First Semester of College

The first semester of college at St. John's University has been quite an adventure, but a short one. I remember thinking before college, that it would be a whole new experience and a whole shift of change. It was true that it was all new to me and life-changing. The fact was I was not the only one going through it now, there were plenty of incoming freshmen that would feel even more nervous then I did. The experience did turn out to be different than I expected it to be.

The first couple of days I had made friends with plenty of people, faster than I ever did in my life. I became friends with my roommates, friends with her friends, friends with students I met at orientation and even the orientation leaders. School itself has been very interesting too. I loved all my classes and all my teachers. The activities has also brought many people together.

This semester was a life-changing experience for me. This has helped boost my social life. It has made me make life-long friends and experiences I will never forget.

Ban on giving underage drinkers alcohol

The Suffolk County Legislature passed a proposal stating that adults who allow other people's children to drink alcohol in their homes would face fines and possible jail time under "social host". There is a law on the books in Nassau County. The proposal is aimed to prevent adults from serving alcohol to underage people. The county wants the law to be in effect before the holidays, since most drinking goes on around New Year's.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy has not decided if he wants to sign the legislation into law. Communities across the country have adopted such statutes. The Suffolk County legistaure is supported by MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) and The Long Island Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence. Presiding Officer William Lindsay and Thomas Barraga voted against the legislation. They said they are concerned that the government is sticking its nose into citizens' private lives. Some are concerned that this miht lead underage drinkers to drink somewhere else like somewhere public. They feel that if they are unsupervised it is more likely they will drink and drive.

Civilians hit by LIRR

Two people were struck and killed by trains on Monday in apparent suicides. One man jumped in front of an oncoming train at the Wyandanch train station. The train was traveling at about eighty miles per hour. After the accident passengers were transported by bus. The train line was delayed for two hours.

Monday night, another man was hit by another train. This man was killed west of the Floral Park station. Trains for Huntington/Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, and Hempstead branches were delayed. The trains were delayed up to forty-five minutes. The Ronkonkoma branch was restored at 10:30 a.m. this morning.

Drunk driver hits police car

An unlicensed, intoxicated driver crashed into a Nassau County police car parked on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway. The driver left the officer and the driver's passenger in critical condition. At 5:44 a.m., yesterday, highway patrol officer Gennaro Ferraro was parked on Exit 48 on the Long Island Expressway. His car was hit by Paul Reid, Jr., 24, from Brentwood. The driver has a checkered driving record.

Reid, Ferraro, and Reid's passenger, Jorge Roman, 24 were taken to Nassau University Medical Center. Reid and Ferraro were both in critical condition, but stable. Ferraro suffered head and back trauma. Roman has a possible fractured leg. Reid has a possible collapsed lung.

Reid was arrested on several charges. The charges he was arrested for was second-degree vehicular result, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and driving while intoxicated. Records indicate that Reid either pleaded guilty to or was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2000 and 2001. State motor vehicle records indicate his license was suspended or revoked multiple times in 2005 for driving without insurance, driving an unregistered vehicle, and failing to pay fines and respond to summonses.

DNY trip

It was required in my Discover New York to go to a neighborhood in the city and take pictures and write information on it in a powerpoint. I did not want to go to the city alone. On November 19, me and my two friends took the shuttle to the ferry. The neighborhoods I picked was Chinatown & Little Italy. My friends choose Wall Street and the Village.

We first walked towards Wall Street. We passed Ground Zero. We decided to walk to Chinatown. We walked along Fulton Street and even pass City Hall. Before we knew it we were in Chinatown. We got some tapioca drinks and then went to Wo Hop, one of the restaurants. Soon we stepped into Little Italy. I felt at home, I love Little Italy, every time I go there I feel I have arrived at home. We went to Caffe Palermo and got canollis.

It was 10pm when we realized we better head towards the ferry to catch the 10:30 so we get the last shuttle at 11. We hopped on the R to the ferry. When we got to the ferry the doors were closing so we ran like hell! You should have seen us, we looked a wreck! Overall it was a good personal trip, I would do it again!

Happy Turkey Day!

Thanksgiving is a time to spend with family and to give thanks for the things in your life. I did not get to spend it with my family, because they moved to Georgia, and we have no money to travel. I did get to spend it with my boyfriend's family, which is practically my family. I did have lots of things to be thankful for this year. I am thankful that I was able to go to college and I am also thankful that I found the best boyfriend in the world!

So, I went to Long Island, a short travel from the city. Thanksgiving started with the smell of stuffing early in the morning. Dinner was ready by the start of afternoon. There was plenty of turkey, stuffing from inside the bird and out, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, and carrots. It smelt so good, I could not wait to eat!

My boyfriend and I had a mini and I had a mini candle light dinner. Now, it is traditional to have red wine served with dinner in an Italian family. So we had wine with our Thanksgiving dinner. It was hilarious watching my boyfriend trying to pop the cork off the bottle of wine. It was a wonderful dinner and Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday to Me!

On November 11, 1989, I was born. Eighteen years ago I was brought into this world. I can not believe all the obstacles I have been through in eighteen years. I am just so thrilled that I am finally eighteen! I am finally legal.

The weekend of my birthday this year I traveled back home, to Long Island to spend it with my boyfriend and my friends. They threw a little party for me and we had fun. I took plenty of pictures. We even had a little countdown for midnight when November 11th began. It was a fun night.

Unfortunately my boyfriend could not take off of work on my birthday, but he worked until 2:15 p.m. Once 2:15, came around I was wondering where he was, since he works around the block. He came home a surprised me with a half of dozen roses. How romantic! He even got me a cake.

He wanted to take me out to dinner, but I had to go home to college, it was Sunday and I had school the next day. I would have to say it was the best birthday ever!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Halloween is when you get to dress up and be a character without people looking at you like you are crazy. It is the time when you get to be spooked out by scary stories and things of that nature. I think everyone loves Halloween. Everyone of all ages participates in Halloween.

One of the best parts of Halloween is the Trick or Treating. The kids love this part and so do I. You get to go to people's houses and collect so much candy. I have to admit I do have a sweet tooth. There is also the bad part which most teenagers are responsible for. There is the egg throwing and the t.p.ing of the houses. So be careful of that when you are out on Halloween, thankfully I did not run into it.

The school did host some events. There was a Halloween party. There was also the trip to Greenwich Village for the Halloween Day Parade. We were to meet in Residence Life to receive our free Metro Cards. Next we were to be picked up by the shuttle bus, it was so crowded that night. We then were taken to the Ferry. From the Ferry it was to the One Train until Christopher Street.

It was a very nice parade and I got to walk in it!

Kings Park

Kings Park Psychiatric Center is an abandoned psychiatric center in Kings Park, Long Island. Many people have came by this abandoned institution. Lots have come by for a dare or have brought their camera. Some have come to vandalize and steal. Either way everyone who has came put themselves in danger and have been trespassing.

State park officials have issues 231 violations and 17 arrests. The main issue is the safety of people's health, there are a lot of asbestos in the building. The asbestos gets on their clothes and they bring it home with them. There are lots of hazards at this site. The psychiatric center was closed in 1993.

Around Halloween lots of teens come to do dangerous activities. I know for a fact some of my friends that I worked with have visited Kings Park, because it is haunted. Indeed it is, they took pictures and you can see the orbs. They told me stories of the ghosts they have seen. You may not believe it, but I do.

Officials have said they were going to install cameras to catch trespassers. This is a very dangerous place and should be secured.

I got the job!

College is an expensive thing. Even though financial aid is covering everything, somethings are not covered, because they are not necessities. My tuition, room & board, meal plan, and my books are covered. There are other things that have to be paid for too in the real world. What about things that are like your basic needs like toilet paper and things of that sort? Who's going to pay for that? The student is.

What happens to those students like me who have no money, whose parents have no money either? That student has to find a job. So I have been searching since I got here, I've tried the mall, the surrounding area, and even campus. Since work study is on a first come, first serve basis, I did not get it because I couldn't find St. John's code for FAFSA until they accepted me in May.

So thankfully, I applied for a telemarketing job at Wagner College, and I got the job. Tuesday was the orientation, and I got paid for that day too. Yesterday was my official first day. I am supposed to persuade alumni and family of alumni to donate money to the Wagner College Annual Scholarship Fund. It was so nerve racking making my first call. Most of my calls were no answers. I got a few refusals and call backs. I did get one person to think about pledging.

Once I got to the Massachusetts pile, everyone was a little annoyed, because I was interrupting their Red Sox game. I am glad I got a job, finally I can be motivated again and get the money I need. Overall, I liked my first day!

My friend's Sweet 16

On Friday, October 19th, my friend had her Sweet 16 and I was invited to the special occasion. It was held at the Bridgewater Yacht Club in Island Park, Long Island. It felt like a little reunion for me, seeing lots of people I went to high school with. It was not one of your Sweet 16's from MTV's Super Sweet 16, it was more of a traditional one. The theme was Greek, because she is Greek, so the colors were blue and white representing the flag.

There was a dance floor with a D.J. Her mother looked beautiful. They gave us mardi-gras beads, sequined hats, and sunglasses. It was finally time for miss Sweet 16 to come down the stairs. She looked absolutely gorgeous. She had a big white ball gown on. After dancing a lot, she decided to slip into a more comfortable blue dress.

Soon, it was time to eat. Of course they had Greek food, but I'm Italian, so you know I was looking for the pasta. Thank God, they had baked ziti (my favorite) and calamari. I felt like I was sitting in V.I.P. since miss Sweet 16 herself was sitting at the table with me and my boyfriend and his sisters. The souvenirs were glass coasters that said "LOVE" . I had a great time, it was good to see old friends.

I'm feeling Wicked!

Last week I went to see the play Wicked. Now let me tell you that play was phenomenal! I always wanted to see it and now I finally have and was very ecstatic with the story and all. The actors were great, the make-up was perfect, and the singing was awesome. Even those who do not like plays, were all happy with the performance.

Wicked is a play with a little background information on the witches in the Wizard of Oz, before Dorothy comes along. The Wicked Witches were not evil after all, they were just portrayed as so. Rather, they just had drama in their lives and the problem of acceptance. They were outcasts and were never out to hurt anyone, someone just spread a rumor that they were "Wicked". If anything the Wicked Witch of the West was the honest one in the play.

The performance was the greatest I've ever seen. The story made so much sense, everything tied in really well. I loved how every scene had a dramatic turn of events that put the whole audience in shock. Everything you suspect about the play is probably everything the play is not. I don't wan to say anymore and ruin it.

I absolutely loved this play! I would see it again and again. You have to see this yourself!!

Scholarship

I have never won anything in my life. The day when I received the letter in the mail telling me they were pleased to inform me that I was one of the recipients of the Helen Martin Scholarship I was shocked. I didn't think I even had a chance. I mean after all there must have been hundreds of other kids waiting to go to college that were in worse situations then I was. Apparently, my situation was as bad as I thought, I wasn't the only one who felt that way.

I bet you are wondering what the scholarship was for. Well the scholarship was from the Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. I was required to write an essay with a minimum of 700 words explaining my homeless situation. I was also required to fill out the application for the scholarship, obtain my high school transcripts, and recommendations. Only two recipients would be chosen.

I did not even think that I would have a chance, there was a deadline, which was July 12, and I mailed it out the day before. Well, the essay brought tears to their eyes. When I went to the 19th Annual Keys for the Homeless Conference on October 12, I felt like I had won an Oscar. When they called my name I went up to the stage to receive my award I presented my story. I felt like a celebrity, many key people were congratulating me.

That was a wonderful experience. I really appreciate the Nassau-Suffolk Coalition for the Homeless for giving me a chance.

Noose found on Columbia professor's door

Yesterday, at Teachers College in Columbia University, a black professor found a noose on the door of her office. Once the university found out, they reported the police immediately. The university conducted a community forum on the incident today. The 44-year-old female professor was not identified. She is a scholar in race relations.

Many students were hurt about the incident. The university is very diverse. Some were impressed on how quickly the school reacted on the incident. Most couldn't believe what had happened yesterday. A lot were in shell shock as to what happened.

Debbie Sonu, 31, a fourth-year doctoral student in urban education was very disappointed about the incident, but encouraged by the swift response made by the school. She called it a wake-up call. Sonu recalled the six black teenagers in Jena, Louisiana. Civil rights activists said they were treated unfairly by the local justice system. They were also prosecuted overzealously when fights along racial lines broke out at their school last year.

Irish Day Parade

This past Saturday was the Irish Day Parade in Long Beach, New York. I know what you are thinking, she must have it wrong, Is she talking about the St. Patrick's Day Parade?, and if she is it wasn't March 17th this Saturday. I know you must think I have lost my mind, but I haven't, it's something celebrated each year in October in the West End of Long Beach. It is a nice celebration and to see people of the Irish heritage show their pride. I went with my boyfriend who is part Irish.

The Irish Day parade is basically a little festival like the San Gennaro's Feast for the Italians but only obviously for the Irish. People all over were really into it. Some had flags, green shirts, and even died their hair green! One thing that was nice about the City of Long Beach, was that they made the West End bus free from 3pm to 6pm. It was very crowded, but everyone was having a good time. It was nice though, because it's a small area compared to the city, so even though there was so many faces there, you knew most of them because you grew up in the surrounding areas.

I would have to say I had a wonderful time. Even though I am not Irish, I would like to attend it again, it was very nice.

Levittown's 60th

There is a town in Nassau County, where I'm from, on Long Island. This town is in the history books for making a debut of a new type of living area. This town is Levittown. Levittown was the start to surburbia. Sixty years ago this weekend Levittown was established.

William Levitt began to build this town in 1947. The building of the town consisted of thirty houses a day. The town was meant to build homes for people to move out of the city and into residential areas and for the GI's to have a place to go when they got back from the war. All the houses looked relatively the same. None of the houses had basements or garages and the second floor was the attic.

The streets in the town were named in groups, like there would be a group of streets named after flowers, or birds. There are two high schools, General Douglas MacArthur High School and Division Avenue High School. One of the main roads is Hempstead Turnpike. Many famous people have grew up in this town such as Billy Joel and Bill O'Reilly. The town has been such a rise to surbubia.

Memories

What are memories? Memories are a fragment of our mind that express a certain event that happened to us good or bad. They are important to us because they are in our head and we never truly forget. Most of our memories are good ones that we never want to forget and reminisce about every once in a while. The bad ones we try to forget and shut out of heads.

Most of the time people will write their memories in a diary or some kind of daily log book so they never forget. Even some of the bad memories are written down. Some of the bad memories could be like a death, so you remember the date to remember the person who was so close to our hearts. Lots of things can trigger our memories. Most of our memories will also have a special place in our heart.

A place can always bring back a memory. Just going to a certain place can make you feel as if you are back at that moment. Songs can bring you to memories, for some reason music is always around that reminds of us something. We can always connect music to memories. A lot of surrounding things can remind you of a memory. Memories last forever and never die. They are always programmed in our heads even if we forget, they are still there.

My boyfriend's Uncle's Wedding

This Saturday, September 29, my boyfreind's Uncle Wayne got married. The wedding was held at the Holiday Inn in Plainview. It was so exciting for me because this was the first wedding I have ever attended. It was so nice to meet the other side of boyfriend's family. The names of the guests were in these cute little picture frames. There were napkins with a big "G" for the Glass family and the newlyweds names on it with the wedding date. The bridesmaids dresses were the same color purple as this font. It was really beautiful.

The reception was the best part of the wedding. That's when the party really started! The music was nice, it was mixed in with old, new, slow, and fast. There was even kareoke. At the toast, everyone got champane and there a lot of food.

Now see, my boyfriend likes Techno, so he requested some of it, but the only song they had was "Sweet Caroline". Well, he killed the dance floor, everyone was clappin for him and chanting his name! Then the bride went to throw her bouquet, and I caught it! Unfortunatly my boyfriend could not catch the gerter, some tall elderly man leaped over my boyfriend. If it was not for him, he would have got it.

The sourvernier was heart-shaped spoons and purple and white M&Ms with their names on it. The wedding was defiantly fun, without a doubt! The best part was when I caught the bouquet, I guess you know what that means, I'm getting married...I just hope not anytime soon!

The Color Purple: the play

I don't know if you have ever seen The Color Purple, the movie, starring Whoopie Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, but it was a pretty good movie. It was about a young black girl named Celie, who gets pregnant and is forced to marry a man who makes her life miserable and basically takes her sister, Nettie, away. Along her journey in life she comes encountered with strong characters who make her realize she is beautiful. The play is a musical which stars American Idol winner Fantasia Barino.

Well, I thought the play was very nicely put together, in fact I think it was better than the movie. It was much more funny than the movie. I really enjoyed it and really got trapped in the play, even though Fantasia was not there. My favorite character in the play was Sofia. Sofia was a big busty women who was married to Harpo who was the son of the man Celie married. Her favorite phrase was "Hell No!" I really liked her because she was a very gutsy woman who spoke her mind. The character was played by Natasha-Yvette Williams. I did manage to get an autograph from her too!

It was a really good play despite what many have thought. I recommend that you do see it sometime if you haven't already and if you did I think you should see it again.

NYS Drviers Lisence

It has always been pretty difficult to obtain a drivers lisence. Either you couldn't pass the written, it was too much money for it, you just couldn't drive, or you didn't have enough proof of identity. Well, New York State has made it a little bit easier to get your lisence. This is more for illegal immigrants to be able to obtain drivers lisence without having to have certain proof of identity points like having your Social Security number.
So what do you think? I think it is making it way to easy in this country for illegal immigrants to get away with a lot. I don't think it is fair, our ancestors had to get into this country and become legal citizens. Why should we have to do so much like pay taxes, if we can be like illegal immigrants and get a lot of benefits by living in the land of the free. So, anyway I don't think they should be able to obtain drivers lisence easier than us, they might not even know how to drive or understand the traffic laws.
Why should it be easier for an illegal immigrant to obtain a drivers lisence, when a 17 year old college student can't take a written exam for a lerners permit without a parent present? I don't understand why illegal immigrants are getting treated better then the citizens of a country they aren't even apart of. I feel that illegal immigrants should get their papers and become legal citizens of the United States.

9/11

It was a bright Tuesday morning 6 years ago. The sun must have shined it's brightest. It wasn't until about 8:30 am that the whole world's morning was ruined, especially those in downtown New York. A terrorist attack occurred when a plane hit one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It wasn't but a half hour later when the second tower was hit. At 10 am both towers had completely collapsed. That sunny morning ended in dust.

People all over the world were affected by this tragic event, even those who didn't even know a single person from either tower. I was one of those very affected. I know what it's like to lose someone, so I know how painful it was for all those victim's family. That morning is a morning no one could ever forget. Everyone knows where they were, and when they first heard about the tragic event. I was in school in Long Island, I was in the seventh grade. It wasn't until 3rd period, 10:03 am, when my teacher told us about what happened. His name was Mr. Finnegan. Like all other kids, we were all playing around and laughing when we walked into class. Well, my teacher, who is a really jolly guy, had a very serious tone in his voice. He told us about the event, and we listened to some stories on the radio. The latter of that day it was very quiet, serious, and sad. When you came home, no matter where you were, every channel had the playback of the terrorist attacks over and over again. It was so sickening you had to turn the TV off.

Even today, after 6 years, on the anniversary, we are still reminded of that tragic event. There is also the controversy with the building of the Freedom Tower. I think we should build some building there, to help hold the rest of the surrounding buildings up, but not something as high as the Freedom Tower, because we will just be reminded of 9/11 and the vulnerability of having another terrorist attack.