The End of My First Fall Ball Season

After my first long, tiring, mentally and physically draining fall softball season, we finished yesterday at Ohio State with three games. We played Mount Vernon University, The University of Toledo, and Rio Grand University. We played the first game at 10:30 and lost but we kept the energy level high the whole game. Since this day was for exposure purposes and for our coach to see how we worked in a game situation, wins and losses weren't important. We played the second game at 3 and lost again.
In the second game, I got concussed. I was covering second base for a steal and as I went to catch the ball, the runner came into me like a truck. Her helmet hit my head and my head hit the ground. She ended up on top of me and my vision was slightly blurry. I got up and finished the inning with a pounding headache. I was taken out after that by my coach and got evaluated by the athletic trainer. She told me I couldn't play in the last game and that I had to be evaluated again by my trainer back at school. This morning, I got re-evaluated and diagnosed with a mild concussion. I have to continue to check in with the trainer until my symptoms are gone and I pass the baseline concussion test again... What a way to end my first fall softball season.

National Unplugging Day: 2018

While scrolling through Twitter late one night, I came across an extremely interesting article in the news. It was an article about National Unplugging Day last year. I'm not sure why I am just reading this article, or even why it showed up on my timeline but I am glad it did because it was so interesting. Last March, on National Unplugging Day, several Americans attempted to detox from their social medias, cell phones, and all technology... And it did not go so well for most of them. Unplugging from these things is extremely difficult for the average American. I tried to apply this to my life while reading the article about how Americans were having actual withdrawals from their devices for 24 hours. I like to think that I would be able to do it fairly easily, but honestly, I don't know if it would be so easy for me. I counted the amount of times I checked my phone in a day and I stopped counting when I hit 25 because I was so shocked. I check my phone without even realizing it sometimes, and when I'm not on my phone, I have the ability to text off my laptop. I have so many mixed feelings about technology and our society. On one hand, it's amazing all of the things we are able to accomplish with the touch of a button, but I am often left wondering how many missed opportunities there are because we are too busy with our technology. I talked to my parents about when they were little, and it's amazing that they used to just leave the house in the morning, show up to their friend's house with no warning and not come back until dinner... And they did all of this without their parents worrying about them. Society is so dependent on technology and cell phones nowadays and it's crazy! I want to try to go 24 hours straight without technology and I think you should too so you can see how long you last, it's crazy to imagine how hard it actually is.

Social Media Marketing Workbook

As I read Chapters 1-3 of Jason McDonald's Social Media Marketing book, I have some comments about it as a whole thus far...

First of all, I think the comparison of social media marketing to throwing a party is genius. Just as there are steps and preparations for throwing a party, there are steps and preparations for social media marketing as well. Comparing these two made so much sense to me and I would have never thought of this on my own, it puts into an easy perspective for audiences to look at. Some steps to throwing a party are super easy where others are a lot harder, just as social media marketing can be somewhat easy at some points but challenging at others.

Secondly, looking off your competitors on social media and basing your page off of theirs, trying to make it better is an intelligent route to go. If you want your page to "be the best" and beat out your competitors for followers or likes, it is important to check their pages and compare yours to it. If your competition has 4,000 followers, you need to figure out a way to get 5,000. It's so important to do this to be the best social media marketer possible.

These are just two major points I pulled out of the reading that really stuck out to me and I felt needed to be praised, commented on, and shared with y'all.

For Granted

Going on my sixth week here at ONU, I continue to reflect on my life and how much has changed in the past month. Two major things come to mind when I think about what I took for granted at home.

#1: Private bathrooms.
Community bathrooms are so not fun. Having to share with approximately 20+ other girls really just makes me miss being able to lock the door at home and be in the bathroom for as long as I please. I used to complain about having to share with my siblings, but that was nothing compared to college bathrooms... YIKES! This is something that I really never thought about at home as being a "luxury" but now that I don't have it, I notice how much I truly miss it...

#2: Home cooked meals made by my mom
Not only did they taste better than Mac food... But it was made by the hands of the woman who loves me most. I totally took my home cooked meals at home for granted. A solid, homemade lasagna with some quality breadsticks from home is one specific meal that I really miss. Some of the food at Mac is good, don't get me wrong, but nothing will compare to the meals my mom made me at home. I have gotten pretty used to the food here, and it doesn't really bother me but sometimes I just really crave a good, home cooked meal from my mom. Counting down the days until Thanksgiving break... Today marks 60 days until then, and I truly can't wait.

500 Word Posts

After reading Guy Kawasaki's Art of Social Media book, I learned a lot about social media that I never would have realized before. Towards the end of the book, he pulls everything together and gives general tips. The most helpful and new tip I learned was that he says to post a 500 word post twice a week on social media. I hardly ever post on social media, except snapchat, and the posts are never 500 words long. I think for certain social media sites, this is a good rule to keep followers tuned in to your page, but when it comes to Twitter and Instagram, it becomes a bit repeated and annoying. If I posted a 500 word caption on Instagram twice a week, I am almost positive that I would lose more than half of my followers. However, on blogging websites or Facebook, this is a good rule and it makes more sense for it to be followed. Throughout this book, Guy did a really nice job of explaining social media sites and rules that should be obeyed in the social media world. I believe that he could write an updated book and it would be extremely beneficial to our society, but overall, he did a really good job of explaining the Art of Social Media through different platforms.

Comparisons In Social Media

As a teenage girl who has had several body image problems and confidence issues, I find myself comparing my body and looks to those on the internet almost every single day. I know that this is an extremely common problem in our society today and that thousands of girls do this same thing on a daily basis. This is one thing that I despise about social media and the way women are portrayed. I see all these girls' posts on Instagram with about five different filters and edits applied to them and I begin to wonder why we do this. Why do we feel the need to put up a front for others to see? The best people are usually the genuine ones, the ones that put everything out there as it is and how it should be. However, for some reason, we all feel the need to edit our butts to make them bigger or our noses to make them smaller, along with the singular pimple that we think is huge but is really microscopic. Instead of embracing our flaws and telling other girls that it's okay to have them, we do everything we can to cover them up and point them out to others. This whole societal problem is something that I think everyone needs to work on. If we all work on our personal positivity, the stereotypes will eventually go away and we can stop comparing ourselves to each other and to celebrities. I think that this is a problem that will not go away for awhile, but one person at a time, we need to stand united as women who are perfect just the way we are.

One Big, Happy Family

As I lay in bed here at ONU at night, I thoroughly enjoy thinking about my family at home and how blessed I have been the last 18 years to have them as my support group. I figured I would share how amazing my family is back in Swanton, Ohio.

First things first, my parents mean the world to me. They have always supported my every decision. From deciding to play DIII college softball, to taking my first step as an infant, they have always believed in me. Having six kids can't be easy, but they sure do an amazing job and they don't get enough credit for it. Along with my parents, come my five siblings. My sister, Taylor, has been my rock since I can remember. Being the only two girls, we have a relationship that I know will never be replaced. My brothers, Shayne, Ben, Ryan, and Noah are incredible. They are all so different but all mean so much to me. I have a special relationship with all of them individually. They protect me and never let me give up on myself. They also know how to keep me tough. I've never gotten away with shedding many tears without being told to "Suck it up!" or "Rubel's don't cry." I know my brothers always have my back whenever I need them to. I also have an amazing family outside my immediate. My grandparents have always played such an important role in my life, and I couldn't imagine my life without them in it. My aunts and cousins also always support me and everything I do... I'm truly so blessed.

Along with my blood family members, I also am extremely fortunate to have a very best friend and her family supporting me every step of my life journey. They mean as much to me as my own family, and we treat each other like we are blood. It's important to have that one person to rely on when you feel alone or upset, and I have been blessed to find that person in Sarah. She is my #1 fan but isn't afraid to tell me the truth and I admire her for so many reasons. I am beyond blessed to have her and her family as my second family.

I enjoy sitting and reflecting on how important my family is to me and how much they have done for me throughout my life. I feel like so many people take their families for granted, and that makes me so upset. So, if you can, just tell your support system thank you. It will mean more to them than you realize. It's extremely hard to take time out of our busy schedules to thank our parents for the opportunities they have given us, but it's so important to do this every once in awhile.

Podcast Blog

PODCAST FINAL.mp4

Questions:
-What made you switch your major?
-What was your favorite show to work on?
-How does social media affect how you search for jobs?
-What's your major?
-What is your focus in International Theatre Production?

Doing this podcast really gave me perspective on how social media can affect the ITP major and career path and I got to learn a lot about how that major works and what is all involved in it. I am so disconnected from theatre and know minimal information about it so I'm so happy that I got to learn more from this podcast. It is quite the complex and interesting major!

Pinterest 2018

Pinterest is a media application that is so nice in expressing yourself and things you like. Guy offers so many tips in his book for how to make your Pinterest cool and filled with more information but as I am thinking about it, I am beginning to realize how much Pinterest is dying out and being replaced by other social media sources. Personally, I used to use Pinterest daily and I had the app on my phone always. Now, I will simply download it if I need to look up an idea for a birthday present or graduation gift. I don't use it nearly as often as I used to and I sometimes wonder why that is. Is it because it is not as "cool" as Snapchat or Instagram. Is it because I just don't need it anymore? I really  wonder why Pinterest is not as popular as it used to be and am curious as to what other people's opinions are about it. I think Pinterest is a great source of social media and should be used often but it isn't as popular as it used to be. I looked up an online poll of most frequently used social medias and Pinterest was rated 8, following Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Youtube. I find it interesting how fast social media sources change and how our society uses each one differently.

Mental Toughness as a Student-Athlete

"Mental toughness is the ability to resist, manage and overcome doubts, worries, concerns and circumstances that prevent you from succeeding, or excelling at a task or towards an objective or a performance outcome that you set out to achieve."

This definition of mental toughness I found online hits me in so many ways. As a high school student-athlete, it was easy to count on my parents to tell me my practice times and get me where I needed to be. When I began to drive, I simply stayed after school and waited for my practices to begin. I did some homework, messed around with my friends, sometimes I took a nap or got some food. It was the same routine every single day. I would then come home and throw my laundry to my mom for her to do for the next day and the cycle continued. Balancing school, friends, and sports wasn't too hard in high school because I had so many other people watching my schedule for me and reminding me when I needed to be where. It was a pretty simple routine; school, practice, home.

Mental toughness was only important for game time situations. I never really worried about being "tough" while my mom was making me dinner and my dad was throwing my load into the washing machine. Living at home was living pretty lavishly. When I went away to college, my whole perspective changed. Everyone always told me how much different it would be, and how much more time management I would need to have and blah blah blah... I thought I knew what I was getting into. However, it has been a lot more difficult than I ever thought. Being a student-athlete is a huge time commitment and staying mentally tough is so important for me. Between classes, eating, softball, laundry, study tables, working, God, friends, sleep, football games, exercising, and homework, it's a lot to juggle. I have learned very quickly how to be independent and find a time for everything that needs to be done. I have the most amazing teammates and coaches, as well as parents back home, that are supporting me and helping me with it all, but at the end of the day it's up to me to manage my time and schedule. It definitely hasn't been easy so far, and it probably won't ever be easy, but it is definitely forcing me to grow up quickly which is teaching me a lot. Through all the chaos going on, I know mental toughness is so important. I need to remember that I'm not alone, and that I can push through, not matter how many times I doubt or question myself.

Another super important thing that I need to remind myself is how important it is to set time aside for myself and to take a moment every once in awhile to breathe. Life gets crazy sometimes, and it's hard to remember to just relax for a minute. I need to remind myself to step away and call my mom to talk, or listen to music in my bed for 30 minutes. It's not going to kill me to step away from schoolwork every once in awhile to take time for self-reflection.

All of these things are things that I'm sure all college freshmen struggle with, especially within the first month, but I know I will get a hang of it and become more comfortable with everything. I need to stay mentally tough and positive and work hard in everything I do.

The #Hashtag

Back in 2012, hashtags were extremely popular. Whether it was #awesome, or #friends, or #thistweetisthebest, they were used with every post, all the time. They are used to express a more detailed post, and they are used for explaining the post in a little more detail with few words. I, personally, have always been somewhat against using them, at least a lot. Every once in awhile, I will add them to my snapchat story or on my instagram comments, but other than that I find them pretty pointless. However, as I read Guy's perspective on hashtags, mine was altered. He says to use a hashtag that is trending and constantly in people's faces and to use it all the time for events. I find it interesting that a small hashtag could give so much information and could make people eager for more. I don't use hashtags on my social media accounts very often, but if they are going to draw attention and cause more followers, then a hashtag may be a good route for me. I think it is important, as Guy Kawasaki mentions on pages 102 and 103, to stay consistent with your hashtags and make them stick in people's minds so they want to know more. As I dove deeper into this topic of hashtags, I did some research and realized that they are super helpful. For example, the Olympics use a hashtag all the time to draw attention. Also, #polarbearup at Ohio Northern is used often when describing the winter or rooting for the sporting events. After diving deeper into this topic, I have discovered that hashtags aren't so annoying after all and I might even use them more often that I ever would have thought! #learning #gobears

Social Media in Groups

Have you ever noticed the amount of time people spend on their cell phones while hanging out with a group of friends? I have noticed this repeatedly the last few years of advancing technology. Whether they are texting someone else that isn't with them, or scrolling through Twitter to read the latest gossip, a lot of time is spent on social media even when people are "spending time" with their friends. I try to imagine a time when there wasn't such thing as social media or iPhones, and snapchat stories didn't exist. Imagining this makes me realize how much our society and social media standards have changed. At a team bonding my senior year of high school, our coaches forced us to put our phones in the middle for dinner and whoever touched theirs first had to buy their own meal. For some girls, this was worse pain than getting teeth pulled. It was actually really sad to see how hard it is for some people to socialize without a device in their hands. No matter how intriguing the conversation may be, it is so hard to concentrate without the comfort of a phone in our hands. Personally, I could go days without my phone. I enjoy quality time with the people I love most, and the people that matter will make you forget about social media and other distractions for the time being. Our world is changing so fast and so much every single day, and I hope that people stop relying on social media and their phones to give them happiness. I challenge you the next time you are with a group of people, to stay off your phones. Try an hour, then try two, and so forth. People are starting to forget the importance of spending quality time with friends and family, and living in the moment, off their phones and social media.

Different yet Connected

Walking through Ohio Northern's campus seeing so many different groups of people is truly incredible. Throughout the last three weeks, I have encountered people from so many different backgrounds and it's so cool to see how people come together despite our differences. I was speaking to a few of friends the other day about how I get to go home this weekend to spend time at the Fulton County Fair... something that I have not missed since I was two years old. My new friends were so curious and interested in an event that is so important to me and my family, although they had never experienced it before. Watching this made me so intrigued with the way people connect here at ONU. No matter where an individual is from, or who they were back in high school, they are accepted here and welcomed in with open arms. Everyone I have encountered here has been so intrigued with my life and where I come from, it makes me so happy. I have yet to encounter a rude person here, everyone has been so amazing and like family already. No matter how different we all may be, we are connected on campus and it is something so special that makes me feel so blessed to be able to call this my home away from home. Thank you ONU for everything so far, can't wait to see what is in store for me the next four years, I'm sure I will continue to learn everyday about life on campus. I hope to continue to meet people like the ones I already have.