6 more weeks left until school is out!

Can you believe there is only six more weeks until school is out? I am excited to head home in California & spend my summer with all my family members and my friends. I have missed them  since I left California for the spring semester. This semester isn’t bad like last semester because I am  not as homesick as much as last semester. Time has gone so fast already. I can’t believe that I actually am almost done with my freshman year.  I totally am excited for the class of 2013 students to come in the fall.  I will be here for pre-season soccer training camp, and will see my CSD (California School for the Deaf, Fremont) friends who will enroll  for their first year.  I will be glad not to be called a freshmen any longer. I am totally done with being picked on for being a freshman and it will be my turn to pick on the new coming students.

— Janaee aka JC

the spring semester (new classes)

This semester is pretty tough for me with school, sports, and social life. It is harder than I thought and it is not the same as the first semester, but so far I am doing okay in school with my pre-major courses to take before I take any Education and Mathematics. I am planning to declare my major in the fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. This semester I am taking five classes which are Linguistics 101, Psychology 201, History 111, General Studies Requirements 150 (GSR 150), and Basic Spanish.

I like my Linguistics 101 and Basic Spanish because it is easy and I understand the language concepts in the classes. Two out of five classes are pre-major classes  required to be prepared to become a teacher.  I want to become a math teacher someday.  My major would be Education and Mathematics hopefully. I can minor in Spanish because I like to learn new  cultures and  languages. If I declare a minor in Spanish, I would have an internship somewhere where people use Spanish as a first language. It will give me a chance  to teach at any Spanish school and it might count for both my Education major and Spanish minor for the internship. I will talk with my (Vocational Rehabilitation) VR counselor and see if I can declare my minor.

— Janaee aka JC

I am back!

Hello,

I finally am back to the site, GBLOG. I had a few crazy months since I got back to Gallaudet from Christmas break in California. A lot of things  happened at Gallaudet University and  I will mention few of the good things.

I left California to go back to school on the day when President Obama entered the office for the first time as a 44^th President & the first African-American president in the U.S. History. Once I got there to Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI), almost all the transportation sites were closed and I was stuck with the Amtrak train to take me to Union Station. Somehow Union Station was closed and blocked off for a few blocks of the road.  I had to walk down the street to look for a taxi until I became lost and alone in Washington DC near Union Station. It was pretty cold to stand as I stood around waiting for a taxi for 30 to 45 minutes.

It was really nice to be back to campus and see all my friends. It also wasn’t cool for me to deal with the 3 hour time adjustment the first day of school in the next day. It took my body about a week and a half to adjust to the time differenec. I also went through the hard times the first two weeks dealing with the deaths of some friends, but I had to face those facts with the deaths and I found another way to move on because I knew the people who were dead are watching over me, my family, my friends, and my friends’ families. It was tough dealing with that a day before  softball tryouts.

The day of the softball tryouts, I was in no shape to practice after hearing the horrible facts back at home and I couldn’t practice.  I was thinking about my friend and what he was  going through without a mom in his life who doesn’t have a chance to see him graduate from high school in 2012 or see her other kids graduate. After the first day, I still was in the head of shock because I couldn’t believe it did happened and I couldn’t imagine what was it is like if I was in my friend’s shoes. The second day of  softball tryouts was better than the first day, but all I can think about was my friend and his family and what did they were going through.

After softball tryouts, I learned I made the team.  I had no skills related to softball except my awesome speed that is needed for the team.  I still am one of the most fastest players on the team and I am so proud of myself for everything that I have done to put a lot of effort in making the team.

We also had our second snow day at Gallaudet and all my classes were canceled.  I was so happy  because I was desperate to catch up with homework and prepare ahead of time to make up the classes that I missed due to softball away games. It was really nice to have our snow days for once before the spring season comes.

— Janaee aka JC

Fall Semester is over!!

Can you believe that classes are over? I made it through the first semester of my college years at Gallaudet University. I can’t believe that I actually did make it through the first semester. I thought it was going to be hard and slow because it is my first time away from my family and it is really far from my home in California. I paid for it with my own money along with support from my parents for my school debts. I enjoyed my first semester here at Gallaudet University especially my first time playing soccer for Gallaudet. The first time I joined, I didn’t know anyone except Taylor who brought me to the team and Coach Sarah welcomed me to the team. I had so much fun during the soccer season include some of our road trips to our away games. I am going to miss our little road trips together as a team. My favorite memory of the soccer season is when we went to one of our away games against Lancaster Bible College, I played defense in the game and I got the ball and dribbled all the way to other side of the field and attempted to shoot the ball to hit a goal. I missed because I was not that good at shooting the ball with my left foot. That was a memorable moment for me. I was really excited because it was the first time I ran down the whole field of the opponents from our 10 yard line to their 10 yard line and attempted shot as defensive player. I will not forget any of those memories during the soccer season.

Now the fall semester is over and the students and I have our finals this week. We can start our winter break on Saturday, December 13. I am super excited to head home to California to see all my friends and family. I missed them so much and it is hard to be away from them for four months including Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is when everybody is supposed to be at home celebrating with their families. I missed my thanksgiving dinner with my family a few weeks ago because I couldn’t afford to go home. It was hard not to celebrate with my family especially seeing my mom. Tuesday, December 16 is when I will arrive home and see my parents, my family, and my friends. It would be great to be home and the first person I will see is my mom and I will give her a bear hug once I land at San Francisco Airport.

Do not judge movies by their covers

One of the weekends before Thanksgiving break, I went to SAC theater and watched Hellboy 2 with two of my friends. I had nothing else planned. Judging from the movie cover, I thought it would be a pretty scary movie. I decided to join my friends so  I don’t have to feel scared  watching this movie alone. While I watched the movie, I closed my eyes on some of the  parts that I thought would be scary until I realized they weren’t  scary after all. One of my favorite parts when the Hellboy punched a person who has an airhead after he said, “You need anger management because you can’t handle your temper.” Then somehow the airhead person went into the lockers and slammed Hellboy into the locker doors. I thought it was hilarious and I actually enjoyed this movie. I learned one thing about the movie – never judge a movie by its cover. It’s much the same as the quote, “Do not judge the book by the cover?”  My advice to everyone is do not judge this movie by its cover. 🙂

The most sentimental movie I have seen

One of my favorite actresses in the movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, is Blake Lively. I think she is one of the best actresses in the movie. I think the first movie is better than the second one because the first movie showed how best friends stay together for the whole summer and are there for each other to keep each other happy. I think the second movie is more sentimental because it shows a lot more information of Bridget’s (Blake Lively) mother and how she died. I actually enjoyed watching the movie. I wonder if there will be another movie, “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 3?” I hope we have another movie related to best friends.  I can imagine what it would involve.

I highly recommend you watch this movie, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2.

fall semester of 2008 has flown by!

Wow! Can you believe that the fall semester has been flying by so fast? It is almost December and I am about to be done with the fall semester. While I was in high school, I used to think time went really slowly, but here in college, time flies. This semester has had its ups and downs with my school life, sports life, and social life.

            When I first came to Gallaudet University, I didn’t know anyone except one childhood friend. I went to New Student Orientation (NSO) week with my mom. It was pretty hard to leave my mom because I knew it would not be the same and I was pretty close to my mom. I didn’t say the final “good-bye” to my mom and my family back in California but I said “see you later” because I knew I will see them again when I get back to California for the winter break.

            The first month was pretty tough because I was trying to get used to being on my own without my mom being there. I still keep in contact with my mom and some of my family members. It is really nice to see my mom through videophone (VP) but it is still not the same because I can’t give a physical hug to her or my family. Like other people said, the first semester of the freshmen year in college is always hard.

            While the first month passed, I kept myself busy with sports. I decided to join the Gallaudet University Women’s Soccer Team this fall because it would keep me busy and keep me motivated in school. I never had any experience with organized soccer, but I did play soccer for fun. Initially, I was a forward on the soccer team, but I didn’t like it because it doesn’t keep me busy and the only thing I can do is to make some goals and try not to pass the defenders or it will be called for off sides. I only played two or three games as a forward then after that, I changed to a defender. I like to play as a defender because it takes a lot of sprints to prevent the opponents from shooting the ball to the goal line. I realized how much fun soccer is and how much I love to play even though it’s my first year. I am planning to play soccer for the next three years.

            After soccer season was over, I transferred to the women’s basketball team. I was not able to play for a while because of my injuries from soccer. I started later than my other teammates and I started on bad terms with them. But after a week, I started to bond with everyone on the team. One day, I was not able to practice with the team because of the injuries leftover from soccer. I am no longer on the women’s basketball team because of length of time it will take to heal my injuries. I have a sore Achilles tendon, shin splints, and arch pain. So it is not worth being on the team this year. It was my dream being on the Gallaudet University team since I was 12 years old. I am planning to play basketball next year with the skills and the talent that I have and I’ll be able to prove to the basketball coaches that I can play and be 100% healthy.

            It is almost Thanksgiving break and almost everyone is gone for the holidays. I wish I could go home and stay with my parents for the holidays but I can’t because it is expensive to buy the tickets from Washington DC to California. I am planning to stay here on campus and go to one of my family relative’s house in Maryland for thanksgiving. It won’t be the same without my family because I am used to my family’s tradition. Anyway, I will be back in California in 23 days to be with my family and my friends. I can’t wait for that day to come because I deeply miss them.  I love them so much and nothing else can replace my family and my friends. J

 

 

 

 

 

is it going to end the world?

Have you wondered if a sport’s teammates will stay together as friends after the season ends?

I have been wondering about that a thousand times since our soccer season ended on October 30, 2008. We ended our season with 18 losses. We did not win any games this season, but there were two close games that we should have won. The women’s soccer team has not won a soccer game since October 4, 2006.

I have been thinking about my team staying together and keeping our trust levels up until next fall 2008 because i think it would be easier for us to keep our bond strong if we stay in contact with each other. I hope we can still have an end of the season party with our team even though our last game was October 30, 2008. After that party, I still  hope that we can go out to have fun as a team once a week for the rest of semester and when we get back from Christmas break.

Here are few pictures of my team at our last game which was the coldest night we have played this season:

the most amazing movie

The most amazing movie I have seen is Gracie.

It is based on a true story about a girl who wanted to play soccer on a boys’ soccer team in a high school in New Jersey. It was prohibited during the 1970’s for girls to play on boys’ teams. It is about the diversity between women and men. and I could relate to this movie. Thanks to this girl who fought for the right to let girls play soccer. If it wasn’t for her, our girls soccer team wouldn’t exist.

I recommend you watch this movie, Gracie, because it is a really good movie. There are also some inspiring moments in the movie.

homecoming weekend

Homecoming spirit week started on Sunday, the same day we had a game against Medgar Evers. We lost the game. I think we did better in the second half of the game and we should have prevented two scores and ended up with the score 4 to 2 instead of the final 6 to 2.

My day on Friday started with my ASL class then my math class. I had nothing else for the rest of the day until soccer practice from 3-4:30. I didn’t practice because I was injured from the other day at one of my soccer games. After soccer practice, I ate dinner with the girls and got ready for the pep rally and the women’s and men’s basketball scrimmage. At pep rally, we did a lot of activities and in the end of the pep rally, there was a basketball scrimmage against each other’s teams (women and men). After the pep rally, my soccer team and I slept at the Field House (gym).

Saturday morning, I woke up pretty tired but excited for our soccer game for my first Homecoming. It was my first time playing soccer game for Homecoming. I ate breakfast with my soccer team  breakfast then we checked out a lot of the booths on the street between Hotchkiss Field and the SLCC and SAC. I didn’t stay there for long but I watched the first quarter of the football game and our Gallaudet football team was killed by other the team 21-0 in the first quarter. It ended up with Gallaudet football team lost to other team from 44 to 9. I never saw so many people in the stands before.

We had a soccer game against Kings College and we lost the game 6 to 0. after the game, we went out to dinner with a high school player who might play for our Gallaudet women soccer team next year. Overall, it was a blast, but it would be better if we actually won our soccer game for the first time in the soccer season. The last time the women’s soccer team won a game was on October 4, 2006.