Tribute to the end of the year

Every time an academic year goes by it is highly probable that you did some of following:

made new friends, were exited about your classes, felt like working out, went out darnicking (that just means drinking or dancing, or both... just think about it, you'll get it), painted, drew, biked, got a new boyfriend/girlfriend ate at taco bell at 4 am, got locked out, lost our cell phone, lost friends, studied abroad, procrastinated, succeeded, failed, smoked (cigarettes of course), broke a bone, worked to many part time jobs, met some interesting people (yes the light rail weirdos count as well), broke up with your boyfriend/girlfriend, got arrested (for no reason), got visits, cried, laughed, shared, screamed, but more than likely all of you pooped at some point, I hope.

I you did not graduated this spring, get ready to live those same experiences next fall 08 ha haha

Not generalizing

I apologize if I offended anyone with the last post. I admit that I committed the mistake of generalizing. I took it against the neighborhood as a whole. Instead I should of reprimand against the thugs that stole my bike (you know who you are! Give it back punks!).Since I have touched upon this topic, let's dig more into it. It is main stream idea that generalizing in any kind of situation can cause problems, for example offending people. It also true that generalizing can result in under and overstatements. So why do people generalize? Well, I will have to say because it is the easier way to go about an issue. A lot of people for example think that all there is in Mexico is a desert and that we don't get cable channels down there... I know is dumb, but sadly true. I think that A LOT OF PEOPLE (not all people) are really ignorant about the world out of the US. It is so annoying sometimes to listen to them talking. The other day my roommate was arguing with my brother and his friends that the Vatican was 300 miles squared??? Ha haha what an idiot don't you think? Anyway, there is plenty evidence that there are many person like that out there. All we can do is to be patient and try our best to educate them for the better. Moral of the post, don't jump to conclusions based on general ideas. Now if you do, at least acknowledge that is Not All... Finally, I have to say that could be easily corrected at Augsburg since the diversity on campus is noticeable. Only thing you have to do is to talk to an international student and ask them about your doubts.

Stolen Bike

I wanted to go for a bike ride the other day. So I was walking to get my bike when I realized it was gone . Thanks for ruining my summer damn neighborhood. I hope you know what I am going to give back to the community.

this is the blog I write

Well today I helped Vivian Jenkins to move to a different office. I had the chance to work with some boys from N Mpls and they were really cool. We got to help Vivian who is a "cebrility" at Augsburg. She has done an amazing work in integrating minorities in the school. My resources told me that she was the first AA that joined the college as a professor. I had the honor of meeting her my sophomore year through the scholastic connections, which is an scholar/mentor-ship program that focuses on minorities in the college. Anyway, it was kind of fun to see all the stuff she had in her office. I feel that I was handling so much history of the college and the struggle of a person to make of Augsburg the place it is now. I hope that if you chose to come here next fall, you get to know her. She is really cool and has some of the most amazing stories.

...change then leave IV (shut up mismo)

Ok this is getting old but another thing that changed while I was here the first semester was mi haircut. That was really hard for me since I love my afro style. My "friends" were trying to help me but they messed up and cut it to short... that was not fun at all.

Come to Augsburg change and then leave III

To not make it long for you friends, the first thing that changed when I came to Augsburg was... was... it was smoking... arguably though. The thing is that I stopped smoking for a year and some months. However, I give it some puffs every now and then. The second thing it changed for me when I came here was the language (daaaaaaaaaaa)... what changed for you during your first year? I bet a lot... to be continued

FTS

I know I started a topic but I have to get out in a Tangent to talk about life. Life sucks… but I can’t really complain knowing that there are people out there in the world that suffer far more than me. Then what is pain? What is deception? What is misery? I think you’ll see a trend in this=========CIRCUMSTANTIAL =================== that’s what all those are. In my opinion it is really to compare across different life styles and cultures the extent that some one suffers. Nietzsche for example, suffered more than most of us because he lived most of his life dying due to a disease. So when analyzing his work one has to be careful in reminding that. In my opinion, and note that I say my opinion AKA “personal belief”, Nietzsche was angry with life and that is why he wrote what he wrote; he felt powerless the establishment of his time. I got this idea because the notion of Zarathustra is based on overcoming one self not in a philosophical way, but in a physical way as well, which completely suggest that he wanted to be normal. Although it is never put in those words, when I say normal, I mean healthy. Anyway, that’s want to out of the original topic. All there is to it is that if you are in the same situation as I am. Then you are trying to work 70 hour weeks because you are living at Augsburg and you want to get the housing credit. I feel that they should be more flexible with the requirements to get the credit. I swear, I have tried anything possible to make the specified hours, but sometimes is not up to me. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH HOURS OFFERED IN STUDENT WORKING JOBS. Mainly I guess because the deficit we are running, but again that is not my fault. So why should I be miserable and miss on a good summer trying to work odd hours just to get the credit? I tell you why, because the system does not work, it does not really help the majority, just few ones with full time jobs on campus. Who cares? The only place you can find someone complaining is this stupid blog that I bet a few million pesos, no one reads during the summer. AND that’s what males my misery part of the misery of the world… FTS

Come to Augsburg change and then leave II

So this is the sequel to the other post.

The idea of writing about this came up to my mind after... well let's say someone for now... this person asked me: "do you think people change/influence environments, or environments change/influence people?" I said to X that it depends, but definitively environments change/influence people more than people to environments. Unless, you are a big shot AKA JPS, Noam Chomsky, or some sort of prominent character then I'll say that it is highly unlikely that you can make a substantial change in the environment. However, I don't want to downplay the fact that always having the right attitude can make the difference too, maybe not in macro scales but in micro... to be continued

Come to Augsburg change and then leave

I guess I am going to dedicate a couple posts to this entry.
I was thinking about how much I have changed since I came here.
I think it is something cool to share with people that are considering to go to college here.
I gotta arrange the structure of the blogstory...so keep an eye on it.

Life keeps going

I have been experiencing some bad luck lately. I am kind of mentally tired of forecasting different scenarios of my near future. I have been complaining too much, and frankly I have lost that spark that made my personality outstanding. It also adds up that I have been studying the work of Jean Paul Sartre. When I relate to his ideas I feel that I am not a free man which happens to mess my current situation even more. I was analyzing the core of existentialism and I came up with the answer that JPS never quite solved. How to live life? My answer to that is that life is so circumstantial that the only way of living it is the way you think it should be lived at that point. Making reference to Hesse’s book Siddhartha, the main character lived his life based on the circumstances he was exposed to. By the same token there is this quote by Soren Kierkegaard that says something like this: Whether you do it or not, you will end up regretting it. I think that if people knew this before taking decisions, then is arguable that a decision can be made in the best interest at that given point with no room to regret because at the time the decision was made it bore the highest utility, satisfaction, or simply it made sense at that time. Again my point is that whatever decisions you make at any point of your life cannot possibly affect the core of your life drastically, unless the decision results in death or irreversible damages. So the above mentioned could be applied to relationships, shopping, eating, and even choosing a College. So for the young people considering Augsburg College as an option, if you do come here, I can guarantee that at some point you would experience grief against the College. Let’s be careful though, I can also assure that if you don’t end up coming here, you will regret that when you regret to be at some other institution. To conclude what is worse, the pain of making decision knowing that there will bear some negative results, or the pain of regretting your choices without exploring different outcomes?

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
-Soren Kierkegaard

In retrospective

I was thinking today that my Junior year is gone, done, over, past, through… and I hate to say that it is kinda scary to start thinking about what to do in the near future. Or should I say after graduation. Well studies show that I can go get a graduate degree or a job, or do nothing. I mean I am not in the typical junior situation where I am experiencing pre-graduation stress in addition to overdramatic statement to any person in a different situation. I mean ok it is sorta freaky and somewhat scary to be close to graduation. However, I “personally believe” that anyone who has a college degree is in a better standing that A LOT of people. Yes decisions at this point in life are probably going to impact the rest of your life. Only one thing is certain, one way or another you have to make up your damn mind. So my advice to all the people out there complaining about how hard life is, please cut the crap. If only you use all the time you spend complaining to break down your opportunities. You could come up with a game plan around your preferences that would allow you to have plan A, plan B, c, d and so on. Again I find myself in the dilemma of what to do, but at the same time I know what my options are. What can or can’t be done would depend on how things evolve in the near future. In retrospective stop complaining there are far many people in Africa ant “the Irak” that don’t have anything to eat. We have the $1.25 menu, remember that.

1/2 Celebration

Well I gotta say that I had a great academic semester, but I had no luck finding a good job for the summer. Anyway, I think that there will be more opportunities in the future. For now I have the book project going on, and so far I have made a couple sales. So I am hoping at least to get the foosball table for next fall.
If you are willing to donate old books you can drop them in my campus box 2137. Thanks

FTS

I have to admit that lately I have not come out with creative posts… In fact I haven’t been writing at all for a while. I guess it is part of a broader process that is taking place in my life since finals week. Everything has crumbled work, personal life, personal projects, living situation, future plans, etc. It kinda sucks that this is happening because I was having an awesome momentum where everything was making sense and creativeness was flowing constantly. It also makes me nostalgic that my last summer at Augsburg won’t be as exiting as I expected… I guess there is time to change that still but for now I am not doing so well… Ahhh excuses… excuses…
I do wish everyone that left campus a good summer and to the ones that left for good, we are going to miss you.