Wow. The end of another year. This is the end of a lot of things and 2009 will help bring in a lot of new challenges for me. Without further ado, I will tell you what I need to focus on in 2009.
Focusing on academics-
I had a really good semester for the Fall. I will do anything and everything in my power to sustain the good grades because I know that opportunities await me and having a good GPA is one of the factors that could hold me back if I do not achieve them. All of my courses in the Spring are Geography courses and since I have been doing well in these courses thus far, I will use the materials I have learned to help me in these courses in the Spring. I feel that my writing skills have improved over the last twelve months through all of the writing I have done in these courses and I feel that the comments from the professors have really inspired me to change it up. I followed their advice and it has truly helped me. The sites I am using are better, the examples I am using is more clear to the reader I feel, and I have more confidence in myself. Field trips and other related experiences in the classroom and out of the classroom have prepared me to write and think critically and in a cohesive matter. I think that I am more ready than ever to go back to the classroom. I realize that after these five Geography courses in the Spring, I will be done with the major. Having a good GPA and learning the applications and theories in these courses will help me with whatever I decide to do as a career in the future. I cannot let myself down.
Prepare for the future- I believe that it is pivotal for me to make connections right now. I do not know what I will be doing in the future but I have a dream and an idea. Now, I need to make sure that I take the necessary to solidify those dreams and manifest these dreams into reality. This semester is pivotal to making those connections and seeing what I do to further myself. I do not want to be one of those people who are not able to find work after I graduate. I also do not want to be living with my parents all of my life so now is the time to make myself marketable. There are opportunities in the classroom and outside the classroom in the spring that I want to pursue. GRE's, conferences in my majors, internships, field excursions, applying for grad schools in the near future. It is all up to me...
Time for myself- My final goal. I think that I did a pretty good job of that last semester. The one thing that I worry about is that I don't want to end up slighting one of the groups that I am a part of. Juggling executive responsibilities for BMF and Circle K and being an active member of my fraternity while dealing with coursework is not easy at all. I would be lying if I said yes. I enjoy it but I do not want to put one over the other. The spring semester is a lot more responsibility on me. There are conferences for Circle K including one the OWU branch is hosting (District Convention) that I need to be at in February. BMF is planning Hip Hop Week and doing our retreat in March and I need to get the logistics prepared. My fraternity is busy with the pledging process all semester. Somehow, I need to devote my time to these things without putting one over the others and without leaving the members of my organizations high and dry when there is a big event in which I am needed for. I am not doing Choral Art or Opera this semester so I will have more time. However, I plan to do to Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota for Spring Break so that is another thing that may or may not conflict. In the midst of all this events, I also need to have some time to myself so I do not drive myself insane while planning all of these important events. I cannot afford to lose myself in the process of planning these events for time for myself is pivotal for me. I need to plan accordingly so conflicts will not constantly happen to me in 2009.
I think this covers my New Year's Resolution goal that I have set for myself for next semester. Seems somewhat simple. I know that I have enough focus and determination to make all of these resolutions happen and stay this way. I will implement these goals and try to make everything slowly even though I will be jumping into the unknown rather quickly as school starts back in about ten days. In 2009, I predict that I will become a stronger and more balanced individual. I am ready to face 2009 and all it has to offer for me.
Diving into 2009 with a purpose,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Late Christmas gift that was earned
I am so thrilled to tell you that I have achieved something that I did not think I would achieve. In the fall semester, I have been documenting the fact that this was my hardest semester yet. This semester was definitely the most writing extensive which I do not mind but I really had to focus on the goals that the writings had required of me. At times in the fall semester, I did not know that I was going to succeed. Here I am in my Winter Break and a late Christmas gift has been bestowed upon me. Like a child waiting for Christmas to arrive so he or she can tear their presents open, I waited on my Fall semester 2008 grades to become available to me this very day. I awoke around eight this morning and the first thing on my mind was the grade report. I turned the computer, went to the site and looked around. I was in shock at first. Then the shock subsided and the feelings of joy, happiness, relief, and satisfaction entered my body. The reason: my first ever Dean's List. I never thought that I would reach it at least in my undergraduate career.
Let me sum up my feelings about each of the classes. These comments are entirely and should not be taken out of context. These comments are to serve as a hint for prospective and current students who choose to take these classes in the Fall of 09 or beyond.
Choral Art Society
My 5th consecutive time I have taken the class. I am sad to part with the program in the Spring but after this semester's double drumming of Choral Art and Opera, I think I have earned the break from Choral Art. The song selection this semester had a lot of variety although I wish we should travel more to the community. Hopefully, something like this will happen in the near future. The membership has grown since last year and that is a plus and I think the membership will continue to grow in the near future. All of the members seemed dedicated to providing their vocal talents and I am glad that I was a part of the program in the fall.
Opera
My appreciation for Operatic Theater has grown tremendously. I learned a lot in the three months we had together. In a way, I cannot believe how well we did the scenes program in such a short amount of time. In another way, we worked incredibly hard to make sure that everything went well so I am not that surprised that we pulled it off. I learned a lot about myself vocally and theatrically. Opera was 100x more challenging that anything I did through Choral Arts Society not just because of the shortness in time but the amount of time I had to put in Opera especially in its final three weeks before the shows. Not only did I have to sing (and sing well) but I had to do some basic ballet steps, act, and learn stage directions. I remember sitting in the Green Room and wondering why am I doing this. The reason: to push myself and to experience something that I never have done before. Overall, I love the Opera program that Ohio Wesleyan has and we really have some shining stars that could have a long and successful career in that field if they wanted. I am truly glad that I did Opera this semester.
Civil Rights and Liberties (Politics and Government)
This is easily my hardest class of the semester. The only reason I took the class was that I needed to fulfill a requirement for my Urban Studies major. In addition, none of the other classes I wanted to take for the major was offered in the fall so I decided to man up and take the class. Another factor weighing against me was that I have never taken a Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan. I took one at Kenyon when I was a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL (yes, I never officially went to Kenyon, I just took the course through a Kenyon certified teacher). When I saw my first exam score, it was average but I knew that my peers were doing better because many of them were Politics and Government majors. Nevertheless, I had to really motivate and push myself in order to get a better grade especially in the next couple of weeks where half of my total grade would be determined from a term paper, case briefs (think Roe v. Wade or Frontiero v. Richardson), and the last of three exams. I think that the open book and open notes last exam helped me in the end. I learned a lot about dissents and concurrences as well as different kinds of scrutiny to determine case that involve race, gender, and age. I also learned more than I wanted to about my term paper topic: Exceptions to the Miranda Rule. Looking at all of those government sources and becoming the library's slave for day's on end. Even though the grade matters, I think I learned more than what the grade on the paper (by the way, it is a C+) says. I am glad I took the course even though I would not like to repeat it through something like Constitutional Law. I will leave that up to the Politics and Government majors and minors.
Cartography and Visualization (GIS)
Behind Civil Rights and Liberties, this was the second most difficult just for the mere fact of its extreme tediousness. I will like to think of myself as detail-oriented but man...this class took a tremendous amount of time. I learned a lot of HTML and a little bit of CSS in the class. I had to learn a great deal in about fifteen weeks- different computer languages, different downloadable programs to build my website, programs to create my maps for Oklahoma, programs to create my animation of those maps, programs to make my website transparent, and all other types of other kinks to make my project of creating a functional website with all of the elements of a working animation of population change in Oklahoma through over one hundred years. There were some small things that really irked me throughout the project like the neatline we had to create to put the map in. To me, it is a good skill to have and note but in some cases, it was rather superfluous. No offense but if I had to do it again, I would skip the process of creating a neatline altogether. I like the bare background better. Anyway, despite the tedious process, I am a first-timer in creating websites and animations so this gave me practical experience (and something to add as a great resume builder). I know that I can utilize these newly acquired skills in the near future because a lot of the things we learned is really practical and with time, you can master these skills.
Environmental Geography
I love this class. This class is so cool and beneficial for sustainability. I created a Google Earth depiction of some of the places on campus where there was green space available to the general public. I never how much green space there was on campus until I started this project. Hoepfully, I can continue this project as it is very practical for recreation and research , whatever floats your boat. I hope to help my successor in the class understand the project and make its development and availability to people on-line a success. On the seminar side of things, this is the one class where even though I am not an expert I will put my two cents in. I like to talk about the environment because the environment effects me. The small amount of people in the class helped spark lively conversations. Sometimes, it was me and the professor and sometimes it was me and a couple other students. I am bound to link some of the material I learned in this class with Cartography in my next class in the spring, Geographic Information Systems. I believe that this class is a must-take, although it is hard to get into if you are a sophomore or a freshman.
The World's Cities/Urban Geography
To tell you the truth, I was not at all confident about how well I would perform in this class or how much I would take from it. Now that the semester is over with, I am so happy I took the class and that it is a part of my major. I understood cities already but I incorporated what I knew already into the theories and the different formulae of how cities across the country was built. I learned a lot in the class because not only did the professor provide a lot of information, he was able to bring a lot of other people to talk about the perspective of how cities were built. The perspective came from professors and students alike. Even though the class can be often frenetic, I did not have trouble keeping up in the class. I started slow in the class but I started to understand the subject matter in each class and really started to put the information in the lectures together with the immense amount of Eres material on-line that was the required reading. Even though I had to print off article after article after article week after week and I went through TWO 400-sheet ($20 each) limits on my account, I was glad I had them in the final weeks. I had the heaviest work load in the final two or three weeks in this class. I had a term paper about Delaware's morphology as a rapidly growing city, a presentation about the culture of Chicago, and my final exam that dealt highly with Latin American Cities and architectural design. I was happy with the result in the class and I know that I can use these projects as a jumping start to another projects in the near future. This near future is as soon as January 12 when I begin my Seminar/Capstone (as I like to call it) class in Geography, Contemporary American Landscape. I enjoyed the field trips and I want them to stay on the syllabus for a requirement for the class. The field research in Columbus and Delaware was really cool and I familiarized myself with those areas quite well from the trips. If you like an eclectic type of class that is not all one type of instruction, the World's Cities is a class you might want to take for an upper level class.
Race and Ethnicity (Sociology/Anthropology)
I love this class. I kind of wish that the professor was not leaving after the spring semester but it is what it is. I enjoyed my time with him and the format of the class. For some, it is boring and sonewhat useless. For me, it was an experience. I did not mind all of the writing (about 60 single space pages). Learning and immersing myself into the countries and all of their ethnic battles was something that I will not easily forget. The term paper in this class: Native Americans- Victims or Beneficiaries was something that I wanted to do for a very long time. When I got the opportunity, I researched and eagerly jumped into the causes and effects and some potential solutions. I was so excited about the paper that I almost finished it at home during the Thanksgiving break. This was a class that I was actually excited to attend almost every week. Like the Civil Rights and Liberties class, I only picked it because it was required for my Urban Studies major and it was one of the only available classes for the Urban Studies major in the fall semester. Nevertheless, I was glad to take the class and I would like to take a similar class in the near future.
Well, that ends my euphoric rant about my fall semester 2008 experience. I had to get it out and I thought that this was the best way to do that. This was definitely the late Christmas gift that arrived for me out of nowhere...and I definitely earned it this time around. I am happy and I am blessed this holiday year.
Getting ready for the spring semester and its opportunities for growth,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
Let me sum up my feelings about each of the classes. These comments are entirely and should not be taken out of context. These comments are to serve as a hint for prospective and current students who choose to take these classes in the Fall of 09 or beyond.
Choral Art Society
My 5th consecutive time I have taken the class. I am sad to part with the program in the Spring but after this semester's double drumming of Choral Art and Opera, I think I have earned the break from Choral Art. The song selection this semester had a lot of variety although I wish we should travel more to the community. Hopefully, something like this will happen in the near future. The membership has grown since last year and that is a plus and I think the membership will continue to grow in the near future. All of the members seemed dedicated to providing their vocal talents and I am glad that I was a part of the program in the fall.
Opera
My appreciation for Operatic Theater has grown tremendously. I learned a lot in the three months we had together. In a way, I cannot believe how well we did the scenes program in such a short amount of time. In another way, we worked incredibly hard to make sure that everything went well so I am not that surprised that we pulled it off. I learned a lot about myself vocally and theatrically. Opera was 100x more challenging that anything I did through Choral Arts Society not just because of the shortness in time but the amount of time I had to put in Opera especially in its final three weeks before the shows. Not only did I have to sing (and sing well) but I had to do some basic ballet steps, act, and learn stage directions. I remember sitting in the Green Room and wondering why am I doing this. The reason: to push myself and to experience something that I never have done before. Overall, I love the Opera program that Ohio Wesleyan has and we really have some shining stars that could have a long and successful career in that field if they wanted. I am truly glad that I did Opera this semester.
Civil Rights and Liberties (Politics and Government)
This is easily my hardest class of the semester. The only reason I took the class was that I needed to fulfill a requirement for my Urban Studies major. In addition, none of the other classes I wanted to take for the major was offered in the fall so I decided to man up and take the class. Another factor weighing against me was that I have never taken a Politics and Government at Ohio Wesleyan. I took one at Kenyon when I was a JUNIOR in HIGH SCHOOL (yes, I never officially went to Kenyon, I just took the course through a Kenyon certified teacher). When I saw my first exam score, it was average but I knew that my peers were doing better because many of them were Politics and Government majors. Nevertheless, I had to really motivate and push myself in order to get a better grade especially in the next couple of weeks where half of my total grade would be determined from a term paper, case briefs (think Roe v. Wade or Frontiero v. Richardson), and the last of three exams. I think that the open book and open notes last exam helped me in the end. I learned a lot about dissents and concurrences as well as different kinds of scrutiny to determine case that involve race, gender, and age. I also learned more than I wanted to about my term paper topic: Exceptions to the Miranda Rule. Looking at all of those government sources and becoming the library's slave for day's on end. Even though the grade matters, I think I learned more than what the grade on the paper (by the way, it is a C+) says. I am glad I took the course even though I would not like to repeat it through something like Constitutional Law. I will leave that up to the Politics and Government majors and minors.
Cartography and Visualization (GIS)
Behind Civil Rights and Liberties, this was the second most difficult just for the mere fact of its extreme tediousness. I will like to think of myself as detail-oriented but man...this class took a tremendous amount of time. I learned a lot of HTML and a little bit of CSS in the class. I had to learn a great deal in about fifteen weeks- different computer languages, different downloadable programs to build my website, programs to create my maps for Oklahoma, programs to create my animation of those maps, programs to make my website transparent, and all other types of other kinks to make my project of creating a functional website with all of the elements of a working animation of population change in Oklahoma through over one hundred years. There were some small things that really irked me throughout the project like the neatline we had to create to put the map in. To me, it is a good skill to have and note but in some cases, it was rather superfluous. No offense but if I had to do it again, I would skip the process of creating a neatline altogether. I like the bare background better. Anyway, despite the tedious process, I am a first-timer in creating websites and animations so this gave me practical experience (and something to add as a great resume builder). I know that I can utilize these newly acquired skills in the near future because a lot of the things we learned is really practical and with time, you can master these skills.
Environmental Geography
I love this class. This class is so cool and beneficial for sustainability. I created a Google Earth depiction of some of the places on campus where there was green space available to the general public. I never how much green space there was on campus until I started this project. Hoepfully, I can continue this project as it is very practical for recreation and research , whatever floats your boat. I hope to help my successor in the class understand the project and make its development and availability to people on-line a success. On the seminar side of things, this is the one class where even though I am not an expert I will put my two cents in. I like to talk about the environment because the environment effects me. The small amount of people in the class helped spark lively conversations. Sometimes, it was me and the professor and sometimes it was me and a couple other students. I am bound to link some of the material I learned in this class with Cartography in my next class in the spring, Geographic Information Systems. I believe that this class is a must-take, although it is hard to get into if you are a sophomore or a freshman.
The World's Cities/Urban Geography
To tell you the truth, I was not at all confident about how well I would perform in this class or how much I would take from it. Now that the semester is over with, I am so happy I took the class and that it is a part of my major. I understood cities already but I incorporated what I knew already into the theories and the different formulae of how cities across the country was built. I learned a lot in the class because not only did the professor provide a lot of information, he was able to bring a lot of other people to talk about the perspective of how cities were built. The perspective came from professors and students alike. Even though the class can be often frenetic, I did not have trouble keeping up in the class. I started slow in the class but I started to understand the subject matter in each class and really started to put the information in the lectures together with the immense amount of Eres material on-line that was the required reading. Even though I had to print off article after article after article week after week and I went through TWO 400-sheet ($20 each) limits on my account, I was glad I had them in the final weeks. I had the heaviest work load in the final two or three weeks in this class. I had a term paper about Delaware's morphology as a rapidly growing city, a presentation about the culture of Chicago, and my final exam that dealt highly with Latin American Cities and architectural design. I was happy with the result in the class and I know that I can use these projects as a jumping start to another projects in the near future. This near future is as soon as January 12 when I begin my Seminar/Capstone (as I like to call it) class in Geography, Contemporary American Landscape. I enjoyed the field trips and I want them to stay on the syllabus for a requirement for the class. The field research in Columbus and Delaware was really cool and I familiarized myself with those areas quite well from the trips. If you like an eclectic type of class that is not all one type of instruction, the World's Cities is a class you might want to take for an upper level class.
Race and Ethnicity (Sociology/Anthropology)
I love this class. I kind of wish that the professor was not leaving after the spring semester but it is what it is. I enjoyed my time with him and the format of the class. For some, it is boring and sonewhat useless. For me, it was an experience. I did not mind all of the writing (about 60 single space pages). Learning and immersing myself into the countries and all of their ethnic battles was something that I will not easily forget. The term paper in this class: Native Americans- Victims or Beneficiaries was something that I wanted to do for a very long time. When I got the opportunity, I researched and eagerly jumped into the causes and effects and some potential solutions. I was so excited about the paper that I almost finished it at home during the Thanksgiving break. This was a class that I was actually excited to attend almost every week. Like the Civil Rights and Liberties class, I only picked it because it was required for my Urban Studies major and it was one of the only available classes for the Urban Studies major in the fall semester. Nevertheless, I was glad to take the class and I would like to take a similar class in the near future.
Well, that ends my euphoric rant about my fall semester 2008 experience. I had to get it out and I thought that this was the best way to do that. This was definitely the late Christmas gift that arrived for me out of nowhere...and I definitely earned it this time around. I am happy and I am blessed this holiday year.
Getting ready for the spring semester and its opportunities for growth,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
Saturday, December 27, 2008
First Week of Break
I am so ecstatic that I am home right now. Everything seems to be going very smoothly thus far. I forgot my camera but I do not think I will be taking pictures that holiday season. I do not have anywhere that is worthy of taking pictures this year. If you can remember last year, I went on a cruise. This year, I am facing the blues and realizing that I am a broke college student. I suppose that this was meant to be. Surely, I have received money but I need that money for more important things for after the New Year such as books and dues. Luckily, I do not have to pay tuition expenses this year. That is a first...usually I do have to pay some money. This time, the bill from the Accounting Office came and stated that I did not owe anything. I hope that this statement is correct because that is one less thing I have to worry about over the Break. I am blessed to have survived last semester and will soon be ready to tackle another.
For now, I am resting at home trying to catch up on my blogs. As you have noticed, I have not posted one since around Thanksgiving because of the hustle and bustle of completing my courses satisfactorily (or better). Now, I am sitting here and realizing that priority goes to schoolwork but I know that I cannot abandon this opportunity to talk to people through my blog. My mind is scattered so I am trying to think of things without giving away any clues to changes next semester. Writing on break this time around is harder than I expected.
The break thus far has been pretty uneventful. I think the first time I got out of the house was yesterday. Christmas just passed and I desperately needed to get out of the house. My dad gave me money to get minutes on my phone. I was getting a good amount of messages on my phone and since I was out of minutes before yesterday, I kept getting messages that said I had insufficient funds. Since I am not likely to use my cell over break, I think I will be just fine and that the minutes will last me until at least February. I also went to use the money that my dad gave me as a gift to purchase a new down coat. I stumbled on this coat that is branded Makaveli. The coat was different than the others I had at my house and I was confident when I put on the coat that it would keep me warm for the really cold temperatures. I like the coat and I am glad I got the coat when I did tight after Christmas. Other than that, yesterday was a relaxing day.
On the other days, I was either sleeping through, playing the games on the newly acquired Xbox 360 that my brother purchased over Thanksgiving Break, reading books, being on the Internet, or watching football and basketball games to pass the time. Very laid back at my house. Today, I will probably try to start up this snowblower that my dad purchased- it is a good day to do it because the temperature is about 60 degrees. This is good for only one day because temperatures will drop to around 35-40 degrees tomorrow. This is typical Cleveland weather for you.
Well, I do not have much else to say. Next time I blog, I will either recap the Fall Schedule or review what I consider my New Year's Resolutions. I will decide in the following days. Until then, Happy Holidays!
Taking life in slowly,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
For now, I am resting at home trying to catch up on my blogs. As you have noticed, I have not posted one since around Thanksgiving because of the hustle and bustle of completing my courses satisfactorily (or better). Now, I am sitting here and realizing that priority goes to schoolwork but I know that I cannot abandon this opportunity to talk to people through my blog. My mind is scattered so I am trying to think of things without giving away any clues to changes next semester. Writing on break this time around is harder than I expected.
The break thus far has been pretty uneventful. I think the first time I got out of the house was yesterday. Christmas just passed and I desperately needed to get out of the house. My dad gave me money to get minutes on my phone. I was getting a good amount of messages on my phone and since I was out of minutes before yesterday, I kept getting messages that said I had insufficient funds. Since I am not likely to use my cell over break, I think I will be just fine and that the minutes will last me until at least February. I also went to use the money that my dad gave me as a gift to purchase a new down coat. I stumbled on this coat that is branded Makaveli. The coat was different than the others I had at my house and I was confident when I put on the coat that it would keep me warm for the really cold temperatures. I like the coat and I am glad I got the coat when I did tight after Christmas. Other than that, yesterday was a relaxing day.
On the other days, I was either sleeping through, playing the games on the newly acquired Xbox 360 that my brother purchased over Thanksgiving Break, reading books, being on the Internet, or watching football and basketball games to pass the time. Very laid back at my house. Today, I will probably try to start up this snowblower that my dad purchased- it is a good day to do it because the temperature is about 60 degrees. This is good for only one day because temperatures will drop to around 35-40 degrees tomorrow. This is typical Cleveland weather for you.
Well, I do not have much else to say. Next time I blog, I will either recap the Fall Schedule or review what I consider my New Year's Resolutions. I will decide in the following days. Until then, Happy Holidays!
Taking life in slowly,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
GEOG 370- Downtown Columbus Excursion
Okay. It has really been almost a month since I posted the pictures so I figured that I needed a clear explanation for not completing the blog when I started it. Well, for the last month or so, I have been in a continuous and often vicious cycle of school work. I really have not been able to break this cycle. I had reports, presentations, papers, works cited, and finals all to do within the Thanksgiving Break and the final three weeks. I do not believe that I ever had that much amount of work to complete before the Winter Break. Then again, I am now into my third year at Ohio Wesleyan University and as I learned from this personal experience, the third year is usually harder than the first two. I have not completed my fourth year but I heard that the third year is usually harder than the fourth if you plan out your courses correctly. I am thankful that I have made it through another semester at Ohio Wesleyan. I hope that my grades are okay.Anyway, that is the reason why I have not completed this blog the same day when I posted the pictures. The topic of his blog is part of the reason; I had to do a term paper on the evolving morphology of Delaware and incorporated the effects of Downtown Columbus into this term paper. I believe the result was an interesting read especially when some of the research
materials I used to develop the paper. This excursion was the second field trip that was required for the class; this time, the field research was conducted in the heart of Downtown Columbus- the exact time area where I was when I boarded the Greyhound for his trip to Minnesota. This time; the field research was not as long- only four hours instead of seven- and not as boring. This is not an AAG conference where for eight hours you hear from all kinds of speakers about all kinds of geographical subjects. This is research in the purest sense. Being in the field all day is not fun and not having a break within really makes the experience of conducting geographical research in a particular area tedious. I like researching cause and effect information in the geographical field but I need a break at some point to really understand that I am conducting.In the field of Downtown Columbus, I learned a lot about its history and how it become a central
business district more than anything. There are some restaurants but they are more like bistro instead of full-fledged romantic and exotic restaurants. Downtown Columbus especially in the Arena District is all business. There are upscale hotels in the area but like the restaurants, they cater to the businesses and people who are driving or flying in for their meetings. Their entertainment area is not that big and if I had a preference as to which downtown I would rather live in between Cleveland or Columbus, I would choose Cleveland because it is more diverse. Neither of these places are the safest but I would want to live in an downtown area where there is more than just businesses. Good thing that German Village is nearby the Arena District of Columbus.
I wrote my term paper for the class using my observations from the two class field trips as well as published information from journals and books. I found a lot of information about the development of Ohio and in particular, the Columbus metropolitan and how it connect small counties and towns such as Delaware. I think I worked on the project for about two weeks or so; I tried to make the project as relatable as possible and that the reader would not have to think too much about it. I will see in the near future if the research and the observation I compiled were good enough for a good grade in the project and in the class. I am crossing my fingers as well as looking for constructive criticism to improve on the project in future projects (I have a class next semester that might as well serves as the successor to this class about the World's Cities and Urban Geography).
I think the pictures of Downtown Columbus can explain the field research and interesting details of the trip a lot better than I can so I will leave you the pictures at the bottom of the page.
Viewing changing morphologies of cities like Delaware,Hasani Wheat
Class of 2010
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Mid-Semester Break- Saturday and Sunday
Well, I know that some of you may be getting a little bored with the Mid-Semester Break blogs but to tell you the truth, I could not condense it to a single blog. That would have taken forever. Alas, my trip is coming to an end so I will condense the Saturday and Sunday portions especially since I do not feel that Sunday's ride home was not all that necessary to talk about (being bored or sleep for almost twenty-four hours).
On Saturday, I got the bill for my stay at the Hilton. It was for a good chunk of money. I exercised and got into the whirlpool for the last time to waste some time before my shuttle. I had to pack all of my belongings and carry it inside the Mall of America. I was going to send the day there and take a taxi back to the Greyhound in downtown Minneapolis. I was unfortunate enough to find a storage locker big enough to put my luggage (that was a relief!!) I went to Hooters for lunch. I never had been to a Hooters since there is not one close to me in Cleveland. I had no idea what the experience was going to be like. I was escorted to a table by a waitress dressed in short shorts and a bikini shirt top. That was an interesting feeling. It was done very professionally and I liked the atmosphere. Laid back and very casual. Something that did shock me was that Hooters sold seafood. The food I purchased? Oysters. I thought that the oysters were going to be fried and out of their shells. I was wrong. The oysters (and I have pictures of them) were in a pail (which was strange enough), in their hard shells and seasoned. The look on my face probably was one of puzzlement. Opening the shells took me a while; some of the shells were very difficult to open. I thought crab was difficult to get open; oysters was very hard even though they were delicious. I paid money for them so I figured that I better at least attempt to open all of them. I had a Long Island and a Mojito there too to waste more time so I was happy with my meal even though I was still hungry.
The rest of the day was a breeze. I walked aimlessly about the mall for a good five hours afterward randomly going into different store hoping for another purchase. As the night came, I got my luggage and exited the building known as the Mall of America (or the most fun place on Earth for three days of my life). I have so many pictures and memories of the Mall of America. Maybe, just maybe I will do a presentation on its awesomeness at a DOGG (Department of Geography and Geology) Lunch. Or maybe I will keep this treasure to myself. I don't know yet. Either way, I would love to go back to the Mall of America in a couple of years to change if there are any changes. I am so blessed to get the opportunity to leave Ohio by myself to go to the Mall of America.
I will leave you with this: if you want excitement, go to the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. If you want an adventure, go to the Mall of America. If you need to get away, go to the Mall of America. If you want to try a Casino and Hotel environment with a carefree attitude of what happens next, go to the Mall of America. This is an awesome experience- trust me on that!
Wanting to go back to the Mall of America,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10
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