End of Upward Bound 2010

Blog, blog, blog-blog-blog. Blogging has been fun this year. I talked about a lot of things that people wouldn't have known about me. I blogged most about the Droid x, but other than that, I blogged about how I felt the day was going to go. The only thing i don't like about blogging is that it is writing. I don't like to write. It just feels like labor to me. I am so used to writing when I have to, rather than if I want to. That's okay, I guess, because I don't want to be a writer, as long as I know how to write a research paper, because I will be writing a lot of those when I become a physicist.

In my life I would to be a physicist. That is my dream. However, something I almost never mention, I think it would be cool to be a chef. I like food, and cooking it myself would be great because only I know what I want. The only problem there is that it almost like becoming famous. If was to become a chef, I would want to be famous for it. Not necessarily for the money, I just would want people to know that I am one of the best, or just really good at cooking. I don't want to end up cooking at Applebee's or at Steak & Shake. I want to have my own restaurant, and I would look into business for that as well. For a more short term goal, this summer is going to be quite eventful for me. I plan to get a job, my new phone, and get my license. I have to make this summer great, because my last one was less than desirable. That being said, I cannot believe that Upward Bound is over. The last three summers have been summers to remember. Countless memories are rushing through my head just typing this. I would love to comeback for whatever reason, just to watch as my former family members form there own memories that will change their lives forever. Upward Bound class of 2011, we made it!

Day 16 (second to last)

I love Warheads. My favorite kind of candy is sour candy, and Warheads are definitely the best. There is another sour candy i like called cry-babies but the are only second to Warheads. The Warheads are so sour, and they just keep punching an punching, and then, once the sour is gone, there is actually a good flavor afterward. Most sour candies say they have flavor, but none of them deliver like them good ol' Warheads.

Upward Bound. This year was great, overall. I had a lot of fun with my fellow Seniors (2011!). Despite all the fun I had, I can't wait to get home. I plan on sleeping in July, and waking up in August. A lot of people think it wasn't worth it, but UB is what you make it, and I tried to have fun, so I had fun.

Day 15

(So it wasn't our last blog) I am having second thoughts on the Droid x. I read this article on Yahoo that was talking about the cost of keeping that phone for the 2 year contract. I hope my mom doesn't see that, because then she won't let me buy the phone because she will assume that she will be paying the bill. My plan is to get a job, and start my own plan, so that way it would be cheaper for the both of us, well mostly cheaper for my mom. Currently we are on a family plan with my brother. She pays a decent amount of money, and we use most of our minutes every month, so it doesn't all go to waste. This summer is going to be big for me. My plans are to get my driver's license, buy the Droid x, and get a job. I hope it all works out. Unless somebody out there wants to pay my bill for me?

Day 14

I'm not sure if this is our last blog. I can't believe this program is almost over. I goes by so fast. I had a lot of fun this year. I know a lot of times I am just begging to go home, but in a way, that's part of all this. The full experience of UB is wanting to go home, stressing about the homework, complaining about how far away class is, and waiting for your check every other week. UB is all of that and more because Upward Bound is about the college experience. In college it only gets worse, especially if you don't end up here in GVSU, because most campuses are bigger than this. When I stress about things here, it makes me think about being ready for college. I'm not too happy about having class on Friday, but in college, I'll most likely be studying through weekends. I guess Upward Bound is preparing me for college. I know for a fact that without it, I would be totally lost when it comes to college.

Day 13

I wanted to write my research paper on Ralph H. Baer, but it wasn't working out. Summon didn't have any articles on him, which baffles me. He single-handedly started the video game revolution. That is very important. Video games have been on the rise since 1972, which is when they started. Anyway, I picked a topic that branches off from Ralph H. Baer, which is video games. More specificly, I am researching what people think about violent video games and how the affect the mind. I am against that idea. It makes no sense to me, but you can learn more about that in research paper, once I am done with it.

Day 12

I have been dying to go home all week. Finally we go home tomorrow! I miss my house so bad, and all the people in it. I don't usually miss them that much, but I had a less then desirable week here, so it makes me miss them more. I won't get into that, but I do plan on having fun this weekend. Friday is sleep day (as usual). Then Saturday me and my girlfriend are hanging out all day. Then for the 4th (which is also my girlfriend's birthday) me and my family, and my girlfriend are going out to the lake, to barbecue and eventually watch fireworks. I hope this weekend goes by really slow. Like REALLY slow. Although, the saying goes "Time flies, when you feel like you are". I said that one. Oh and just to keep you all in the loop, I have decided to get the Droid x in August, which is when I will have sufficient funds for the aforementioned cellular device.

Day 11

This week is shooting by (which is good). However, I am very excited for tomorrow. This year every Thursday, instead of study table, they have planned activities for us. So far they have been good, but this week is the best one so far. We are holding a Volleyball tournament. Yesterday night, we had nine captains (one of which was me) and we held a draft for all the students in the program. I think we had fun doing that. According to yesterday, the teams seem pretty even, so it should be a really good tournament.

Day 10

My original plan was to save all three of my stipend checks, and then buy a new phone after UB was over. I am still trying to do that, but it's really hard for me to hold $60+ even if it's in checks and not cash. I have so many urges to just cash those babies and got to town on the world, with $60. Anyway, I have 2 phones that I want. One is called the Droid x and the other the Droid Incredible. I love both phones, and it's hard to choose because what one phone doesn't have, the other phone does. I'm leaning more towards the Droid x for right now. We'll see what happens.

Summon

Summon, which is an amazing name for a search engine, is a search engine for someone who is looking for information in books, but is limited to the GVSU Library.

• I think Summon is a great source of credible information for research papers I might write in the future
• I would love to see how far Summon can go, meaning to say that I want to search the most bizarre things to see if I can find information on it. If not that, I would look up Physics topics.
  
• Summon is better for school and things of that nature. If I ever need a quick definition or a picture of something, I'll stick to Google.
  

Day 7

It's raining cats and dogs outside. I am so tired of this horrible weather. I have to change my clothes, but I don't have a change of clothes, so I have to stay in these wet clothes until 3:20. This has to be the best day ever, sarcastically of course. Other than that it's Wednesday. This week is going by very fast. We are basically home. After today, I want to go home.

Day 6

Last night was crazy. The rain was coming down so hard. A freshman came to our room asking us what those sirens meant. We told him not to worry. There was tornado warnings all over West Michigan. I was more worried about my family and friends back home then myself. I don't get scared during thunderstorms. I heard the sirens, but no one came to get us, so I just went to sleep. I slept through most of it. I read that 27,000 homes in Michigan lost power last night. About 16 or 17000 of them were in Kent county alone. I also read that downtown Grand Rapids was in the path of the tornado. I live dangerously close to downtown. The only thing that kept me up for a bit last night was my concern for the people I love in Grand Rapids. I don't even want to think about what could have happen to them.

Day 5

This weekend was fun. I slept all day Friday, after we came back from MSU. Saturday I hung out with my girlfriend all day, then at night I went to my cousins house, and we played Rock Band all night. To be specific, we attempted the Endless Setlist. The Endless Setlist is a list of all the songs on the game (84) that you have to play through in one sitting. We stayed up all night playing those songs, we even paused the game, went to sleep, then played again in the morning, and we still couldn't beat it. The songs weren't hard to play, it just got boring and took too long, I had to go home. I tried to tell them that we wouldn't finish it. They always heckle me for being pessimistic, but I was just being realistic. All in all, I had a very fun weekend.

Epic Yarn

As I have stated in a previous blog, I love video games. I am super excited for the 2010 year for the Nintendo Wii. There are some awesome games coming out this year.The previous years have been horrible for that system. There is only about 5 playable games out of 200 for the Wii. This year will be different, and this game is going to change it. This game is called Kirby's Epic Yarn. It's cool that it's on Wii because Kirby games are usually on hand-held gaming systems. This game looks so amazing. It's unlike any Kirby game I have ever seen.

Day 4

These classes are going to be the end of me. Upward Bound has never been this hard before. It's mainly our Anatomy/Physiology and Spanish classes. The problem with Spanish class is that there are two different levels, in the same classroom. That being said, there is always a group of people who are left in the dark about the homework. Anatomy is hard for me because it has a lot to do with memorization. Today we have a test in both of those classes, and from the looks of things, we all might be headed to EST. That Spanish test (For the advanced side of the class) is a vocabulary test, in which all of the words are words none of us have heard or seen before. Then on top of that, the definitions for the words are extra long and also have words in them we have never seen or heard. I am not too worried about the test in Anatomy. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Day 3

I just heard Hector said the word "Google", so I'll talk about Google. I am kind of a tech-nut so to speak, but without the actual knowledge of technology. I just like technology. Things like cellphones, video games, computers, e.t.c. Aside from being the most popular search engine, Google had spread to a couple different field of technology. They created an OS (Operating System) for cellphones called Android. Also, and this I am most excited about, Google is working on something called "Chromium OS". The name comes from their Web browser they made called "Google Chrome". Chromium OS, which is just the project name, is an Operating System for computers, like Windows or Linux. I haven't heard much, but it is supposed to be based around Internet use. So far, everything Google has made was a success. I am a Google fan.

Day 2

Yesterday was pretty exciting. One of senior privileges is that we get an extended curfew. So on the internet I had time to watch press conferences from E3, on G4tv.com. E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) is a huge convention over in California, where they showcase upcoming video games and video game technology for the next year or so. The biggest companies, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, and Ubisoft all hold press conferences to unveil there new products. I saw some of the coolest new video games ever. Every year I think it can not get better, and it does. I love video games. They are so much fun to me. Beating a game, or beating someone else at that video game, is a different sense of accomplishment that I find is rare. I don't really have a particular favorite, but my favorite video game character is Mario. Super Mario Bros. was one of the first video games I ever played, and I still love it. I am more attracted to one player action/adventure games. Those games always have a lot more story to them. Also they are more innovative in how they play then other games that based mainly on multiplayer gameplay.

Blog?

Blogging, to me, has always been a way for people to express their opinion to the world. I see a lot people blogging daily, as if it was a journal. People who blog usually are of some importance to either the world, or some group of people. The readers might read these blogs to find out what their friends did on the weekend, or just to see what they are thinking about.