Distractions

While typing this blog I was distracted with fifty million things. First I saw a facebook update, so I jumped on facebook. Next thing I knew an hour had gone by and I was looking up what my bestfriend's ex-girlfriend's boyfriend looks like. Which I really could care less about but it just sucked me in. Next I logged off of facebook and tried to think of an idea to type about. Then I got hungry, so I thought I'd grab something to eat from my snack drawer. I ATE MY WHOLE FREAKING ROOM! I wasn't even that hungry, but I tricked myself subconciously to eat to not have to type this paper. I got back on my lap top and started thinking about what to type about. I got on youtube to get some music playing to think on. I ended up watching the music video, and fifty other music videos that were in related videos. That took another hour away. I'm starting to realize if I don't lock myself in a room and not allow myself to do anything else but work I will let anything distract me. Distractions are the major reason why I don't get my work done. They sometimes stop me from doing very simple assignments like blogs. It was easier in highschool to do the work because I was already in school I thought I might as well finish my work before I went home. Now in college school is my home, I live next door to one of my classes. Now I think I can just do my work when I get home, but that is never the case. There are so many distractions on campus. Going to the ASC there are tons of people talking to you which makes it really hard to get work done. Also, I've found that my girlfriend is the biggest distraction there is. It is too easy to stop working to hang out with her or to watch a movie with her. On the other hand, it helps because she has some of the same classes I do, and if I miss something or she misses something we can always help each other out. Football is another distraction. Not only does practice take up half the day but we also miss fridays due to football games. Even after practice your so tired you just want to lay down and go to sleep promising yourself the homework will get done in the morning, which is never the case. To wrap things up, if you find a good work schedule and cut down distractions school will be much easier and less stressful.

Quicksand

Quicksand is an idea I've been thinking of for a while now. Everyone knows about the literal quicksand, the earth that sucks you in and the harder you fight the more you sink. The metaphorical quicksand entails the sand same thing. Say your playing a game and one thing goes wrong, then another, and another. The more you fight the worst it gets. No matter what you do or how hard you try things just keep getting worse and worse. Before you know it, you in way over your head, drowning like quicksand. This idea also works in school, especially college. For example, you miss a day due to being sick, going to the doctor, what ever, and you fall behind. The next thing you know your trying to catch up. Then a paper is due for another class, and you have lab midterm to study for. Ontop of that your anatomy test is coming up. You stay up all night studying and working. Thinking you have it under control but before you know it your sinking lower and lower. It seems the classes your doing good in your work on and do better, but the classes you struggle in just seem to be getting worse and worse. At some point you feel as if you can't get back into it, that you are way to far behind to catch up. That is false. You can always improve your grade and always do better. I've found the best way to beat quicksand is to catch it early. Don't let yourself fall behind, or in a game when one thing goes wrong step up to the adversity and beat it. The fact is your always in control of how the outcome is and no matter how impossible you think it is you can always over come in. In conclusion, momentum works both ways. If your working out and running everyday, going to class and doing homework everyday, and doing all the things you need to do and should do it become easier to do the things more often. Also, it makes you make the right decisions in other situations like not going out and partying but staying in and getting rest because you have an early class the next day. In contrast, if you make all the wrong decision, it makes it easier to make those again and not to do the right thing.

Why play football?

I have been asked time and time again, Why do I play football. At first I thought it was because I love playing football, that it is one of my favorite things to do. Then I started to think more in depth about why I actually play and I realized that it isn't as simple as love for football. I play football because my little brother can't. He had a brain tumor and had to have brain surgery to get it removed. After you have brain surgery you aren't allowed to play contact sports, or any sports that might involve contact any more. He loved to play football as much as I did, maybe even more. It breaks my heart to know that he can never play again. So in a way I play for him, I play because he can't. Another reason I play football because I love the discipline. I love the thought of a group of guys sacrificing, striving, and fighting for the same goal. There is a certain sense of brotherhood on football teams. Everyone is knows what it takes to be the best and to improve. Football is like no other sport around. It is unique in the face that without a teamwork there is no way to succeed, without the guy next to you doing his job there is no way it can be accomplished. Another reason I play the sport is to stay in shape. I think if I didn't have to go out and push myself pass my limits of fatigue, I wouldn't. Without the constant griping and motivating by the coaches to push harder and get better, I wouldn't train with the same tenacity. I truly believe if I didn't play football everyday, I would be fat and lazy. In addition, football teaches morals and values that I am going to use for the rest of my life. One of the values I've learned through football is to never give up no matter what the adversity maybe. Working as a team, as one unit is the most efficient way to get things done. Trust, who you are with and in yourself to know to do the right thing. Faith, have faith in your god to guide you, and in what ever you do. Believe, not only in yourself but in everything around you. Lastly, I play football because of the competitiveness. Everyday is a new struggle to be the best in practice and in games. My coach once told me, " Someone, somewhere, RIGHT NOW, is training to be better then you."

Blogging

I didn't know that when I decided to go to Texas Lutheran University that I would have to blog. I have to read and write blogs in three of my classes. Not only do I have to write about pointless topics, I have to read about other people rambling on about pointless topics. Also, I have to write about people writing about pointless topics. It is an ultimate waste of life and should be stopped as soon as humanly possible. I think blogging is a waste of time and energy. That there is a million better things to do with your time then blog. I think people that do blog should just keep a journal and keep their opinions to themselves. On top of that, blogging for class is twice as pointless. I have no clue why teachers want their students to sit at a computer and type about random topics that pop into their heads. Whenever I am told to do a blog I find that it is the least important thing on my agenda to do. So, of course, I leave it to the very last minute and am stuck having to type up five blogs in a row to catch up. While typing a blog I am so filled with ennui that I don't have the slightest inclination to read about anyone elses blog, and more importantly write about what they have blogged. You might be asking yourself right about now, "How does this tie into your education and experiences at Texas Lutheran University". Thats very simple actually. I HAVE to blog in almost ALL my classes. Everytime I do blog I think it is as pointless as the last blog I had to do and believe to my very soul that this is not helping my academic improvement. I hope the teachers will realize that these blogs are not construtive ways to learn about writing, or reading strategies, or anatomy and physiology. Aso that their are hundreds of different activities that would be more productive then this. Now your probably thinking, "Well Matt your blogging now. Why are you being so hypocritical". Again very simple explanation to the question. First off I have to in order to get a good grade in class. Second off, I have to think of ideas of what to blog about. When I am forced to write blogs, I always think to myself, "Why am I doing this", "What good can come from this useless mode of free writitng", "WHEN WILL THE INSANITY STOP". On the other hand, it is much better then doing fifteen page research essays everynight, so I am happy to do this instead of anything else.




-Please don't fail me for this blog =)

My Plan

I never knew what my plan is college was going to be. I just knew I needed to go to college to succeed in life, just as my dad had told me hundreds of times before. My senior year of highschool, I was playing sports, making decent grades, and had no idea what college I wanted to attend. I knew I wanted to play football in college so I started searching there. Many colleges were looking at me to play sports. I had Memphis State for basketball, but that school was to far away. Then New Mexico wanted me to play football for them, but they didn't offer me any scholarships and I have to pay for school myself. I was starting to lose hope thinking I could just go to UofH and be a full time student. Thats when Texas Lutheran University sent me a letter wanting me to play football. I went online looked at the school and decided to give them a call. They offered me a complete half scholarship, which was so much more inexpensive then any other school. On top of that, the school was only a couple hours away from home and I could see my friends often. I decided to give the school a shot, it was close, in expensive, small, and I got the chance to play sports.  Next  came the decision on which major to pick and pretty much what I wanted to do for a job. I had been working at a hospital in the lunch room, and had gotten to know some of the doctors and staff pretty well. I told them I was headed to a college and John one of the physical therapists at the hospital told me I should try Kineisiology. He said it was a broad field to go into and that it was an easy major to try out. I thought I would give it a shot, the worst that would happen is I would change majors. When I got to Texas Lutheran I figured out that I was really good at Anatomy and Physiology. My teacher pulled me after class and asked me what I wanted to do later for a job. I told him I didn't know and was just taking this course because I didn't know what else to take. He enrolled me in a Pre-Professional program and was told that this would be a good thing to sign up for. When I arrived at the club they were talking about what you do as a Physical Therapist and what the pay was like and the school and I figured out this was the path to go. I had been through physical training programs enough to really know what I was doing. I decided I should be a Physical Therapist.

Study Hall

During the fooball season all freshman and upperclassman with grade point averages under 2.5 have to attend a mandatory study hall. Study hall runs from about 7p.m to around 9:30p.m. If you are late, you run, if you don't bring enough work and finish early, you run, if you talk, you stay longer, if your not in your seat at 7:00, you stay longer..... I think your starting to get the point. Other from being long and very strict it gives us time to focus and get our work done, like this blog. It seems as if the team protests this gathering everytime we have it. The team is never queit, here, or in their seats when they are suppose to. They are completely ignorant to th fact that this is here to help them. That the coach doesn't have to stay after and do this but he does it to help us. Most of the people on the team are in college because of the academic scholarships and wthout a 2.5g.p.a they will be taken off of it. If they could only realize that if they were here on time, quiet, and doing their work that we would leave on time and maybe even sooner. Instead, everytime we have study hall they talk and show up late ruining the night for everyone else. Even tonight they didn't show up until 7:15 and weren't queit until 7:30. It makes me realize how selfish those people are and makes me wonder if the coaches care more about their grades then they do. I really think it helps though, for me anyways, it gives me the time to focus in and finish my work. At first i didn't realize this, I just thought that it was a waste of time and the more I thought that the longer it took. I quickly learned that when I focused in and did my work the time went by faster. Now I always make sure to be here on time, early in most cases, and always bring a plathera of work to do. It helps to have people around you who are in your class or in the same class. It's helpful because you can ask questions on assignments and projects. Even if you weren't in class they can tell you whats do or what we talked about. Even the coach can help, being a math major, he can help you on difficult questions or even check your answers. In conclusion, football has really been helping me academically because they just don't care about the football player, but instead the student and person behind the helmet.

College

Coming into college I had been told by numerous people what it was going to be like, what I should expect, and how tought it was going to be compared to highschool. My teachers always told me how hard college was and how demanding. My parents told me their experiences in highschool and how tough their classes and teachers were. Honestly I was intimidated by what was said and also the staggering statistics i heard about how many people enroll in college and how many people drop out. IT reminds me of what my dad told me, "When I went to college my dad dropped me off infront with two duffle bags and a calculator. When I went to the freshman orientation my dean told me to look to my left and look to my right, and those people won't be graduating with me". That really caught my attention, I was so affraid that I was going to fail or let my family down. Once I got to T.L.U, I realized it wasn't so scary and I shouldn't worry so much.I figured out that this college isnt just a school but a community. That everyone here is nice, respectful, and good people. When I met my teachers I found out that they weren't those scary professors I had heard about and read about. That they were really cool people that had the same interests and goals that I did, to graduate. I know that I had started down a long and challenging road, but I know that with the help and encouragement from my family and friends that I can do anything. That there is nothing I can't face and nothing I can't accomplish. It all goes back to "Unlocking the possibilities", which didn't teach me what I can do and how I can do it, but making me realize something that I already knew. I have to give credit to all those people that help me get where I am today. The same people that have seen me through thick and thin, the same people that will always be there for me no matter what happens. Even if I don't succeed in college that they will support me and continue to encourage me in the further of my education or anything I plan to do. I am very anxious and very excited for what my future holds instore for me, and how this college is going to shape the man that I am going to be in the future.