I think this journey called college is all over

As I sit at home during this Winter Break, I realized something: I am now a college graduate. Even though, I started this post in November as something else, I decided to change it totally (since I have not started it and it was only a draft). Disregard the posted date as I truly posted this on the 28th of December will no threat of papers or exams in sight. Granted that I am waiting for my last grade to post on the Student Access area, I think I did it. I survived the so-called senioritis and passed all of my courses. This is why I was not able to post for over two months. My grades (so far) are just okay compared to what I have been earning but I think my undergraduate career is over. Strange to believe that three and a half years have passed and all of my course work for three majors is completed.

This is a bittersweet time for me since I am stuck between a hard place and a rock. I know that graduating in the fall instead in the spring has its advantages such as looking for a career ahead of your peers. However, the winter season can be brutal so I hope finding a career in Cleveland won't be too difficult (one can wish). Preparing for Finals was nerve-racking but preparing for a career is not an easy task either. Not having a car is not making things easier for me either although this is my fault (revelation: need to get license ASASP- As Soon As Snow Passes).

I want to earn a position in City Planning somewhere. I just finished my internship for the Planning and Zoning Commission of Delaware, Ohio at City Hall. I have experience in other areas such as Information Technology but I prefer City Planning since I have my majors primarily focusing on Planning and Urban Studies. I feel passionate about helping better the city or regional landscape. I feel comfortable in this line of work and I hope to put use my degree.

This time of year was always the transition point; this time around, instead of the transition being from fall to spring semester of college, it is the end of college live to the beginning of finding employment and independence. Hoepfully, I can move out of my parent's home to explore my own independence into my own apartment. Obviously, this will not happen until I find a steady career and create a means of income for myself. I knew that the real world would not be easy (read my comments on summer and difficulty looking for employment) so I need to myself to broaden my horizons. I do not want to separate from family but if this is needed to begin my career, so be it. The key for me is to not be content. I need to step out and begin my own transition to the beginning of the rest of my life- no matter how hard that will be. I control my own destiny.

I will use my contacts and explore opportunities more in the upcoming weeks. I am taking it slowly since it is still the holiday season and the winter season is conflicting with my mobility a bit. Eventually, I will have to attend graduate school but I want to be at ease with my financial status since I will be paying for that all by myself. I know that the professional world will not wait for me to earn my MA however so I need to move quickly. College was fun but now it is over (except for that return in May to pick up my physical degree and March with the rest of my class). I know it is crunch time and I am determined to create opportunities for myself and to start paying back all of my loans. I am ready to move on and to continue learning in the process.

In all likelihood, this will be my last post unless the Admissions asks me to continue or to post when I return in May for my degree. Writing this blog on behalf of Ohio Wesleyan University was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about myself, the University, and the world in general. It has been my pleasure to write to you about who I am and who I have become in the past three and a half years. It was my hope that people in the Ohio Wesleyan community learned a little more about me, more so than the guy who has three majors or the guy who is everywhere on campus. It was also my hope that people in the Ohio Wesleyan community who read my blog got to see my ups and my downs, my positives moments as a student and my negatives as well. To those who followed my journey as a Battling Bishops and to those who will follow my blog in the future, I thank you for your time and your comments. I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read my blog.

I shall leave you with this quote: "We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves and that we should nurture our talents to cultivate this something to develop a better tomorrow for all."










OWU forever,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Senior Event at Leeds Farm

Okay. Again, it was been far too long but once again, I was swamped with assignments for the past couple of weeks. I am back for now. A couple of weeks ago, I went with the other seniors (about 40 of us or so) to Leeds Farm on Route 37 about 15 minutes away from the school. I needed a break and this was perfect for me.

Most of the time while I was at the farm, I wondered aimlessly with a couple of my friends. The first thing I did was the corn maze; however, it was not really a corn maze because most of the maze was torn down so it looked barren. The supposed of the maze was to dip each finger into some kind of gel throughout the maze. Once you found all five of them, you could solve the maze and see that kind of farmer you are. One problem: the gel was dried up and I could barely see the gel. Basically, I walked through a dead maze for about 30 minutes with little to show for it.

Next up was the zip line. This was the most exciting activity of the day for me. I actually had to wait in line (I guess most people would agree with the previous statement). The exhilaration of being in the air was enough for me although it was too short. I did not get to go on the zip line as it was raining very hard at that point and the walkway was very slippery. Bummer.

I waited around for the rain to stop then I went on a hayride on a locomotive. The experience was peaceful and the staff tried to make it as comfortable and interesting as possible. There was many animals during the ride even though none of them were real. Still, they were cool to look at. I liked the peacefulness of the ride into the woods and the sun started to come out.

The rain came back at the end of the ride so I had to seek shelter immediately. The shelter was the barn where I saw many pigs, cows, and hens. I have not been to a farm in a long time so I enjoyed it. I realized that I could get food in the barn upstairs so to avoid the rain for a longer period of time, I went upstairs. I realized earlier in the day that most of the group disappeared and I had no idea where anyone went. Lo and behold, most of the other seniors were upstairs in the food area, eating. My second highlight (if I had to say another one besides the zip line) was the food. The food was inexpensive and just what my body craved after being on the farm for about 2 hours. I had chili cheese fries and a hot dog and for my dessert, I had granny apples with caramel poured on top. So good!!

The last thing I did was to buy a pumpkin. It was a pumpkin farm and the senior class advisory council had a hook up by taking 2 dollars off with the purchase of a pumpkin. The pumpkin were of all different sizes and colors. The pumpkin I purchased was $2- it was a medium size bluish-gray pumpkin that I still have sitting on top of my refrigerator.

Overall, it was an all right experience for a senior class college trip. Very simplistic and cheap but fun. The next blog will be about the senior class trip to Dave and Buster's!! Stick around!!







With much OWU Love,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

My insane and hectic life

There is no other way to put it. I have a full course load (5.5 credits) and I work around 30 hours a week at City Hall in Delaware, OH and the Student Involvement Office. Blogging is extremely hard this semester and although I have done lots of things and have taken pictures as proof, I have not been thinking about blogging, unfortunately. My focus is primarily on my Historical Research Seminar paper which is due in 10 days- I just started the paper today- and all of the obligations that a senior has to fulfill- grad school applications, getting money for the GRE, and other smaller priorities that only senior college students have to deal with. I know that it was been awhile since I lasted blogged but it has been extraordinarily difficult. In a way, I really want this semester to be completed and out of the way, but I know that I will miss being in an environment like this.


Since the last time I blogged to you all, I went to the Walk to Defeat ALS 4 miler down at Ohio State with my fraternity brothers, helped set up and did registration, helped clean up the campus by completing service through the Greek Clean-Up Day right after and last week, I was at Mingo Park helping clean up the river bank. See my pictures above. I found all kinds of cool things in that river such as an electronic dart board. I have been quite busy on the service side; mainly as a way to mitigate all of the stress and balancing crucial time management of everything I want to do for senior year. I have to multitask all of the time in order for everything to get done. Story of my life.


Right now, I am recovering from this cold weather. I just came from the Women and Men's Soccer Games where we won both. I am glad that I endured the weather to see the game and to take a break from my academics. I also have an exam on Wednesday so I am also bracing myself for that as well. I had an exam in my Astronomy class right before the Mid-Semester Break (which by the way, did not seem like a break at all because I was working a lot). I must find my way to the library to pick up more books and documents for research. My life is pretty monotonous right about now.


Within the next couple of weeks, I will be facing arguably the most stressful and arduous time during my time at Ohio Wesleyan. I will be turning in tons of papers for classes that will determine if I can graduate a semester early. I need to seriously focus on the goal so I can begin the rest of my life. Wish me luck... it is going to be ugly but I shall pull through. Believe that!!! I do not have anything else to say... I'm cold and I have to go to focus on writing.







Focused to the end,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Community Service and Concessions Galore

Last Saturday, I was involved in a long, tiring, but very rewarding day of service to the Delaware community. My day started at 8 am when some of my fraternity brothers and I headed down to the Scioto River for a little clean up. The day started off slowly as we parked and were transferred to another, more remote location. When we got our canoes though, the day instantly picked up. My friend Chad and I picked up a ton of stuff- mainly from a dilapidated shed and a huge tire. The journey was not as long this time but it was almost as intense. The amount of garbage the groups collected was massive, I kid you not.

After spending the morning out on the river and a hefty lunch, I showered, worked out, and headed over to the Community Unity festival at Woodward Elementary. At first, I was assigned to sell T-shirts. I had to become a bit authoritative in order to make some sells but I think that people liked the design of the T-shirts enough to buy one. I would have except that I did not have any money. Once the other Student Union on Black Awareness members showed up after their workshops, I waited for Circle K to arrive so I could participate in their games with the children. Among some of the games were hula hoops and jump rope. Above, there is a picture of our President, Kristen Lear, showing off her skills. I am a horrible hula hooper so I left the responsibility of doing that to them. Getting kids to come to us was quite easy and I was happy that Circle K would set up these activities for some fun! Towards the end of the Festival, I helped out the Common Ground Free Store for a little bit and caught some of the local step team and band. Boy, were they good! Overall, I had a very good time interacting and helping at the Community Unity Festival.

After the Festival, I headed over to the OWU Men's Soccer Game to help out with Kiwanis Concessions. As a Circle K member, I have a strong obligation to help out members of the Kiwanis Family (Key Club, Kiwanis, Aktion Club, Builder's). I love the intensity of being at the counter during a hyped men's soccer game and interacting with the customers. The hot topic: the highly anticipated OSU vs. USC football game. I got to watch the soccer game and the football at the same time while I was working. I was happy to be at the game and to see the football game- usually, I would have to choose but not this time. This was the second time I did concessions for Circle K; the concessions goes towards my Dues that I am required to pay to be a member.

Well, even though I am busy practically all of the time, I still wrote this blog. I know that it is a week later than I wanted to post but I still had to make it a priority. I love working with all of my groups because without them, none of these projects would have been done. Thank you for reading and I hope to update you with more service opportunities I did this semester.






Still doing work,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Greek Barbecue- our 1st true hangout session of the semester.

This Sunday was a calm one for me. It was back to business as usual on Sunday after the dual Soccer games at OWU. I had the regular routine going... I woke up and went to church. After I arrived to church, I knew that this was not a regular Sunday. The church I knew that was River Valley Vineyard had become an entirely new church... name and all. Instead of River Valley Vineyard, it was now Delaware City Vineyard. The size had increased twofold and I was starting to feel out of place. I know that I will have to adjust if I want to stay there but only time will tell at this point.
After the church service, I walked back by cutting through the Delaware neighborhood.

I saw that Delt, one of the other fraternities on campus, was having a barbecue. I realized that Sunday was the day of the Greek Barbecue. This was planned by our Council of Fraternity Presidents and Pan-Hel. Any type of barbecue on a Sunday is a plus. Usually, I do not eat until dinner on Sundays, mainly because I do not have money or food points. I have to scrounge for food in my stash I got from back home.

I decided to go because I was hungry and that I was able to socialize instead of thinking only of work. The food was good and the conversations were decent. There are several pictures at the top of this blog. Check them out for yourselves.

I went to the women's soccer game afterwards. To me, this was the perfect Sunday; fun and relaxation. I eventually got busy with my schoolwork but mainly it was just readings for classes. Overall, the Greek Barbecue was a good time and I hope that we can have another one soon before the weather starts being too cool.



Be Safe,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

My Return Back to Ohio Wesleyan... for possibly the last time as an Undergrad

The summer is over and and I am writing not in the familiar confines of my home on my sister's computer (since my computer does not have Internet) but at Ohio Wesleyan. Oh man, my senior year. Many changes, many adjustments, new friends from the Class of 2013 (hopefully). You know you are back at school when you are looking through Consort and OhioLink to find Call numbers for books when you do not want to pay for them in the bookstore. Well, at least I am saving over $100 and can use that money for other important things such as my senior dues which are by the way, $110 (and yes, OWU people who read my blog, I will try to make it to the Welcome Back Toast at the Pritchard House). I am about to become either a social party animal counting down the days until I finish or a recluse, locked inside City Hall, an astronomy lab, Beeghly, or my room until December, at least. I hope it is the former.

My first day of classes was yesterday beginning at 8 am. This is something that I am somewhat used to with the exception that instead of being in a class, I am manning the Student Involvement desk. I am now working the Student Involvement desk in the afternoon from 4 pm - 6 pm, reminiscent to my sophomore year. My first class was a Religion class- Gandhi: Religion and Social Change. I think this class would be a good one; I just need to focus and get some coffee. I get a break at 9 am and return to class at 10 am with Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Some of my friends and fraternity brothers took the class last semester so I think I will get some of the books through the mail so I won't have to use more of my money. My professor is also my academic advisor and I had two of his classes already. I will definitely enjoy this class. At 11 am, I head downstairs for a dose of The Astronomical Universe. There are so many seniors in this class trying to find the least demanding science class. Honestly for me, it was between Astronomy or Geology and I already had a bit of geology knowledge in my Geography classes. I chose Astronomy purely for my interest. I foresee a lot of study groups at other fraternity houses. Even though I did not have my lab this week, I anticipate the challenge of an astronomy lab next week.

I have my Historical Research Seminar or Senior Sem as fellow History majors like to call it today and I am very optimistic about all of the wonderful sources that are out there. Microfiche seems to be everywhere and I will probably hit up some of the folio oversize books soon as well. Better yet, the Senior Sem class is once a week and there is only 6 other people taking it with me. This will be a most interesting academic year. I may have to add another course in order to fulfill my junior/senior residency requirement but I know that I can handle it. I have done 5.5 credits before and the result was very good. I have Choral Arts later today after work and then Smores at the Interfaith House, and finally an executive Circle K meeting.

Bishop Week is this week but I do not have much of an interest in it especially since I have tons of things to do already. What I am most looking forward is the Welcome Back Dinner and Toast with our President, Rock Jones, at his house on Sunday. I cannot wait for the celebration and to be reacquainted with all of my fellow seniors. Class of 2010, BABY!!! Whoo!!! Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures but I hope to change that very soon.







Living the dream,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Circle K International Convention

Shortly after the end of Circle K's Large Scale Service Project, we quickly transitioned into the more formal part of the week, the International Convention. Just like the Large Scale Service Project, I did not know what to expect. I just took everything one day at a time. Even though this was the more formal part of the week, there was no part of it that was unbelievably stressful to me. This time around, I was able to just stay in the Sheraton and sit in chairs during meetings and sessions instead of enduring the humidity of the South. I liked the transition.

There are a lot of pictures that seem to reflect only the fun and relaxed side of things. I preferred not to take pictures of majority of the ceremonies and meetings. Rather, I wanted to draw a visual picture of the happenings of the International Convention. The four day conference was intense and to the point.

On Wednesday, there was a short introduction with the Opening Session. Many of the attendees for International Convention flew or drove in during the Scavenger Hunt around Downtown Birmingham so they were well rested. The other attendees like myself were still recuperating from sunburn and ant bites, not to mention exhaustion from working in the humidity for three days so we had to transition our minds quickly. Nevertheless, the International Convention kicked off smoothly. I was reunited with my Ohio District and we had to come up with a cheer for the evening. The Opening Session was lighthearted with all of the districts introduced by their governors. Some districts had goofy outfits on while others had crazy cheers. This was a good way to kick things off.

Thursday- workshops were in store and the shop was up and running. Most of Thursday's events were business casual so I did not have to wear a suit and a tie. I was still running about attending all of the workshops and meetings I could to gain more knowledge about different aspects of Circle K on the club, district, and international levels. There was more time for my district to fellowship especially after a full day of meetings. I think Thursday was the day that we went into the Five Points neighborhood to have dinner. That was an experience in itself because I got to meet the Kansas district while eating up lots of chips and salsa. The restaurant was called Fuego Cantina, a Mexican restaurant that was surprisingly cheap (yes, almost as cheap as Chipotle, believe it or not). We took the DART (a bus transit) from the Sheraton to get there. The area has a lot of diverse restaurant so if I am in Birmingham again, I will definitely hit them all up.

Friday- It is caucusing and House of Delegates time. I did House of Delegates at DCON but there is nothing like a ICON House of Delegates. The bottled up excitement was there and I did not know what to expect. There were some amendments we had to go through and nominations for the International President office was shown. In the caucusing sessions, I got an opportunity to ask questions directly to the candidates. I was so happy that I was able to be a direct participant. Afterwards in the evening after our Tailgate dance, my district met to discuss the day's events and what could happen on Saturday.

Saturday- The tension was in the air when the House of Delegates recommenced. A new International President was announced and I am happy to say that he is from our mighty Ohio district. His name is Jason Stewart. The place erupted and I was and still am so proud and happy for Jason. He definitely deserves it and I am sure that he will lead Circle K International to new heights!! Most of the amendments were decided upon on Friday but the delegates opened the floor for decision for the remaining amendments. The Ohio District had an amendment on the floor and it was passed without question. We had a break for several hours and started back with the Closing Ceremony. This ceremony was filled with awards, laughter, tears, and memories from the amazing time we had at International Convention. There were some surprises and we got to see the retirement of the 2008-2009 International Board and the installment of the 2009-2010 International Board.

Well, this ended the amazing weekend. Even though I have left some things out due to me hurrying a bit because I have to pack for school tomorrow (I go back on the 20th of August and I am reposting updated info even though I started this post on the 13th, BTW), this is basically my weekend in the Magic City, Birmingham, AL. Circle K IS simply the best, especially when it comes down to its tenets of service, leadership, and fellowship. If you want to challenge me about Circle K's awesomeness, simply join the club especially when there is a district event and find out for yourself. I have pictures below; check them out.






























Continuing to be amazed by Circle K International,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10