Hello once again my dear readers. The time has come for me to put an end to my blogging. It was been a great journey while it lasted, and I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given to be able to share my life with everyone for the past 3-4 years. I hope some people took away some good advice, learned from my mistakes, and laughed at some quirky or silly things I have done.
In the past few months a lot of different changes have come my way and I could not be happier. I have gotten engaged, getting married in October, buying a house in November and life could not be any busier than it already is.
If I could give everyone one more piece of advice it would be to take advantages of all opportunities that come your way because you never know where those opportunities will lead you. Sometimes the world can be scary, sometimes it can be challenging but it’s not about the final destination, it’s about the journey. You will meet good people, bad people, and people who just waste space but hopefully you learn from each person and take away as much as you can.
Best of luck Berkeley students, potential students and everyone else who reads this!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Metro Cards
I woke up pretty early this morning, and I had a chance to put on the news. Normally I don’t watch the news since I have to be at work pretty early but today I don’t have to go into work until 11 am. I also usually don’t watch the news because it’s always something depressing that they are reporting on and today was no different. I heard about the metro cards that they want to take away from students and it really upset me.
Currently in New York local students get free or discounted MTA cards which allow them to go to school and back home. Part of the budget cut ideas that are on the table includes taking away those free cards so that students can start paying for their cards and the MTA makes more money. If this was to happen many students would lose out on different opportunities as they would not have a way of attending school, work, and events.
It really upsets me that people that are appointed high positions such as councelmen, governors, CEO’s etc consider making decisions that could be so detrimental to our local students who at one point will be ruling this country as well. Many schools especially colleges depend on students being able to use free of discounted transportation in order to attend their classes. There are plenty of students in high schools and elementary schools that have parents with low income and their parents can’t provide transit fare for them but almost every college student is broke!
Luckily I had a car when I attended college but many of my friends did not. Berkeley has 3 campuses in New York, 4 in New Jersey and many times students had to go between the different campuses in order to complete their education requirements. I saw many of those students struggle every day because New Jersey does not offer free public transportation to students and it was hard finding money but bus tickets.
I am totally against taking free and discounted metro cards from students and I hope that you agree with me. Stand up for your thoughts and beliefs and give your opinion as well. Every little opinion and vote counts so if you can please go to the www.CW11.com website and stand up for students like yourself to keep your free of discounted tickets.
Currently in New York local students get free or discounted MTA cards which allow them to go to school and back home. Part of the budget cut ideas that are on the table includes taking away those free cards so that students can start paying for their cards and the MTA makes more money. If this was to happen many students would lose out on different opportunities as they would not have a way of attending school, work, and events.
It really upsets me that people that are appointed high positions such as councelmen, governors, CEO’s etc consider making decisions that could be so detrimental to our local students who at one point will be ruling this country as well. Many schools especially colleges depend on students being able to use free of discounted transportation in order to attend their classes. There are plenty of students in high schools and elementary schools that have parents with low income and their parents can’t provide transit fare for them but almost every college student is broke!
Luckily I had a car when I attended college but many of my friends did not. Berkeley has 3 campuses in New York, 4 in New Jersey and many times students had to go between the different campuses in order to complete their education requirements. I saw many of those students struggle every day because New Jersey does not offer free public transportation to students and it was hard finding money but bus tickets.
I am totally against taking free and discounted metro cards from students and I hope that you agree with me. Stand up for your thoughts and beliefs and give your opinion as well. Every little opinion and vote counts so if you can please go to the www.CW11.com website and stand up for students like yourself to keep your free of discounted tickets.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Who Would Have Thought
Ugh, I have to say I feel like such a blogger slacker. I have been slacking majorly in contributing to my blogging community here at Berkeley. Sometimes life just happens and you lose track of all your responsibilities. About a month has passed since I have blogged but not much has really changed in my life.
Recently I have taken an outlet in reading different books, mostly biographies. I have never thought that I would like reading biographies but after reading one I got stuck on them. Why are they so interesting to me? After reading my first biography from cover to cover I have come to realize that reading biographies is like getting to meet all sorts of people, learning from their experience and actually feeling like a friend to that person.
I am a strong believer that the best way to learn life lessons is to learn it the hard way, on your own. Many times we are told certain things but for some reason things just don’t click until we experience something on our own. By reading peoples stories I feel like I get the best of both. I can read a lesson that someone else has learned but also be able to visualize and feel the feelings that a character in the book has felt where I almost feel like I am the character in the book.
I recently even started listening to the Easy Listening station on my Verison Fios music stations. They always play music that sounds like movie soundtracks so it adds a little background music to your book. Biography books are something I have never thought I would be interested in. I always thought they were dry, boring and uneventful. My lesson learned here is that don’t judge a book by its cover, literally. Sometimes it’s important to try things out of your comfort zone because you just never know what might strike your cord and make you want to play.
Recently I have taken an outlet in reading different books, mostly biographies. I have never thought that I would like reading biographies but after reading one I got stuck on them. Why are they so interesting to me? After reading my first biography from cover to cover I have come to realize that reading biographies is like getting to meet all sorts of people, learning from their experience and actually feeling like a friend to that person.
I am a strong believer that the best way to learn life lessons is to learn it the hard way, on your own. Many times we are told certain things but for some reason things just don’t click until we experience something on our own. By reading peoples stories I feel like I get the best of both. I can read a lesson that someone else has learned but also be able to visualize and feel the feelings that a character in the book has felt where I almost feel like I am the character in the book.
I recently even started listening to the Easy Listening station on my Verison Fios music stations. They always play music that sounds like movie soundtracks so it adds a little background music to your book. Biography books are something I have never thought I would be interested in. I always thought they were dry, boring and uneventful. My lesson learned here is that don’t judge a book by its cover, literally. Sometimes it’s important to try things out of your comfort zone because you just never know what might strike your cord and make you want to play.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Leaders
These past few weeks have been very positive for me. At my job we now have a new Executive Director who took charge the second she got in the door. I have to give credit to our Regional Director for making a good pick for our school and choosing the right person for the job. The lesson learned in this for me in major.
After spending a few days with Jennifer, who is the new Executive Director I have learned how important and hard it is to find the right management for companies. There are many things that have to be considered when finding the right person for the job. From what I was able to observe you have to make sure the individual matches the personality of other co workers, has great team building skills and knows how to be firm but respectful to people.
Another important thing that I have observed is how one person in an organization can change the atmosphere of the workplace. When your employees are happy, they become a lot more productive and they take pride in what it is that they do. Once we got a new leader I could see a total change in the atmosphere in the school. I feel like the educators are a lot more willing to collaborate with each other, students feel proud of their school and our image is slowly changing in the community for even better.
The best thing though is that everyone can now focus better on their job. I am very excited to get back into doing activities for students and getting more involved. Every year students have an annual competition they attend in Hersey Park where they compete nationally with other students in different hairstyling categories. If they win, they can get certain trips, money prizes and other incentives to become great cosmetologists. Due to the hefty cost of the trip we are looking to have some fundraising done for the students so that the whole trip does not have to come out of their pockets. In February we are planning on having a hair show where the students show off their skills and present a hair fashion show for the public. Our last show was very successful and I am very excited to run another one!
After spending a few days with Jennifer, who is the new Executive Director I have learned how important and hard it is to find the right management for companies. There are many things that have to be considered when finding the right person for the job. From what I was able to observe you have to make sure the individual matches the personality of other co workers, has great team building skills and knows how to be firm but respectful to people.
Another important thing that I have observed is how one person in an organization can change the atmosphere of the workplace. When your employees are happy, they become a lot more productive and they take pride in what it is that they do. Once we got a new leader I could see a total change in the atmosphere in the school. I feel like the educators are a lot more willing to collaborate with each other, students feel proud of their school and our image is slowly changing in the community for even better.
The best thing though is that everyone can now focus better on their job. I am very excited to get back into doing activities for students and getting more involved. Every year students have an annual competition they attend in Hersey Park where they compete nationally with other students in different hairstyling categories. If they win, they can get certain trips, money prizes and other incentives to become great cosmetologists. Due to the hefty cost of the trip we are looking to have some fundraising done for the students so that the whole trip does not have to come out of their pockets. In February we are planning on having a hair show where the students show off their skills and present a hair fashion show for the public. Our last show was very successful and I am very excited to run another one!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Holiday Season
The Holiday Season has come and gone and I hope that everyone had a wonderful week. I hope that everyone got to spend the days that are important to them with the people that they love and cherish the most. I am very fortunate to have people around me that care and love me and helped me get to this point of my life.
Sometimes I wish that we were able to have a holiday season every month of the year. It’s interesting how when this time of the year comes around people get together with family, enjoy a time together and take the time out to be grateful for what they have in their lives. We should be happy every day for what we have and the people that are around us. One thing I have to mention that I am most grateful for in my life is my education. When you think about how many people in the world don’t have a chance to go to school yet alone college you begin to realize how grateful we really are. Thank you Berkeley College for providing me with quality education that I can carry with me for the rest of my life.
This Christmas I had a lot of adventures. My family and I normally celebrate Christmas Eve for the Polish tradition of “Wigilia” which is a traditional meal where a family gets together for with specific foods. This year we ended up having Wigilia in Queens, NY and getting there was a nightmare. I had to work until 4:30 therefore by the time I got home and then drove to Queens it was 8pm. I spent a good time with my family and finally got home around midnight. The next morning at 5am we left on our journey to North Carolina to see other family members. The drive was about 10 hours and it was our first time bringing the puppies Ella and Samson with us. Lucky for us we didn’t hit any traffic along the way but we did notice that this year we had a lot more people on the road than last year. Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early at 8am and hope to get home around 5pm.
Once again, I hope that everyone had a great time this holiday season. It doesn’t matter what you celebrate as long as you are surrounded by good people and people that care about you. Be grateful for that you have and not for what you are missing because happiness does not depend on your circumstances, it’s a choice that you make.
Sometimes I wish that we were able to have a holiday season every month of the year. It’s interesting how when this time of the year comes around people get together with family, enjoy a time together and take the time out to be grateful for what they have in their lives. We should be happy every day for what we have and the people that are around us. One thing I have to mention that I am most grateful for in my life is my education. When you think about how many people in the world don’t have a chance to go to school yet alone college you begin to realize how grateful we really are. Thank you Berkeley College for providing me with quality education that I can carry with me for the rest of my life.
This Christmas I had a lot of adventures. My family and I normally celebrate Christmas Eve for the Polish tradition of “Wigilia” which is a traditional meal where a family gets together for with specific foods. This year we ended up having Wigilia in Queens, NY and getting there was a nightmare. I had to work until 4:30 therefore by the time I got home and then drove to Queens it was 8pm. I spent a good time with my family and finally got home around midnight. The next morning at 5am we left on our journey to North Carolina to see other family members. The drive was about 10 hours and it was our first time bringing the puppies Ella and Samson with us. Lucky for us we didn’t hit any traffic along the way but we did notice that this year we had a lot more people on the road than last year. Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early at 8am and hope to get home around 5pm.
Once again, I hope that everyone had a great time this holiday season. It doesn’t matter what you celebrate as long as you are surrounded by good people and people that care about you. Be grateful for that you have and not for what you are missing because happiness does not depend on your circumstances, it’s a choice that you make.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Holiday Season
Here in New Jersey we are having our first winter storm today. Some people dislike the idea of snow but for me it means fun in the snow! Living in Central New Jersey is surprisingly much different than living in North New Jersey. We usually get much less snow and the weather is a little warmer. I am ready for the holidays and I cannot wait until the end of this week for celebrations to begin!
Today I was supposed to go to NYC and go see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. I was a little upset to see that its going to be snowing all day and night because it has been my long time tradition to go see the tree before the holidays. If the roads are cleared tomorrow we will see if we can go tomorrow instead of today.
Around the holiday season there are so many things to do and see in NYC. During Thanksgiving you can see the Thanksgiving Parade and enjoy the different holiday decorations in Central Park. Once Thanksgiving has passed the Christmas craze kicks in and everyone gets into the spirit. My two favorite things to do is go see the tree and look at the window decorations at Sacks 5th Avenue. If you are in town or attending Berkeley, Id strongly recommend going to visit.
As an Alumni of Berkeley you have plenty of opportunities to stay connected with people from Berkeley. Every holiday season Berkeley has an event called Breakfast with Santa where past students can get together, bring their families and enjoy some time together. Whether you are a current student or a past student Berkeley always has some type of event for you to enjoy with your peers.
Today I was supposed to go to NYC and go see the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. I was a little upset to see that its going to be snowing all day and night because it has been my long time tradition to go see the tree before the holidays. If the roads are cleared tomorrow we will see if we can go tomorrow instead of today.
Around the holiday season there are so many things to do and see in NYC. During Thanksgiving you can see the Thanksgiving Parade and enjoy the different holiday decorations in Central Park. Once Thanksgiving has passed the Christmas craze kicks in and everyone gets into the spirit. My two favorite things to do is go see the tree and look at the window decorations at Sacks 5th Avenue. If you are in town or attending Berkeley, Id strongly recommend going to visit.
As an Alumni of Berkeley you have plenty of opportunities to stay connected with people from Berkeley. Every holiday season Berkeley has an event called Breakfast with Santa where past students can get together, bring their families and enjoy some time together. Whether you are a current student or a past student Berkeley always has some type of event for you to enjoy with your peers.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Black Friday Madness
The long weekend that started this holiday season has passed by and now the holiday madness has begun. Most people had a nice 4 day weekend which I was able to utilize very effectively on cleaning and getting all my holiday shopping done! I am very impressed with myself that for the first time in history I have ALL my holiday shopping done the first weekend after Thanksgiving. Impressive right?
As I’m sure everyone knows this weekend was Black Friday. A day that is filled with crazy people lining up in front of stores at 3am for a deal, people willing to fight over children’s toys and totally loose human courtesy to get what they THINK is a good deal.
Friday morning I was off from work and decided go buy some decorations for the apartment since now I live on my own. I wanted to decorate the inside and the outside of the apartment to give us a nice warm holiday feeling. First I went to the Christmas Tree Shop where I bought most of my decorations. Christmas Tree Shop is a really great store where you can get decent quality things for a VERY cheap price. I have never seen a store beat prices of competitors like the Christmas Tree Shop does. The store itself isn’t the best when it comes to customer service or everything being beautifully on shelves but hey you have to sacrifice somewhere for a good price.
After the Christmas Tree Shop I said oh what the heck lets go to Walmart and see if they have any ornaments for our first Christmas tree. When I got to the store they had all this equipment outside of the store to control lines and customer flow but lucky for me most of the crowds were already gone when I got there. The store was a disaster! Nothing was in its right place, people were scrambling for any leftovers of electronics, nothing was marked with the right price so needless to say I got frustrated and left empty handed.
On my way back home I thought back on the prices of things and realized how silly people are on Black Friday. You think you are getting a deal on things but in reality you are not. If you are a smart, clever shopper you know that you can get everything cheaper online these days. Shopping on places like Amazon or E-bay saves you a lot of money if you know how to shop well. For example I am getting my dad a GPS for Christmas. At Walmart the item was $193 but on Amazon it sold for $153.
If you want to be an event smarter shopper I would recommend not only shopping online but to also look for savings coupons on websites such as Dealigg, FatWallet or CouponCorner. There you type in the store that you are sopping at and it gives you all the coupon codes you need to save on certain items. It’s really that simple.
In conclusion on my Black Friday ranting, please do your researches before you buy. Everyone loves savings and if you can save $20 on each gift you guy this season more power to you. You can get yourself something nice with your savings so that you have something more to show off to your friends than grandma’s sweaters! Happy holiday shopping!
As I’m sure everyone knows this weekend was Black Friday. A day that is filled with crazy people lining up in front of stores at 3am for a deal, people willing to fight over children’s toys and totally loose human courtesy to get what they THINK is a good deal.
Friday morning I was off from work and decided go buy some decorations for the apartment since now I live on my own. I wanted to decorate the inside and the outside of the apartment to give us a nice warm holiday feeling. First I went to the Christmas Tree Shop where I bought most of my decorations. Christmas Tree Shop is a really great store where you can get decent quality things for a VERY cheap price. I have never seen a store beat prices of competitors like the Christmas Tree Shop does. The store itself isn’t the best when it comes to customer service or everything being beautifully on shelves but hey you have to sacrifice somewhere for a good price.
After the Christmas Tree Shop I said oh what the heck lets go to Walmart and see if they have any ornaments for our first Christmas tree. When I got to the store they had all this equipment outside of the store to control lines and customer flow but lucky for me most of the crowds were already gone when I got there. The store was a disaster! Nothing was in its right place, people were scrambling for any leftovers of electronics, nothing was marked with the right price so needless to say I got frustrated and left empty handed.
On my way back home I thought back on the prices of things and realized how silly people are on Black Friday. You think you are getting a deal on things but in reality you are not. If you are a smart, clever shopper you know that you can get everything cheaper online these days. Shopping on places like Amazon or E-bay saves you a lot of money if you know how to shop well. For example I am getting my dad a GPS for Christmas. At Walmart the item was $193 but on Amazon it sold for $153.
If you want to be an event smarter shopper I would recommend not only shopping online but to also look for savings coupons on websites such as Dealigg, FatWallet or CouponCorner. There you type in the store that you are sopping at and it gives you all the coupon codes you need to save on certain items. It’s really that simple.
In conclusion on my Black Friday ranting, please do your researches before you buy. Everyone loves savings and if you can save $20 on each gift you guy this season more power to you. You can get yourself something nice with your savings so that you have something more to show off to your friends than grandma’s sweaters! Happy holiday shopping!
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