Top 10 Songs Describing Me

1. "Remember When"- Alan Jackson:  This song describes me because I look back at all the memories I have with people. I do dwell on the past by remembering when times were perfect and all of my friends were together. I like looking back at memories I have with my boyfriend because they always seem to make me smile. The song is about a man looking back at his relationship.

2. "Find Out Who Your Friends Are"- Tracy Lawrence: Through high school I had the typical drama with some friends. I figured out who actually would be there for me and who made a positive impact in my life. "You find you who your friends are. Somebody's gonna drop everything, run out and crank up their car. Hit the gas, get there fast, never stop to think, "What's in it for me?" or "Its way too far." They just show on up, with a big old heart."

3."Where I Come From"- Montgomery Gentry: This song describes me because I grew up in a little town in the middle of nowhere. I grew up with the country values living on a farm. I am proud of where I came from and my country roots. 

4. "International Harvester"- Craig Morgan: Even though I'm a fan of John Deere, the other parts of "International Harvester" describe my life. Like stated earlier, growing up working on the family farm was part of me. From 4-H to FFA and driving tractors, this song explains some aspects of my life.

5. "Don't Blink"- Kenny Chesney: Kenny Chesney sings about how life moves by so fast. Thinking in a few years that I will be graduating college and going into my future job doesn't seem surreal. 

6. "9-5"- Dolly Parton: Working has become a huge thing in my life going into college. I now feel like I work too much, but need to work a lot to pay for tuition. Dolly Parton sings about waking up in the morning and working all day.

7. "My Happy Ending"- Avril Lavigne: I got rid of people in my life that created a negative atmosphere to give myself a happy ending. Avril Lavigne is singing more on an ex-boyfriend, but in my life it is more just friends. Trying to be as happy as possible with the people that make me as happy as possible. 

8. "The Climb"- Miley Cyrus:  The perfect song describing all the hard work it takes to accomplish your goals. I have tried my hardest to get where I am today and Miley sings the about the climb you take to get to where you want to be. 

9. "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)"-Kelly Clarkson: Things that may feel as if they would kill you actually make you stronger. I gain something from almost everything I do and have gained better confidence throughout doing so. 

10. "Swing"- Trace Adkins: The words of this song aren't much what describes me, but this song was my walk up song to bat during softball. Many people would walk up to me and say, "Aren't you the girl that walked up to "Swing"?" That was almost my signature song as that's what I was remembered by. 

Top 5 Skills

By the time I leave college I would like to gain some skills for my future including time management, synthesizing information, speaking in front of a crowd, working with a deadline, and working with others I may not know as well. 
I would like to build strength in my time management skills. Once my schedule drastically changed from high school to college, I needed work on being effectively productive. Balancing multiple jobs, classes, homework, sleep, etc. is a very important aspect in my schedule. I would also like to build strength in my synthesizing skills.  Finding the important parts of work is necessary when reading material. I need to determine the importance of my lessons when I become a teacher. Speaking in front of a crowd has been a very weak spot for me throughout high school and the beginning of college. I have gotten stronger with these skills through this semester and hope to continue building them. I also hope to get better at working with a deadline. I procrastinate on absolutely everything! I hope to get better at working on things gradually before the due date to cause less stress on myself. The final skill I would like to gain through college is working with others I may not know as well. I tend to only want to work with people I know and feel uncomfortable with people I have not really talked to before. In my future job I will need to talk to parents of my students almost everyday and I won't personally know them right away. I hope to be more comfortable around others!

Concussions

I have gotten many concussions throughout my high school career. My first concussion occurred when I was watching my sister's softball game on the side of the fence. I had looked down at my phone and heard my mom yelling to move so I looked up to see what the commotion was about. A ball had been overthrown and just as I looked up it hit me in the jaw causing it to shift back and shake my skull. My second concussion occurred during gym class when we were playing football. There was a scissor lift in our end zone fixing the gym scoreboard. I got thrown the ball and caught it in the end zone but continued running and ran right into the scissor lift. I split open my ear and hit my head very hard on the solid metal extension. My third concussion happened during an away basketball game versus Riverdale. I had dove for a lose ball and a girl jumped on top of my head causing it to smash into the floor. My fourth and final concussion also happened in gym class when we were playing triangle kickball. A girl was going to throw a ball at me to get me out but I jumped in the air to avoid getting hit. The ball hit my feet and flipped me over so I landed head first on the gym floor. To this day I still don't remember what happened the hour after I got the concussion. After receiving all these concussions my memory has grown worse!

Synthesizing Hitchcock Themes from Groups

When looking at Hitchcock's films, one can see how he uses ethics, psychology, historical context, and technology/science. Ethics used in Hitchcock's film include women's clothing, kissing scenes, alcohol, and affairs. I believe Hitchcock portrays some bad ethics but gives the movie a good story line. The women (mostly Alicia) wear clothing that is quite revealing for the time period and Alicia also gets married but continues to love Devlin. Also, Alicia is seen driving while under the influence and kissing scenes were not as ethical in the 40s. Psychology is seen in a few scenes in Notorious including Alicia realizing the wine room is where her husband is hiding something and Alicia realizing she had been poisoned. I believe these involve psychology because they deal with thinking and how the character is feeling. Historical context of the film can be seen in a few ways including the laws of kissing scenes, women's behavior, Nazis and uranium (Germany vs USA). I believe these scenes include historical context because they were different in the 1940s. Back then the women were suppose to be homemakers and kissing scenes were not suppose to last over 3 seconds. Also, Germany and the United States were feuding after the war and had many issues with each other. Technology and science can be found throughout Hitchcock's Notorious including the scenes using different camera angles and rear projection process shots. I believe these scenes include technology and science because the different ways Hitchcock used the camera was brilliant and high tech in the 40s.

Future Plans

After graduating from Defiance College I have many plans for my future. I would like to move somewhere out west such as Colorado or Wyoming. I would like to raise beef cattle on a large ranch. I wish to teach first grade in a small rural town and coach softball. I would like to raise a family with my husband and have three children and many dogs! I am very excited and hope that my dreams for my future come true.

Ethics in Hitchcock Films

During the 1940s, morals and ethics played a large role in motion pictures. Hitchcock portrayed ethics in some very interesting ways in his films. In many scenes, he also found ways around being completely ethical, but still staying within the guidelines. Some specific parts where this can be seen in Notorious are in some of the women’s clothing, the kissing, alcohol and drunk driving, women being a part of an undercover job, and women participating in adultery.

The clothing that women wore throughout the 1940s was meant to form a sort of silhouette. Woman wore dresses with broad, wide shoulders and tight waist bands to form an hourglass shape. In Notorious, you can see that Alicia wears long, tight waisted dresses with square shoulders. This gives her an hourglass shaping to her body and makes her look professional. You can even see when she wears the suit on the airplane that it still follows these ideal aspects.

Throughout Notorious Alicia (Ingrid Bergman) and Devlin (Cary Grant) begin to become closer as they work together undercover. Eventually, the two find themselves in love. Of course being in love requires some kissing scenes, though this was difficult in the 1940s. The Production Code of 1930 was created to set some moral guidelines for motion pictures in the United States. This occurred during the period of Silent Movies switching to Sound. Due to the code, “Excessive and lustful kissing, lustful embraces, suggestive postures and gestures, were not to be shown.” This meant that even though they were in love, Ingrid and Cary could not show their characters’ true emotions. Hitchcock’s way around this was to have the couple do multiple short kisses, rather than one long kiss. Though it may look odd if you were to watch Notorious today, it was a very clever way around the rule then to be able to still show passion in his movies.

One scene portrayed in Notorious showed Alicia driving a car with Devlin after a party. The scene clearly shows Alicia is under the influence of alcohol as she is swerving all over the road and she cannot see straight. After World War II, the car market was on a rise. Everyone was buying cars and most drivers were uneducated. Laws prohibiting drunk driving began in 1910 but intoxication was not clearly defined at this point. In the 1930s lawmakers stated that a driver with a BAC of 0.15 percent or higher is inebriated. By the 1970s DUI laws become more strict and the legal drinking age was raised to 21. Today, drunk driving is an incredibly unethical action and a driver with a BAC of 0.08 percent is considered inebriated. In 2014, 9,967 people died and 290,000 people were injured in accidents due to drunk driving. In the 1940s, drunk driving may not have been seen as unethical as it is today because the laws that were placed then were not as strict as today. Also, less accidents had been reported then versus today.

In Notorious, we see one of the main characters, Alicia Huberman played by Ingrid Bergman, get thrown into the world of covert intelligence and spy business. What many don't know is that if this was actually set in the late 1940’s, Alicia might not be there. Women were not a big part of federal intelligence agencies during that time period, as far as field agents. Now during WWII, there was a substantial increase in women police officers, but even they were put on leash for what they could do while in the law enforcement. Indeed there were women in agencies, but they were doing desk work. Field agents were seen as a “thing only for boys”. It wasn't until 1972, that women were allowed to join FBI training. This goes to show that Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make his film stand out, and probably got heads to turn when they saw what a woman was doing in the film.

During the movie Notorious, after Alicia and Alex get married, Alex keeps suspecting her of having an affair with Devlin. Back in this time period, there was a different belief about marriages. They encouraged women to think of marriages as a successful career. They believed that it was the women's job to make sure the marriage was happy, his career was successful and that it didn’t end in divorce. Even if the problem in the marriage was alcohol or an affair from the men, it was the wife's job to change something to bring him back home. There was a thought back then that the wife was supposed to make the marriage work and nothing was her fault even if the man was having an affair. If a woman had an affair in the time period, it was much more taboo and less common than a man. If the woman had an affair it looked bad on the husband and not her.

https://twentyfourframes.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/review625.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code

http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html

http://automobileandamericanlife.blogspot.com/2010/12/brief-history-of-drunk-driving-in-post.html

http://www.liquorlaws.net/duilaws.html

http://www.madd.org/drunk-driving/about/drunk-driving-statistics.html

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?sid=720b1235-df16-454d-9728-b251f3184cfc%40sessionmgr110&vid=7&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=510858586&db=bft

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/02/27/a-glimpse-into-marriage-advice-from-the-1950s/

http://www.thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2010/june10/bergman-grant-screen-kiss.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/ten-miles-square/2015/01/weekend_film_recommendation_no053659.php

http://www.deepfocusreview.com/reviews/notorious.asp

The Transition to College Writing

Dear high school student, 
Hjortshoj explains five main differences between high school and college. Two of those differences are that high school teachers are normally generalists and college professors are specialists and college work requires new kinds of motivation. In high school, teachers aren't specifically trained in an area of study. They are competent in different fields so they may not know everything there is to know about one specific area. College teachers on the other hand are specifically trained in one area of study and are highly skilled in a specific study. In high school I had a teacher that was my AP calculus and AP physics teacher and also taught pre-algebra, algebra, and geometry classes. While in college my professors mainly teach one specific area such as early childhood education. Another difference from high school to college is that college work requires new kinds of motivation. In high school it was the same daily routine and I often did not need to study for tests and quizzes. In college there is often a different routine and new kinds of ways to succeed are needed.  I now need to study for all tests, not procrastinate on homework, and meet teachers outside of classes. 
I believe two major differences from high school to college are time management and class style. In high school the routine was normally the same from day to day while in college you have different classes and activities each day. In high school I had the same schedule of going to school, having sports practice or game, doing homework, eating supper, showering, and then going to bed. In college that dramatically changed and I have more free time. I also believe the class style is different in college. In high school half of the class was used to just talk to the teacher about things unrelated to the class.  Also, the teacher would accept late homework and be more lenient when it came to due dates. In college my classes tend to be straight to the lesson and homework is not accepted late.
 We lie to ourselves about college by not getting properly prepared, believing that high school to college will be an easy transition.  Students believe high school just continues into college. They lie to themselves by believing they can easily skate by in college and not have to try hard (just like high school). Good luck with your transition to college and I hope my examples have prepared you to create a better transition for yourself!
Sincerely, 
Kayla Rethmel

Germany Trip

In March 2014, my German class traveled to Germany for nine days. It was an eight hour, over-night, flight that seemed like it lasted forever. Once we got there we immediately started touring Berlin, not yet used to the time change or caught up on sleep. Throughout the next week we traveled to many places including Oberambergau, Cologne, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg. We went ice skating, tried many new foods, learned new German dancing styles, and visited many museums, castles, and churches. On the day we were to board to the plane to go home, the airline employees of the plane we were suppose to travel on went on strike. We ended up having to find a hotel and spend another night in Frankfurt because the employees were going to be on strike all day. We ended up making the front cover of the Defiance newspaper with the title of "Stranded".  We did end up leaving the next day but our class had to take two different planes to get back to Detroit. Germany was a very fun experience for me and would love to visit again some other time!

Biggest Regret

My biggest regret is always sticking with the normal crowd. I would always be worried if I tried something new that people would judge me. I always stuck with the crowd because I was too worried to stand out and create my own path. My regret does not follow the "not" pattern and I can turn around my regret to no longer feel regretful. I do not always have to follow what everyone else is doing. I could choose for myself what I think is the right path instead of thinking that what everyone else is doing is correct. Having regrets relates to our course theme of lies and deception because we lie to ourselves about doing things. Some of our regrets are because we thought things were not necessary but later realized it would have been better to do something. We deceive ourselves into believing that what we are doing is correct but later regret that act. 

December 2013

Ashley was my best friend in high school. We were the friends that always managed to be with each other in school group projects, were in all the same sports and clubs, and went through everything together. Her family became almost like my second family. Then there is my boyfriend, Evan, whom I have been dating for over three years now. We hang out whenever possible and are always going places together. I fit right into his family and loved spending time with them. Evan and Ashley were the two people closest to me. December 2013 was one of the hardest times in my life. Ashley's mom had been battling cancer for 3-4 years and had taken a turn for the worst. She passed away in the first week of December and I didn't think we would have to go through something that terrible. Only a few days later, Evan's dad also passed away after 10 years of battling pulmonary fibrosis. Seeing the two people closest to me in such heartbreak made me realize that I had to be strong and be by their sides. That week in December was one of the worst times I had to go through but yet made me a stronger person. 

Pamela Meyer: Lying

Pamela Meyer states that lying is a cooperative act meaning that it takes a person to lie plus a person to believe the lie. I agree to this statement because someone needs to agree with the person and believe the lie in order for it to be in effect.  Meyer also states that lying is a way of connecting what we wish we were with what we are.  What is meant by this statement is that people lie to make themselves feel and sound like a better person, one that they wish they were.  

Truth #2 is that we are against lying but covertly for it. I agree with this statement because like Meyer explains we have been lying ever since we were young, yet we say that lying is bad. Everyone lies to help themselves or others but continue to agree that it is a terrible act. 

Some techniques used to spot liars include the pausing, looking down, the same rehearsed gestures with certain explanations, duping delight (smiling), making an expression that masks another, put barrier objects between them and the person they are lying to, and altering vocal town to lower. Clusters of these can indicate lying.  Learning some of these techniques can help one get out of a situation where someone is lying. Meyer adds that honesty is worth preserving in her speech. She says to be more explicit in your moral code and explain how you only accept honesty. I agree because if you accept lying in your world then people will lie to you more often. We can create a cultural/societal change regarding lying by being more explicit in your moral code and by asking more questions to figure out what is and isn't the truth.

The Story of Diesel

For Valentine's Day in 2014 my boyfriend, Evan, decided to buy me a 6 week old puppy. Someone from his school had a large litter of German Sheppard/Black Lab puppies for sale and he knew I loved puppies! When we got to the house that the puppies were at, they escorted us to their barn. When they turned on the barn lights around thirty puppies from two different litters come sprinting out of a pile of straw bales.  They were all trying to jump up on our legs to grab our attention but I noticed one just sitting off to the side waiting patiently.  I went to pick him up and he snuggled right under my chin and I knew he was the one! He was black with a white strip on his chest and white on his paws. They let us take him home that night and on the way home Evan and I had to think of a name. I had already had a name in mind and Evan agreed it was a good fit, Diesel. It was the middle of winter so we kept our little 6 pound puppy in the house. I started teaching him tricks as soon as possible. He was best friends with all of the cats we had and he was about the same size! He definitely wasn't the shy, calm little puppy that he looked like when I picked him out. Today, Diesel is two years old and my little boy weighs 110 pounds.

Audience Awareness

Being aware of your audience is important in marketing, professions, and other sources of communication. Using proper language, pictures, music, etc. in advertisements can sway certain people. In the Apple iPhone 6 advertisement they are aiming to persuade people that don't have iPhones to get one. The phrases "If it's not an iPhone, it's not an iPhone" and "99% of people that have an iPhone, love their iPhone" are trying to persuade people that the iPhone is the way to go.  Also, they are aiming at younger to middle aged people because of the type of upbeat music. They appeal to this age because they have grown up with smart phones a greater portion of their lives and are more likely to use one.  The Samsung smart TV commercial is appealing to younger to middle aged males as they use a pretty, young woman. They appeal to this audience because that generation is more into technology and it is a stereotype that males watch more TV.  The Mercedes Benz commercial appeals to parents. Parents want their kids to be safe and have them enjoy a car ride. Mercedes Benz targets parents and uses the child getting lost to show them that their vehicles ensure safety. We need to be critical of intended audiences in ads so that it appeals to the group that is most likely to buy or use it.

Rewarding Moments

There have been many moments in my life where I have experienced my hard work being rewarded. There are three instances that have seemed to me to be the most important.  The first instance is during my eighth grade year when our basketball team beat Holgate in the GMC championship game. Our whole team was very close and never missed practices. We worked on and off the court together and put in many hours to make ourselves better. Winning the GMC championship game really showed the team how much our hard work paid off. The second instance occurred my senior year in high school with my softball team.  There were eight seniors on the team including me. We had been through so much during our high school softball career. We were a tight knit group as we all played spring, softball, a little bit of fall softball together. I had been a catcher ever since I was in Pee Wee softball. Once I got into high school I had to out play other girls for my position and I worked day in and day out to achieve my goal of being on varsity. All of my grade of girls had gained varsity positions at the beginning of high school.  We all just clicked on the field and worked very well together after the many years of playing with each other. We were pretty decent for our freshmen, sophomore, and junior years, but our senior year is when we brought our best. We made a run in the tournament and beat the school record for most wins in a softball season. Also during our season we, a division III team, beat the undefeated first place division II team, Greenville, which had won state two out of the past three years. We lost at districts but were very proud of our season.  We knew our hard work since elementary school had gotten us to where we were.  My last notable time of my hard work paying off is this past summer at the county fair. I had been taking dairy steers for around eight years and had practiced walking, showing, and fitting these steers to perfection.  My years of work finally paid off last year as I won first place in Senior Dairy Beef Showmanship, second in Overall Senior Showmanship, and Grand Champion Dairy Steer. Taking care of my steers is one of my favorite things to do and seeing a good thing happen after waiting for many years was very thrilling.

First Day of Preschool

It was the first day of preschool and my mom was just about to drop me off at the front doors.  My stomach was twisting and turning at the thought of being in a room with a bunch of kids and teachers that I did not know. My mom knew I was nervous and kept reminding me that she would be back in a few hours to pick me up.  As I slowly jumped out of the vehicle tears were already filling up my eyes. We walked in the two glass doors to the school and two nice ladies came to great us. I saw a group of around twelve kids sitting on a colorful rug off in the corner. As soon as they took my hands and told my mother goodbye, I went crazy. I started crying and screaming and the teachers instantly took me to the play area to try and get my mind off of things. They were showing me a pretend kitchen center and I was interested in all of the little supplies.  Once I had calmed down they had me join the rest of the kids sitting on the large rug. On the rug was circles with different animals on each one, I was assigned to sit on the frog circle. As all the kids finished getting there and finding their place on the rug another girl with short brown hair was sitting on the circle next to me. I was too shy to say anything but she had glanced over at me and said, "Hi, I am Cayla! What is your name?".  I had looked at her right in the eyes and was so amazed that someone could have the same name as me. I happily answered, "Well, my name is Kayla, too!". We both giggled and that is when the teachers started to discuss what we would be doing and learning for the day.  During our free time we played in the indoor sandbox and got our snack together. During snack we talked and laughed and I spilled blue juice all over my butterfly jean capris.  Starting that friendship made it much easier for me to go to preschool and almost be excited for it. I am not sure what happened to Cayla after preschool but she was one of my first best friends and made my transition to preschool a better experience than I had planned!

College Changes

When starting my senior year of high school at Tinora I was excited to be in the final stretch of thirteen long years of my grade school career.  When walking into my first class with Mrs. Brown my whole class received a rude awakening as the guidance counselor was already telling us about what we should have done for college. The rest of my senior year consisted of reminders everyday of what we need to be doing to stay on top of college applications, scholarships, and FAFSA information. I wasn't worried about the transition to college because I was planning on staying at home and commuting to Defiance College. When the first day of classes rushed upon me I got a little nervous. I got to thinking about the different environment, schedule, and professors that were going to appear before me. After a few weeks of classes I realized college was much different than high school.  My schedule and time management was very different. In high school I had the same schedule from 8 in the morning all the way until I went to bed, everyday.  In college I had to balance different classes each day, manage my clinical experience in the classroom for my major, my work schedule, and still leave time for homework. I had random places of extra time that I needed to use wisely. Another transition from high school to college is the class work and tests.  In high school I could pretty easily get a good grade on a test without studying, but in college I found out soon that I needed to study for exams. The classwork was worth more to the final grade in the class so full effort was needed in each assignment given. The last major transition from high school to college is the teachers and professors. In high school the teachers would come to the students that were struggling in their class and help them out.  In college the students need to contact the professors or other services when they are struggling and cannot expect any special treatment from the professors. College was definitely a new experience for me but I have been getting use to it more each day.

Night of Revenge

As I wake I feel different, not good different, but weird different. I have a pounding headache threatening at the back of my head. My bed seems much harder than normal and the sun from my window isn't hitting my face.  I open my eyes and look around the floor for my dog that normally sleeps on the ground beside my bed.  Instead I see a room full of cement. I obnoxiously jump out of the thin, dusty mattress that I had somehow gotten into the night before, head spinning. I'm still wearing the jeans and American Eagle sweater I had put on the day before. The last thing I remember is my friends coming over to help me forget about the job I had just got fired from. You know what that consists of, alcohol, ice cream, and more alcohol. I was very upset, mainly at my boss, for firing me for no apparent reason. As I was pacing around my cell I reached into my jean pockets and found five objects, and then I had gained some remembrance of last night.  Staring intently at a ripped piece of paper with a pencil scratched phone number on it I remembered a guy giving me his number at a club. The girls thought it would be a good idea to go to a club and dance the night away. This guy thought he would be nice and tell me I was too wasted to talk so he wanted me to call when I was sober. As I started thinking about how I was definitely not going to call that guy I snapped back to what I was previously thinking about, how I got here. I then looked at the next two items from my pocket, a rusted nail and a clear, sticky spoon. It then came to me that after we got tired of dancing we went to an old, abandoned building a few blocks from where we were. I needed to vent and we decided to stop at this building to sit around and talk. Oh, and the spoon? Well venting means a lot of ice cream, remember? I knew I was coming closer to finding out how I had gotten in this rancid smelling pen. I then found a receipt. My eyes widened and my heart started beating a little faster as I read "10 inch butcher knife, $40.86 and 2 gallons of Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, $19.94". I started thinking, "Did I murder someone? Am I going to be here forever? Who did I kill? "Where did all that ice cream go?" and "Why did I spend so much money on a knife, didn't I have coupons?". That's when I found the last thing in my pocket, some pieces of a fern plant. Then it hit me. I wanted revenge on my boss for firing me for absolutely no reason. So, the girls drove me to the building I worked, knife in my hand. I went in the back, hidden exit that we leave unlocked for late night needs. I hustled up the 3 flights of stairs until I got to the floor that my boss's office is on. That's when it happened, I vigorously started stabbing at his favorite fern plant in front of his office door. I knew he loved that plant as much as I loved my job so I wanted him to feel the same pain that I was in. Unfortunately, one of my previous co workers went back to the office to grab some late work that she needed to complete before the next morning. The co worker saw my knife and immediately had the police on the line. I guess I'm in here for being crazy, murdering a plant, public intoxication, or possibly all three of those reasons.