EXTRA CREDIT!!! :Food for Thought

I had some spare time and poked around on qarrsiluni. A lot interested me, some more than others. The first thing that caught my eye was: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/10/28/odds-and-ends/

            This poem called Odds and Ends got me to think a lot. It talked about various things people can draw a source of religion from and how even little things in life can alter or form a belief. This poem relates to nature and uses it to connect to people and their religions This is how I interpreted the poem at least. I believe that it is the little things in life that matter and that people often overlook nature’s beauties and all it has to offer.

            The next thing I felt drawn to was: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/10/24/qran-study/

            I know this is a strange thing for someone my age to find an interest in and maybe it is because I currently have a class on world religions. In my class I learned about Islam, Judism, Christianity, Hinduism, etc. I am fascinated by how they are all so different from each other and form their beliefs on things ranging from a savior sent down from God, to worshipping many nature gods. This picture is of someone reading from the Q’ran which is an Islamic book of worship. This makes me feel happy that someone is practicing their faith. I like how focused the man looks and as ease. It creates an overall mood of contentment.

            I also stumbled upon this which I absolutely loved and when I saw the author literally shouted out loud. A first I read the line about the cats crawling on furniture and thought it was funny and clicked on the link. When I saw it was by Sheila Squillante, I thought to myself “this makes a lot of sense and she totally would write something like this”. : http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/10/11/beatitude/

            I thought that this was hysterical and got a good laugh from it. It basically is thanking God for silly things in mimicking the beatitudes. I enjoy the line: “blessed be parts of my body I cannot reach in the shower—out of sight, out of mind”. This gave me a good laugh.I like how the poem is inspirational and humorous. It is basically being thankful for the ridiculous things like bees flying in a window, Tupperware, and alumninum foil. These are things that you encounter every day, and make you laugh out loud about the comments you can make about them.

         Another thing I felt drawn into was the photo of Jesus holding a hamburger: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/10/07/hamburger-jesus/

         I think it explains current day America so well. We Americans love our food that tastes so good but is bad for you, and what else sums up this thought but a nice, juicy hamburger. Faith is a major part of many people’s lives and majority of the United States is religious. Therefore, by incorporating Christ with a hamburger I think it describes our country pretty well.

         The last thing I would like to talk about is: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/09/29/the-peace-movement/

         I think that in today’s world being the hustle and bustle it is, a lot of time people don’t take time to just relax and appreciate life in general. People are also impulsive and don’t really listen to others and what they have to say. I think that if we take the advice the poem has to offer and listen. Just stop and listen to what is around you, the world would be a happier, calmer, peaceful place. 

Reflection

I have only been at Penn State for a few months and I felt like I have learned so much. I am so happy that I never got homesick and fell in love with the campus. I am thrilled that I enjoyed all of my classes my first semester and I feel like I have learned more than I have ever learned in my entire time spent at high school. All of my classes are interesting and I actually enjoy and pay attention in all of my classes, which was impossible for me to do in high school.

I also learned a lot about art and what is art. I learned that things I don’t even expect to be considered art are art in their own unique way. I discovered that I actually do like poetry after attending Sharon Old’s reading and listening to Sheila’s in class. At the beginning of the semester if you asked me what art was I would have said that it had to be inspirational and something like a drawing, ceramic, museum, painting, sculpture, music, and things that are obvious forms of art. I would have never have called Penn State as a whole as art. Who knew I would write an essay defining it as an artistic community? I discovered that things could be defined as art that you wouldn’t even expect, and that basically everything is art in its own way.     

            English class really got me to go out and explore campus which I am so glad I did because I know a lot of things on campus that my friends that are also freshman don’t know about, and I can thank English class for this. For an example, I had no idea what the Arboretum was in September. No idea at all, and I live in East Halls. It is literally a five minute walk from where I live. After going on a field trip there, I fell in love with the Arboretum. I want to go back again and told my mom all about it. I plan on taking her there when the weather breaks and she comes to visit me next semester. I feel like it is a great place to go when you want to get away from it all, and just have alone time. I definitely am going to spend a lot of my time there next semester when it isn’t freezing outside and will probably do some of my best thinking there. There is so much to draw inspiration from and the art is plentiful.

            I developed a deep relationship with the arts and better understanding and appreciation for them now. Coming into Penn State in August if you asked me how I felt about going to a musical or going to poetry reading I probably would have said that I would never be caught dead attending either. They both would have bored me to sleep. It is December now, and my feelings have completely changed. I have so much respect for poets. I wish I could write like that, and hope that one day I will be able to write half as well as Sheila.

            I’m just thinking about how much I have changed already, for the better, and I am still so young and my years at Penn State are still plentiful. My options are endless and there are a plethora of opportunities waiting for me to go out and grab them. I am inspired to follow my dreams and make this happen. I feel like I have grown as a person since I arrived in August. I am definitely more mature, and independent. This excites me and I feel like I can accomplish things I never expected, and by that I mean doing my own laundry. It is the little things in life that matter.

 I learned what it takes to be a good writer and the hard way. In high school my grades were easily handed to me sometimes. I got A’s on all of my essays all of the time. Coming to college, I didn’t really take the first essay prompt as serious as I should have and had this ego that I was an excellent writer. I got a rude awakening. I received a C on my first paper, and I was so mad. My initial response then changed into a wake up call. That things are different and college is hard. Also, that I am not in high school in anymore and things will certainly not be handed to me anymore. I definitely grew as a writer. I never used to ask people to read my papers over for me before, and I learned that this really can help you as a writer and is a tool you should definitely take advantage of. I now harass my roommates to read over my essays and go to the writing center for help. I learned my strengths and weaknesses. I learned that I often ramble and say things that mean the same exact things over and over again with slightly different wording. I still have problems overcoming this weakness, but hopefully one day I will. I learned my strength is the fact that I literally could go on and on and it is easy for me to write. When a paper is 5 to 7 pages, I always write 7 pages not 5. I feel like I just have so much to say all of the time, and have a lot of thoughts I want to get across.

Overall, I changed and learned a lot since I arrived here in August. I am eager to see what is in store for me next semester, and am glad to call myself a Penn Stater.

SRTES

Hey Mrs. S,
 I finished filling out the SRTE form, 
Thanks!
Love, 
Jessica Olejnik

EXTRA CREDIT!!! A Great Way to Break Up the Routine

I absolutely loved the poetry Sheila read in class. I was fascinated by the dream poems and how she remembered all of them.  This was truly amazing and I am extremely jealous. I don’t remember any of my dreams and really wish I did because I was well entertained by Sheila’s. I think I am going to take her advice and start a dreambook. Hopefully I will remember more of them and be able to one day look back on them and find humor in them like she does.

I like how she introduced us to both found and letter poems. I never heard of either of these and am glad that I now have exposure to them. I really enjoyed the poem about her grandmother’s advice, and thought it was hysterical. It was really cool that our class was the first to hear some of these poems. I felt honored because I really think that each and every one of them was terrific, and something I would never be able to write. I have so much respect for Sheila and give her props. I would never be able to write how she writes and think all of her pieces of work are beautiful in their own way.

            “Self Portrait with Roller Coaster” was my favorite poem and I loved the discussion that followed it. Sheila talked about how this amusement park that she went to as a child was basically an accident waiting to happen. She talked about how crazy the rides were, and how there was this one ride there that she loved that you literally go to the top of a mountain and it is similar to a body slide with no form of protection and you guide yourself down with a stick controller thing. There was a ride like this at an older amusement park that also went out of business from my hometown. I thought it was crazy that this insane ride existed in multiple locations. It just sounds so dangerous but so fun at the same time.

            I really like how Sheila explained all of her poems before she read them. She talked about who they involved, what they were about, and why she wrote them. She also talked about how she wrote a “happy” poem just to add variety to her always depressing poems.

            Another poem I really enjoyed was the one about the two doors. This was deep, emotional, and got me to think about people could turn out to be completely different and deceitful.

            I loved the idea of having this poetry reading during normal class hours. It was a great way to break up the routine and when I found out she was going to be reading to us, I was thrilled. Finals are coming up and all of my other last major exams and essays are also approaching or were occurring that week. Needless to say, I was and still am beyond stressed. Listening to her read and just sitting back and taking it easy for class, was exactly what I needed and made me happy. It was a great way to finish up the semester as our time spent together as a class is drawing closer and closer to an end. 

Sharon Olds

Going to a poetry reading sounded like an awful way to spend my night. I never went to one before, and never planned on going to one either. However, after finally going to one and giving poetry a chance, I am pleased to say that I had a great time at Sharon Old’s poetry reading. I was shocked that her poetry was hysterical, relatable, and easy to understand. I was scared that she was going to ramble on and on using big words that I never heard of and saying things with meanings so deep that I would never be able to comprehend them.

She opened with a poem about how her mom took her to the doctor’s seeking a “diagnosis” for her child. The doctor’s “diagnosis” was that Sharon had a sense of humor. By opening on this note, I knew I was in for a treat and sure enough the rest of her readings kept me entertained and laughing.

I really enjoyed her poem “Self Portrait: Rear View”. It was so funny and the entire room was laughing while she was reading. In the poem, she talked about how she was in a hotel room traveling and looked in the mirror and saw her bottom and how it made her feel. She was talking about how the doughnuts and all of the food she ate went to it, and her word choice really made the poem. The topic was light, and appealed to people of all age groups. As I looked into the crowd, I saw people of all age groups engaged in her readings. There were children, students, and elders laughing and having a great time during readings.

At one point an outraged fan actually stood up and gave Sharon a round of applause and told her that she was her “mother of poetry” and was very inspirational. This was a very touchy moment that almost brought Sharon to tears, showing how divine and passionate Sharon really is.

Sharon shared that her favorite part of her poetry was her faults because they are secretly fun for her to write because she has wisdom now.  I thought that this was unique and in a way showed us that she has confidence. Sharon is able to get up in front of crowd and read poems she wrote pointing out negative things in her life that she said, did, or flaws and say them with a smile and soothing voice. She also offered lots of advice to those that aspire to be a poet. She offered them guidelines to follow so they can avoid the problem of miscommunication. Sharon said that it is important not to scare off the reader, and cautioned word choice and to pay attention to the way you say things.       

I really was amazed that the reading flew by. I felt like I was at the reading for only ten minutes and when I looked at my watch after her last poem, I was shocked by how much time went by. I would definitely go to another reading by her and now have gained a better understanding of poetry and realized that although there is deep, lengthy, wordy poetry, there are many different forms. I am glad I gave poetry a chance and can understand now why so many people came out to listen to her read.

Drake Blog

            I attended the Drake concert in November at the BJC. I was very impressed by Drake’s performance and although one may argue that the concert was not a form of “art”, I beg to differ. Art is something you can draw inspiration from and appeals to the emotions.  Drake writes his own lyrics and they are very emotional. During the concert, he pointed out this fact by saying that people ask him why he writes the lyrics he does, and tell him that he’s too emotional. Drake’s response verified that people’s opinions could not change him, and he is going to continue to write the way that he does. In his song, “Hurt”, he says “So hard to breathe this air that we call love, Aint nothing worse than the hurt we receive from love”. This certainly appeals to the emotions. A broken heart is a terrible feeling, and Drake is pointing this out, this strong, depressed, awful feeling, in his lyrics. Many people can relate to this, and therefore can connect to the artist. As you look deeper into the lyrics of “Hurt”, Drake adds “

“So many lonely sleepless nights,

     Im going through hell to convince you love me,

    But never her approval no matter how I try,

    The way you talk to me but still I say I love you,

    I’m ashamed you can see it in my eyes,

  Momma always told me to respect the woman,

  But what am I to do when her parents do not try,

             So many tears I cried,

  But all for nothing I’m afraid to say…”

            By listening carefully to Drake’s lyrics you can see how intense they are and how they can make you feel sad or depressed very easily. The poor man is suffering from a broken heart and expresses his feelings in this song. By expressing his feelings, that is a form of art.

            The concert had very beautiful lighting and the backgrounds and stage appearance was impressive. As Drake performed, certain lyrics or images would flash behind him on a backdrop. The technology itself is art. For someone to coordinate all of that to display or light up as Drake is singing those exact words is amazing. A lot of time, practice, and patience clearly went into it. The use of strobe lights and intensifying them when something exciting was happening looked amazing from the crowd. Looking up at the stage and seeing all of this crazy lighting and special effects going on was insane, and I remember looking at the stage and thinking how cool it was.

            Drake isn’t stuck up and he really went the extra mile and tried to connect with the Penn State family during a bad time, the time of the Sandusky situation and riots. Drake still came and performed for the students despite the chaos, and put on an amazing show. He wore a Penn State cut off and took about thirty minutes where he just talked to the crowd. He shared compliments, thoughts, and made everyone laugh with his awesome sense of humor. His easy going attitude and sense of humor made the students smile, laugh, and happy during such a difficult time for the university.

            I really enjoyed the Drake concert and think that is great that he expresses his emotions in lyrics and is able to go up on stage and sing them with pride. He really makes an effort to connect, and explained the lyrics and why he wrote some of the songs that he did. He didn’t just go up on stage and “rap” about pointless things that don’t even make sense, which is a common stereotype of rappers. His performance was a unique form of art that I am very thankful that I was able to watch. 

Holding Strong

            Being a freshman and spending my first year at Penn State I didn’t know what to expect. I have heard so many good things about Happy Valley and never anything bad. Sure enough, after spending only two months here I was nothing but happy. Everywhere I went people we nice to me and always smiling. I was never to a Penn State football game before and it only took me one game to realize how big of a deal they are down here. The fans go crazy, and the stadium fills up so fast. JoePa is an icon for Penn State and is a legend. Penn State idolizes JoePa and everywhere I looked I saw anything you can imagine having to deal with the Penn State pride Happy Valley is full of. Walking through McLanahan’s I see Penn State slippers, spatulas, scarves, golf balls, foam finger…anything you can imagine. The pride this university possesses is unbelievable. The students, alumni, and fans are all followers of this “cult” and JoePa is their leader.

         I remember sitting at my first game and thinking how crazy it was that there were over 70,000 people out at Beaver Stadium to watch a football game. Upon seeing Joepa for the first time, I thought to myself how wonderful it was that he was so old, but it was his passion and love for the game, players, and fans that kept him going.

         After finding out about the scandal I felt confused, embarrassed, and upset. I was upset because Joepa is getting so much attention drawn to him, and the media is portraying him as being a terrible person. The way the media portrays him makes people actually think that it was JoePa that raped the children, not Sandusky . The riots really confused America because they happened right when the world was notified that JoePa had been fired. A lot of people were still uninformed about what was going on, and the riots were the first thing that they saw. Students got a out of hand, and their rioting made people believe that there cared so much about football and not at all about the victims. In my opinion, I feel that the riots were just an impulsive act. They were not aimed toward the victims or case in any way. I feel that upon finding out that President Spanier and legendary Joe Paterno were fired outraged students. Both of these people ran Penn State. They represented Penn State and were the two people at State College students looked up to most.

         I feel that people associate us with rude, crazy, immoral behavior. By holding the vigil, I feel that Penn State made a point and delivered the message that we are more than a party school or school that riots or is football crazed. It showed that we care. We are Penn State and we are here and want to help.

         Overall, I feel like the media got too involved and for the wrong reasons. They weren't even talking much about Sandusky or the victims. People aren’t even educated that well on the crime. It is sad how one man’s sick mind and nauseating acts make others view Penn State as a bad place. It was one man’s bad decisions. I don’t appreciate the jokes made about Penn State, the South Park episode, and comments. Majority of the people do not what is going on exactly. Who are they to open their mind and go off on a matter that they aren’t even well educated in?  It is embarrassing because people are blowing things out of portion and making JoePa seem like a rapist as well as the Penn State community. That is embarrassing to me because it is most certainly a lie. I hate the fact that one man’s actions is effecting our university so much.

         All of this going on my freshman year really affects me. It showed me how people could be very impulsive and go crazy as demonstrated by the riots. It also showed me how thousands of students can come together for a good cause as seen in the vigil.

         Reading Housely’s article summed up exactly how I feel. I am still proud to be a Penn Stater. I still wouldn’t imagine a better place for me to attend school.  I do not want to leave Happy Valley and still wear my blue and white with pride. I love the point he makes about Happy Valley saying that 99% of people are doing the right thing. I also like how he mentions that people are in their own little bubble or world here at State College. We don’t commonly see bad things happening and are so absorbed into this “Happy Valley”. An event such as this scandal is scarring and I completely agree with Houseley. The Penn State community is definitely in its own little bubble from my perspective. Therefore, something awful like this happening seems shocking.  I think Penn State will eventually be calm again and things will settle down. Regardless of what sort of situation our Happy Valley gets itself into, I will always be proud to call myself a Penn Stater.