Goodbyes

Today was bittersweet. I was so sad to leave UK, but I am excited to be home and see all my hometown friends. The time I spent with GEAR UP was amazing and I couldn't ask for a better experience. I am glad I meet the people I did, and made the friends I did. If someone had asked me what I would like to do differently if I had the chance to go back, I wouldn't change a thing. I feel like if I changed anything that the experience wouldn't have been the same, because I started this program alone, but I finished with a family that I wouldn't trade for the world.

The End

Yesterday was the last day for everything, all the classes are over and we decided to go to a Legends Baseball game and out to Golden Coral, It was nice ,but we are leaving today. I am preparing the last parts for my speech at the showcase tonight. I'm really excited to see my parents and my little bro and my uncle. I already know I'm going to cry, I'm going to miss everyone.

Final Days

Kaitlyn and Taylor

Today was the final day of my World Music, Photography and Communication classes, which happened to be my favorites of all. Tomorrow is my last class of EDU and Acting, I;m sad that it;s the last day for acting, but not so much EDU. I also found out that I was chosen to do a speech I did for my communications class to represent my group (101) at the Final showcase, I'm pretty excited.

Long Walks

I'm writing this blog earlier than I usually do only because I have nothing else to do. But in 10 minutes we are all going on a 2 hour whole campus tour, and supposedly it's a 4 mile walk. I'll be adding a photo later.

Colt, Taco and Donavan

Dull Days and New Electives

Kaitlyn playing guitar

Today really wasn't exciting, the only things I liked about today are that I had World Music class and Photo Lit. I also have a new elective called Marketing Me, which just is basically about ourselves. And by tomorrow night we need to have a 2-4 page autobiography about ourselves finished, and I haven't even started. Wish me luck.

Olymipics

Yesterday we had the second and last round of Olympics. Our team was second last week, but we ended up losing. The events were fun, and I was a finalist in noodle javelin. Out of our team I got the highest score for my throws, and I'm proud. That was about it.

Fun picture from yesterday

Ecuadorians and Dance Parties

My Ecuadorian class

Yesterday we did this thing called Ecuador Exchange, which was where we had 29 native Ecuadorians; who are studying to get their teaching degrees, teach us  about their culture. We got to dance salsa in a big group, we all got beautifully made bracelet, and we got to take pictures. We also had a dance party that happened from 9-11:30. It was a lot of fun to dance and hang out with friends.

Gallery Hopping

Yesterday we got the chance to go down into downtown Lexington and go to different galleries. I thought was fun and amazing to look at some weird and abstract art. I would totally do it again.

Brain Farts

Have you ever just brain farted, and just have not been able to remember anything. Well tonight that's what I've been having all day, throughout all my classes and even writing this blog post. My mind has shut down from all these assignments, but I'm trying to get through it. The most difficult assignment I have is from my Turkish class, where we have to memorize 50 Turkish words for a vocabulary test tomorrow. We also have to write an argumentative essay about a global problem. 

This picture goes with my Argumentative Essay.

Cool Pics

In Photography yesterday we learned about weight, value, etc. We got to go outside and take some more pictures and I think I took some really cool pics.

Bad days and Kroger Food

Sitting in a hallway and falling asleep is always fun. In Turkish today i kind of had a mental breakdown and was frustrated at everyone and thing to the point of me having to sit in the hallway for an hour or two so I could calm down.  I ended up falling in and out of sleep  before I ended up going back into the classroom to finish up class. For lunch we at food donated by Kroger which was amazing and delicious. While eating we listened to a presentation by someone about public speaking, which happens to be a big component in this program.

Exploration

We got new electives for the new weeks and I got Turkish, which is something I've really never thought of learning. It was a new experience and also really difficult, but I'm excited to keep exploring it until the week is over. I hope to explore it more and enjoy it more.

Also in my Photographic literacy class we went outside and experimented with lighting, shade, shapes and other stuff and I got to take some really cool outdoor photos with my phone.

Sunday Funday

Kaitlyn

At 6:30 this morning I went to my friend Jessica and Kaitlyn's room to sleepover there, and we've hung out all day since then. Except for when we went did the Gear Up Olympics, where all of our color groups competed against each other, and we won't know who won until tomorrow morning. The tasks were pretty easy, but somewhere difficult, and required a lot of team work, but I think our team pulled through and is in the top 3 at least.

Food and Laundry

Jessica

Yesterday we had the Taste of our World, which is were they served a whole bunch of food from around the world. Like pot stuffers, 3 layer taco dip, and a bunch of others stuff. I also had my first churro, which was really really good. it was a good experience to explore different cultures. I did laundry and busted a Tide pod on the floor, ordered a pizza, and also took this pick of my new friend Jessica in the Laundry room sink.

Baseball and Fireworks

I went to my first Lexington Ky Legends baseball game today, even though nothing really happened and it rained I had fun. When we first got to the stadium it started to rain and we were told that we couldn't have umbrellas in the stands. So we got rained on until we all decided to move up under a covered area. The game was postponed for awhile due to weather issues, then eventually cancelled and pushed back to another date. We sat in the stand from like 6:30-8,and then we waited another hour for fireworks, which did not disappoint and were my favorite part.

Average Days & Opportunities

Nothing really mind blowingly exciting happened today. It seemed average, we attended our other 2 classes out of the 5. Which happened to be for me an education class and an acting class, and the most important thing I learned today about all my classes is that they are structured upon the subject of communication, either verbally or non-verbally.

My Newport Friends: Shaylee, Samara, and Megan

And we also had a College Cafe session, which was all of the attendees meeting in on of the classrooms talking about the different opportunities we all have concerning college. Explaining the different ways to pay for college and the many different opportunities and diversity of scholarships. I learned many new and interesting facts, but this College Cafe also broadened my knowledge of what I already knew.

Getting Started

It's officially day 3 of the program I am attending and I've already made a lot of new friends. Some of the people took a little more time getting used to but, I'm pretty proud of myself for stepping out of my bubble. We started the day off by attended 3 out of 5 of our core classes, which are basically college level like classes. There are many new things I learned and the classes where pretty in depth and interesting. Even though it is the first day of our classes my favorite is the World Music classes because its different, we are learning about traditional African music and that's not something you just learn about everyday. Also the Photography Literacy class I'm taking is pretty amazing because I love photography and its components and this class is basically a break down of that.

WE HAVE HOMEWORK!!!!! Even though it's the first day of attending our classes, certain ones

An outdoor stage

gave us homework, it's probably to make the experience seem real. None of it seem difficult except for the homework from my Communications I class. On Friday for this class we have to present a 1-2 min speech about ourselves....I've never been the best at public speaking, so this class has me a little anxious of the outcome. I also have an Acting class and an EDU I class, which only meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the other 3 meet on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I just hope by the middle of next week I'm not drowning in unfinished homework.

The Beginning

Not only is this the beginning of me creating this Blog, but it also is the beginning of the 3 week program I'm attending at UK (University of Kentucky).

Me and my mom

The week before this program started was the time I was making a list and getting everything I needed and wanted, those days were relaxing and easy. But soon, the days began to count down very rapidly. What started off as 6 days became 4, and what was 4 days became 2, and then it was Move-In day. When I first arrived I wasn't really nervous, I was actually very excited, but as I got settled into my dorm, and said goodbye to my Mom and Uncle that was when it hit me. My calm aura suddenly turned into Anxiety and curiosity of what is soon to come. I am still trying to figure out if this feeling of Anxiety is good, but it is only the 2nd day and that I haven't really gotten to experienced what this program has to offer yet. I'm sure I'll figure it out soon or later, but for now I'll just go with the flow because I still have another 2 week ahead of me.