Dana G.

Here’s a little something I’ve discovered during my time at Evergreen. This college works with your strengths, and helps you become more confident with your weaknesses. I have been amazed with everything I have taken in here at Evergreen, and I’ve impressed myself with giving certain subjects a second chance.

Back in high school I steered far away from anything science or math related. I took only the required classes in those subjects, and kept to English and the arts. Math and science terrified me, mainly because I hated memorizing facts that had no meaning to me. Math in particular was my sore subject, but science was just as frightening. I took a biology class my freshman year of high school, and squeaked by with a C- (this was hard for someone whose report card mostly held B’s and A’s).

When I came to Evergreen I thought this would be wonderful; a school where a person can design their own academic pathway. I already had in mind what my academic pathway was going to look like, and it never touch math or science.

But soon I realized that Evergreen has a unique approach to learning; one where teachers care about how much you LEARN and not just about your grades. Plus, I was looking into becoming an elementary school teacher, and in order to receive an endorsement I would need to have taken some math and science. So I enrolled into an Algebra class at Evergreen last winter. It was amazing! A complete turn-around for me! I was the kid in high school who sat in the back row and could care less about math. Now I found myself asking questions and sitting up front. I wanted to understand algebra this time because the pressure had been eliminated. In high school I worried about what my peers might say about my grades. But since Evergreen doesn’t have grades I didn’t have the distraction to my learning environment. By the end of the course I had become passionate about mathematics, and even enrolled in another math course the following quarter.

Same goes for science. My biology course I am currently taking has opened my eyes in so many ways. I have learned a ton about biology through this two-quarter class, and I have become more confident in the subject.

I write about this because I want you all to know that sometimes it’s important to face our fears. I was so worried about taking math and science at Evergreen, but it turned out to be such a great experience for me. I discovered that Evergreen’s unique approach to learning is just what I needed when attempting to tackle a subject I feared. So this is for all of you prospective students out there who are coming to Evergreen to get away from math and science. I recommend just trying it out, you never know what you might discover about yourself.

Posted by Dana at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I only have one more month left in Washington. I can’t believe this. I’ve been waiting and waiting for my Disney internship to begin for months, and finally it’s almost here! Now I have a million things to get done before I go. Here is a list of all that I have on my plate for my final month:

1. Work on erosion presentation for my biology class. I am in a 6-person group that is doing a presentation in two weeks on Erosion. Some of us are talking about the types of erosion (wind, water, glacial, etc…) and some of us are talking about geographic locations of erosion (The Grand Canyon, Iceland, The Olympic Peninsula, etc…). My presentation is on the erosion of Yellowstone National Park, which will be nice since I just visited the place last summer. But I still have so much work ahead of me and I need to sit down and just do it. I’m putting together a power point and it’s only 1/3 of the way finished.

2. Find a storage unit. I need to find a storage unit to hold some of my stuff while I’m away. So far I’ve only visited one on the west side of Olympia, and it’s a bit pricy. My dad is coming over in three weeks to help me move all my stuff to one unit, but before he can come over I need to find a place. This has become something much harder than I thought it would be. I want to find a storage unit that isn’t going to be too expensive, but one that is also close to my current house so I don’t have to drive my stuff all the way to Lacey.

3. Third draft is due. I still have one more final draft I need to write for my Writer’s Workshop class, and I have a feeling this one will be my hardest yet. I don’t really have much of a plan for this one, and it’s due in about 10 days. With that I plan to meet with the writing staff in the Writing Tutor Center on campus and maybe they can make some suggestions.

4. Pack. I’ve done a lot of packing, but I’m still a ways to go. You know you have too much stuff when you have already taken home a carload of stuff and it doesn’t look any different in your room. Packing can be fun, but I’m starting to realize that I’m running out of time to pack leisurely and I need to step it up.

Those are the four biggest things weighing on me at the moment, but there still are a dozen other smaller assignments and engagements I have. Plus I hope to get in some quality time with my friends here before I go. Moving is exciting, but it can also be quite a stress.

Posted by Dana at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One unique trait I love about Evergreen is the contracts. For a student, contracts are awesome! Get this: If there is something you want to study, something you are itching to learn about and there are no programs about that subject being offered, you are allowed to design your own program for yourself in order to learn more about that subject you are interested in. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me.

But a lot of people (mostly non-Greeners) do not understand the entire concept of a contract. So I am here to explain a bit about them, and give you an inside scoop on my experience with contracts.

First, it is important to understand that there are two types of contracts a student can do. There is an Internship Contract for students who are taking part in an internship, and then there is an Individual Leaning Contract for students who would just like to study and learn about a subject.

So far I have done two contracts during my three years at Evergreen, and I’m about to take part in an Internship Contract with the Walt Disney Company. The first contract I did was an Individual Learning Contract about literature. It was a full 16-credits and I designed it so that I was reading a new piece of classic literature a week. I read from various different literature subjects. I read everything from “Sophie’s Choice” to “Catcher and the Rye”. It was a very cool thing to do, because it was a time where I could read what I have always wanted to read, and I was getting credit for it. I kept a journal of my readings and jotted down notes about each book. At the end of the quarter I wrote a 10-page paper comparing themes and characters.

My second contract was over this summer. It was a 4-credit Individual Learning Contract on Geology of Yellowstone. So last spring my parents were planning a trip to visit Yellowstone National Park. I decided to go with them since I love nature and I love learning about natural wonders. Before the spring quarter ended I found out that a geology faculty member was taking on geology contracts for people who were traveling this summer. Perfect! I talked to him about a geology contract about the Yellowstone area, focusing on the Yellowstone Caldera, and “bam”, I had myself another contract. For this one I spent a week at the Park and took extensive notes and read books about the area. Then I came home and wrote another 10-page paper on the geology of Yellowstone.

Both of these contracts were great for me because I needed those specific credits for a teaching certificate. But also I found both subject fascinating, and there really wasn’t anything being offered at the school on those subjects at the time. It was such a great solution for me.

I highly recommend taking part in a contract or two during your time at Evergreen because they are so enriching. A contract is for a person who is ready and willing to take their education completely in their own hands. How many of my friends back home can say that they got to design their own curriculum while in college? If you do deicide to go to Evergreen, allow yourself some time to do a contract at some point!

If you would like to learn more here is the academic advising link to contracts:
http://www.evergreen.edu/advising/Indiestudy/individualstudy.htm

Here are some pictures from my geology contract.

This is a hot spring close to Norris Geyser basin.

I thought this was a cool picture I took while at Yellowstone. It is of a rock in the middle of a river with a small tree growing out of it.

That's me behind a waterfall at Yellowstone National Park.

Posted by Dana at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, it was such a nice weekend here in Olympia! 50 degrees and sunny! And when I mean sun, I mean the whole thing, no cloud obscuring the bright wonder of the sun this time! I swear when the sun actually came out on Saturday I saw a few Greeners shudder. I’m not quite sure some of them had ever actually seen it before. Haha, no I’m just kidding, but our winters can get pretty cloudy over here so when that sun does finally decide to pop out it’s a pretty big deal.

I was able to share this warm weather with my parents this weekend. They drove over the passes from central Washington to come visit me. It was my dad’s birthday on Friday, so we celebrated it at The Oyster House downtown. If any of you are looking for some fancy seafood that’s the ultimate in Olympia! We had such a great meal there! I highly recommend the calamari appetizer, but they give you a lot so make sure you split it with at least four people! It’s delicious though!

It was nice having my folks in town. I got to give them the official tour of Evergreen on Saturday. They really wanted to see the campus again, and this time I showed it to them as if they were prospective students and I was their tour guide. It was kind of fun to show off what I do to them. They have always been impressed with all the amazing resources Evergreen has to offer their students.

Overall it was a nice weekend, full of fun and good family. It’s always great to see them and show them wonderful Olympia.

Posted by Dana at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, I am definitely feeling the middle-of-the-quarter stress this week. I seem to have everything due on the same day. For my entire time at Evergreen I have noticed a pattern in the stress levels through out each quarter. The first two weeks aren’t too bad’ you are still mostly reading and listening to lectures. Then week three there’s something fairly big and important due; sometimes it is a draft for an even larger assignment, or sometimes it might be a quiz or essay on what you have so far been learning. Then a couple more weeks of “down time” where you are back to reading and lecture notes, and come week 6-7 there is an even larger assignment due. For me it was my 20-page fiction piece in my Writer’s Workshop. If you read my last blog you know that I struggled a bit with this one, but I did complete it and I felt really good about it. Now I’m in the revision stages of my work, which I find far less stressful because at least I have the whole story written.

I can hardly believe that this is the end of week 6. We only have about 3 weeks left to the quarter, and that hardly seems like enough time for me to get everything done. But of course I know I will, because I’m just that kind of person. I love the quarter system because you have the opportunity to try a lot of different classes/programs, and just when you’re getting tired of that subject you signed up for it’s the end of the quarter and time to try something new! Too bad more colleges and universities aren’t on the quarter system, I really think it’s the way to go.

Posted by Dana at 11:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Writer’s Block. That’s what I had all day yesterday, and believe me, it was horrible! Every other week I have to turn in a 15-20 page fiction piece for my Evening and Weekend class called Writer’s Workshop. My last piece I wrote turned out to be pretty decent, a lot better than I was expecting. But yesterday I began work on my second piece, which is due this Wednesday.

We had all day Saturday class and I figured after a lecture or something maybe I would come out with some more ideas for the new piece I was about to embark on. Wrong. Since it was Washington State’s caucus my teacher let us all out early to either go to our caucus or go home and write some more, and come back 5 hours for a guest lecturer. I went home and stared at my computer screen. Then I checked my Facebook. Then Myspace. Then Netflix. And Facebook once again. An hour went by and I still had nothing on my word document. So I thought maybe pulling out a pen and paper would help inspire a story out of me. Nope. I wrote two pages of complete crap. I became even more frustrate with the fact that after two hours I had absolutely nothing to show for it. I had 30 minutes to go, when my dad called me. We talked about one of his brother’s who had the flu. My dad told me some stories about my uncle from his younger years, which I thought were quite amusing. I got off the phone with him, and sat back down at my computer and began to write. My uncle’s story inspired me, and I kept writing and writing. Then I looked at my clock and realized I had to be back at the school again.

The guest lecturer went on for a few hours and I didn’t catch a single word she said. I spent the whole time playing out the story in my mind, waiting anxiously to get back home and type it up. Finally, my writer’s block was cured!

The one thing I did catch from this guest lecturer was a good piece of advise about writing: When there is a break in your piece (i.e.- a chapter or scene ending) do not get up and walk away from your writing. Write a few intro scenes, because that will help you get back into your writing when you come to sit back down again. So many times I have felt stuck in my writing when I’m at a scene break, and I thought this was a very good point. I just wanted to share it with you all.

Posted by Dana at 05:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This last Saturday was Preview Day on campus for all of our prospective students. Admissions headed the function, and many of my fellow Student Ambassadors and I had the opportunity to show off our school. It was a long day, full of questions and rain, but it was a fun day.

I spent the majority of the day outside in the freezing rain, which wasn’t so great, but I was able to give tours to students and their parents. I love giving tours to people because it gives me a chance to talk to people about Evergreen and really talk up the school. Evergreen has broadened my horizons in many ways, and I enjoy telling people about all the adventures I have had at this school.

Later in the day I had the opportunity of being on the school’s student panel; answering more questions about Evergreen. This was my first time being on a panel, and I have to say it was a bit weird at first. I was a little unsure how to word some of the questions and all, but after a little bit I began to feel more comfortable with the audience and jumped in with my thoughts and opinions of the school.

Preview Day was a great experience for a lot of prospective students, but it was also a great experience for me as well. I always love to talk about Evergreen and why I find the style of academia so wonderful. It’s a time for me to also remind myself about why this is such a great place to get an education. I love Evergreen, and I’m sure I’ll miss it when I’m gone.

Posted by Dana at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

50 days!

That’s how long I have until I leave for Florida to work at the self-proclaimed Happiest Place on Earth. I mentioned in an earlier blog that I’ve been accepted to the Walt Disney World College Program for the spring/summer of 2008. This is an internship through the Disney Company where I work in the parks and get paid, as well as take courses on entertainment, management, and leadership.

I went and auditioned a while back to be a character performer and I was accepted for that role a couple of months back. So while I am working at the theme parks I will be performing as those beloved Disney characters, which is awesome! I am really looking forward to this experience, and I know I will gain so much knowledge and information about entertainment from the Disney Company.

Now I’m at the point where I can almost taste that sweet Florida sun and with each rainfall in Washington I am wishing more and more that I could be over on the east cost soaking up the rays and playing in the theme parks. But there are still many things I need to get done in the next 50 days. There are presentations that need to be done, writing exercises that need to be completed, and furniture that needs to be stored.

But oh man, I wish I were at Disney World right about now.

Posted by Dana at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)