A few weeks ago in my POLS 195A class, all the students had to participate in a survey. We were those people that call you and ask if you are interested in doing a survey. It was interesting to be on the other side when I have answered the phone so many times to people asking if I would like to take a survey. Whenever I have answered the phone and it has been a person asking if I want to take a survey I usually say no. After being the person on the other end I would definitely take the survey if I had time and if I did not have time I would be very polite about saying no. It was a very challenging experience because I had called over a hundred people and only two people took and finished the survey. I got hung up on countless times and even encountered some extremely rude people. Many people simply did not answer their phones, which was better than the rude people. I do not think there was anything I found to be enjoyable or rewarding about working on this survey. I had way too many rude people to find anything about sitting in a room for four hours cold calling people enjoyable.

What I learned from this survey was that people do not want to take surveys over the phone. Many people are going to be rude, and the few that do agree to take the survey are going to wonder why it is so long and boring. I also learned that mainly women answer the phone.

My suggestions for next time would be to make the survey shorter if possible. Also avoid calling cell phones because people do not want to waste their minutes. Also, in order to get a more diverse sample, it would be great to ask for a male or a female or find things to ask that would change up who people are giving the survey to.

Words of the Week:

reticent: disposed to be silent or not to speak freely; reluctant or restrained.

volatile: tending or threatening to break out into open violence; changeable or mercurial.

14 days... 25 days!

School is never-ending this time of the semester. I seem to have a huge assignment due twice a week and everyday small assignments, not to mention sorority obligations and attempting to still have some sort of a social life. I keep trying to just take it one step at a time, but that ends up making me do a lot of my work the night before. I have tried to plan everything out before my 21st birthday, which is two weeks away, but after that I am not sure exactly what I have to do. I keep telling myself to just look at my schedules, but I kind of do not want to because I want that night to be stress-free. My dad is taking me to Hawaii for a week in November, which I also want to be stress-free, but I will probably be doing homework on my vacation. At least in Hawaii I can get a tan while I study. I was not worried about making sure I get good grades, because I was going to make sure to be on my stuff, but being on my stuff has been really hard! I do get all my work done on time. However, I tend to be very hard on myself and when I know it was not my best work I beat myself up about it. I just really hope I can get this semesters GPA above a 2.5 otherwise I will have to be on academic probation from my sorority. The semester is already halfway through, but there are so many assignments left it is hard for me to gage how well I am going to do. I guess that is where grade checks can help. Last week I had to do grade checks and none of my teachers had my grade so all I got was passing, which is better than failing of course, but it doesn't help me gage how well I am doing or how much I need to improve. I don't know what else to do, but to take it one step at a time even if that means some work being done the night before. My weekends keep going by too fast for me to catch up on life and homework. Hopefully my week in Hawaii will let me catch up on both! 14 days until my 21st birthday! 25 days until Hawaii!

Words Of The Week:

cathartic: adj, providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions; causing catharsis

plume: noun, a long, soft feather or arrangement of feathers used by a bird for displayor worn by a person for ornament

What to Write...

Right now I feel as though I am stretching for something to write about. All these grammar lessons have me second guessing all of my writing. I try to go back and edit, but I always feel like I am missing something. Right now I am sitting in my night class. I should be taking notes, but instead I am writing this blog. I will admit, I forgot to do my blog over the weekend and then Tuesday came so fast that this seems like the only time I was going to have to do it. I think I realized that I often write how I speak. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing, but if it's bad then I am not sure how to stop. These weekly blogs are the only homework assignments that are open ended in a way. Although I do find myself feeling bad when I don't write about politics. Maybe I find it harder to write about politics because all my classes are Political Science classes so I do a lot of writing in that area on a regular basis. These blogs are almost like a break in a way. They are like a public journal I guess, which I still find kind of creepy. A girl in this class is wearing a shirt that says something like "I'll put that in my blog." I guess that means she likes blogging? I have always wondered what kind of people want to have blogs? However, I guess I am sort of becoming one of those people, which is hard for me to embrace. Since I can't seem to think of anything to write about I guess I am just writing my mind flow, or as others might call it my stream of conscience-ness. Today has been the only day that I wanted to go to class. The only reason is because I wanted to get out of my house. The only person I have been getting along well with lately is my boyfriend. I love my sisters no matter what, but I think I have been spending too much time with them recently and I need a break. Luckily I have Mike to hang out with most nights. I know the week has barely started, but I can't wait for the weekend because my roommates will be gone and I need that break desperately.

Words of the Week:

Both from a POLS 195A reading.

conceptualization: verb, form a concept or idea of (something)

substantive adj, having a firm basis in reality and therefore important, meaningful, or considerable

I Want A Break

Since my picture is from the SJSU tailgate I will start off by saying, the Spartans lost on Saturday... big surprise.

I have been a bit stuck on what to write about this week. The only thing on my mind is midterms and school. I feel like I have been studying non-stop for midterms and exams and all I want is a break. I guess it is a good thing that the weather is not too great because I will not be distracted by wanting to go outside and play in the sun, but this gloomy weather only makes me want to snuggle in my bed and watch movies all day, not study. Maybe I need to catch up on some sleep and then I will be more motivated to study. This past weekend I barely slept at all I was so busy because I made so many plans, maybe even over-booked myself. Then Sunday night I was up until 2 am studying for a midterm I have Wednesday. Monday everyone kept asking me if I was sick, but I was just so tired and out of it that I must have looked sick. I still feel really tired and out of it, but I feel like I have so much to do and catch up on for school that who knows when I will ever be well rested again. I try to set up schedules and lists and goals so I make sure to get all my work done, but lately I feel as though I am falling behind because I have not had as much time as I usually need to sleep. When I do not get enough sleep my brain does not work as well and I forget about things that I tried to make sure I would remember to do. I guess there is not much else to do but to keep trying. I am not sure if I am too hard on myself because I always feel so awful when I forget about something. Or perhaps I am too easy on myself because I allow myself to forget about these things. I wish I could just have a week off to relax and catch up on everything so I would feel better about how I am doing in my classes. I guess my life is never dull and that is a plus, but the downside to always having something to do is that I want to do everything even though I might not have time for it all.

Words of the Week:

Both words this week were found from my Pols 150 notes.

Caveat: noun, a warning or proviso of specific stipulations, conditions, or limitations.

Deterrent: noun, a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something.