Should I stay or should I go?

After three years of attending college, I know I will face the difficult decision: whether I stay in Ohio or leave to go to another state. I don't mind attending an institution and/or pursuing a job in another state but I want to stay in Ohio because my family is here. Everything I known and grew up with is in Ohio. That is the main reason I stayed in Ohio for my undergraduate studies. I may not have a choice in the matter. I do not want to limit myself in my job search though so I might have to relocate to get the best opportunity available.

Going back to school next school is crucial and every step I have will hopefully determine where I go in the near future. There are all kinds of factors that play into the job search in the near future, some of which have yet to be determined. I know that I have my professors to relay on as well as my Career Services Director at OWU. These people will be huge and can bring in a variety of people to help my future. I have a lot of options but right now, I need to gather my thoughts, continuing tweaking my resume and just take things slowly.

Leaving my family worries me a bit but this may be inevitable. I would like to think that I am marketable skills and that my experience in several fields and as a near future graduate of OWU will give me somewhat of an advantage. I am still learning and will closely monitor the job market. Maybe I will end up in Columbus where a lot of my friends are. Maybe I will end up in a foreign country like how other friends are right now. As the days pass by, I cannot help but think of my future.

No pictures this time around. I am gearing the camera and myself up for my big adventure down South to Alabama in less than two weeks. I am visiting family in Birmingham and Mobile for the beginning and the ending parts of the trip. In the middle portions of the trip, I will be attending Circle K's Large Scale Service Project and International Convention. Until then, I am taking it slow and laying low. I just had to write down something this week and my anxiety for an entry level position in the near future was urgently on my mind.






Realizing I can't change the inevitable (work) as I finish my college days,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Independence Day 2009

Independence Day 2009 was one of the best I have had in a while. While I did not shoot off any fireworks, I got to spend the day on a boat on Lake Erie and Cuyahoga River and view the fireworks from right above my head instead of in a car and far away. Usually, I am at home with my family bringing barbecue in and going out to Edgewater Park to enjoy the fireworks from afar. This year, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to stay in Cleveland but instead of going to the same spot for the fireworks, I wanted to change the location and the experience. This year, I went with just my sister instead of my parents and my sister.


The plan: we "got away" from the house and stayed in a nearby hotel at a cheap rate for the night. I did not know how wild the night would get so to be safe, we stayed in a hotel. We had a light lunch (I had mussels and my sister had spicy garlic wings). We relaxed a bit in the hotel after eating before we headed to the pier at Voinovich Park to get our tickets for the elongated cruise. The day was nice and there was a nice breeze coming from the lake.


Around 6:00 pm, dinner was served. The dinner was a traditional one: ribs, chicken, cole slaw, beans, and cake. We sat at the table with two other couples to accommodate all incoming passengers. The name of the boat was the Goodtime III, the newest addition to the Goodtime family. The boat was at capacity around 800 passengers. At dinner, the boat was about halfway at capacity but the main deck was the area where everyone was seated for dinner so at felt more crowded at dinner. The boat started to cruise around 6:30 pm and made its way around once to the west and back and then to the east and back.


We left our dinner seat and headed up to our designated deck- the 3rd floor. There, people started to slowly move toward their decks and enjoyed the open air. I saw the daylight turn into dusk and around 8:30 pm, we approach the dock again to pick up the other passengers on the boat who bypassed dinner. This time, the boat was at capacity and it was rather hard to move from one area to the other. The third and fourth decks were at capacity and the lower two decks were packed. The true celebration started even before the fireworks as people were dancing in the aisles and having a good time.


The boat continued to make its cruise through downtown Cleveland and beyond as the darkness overtook the sky. There were many smaller cruises that blocked off certain parts of the lake; as a result, the Goodtime III looped around several times and parked itself in a neutral area where the fireworks could be seen clearly. The fireworks started around 10:00 pm and ended at 10:30 pm. I took pictures of the fireworks but the resolution was not great so I switched to my videocamera and that worked very well. The boat returned to its dock at 11:30 pm and we headed back to the hotel for the night. In the hotel, there was quite the crowd since there were many family reunions happening. There were no stairs (I found the stairs early morning next day) so we had to wait for a while to board the elevator. We left around noon that Sunday and arrived back home in the early afternoon.




























Wishing Everyone a Belated Happy Independence Day,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10

Cleveland Wine Festival

Last Saturday, I attended the annual Cleveland Wine Festival. I knew that the day was going to be featuring all different kinds of wines from various wineries all over the Northeast Ohio region. The layout was similar to the one at the Rib Burn-Off a month ago but the location was different. Instead of the venue where the Rib Burn-Off was at the Tower City Amphitheather downtown, the Wine Festival was in Voinovich Park by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center. The festivities started around 1:00 pm and I stayed here until 6:00 pm.


I walked around the venue for a little bit to get a feel for the place. I immediately spotted a winery that I was familiar with, Ferrante. I stopped and sampled a glass of Merlot. The Merlot had a warm but rich flavor to it. I like red and wine wines but I favor red a bit more. I do not know exactly why- maybe it is the dryness and the warmth of the red wines that hits my tongue and exudes its flavor. Many of the white wines were also very flavorful but were sweet as well. Each of the servings of wine whether it was white or red, were one ounce each. At the door, my $30 paid for entrance, the wine glass, and 10 tickets.


There was something that caught me offguard. I thought that this was exclusively a wine tasting festival. I was wrong! There was also a small beer section as well. The free ticket came with my 10 purchased wine tickets. I used up most of my wine tickets before I spotted the secluded area. Before I headed to the beer section of the festival, I purchased food for myself and my sister, who accompanied me on the trip. I had a fish taco (halibut, to be more precise) and my sister had a gyro. Good food!


We sat for a while and enjoyed some musical entertainment and wine demonstrations. The wine demonstrations were informative and you even had the opportunity to participate in the act. I did not participate but it was fun to watch while I was eating my food. After resting in the sunshine for a bit longer, we walked to the back of the venue to find ourselves in the beer section. I did not know what to expect. The three types of beer was brands I never heard of. I tried two of them: Hoegaarden and Stella Artois. I believe one is Swedish and the other is French. The other surprising thing about the beer selection (well, two) was that the beer was not a sample (you cannot really sample beer like you can wine) and that the beer was in nice, shiny glasses. These glasses did not look cheap and the serving was probably around the size of a regular beer can (12 oz or so). Nevertheless, the beer was good- it was just unexpected.


The day continued and actually dragged on longer than expected for two reasons. The first one was expected: I purchased another 10 wine tickets. Once again, I rested after drinking the beer to savor the flavor and to look at the beer demonstration across from the vendors. I walked around for a little bit and decided to get the 10 additional tickets. I went through six of the additional tickets before my sister purchased another meal. It was when I was sitting down the second reason for staying than expected happened. This time, the event was unexpected. As I was sitting down waiting for my sister to come back with more food, a guy walks up to me and gives me an additional 12 tickets. Oh boy!! I had mixed emotions at that point because I was ready to finish off the remaining four tickets I already had. What I did was handed my sister half of the tickets and waited again for a little while before going to other vendors. At this time, it was around 5:30 pm and I was starting to feel exasperated and hot from being out in the sun all afternoon. I had to use common sense if I wanted to get home in one peace. I used a couple of the tickets and discarded the rest. I was happy with how the day went: no complications and a few fortuitous events. We took the train and the RTA back home as the train station was nearby (4-5 short blocks) to take in everything that happened. This event happens once every year so I really was happy when became of age to attend and to enjoy the fine winery (and beer)!





Enjoying a brief break from the monotonous scenery of my home,
Hasani Wheat
Class of '10