Smiling's my favorite!

Oooooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. It's pretty windy outside right now, guys. Anyway...I'm probably one of the most upbeat people you'll ever meet. Even if I'm struggling with something, I usually put it aside and try to be positive and friendly. I take pride in my personality and the way I interact with others. You might even say I'm a "social butterfly". That's a weird term, never mind. I've never met a stranger (unless you have serial killer written all over your face, that's usually a red flag) and carrying on conversations is one of my favorite things to do.

Seriously. I FREAKIN LOVE TALKING. Communication is what brings us closer and it helps us learn more about each other, and I think that's pretty important. That wind is really getting it out there. I think I saw something on the news about a cold front moving in, so there's that. Back on topic, I love talking. The rare occasions in school when I got in trouble from a teacher would be for talking to others in class. I'm too much of a people-person for my own good. I love people-genuine, good, people. I think the fact that I'm such a people-person has also made me a really good judge of character. I can sniff the phonies out of a crowd, let me tell ya. But that's getting off the positive theme here. If you've ever taken the personality/leadership style test know as 'U-Zoo', you would probably guess that I'm a porpoise. And you guessed right. Porpoises (wow, I really thought the plural form of porpoise were "porpi" but you learn something new every day, I suppose) are known for being very social and sometimes having trouble focusing because they're so caught up in other people. Bingo.

If you yourself aren't as much of a social connoisseur, that's fine. But I'll be over here talking to my dog until I fall asleep. That sounds more like a personal problem, but you get the point.

Ringing in the new year with a purpose

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions; don't have anything against them, they've just never been my thing. However, 2013 is about to be the turning point of that. I've decided that my resolution for the new year is to put myself into everything I do. After reflecting on this past semester, I see a lot of room for improvement and that's what I'm gonna do--improve.

My main focus on improving is my studies. You see, this semester didn't turn out exactly how I wanted it to, and next semester I'm dedicating myself to changing that.
Another area for room of improvement is how I manage my time. I felt like this past year I spread myself out too thin. As if I commit to too many things at once. That's also going to change.

Kind of a short blog post this time, but I felt it necessary to get that stuff out there. So there ya go, kids!

But it's the English language, though...

So this blogging thing is kind of fun. I feel like my last two posts have been too not like my personality, so let's get back on track, shall we? Let me tell you my biggest pet peeve out there: POOR GRAMMAR. It makes me twitch, I swear. Both in person and in writing. I once read a Facebook post from a person who graduated four years before me, I think it was. This genius said something along the lines of "I know I have bad grammar, but you pointing it out to me really just makes you look bad, not me."....uh...NO.

Buckle in, because it's about to get real. Okay, first up-you're/your. You're is referring to the combination of "you are". For example: "Oh hey, you're an ignorant human being with a poor understanding of the human language.", then your is just showing possession. "Your hair is a flowing sea of blonde attractiveness." got it, kids? I got worked up just clearing that up, sheesh.
Then there's to/too/two. If you use "two" wrong in a sentence, I'm sorry, but YOU'RE an idiot. Using "too" is like saying "in addition to" in some cases. "I enjoy golfing, too!". Maybe that wasn't the best example but you get the idea, right? Then to use "to" is kind of for everything else. Wouldn't it be ironic if I used bad grammar in this post? Oops.

Then when people are talking, it's even worse. Going to school where half of the population is borderline redneck, I had silent conniptions on the daily. "I seen you the other day"...no, you ignoramus , you SAW them the other day. Like what even is life? I'm a little bit less aggressive about "ain't" because that's kind of arbitrary. However, when people use "was" wrong...that's that stuff I don't like. One of my teachers in middle school was guilty of this. He would say things like "if you knew you was going to be gone, why didn't you tell me?"....NOOOOO. I'm pretty sure he still talks like that to this day. I'm guilty of some slip-ups every now and then like the use of commas, maybe. But let's get real, if you can't get the basics, go back to grade school. This was just a small, condensed version of my daily struggles as a grammar nazi, so consider yourselves lucky. Also I apologize if I used things incorrectly in this post. H8 on it.

The Stuff That Make Us Dance

Music.

Personally, I'm a big fan. I'm not a musician, I don't sing (well), and I certainly can't plan an instrument. However, my connection to music is pretty freakin' deep. Music can be whatever you need it to- therapeutic, energizing, depressing, whatever. It gives us all a chance to go on somewhat of a vacation from reality, even if it's just for a moment. We all need that every now and then, and if you say you don't I suggest you seek help.

But come on, think about it. When you're jamming out there's pretty much nothing in the world that can stop you--until you take off the headphones. That was grim, sorry guys. Anyway, music is such a big part of our lives that it even affects our mood and how we present ourselves to others. I wrote a speech for my communication class about how music can affect our mood. If you're as crazy of a music listener as I am, then the type of music you listen to is directly proportional to the mood you're in at the moment, or the mood you don't want to be in at the moment.

But, sometimes we just need to take a few minutes and just listen. Listen to whatever you're into and let it take you away. Get away from the stress of your daily life and just chill. Do I sound like a hippie yet?

When you're no longer the "cream of the crop"

Since it's winter break and I'm home I have a lot of time to do this certain activity that can be rather treacherous in some cases: thinking. You might say "Tyler, that's crazy. How could thinking be bad?". Well, to other people thinking might not be a terrible activity to partake in. Heck, some need to do a little bit more of it if you ask me. BUT, for me, thinking is always too elaborate and too in depth. Lately I've been thinking about my first semester of college and pondering upon that. I've said it before, but in high school I rarely worried about my grades simply because I was pretty smart and always made As in my classes. I don't know if I carried that mindset into college or what, but it's definitely not the same.

I've always had this thing about images. Not pictures but personal images, like how I present myself and how others see me. In high school, I presented myself as the "everything is going right for him" persona. I got good grades, have the nice house, nice car (still shooting for my Range Rover), amazing and supportive parents, nice clothes, etcetera. I probably sound like a snob, don't I? But that couldn't be farther from the truth. As my first semester of college has come to an end, one of those components of my 'perfect image' has kind of taken a wrong turn. My grades. Don't get me wrong, I'm still passing, but by my standards I feel like a complete failure. My parents are still encouraging and supportive, but I feel as if I've let them down-like my happy-go-lucky personality has taken a toll. I never get worked up about things, but this is kinda bugging me.

Here Lately

Well, kids, where do I begin? My senior year flew by faster than you can say "Boomer!" and before I knew it, it was August 16th and I was moving into my college dorm. Let me set the scene by telling you all the thoughts going through my head at this time. I graduated in the top percentage of my class, so I was worried about what I was going to make of myself at OU. I knew my strengths and weaknesses academically, and I also knew it was going to be a bit different than the classes at Bethel High. I was also worried about making friends. Now, let me tell you, I'm no wallflower but at a university with thousands of people you have to wonder where you'll end up, ya know? Of course, some friends I graduated with also came to OU so I wouldn't be completely alone, but I knew we couldn't stay high school buddies forever. There was also the whole "are you rushing?" question that literally every person I came in contact with asked. I had considered it, yes, but I decided not to. Sometimes I still wonder if I made the right choice on that. I mean, all throughout high school people would say "Tyler you're such a frat boy" simply because of the fact that I wore Polo and Sperry Top Siders, but maybe I just liked looking classy as shit all the time. Can you blame me? Anyway, I'm now a GDI (google it) and I guess that's the way it's gonna be for now. So that was a rant...moving on! In one of the organizations I'm in on campus, we wrote letters to our future selves to be delivered to us at the end of the year. I remember writing something like "don't be so quick to judge people right upon meeting them.", and I think I've accomplished that. The main reason I reach such quick conclusions about people I meet is because, I, myself always worry about what people think of me. I'm trying to work on that whole not caring what others think thing. Jumping ahead, I was walking into the bottom of the dorm one day, and I ran into the president of the tower, and she encouraged me to come to a "RSA" meeting. RSA stands for Resident Student Association, and I'm so incredibly thankful I ran into Kristen Cash that afternoon. In this group of students, we discuss events to be hosted, how to hype fellow students up throughout the semester, and discuss issues of residence hall life. I can honestly say I've met some of the greatest people on campus through RSA. Heck, I even found three roommates for the next school year. Needless to say, we've all gotten really close and I appreciate them all. As the semester went on, and midterms and finals started rearing their ugly heads, we all sort of used each other for support and encouragement. Oh yeah, let's talk about finals, shall we? In high school I NEVER had to worry about my grades. I viewed Bs as terrible grades on report cards. These days I'm jumping for joy at the sight of a B. I hate math with every fiber of my being and I'm not afraid to say it. Math1643 aka Precalculus for Business, Life, and Social Sciences really bit me in the butt this semester.  I would hear people say "I got a 94 on my test"and I'm over here with my not 94 giving them the stank face. College really made me question my academic ability, and just because of one measly little class. Some days I would leave the class feeling dazed and confused. The days I didn't I felt like a genius because I could answer a problem being worked out on the board in my head correctly. Finishing the semester with a GPA not starting with a 4 kind of took a toll on me, but I'm trying to remember that college, again, is not like high school at all.