Matt’s Summer Movie Series
Hello there. I know, I know, you’re looking for another entry regarding some lame thing that happened in m life or my opinion of some sporting event. Well, if you came for that, I am sorry to disappoint. Instead, I have decided to start a little movie review series.
It all started when I was looking through my Entertainment Weekly magazine that gave “all the buzz on 115 new films” for the summer. After reading through the movies, I thought to myself, I want to see a lot of these. And for once, I’ll be home in Columbus to watch them with my friends who are movie aficionados. So, I made a list of movies that I want to see each week. Then it dawned on me, why not share my opinion of these movies with the general public? Not like I’m ever afraid to share my opinion. So, here goes. The list of 20 movies I plan on reviewing are:
(Release Date in Parentheses)
(May 4) Spiderman 3 – Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst
(May 11) 28 Weeks Later – Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle [Sequel to 28 Days Later]
(May 18) Shrek The Third – Voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy
(May 25) Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End – Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom
(June 1) Knocked Up – Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl [By creator of The 40-Year Old Virgin]
(June 8) Ocean’s Thirteen – George Clooney, Brad Pitt
(June 15) Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – Jessica Alba, Michael Chiklis
(June 22) Evan Almighty – Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman
(June 27) Live Free or Die Hard – Bruce Willis, Justin Long
(June 29) Ratatouille – Voices of Brad Garrett, Patton Oswalt
(July 4) Transformers – Josh Duhamel, Shia LeBeouf
(July 4) License To Wed – Robin Williams, Mandy Moore
(July 20) I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry – Adam Sandler, Kevin James
(July 27) The Simpsons Movie – Voices of Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright [OU Alum]
(August 3) The Bourne Ultimatum – Matt Damon, Julia Stiles
(August 3) Resurrecting The Champ – Josh Hartnett, Samuel L. Jackson
(August 10) Rush Hour 3 – Chris Tucker, Jackie Chan
(August 17) Superbad – Seth Rogen, Bill Hader
(August 24) The Comebacks – Matthew Lawrence, Carl Weathers
(August 24) Good Luck Chuck – Jessica Alba, Dane Cook
I know what you are thinking…there’s no way you are going to see all these movies, especially at $7.50 each (Quick math: $150) Well, trust me, I know. I’m just hoping to hit half of these movies. I want to see most of them on release weekend to give people less time to ruin it for me with their jabber. Not only that, but my rule of not seeing movies before seeing their predecessors may be in jeopardy, especially with all the trilogies this summer. So, for my first review (speaking of trilogies), I begin with…
SPIDERMAN 3
Directed by Sam Raimi
Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Topher Grace, Thomas Hayden Church, Bryce Dallas Howard
I’ve been waiting a long time to see this movie. I loved the first one, loved the second one even more, and then sweated in anticipation for the third. The critics were giving it a hard time, but hell, they gave Hardball a hard time too and that’s my second favorite movie of all time.
Unfortunately though, the critics got this one right.
The movie is just too damn complex for a comic book superhero action flick. There’s not one, not two, but three bad guys during the movie. Not to mention Howard’s character which acts as a roadblock in the Peter Parker – Mary Jane Watson relationship. No normal movie-goer needs that many things going on in their head. It’s sad but the best metaphor I can come up with to describe the storylines is a web. One strand led to another, then went around aimlessly, connected to another, etc… In other words, it was confusing at times.
The three bad guys were all interesting, but come on, two is already pushing it. Franco’s character frustrated me the entire movie. Either be a good guy or bad guy. I could never read him…which was probably the point, but still, for the sake of my brain about to blow up, I could’ve done without his “accident”. It also probably could’ve saved about 20 minutes of the movie.
Church’s character of the Sandman was cool in terms of special effects but in everything else, he was pretty much worthless throughout the entire movie. His character would die and come back multiple times. He would reappear in the movie in 30-minute spurts. I mean, even people in the movie theater moaned when they saw him come back for the third time. Get the hint Sandman, no one likes you in this movie. Maybe in Spidey 4 but Spidey 3 already had enough bad guys. Props to Church though…he plays a great bad guy with a good heart. The ending proves this…you’ll hafta judge for yourself though.
Grace made this movie fun for me. I bet a lot of people will find him annoying but I thought his Eddie Brock character was great. He was abrasive, sleazy and downright rude. You know, all you wanted in a bad guy…and he wasn’t even a bona fide bad guy until the last hour when he got his “powers”. I wish they would’ve used this storyline more because I thought it showed a lot about Peter Parker and Spiderman. The partnership between Brock and the Sandman was forced and downright awkward for the two minutes it was on screen but hey, by then, any moment with the Sandman was awkward cause we all thought the damn guy was dead.
I will say this…this movie was the most intimate of them all. I don’t like love stories so the first 45 minutes to an hour really dragged for me. It was too much love story stuff for my liking. Seemed like they could’ve moved that part faster. I know the director was trying to build up how Peter had changed but come on, we all saw that. we could’ve sped that up.
The humor never lacked though in this movie. The proposal scene at the French restaurant was the best of the comical scenes. Mad props to the actor playing the waiter. He was frickin hilarious. The entire sequence of events there was just money. It proved to be a good transition for the next part of the movie. Also, Peter’s dancing after getting his “evil” powers was great. Needless to say, Tobey Maguire has never taken dance lessons.
Dunst and Maguire act as expected so no need to criticize them. They’re solid as usual. Franco also does a nice job with his part, that as I said earlier, was more complicated than it needed to be.
Besides the 3 bad guys, the 2 hour, 20 minute length kinda sucked too. The movie could’ve easily been 1 hour, 45 minutes with some editing out of a few characters or unneeded storylines. I don’t like long movies. They tend to drag, as this one did. It’s an action movie, so scenes can be shorter, quicker, crisper, and have more impact than a long dawn-out one.
The fighting scenes were remarkable and the effects were great too. That’s always something you can count on with this franchise. The final fight scene, though a bit long and confusing, was amazing in terms of effects. At times, you forget that what you are watching is fake. Maybe it’s because the people are current and it is set in New York City unlike a fake place such as Gotham City. Whatever it is, it works.
All in all, this movie was enjoyable and I am glad I saw it but I wasn’t overly impressed either like I was with the other two. There was no tease for a fourth installment, though word around the movie biz is that Spidey 4 is all but a sure thing. I don’t mind that news because I want it to get a chance to redeem itself. My advice: go see the movie for yourself and make your own decision. This isn’t the type of movie that is going to get rave reviews across the board because of its many glaring problems but it still has great entertainment value. Spend the 6 to 7 bucks and see it…you’ll be mad if you don’t.
*** out of 4
Monday, May 07, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
TWO DAYS IN THE LIFE...
So if you know me, you know that I like to stay busy. You also know that I like to complain. Well, for this blog, I thought I would give you a look into two days of my life and how I get busy and why I complain so much about being tired (and yes, I already know that it's my fault)
The days I used were Monday, April 9th and Tuesday, April 10th.
Monday, April 9th
8:00am: My cell phone alarm goes off. As usual, I regret even setting an alarm. Though my first class isn't until 9am, I always need an hour of being awake before I can have contact with people. I'm just not a morning person...actually just downright cranky. Anyways, the first thing I do once the alarm is turned off is check the e-mail to see if my first class is cancelled. No such luck today. Time to hop in the shower, get dressed, and a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.
9:00am: First class of the day: Jogging. Yea, it's a pass/fail class but sometimes, running in the morning isn't easy. On this particular day, it's no more than 40 degrees and the wind chill is lower. Yet, we run...and run farther than we have yet. It's easily a 3 mile run...something I haven't done since a 5k in high school. I jog the first mile and a half but do the whole walk/jog when I want. By the end, I'm spent and wishing for more than just 15 min to towel off the sweat and stretch
10:10am: Lights, Camera, Action! Intro to Acting class begins and as usual, I'm still somewhat sweaty. After the name game (for the fifth time now), we start talking about some freeze tag acting. In other words, walk around a bit, freeze, and start a scene from there. Mine involve crocodile hunting and going through the playpen tubes. I know, fun stuff
12:15pm: From acting to the pool. Swimming class begins and for the first time in two weeks, I am not nervous because the douchebag that had been helping out the real teacher has been asked not to help anymore. The guy treated the class like his personal swim team, making us do laps all the time and threatening us with penalties if we take a break. Fuck off man. Anyways, the entire class loves the new guy, much more low-key and actually helping us with the stroke instead of trying to kill us. Class runs short, but I stay an extra 5 minutes to do a couple laps of breaststroke
1:30pm: Quick lunch in Grover Center between classes. Read the paper and listen to some tunes on the IPod. Not exciting but my first true rest of the day.
2:10pm: Ultimate Frisbee class in the freezing cold. It is actually colder now than it was for jogging. By now, my legs are shot but for 30 minutes, it's all about quick sprints and accurate throws. Too bad I don't care.
3:00pm: Since Ultimate class gets done early, I head to WOUB to start working on my sports cast. I am the sports anchor for the news show that airs at 6:30pm. Once I set my rundown (the stories I want to use), I think about writing but then, to give myself an easy day, I have an up and coming sophomore handle the writing duties instead. While he writes my stories, I walk to my apt. building to bring my car closer to the station (you'll find out why later) and start getting my video together. I forget when I walk to my apartment to set up the video to tape Falcon Beach on ABC Family but am relieved to remember it can be found online. Bad enough I missed it live, watching with my buds from the summer. While I'm editing some video, I get a call from my tour guide bosses and they ask if I can give a tour tomorrow and Thursday. As usual, I say yes because I have problems saying no. They also wonder why I missed the meeting during the day. I don't even bother to explain.
6:52pm: The cast goes well, even though it took longer than usual to finish because I let someone else write it. No worries though, my day isn't over yet.
7:15pm: As soon as I can, I get in my car and drive over to Ping for the Indoor Soccer Officials Clinic. Since I am the Student Director of Officials, it is sort of a requirement that I be there. Once I show up though, I notice something wrong: There are only four officials at the clinic. Immediately, I wonder why. And what do ya know, I told people two different times. Some people heard 7pm, others heard 9pm. In other words, I screwed up. Even with the mix-up, I sit through the indoor soccer clinic, wishing and hoping for a nap (Chlorine tires anyone after about 3-4 hours). At 8:45, after helping an official fill out the payroll paperwork, I jet outta Ping and head to...
9:00pm: the Intramural Fields. It's now time for the 4-on-4 Flag Football Officials Clinic. By now, I'm not only tired and hungry (I had an apple at 8:55pm), but wearing thin on patience. No time to let that be shown though as for two hours, I help explain the rules and mechanics of flag football. Explaining these rules for now the fourth time gets old. Even worse though, I begin to start mixing up rules. Softball season just began, Indoor Soccer and 4-on-4 is beginning, and basketball won't go away just yet as the National Tournament is this weekend and I'll be there. The clinic goes well though and the crop seems promising. Time for bed right?
11:00pm: Nope, not yet. It's softball time...PC2K7 style. The Pre-College softball team is ready to play our first game...or are we? Instead of demolishing our first opponent, we forfeit the game due to lack of females. I'm easily not happy because now I've lost 30 bucks, encountered my first no-show forfeit ever in my IM history and am lacking energy. Yet, our team gets together in the cold and plays a mock scrimmage and find out our many weaknesses and few strengths. By the end, I can see our potential...if we don't forfeit again.
1:30am: Bedtime. In between the end of our scrimmage and bedtime, I just did nothing important. Watched Barack Obama on Letterman, an old Fresh Prince episode, and Jimmy Kimmel's monologue. Once he finishes the funnies, I hit the sack for good.
Tuesday, April 10th
6:40am: My cell phone alarm goes off. WAY TOO EARLY to be getting up but such is life. I throw on some clothes quickly and get to my car
7:00am: Time for an Intramural Supervisor Meeting. Every Tuesday, I have a 7am Intramural meeting so I'm used to it now. What I will never get used to though is being really awake within an hour of waking up. So of course, I talk like an idiot, I spill orange juice on donuts and don't even bother to scrape my car before I leave, so I can't even see when I drive the 3 minutes to the rec center. The meeting goes very fast this week. Thank God
7:30am: Back home, but no time to fall back asleep. Just enough time to start my normal routine of shower, breakfast, and putting on clothes for the day.
8:30am: Athens Midday begins. For those who don't know, this is the TV show we do every day at noon. I only have it Tuesday and Thursday so Athens County doesn't get to see me everyday unfortunately. Anyways, today, I am the main anchor which means I get to do my favorite thing: news. Yea, that's sarcasm. News is depressing, boring, lifeless and downright a drag to do. I mean, my stories range from a man dying at a Youngstown airport, a truck driver getting charged for running over an exchange student and brush fires in Florida. BLAH
9:05am: Quick sidenote. While I am searching for stories for the day's newscast, I find out my mom is one of 7 finalists to be appointed to Columbus City Council. Big deal in my book, especially since my mom doesn't even call me. I have to find out on the internet.
11:15am: I head over to the Front Room to grab some food and say hello to a friend. I like to do this during MidDay because it gets me away from the classroom just for a little while. My friend and I head over just to head back empty-handed. We really weren't hungry.
Noon: Showtime! Turns out to be a pretty good show. I didn't screw up a name and my pink shirt looks amazing on TV. We had our usual glitches and mistakes by personalities but all in all, it was a solid show.
12:55pm: After our critique of the show, it's off to the the Student Center to pick up a tour group. When I get there though, I notice that there are only 10 people and a tour guide already waiting. I ask her if she can take them all and just like that, I pick up a little time to get some grub.
1:15pm: I sit in the IM Office and eat. Could I have eaten at the Student Center? Of course...but it's more fun to sit in the IM Office and bother the people in there. After eating, I actually start doing a little bit of work during my official office hours of 2-3pm. Normally, I work out from 1-2 but due to the tour situation, I didn't bring working out clothes. Not to mention by body is sore as hell from Monday's physical classes.
3:10pm: Sportswriting class. Always enjoyable. Today's discussions are all about covering teams and what is acceptable for a sports reporter to cover. It turns out to be a very good discussion and I learn a few things as well. Because our teacher is a young gun and taking classes of his own, we get out early so he can study for stuff he has.
4:15pm: Back to the TV station. This time, I get to be the AP or assistant producer. That means I get to edit all the video to what the anchor writes. For the third straight week, I have a freshman shadowing me so I make him do all the work as I look over his shoulder. It was a fairly easy day in terms of editing video though so he got off easy. I even get the chance to help another freshman who brought back game highlights to learn how to do it himself. The bets part though is when the one freshman is with me in the newsroom gets the final score of the softball game that he covered. I then call the other freshman who is upstairs in the control room watching the cast that is going on simultaneously. I give him the score and relays it to the anchor, all within 30 seconds (and 15 seconds before the story came on air). Gotta love live TV...and being a good mentor.
7:10pm: After feeling like I did my part to make the world a better place, I head to my scholarship meeting, or roundtable discussion. This week's discussion focuses on the word Latino/a and the word America. I hate these meetings normally because they run long, are boring, and we literally talk about the dumbest things. But this week, the presenter was very interesting and I learned a lot of stuff about words we use all the time such as hispanic, latino, and yes, even America.
8:40pm: I love the presentation so much that I almost risk being late for work to stay until the end but because I know work is also important, I leave while she is talking (I hate doing that to guests) and head to the rec center
9:00pm: Indoor Soccer training continues in the rec center. This time, we hit the court and go over more rules, signals and mechanics. I take a backseat as the soccer experts explain things. I do my best to just stay awake as my day just keeps rolling along. The two hours seem to crawl by, especially the last 30 minutes but we get thru it and put together a damn good training.
11:15pm: After that training, I head to the library to search for a play that includes a monologue. I am going to need it for Acting class tomorrow. Of course, the library is closing at midnight so I search like crazy looking for the plays and dramas. Unfortunately, I haven't even been to the the 7th floor of the library before so I walk around aimlessly, hoping to just stumble upon them. I never do and end up empty-handed when the clock strikes midnight. Not to mention, my IPod decided to freeze up at the time I need it most...in a quiet, spooky library
12:30am: I head to my apartment for the first time since 8:30am. To perk me up, I grab a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and go to abcfamily.com and watch the Falcon Beach episode I missed and let me tell ya, that show just keeps gettin better. After watching the episode, I get my stuff together ready for tomorrow's classes.
2:00am: After Jimmy Kimmel and a Cosby show rerun, I go to sleep. Before that though, I pray that the rain that is projected to come will come fast enough so that jogging class is cancelled because my legs are still hurtin.
And just like that, you have seen two days in the life of Matt Barnes. Is this typical? The answer is yes. I like to stay busy. Downtime for me is wasted time. That's why I stack my schedule with so much. It can be a lot at times but for now, it's goin well. There are many days I yearn for a nap. There are other days I just wanna flip out on someone. But most of the time, I make it through my day just by remembering one thing: Hakuna Matata. No worries...it'll all get done.
So if you know me, you know that I like to stay busy. You also know that I like to complain. Well, for this blog, I thought I would give you a look into two days of my life and how I get busy and why I complain so much about being tired (and yes, I already know that it's my fault)
The days I used were Monday, April 9th and Tuesday, April 10th.
Monday, April 9th
8:00am: My cell phone alarm goes off. As usual, I regret even setting an alarm. Though my first class isn't until 9am, I always need an hour of being awake before I can have contact with people. I'm just not a morning person...actually just downright cranky. Anyways, the first thing I do once the alarm is turned off is check the e-mail to see if my first class is cancelled. No such luck today. Time to hop in the shower, get dressed, and a small bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.
9:00am: First class of the day: Jogging. Yea, it's a pass/fail class but sometimes, running in the morning isn't easy. On this particular day, it's no more than 40 degrees and the wind chill is lower. Yet, we run...and run farther than we have yet. It's easily a 3 mile run...something I haven't done since a 5k in high school. I jog the first mile and a half but do the whole walk/jog when I want. By the end, I'm spent and wishing for more than just 15 min to towel off the sweat and stretch
10:10am: Lights, Camera, Action! Intro to Acting class begins and as usual, I'm still somewhat sweaty. After the name game (for the fifth time now), we start talking about some freeze tag acting. In other words, walk around a bit, freeze, and start a scene from there. Mine involve crocodile hunting and going through the playpen tubes. I know, fun stuff
12:15pm: From acting to the pool. Swimming class begins and for the first time in two weeks, I am not nervous because the douchebag that had been helping out the real teacher has been asked not to help anymore. The guy treated the class like his personal swim team, making us do laps all the time and threatening us with penalties if we take a break. Fuck off man. Anyways, the entire class loves the new guy, much more low-key and actually helping us with the stroke instead of trying to kill us. Class runs short, but I stay an extra 5 minutes to do a couple laps of breaststroke
1:30pm: Quick lunch in Grover Center between classes. Read the paper and listen to some tunes on the IPod. Not exciting but my first true rest of the day.
2:10pm: Ultimate Frisbee class in the freezing cold. It is actually colder now than it was for jogging. By now, my legs are shot but for 30 minutes, it's all about quick sprints and accurate throws. Too bad I don't care.
3:00pm: Since Ultimate class gets done early, I head to WOUB to start working on my sports cast. I am the sports anchor for the news show that airs at 6:30pm. Once I set my rundown (the stories I want to use), I think about writing but then, to give myself an easy day, I have an up and coming sophomore handle the writing duties instead. While he writes my stories, I walk to my apt. building to bring my car closer to the station (you'll find out why later) and start getting my video together. I forget when I walk to my apartment to set up the video to tape Falcon Beach on ABC Family but am relieved to remember it can be found online. Bad enough I missed it live, watching with my buds from the summer. While I'm editing some video, I get a call from my tour guide bosses and they ask if I can give a tour tomorrow and Thursday. As usual, I say yes because I have problems saying no. They also wonder why I missed the meeting during the day. I don't even bother to explain.
6:52pm: The cast goes well, even though it took longer than usual to finish because I let someone else write it. No worries though, my day isn't over yet.
7:15pm: As soon as I can, I get in my car and drive over to Ping for the Indoor Soccer Officials Clinic. Since I am the Student Director of Officials, it is sort of a requirement that I be there. Once I show up though, I notice something wrong: There are only four officials at the clinic. Immediately, I wonder why. And what do ya know, I told people two different times. Some people heard 7pm, others heard 9pm. In other words, I screwed up. Even with the mix-up, I sit through the indoor soccer clinic, wishing and hoping for a nap (Chlorine tires anyone after about 3-4 hours). At 8:45, after helping an official fill out the payroll paperwork, I jet outta Ping and head to...
9:00pm: the Intramural Fields. It's now time for the 4-on-4 Flag Football Officials Clinic. By now, I'm not only tired and hungry (I had an apple at 8:55pm), but wearing thin on patience. No time to let that be shown though as for two hours, I help explain the rules and mechanics of flag football. Explaining these rules for now the fourth time gets old. Even worse though, I begin to start mixing up rules. Softball season just began, Indoor Soccer and 4-on-4 is beginning, and basketball won't go away just yet as the National Tournament is this weekend and I'll be there. The clinic goes well though and the crop seems promising. Time for bed right?
11:00pm: Nope, not yet. It's softball time...PC2K7 style. The Pre-College softball team is ready to play our first game...or are we? Instead of demolishing our first opponent, we forfeit the game due to lack of females. I'm easily not happy because now I've lost 30 bucks, encountered my first no-show forfeit ever in my IM history and am lacking energy. Yet, our team gets together in the cold and plays a mock scrimmage and find out our many weaknesses and few strengths. By the end, I can see our potential...if we don't forfeit again.
1:30am: Bedtime. In between the end of our scrimmage and bedtime, I just did nothing important. Watched Barack Obama on Letterman, an old Fresh Prince episode, and Jimmy Kimmel's monologue. Once he finishes the funnies, I hit the sack for good.
Tuesday, April 10th
6:40am: My cell phone alarm goes off. WAY TOO EARLY to be getting up but such is life. I throw on some clothes quickly and get to my car
7:00am: Time for an Intramural Supervisor Meeting. Every Tuesday, I have a 7am Intramural meeting so I'm used to it now. What I will never get used to though is being really awake within an hour of waking up. So of course, I talk like an idiot, I spill orange juice on donuts and don't even bother to scrape my car before I leave, so I can't even see when I drive the 3 minutes to the rec center. The meeting goes very fast this week. Thank God
7:30am: Back home, but no time to fall back asleep. Just enough time to start my normal routine of shower, breakfast, and putting on clothes for the day.
8:30am: Athens Midday begins. For those who don't know, this is the TV show we do every day at noon. I only have it Tuesday and Thursday so Athens County doesn't get to see me everyday unfortunately. Anyways, today, I am the main anchor which means I get to do my favorite thing: news. Yea, that's sarcasm. News is depressing, boring, lifeless and downright a drag to do. I mean, my stories range from a man dying at a Youngstown airport, a truck driver getting charged for running over an exchange student and brush fires in Florida. BLAH
9:05am: Quick sidenote. While I am searching for stories for the day's newscast, I find out my mom is one of 7 finalists to be appointed to Columbus City Council. Big deal in my book, especially since my mom doesn't even call me. I have to find out on the internet.
11:15am: I head over to the Front Room to grab some food and say hello to a friend. I like to do this during MidDay because it gets me away from the classroom just for a little while. My friend and I head over just to head back empty-handed. We really weren't hungry.
Noon: Showtime! Turns out to be a pretty good show. I didn't screw up a name and my pink shirt looks amazing on TV. We had our usual glitches and mistakes by personalities but all in all, it was a solid show.
12:55pm: After our critique of the show, it's off to the the Student Center to pick up a tour group. When I get there though, I notice that there are only 10 people and a tour guide already waiting. I ask her if she can take them all and just like that, I pick up a little time to get some grub.
1:15pm: I sit in the IM Office and eat. Could I have eaten at the Student Center? Of course...but it's more fun to sit in the IM Office and bother the people in there. After eating, I actually start doing a little bit of work during my official office hours of 2-3pm. Normally, I work out from 1-2 but due to the tour situation, I didn't bring working out clothes. Not to mention by body is sore as hell from Monday's physical classes.
3:10pm: Sportswriting class. Always enjoyable. Today's discussions are all about covering teams and what is acceptable for a sports reporter to cover. It turns out to be a very good discussion and I learn a few things as well. Because our teacher is a young gun and taking classes of his own, we get out early so he can study for stuff he has.
4:15pm: Back to the TV station. This time, I get to be the AP or assistant producer. That means I get to edit all the video to what the anchor writes. For the third straight week, I have a freshman shadowing me so I make him do all the work as I look over his shoulder. It was a fairly easy day in terms of editing video though so he got off easy. I even get the chance to help another freshman who brought back game highlights to learn how to do it himself. The bets part though is when the one freshman is with me in the newsroom gets the final score of the softball game that he covered. I then call the other freshman who is upstairs in the control room watching the cast that is going on simultaneously. I give him the score and relays it to the anchor, all within 30 seconds (and 15 seconds before the story came on air). Gotta love live TV...and being a good mentor.
7:10pm: After feeling like I did my part to make the world a better place, I head to my scholarship meeting, or roundtable discussion. This week's discussion focuses on the word Latino/a and the word America. I hate these meetings normally because they run long, are boring, and we literally talk about the dumbest things. But this week, the presenter was very interesting and I learned a lot of stuff about words we use all the time such as hispanic, latino, and yes, even America.
8:40pm: I love the presentation so much that I almost risk being late for work to stay until the end but because I know work is also important, I leave while she is talking (I hate doing that to guests) and head to the rec center
9:00pm: Indoor Soccer training continues in the rec center. This time, we hit the court and go over more rules, signals and mechanics. I take a backseat as the soccer experts explain things. I do my best to just stay awake as my day just keeps rolling along. The two hours seem to crawl by, especially the last 30 minutes but we get thru it and put together a damn good training.
11:15pm: After that training, I head to the library to search for a play that includes a monologue. I am going to need it for Acting class tomorrow. Of course, the library is closing at midnight so I search like crazy looking for the plays and dramas. Unfortunately, I haven't even been to the the 7th floor of the library before so I walk around aimlessly, hoping to just stumble upon them. I never do and end up empty-handed when the clock strikes midnight. Not to mention, my IPod decided to freeze up at the time I need it most...in a quiet, spooky library
12:30am: I head to my apartment for the first time since 8:30am. To perk me up, I grab a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios and go to abcfamily.com and watch the Falcon Beach episode I missed and let me tell ya, that show just keeps gettin better. After watching the episode, I get my stuff together ready for tomorrow's classes.
2:00am: After Jimmy Kimmel and a Cosby show rerun, I go to sleep. Before that though, I pray that the rain that is projected to come will come fast enough so that jogging class is cancelled because my legs are still hurtin.
And just like that, you have seen two days in the life of Matt Barnes. Is this typical? The answer is yes. I like to stay busy. Downtime for me is wasted time. That's why I stack my schedule with so much. It can be a lot at times but for now, it's goin well. There are many days I yearn for a nap. There are other days I just wanna flip out on someone. But most of the time, I make it through my day just by remembering one thing: Hakuna Matata. No worries...it'll all get done.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
WELL DONE BUCKEYES!
For the second time in 84 days (yes, I counted), I have watched the Ohio State Buckeyes lose a National Championship game. Even worse, both losses came to the same university. Am I disappointed? Of course. Am I angry? Not at all. And let me tell you why.
It literally cracks me up to see people get pissed off at Ohio State after a loss…even better, a National Championship loss. How spoiled are we as fans to get mad at a team that gave us so much throughout the season?
The Ohio State football team came in with great expectations with an explosive offense and a young defense that had amazing potential. Though there were doubters all year about whether we could run through our regular season, the Buckeyes triumphed in those 12 games, including an impressive victory over the hated rival Michigan. Now in most years, a win over Michigan is enough to make the season a good one. But after the debacle in Arizona against the Gators, I have never seen OSU fans get more sour. Until now…
Tonight, right after the basketball game was over, I was “lucky” enough to see just how bad OSU fans can be (and it was probably worse on the actual OSU campus). Instead of actually just thinking about how great of a season it was, they immediately start screaming cuss words off balconies and get pissed off at Florida. Let’s get this straight. Florida WAS the better team and has been all year. The only way the Buckeyes come away with that victory is if they play a better game. And tonight, they didn’t. So suck it up Buckeye fans, we had a helluva year, especially with 4 freshmen playing a ton of minutes.
It’s as if the Big Ten Championship wasn’t enough? Or how about beating Wisconsin twice, including a HUGE win in the Big Ten Tourney championship game? Oh, and let’s not forget the Xavier game…that Ron Lewis shot will forever be a part of OSU basketball history. Hell, without it, OSU doesn’t even make it THIS far. That Sweet 16 game against Tennessee wasn’t too bad either…we only came back from 20 points and sealed the deal with a Greg Oden block. The Memphis game sent us to the Final Four, something we haven’t seen since 1999 (or 1962 depending on who you are). And then the Georgetown game that no one gave us a shot in.
And then we lost to Florida.
Hmmmm, seems like a lot more highlights than lowlights. Suck it up Buckeye fans. We had a good run and an amazing year.
Before I end this blog, I just want to give my thoughts on March Madness in general. Every year, I cannot wait for this tournament. It’s the best postseason sporting event in the U.S. and will continue to be. This year was no exception. There were upsets, there were great shots and the best part, there was Gus Johnson (check out this link: there’s no one better in the business http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWdjhRaVQ74)
So to recap another great March Madness, I have listed by top 10 moments from March Madness 2007:
10. Memphis wins a thriller against Texas A&M when Acie Law blows a late lay-up that could have given the Aggies an important three-point lead late in the game
9. Who doesn’t love a good Butler Bulldog tourney run? The Bulldogs went to the Sweet 16 once again, just to fall short to eventual champ Florida, in a game the Bulldogs stayed with the Gators for most of the way
8. There weren’t many upsets this year but the Winthrop upset over Notre Dame was pretty cool. Winthrop goes up big, Irish fight back, but Winthrop and Craig Marshall will not be denied their first ever Tourney win
7. Vanderbilt beats Washington State in 2OT. This game was just flat out exciting…though I can’t name one player on each team. Just the coaches.
6. The shot by Jeff Green to send Georgetown into the Elite Eight. Did he travel? Probably but hey, that’s the joy of this tourney. Big time player making big time plays. Too bad the big time refs forgot the big time whistle.
5. VCU upsets Duke. VC-who you say I know. This team has been on the up since Jeff Capel started coaching their a few years ago. Now, they are beating one of the most historic programs in college basketball. Eric Maynor, the hero.
4. Georgetown coming back to beat North Carolina to clinch their spot in the Final Four. Pretty sure most thought the Tar Heels were moving on but the Hoyas showed great fortitude and guts, sending the game into OT and then dominating Tyler “I cry like a baby” Hansbrough and UNC in the extra period.
3. Tennessee vs. OSU. Sweet 16. OSU down 17 at the half. Down 20 at one point. Too bad this is March Madness. The Buckeyes pull off a great comeback, with a combination of Oden inside and big 3-balls outside to bring them back and to the win. Oh, and there was a block too.
2. Florida defeating OSU for the title. Yea, I’m a Buckeye fan but you gotta respect a team that actually plays like a team and knows how to take over and finish games. Did you notice no one really came back on these Gators during the tourney? They deserve this one and as a college basketball fan, it’s nice to see players come back for another run instead of running to the money and fame of the NBA.
1. Come on, that Lewis shot is what college basketball is all about. OSU fan or not, that shot was clutch, especially when a 9 seed has a 1 seed on the ropes. For me, I about went crazy, especially since I thought it was long. Ron Lewis didn’t shoot well in the Final Four but I’ll tell ya this. I”ll take his shot in that Xavier game anyday than him making 2 or 3 trifectas in a later game. It’s all about the thrill and suspense and pure excitement. There ain’t nothing better.
So now that the Madness is over, let’s all take a breath and remember the year that was. It was a good one, actually, a damn good one. Lot of great players, lot of great teams, and a lot of great basketball.
And for you OSU fans still screaming off the balconies, get over it already. Odds are, the Buckeyes will be back soon in both sports. That’s what happens when you have an athletic department that actually makes money (see Ohio University). And if that doesn’t help, well, I guess all I can say is HAKUNA MATATA!
For the second time in 84 days (yes, I counted), I have watched the Ohio State Buckeyes lose a National Championship game. Even worse, both losses came to the same university. Am I disappointed? Of course. Am I angry? Not at all. And let me tell you why.
It literally cracks me up to see people get pissed off at Ohio State after a loss…even better, a National Championship loss. How spoiled are we as fans to get mad at a team that gave us so much throughout the season?
The Ohio State football team came in with great expectations with an explosive offense and a young defense that had amazing potential. Though there were doubters all year about whether we could run through our regular season, the Buckeyes triumphed in those 12 games, including an impressive victory over the hated rival Michigan. Now in most years, a win over Michigan is enough to make the season a good one. But after the debacle in Arizona against the Gators, I have never seen OSU fans get more sour. Until now…
Tonight, right after the basketball game was over, I was “lucky” enough to see just how bad OSU fans can be (and it was probably worse on the actual OSU campus). Instead of actually just thinking about how great of a season it was, they immediately start screaming cuss words off balconies and get pissed off at Florida. Let’s get this straight. Florida WAS the better team and has been all year. The only way the Buckeyes come away with that victory is if they play a better game. And tonight, they didn’t. So suck it up Buckeye fans, we had a helluva year, especially with 4 freshmen playing a ton of minutes.
It’s as if the Big Ten Championship wasn’t enough? Or how about beating Wisconsin twice, including a HUGE win in the Big Ten Tourney championship game? Oh, and let’s not forget the Xavier game…that Ron Lewis shot will forever be a part of OSU basketball history. Hell, without it, OSU doesn’t even make it THIS far. That Sweet 16 game against Tennessee wasn’t too bad either…we only came back from 20 points and sealed the deal with a Greg Oden block. The Memphis game sent us to the Final Four, something we haven’t seen since 1999 (or 1962 depending on who you are). And then the Georgetown game that no one gave us a shot in.
And then we lost to Florida.
Hmmmm, seems like a lot more highlights than lowlights. Suck it up Buckeye fans. We had a good run and an amazing year.
Before I end this blog, I just want to give my thoughts on March Madness in general. Every year, I cannot wait for this tournament. It’s the best postseason sporting event in the U.S. and will continue to be. This year was no exception. There were upsets, there were great shots and the best part, there was Gus Johnson (check out this link: there’s no one better in the business http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWdjhRaVQ74)
So to recap another great March Madness, I have listed by top 10 moments from March Madness 2007:
10. Memphis wins a thriller against Texas A&M when Acie Law blows a late lay-up that could have given the Aggies an important three-point lead late in the game
9. Who doesn’t love a good Butler Bulldog tourney run? The Bulldogs went to the Sweet 16 once again, just to fall short to eventual champ Florida, in a game the Bulldogs stayed with the Gators for most of the way
8. There weren’t many upsets this year but the Winthrop upset over Notre Dame was pretty cool. Winthrop goes up big, Irish fight back, but Winthrop and Craig Marshall will not be denied their first ever Tourney win
7. Vanderbilt beats Washington State in 2OT. This game was just flat out exciting…though I can’t name one player on each team. Just the coaches.
6. The shot by Jeff Green to send Georgetown into the Elite Eight. Did he travel? Probably but hey, that’s the joy of this tourney. Big time player making big time plays. Too bad the big time refs forgot the big time whistle.
5. VCU upsets Duke. VC-who you say I know. This team has been on the up since Jeff Capel started coaching their a few years ago. Now, they are beating one of the most historic programs in college basketball. Eric Maynor, the hero.
4. Georgetown coming back to beat North Carolina to clinch their spot in the Final Four. Pretty sure most thought the Tar Heels were moving on but the Hoyas showed great fortitude and guts, sending the game into OT and then dominating Tyler “I cry like a baby” Hansbrough and UNC in the extra period.
3. Tennessee vs. OSU. Sweet 16. OSU down 17 at the half. Down 20 at one point. Too bad this is March Madness. The Buckeyes pull off a great comeback, with a combination of Oden inside and big 3-balls outside to bring them back and to the win. Oh, and there was a block too.
2. Florida defeating OSU for the title. Yea, I’m a Buckeye fan but you gotta respect a team that actually plays like a team and knows how to take over and finish games. Did you notice no one really came back on these Gators during the tourney? They deserve this one and as a college basketball fan, it’s nice to see players come back for another run instead of running to the money and fame of the NBA.
1. Come on, that Lewis shot is what college basketball is all about. OSU fan or not, that shot was clutch, especially when a 9 seed has a 1 seed on the ropes. For me, I about went crazy, especially since I thought it was long. Ron Lewis didn’t shoot well in the Final Four but I’ll tell ya this. I”ll take his shot in that Xavier game anyday than him making 2 or 3 trifectas in a later game. It’s all about the thrill and suspense and pure excitement. There ain’t nothing better.
So now that the Madness is over, let’s all take a breath and remember the year that was. It was a good one, actually, a damn good one. Lot of great players, lot of great teams, and a lot of great basketball.
And for you OSU fans still screaming off the balconies, get over it already. Odds are, the Buckeyes will be back soon in both sports. That’s what happens when you have an athletic department that actually makes money (see Ohio University). And if that doesn’t help, well, I guess all I can say is HAKUNA MATATA!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Are you serious?
I probably shouldn’t write blog entries when I am angry/frustrated. I just don’t seem to write my best. I just seem to ramble, complain, bitch and moan. But this time, I felt compelled to write this out because well, as the title suggests, I could not believe what happened earlier today.
Most of you who read this should already know this but in case you don’t, I have a minority scholarship here at OU that pays for everything and even gives me an overage check each quarter. So in essence, I get paid to go to school. Scary thought I know. Anyways, it’s our program’s usual Tuesday roundtable meeting where we are to discuss some topic. It could be anything, ranging from global warming to universal health care to any scholarly subject.
For this meeting though, we had our program’s leaders in the meeting with our GA and our usual professor who leads our discussions. For today’s roundtable, we were going to discuss the direction of the program. Let me give you a quick snapshot of what we have to do to keep our scholarship:
1. Maintain a 3.0 average w/ minimum 16 hours each quarter (fair enough, I mean, it is a scholarship)
2. 6 hrs of community service each quarter (not asking too much)
3. Attend weekly roundtables (more on these later)
4. Write a 1-2 page personal reflection paper each quarter (usually takes me 15 min on a weekend to finish)
That’s honestly about it. Not much huh? Well, you wouldn’t be able to tell that from our meeting tonight. Here are some quotes from people and my feelings. Feel free to gasp, moan and get mad. I sure did.
“I think the UC classes are pointless…they told us to make a collage for an assignment. It was simply busy work. I mean, I have real classes with real papers and real reading and don’t have time for busy work” (Freshman)
Two things here. The freshman must take three UC classes over the first year. UC 115 (First-Year Experience), UC 169 (First-Year Seminar, and a UC Class TBA. Also, these UC classes might be the easiest classes on this campus behind the recreation classes such as bowling, swimming, etc… The are designed for students to succeed. They are not a lot of work. They are made to make sure there is a good transition between high school and college. Got it? Now, look at the quote.
Are you frickin serious? You’re telling me you think a class that is an easy A is pointless? And then you’re complaining about a collage? WTF! You could just have a third “real paper” in another “real class”. The sad thing is that most of the freshmen agreed with this guy, all agreeing that the UC class doesn’t challenge them. It’s like they want more work, more papers, more thinking. The sad part is that since they are freshmen, they don’t know that everyone else in that room would DIE for a UC class right now. Classes get harder and more time-consuming. If they are complaining about a class being too easy, then they’ll be downright excited when junior year rolls around and all that free time they have now turns into study time at the library or in your room. Oh, and they’ll want a collage then no doubt. Frickin naïve frosh.
Oh, and just for fun. One freshman threw out a comment about how they only used one page in her $40 book for the first UC class. Well, cry me a river. You get a refund check ranging normally from $300-$1000 your first year. I think that’ll make up for it. So don’t give me a sob story about $40. Take away this scholarship and then come crying to the moon.
“I don’t need a ‘cushion’. I don’t mean to be rude but who are you all to say I need a ‘cushion’”. (Freshman)
The “cushion” I refer to here is the UC classes I talked about. One of our program directors called those classes something to kind of fall back on, lighten the load on a hard quarter, in other words, a “cushion” for freshman. So who is this guy to tell our director he doesn’t need that cushion? Is he offended that he is being forced to take a class that is created to give you a GPA-boosting A or A-? I just don’t get it. These freshmen all felt like they were too good for a UC class, as if they were supposed to be for dumber freshman, not “scholars” like us.
This is what I say. Stop whining, take your A, and move on. I have never heard more people complain about such an easy class. It’s like saying to your advisor that you hate your psychology class because attendance is optional and not mandatory. It just doesn’t make sense. You pay ZERO dollars to go here. You have no right to complain about a class you have to take. You aren’t paying for it. Just do the work, no matter how little of a “challenge” it is. Get rid of this attitude that all classes HAVE to be hard. If you wanted that, then go to Harvard. If you want to succeed in school and still have somewhat of a life outside of academics, then stay here. Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE here. Ugh…
Oh, and his blurb about who do they think they are? I don’t know if he knows this but he was talking to three people with doctorate degrees. All have dealt with students and managing students their entire career. So shut up because they know more than you. You may think you know what’s good for a freshman like yourself but guess what, you don’t because you ARE A FRESHMAN NOW! Even I know what’s better for you as a first-year student. So get rid of that “too good for this” attitude. You don’t know what is.
“I feel like you all (the program directors) always look at us (students) as if we are stupid kids trying to get out of work. There is a huge disconnect between us and the program. I just want you all to treat us like adults.” (Senior)
This one fired me up too. Not as much as the UC class subject because this one has some merit to it. There is a lack of communication between our program heads and the students but again, more on that later. I want to address this quote.
The senior says the program thinks we are stupid kids who are trying to get out of work and that we should be treated as adults. The sad part is that as the senior says this, he/she looks like more of a child. The program gives us all this money to do only those 4 things I listed earlier. Then, all we do is complain. Oh yeah, that’s mature on our part, especially since we signed a contract agreeing to the terms above. So when I hear argue about community service or class hours, I get a headache. We have literally 4 requirements. THAT’S IT. 4 requirements to keep a scholarship worth just under $80,000 over four year. If we were true adults, we would listen and do what is asked of us. Also, if we had a problem, we wouldn’t bring it up in front of everyone, but instead do it in front of the program directors, face-to-face in their office. This is more informal and makes for better conversation. Instead though, we start petty arguments about trivial things and argue for hours at a time since we can’t act like the mature adults I thought we were.
“I never came to see you because I didn’t know who you all were. I feel like there was never an attempt for you to meet the freshman so it was kind of intimidating to come and ask you a question” (Freshman)
First of all, my rule of thumb when it comes to getting to know someone is that if you care that much, then you’ll go and introduce yourself and get to know them. If you don’t care, you’ll worry only about yourself and other things. This is important because in this situation, the freshman complains about all these classes and other crap YET has never gone to talk to our director face-to-face and talked about their problem. Instead, she felt intimidated by a director that all year has said her door is always open. Not only that but why should the director have to carry all the burden to met the freshman. Why not flip that situation? It seems to me this was just another way for the freshman to complain since obviously, they have more time to think of complaints cuz their UC class doesn’t keep them busy from thinking of complaints.
If the freshman really cared, she would’ve gone a long time ago and talked about these problems. But nope, instead she just waits for the right moment to pounce on the directors as if her suggestion in front of them and 30 of her peers will carry more weight then a one-on-one meeting. Yea, that’s mature. Crap like this fires me up. If you have a problem with me, tell me. If you have a problem with something I’m a part of, tell me. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t stay quiet. Just tell me. We are all big boys and girls. We cannot lose our scholarship simply because we are speaking our minds. So being afraid isn’t an excuse…well unless of course, you’re a kid.
The last point I will bring up is our roundtable discussion. Yea, they can be boring but sometimes, they can truly be intellectual. Problem is though, normally we talk about one of two things:
1. What needs to be fixed in the program (and it ALWAYS goes long)
2. What we will talk about in next week’s meeting (just one big circle week-to-week)
I’m not a big fan of these, especially this quarter because I feel like we talk about nothing relevant to a group of 30 minority students with homework and books to read after the meeting. Yet, I go for two reasons. The first is that I have to. The second is that it’s the least I can do to thank the program for giving me this scholarship.
MY FINAL TAKE:
So what do I really think? I think that now even people with full scholarships are getting stuck-up and spoiled. The program provides them with all this money. Actually, an excess of money. And instead of properly thanking the program by simply following its wishes, it challenges and questions them. And not the good challenge and question that brings about change. No, the kind of challenge and question that shows how lazy and arrogant the scholars have gotten. The program started on very shaky roots. There was a lot of opposition to it. People had to fight hard to make these scholarships and the least these freshman and others could be in grateful. They could be like other students I know who are paying their way through college, with or without Mom and Dad’s help. They could be paying for books with money made from all that work over the summer. They could be taking 20 hours of hard material.
But instead, they are getting paid to go to school. They have money left over to pay for books. They get to take classes that give you an early A to pad the GPA. But most importantly, it gives you a support system in 30 other people just like you. So, with all due respect, shut up. Don’t start thinking you are too good for things such as community service and UC classes. Too good for professional dress or etiquette dinners. You are part of a distinguished group of students. We have a great opportunity. Don’t screw it up by complaining with your big mouth. You don’t have the right…especially when you’re a freshman. I am glad they were honest and forthright in their opinions but I am NOT happy that their opinions leaned toward the side of arrogance and not humility. We are NOT better than anyone. We were just given an opportunity and a damn good one if I may say so.
If I hear anyone else complain, I’m gonna flip. Either go the directors or don’t talk at all because if not, there probably won’t be any change because you’re not mature to understand the true reason for this scholarship and its requirements. Just go to class and do what needs to be done. No more whining…leave that for kids.
I probably shouldn’t write blog entries when I am angry/frustrated. I just don’t seem to write my best. I just seem to ramble, complain, bitch and moan. But this time, I felt compelled to write this out because well, as the title suggests, I could not believe what happened earlier today.
Most of you who read this should already know this but in case you don’t, I have a minority scholarship here at OU that pays for everything and even gives me an overage check each quarter. So in essence, I get paid to go to school. Scary thought I know. Anyways, it’s our program’s usual Tuesday roundtable meeting where we are to discuss some topic. It could be anything, ranging from global warming to universal health care to any scholarly subject.
For this meeting though, we had our program’s leaders in the meeting with our GA and our usual professor who leads our discussions. For today’s roundtable, we were going to discuss the direction of the program. Let me give you a quick snapshot of what we have to do to keep our scholarship:
1. Maintain a 3.0 average w/ minimum 16 hours each quarter (fair enough, I mean, it is a scholarship)
2. 6 hrs of community service each quarter (not asking too much)
3. Attend weekly roundtables (more on these later)
4. Write a 1-2 page personal reflection paper each quarter (usually takes me 15 min on a weekend to finish)
That’s honestly about it. Not much huh? Well, you wouldn’t be able to tell that from our meeting tonight. Here are some quotes from people and my feelings. Feel free to gasp, moan and get mad. I sure did.
“I think the UC classes are pointless…they told us to make a collage for an assignment. It was simply busy work. I mean, I have real classes with real papers and real reading and don’t have time for busy work” (Freshman)
Two things here. The freshman must take three UC classes over the first year. UC 115 (First-Year Experience), UC 169 (First-Year Seminar, and a UC Class TBA. Also, these UC classes might be the easiest classes on this campus behind the recreation classes such as bowling, swimming, etc… The are designed for students to succeed. They are not a lot of work. They are made to make sure there is a good transition between high school and college. Got it? Now, look at the quote.
Are you frickin serious? You’re telling me you think a class that is an easy A is pointless? And then you’re complaining about a collage? WTF! You could just have a third “real paper” in another “real class”. The sad thing is that most of the freshmen agreed with this guy, all agreeing that the UC class doesn’t challenge them. It’s like they want more work, more papers, more thinking. The sad part is that since they are freshmen, they don’t know that everyone else in that room would DIE for a UC class right now. Classes get harder and more time-consuming. If they are complaining about a class being too easy, then they’ll be downright excited when junior year rolls around and all that free time they have now turns into study time at the library or in your room. Oh, and they’ll want a collage then no doubt. Frickin naïve frosh.
Oh, and just for fun. One freshman threw out a comment about how they only used one page in her $40 book for the first UC class. Well, cry me a river. You get a refund check ranging normally from $300-$1000 your first year. I think that’ll make up for it. So don’t give me a sob story about $40. Take away this scholarship and then come crying to the moon.
“I don’t need a ‘cushion’. I don’t mean to be rude but who are you all to say I need a ‘cushion’”. (Freshman)
The “cushion” I refer to here is the UC classes I talked about. One of our program directors called those classes something to kind of fall back on, lighten the load on a hard quarter, in other words, a “cushion” for freshman. So who is this guy to tell our director he doesn’t need that cushion? Is he offended that he is being forced to take a class that is created to give you a GPA-boosting A or A-? I just don’t get it. These freshmen all felt like they were too good for a UC class, as if they were supposed to be for dumber freshman, not “scholars” like us.
This is what I say. Stop whining, take your A, and move on. I have never heard more people complain about such an easy class. It’s like saying to your advisor that you hate your psychology class because attendance is optional and not mandatory. It just doesn’t make sense. You pay ZERO dollars to go here. You have no right to complain about a class you have to take. You aren’t paying for it. Just do the work, no matter how little of a “challenge” it is. Get rid of this attitude that all classes HAVE to be hard. If you wanted that, then go to Harvard. If you want to succeed in school and still have somewhat of a life outside of academics, then stay here. Oh, and did I mention it’s FREE here. Ugh…
Oh, and his blurb about who do they think they are? I don’t know if he knows this but he was talking to three people with doctorate degrees. All have dealt with students and managing students their entire career. So shut up because they know more than you. You may think you know what’s good for a freshman like yourself but guess what, you don’t because you ARE A FRESHMAN NOW! Even I know what’s better for you as a first-year student. So get rid of that “too good for this” attitude. You don’t know what is.
“I feel like you all (the program directors) always look at us (students) as if we are stupid kids trying to get out of work. There is a huge disconnect between us and the program. I just want you all to treat us like adults.” (Senior)
This one fired me up too. Not as much as the UC class subject because this one has some merit to it. There is a lack of communication between our program heads and the students but again, more on that later. I want to address this quote.
The senior says the program thinks we are stupid kids who are trying to get out of work and that we should be treated as adults. The sad part is that as the senior says this, he/she looks like more of a child. The program gives us all this money to do only those 4 things I listed earlier. Then, all we do is complain. Oh yeah, that’s mature on our part, especially since we signed a contract agreeing to the terms above. So when I hear argue about community service or class hours, I get a headache. We have literally 4 requirements. THAT’S IT. 4 requirements to keep a scholarship worth just under $80,000 over four year. If we were true adults, we would listen and do what is asked of us. Also, if we had a problem, we wouldn’t bring it up in front of everyone, but instead do it in front of the program directors, face-to-face in their office. This is more informal and makes for better conversation. Instead though, we start petty arguments about trivial things and argue for hours at a time since we can’t act like the mature adults I thought we were.
“I never came to see you because I didn’t know who you all were. I feel like there was never an attempt for you to meet the freshman so it was kind of intimidating to come and ask you a question” (Freshman)
First of all, my rule of thumb when it comes to getting to know someone is that if you care that much, then you’ll go and introduce yourself and get to know them. If you don’t care, you’ll worry only about yourself and other things. This is important because in this situation, the freshman complains about all these classes and other crap YET has never gone to talk to our director face-to-face and talked about their problem. Instead, she felt intimidated by a director that all year has said her door is always open. Not only that but why should the director have to carry all the burden to met the freshman. Why not flip that situation? It seems to me this was just another way for the freshman to complain since obviously, they have more time to think of complaints cuz their UC class doesn’t keep them busy from thinking of complaints.
If the freshman really cared, she would’ve gone a long time ago and talked about these problems. But nope, instead she just waits for the right moment to pounce on the directors as if her suggestion in front of them and 30 of her peers will carry more weight then a one-on-one meeting. Yea, that’s mature. Crap like this fires me up. If you have a problem with me, tell me. If you have a problem with something I’m a part of, tell me. Don’t beat around the bush. Don’t stay quiet. Just tell me. We are all big boys and girls. We cannot lose our scholarship simply because we are speaking our minds. So being afraid isn’t an excuse…well unless of course, you’re a kid.
The last point I will bring up is our roundtable discussion. Yea, they can be boring but sometimes, they can truly be intellectual. Problem is though, normally we talk about one of two things:
1. What needs to be fixed in the program (and it ALWAYS goes long)
2. What we will talk about in next week’s meeting (just one big circle week-to-week)
I’m not a big fan of these, especially this quarter because I feel like we talk about nothing relevant to a group of 30 minority students with homework and books to read after the meeting. Yet, I go for two reasons. The first is that I have to. The second is that it’s the least I can do to thank the program for giving me this scholarship.
MY FINAL TAKE:
So what do I really think? I think that now even people with full scholarships are getting stuck-up and spoiled. The program provides them with all this money. Actually, an excess of money. And instead of properly thanking the program by simply following its wishes, it challenges and questions them. And not the good challenge and question that brings about change. No, the kind of challenge and question that shows how lazy and arrogant the scholars have gotten. The program started on very shaky roots. There was a lot of opposition to it. People had to fight hard to make these scholarships and the least these freshman and others could be in grateful. They could be like other students I know who are paying their way through college, with or without Mom and Dad’s help. They could be paying for books with money made from all that work over the summer. They could be taking 20 hours of hard material.
But instead, they are getting paid to go to school. They have money left over to pay for books. They get to take classes that give you an early A to pad the GPA. But most importantly, it gives you a support system in 30 other people just like you. So, with all due respect, shut up. Don’t start thinking you are too good for things such as community service and UC classes. Too good for professional dress or etiquette dinners. You are part of a distinguished group of students. We have a great opportunity. Don’t screw it up by complaining with your big mouth. You don’t have the right…especially when you’re a freshman. I am glad they were honest and forthright in their opinions but I am NOT happy that their opinions leaned toward the side of arrogance and not humility. We are NOT better than anyone. We were just given an opportunity and a damn good one if I may say so.
If I hear anyone else complain, I’m gonna flip. Either go the directors or don’t talk at all because if not, there probably won’t be any change because you’re not mature to understand the true reason for this scholarship and its requirements. Just go to class and do what needs to be done. No more whining…leave that for kids.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
This can’t be happening….
Alright people, don’t get me wrong here when I write this entry. I just have to write this out since well, keeping it in my head sometimes makes my head hurt (though that might be Hirz’s blog)
So I am in my 8th quarter of college, third year, just 21 credits shy of being a college graduate. Yea, college graduate. Two very scary words that will be used for me very soon. What’s troubling though is that as I prepare for the end, I am finding myself “coasting” to the end. You know what coasting is. When you begin to just go with the flow, do what asked and nothing more and reap the benefits of still getting things done. Well, I find myself doing that very thing this quarter. I don’t know when it started nor can I find a way to stop it but it’s kinda weird right now.
I like all my classes this quarter. Literally, all of them. Yea, I complain about some of them, whether it be length, amount of reading, lecture time, etc… but I truly believe every class this quarter is making a better member of society and a better broadcast journalist. So I really do not why I feel this way. One of my classes is piano. Needless to say, no extra work is really needed. I just show up for class every day and play what’s on the paper. Yea, I should be practicing for future pages but why do that when not doing that is getting me by just fine? Same goes with another one of my classes. It’s called Broadcast News Seminar but I like to just think of it as a class where we just sit and discuss different aspects of the TV industry. Of course, there are readings here that I periodically read but I am finding that whether I read or not, we stray away from the topic and after about ten minutes, it doesn’t even matter if you read or not.
Aight, I know what you are thinking? Why the hell do you care Matt? You’re getting paid to go to school, you’re taking classes that are apparently not hard and you are in the middle of your favorite month. I understand that but this is college and I’ve always has this feeling that it should be tough. It should make me study every night. It should drive me to the library for late night studying. I even thought that as graduation approached, the going would get tough and the tough would get going to study. Instead, graduation is approaching and I find myself bored every night, watching dumb MTV shows that don’t even come close to appealing to 20-yr old black guys like me or playing Sonic the Hedgehog for only about 30 min since I can’t get past the 3rd stage.
So what should I do to get these coasting feeling out? I don’t know. Some could say that I should just assert myself more and start working harder in these classes. I would do that but I am perfectly content with a B or higher. I no longer strive for A’s. Grades are important but what you get out of the class means so much more in my opinion. Some might say maybe you need a challenge. I disagree with that too. I take on a challenge of waking up everyday already. I also still work two jobs and volunteer at a TV station so whatever challenge I take on probably just wears me out instead of fires me up. Maybe what I need is a wake-up call. You know, something like a big F on a paper that motivates me to get focused. Maybe a pop quiz that throws me for a loop. I don’t know what I need but I know one thing: I am getting by this quarter without breaking a sweat.
I’m not bragging. I am truly concerned. Is this education working, as in I’ve learned so much, I can learn no more? Am I not putting enough emphasis on my academics, as in giving more time to tours, IM and TV stuff than working on class stuff? It could be a variety of reasons so I don’t wanna find the answer now because again, the headache may come back. But I will say this. If college begins to turn into senior year of high school, then yikes…I’m in for a good final three quarters.
I have no advice here, nor do I think this blog entry was necessary. This was simply my way of blowing off a little steam. Now that I have written it though, I think I feel a little better because now that I’ve talked in a circle, I think I know why this “coasting” is occurring. It’s called getting into that quarterly flow. A flow that keeps you moving without too many hiccups. Yea, that’s it. I’m just in a flow. I’m in a zone and now that I look back, I strive for this at the beginning of every quarter. Maybe this quarter, I just didn’t expect it.
Look out for my V-Day blog entry regarding V-Day and other material. It is sure not to disappoint. And by that, I mean there will be probably be some responses to my take on the dreaded holiday. Until then, HAKUNA MATATA
Alright people, don’t get me wrong here when I write this entry. I just have to write this out since well, keeping it in my head sometimes makes my head hurt (though that might be Hirz’s blog)
So I am in my 8th quarter of college, third year, just 21 credits shy of being a college graduate. Yea, college graduate. Two very scary words that will be used for me very soon. What’s troubling though is that as I prepare for the end, I am finding myself “coasting” to the end. You know what coasting is. When you begin to just go with the flow, do what asked and nothing more and reap the benefits of still getting things done. Well, I find myself doing that very thing this quarter. I don’t know when it started nor can I find a way to stop it but it’s kinda weird right now.
I like all my classes this quarter. Literally, all of them. Yea, I complain about some of them, whether it be length, amount of reading, lecture time, etc… but I truly believe every class this quarter is making a better member of society and a better broadcast journalist. So I really do not why I feel this way. One of my classes is piano. Needless to say, no extra work is really needed. I just show up for class every day and play what’s on the paper. Yea, I should be practicing for future pages but why do that when not doing that is getting me by just fine? Same goes with another one of my classes. It’s called Broadcast News Seminar but I like to just think of it as a class where we just sit and discuss different aspects of the TV industry. Of course, there are readings here that I periodically read but I am finding that whether I read or not, we stray away from the topic and after about ten minutes, it doesn’t even matter if you read or not.
Aight, I know what you are thinking? Why the hell do you care Matt? You’re getting paid to go to school, you’re taking classes that are apparently not hard and you are in the middle of your favorite month. I understand that but this is college and I’ve always has this feeling that it should be tough. It should make me study every night. It should drive me to the library for late night studying. I even thought that as graduation approached, the going would get tough and the tough would get going to study. Instead, graduation is approaching and I find myself bored every night, watching dumb MTV shows that don’t even come close to appealing to 20-yr old black guys like me or playing Sonic the Hedgehog for only about 30 min since I can’t get past the 3rd stage.
So what should I do to get these coasting feeling out? I don’t know. Some could say that I should just assert myself more and start working harder in these classes. I would do that but I am perfectly content with a B or higher. I no longer strive for A’s. Grades are important but what you get out of the class means so much more in my opinion. Some might say maybe you need a challenge. I disagree with that too. I take on a challenge of waking up everyday already. I also still work two jobs and volunteer at a TV station so whatever challenge I take on probably just wears me out instead of fires me up. Maybe what I need is a wake-up call. You know, something like a big F on a paper that motivates me to get focused. Maybe a pop quiz that throws me for a loop. I don’t know what I need but I know one thing: I am getting by this quarter without breaking a sweat.
I’m not bragging. I am truly concerned. Is this education working, as in I’ve learned so much, I can learn no more? Am I not putting enough emphasis on my academics, as in giving more time to tours, IM and TV stuff than working on class stuff? It could be a variety of reasons so I don’t wanna find the answer now because again, the headache may come back. But I will say this. If college begins to turn into senior year of high school, then yikes…I’m in for a good final three quarters.
I have no advice here, nor do I think this blog entry was necessary. This was simply my way of blowing off a little steam. Now that I have written it though, I think I feel a little better because now that I’ve talked in a circle, I think I know why this “coasting” is occurring. It’s called getting into that quarterly flow. A flow that keeps you moving without too many hiccups. Yea, that’s it. I’m just in a flow. I’m in a zone and now that I look back, I strive for this at the beginning of every quarter. Maybe this quarter, I just didn’t expect it.
Look out for my V-Day blog entry regarding V-Day and other material. It is sure not to disappoint. And by that, I mean there will be probably be some responses to my take on the dreaded holiday. Until then, HAKUNA MATATA
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