Why Thanksgiving is Awesome for Me

Thanksgiving, a day we celebrate by stuffing our faces with food and watching football.  In my family, every year we go to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving.  From the moment you walk, in all you can smell is, what I like to call, “Food Heaven”.  Every year I am greeted with the question, “Are you ready to eat?” and every time I respond with, “Why else would I be here?”  When I say this my relatives know that I am completely joking; however, it is possible that the food is main reason I am there.  Don’t tell my aunt that. I love my family to death but I might just love the food a little more.  

Dinner is ready and my aunt always lets me get my plate first.  I make a plate stacked at least a couple inches high with turkey, mashed potatoes, corn and, the most important of all, green bean casserole.  Everyone claims that their grandma makes the best food for Thanksgiving, they are mistaken.  There is not a green bean casserole that I have tried that is as good as my aunt’s.  She makes me a separate dish to take home so I can enjoy her “magic” even after Thanksgiving.  I don’t think I could describe in words how good her casserole really is.  The beans are perfectly cooked, the creamy mushroom soup is hot and the entire dish is covered in crisp fried onions.  I am not ashamed to say that I am drooling a little as I am writing this.  I then sit in the same spot every year.  My spot has a perfect view of the T.V.  There is nothing I would rather do than enjoy a plate of hot food and watch my Lions play. 

It doesn’t get much better than when family, food, and football all come together.  As a family we enjoy each other’s company and we talk about whatever pops into our heads.  Everyone is laid back and everyone enjoys themselves.  Thanksgiving in my family isn’t about getting all dressed up and being “proper”.  It’s about enjoying each other’s company and making sure you leave with a full stomach.  Thanksgiving, for me, is awesome because I get to spend an entire day stuffing my face until I literally cannot eat any more and I get to spend time with my family.  That is what I am thankful for. 

Why Does College Cost so Much?

Along with of most everything else in our lives, the cost of a college education has increased immensely over the past twenty five years.  When my parents were my age, there was no such thing as spending $100,000 for a college degree.  Today, for some four year universities, it is not uncommon for students to pay anywhere from $30,000 to $50,000 for one year of school.  To me, this seems, in many ways, rather unfair and almost cruel.  How can schools ask for such outrageous amounts of money from young adults who still live at home with their parents?  

I want to know why college, in the modern day, is so expensive compared to the educations that our parents and grandparents received for much cheaper.  I do not think that it is right for schools to charge such ridiculous amounts of money for tuition.  I want to know how college became so expensive and if the cost will continue to increase in the future.  I believe that we as a nation should make college education more affordable for students.  More educated people will result in less people unemployed and more educated citizens who have the skills needed to be a part of the workforce.   

The Next Step

Engineering, that is the field in which I plan to study and find a career in. Everything that involves hands on interaction, critical thinking, designing, or problem solving is what I enjoy. While I am currently attending Oakland Community College, I have to plan for my future after OCC. There are many good engineering schools here in Michigan. Some examples include: University of Michigan, Michigan Technological University, Ferris State University, Kettering University, as well as Lawrence Technological University. While in high school, the plan was to attend Lawrence Tech for all four years. Unfortunately, due to high tuition costs and my lack of seeking more scholarships, that opportunity passed.

Now that I have been in college for almost a semester, I am having second thoughts of attending Lawrence Tech. I want to go to a college that will give me hands on experience and prepare me for the real world. I have narrowed my options down to attending Kettering University or continuing as planned and attending Lawrence Tech. By comparing the pros and cons of each school, I hope to come to a conclusion as to which school is the best fit for me.

 

Why We do What We Do

Tony Robbins: Why We do What We Do

In the TED Talk by Tony Robbins, Tony asks the question “Why do we do what we do?”  This is a very difficult question to answer.  Tony said, “If you have human emotion, you can make yourself do anything.”  He continues, “If we are angry with someone or something we react quickly and aggressively.  If something is boring we react slower and without as much attention to detail.”  This human emotion, as Tony suggests, is the “hidden force” that drives us to make decisions and do what we do as humans.

According to Tony, there are three questions we must ask ourselves. First, “What do we need to focus on?” Second, “What does this (what we are doing) mean?  Finally, “What are we going to do?”  We ask ourselves these three questions everyday of our lives and that is what Tony is trying to say.  I agree with Tony.  Every time we are faced with a situation, we use emotion and that “hidden force” that Tony mentioned to decide what we are going to do and how we are going to do it.  Sometimes emotions get the best of us and sometimes we make the best of those emotions. I believe that Tony is absolutely correct in the sense that emotion whether good or bad, is why we do what we do.