Gratitude

Hi

Sometimes I focus so much on the negative that I forget to remember all the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for my family, my friends, the church, my sweet apartment and the things inside the apartment, my car, and yes my job :). Here is a video that is in the works (low quality).

Christmas Family Fun!

I apologize for the lack of recent updates on my blog. For Christmas, my sister Beckie and I drove to Colorado Springs/Woodland Park, Colorado and spent the holidays with my family. It was so great to be with the whole family! We had a couple sleepovers with my niece and nephew, Anaya and Austin, which is always an adventure :) and even my sister and her husband came up and slept over because of a snow storm. It had been a while since we spent the holidays together because Mom and Dad were on a mission. Here is a video of just a few highlights of our Christmas fun.

Being Crafty

I

So those of you who know me pretty much can say I don't do crafts. I don't sew, paint, or scrapbook things. Unlike my oldest sister who is the craft queen, I prefer putting pictures, video, and memories to a DVD rather than making it into a cute scrapbook.

But today, Beckie and I went to Wal-mart and decided to make something. So we bought wooden letters- for me An H for Hillary We also bought paints and brushes. Then we went home and painted them black and also put this glossy spray paint to

make the letters look smoother. It was a rather simple project

, but a craft nonetheless.

II

Quite a few weeks ago, I found an old 2008 calender sitting in a box. I knew I couldn't use it for its original purpose, so I decided to recycle some of the pictures. The pictures were very professional and beautiful. So I cut them out and got a frame and now they are hanging up. Wall art at a very low price!

Here is my finished product.

I miss you BYU-Idaho.

So it has been close to three months since I graduated from BYU-Idaho. And it seems as though it has been forever. Probably because I miss it. I was thinking how I miss it when we would say prayers before we began class. I remember if there was a particular difficult subject or test that day, a prayer would be absolutely necessary. Sometimes in classes, we discussed gospel principles and related them to scholarly topics. It was really nice to be allowed to discuss religion in our academic studies. It put a new perspective on things.

I was very grateful that teachers taught and led by example. I found it especially useful when professors would describe a personal and religious example to illustrate a concept. It showed me they had a great deal of humility and faith even though many of them had doctorate degrees. They were full of knowledge, but were willing to allow the spirit to teach them too.

I am also very touched when at the end of the semester, one of the very last things they share is their testimony. I remember the very last class at BYU-Idaho, my communications professor told us that he had a firm testimony in the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was short and sweet, but it was nonetheless effective.

For the last four years, I had my life planned out. I had a schedule. I knew I had to learn this and that by a specific time. And now life is wide open. This is scary! I also like to plan and be in control of what is going to happen, but when I don't know what I am going to do or where I am going to be, the feeling is rather overwhelming. This uncertainty makes me appreciate the good times at BYU-Idaho.

I know a lot of people are excited to graduate from BYU-I. They want to rush out of Rexburg as fast as possible. They don't like all the rules like the dress code and curfew. Or the small town atmosphere. They complain. I just want to say that I enjoyed my time there. Now I know it is time to move on, but I am thankful I had the chance to spend four years there. And I am grateful for the members that sacrifice their time and money to make it possible for us to attend this institution.

Testimony

Hi

So today was fast sunday, so that meant testimony meeting. So I felt it would be appropriate to share my testimony today.

On October 5th, I went to my first live conference session in Salt Lake City with my sister, Beckie. The talks were very good. I especially liked President Monson's talk on service and Elder Holland's passionate talk on the Book of Mormon. As I was listening to

the apostles and prophet speak, I was thinking, how can THE CHURCH NOT BE TRUE? Seriously, their testimonies of the gospel, the firm and unmoving faith they have for these church principles makes me have a firmer testimony that these are truly men of God. They are not fakes. They are men who are trying to be better everyday.

I want to specifically bear my testimony about the prophet and apostles and general authorities. I know that they have been called of God and are here to strengthen and guide the members of the church.

I also want to express my gratitude for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love and sacrifice. I know that the Book of Mormon is a sacred word of God. Thank you. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Not the Best Idea

Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job

• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Monroe College graduate says career office didn't help her with job placement
• She seeks $70,000 for tuition and $2,000 to compensate for stress
• Office shows preferential treatment to students with better grades, she says
• College says it is "committed to working with all its students"

By Jason Kessler

CNN 

Trina Thompson, 27, of the Bronx, graduated from New York's Monroe College in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology.

On July 24, she filed suit against the college in Bronx Supreme Court, alleging that Monroe's "Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through."

The college responded that it offers job-search support to all its students.

In her complaint, Thompson says she seeks $70,000 in reimbursement for her tuition and $2,000 to compensate for the stress of her three-month job search.

As Thompson sees it, any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record. But Monroe's career-services department has put forth insufficient effort to help her secure employment, she claims.

"They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that," she said.

Don't Miss

• Read the court filing (pdf)

Thompson said she has fulfilled her end of the job-search bargain, peppering companies listed on Monroe's e-recruiting site with cover letters, résumés and phone calls. But no more than two employers have responded to her outreach, and those leads have borne no fruit.

Her complaint adds, "The office of career advancement information technology counselor did not make sure their Monroe e-recruiting clients call their graduates that recently finished college for an interview to get a job placement. They have not tried hard enough to help me."

She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said.

Monroe College released a statement saying that "while it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search."

Thompson says she has not hired an attorney to represent her because she cannot afford one. When she filed her complaint, she also filed a "poor person order," which exempts her from filing fees associated with the lawsuit.

Asked whether she would advise other college graduates facing job woes to sue their alma maters, Thompson said yes.

"It doesn't make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned."  

My commentary:

1. Well I don’t think she is going to get a job now. Think she just blew her chances.
2. “A 2.7 G.P.A. and solid attendance record”  Yes, when you go to college, it is expected to actually attend classes. It is not something I would go on bragging about that “yay I went to class! Good for me!” It is one of those minimal requirements.
3. Suing your alma maters is NOT GOOD ADVICE!
4. Being a college graduate myself, I know that we are all in the same boat, whether we are fresh out of college or experienced workers, jobs are hard to come by.
5. "They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that,"

oh ok.

Enough said. I just find this rather humorous.

Graduation and Newel K. Whitney Breakfast

So the day has finally come! I graduated at BYU-Idaho with a Bachelors of Science in Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting. Mom and Dad were able to come. They helped me move and were able to come to commencement and convocation. Commencement was very good. The speakers did an excellent job. They gave inspirational talks about preparing for the future, having hope, building your lifelong resume etc. President Clark also spoke. It was amazing that Mom and Dad were seriously sitting very close to me. If I looked straight to my right they were there. It was perfect seating! Convocation was good. They gave us an alumni pin and diploma cover to each graduate. They went through the names really fast. In about fifteen minutes, they read aloud over two hundred names. We took lots of pictures before and after.

Newel K. Whitney Award Ceremony 

One day, I got a letter in the mail saying I won a Newel K. W

hitney Award. I was surprised and honored. I didn't even know about this award. On Friday, July 17th 2009, the

 recipients received a very nice clock and a teacher would introduce the recipient. Brother Weekes introduced me and talked about me being  optimistic and other stuff. All the communication faculty were there. It was really goo

d.