Wellness

The life I am leading at college is probably not the healthiest. I don’t make it to the gym everyday because of my schedule and since it’s getting colder, I don’t even want to be outside to run, especially due to the fact that the ninth floor of capstone has no hot water and the showers are always freezing, even if you take them at seven in the morning, or four in the afternoon. I probably only eat breakfast once or twice a week because I can’t get up early enough to do it, and I have a nasty habit of eating lunch and dinner so late, sometimes I just skip meals. I’ve been trying to eat healthier, aka not Gibbes amazing grilled cheese everyday, but it’s more difficult at college because there’s no one to tell you no. Also, I get a lot of care packages filled with goodies and snacks, and my room is like a grocery store with all of the food I have in it. It is actually ridiculous. I also can’t seem to get to sleep very early ever because I want to spend all the time that I’m not in class or doing the obscene amount of homework that I do have, with my friends and my boyfriend. There’s no way I could ever get the recommended nine hours a night. Despite all of this, I do have an insanely healthy immune system. I don’t think I can even tell you the last time I was sick. I think it’s probably due to the fact that orange juice (Florida’s Natural, no pulp, extra calcium) is my favorite thing to drink. I’m also not too worried about my weight. But next semester I am taking a class less, so I actually have time to go to the gym, and so I’m not so stressed out with my course load. Also, intramural lacrosse will be starting up in the spring, so I’ll probably give it a shot. I’ve also been trying to eat healthier on a daily basis, no grilled cheese each time I go to Gibbes, and I’ve arranged my food on a shelf on the opposite side of the room so I don’t snack as much. Once next semester rolls around, I should be getting more sleep too but I never got very much at home anyways, and I often would function on little to no sleep, and that’s without the aid of redbull or coffee. I know that maybe these aren’t the healthiest choices but I feel like they’re just a part of college life; I’m not too worried.

Mentoring-Week One

Two weeks ago, I was assigned my six grade mentee from Hand Middle School. Her name is Aleyah, and she is almost taller than me! Although I suppose that is not very hard. At first I was nervous because when Aleyah came down to fill out her paperwork, she was super quiet, and did not even say anything to me. Thankfully, as soon as we embarked on the perilous journey that was my school tour, Aleyah was chattering away. It was perilous due to the fact that as soon as classes changed, students were running through the hallways and jumping down the stairs, and one of Aleyah’s friends even ran into me. I also got whistled at by a middle schooler, which was of course, a nice touch. But despite all of this, I greatly enjoyed just walking around and talking to Aleyah. As a sixth grader, she’s very smart, and even more importantly, she has the drive to do well. I also learned that we have a lot in common. Aleyah is in orchestra, just as I was in band from fifth to twelfth grade, and although she was disappointed to be missing this period every Tuesday, she enjoys me being there because she said it’s “just like having a friend to hang out with while everyone else is in class.” Aleyah also plays softball, and I played for eleven years. Since Aleyah is a sixth grader, she cannot play softball for Hand, so she plays for her community organization. She also plans to participate in track and field for Hand in the spring. I don’t really feel that there are any additional resources or support that I need to make my mentoring with Aleyah effective. I just need to be myself and be there for her while we conquer our transitions together.

Diversity

I have always felt that diversity is simply something or someone that is physically, emotionally, spiritually, or psychologically different than one’s beliefs or oneself, nothing more, nothing less. Since kindergarten, our generation has been taught that diversity is just something that exists, a part of life, and that it should never be viewed as a bad thing, because it isn’t. Maybe someone has a different skin color than you or is from a different ethnic background, so what? They’re still a living, breathing human being, born with the gift of life; a person, same as you and me. My view of diversity has not changed here at Carolina and I do not believe it ever really will. However, at Carolina, I think I’ve learned exactly what it means to be diverse. Coming to college sometimes is a culture shock, it was for me. There are just so many various types of people and so many stereotypes but then there are always the exceptions, the people who break the mold, that continue to expand and widen your horizons, if only on the basis of who people can be, and as far as I’m concerned, humanity’s limits are endless.

ACE

I did not really know what to expect going into my first ACE appointment. I have never really been one of those kids that has had difficulty in school and therefore never really seen the need for tutoring, which is what I always kind of saw ACE as. Actually, that’s probably the reason I had not made an appointment sooner. I went into the appointment not really sure what to talk about besides my obvious procrastination issues and used that as the foundation of our conversation. Many of the time management principles were brought up and instead of just telling me what they were, we went through how I could apply them specifically to my life, which I liked. We also blocked off times for studying and time for friends, which I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick to, but at least it gives me an idea of how much time to devote to each aspect of my life. We also briefly talked about study habits, as my Latin tests and quizzes seem unwilling to move out of the average range, no matter how long or rigorously I study. If I had a second meeting, it would probably just be a follow up meeting, unless I started having extreme difficulty in one of my classes. At least now I know it’s there, and it’s not just a site for tutoring, it’s a site for advice.

Resume

Kaitlin Little
littlem@mailbox.sc.edu

Current Address:
USC Student Box 81336
1400 Greene Street
Columbia, SC, 29225
(704) 995-3220

Educational Experience
David W. Butler High School, Matthews, NC
Graduated in June, 2009
Cumulative Weighted GPA: 4.20
Cumulative Unweighted GPA: 3.59
Class Rank: 61 of 580

The University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Will Graduate in 2013
Major: Marine Science

Honors and Awards
2nd Place Photography, Women’s Guild Art Competition, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

2nd Place Photography, Women’s Guild Art Competition, Second Level, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

Photography Recognition, Art Event, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

Photography Entry, Festival in the Park, Art Festival, Charlotte, NC, Grade 12.

Photography Scholarship Nomination, Grade 12.

McKissick Scholars Award Academic Scholarship, USC, 2009.

Capstone Scholar, USC, 2009 to 2011.

Leadership Positions
Nursery Supervisor, St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC, Grades 9 and 10.

Head of Recreation during Vacation Bible School, St. Mark’s Lutheran, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

Bake Sale Student Co-chair, Butler Marching Band, Butler High School, Matthews, NC, Grade 11.

Community Service
Room in the Inn Volunteer, St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC, Grades 9 and 10.

Smile Train Foundation Bake Sale, Butler Interact Club, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

Pancake Breakfast at Senior Levine Center, Butler Interact Club, Charlotte, NC, Grade 11.

Ticket Booth Manager at Matthews Alive, Butler Marching Band, Matthews, NC, Grades 9 to 12.

Children’s Craft Organizer, Parents’ Night Out at Morningstar LutheranChurch, Charlotte, NC, Grade 10.

Global Earth Day Volunteer, Hands on Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, Grades 10 and 11.

Game Coordinator at Annual Easter Festival, St. Luke’s Catholic Church, Charlotte, NC, Grade 9.

Volunteer, Mint Hill Public Library, Mint Hill, NC, Grades 9 and 10.

Student Mentor at Hand Middle School, Columbia, SC, 2009.

Extracurricular Activities: Member of Girl Power, Grades 9 and 10.

Member of Interact Club, Grades 11 and 12.

Member of Latin Club, Grade 12.

Member of Butler’s first Women’s Lacrosse Team, Grades 11 and 12.

Member of SOAR and Mount Harmony Baptist Church Softball, Grades 9 and 10.

Member of the Butler Marching Band, Grades 9 to 12.

Member of National Honors Society, Grade 12.

Member of Students Engaged in Aquatic Sciences, 2009.

Member of Flying Gamecocks Skydiving Club, 2009.

Member of SCUBA Club, 2009.

Employment
Academic Intern for Matthews Animal Clinic, Matthews, NC, summer before Grade 11.

Member of the Christmas Program Orchestra, First Baptist Church, Matthews, NC, Grades 11 and 12.

Ticket Scanner, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, Charlotte, NC, summer before Grade 12.

This resume was difficult to make since it was so general and I did not have a particular job, position, or reason to make it. I also don’t have a college grade point average yet to include. I included most of my high school stuff since it was a general resume, and therefore everything would be relevant. The format didn’t transfer very well into this blog post but this is the overall idea.

Marine Science!

Coming into life at the University of South Carolina, I decided on the major of marine science. I had always fell back onto marine biology as a possible major whenever anyone would ask me what I wanted to do when I “grew up;” I never really put that much thought into it. That is, until college applications rolled around. What if I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life? I ran through all of my possible majors in my head: Zoology, Marine Biology, English, Psychology, Animal Behavior, Biology, Photography, Journalism…clearly I had no clue what I wanted to do. I ended up narrowing it down to Zoology, Marine Biology, Psychology and Animal Behavior. I eliminated Animal Behavior because I realized that that was a very narrow field of study, even though that was possibly what interested me the most. Plus, most schools did not offer programs in it, and after ruling Florida Institute of Technology out, I had no idea where else it was even offered. I then ran into the issue of my top two schools, the University of South Carolina and North Carolina State University, only offering one of my programs. NCSU has an exceptional Zoology program and does not have a Marine Biology program but USC has an exceptional Marine Science program, although they do not have Zoology. I decided on USC for all other aspects of the university, and to major in Marine Science, with a concentration in Biology, and a possible minor in Psychology; I do not regret it in the least. I am not quite sure what I want to do with the rest of my life, but as I’ve mentioned before, the two biggest passions in my life are animals and kids, so I just know that I want to work with them. The beach is also my favorite place in the entire world, so marine biologist/dolphin trainer seems like a pretty safe bet as of right now. I guess we’ll see if that changes…

Campus Safety

I found Wednesday’s Campus Safety Presentation to be very informative. Although our speaker was not the “Brotha Man,” as she was in fact a woman, she really seemed to know her stuff. Hearing about all of the safety precautions that the University of South Carolina has implemented definitely was reassuring. Although I have never really felt threatened or endangered, there have been some sketch nights, even when I’m walking in a group. One of the things I love the most about this campus is the number of trees but by nightfall it’s maybe not so great a thing. People just can’t always be predicted, and it’s their uncertainty that can evolve into danger. Although I already utilize most of the things that she told us, like locking your door at night, which I feel is very obvious anyway, I found the fact that she said it might be better not to talk on your phone when you’re walking somewhere by yourself as it distracts you from your surroundings. Last summer I always talked on the phone while I walked back to my car from my job at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre concert venue in Charlotte at one or two in the morning. I had always been taught that that was a safe move but she made me realize that it probably actually isn’t. Also, I didn’t know that you could get in so much trouble for walking the train tracks around here. And while I did know that it would be extremely dangerous, as trains can be extremely dangerous, I never really thought about the fact that the train could actually create a swell and pull you up under it. Interesting stuff. And I will be all the much safer because of it.

Student Organizations

I have attended a lot of student organizational meetings over the past couple of weeks. So far I have gone to meetings for the Flying Gamecocks Skydiving Club, Students Engaged in Aquatic Sciences (SEAS), & the Scuba club. The first meeting I attended was for skydiving. I’m not sure what I was really looking for, probably just an interesting club with fun people to help assimilate me into college life. I certainly found that. I have always wanted to go skydiving and I had had plans to go this past summer with my cousin when I turned eighteen but things came up for both of us and we ended up not being able to make it work. I figured this club was the perfect opportunity to realize my dream. I am definitely planning to stay involved with the skydiving club; hopefully I will even have gone skydiving by the end of this year!