6 months ago

Isn't it crazy how 6 months ago we were still in highschool going to school everyday for a set time? How times flies by is just crazy to me. I wonder where did the time go and did I accomplish everything I wanted to in that time? Well for most people 6 months ago was the greatest time of their life as they graduate from highschool and moved on to college. For me I wasn't as fortunate. Today I celebrated what would have been my great-grandpa's 94th birthday. He passed away five days before my graduation and two days before finals; I was a mess. As I sit here and write this I feel this emptiness in my gut that makes me miss him so much. He was the best man ever, I mean if you were to see him you could just see all work he had put in over his long life to provide for my family. My family and I can truly say we wouldn't be where we are today if it wasn't for him. I am truly going to miss him and to be honest typing this is really hard, but there is one thing he always taught me and that was to never give up and to always do my best at any task at hand. Well Christmas is just around the corner and I would give up anything for him to be here, but with his blessing I know he will be right there watching over all of us.

What are friends?

As I continue to grow as a person I have realized and came to find who my true friends are and who just act like my friend with things are all good, but would turn on me in the long run. As you get older you need to choose wisely on whom you can not only trust but who can be your friend through the good and the bad. As I continue to figure out who my true friends are I will base our friendship on a few key characteristics. A few of these in which I will review before deciding if they are true friends is if they are 1. Loyal, meaning they don’t talk behind my back or lie to me. The second would be honesty, in which I have to be able to trust that they are honest to me and don’t try to lie to me in order to make them sound cool. The last characteristic in which I will judge them on is if they are trustworthy and if I can trust them in all situations of having my back and looking out for me. When you find people like this you should hang on to them and show the same respect in return because people like this don’t tend to come around to often. I feel I have a few of these friends now but I could always use more friends in which it is good to have more than 1 single person you can hang-out with and trust at any given time. I plan on meeting more people like this in college and to build upon the great friends I have now.

Back to Work

Now that football is over I have to go back to work, to try and earn some money for my daily expenses. Next week I will start working again at my dad's auto repair shop, in which I will clean, run errands and clean cars for him. These labor jobs make me realize that this is not what I want to do for the rest of my life, and that I better stay in school and stay focused on getting a good job. I mean people talk about how time flies by in college and so I need to have my plans ready when I get out, so I don’t end up working for my dad or a hard labor job for the rest of my life. I guess now that I am getting older that I am grow more mature about making the best of my future and that it is no longer my parents decision and that it is mine to succeed with the tools I am given from my family and the knowledge given from hard work in college. After I receive my earnings for providing work I plan on taking the money and saving it till I find something good I can invest it in so that I can start building my money for my future. For at this time in my life I am plan for my future and I am going to focus on making my future now so that I can party and have a goodtime later on in life when I have the money and knowledge already conquered.

College Birthday Transformation

So I am sitting here on my birthday thinking to myself am I where I thought I would be in life at this time in my life? I came to the decision that I haven't been to productive in helping other people and giving up time of my day to become a better person. My first step to changing this is going to church, in which I will attend St. Andrews Parish this Saturday night. I also well start donating more time helping out charities, especially now that football is over. On this rainy, gloomy day I feel like it is a day to wash away all my sins and have a fresh start to my life. From this day forward it will be my goal to be the best I can be and to just be an overall good citizen and neighbor. I feel now that I am in college I am realizing what kind of person I would like to be when I grow up and that it starts now by building that character. All the mistakes and bad decision that I have made in the past I will learn from and allow it to enhance the person I will grow to be. Other people should think about this as well because this is our life we are talking about and everything we act upon, will affect us for the rest of our lives. So why not just be the best you can be, do what is right, and just be a good person in general to not only your close friends and family, but to everyone.

Happy to Help

So over the past few months I haven’t felt very useful to the world today. I have started to perform community service around the Kansas City area, just helping out with simple chores. I first started by helping sort food for the charity of Harvesters, which donates food to the homeless and other charities around the community. I feel everyone should experience these simple chores because you can really see how much people appreciate the food people waste on a daily basis. The next service I performed was cleaning the administration building of City Union Mission. This task took me about hours in which I helped clean the facilities in which several homeless people use every night. This was another great experience in which I started to appreciate everything I already have instead of always wanting more and more. I feel like these tasks were a great idea and I will continue to give back in the future. These experiences really help me learn to enjoy and be thank for what I have and that at any moment it could be all taken away. Finally it made me realize how others live these inadequate lives every day and I can make a difference just by giving them the things I waste the most. Before I left I donated clothes, food, and even signed up for more dates in which I plan to go back and interact with kids that are in these same situations.

Ridiculous Rates

In today’s society there are several things in which I think should be changed for the better good of entire world. The most severe problem that affects just about everyone today is the ridiculous rates or prices for a gallon of gas. Gas prices affect a lot of people budgets, and even daily lives. For example families have to limit their vacations or activities they can do because of the cost. People without jobs, such as college students, have a difficult time finding money for gas go home and visit their family. There has to be something they can do about this financial problem. What most people don’t realize is that when gas prices go up every other item that is transported by freight goes up as well. For example milk has gone up $2.00 a gallon in the past three years, and continues to rise with the prices of gas. They have tried to find cheaper ways top fuel your car, but have not yet came up with a successful plan. People, especially Americans are so reliant on gasoline that we continue to buy gas for these ridiculous prices. If I could I would start a movement of people to set a strike on when to buy gas and that we all limit ourselves to one full tank a week and you can only fill up on Sundays. With this I feel we would become more efficient on our usage and we would send a message to the world showing we are not as dependent as they may think we really are, lowering the prices because of the over abundance that will build up.

FALL BREAK!!!

So as for most people this 5 days fall break from school consisted of traveling back home to see their family that they haven’t seen in awhile. For me it was just another 10 minutes drive to my house to find my parents in Italy. So this break I just had a lot of alone time to myself and some old friends that I had not seen in awhile. So after football practice Thursday morning I headed home for a nice long nap in my big comfortable bed. That night I went out to eat with my grandma and great aunt that are staying at my house babysitting my dog. Friday morning I got up did some homework and did some chores that I had to get done before my dad got home. When I got done cleaning the garage, bringing in the patio furniture and giving the dog a bath, I decided to meet up with my friend Joe Piscottia for some lunch down The Cigar Box. That night I decided to drive to a casino in Oklahoma and gamble with a few friends. Five hours later and up $300 I choose to stop and talk my friends in to going home and going to bed. Saturday afternoon I woke up got some lunch with my sister and got my car cleaned to kill sometime before a big night. That night I went to my cousin bachelor party, in which we went all around Missouri having a good time. Finally I woke up this morning to my grandma cooking meatballs and pasta for our Sunday get together. Then I watched football till around 5 o’clock till I had to leave and come back to school to attend a football meeting. Now I am finishing up blogs and dreading the start-up of school again tomorrow. Why can’t weekends just never end?

Freshman Year 101:

An article written by Dave Berry on Collegeconfidential.com discusses how first year college experience is unlike any other experience you will encounter in your life. Dave talks about how this is a time full of anxiety, anticipation and memorial discoveries. As most kids experience the drastic change of moving away from home, it is said that it will have the most impact of kid’s impression on college. The workload is known to double and even triple from high school and you have to be ready for it or you can get behind really easy. It is said though that the best part of your freshman year is the people you will meet and how you will become close with major of these people for the rest of your life.

I agree with this article because it is everything I have been going through and pretty much summarizes my freshman year experience so far. Now I feel the workload isn’t as bad as everyone said it would be just because my high school did such a great job at preparing me for this moment. Now meeting people has been a little harder for me too because I am the kind of person that only wants to be around honest, fun, and real type of people. Finally for the long endless night doing homework and partying I don’t get to experience because of football and because I just choose not to, but besides that my college experience has been enjoyable and interesting so far.

The eyes of another student

So over the past couple weeks I have been interviewing my friend Thomas Clanton on his perspective of William Jewell and the change he went through moving here from San Diego, California. Thomas told me he liked it here a lot, but there were definitely some major adjustments he had to make. The first thing he had to adapt to was the weather and how humid it is here compared to back home. He also said that it was strange not knowing anyone and having to meeting all new friends to hang out with for the next few years. Besides that he said, “The rest is all easy”. By that he meant that the rest is just part of life and you have to adapt to new things and explore a little. The main thing Thomas has trouble with is just being so far away from home and while some kids like me and can be home in 10 minutes to a hour, he can’t. Although Thomas won’t be able to see his family until Christmas he says he likes the freedom from his parents and is glad he is getting to see new parts of the country.

My reaction to this was that he was right and that you just got to adapt to these things and open your mind up to new things. The only thing I can’t really relate with is the distance from home and the freedom. See my freedom here is pretty good, but I mean my parents are still right down the street and can manage everything I do, not allowing me to make my own decisions. Oh well though for now I am just going to enjoy my time here at William Jewell and make the best I can of it.

Sundays

For the last couple years I have fell in love with Sundays. I mean it’s the day we get to honor the Sabbath and relax, what's better than that? Every Sunday morning I wake up from a long night out with friends to the smell of meatballs and eggs. Majority of the time my whole family is upstairs talking loud as all Italians do, screaming for me to get up. So this is my cue to get up take a shower and get ready for church. Then we go to church and thank God for everything he has done for us. Afterwards, (my favorite time) we go home get comfortable and watch all 16 games of NFL football on DIRECTV, while stuffing our faces with meatballs and loafs of Italian bread. Sometimes I will take a nap or play outside with my little cousins till it is time for them to leave. Usually after that I would go do my homework and go to sleep, but lately I have had football on these days cutting not only into my family time but into my relaxing time and watching football. This year the NFL season is suppose to be really good I mean from what I have seen every game is close and there is no longer one really bad team. A lot of teams are either really young or really old; making the rivalry’s better and better. I can’t wait till the day comes that I can start enjoying my Sundays again.

Home, but yet Away.

Home, but yet Away.

Well since I only live about ten minutes away from campus I have been visiting home quite frequently, and every time I walk into my house I am anxious to see what has changed, but nothing has. Everything is the exact same it’s like coming home from a vacation to find your whole house calm and untouched. Everyone is doing the same stuff too, my friends are still talking about things, and of course my parents are still working. I am not real sure what I expect to change or what I’m hoping might change, I just want to get out of my comfort zone and experience some real change. For the past few months while I have lived on campus I haven’t found much change affect me, it’s like I was one of the only students that didn’t undergo the drastic change that most college students go through. This really makes me wonder would I even like the big change or should I just stick with what I got?

See when I’m at Jewell, I feel like the rest of the world stops and Jewell becomes a world of its own for college students. I guess that’s why I am so amazed to see nothing has changed back home. I mean sometimes is feels like my life before Jewell died in the sense that it was just past memory that has been forgotten. These memories I use to have and remorse for hours with friends, just died and everyone is off doing their own thing now. So in a sense I guess it’s time for me to move on, it just is weird being home but yet away at the same time.

"Down with the sickness"

So this weekend wasn't a very good weekend for me. My roommate Kane Southwick happen to get a bad case of strep throat throughout the week missing several football practices. Finally, I happen to catch it and was miserable all weekend long. It all started Saturday morning before the game, when I woke up with my throat just throbbing. I immediately took some Tylenol sore throat to try and sooth the pain but it didn't do to much for me. After telling coach and having him and the trainers check it out, they made me sit out for the game and just watch from the sidelines. Throughout the game is was raining and it was cold, not helping my throat at all. When the game came to an end I immediately got in my car and drove home. At this point I felt miserable and didn't feel like doing anything, so I took some more medicine, ate some soup and went to bed. I woke up today feeling a lot better, being able to actually eat food and swallow without my throat hurting. Then I went to football weight lifting and it started to hurt again so now I am just hoping it doesn't come back for the school week. At the moment  I am in study hall and it is hurting, making me just want to take some medicine and go to bed. But until this is gone I would recommended staying away from me so you don't take the risk of catch it as well.

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day!

FANTASY FOOTBALL

So Sunday was the kick off to the 2011-2012 NFL and if anyone has ever played fantasy football they know how intense the first week match-ups are. This year I am really excited because I drafted the best team I have ever had and I have a chance on winning my league. So as week one started I was losing to my friend vince from the get go. My players just weren't preforming the way they should have putting me in a big hole. By Monday night I was down by forty points and we both had two players left, at this point I though for sure I was defeated and I was going to start off the season 0-1. But out of no where one of my players stepped up and had one of the greatest games of his career. The player was Tom Brady quarterback for the New England Patriots, throwing for 517 yards and 3 touchdowns. This gave me sixty points alone allowing me to win the match-up outright 166 points to 141 points. Now next week I have an even hard opponent, and I am hoping that a few of my players step up and preform better because I can't count on Tom Brady to do what he did every game. See winning in our league gives us bragging rights and a free meal from every other person who is not as lucky to win. So there isn't a option I have to win or my friends will talk trash till next season.

MIZ-ZOU

So last weekend I decided to take a road trip to the University of Missouri to visit a few friends from high school. The adventure started with an 9 a.m. breakfast at Ma and Pa's with a friend named Joseph Pie. So Joseph and I sit down enjoy are breakfast and then on the road we went, jamming to some old school music. About an hour and a half later we arrived at our friends new apartment and laid down to take a power nap. Around 1:30 p.m. we woke up and went to this restaurant called Stadium Grill where I attempts to eat a five pound cheeseburger. Unfortunately I didn't have what it took to finish it at the time, but I'm sure next time ill will succeed. So after lunch we went back home to watch some college football game until we went out. All day .I was looking forward to watching the rivalry game between Notre Dame and Michigan, hoping that my team Notre Dame would pull off the win. At the end of the 4th quarter Notre Dame was up 24 to 7 having control of all the momentum. Then Michigan scored and then they scored again and then they scored again going up 28 to 24 having one of the greatest come backs ever. Michigan went on to win the game 35 to 31 beating Notre Dame three consecutive years. This made me upset and forget that I was even down at MU to have a good time. So I got over it and got ready for the long night that was ahead of us. The night was long and full of crazy things I would like to tell you but I rather not on my blog for everyone to see.

P.S. If you really want to hear about this crazy night, come find me and we can talk in person.

Labor Day Weekend

Hey, everyone hope you had a good break from school and took advantage of the nice weather we had over labor day. This weekend as for most of us I hung-out with some old friends, did some homework and spent time with my family.

Friday My friends and I went out to eat to my favorite restaurant called Los Corrals in downtown Kansas City, MO. After eating we went home changed our clothes and went to small party at my cousins house, it was really nice to see some of friends and discuss how college life is different to everyone. Around 1:00 am I drove home and fell asleep in my big my comfortable bed, which I missed tremendously. 

Saturday I woke up around 8:00 am and came to campus to get ready for our football game against Colorado Mines who were ranked twentieth in the nation for division II. It started off to be a decent game, even the weather was good until a storm came around half time and the game was delayed due to lightning. After the game I went out with my girlfriends who I hadn't seen in awhile and we grabbed some dinner and rented a movie to end the night.

Sunday I wake to my dad screaming my name telling me to get up because I had to help set up for my sister and grandpa's birthday. Finally we got all set up and my family arrived. At first everyone was just relaxing and eating watching a little pre-season football, until my little cousin hit their hyper mode. So to entertain them we all went outside and played soccer. I have to admit I was surprised everyone got involved even the dogs were playing with us. After an hour or so we all were burned out and decided to crash in front of the television. I ended the night relaxing in my big bed and watching severals movies.

Monday I was exhausted so I slept in till around noon till I smelt the distingue aroma of my dad's meatballs and sauce. Later that day I drove back to campus to do some homework and get ready for classes today. Well it's time to get back to work and only look forward to what this next weekend might bring, talk to you soon.

College Life

Some qualities that make up my identity are quite simple. Well first off I am i pretty easy going guy and I love spending time with my friends and family. I am Italian so every Sunday we get together and eat, while we remorse on our "Rough" week we had. These are times I will always remember, just because of all the crazy stuff that go on in my big family. My dad has 9 brothers and no sister, giving me around 35 first cousins that I see just about every Sunday. I feel that I they are the main reason I am here and that they brought me into the world to love me and to take care of me, so the least i could do is spend time with them. My family means everything in the world to because they are always there for me through rough times. In 1934 my family opened car service and sales operation and my dad keeps expanding it. This has made me have a real passion for cars and every aspect of them. Through the years my family has taught me a lot about cars and how to maintain a good vehicle. Most of my friends have the same interest as me, which is why we get along so well. One thing that my friends and I can all agree on is girls, we just love everything about them to be completely honest. My goals here in college is to experiment and search for that one special girl that will one keep me in check and two will just be a good friend. But my last and final quality that has made me become who I am is the game of football. Football has taught me three main qualities that I will always maintain throughout the course of my life. The first quality it taught me is hard work and that in order to be successful you have to work as hard as possible. A second thing it has taught me is teamwork and that you have to be willing to work and rely on others to achieve goals. You, also have to be willing to share the success with others because honestly you need them as much as they need you. I mean it is logical that two people can accomplish a lot more than one could in any given period of time. Finally the third quality football has taught me is how to be responsible, because being responsible will show what kind of person you are and will take you further in life. To be responsible means to take control of your own actions and to liable for actions you may take throughout the course of your life.