MacBad

MacBeth

            I attended the Macbeth play on Friday at 7 pm. From the get go I was really into the fighting scenes in the beginning. I liked how they didn’t use many props in the play. The music of the drums made the play even more thrilling when the scenes got a little intense. But I could not follow up with just exactly what was going on in the play. Maybe I had to read the book first or maybe I just didn’t pay enough attention to the play but I lost interest half way. Some of the scenes that really stuck out to me was when the older actor kissed the young woman playing MacBeth. I wonder if in her head she didn’t want to. After I left the play I was at least happy that I was introduced to the culture here at UCSB. I don’t want to be one of those people that leaves the play and acts like there is nothing that I could have learned from this. I admire every actor who tried to give the best performance, but I personally didn’t like it. Maybe I will go watch another play during the year and see if I change my mind about plays. 

I Feel Like A Librarian Now

     I admired the presentation that Dr. Lubach this week. I thought it was amazing how he tried to get us to want to challenge ourselves by thinking critically. He made me want to push myself every time he used those paradox examples about challenging everything we know around us. With regards to his presentation skills I loved how he didn’t seem like he was nervous at all when he was up there. I know I am going to have to do the same next week for one of my classes so I am going to try and set up a good presentation so I can end up with a performance like his. I feel like he was able to connect with the kids of FSSP because he kept saying great things about professors and alumni that once attended USB and made us feel more special. It made me feel proud and it just got me fired up for the rest of the presentation.

     When we went to the library I learned that if I have a paper do the next night and I need some valuable information. I am definitely going to use the online articles to my advantage. I feel like a lot of kids don’t know about it. All I have to do is go online and check for electronic articles and text online that I can read and use as a resource. Also I learned that on the uncarpeted side of the library the elevator goes up to the eighth floor while the carpeted side of the library only has four stories.

Plagiarism Is No Good!

        I think that the “How to Avoid Plagiarism” article really helped me understand that you can easily avoid plagiarism by properly citing a work. Coming into college I understand that plagiarism is a very serious issue. In my high school you could get away with using somebody else’s ideas. Not that I plagiarize myself but I am going to need to make sure that I double check every time I write a paper for any class that I write down my own ideas. The article also gave me knowledge of when and when not to use quotations. Sometimes you can use quotations so that way you take up more of the word count in an essay but it would be more effective if you just put what really is important in the quote and then follow up with your own interpretation or meaning of it. Also I learned that there are many types of plagiarism like direct and indirect plagiarism. Sometimes you don’t even know that you could be plagiarizing without even knowing it.     

         I think it is important to take plagiarism seriously but from previous experience with teachers, sometimes I don’t get enough material to work with so it just feels like I am only summarizing or repeating what has already been said. I also think that if I were a author or somebody who has done research on something and I found out somebody used my sources without acknowledging my work would offend me because of all the hard work I’ve doen and you’ve stolen.  

Thoughts on Librarian

          I thought it was really interesting that our librarian grew up in France and all those places in Europe because of her dad. It really seems that she it is in her best interest to help out as many students as possible at this school. I felt really comfortable when she added that she was especially excited to help out the freshman. It was really cool being introduced to the librarian and seeing how enthusiastic she was about working for the UC Santa Barbara library. I was expecting for her to talk more about the new library being built but that’s okay. I still had a good time learning the librarian’s background. She emphasized that the Library is going to become our favorite building during finals week. It was cool how she also gives out free snacks during that time because she cares about our health.    

            Also I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation the woman who worked at the Career Counseling Center did for us when we went. I also started reading the UCSB Career Manual and I find it really resourceful. There are pages that help you figure out how to write a proper resume with a cover letter. I think those are going to be really resourceful for me because I want to be able to get a job once the Fall quarter starts. I think the Counseling Center is a really good place for me to go to especially because I am an Undeclared major. I was looking through the bookshelves and they had books on different majors that I was interested in like Communications and Economics. So it would be very beneficial for me to do some more research on these majors so that I make the right decision.   

Academic Fair Post

I had a lot of fun at the Major/Minor Academic Fair. First of I would like to say that I am Undeclared but the two majors that I am interested in are Communications and also Economics. Both Economics and Communications both had stations at the fair so I really focused most of my attention on those two majors. I met Kimberly Hampton who is an undergraduate advisor for the department. I actually was lucky enough to schedule an interview appointment with her this Friday. I plan to ask her questions that have to do with the major. For example I want to ask if there are any study abroad programs that incorporate Economics. She also gave me a packet that describes what Economics is all about and it gives me all the prerequisite classes I need to take before I am able to go to the upper division major. Also I met Tanya Higuera from the Communications department. She talked to me about how she decided to do Communications and use her degree to go into a graduate school for Education. And that the beauty of majoring in Communications is that you can go different routes for higher education. She talked about how I can apply to law school or even business school if I wanted to.  While I was there I also looked into engineering and found out that if you do five years of schooling her at UCSB you can leave with a master’s degree in engineering. That seems very intriguing to me. I did not know that prior to attending the fair. 

Martin Flores

Hello,

            My name is Martin Flores and I’m from a small city called Lomita, CA in the greater Los Angeles area. I also lived in Phoenix, AZ for two years. I graduated from Narbonne High School which ironically is also home of the Gauchos so I like to pride myself by saying “Once a gaucho always a gaucho!” I have an older brother who is currently finishing up his Political Science major at UCLA. I also have an older sister who just finished graduate school at USC for Sociology. I love the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers and am more than happy to start a conversation about anything related to the basketball/baseball franchise. I enjoy going cruising on my board to the beach with friends and feeling the breeze as I ride along the coast. My favorite genre of music is electronic dance music.

            I am currently Undeclared but I am really interested in Communications or Economics/Accounting. I am really interested in exploring the different kinds of classes during FSSP so that I can get a feel of what I am really passionate about. I am really enjoying my Mummies, Myths, and Mysteries class with Dr. Stuart Smith. I want to learn more about the different majors here at UCSB. I also want to join a dance club here at UCSB to learn how to dance because I am not the greatest at it. I am really excited to find out who I really am meant to be in these next four years.