Take the Time to Smell the Flowers

To put it in a nutshell, Americans are always busy. When I googled "busy americans," these were the first three results:


My favorite is the third result, from a handbook to help international students at the University of Pennsylvania become accustomed to the American lifestyle. The full quote from the search results is as follows, "Americans also tend to believe they should be doing something most of the time. You will often hear Americans talk about how busy they are, which often is true, but also is simply expected. To not be busy, since everyone is busy, may be considered rather strange. This results on a positive active range of campus activities and organizations."

It's funny to read aloud, but it's the truth. We Americans do tend to believe they should be busy for most of the time. We do talk about being busy all the time. It's built into our lifestyles; we're taught to be busy and not to waste time from day one.


Being this busy most often leads to stress--believe me, I'd know! When I start to feel the stress creep up on me, I try to remember that I really do need to take the time out to relax. Today, I'll be doing 7 of these things...hopefully I'll relieve myself of some stress, right? Here are 10 ways you can fight stress (in no particular order):

1. Listen to your favorite music
2. Turn on your favorite movie
3. Work out
4. Laugh
5. Call up a friend you haven't talked to in awhile
6. Go to bed early
7. Get creative: write, draw, compose, paint, etc.
8. Read
9. Spend time with your significant other
10...

I think number 10 deserves a whole paragraph. It comes from the title of this entry.

Take the time to smell the flowers! Take the time to appreciate the beauty of your surroundings. Go for a leisurely walk, go for an easy bike ride, or even go for a brisk run--just be sure to look around you. Look at the vibrant colors of the sky and the grass. Watch and listen to the birds as they chase after each other. See the wildflowers blow in the wind. Find a perfect spot to watch the sunset. Listen to the soothing sounds of a river, lake, or ocean. My favorite part: capture it. Bring your camera along.

Because who wants to miss out on this?

...take the time to smell the flowers...

What do you do to fight the stress? Feel free to comment.

The Arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates: My Opinion

This situation with Professor Henry Louis Gates sparked a fire in the public eye, and although it's already been a couple days, it's still spreading quickly. From Officer Crowley proclaiming that he will :"never apologize" to President Obama saying that Crowley "stupidly arrested Gates," there are many opinions on what happened. It's easy for people to become offended, especially on racial matters, but I believe that in situations like these, people need to take a step back and think before they state their opinion. I've tried my hardest to stay unbiased as this controversy unfolds. It's hard to determine what happened exactly, due to the two differing recounts of the event - Gates is saying one thing while Crowley is saying another. From what I understand though, both of them were in the wrong in at least one way. I don't feel that I (or anyone else) can confidently place all of the blame on just one of these individuals.

A Short Analysis of the Main Problems that Arose

Problem 1: Crowley asked for identification This is where the racial profiling issue comes in. Many people are saying that Crowley should not have asked for Gates' identification after realizing who he was and that he lived in that house. They're saying that it really wasn't necessary. Gates is a well-known intellectual who is a Harvard professor, has written and edited several books, has participated in the production of several documentaries, and has received many honors and awards. He is extremely well-known not only in the Cambridge community, but all over the country. Crowley should have known who Gates was and left him alone.
(CNN) Commentary: Obama, race, and my arrest

But others are saying that Crowley was just trying to keep Professor Gates safe. Other calls had been placed about disturbances at Gates' home prior to his arrival, so Crowley was just being cautious. For this reason, he felt that he had to go through with the entire process, including asking for Gates' identification (even if he knew who Gates was). For people who look at the situation this way, racial profiling was not part of this incident, but rather it was all about keeping Gates safe.
(CNN) Commentary: Obama's rush to judgment on police

Problem 2: Gates played the 'race card' It has been reported that Gates said some things that were offensive to Crowley, including his inquiry while being questioned, "Why? Because I am a black man in America?" Many people are saying this statement was not necessary. As I already mentioned, it is possible that Crowley had no racial intentions behind his actions, but instead was just concerned for the safety of Gates.

On the other hand, it's obvious that Gates felt he was a victim of racial profiling and was offended. As a result, he proceeded to ask that question without hesitation. Many people don't believe he was wrong for thinking he was a victim of racial profiling or that he was wrong for saying what he said.

A short comment about President Obama's opinion Some articles have questioned whether President Obama, or any presidents for that matter, should make comments on heavy-weighted issues like this. Although I believe that President Obama should have waited until he knew more about the situation to make any comments, I don't believe that any president should purposely avoid commenting when situations like this take place.
Obama wades into a volatile racial issue

Until the police department release the tapes from Gates' arrest, I don't think we're going to have any solid idea about what really happened. With two different versions of the incident and several explanations to justify each person's actions, we won't be getting anywhere in deciding who should carry the blame. As President Obama said, this incident has only proven that "race remains a factor in this society.” It's sad that we as Americans, after so many years, still cannot get over these racial issues.

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think about this incident. Thanks for reading.

The Importance of Giving

I have a Public Relations internship with United Way of Greater St. Louis in the Communications department. As expected, I perform the typical tasks of a public relations intern:

• write articles and success stories for newsletters
• work with our 2-1-1 campaign and our annual campaign
• work with social media (Twitter and Facebook)
• work to promote our  2nd annual Online Auction 
  
• writing public service announcements of various lengths
• translating brochures, articles, press releases, and other information into Spanish

Not only have I gained valuable experience from this internship, but I have also seen first hand the real impact of giving back to the community. I've always been involved in community service, but I've never had to work with an organization to formally promote it. I've always known how people in need can benefit from the help of their community, but this internship has opened my eyes even more to how we can help.

A couple weeks ago, I wrote a success story about two girls whose lives changed completely after receiving help from a United Way agency. It really is a touching story. Read it here:

Two girls at St. Mary’s Preschool overcome the odds

Two young girls who have been enrolled at St. Mary’s Preschool, Madisyn and Audrey, are perfect examples of how United Way funding has helped change lives. Both girls were born with severe disabilities but have strongly benefitted from the services and aid made available through St. Mary’s Preschool.

Madisyn was born blind and had additional severe medical concerns, which prevented development in all areas to occur at the expected speed. Prior to the family’s move to St. Louis, Madisyn and her parents took the opportunity to visit St. Mary’s Preschool. At this time, Madisyn had no intelligible speech, could only walk with assistance, and had several more obvious developmental delays. Upon returning to St. Mary’s two months later, Madisyn’s condition had worsened instead of progressed: she could no longer walk, displayed regression to a great extent in every skill area, and screamed nonstop for the majority of the day.  

Audrey, who is two and a half years old, was born with Down’s syndrome and other physical impairments. Although she participated in First Steps therapy one month prior to enrollment at St. Mary’s, Audrey still could not walk. Furthermore, she had no apparent verbal skills. After the developmental therapist conducted testing on Audrey to approximate her developmental level, the scores indicated that she was 9-11 months old in the Gross Motor area, 11-14 months old in the Fine Motor area, and 24-27 months old in the Social/Emotional area.  

Madisyn and Audrey, however, have both overcome the odds. Due to help from devoted occupational and physical therapists from Delta Gamma as well as the speech and developmental therapists from St. Mary’s, Madisyn was able to receive daily therapy both at school and at home. Now with two years behind her, Madisyn’s condition has improved drastically. At times it is still difficult for her to communicate her needs clearly, but she has made many improvements in relation to her verbal skills. Now she is able to talk, sing, and walk without the help of her cane, “Shane the Cane.” Madisyn has since moved out of the St. Louis area with her family, but “before leaving, she was just great,” said St. Mary’s Preschool director Molly McCue.

Audrey as well, received several different types of therapy. She can now walk independently without touching walls or holding onto objects for assistance. “Audrey is signing more and is still practicing, but she’s still working hard on her speech and language skills. They aren’t completely there,” said McCue. One of the most important signs of her progress has been her test scores: when retested seven months after she began therapy at St. Mary’s, Audrey scored 15-20 months old in the Gross Motor area, and she scored 27-30 months in the Social/Emotional area. This signified that Audrey’s overall score was 22 month old, which is a huge jump within just seven months of enrollment at St. Mary’s.  

Obviously, Audrey and Madisyn have made complete turnarounds in a short amount of time. “They’re hard working, incredibly sweet, very loving, and have come a very long way from when they first walked in the door,” said McCue. With help from the United Way, the changes St. Mary’s Preschool has made are not only possible for Audrey and Madisyn, but also for many other young children.

I hope you enjoyed this. Here's a link to our 2009 campaign video if you want to see it.

Well, if you give back to your community, I hope you continue to do so. And if you don't, I hope this makes you think twice.

Thanks for reading! And as always, feel free to comment.

I'm Back

Well, I've been back from Mexico for about 2 weeks now. After one week of rest, I started my Public Relations internship. It's been going well so far.

But anyways, I haven't really wanted to post any new entries, which is odd. I'm not sure if it was just the physical and mental exhaustion from my 5 weeks spent in Mexico or if it's something else, but I'm finally starting to feel my desire to write coming back. There have been plenty of things I've found to write about in the past week, so definitely check back for new entries.

A couple things: Feel free to leave comments. I've also added a link to my Picasa Web Albums page in the header of this blog to feature my amateur photography. ha. Enjoy!

Trip to Mexico

On Sunday, I leave for Guanajuato. I have created a travel blog called Experiencing the World and will be writing there for the majority of the next 5 weeks.

I might post some entries here, but there are no guarantees.

Until next time!