Shahnaz

New Blog!

The Blog has been moved to Shae's New Blog

Shae Update

My computer is sick. Thus, I have no pictures today. This is where I would insert a sad face.

Isn't it ironic, though? I recently wrote about Life as a Computer.

It's like my friend is sick and I'm the only doctor. Well, unless I take it to Geek Squad but I studied Computer Hardware before so I'm confident enough to fix it by myself. All I need is some time, at least 3 hours total to shop, receive  merchandise, and perform surgery on my lovely gaming computer.

Oh wait, there are no free lines in my crunchy agenda, thus no time to play doctor on my dying computer. It's crunchy because of a water bottle explosion that took place in the trunk of my car. I paid over $7 for it because I was won over by the stickers it came with.

The Writing Award Ceremony is on Wednesday and I thought I wouldn't be able to attend because I have class. But the Writing Center is willing to accommodate me and have me read from my winning entry. The last time I spoke on a podium was the night of the Orientation Leader Banquet (yes, a special night for us OLs (food was great)) and...I don't know...I guess I'll worry about it on Wednesday morning when I notice it in my crunchy agenda. 

Shout out to Samantha for mentioning me in her blog. It's nice to know that my post from 2 weeks ago inspired one person because one person does make a difference.

I will see you all on Monday. Have a fantastic-sunny-filled-with-happiness--no-stress weekend! Live it up for me because I'll be eating, sleeping and breathing my textbooks!

(notice I said that with such excitement)

*Smile and Stay Positive*

        xoxo Shae xoxo

Open House!

Click Here

Come visit our campus! We have Open House, which is a great event for you to come check out our campus if you're a prospective student. Refreshments are provided and my fellow Orientation Leaders and I will be giving tours that day! Guaranteed you will have a great time!

*Smile and Stay Positive*

      xoxo Shae xoxo

Life As a Computer

 

 

If I were a computer I could:

 

- “Delete” my college classes to the Recycle Bin and “Restore” them 

   when I want to study. (pffft never!)

- “Add or Remove” cute guys from my life using the Control Panel : )

- “Ctrl + F” to find my car on campus.

- Hit the “$” sign to have stacks of cash.

- “Adjust Display Settings” to brighten my life when it gets dark.

- “Ctrl + Alt + Del” to fix my mistakes.

  [Like procrastinating during finals last semester]

- Click “Run” to get to class on time.

- Run “System Restore” whenever I need extra sleep!

 

Hmm…

…. I guess being a computer would be pretty cool. I love the first two options.

Awesome, right?

  

*Smile and Stay Positive*

   xoxo Shae xoxo

Reminisce

 

I grew 0.5 inches taller and learned a lot of new things this past year. I tried a Whopper at Burger King and learned how to pump gas in my car while a very cute guy pumped gas in his car. Yes, I was copying him because I was completely lost but was too shy to ask him for help.

 

I’m also a bit braver and a better leader especially thanks to the training I received when I became an Orientation Leader (Thanks Caryn and Theresa M)!!

 

I’m especially grateful for this blog because it gave me a voice in the UM-D community and during times of stress, helped me realize all over again how much I loved writing, so yes thank you Deb and Theresa C for this great opportunity to be a blogger!

 

But I found I’m still the same person personality-wise, well maybe just a tad bit more boy-crazy. This is great news because I thought maybe along the way I’d lose my sanity. But how could I when I was surrounded by such great people at UM-D?

 

This is a Wordle of what I’ve written so far in my blog:

(if you click on it, it becomes bigger, just like all the pictures on my blog)

 

 

*Smile and Stay Positve*

       xoxo Shae xoxo

Like It Matters

     

It’s actually pretty ironic I am attending UM-D.

When I was in 7^th grade, my best friend borrowed money from me to buy me a gift (weird) from this machine but she came back with a Michigan helmet. I didn't like it...neither did she. When you smack it, it plays the Michigan Fight Song and says, "Let's Go Blue!" 

Every summer we’d have split custody over this helmet. During the school year, it would just hang on a hook in our lockers. After senior year, it was my turn to have custody. After my freshmen orientation…I couldn’t get the melody from the song Hail to the Victors out of my head. The orientation leaders had sung it on stage.

They had been telling us about school spirit all day. I didn’t really understand why it mattered.

While working Orientations this past summer, I learned that school spirit isn’t something you can define in words…rather it exists like a streak of electricity in the sky that just emanates excitement everywhere. 

You know it. You hear it. You feel it. That’s the power of school spirit. And I really didn’t feel it at all until I had gone home to discover that the helmet I hated so much…was actually a symbol of the beginning of many great years to come. School spirit definitely matters to me now.

P.S. That Michigan helmet now hangs from my Orientation Leader clipboard, along with the DNA vile we created in my Natural Science class.

 

*Smile and Stay Positive*

    xoxo Shae xoxo 

Happy 50th Anniversary!!!

Hiiiiiiii!!!!!

....and how have you been? Summer is over and it's the first day of classes here at UM-D. It's the start of a new semester, a new year, and that means a fresh new start!

 

The campus is celebrating its 50th anniversary and there have been some great changes everywhere! The roads were fixed to look squeaky smooth along with some additional speed bumps, and there are many new posters and signs around campus.

 

 ^^(At first I thought these were going to be tollbooths).^^

 

   

UM-D's website underwent some new changes as well. I must say, I love the new look! There are videos with students' perspectives and thoughts about campus, an informational viewbook as well as a slideshow of pictures from the past 50 years. I give the new site a 10/10!

 

Today is the first day of classes, which means back to the textbooks, exams and hanging out with friends in between classes in the UC. I have 3 classes that start after 1pm and end before 6pm four days a week and an online class. Despite my fears of struggling in my Math class, I must say I think I'm going to love this semester!!! I'll miss working orientations, though.

I hope this week is as exciting for you as it is for me. There is also walk-in counseling going on all this week and next in the Financial Aid Office to accommodate students' needs. Have a great first week!!

Happy 50th Anniversary UM-D!

 

*Smile and Stay Positive*

        xoxo Shae xoxo

Impact Your Neighborhood

 

This past year I had the amazing opportunity to work with Jumpstart. It’s a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children build lifetime literacy, social and emotional skills.  

In order to accomplish this, college students are paired up with preschool children coming from low-income communities.

While working this part time job with Jumpstart, I ended up committing around 400 hours of service to Americorps, which is a larger network that Jumpstart is a part of.  Not only did I have the chance to affect a child’s life positively, but I was able to serve our community. In return for my services, I received a $1,000 scholarship.  

I was able to experience the “one person can make a difference” adage.

My Jumpstart child was very quiet, shy and didn’t want to participate in class. She was rather aggressive to her peers when it came to sharing her toys. Within four months, she was singing her ABC’s, socializing and helping her peers learn poems . She also gained the ability to problem solve. Spending a couple of hours with her each week really made a difference. Here are pictures from some events Jumpstart Corps members were involved in.

  

Oakman Elementary School in Dearborn. We went there early one morning to help fix the gardening landscape at the side of the school. This is an after picture. There wasn't much to see before.

 

 

Read for the Record. We went to University of Michigan's Early Childhood Education Center on Rotunda Drive to read Corduroy to young children who went to school there. My coworkers and I had to dance on stage singing a song involving oranges and bananas in hopes of entertaining the children. Nope, we don't have pictures of that!

  

These pictures were taken during the Blue Ribbon Child's Hope Walk at Heritage Park in Taylor, Michigan. The Dearborn police force came to show us a demonstration of how their K-9's respond to certain emergency situations.

Unfortunately Jumpstart could not continue its program this year. However, another program called IMPACT will begin in the fall.  IMPACT will pair college students with preschool children to help mentor them and gain the skills they need to be successful in school and in life. Hopefully this year I'll have pictures of IMPACT and the many events they will be a part of.

*Smile and Stay Positive*

          xoxo Shae xoxo

Monday = UGH

 

Today is not a good day.

Nope. It just isn’t.

No Froot Loops.

I start my new Geography class today. I don’t even know which way is longitude or latitude or if they have anything to do with Geography. On the bright side, my schedule is a bit free now. \

Life is good. Life is so good.

  

*Live. Laugh. Love.*

  xoxo Shae xoxo

*sigh*

Really bad car crash on Michigan Avenue. Advanced Life Support was there. Not good stuff.

There was a police officer reaching in through the non-existent windshield (it shattered completely) to get something in the car. It was sad. We are powerless over our lives everyday. I couldn't stop thinking about how much pain the people involved in the crash were in and how their lives were changed forever.

And they did not wake up on a Thursday morning knowing this would happen. Sad.

Then Farrah Fawcett passed away...then Michael Jackson passed away.

*sigh*

I guess today is an example of why we should all appreciate being alive...and just be happy. Be happy...and smile...cause we never know when everything can be taken from us.

I'm signing off now because I have an exam that I should study for. Good luck on finals, everybody. I'm peacing out till after Independence weekend.

   

*Live. Laugh. Love.*
   xoxo Shae xoxo

P.S. Happy Independence weekend!