them not a video game.

Balancing Family and School

 

I never thought it would be so hard to go to school and keep up with my home life. Everyday has become a challenge. My day starts by seeing my wife off to work then preparing my son for school, my daughter for her grandmother’s house and myself for school. For the most part it has been like having a job all over again. Never could I have imagined the obstacles that I would have to overcome to get to where I want to be.

It has been over ten years since I have been in school, making it hard for me to get into the groove of class work and homework. Some evenings it seems like my son has as much homework as I do and he is only in the first grade. Needless to say most days I am awake from 5 in the morning until about 12 at night helping him and completing my assignments. While I am doing my homework and helping him with his homework, my two year old daughter wants my attention making it hard for me to concentrate. Yet I still have to make dinner if my wife is not home and prepare lunches for the next day. Sometimes it feels like I am neglecting my family and it hurts to know that they want my time and I can’t give it to them on demand like I used to. If my wife comes home on time it really helps me out because I can concentrate and get more work done.

As the semester progresses life around my house is getting back to normal. I have been learning how to balance my time by sectioning out my day. Most of the time, with the help of my wife, I am able to help my son get his work done and my work done without being stressed out about what I might have due for the next day. I have also been able to set aside time to spend with my wife and kids. I have found over the years that family is one of, if not the most important part of my life.

If someone were to ask me about going to school before starting a family I would suggest that they go to school first. Many times it is not possible for some people but if the opportunity to continue your education, even if it is a community college, do not pass on making yourself better and more marketable to the world that awaits you. When I graduated from high school it was a good time to go out and get a job without a college degree. I received a good paying job with no experience and by just being physically fit.

But now times have changed with an ever changing economy. I can say that I am one of those feeling the effects of company’s closing, the days of high paying automotive jobs are going away if they are not gone already. Getting in the door of a corporation now is much harder, they want a degree in some field of study along with experience, being a good person and willing to work is not good enough anymore. An education can take you much further than many can imagine. The saying “live for today” should be buried. If you don’t prepare for tomorrow you life might be over today.

Believe your parents when they tell you the “if only I knew then what I know now” story, the message may seem to be hidden but they are only trying to point you in the right direction. I have learned that you are never too young or too old to gain knowledge. You may not think at the time they are telling you something that is relative to you at the time but take the wisdom of those who are trying to help you because you never know when you might need it.

 

Who Knows When Its Your Time To Go

Today started off like any other Saturday morning. My wife and I freshened up and went down stairs to prepare breakfast. Before long, the kids, one-by-one, began to awaken and come down to the kitchen. My wife had prepared her specialty, homemade pancakes and maple sausages. As we finished breakfast, I noticed the time, and told my son we had to hurry up or we were going to be late for his swimming class. As I proceeded down the street, I began to ask my son did he have everything. Showing somewhat of a distraction, he answered, “Yes daddy, I do”. “Daddy, those two squirrels just ran out in the street”, he stated. He seemed a bit troubled.

Before I knew it, I was right up on top of them and could not stop. As a result, I ran one of them over. I looked back at my son, and he was faced to the rear, in an attempt to see if the squirrel had indeed survived. I was at a blank. I did not know how he would respond or even if he knew that the squirrel was dead. As he turned slowly back to the front, my face went blank. “Daddy, did you run over both of those squirrels or just one”, he stated. “Just one son”, I replied in an attempt to read his mind. He seemed to be a bit confused. At this point, I was too. “I hope that he is okay daddy”, can we go back and see it”, he stated. It was at this point that I knew that his curiosity for life, as well as death, had kicked in. He stared into the distance with no words. I knew at this point that he did not understand what had just occurred.

Continuing on down the street, a thought came to mind. “I bet that squirrel did not realize that today would be his last day on earth”. Then a really important thought came to my mind. How many of us really know when our time is up? I mean, would we do things different if we knew that at the end of the day, life as we knew it would not exist anymore? Would we treat people different? Would we be more careless, or more responsible? Would we make amends with those that we have ill feelings towards or that have ill feelings toward us? Would we do with our money and other worldly possessions? Would we tell others, or would we keep it a secret? Would we live the day to its fullest or would we waste it away? The answer to all of these questions is actually very easy and quite simple; we really do not know.

 Most of us never really think of today as our last day. We just go on believing that everything can wait or be put off until tomorrow. Who really knows if any of us will wake up tomorrow or even make it through today? The answer again; a simple thought, we really do not know the answer. Life is fragile. It could be taken away at a blink of an eye. A careless driver or that last cholesterol filled meal that you have just eaten; you never know. Any situation that we look at in our life could be the very moment that shapes the rest of our life.

At that very moment, I thought back to the Thanksgiving of 2002. My whole family got together, as we usually do, for our family dinner and a good time. We started off the day by thinking of Thanksgivings past, catching up on what everybody has been doing and how the kids were all doing in school. At that particular time, three of the young ladies in our family were pregnant; one of them, my cousin, the other, my wife, and lastly, my aunt. Of course, they had to talk about the trials and tribulations of pregnancy one by one; each sharing similar stories to compare with the rest. While the ladies continued on with their conversations, the men started playing a card game called bid whist; a favorite past time of the men of my family.

Before long, my aunts were telling us that it was time for us to come together to bless the food so that we could eat.  As we finished dinner, I proceeded to talk with my father about his upcoming trip up North for deer hunting season. I exclaimed to him how I wished I could go with him, but that I had to work. I went upstairs to check on the little kids. By the time I got back he had put his coat on and was gone.

Figuring that I would just talk to him again after his return from his trip, I continued on with the day. Not thinking twice about anything being out of the ordinary. That following Monday morning, on my way to work, I received a troubling call from my brother. He was telling me to get to Sinai-Grace hospital in Detroit as soon as possible. Our father was there and wasn’t doing well, he explained. As I approached the entrance of the emergency room, my brother came out crying. He told me that my father was gone. He had suffered a massive heart attack as he stopped for gas in Detroit, and was pronounced dead upon arrival at Sinai Grade Hospital. At the age of 52, he had a lot of life to still live.  All I could think about was that I had never got a chance to tell him, for one last time, that I loved him or good bye. It was the worst feeling that I had ever felt in my whole life.

Riding in that car, for me was a defining moment in my life. Death, the very thing that can change a person’s life forever, was the one thing in that moment that I could not control. I will forever hold that moment in my life as a marked reminder to never take things for granted and to always be grateful for every day that I and my family live another day. Life is short, but since we do not know how short, all we can do is live it to the fullest.