Studying abroad and Macbeth

This past week during our INT95 section we went to the UCSB Education Abroad Program. Here we had a student advisor tell us all about studying abroad. We learned of multiple different programs, ways for us to get more information, and more. I really enjoyed coming to this because I plan on studying in another country for at least a semester. This has always been my plan since my parents first took me traveling. As of now, I am deciding between a countries in Africa and Europe, but it could always change (especially because I am so indecisive). If I'm lucky, I think it would be really awesome to go abroad twice. My RA told me of the program that she went on where she went to Italy for four weeks. This sounds like a really good alternative to studying the entire semester because I wouldn't have to miss any school, and would actually get credit for traveling in the summer. What I would really love is to be able to do a program like that and an entire semester abroad. We shall see.

Also this past week, I went and saw Macbeth. The Naked Shake's performance of Macbeth was interesting. It was the first time that I had every seen this play and I thought it was a very interesting. I'm not sure if it was my favorite way of watching Shakespeare, but I definitely enjoyed seeing it in this different way. I really appreciated the performers hard work, and hope to see another one of their plays in the future.

Touch Tanks

For the fourth activity that we have to go to for the FSSP seminar, I went to the UCSB Touch Tanks. I was so excited to go to this and was so happy I went. I had been planning on going to the Touch Tanks since someone told me about it the first weekend and I think it's awesome that I got credit for the class for going somewhere I was already excited about going to. It makes it that much better.
When I went, I was able to hold and touch all sorts of animals including sharks, sea urchins, star fish, sea anemones, and sea cucumbers. But, I got to see a lot more! I saw sea brittle stars, baby and fully grown octopi, brightly colored fish, and sting rays.
This exploration was amazing! It actually made me consider going into the biology field. I will take a couple of classes this coming year to see if I could see myself switching from Chemistry to Biology. Hopefully I'll be able to figure out my future plans, but the UCSB Touch Tanks tour helped me out showing me new and different options for my major. Fingers crossed.

Oh and here's a couple of pictures of me holding a sea urchin.

Movie night (x3)

As mentioned in a couple of my previous blog posts, if there's free food, I am there. Not only that, free movies and I am there. Almost anything free and I am there. But especially movies. I am such a movie nerd that I went to three of these Free AS Movie's at the IV theater. I saw The Hangover Part 3, Stoker, and Now You See Me. Each of these movies had been ones that I had liked or had wanted to see, but could never find anyone to go with. But, my favorite of the three was Stoker. Usually I am not a fan of scary movies, but this one was amazing. The cinematography in it was so different from anything I'd seen before. I'm so happy that AS had this program, it made my Tuesday nights that much more enjoyable after a long day of classes. Not only that, it forced me to go into Isla Vista more often because before the movie my friends and I would get dinner somewhere near the theater and then buy snacks also and then go to the movie. This free program was not only great entertainment but great excuse to do some exploring around the area.

Just in case you don't know what movies I spoke of. Here are the movie posters to help jog your memories. I give them all thumbs up; they were all amazing.

International Desserts Social

International dessert night was a magical hour or so of just amazing desserts from around the world. This program was awesome because I got to eat free and delicious food. As I said in my previous post, wherever there is free food, I am there. As one of the four programs, I thought this one was intriguing because I am really interested in international traditions. Seeing what other people have as a delicacy is so cool and I felt like I was lucky to participate in this program.
There were two desserts that stood out to me to this day, the apple pie and an almond cookie sort of thing. It wasn't that they were good, which they were, but more so they were so different but still united by this dessert night. I think its so cool that everything there was so different and from all over the world, but we got to share it and experience a different lifestyle for a small amount of time. 

Co- opping

For the first of the four mandatory FSSP programs, I went to the Isla Vista Co- op. They were have free food tastings, so of course I went there. While there, the manager of the entire Co- op explained what exactly the store was, when it was created, and what the overall purpose is. I thought it was so cool that a most (or all, I cant remember) of the produce was organic or natural. It's awesome to know that healthy and natural food is so close and accessible. In Wisconsin it was a lot harder to purchase these types of foods, because nothing was within walking distance and it was also much more pricey. Yes, anything organic is pricier (at least from personal experience) but here, because everything is from farms and such around the area, it is not as expensive.
So far, I have already been there at least three times. Each time I go I find new treats to try; of the things I've tried, my favorite are the dried peach slices. I'm so happy that they had this program because I probably would not have found out about this awesome place so soon in my college experience.
Thank you IV Co- op.

During the entire presentation at the library, I was amazed with all of the fantastic and easy ways to use their resources. Mrs. Weimer was and is a great resource that I will make sure to use in the future. The best part of this entire adventure to the library was that I learned about researching! The worst part about any paper is having to look up yet another website to add to your bibliography, even worse is a book or paper source. I now know how to look up a book, find where it is located, venture to it's location (with the help of the handy map), and check it out. I didn't even know how to do that at my high school. Also, I learned how to look up research sources based on different subject areas using the UCSB library reference page. Now, I don't need to stress as badly when I have a research paper due, because I know how to do the most tedious part.

Overall the library visit was amazing. The people that work there seem so helpful and will be great resources in the future.

This is a picture of the place I've been talking about this entire post, the Davidson Library.

Blog #4- Plagiarism

Ok, I'm usually really bad with English related things. But, one thing that I was constantly drilled in high school was how not to plagiarize. Most of what was said in the article "What is Plagiarism?" I had previously known. The only new thing was the idea of a footnote. I've always seen them while reading, but have never had to do them myself. I never realized it was  a way of citing your sources. I have always just been used to using MLA format. Besides that however, I had already known what was being said. I knew what constituted as plagiarism: not mentioning the source in a citations, using another person's words (whether that be the entire paper or just a short phrase), not using quotations when quoting a source (which seems pretty self explanatory).

The next article, "How to avoid Plagiarism" drilled me on the necessity of footnotes or some other form of citations. This one gave a lot more specific examples. It had the same basic idea of the previous article that I read, so it felt very repetitive. But because of the topics importance, I understand why we had to read both.

If I ever am confused when writing a paper, these articles will be very helpful.

Blog #3- Reflections of Career Counseling

I never thought the Career Counseling Building would have so many helpful resources to offer. For starters, just the bookshelf alone was more than I was expecting. There was a book for every major, every job, and every career. The Career Counseling Building is the holy grail of career focused books. What's even better is that the resources in these books is also online. Everything that is in these books is also on their website. Here they have all the resources that are in the building but can be found in the comfort of your dorm room. Career counseling also has resume help, career counselors (hence the name), and is the host to many major/career fairs throughout the year. I think all of these resources within one building is fantastic! I'm already taking one of the classes over the summer that this great department has to offer. So far, they have helped me, one of the most indecisive people in the world) choose between 3 majors out of hundreds, to choose between and pursue. In my future college years, I know I will be visiting the Career Counseling Building for help finding internships, writing my resumes, and for finding a steady first career path job after college.

Week #2 - career fair, meeting people, and srb

Heyya,
So, today at the majors and minors fair I talked to two different departments that I find interesting. First was Anthropology. I forgot to grab one of their business cards, but they ended up giving me some information about majors and minors in that field. For starters I found that I could actually double major with this and chemistry (which is my major at the moment.) The woman that I talked to showed me the requirements and see what I would need to fulfill to achieve a anthropology degree.
The other department I talked to was the chemistry department. Here I talked to Jennifer Ramirez, an undergraduate advisor. She showed me the same things that I listed above, but just with a chemistry background. I now know more about what classes I need to take to graduate. This fair also helped to show me that my options are open. If I find that I lose interest in my current major, there were all the other tables that I could visit.
Other places that I could visit would be the student resource building and the career services building. If I have any questions within my major, or outside my major, they would be able to help me. These resources are why this university is one of the best in the world and why I am so happy I'm going to school here.
--Sam Kretchmar

Heyya.
My name is Sam Kretchmar. I'm one of the few going to UCSB that is from out of state, Madison, Wisconsin to be specific. At some points it feels like I'm the only one with an accent, but then I just go talk to my roommate, who's from Texas. Ironically enough, I left Wisconsin for a new start, only to find myself in a place that felt just like home. I chose UCSB, not only because of it's reputation as the second best research university in the US, but also because it is one of the most beautiful campuses filled with students and faculty that seem like they really care. When I came and visited the campus, I knew this was the school for me.
At the moment I want to study Chemistry. I chose this, because all through my senior year, my favorite class was AP Chemistry. I don't know if it was because my teacher was awesome or that my best friends were in it or just that the material was interesting. I guess I'll find out. But, I think anything in the science field is interesting, especially marine biology. So if chemistry doesn't pan out I've always got another . In college I want to try and learn as many things as possible and really broaden my intellectual spectrum. I want to be able to know a little bit about everything, so when someone asks me something I don't sound like an idiot with a weird accent.
Peace Out.