How I've grown and what I've learned

When I came to college I only had a little idea of what it would be like but after being here for a period of time it is way different than i thought. The first couple weeks i thought i could just get by by doing all the things that i did in high school, which wasn't much. After my first Biology test i realized that i actually had to take the time to study the material cause i couldn't just look at the notes my teacher gave me. The test was over the book information so i had to study a lot more. The first few weeks were very strange for me cause i didn't have anyone telling me what to do I was completely free. So I have learned a lot since being here. I learned how to study properly for my classes and that it's up to me if I am gonna pass my classes or not by going to my classes. I have also grown a lot since being here.
Since coming here and being by myself and far away from home i have grown a lot. I use to be shy and never go out of my comfort zone but I have started to come out of my comfort zone and make new friends and be more out going and not so reserved. I still am shy but i feel like i am not as shy as i use to be. Coming here and only knowing a couple people helped me not go crazy those first couple of days cause those first couple of days i was so shy and i thought i wasn't gonna make any friends but the people that i did know helped me start to over come my shyness. So all in all I feel i have grown a lot as a person and learned a lot since being here.

what the Hixson award means to me

 The Hixson award means so much to me but most importantly it means my future. Christian Hixson is the reason why i get to come to Iowa State and peruse my major and get a great education. Without this award im not exactly sure if i would be here or what i would be doing.
The hixson award means my future. Without this award i don't know how i could have been able to come to college and peruse my dreams of working with exotic animals. All throughout my senior year me and my mom talked about how i could pay for college because she didn't have enough to pay for all of it and my dad didn't have much money. So we thought i was gonna have to go to community college or something for a while because we could pay for Iowa State ourselves. That was something i didnt wanna do because they didnt have what i needed for my major. So when i got the letter saying i was getting the hixson award my mom and i were so happy because now i could go to Iowa State and get my degree in animal ecology which was what i had always wanted to do. I am so grateful to have received this award. Now i get a chance to get a great education for what i want to be. Since getting this reward i am more grateful for everything in my life, especially Christian Hixson for being such a kind and generous woman to give this award. I am so happy that i am here and get to go for my dreams and it is because i got the hixson award. so all in all this is the reason why i get to come here and what this award means to me which is my FUTURE!

Diversity Event!

I went to Only a Theory? evolution and the battle for the American soul. The speaker was Dr. Ken Miller from Brown university. what the lecture was about was the fight between evolution vs creation(interesting design).this wasnt a lecture saying God doesnt exist it was a lecture about how evolution  has evolved everything over time. a good point that he made was that God may have created the very first organism but evolution has created everything else. He talked about many court cases where the schools fought about what to teach their children: evolution or interesting design( which was proven to be creation in disguise). in each of these court cases evolution has one because there is so much information and proof to support it and on the creation side they really cant prove anything. another reason why evolution won was because people in certain states did not want the religion side taught to their kids. there are so many facts that he presented to use about how it is so clear that we have evolved from the species before us(apes) but he also showed us that even the pope, St.Augustine, and a very famous religious person Gregor Mendel all "believe" in evolution in some way.
I thought that this lecture was very interesting and i am very glad i went to it. i would recommend everyone to go see Dr. Ken Miller if he ever gives a lecture here again. otherwise i would read one of his books the his most recent one is the title of his lecture.. Only a Theory? evolution and the battle for the American soul.