I won't type much here, because I have a lot to say in the vlog post itself, but I have found student loans to be extremely predatory towards people who have no concept of what large sums of money are. Take it for what you will, but I am sitting with a mountain of debt on my shoulders right now, and no current hope of repaying it.
And before the haters come out, yes, I SHOULD have seen this coming, I SHOULD have realized it before the debt came crashing down, but I BELIEVED in meritocracy, and I felt very confident that I would be able to find a job that would easily allow me to make the monthly repayments. Lesson learnt and burnt, haha.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Anti-College Sentiment
I think these days I have become anti-college. Too many people are going, and there aren't enough college educated jobs to accommodate to all the English, Art, Language, and other degrees being mass produced. Even lawyers and biologists are having hard times getting a job.
And I ask you, why in the last decade or so do we need degrees to be police officers? These need hands on, real world training, not four years of classroom experience (with several years of extra electives that hold no value to the position).
I'm also lumping this in with my review of the Academy of Art University, in which I'm on the fence about ever returning again.
And I ask you, why in the last decade or so do we need degrees to be police officers? These need hands on, real world training, not four years of classroom experience (with several years of extra electives that hold no value to the position).
I'm also lumping this in with my review of the Academy of Art University, in which I'm on the fence about ever returning again.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
I Have to Chuckle
I know I just made a post, but this situation happened since then and I had to make commentary.
You know you're on your way to being a person in the public eye when the haters come out. As some of you may have seen, I did a video on alumnae initiation a few months ago, and I flat out said that if you want to do AI, don't use the forum GreekChat, because they are insanely nasty there. I've even had friends in a local sorority that was turning into a national sorority, they went to GC for advice and got torn to shreds and told they had no business becoming a national group.
Instead I recommend the forum GreekFriends.freeforums.org. I don't get paid to say that, this is my personal opinion after witnessing and experiencing so many users getting attacked on GreekChat for asking simple, valid questions. The bullies are just crazy tolls there, and my stance is that they are the worst thing on the internet to ever happen to Greek Leadership Organizations. They have so much useless, unjustified hostility there that it's inexcusable - especially when a lot of their targets are likely teenagers, and this country has lost enough of them due to bullying. I will say that not every user is like a "meanie," but the negativity far out shadows the validity of the forum for me, and many other users/former-users.
Now I assumed that sooner or later someone on GreekChat would complain to me about this video. It just seemed impossible to avoid, as it's like a fight club over there and they live for drama. I anticipated a user or admin from there contacting me, trying to make me change my mind, or just flat out insult me. But what happened was far more poetic.
A big draw in for people to join GC is that if you search for something fraternity related on Google, the forum and its archives show up many, many times over. GreekFriends won't show up unless you search specifically for it my name, spelled as all one word, so it can be much harder to find. So, GC gets lots of attention, has lots of users, and it's like a Wild West of a forum there; you may strike the right place and fit right in, or you may ask some innocent question and get your head handed to you. I experienced the head-handing, and was told via private messages to look at GreekFriend for a less evil alternative - which I did, joined, loved, and still adore.
I also don't really blog about which sorority I'm in, because, for one reason, I don't want people to think that I can automatically write them recommendations, or help them become alumnae initiates or anything like that. That's mostly stuff done on a local level that I can't always do much about, or have the time to devote to. My sorority is out there if you want to follow the clues and connect the dots, but I also don't find it appropriate to potentially make money by singing the praises of my specific sisterhood. That's something I do privately for free, and I'm a member of several Greek organizations with the academics. It's not my intention to influence anyone to be swayed to want to join my sorority just because I love it so much, I want to help you to get thinking and make the right choice for yourself.
Back to blogging, I'm not shy to say that I keep an eye on my hit counts, and I am able to see the link that refers the hits to my page. This helps me decide what new videos to make and who to market to. My alumnae initiation video is my most popular Greek Life piece, and it's slowly worked its way to over 100 views as of last week.
I happened to get busy and stopped watching my stats, and just logged in to check on them for the first time in at least 8 days, hoping to get a new video idea. I noticed that I suddenly had 308 views on my AI video. I saw right beside it that there were 8 "dislikes" that weren't there previously, so without even having to check I knew exactly where all these viewers came from. I did check my stats to see that I was correct, and GreekChat has sent me over 200 new viewers. My AI blog post is now my most popular at 228 views (usually I can't beg people to come to the blog, they just want the videos as they search on YouTube and subscribe that way).
The funny part is that I also found a few dozen new private messages thanking me, asking me for advice, and telling me their AI stories. No one has commented or said anything negative to me other than the 8 who disliked the video (I don't even care about it, so I just turned the comment voting off so that some poor girl looking into AI doesn't see that and think everyone hates alumnae initiates). But this really shows the power of bullies, and how they unintentionally end up helping people in an instance like this. They brought some people to me who were truly grateful to learn about AI, and that's what I wanted from this video. So whatever slamming or negativity they may be ranting about on their forum (I won't go there ever again, but I can see the thread name from my stats page) it's fine with me because I'm helping people get where they want to be.
I just really have to chuckle at people who think that their negativity, or clicking a thumbs down icon, is really going to hurt me or stop me from doing something that I find to be positive. I seriously consider warning people not to use that forum as a positive too, because it would be like seeing Jedi's and only witnessing the dark side - it serves the good Jedi's no help at all and makes the entire population look bad.
But I always appreciate a viewer, no matter where they're from, so keep up with being haters GC, because you're helping me help people in the long run. For the people just viewing to complain and spread your negativity, do you not see how that is a perfect example of what sad, busy bodies you all are? "Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession." ^_~
Just to share my current stats with everyone, the first two posts listed had about 2-3 hits on them before October 8th, where I had a surge of 94 hits in one day:
Posts
More About Alumnae Initiation
Jun 13, 2011
229 Pageviews
A Bit More on Sorority Recruitment
Aug 23, 2011
52 Pageviews
Adoption Update - Hearing Back
Apr 20, 2011
8 Pageviews
The Photos I Use
Mar 15, 2011
5 Pageviews
Traffic Sources
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
178 Clicks
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
30 Clicks
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
9 Clicks
And it goes on and on, but it's not worth all the copy/pasting. This is hilarious to me as they trash talk GreekFriends all the time but can't stand anyone speaking out against their bullying. No H8. :)
You know you're on your way to being a person in the public eye when the haters come out. As some of you may have seen, I did a video on alumnae initiation a few months ago, and I flat out said that if you want to do AI, don't use the forum GreekChat, because they are insanely nasty there. I've even had friends in a local sorority that was turning into a national sorority, they went to GC for advice and got torn to shreds and told they had no business becoming a national group.
Instead I recommend the forum GreekFriends.freeforums.org. I don't get paid to say that, this is my personal opinion after witnessing and experiencing so many users getting attacked on GreekChat for asking simple, valid questions. The bullies are just crazy tolls there, and my stance is that they are the worst thing on the internet to ever happen to Greek Leadership Organizations. They have so much useless, unjustified hostility there that it's inexcusable - especially when a lot of their targets are likely teenagers, and this country has lost enough of them due to bullying. I will say that not every user is like a "meanie," but the negativity far out shadows the validity of the forum for me, and many other users/former-users.
Now I assumed that sooner or later someone on GreekChat would complain to me about this video. It just seemed impossible to avoid, as it's like a fight club over there and they live for drama. I anticipated a user or admin from there contacting me, trying to make me change my mind, or just flat out insult me. But what happened was far more poetic.
A big draw in for people to join GC is that if you search for something fraternity related on Google, the forum and its archives show up many, many times over. GreekFriends won't show up unless you search specifically for it my name, spelled as all one word, so it can be much harder to find. So, GC gets lots of attention, has lots of users, and it's like a Wild West of a forum there; you may strike the right place and fit right in, or you may ask some innocent question and get your head handed to you. I experienced the head-handing, and was told via private messages to look at GreekFriend for a less evil alternative - which I did, joined, loved, and still adore.
I also don't really blog about which sorority I'm in, because, for one reason, I don't want people to think that I can automatically write them recommendations, or help them become alumnae initiates or anything like that. That's mostly stuff done on a local level that I can't always do much about, or have the time to devote to. My sorority is out there if you want to follow the clues and connect the dots, but I also don't find it appropriate to potentially make money by singing the praises of my specific sisterhood. That's something I do privately for free, and I'm a member of several Greek organizations with the academics. It's not my intention to influence anyone to be swayed to want to join my sorority just because I love it so much, I want to help you to get thinking and make the right choice for yourself.
Back to blogging, I'm not shy to say that I keep an eye on my hit counts, and I am able to see the link that refers the hits to my page. This helps me decide what new videos to make and who to market to. My alumnae initiation video is my most popular Greek Life piece, and it's slowly worked its way to over 100 views as of last week.
I happened to get busy and stopped watching my stats, and just logged in to check on them for the first time in at least 8 days, hoping to get a new video idea. I noticed that I suddenly had 308 views on my AI video. I saw right beside it that there were 8 "dislikes" that weren't there previously, so without even having to check I knew exactly where all these viewers came from. I did check my stats to see that I was correct, and GreekChat has sent me over 200 new viewers. My AI blog post is now my most popular at 228 views (usually I can't beg people to come to the blog, they just want the videos as they search on YouTube and subscribe that way).
The funny part is that I also found a few dozen new private messages thanking me, asking me for advice, and telling me their AI stories. No one has commented or said anything negative to me other than the 8 who disliked the video (I don't even care about it, so I just turned the comment voting off so that some poor girl looking into AI doesn't see that and think everyone hates alumnae initiates). But this really shows the power of bullies, and how they unintentionally end up helping people in an instance like this. They brought some people to me who were truly grateful to learn about AI, and that's what I wanted from this video. So whatever slamming or negativity they may be ranting about on their forum (I won't go there ever again, but I can see the thread name from my stats page) it's fine with me because I'm helping people get where they want to be.
I just really have to chuckle at people who think that their negativity, or clicking a thumbs down icon, is really going to hurt me or stop me from doing something that I find to be positive. I seriously consider warning people not to use that forum as a positive too, because it would be like seeing Jedi's and only witnessing the dark side - it serves the good Jedi's no help at all and makes the entire population look bad.
But I always appreciate a viewer, no matter where they're from, so keep up with being haters GC, because you're helping me help people in the long run. For the people just viewing to complain and spread your negativity, do you not see how that is a perfect example of what sad, busy bodies you all are? "Love me or hate me, it's still an obsession." ^_~
Just to share my current stats with everyone, the first two posts listed had about 2-3 hits on them before October 8th, where I had a surge of 94 hits in one day:
Posts
More About Alumnae Initiation
Jun 13, 2011
229 Pageviews
A Bit More on Sorority Recruitment
Aug 23, 2011
52 Pageviews
Adoption Update - Hearing Back
Apr 20, 2011
8 Pageviews
The Photos I Use
Mar 15, 2011
5 Pageviews
Traffic Sources
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
178 Clicks
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
30 Clicks
http://www.greekchat.com/gcforums/showthread.php
9 Clicks
And it goes on and on, but it's not worth all the copy/pasting. This is hilarious to me as they trash talk GreekFriends all the time but can't stand anyone speaking out against their bullying. No H8. :)
Friday, August 19, 2011
What Do I Wear to Sorority Recruitment?
Just as a general disclaimer - this is my own impressions/opinions/etc on Greek life, this is not endorsed by any organization. Also please overlook any place where I say things like "pledge," "rush," or other terms that many sororities do not like to use any longer.
But, if you are going into college and plan on going through a sorority recruitment process, here is my personal advice on how to dress and what not to wear:
But, if you are going into college and plan on going through a sorority recruitment process, here is my personal advice on how to dress and what not to wear:
Any Renters?
My friend said that I should upload a video like this to my blog/vlog because I've had a really long run of getting 100% of my security deposits back over the years from video recording/uploading my houses. The only time I didn't get a full return was on the first apartment I rented, where the landlord nickel and dimed me for everything (even light bulb replacement for WORKING light bulbs!). Damages already in the house became my fault because I didn't know to document them and the landlord didn't tell me to, suddenly my professional carpet cleaning wasn't good enough so I had to pay for someone else to do it again, and a lot of other things. I didn't have enough proof to take it to court, because I trusted the landlord.
What I learned from that was that you never trust someone trying to make money off of you. So, ever since then, I have taken a video of all of the house before I unloaded the moving truck, posted the video on YouTube within a few days of moving in, and then did the same thing after I had all the boxes on a moving truck a year or so later. Ever since doing that, I have not lost one penny to landlords!
So, this is an extremely boring video, but if you are renting, it is a good example to have. I believe I even cut this video short and didn't include the outside or a few of the areas in the house because it was already running long. Another tip too - this video was done in a hurry as a sample, so it's not in HD. If you can upload an HD video, that is even better for you!
This is really important for college students to do as well, because the worst landlords I ever experienced were ones who primarily rented to college kids! There are many who will try to bully, intimidate, and push you around because they expect you not to know the laws (or even tell you that their "lawyer" says this or that, when they are making it all up as they go along). In their defense though, these landlords also get so many irresponsible kids renting that they treat you all like morons that will wreck their property or stop paying the rent. My last landlord like that went so far as to tell us that we couldn't break our lease with a military PCS, and that we were trying to con him. He even tried to call the recruiter's office to say that we trashed his house when this landlord had never once even showed up to mow the lawn as our lease said he would!
Also please note that the house in this video is NOT military housing. This is the house we left military housing for (foolishly left in hindsight, as we couldn't see the house we're in now before we moved in, and it is a cracker box, filthy, broken down nightmare!). I don't want to mislead anyone, and if you are military, I would strongly recommend to try renting off base if it's a realistic option for you. They charge us a lot of money here to live in a slum-like neighborhood.
What I learned from that was that you never trust someone trying to make money off of you. So, ever since then, I have taken a video of all of the house before I unloaded the moving truck, posted the video on YouTube within a few days of moving in, and then did the same thing after I had all the boxes on a moving truck a year or so later. Ever since doing that, I have not lost one penny to landlords!
So, this is an extremely boring video, but if you are renting, it is a good example to have. I believe I even cut this video short and didn't include the outside or a few of the areas in the house because it was already running long. Another tip too - this video was done in a hurry as a sample, so it's not in HD. If you can upload an HD video, that is even better for you!
This is really important for college students to do as well, because the worst landlords I ever experienced were ones who primarily rented to college kids! There are many who will try to bully, intimidate, and push you around because they expect you not to know the laws (or even tell you that their "lawyer" says this or that, when they are making it all up as they go along). In their defense though, these landlords also get so many irresponsible kids renting that they treat you all like morons that will wreck their property or stop paying the rent. My last landlord like that went so far as to tell us that we couldn't break our lease with a military PCS, and that we were trying to con him. He even tried to call the recruiter's office to say that we trashed his house when this landlord had never once even showed up to mow the lawn as our lease said he would!
Also please note that the house in this video is NOT military housing. This is the house we left military housing for (foolishly left in hindsight, as we couldn't see the house we're in now before we moved in, and it is a cracker box, filthy, broken down nightmare!). I don't want to mislead anyone, and if you are military, I would strongly recommend to try renting off base if it's a realistic option for you. They charge us a lot of money here to live in a slum-like neighborhood.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Wishful Thinking
Well today I've been doing something that I do a lot, which is go online and look at houses for rent and sale. I live in military housing right now, and I hate it. The property management is terrible, we're packing in like rats, there's bugs in everything, and large, loose dogs ready to attack at every corner. Now when I mention bugs, I mean serious bug problems, no matter how much you spray or complain to management. I have never had a roach in my home in my life before moving onto post, and now I have to put a net over my bed so that I can sleep without worrying about one crawling into my mouth! *GAG* Needless to say, it's not the picture of standard and regulations that I expected out of military housing - it's, without a doubt, the worst place I have ever lived in my decade of renting.
As a result, I'm often searching online looking at my dream homes, or at least places to rent that can't be any worse than where I live now. I know I can't really up and leave, but I can still feel pro-active by making an escape route (just in case!). So today, while I'm day dreaming about living near my new university, I found this apartment listing http://www.vacancy.com/california/san-francisco-apartments/the-lofts-at-one-powell/photos/
Va-va-voom! All I can say is wow, this place looks incredible! I live in a three bedroom unit now, and it's smaller than the two bedroom at this place. And I love the way it looks, the building itself reminds me of a mix between New York City and Rome. It has an interesting geometric shape too that you don't see around here.
I love the photo with the giant arch window too! I've never been to San Francisco and it looks like the most gorgeous city in the world from the photos in the listing. Their kitchen photo is also twice as big as my own kitchen now, haha. And I wish I had the 15' ceilings now!
I may be biased though, because I am obsessed with California. Beautiful area, loads of things to do, extreme diversity, and wonderful weather. So what if the state itself is losing people left and right because it's going bankrupt? lol
I know I'll probably never get to live there, but it's still fun to dream. Am I the only one that looks at places online to fantasize about? I'm a big fan of geography and architecture, so I guess fantasy housing is kind of my hobby these days. A little escapism is good for us I suppose. :)
As a result, I'm often searching online looking at my dream homes, or at least places to rent that can't be any worse than where I live now. I know I can't really up and leave, but I can still feel pro-active by making an escape route (just in case!). So today, while I'm day dreaming about living near my new university, I found this apartment listing http://www.vacancy.com/california/san-francisco-apartments/the-lofts-at-one-powell/photos/
Va-va-voom! All I can say is wow, this place looks incredible! I live in a three bedroom unit now, and it's smaller than the two bedroom at this place. And I love the way it looks, the building itself reminds me of a mix between New York City and Rome. It has an interesting geometric shape too that you don't see around here.
I love the photo with the giant arch window too! I've never been to San Francisco and it looks like the most gorgeous city in the world from the photos in the listing. Their kitchen photo is also twice as big as my own kitchen now, haha. And I wish I had the 15' ceilings now!
I may be biased though, because I am obsessed with California. Beautiful area, loads of things to do, extreme diversity, and wonderful weather. So what if the state itself is losing people left and right because it's going bankrupt? lol
I know I'll probably never get to live there, but it's still fun to dream. Am I the only one that looks at places online to fantasize about? I'm a big fan of geography and architecture, so I guess fantasy housing is kind of my hobby these days. A little escapism is good for us I suppose. :)
Friday, July 22, 2011
Grad School Again
Wow what a quick turn around!
Well, I've already heard back from the university about my portfolio and it looks like I'm in! I've registered for classes, and never having taken graduate level courses before I'm not sure what to expect. But, it looks like I am on my way to being in the career that I've always wanted, animation! :)
I've also been browsing animation job listings, and the locations look phenomenal. They have major companies set up from California to London, England, and tons of places in between!
I promise to post an actual vlog soon, I'm still out on vacation without my regular computer.
Well, I've already heard back from the university about my portfolio and it looks like I'm in! I've registered for classes, and never having taken graduate level courses before I'm not sure what to expect. But, it looks like I am on my way to being in the career that I've always wanted, animation! :)
I've also been browsing animation job listings, and the locations look phenomenal. They have major companies set up from California to London, England, and tons of places in between!
I promise to post an actual vlog soon, I'm still out on vacation without my regular computer.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
I'm Making a 'Lil Film
Just thought I would share that I am working with my husband on a class project to make a mini-documentary on tattoo culture. I'm super excited to help work on it!
I have a little background in film. It was my major in college, but not what I got to graduate in. I had finished all of my classes for the major, but then the university decided to stop counting some of my transfer credits (after already accepting them!) for foreign language, which would have forced me to spend another two years to rebuild those courses (and, just in case you're wondering, the university refused to work with me at all to graduate!). I always consider myself as having graduated in film, but technically that's not accurate. I ended up transferring to another school to graduate in a generalized program, even though I have 60+ credits just in film.
I have a little background in film. It was my major in college, but not what I got to graduate in. I had finished all of my classes for the major, but then the university decided to stop counting some of my transfer credits (after already accepting them!) for foreign language, which would have forced me to spend another two years to rebuild those courses (and, just in case you're wondering, the university refused to work with me at all to graduate!). I always consider myself as having graduated in film, but technically that's not accurate. I ended up transferring to another school to graduate in a generalized program, even though I have 60+ credits just in film.
Monday, June 13, 2011
More About Alumnae Initiation
As I mentioned in a previous video, Alumnae Initiation in the Greek Life world is a an open possibility for many people. If you never joined a greek group in college, this is an opportunity to become a part of the alumnae end of things. You won't really have anything to do with the college groups, but greek leadership organizations are excellent alumnae groups to work with as a post-collegiate, and they are a fantastic system of support, activities, and philanthropy.
You do not have to be from a particular college to join most alumnae chapters. To become an alumnae initiate, there will be guidelines and requirements, but you are usually also able to select where you wish to initiate at. So, if you went to college in Montana and now live in Florida, you don't need to worry that you have to go to your alma mater to accomplish anything. Each greek organization has different rules though, so check with the one you are interested in for their most current set of requirements (and be prepared that some will not accept alumnae initiates at all).
For some more details on Alumnae Initiation in the Nation Panhellenic Conference, please refer to the site http://alumnaeinitiate.110mb.com/ to get an overall feel of what may be available to you.
And, if you are like me and HATE Greek Chat, because the users are unjustifiably vicious and turn people away from wanting to go greek, there is an alternative available to you. Greek Friends, http://greekfriends.freeforums.org/, is a great forum with lots of Alumnae Initiates who will answer your questions and not just say derogatory things and/or tell you to do a search to find the answer yourself. While Greek Chat is full of negativity, that is just a very small, selective, narrow minded group of people that in way represents the real sentiment towards Alumnae Initiates.
You do not have to be from a particular college to join most alumnae chapters. To become an alumnae initiate, there will be guidelines and requirements, but you are usually also able to select where you wish to initiate at. So, if you went to college in Montana and now live in Florida, you don't need to worry that you have to go to your alma mater to accomplish anything. Each greek organization has different rules though, so check with the one you are interested in for their most current set of requirements (and be prepared that some will not accept alumnae initiates at all).
For some more details on Alumnae Initiation in the Nation Panhellenic Conference, please refer to the site http://alumnaeinitiate.110mb.com/ to get an overall feel of what may be available to you.
And, if you are like me and HATE Greek Chat, because the users are unjustifiably vicious and turn people away from wanting to go greek, there is an alternative available to you. Greek Friends, http://greekfriends.freeforums.org/, is a great forum with lots of Alumnae Initiates who will answer your questions and not just say derogatory things and/or tell you to do a search to find the answer yourself. While Greek Chat is full of negativity, that is just a very small, selective, narrow minded group of people that in way represents the real sentiment towards Alumnae Initiates.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Going Greek
I know there are a lot of negative stereotypes out there about Sororities and Fraternities, but a lot of those are just myths and things blown way out of proportion. Perhaps, long, long ago, a lot of hazing did exist within some groups, but that is really far from the truth in sororities as they exist today. The world changed and most of the Greek lettered organizations adapted. Hazing is illegal and wrong, period, and the Greek world of today is a plethora of positive experiences and life long connections that you shouldn't miss out on. The goal these days are to build people up to be strong leaders that know how to work and manage a team.
I am such a proud sorority girl, and my sisters have done a lot for me, so I hope this might help one or two people seriously considering going Greek in college.
If you are outside of your college years, there are still options available to you! The alumnae end of things is a lot larger than the collegiate, and it can be a perfect group to become involved in. I'll do another vlog on that topic later on, but you can check out this website in the mean time! :) http://alumnaeinitiate.110mb.com/
"From the outside you can't understand it, from the inside you can't explain it" - unknown
I am such a proud sorority girl, and my sisters have done a lot for me, so I hope this might help one or two people seriously considering going Greek in college.
If you are outside of your college years, there are still options available to you! The alumnae end of things is a lot larger than the collegiate, and it can be a perfect group to become involved in. I'll do another vlog on that topic later on, but you can check out this website in the mean time! :) http://alumnaeinitiate.110mb.com/
"From the outside you can't understand it, from the inside you can't explain it" - unknown
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