BSU BlogFest - Day Two: Technology

This is my second post of the five-day BSU BlogFest series, where BSU community members share their thoughts on a common topic each day.  BSU BlogFest is one of the featured aspects of Social Media Week, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.  

Please check out other bloggers' contributions via the BSU BlogFest web site!

Tuesday's BlogFest Theme: Technology

Today's question is: "What role does technology play to help or hinder relationships?"

Admittedly, I feel stumped about this question because there are many lenses through which one could view this dilemma.  Experts in political science, psychology, sociology, information technology, and anthropology could sit at a table (or Skype) to discuss this question, and you'd likely find widely different perspectives with no agreed-upon conclusion.  So I think it makes the most sense for me to share a few piecemeal thoughts.

1. It's never been easier to stay in touch with friends and family with social media.  I figured I would start with the most obvious statement.  We have Facebook, Twitter, Skype, Blackberry Messenger, instant messaging (such as AOL), text messaging, and of course lest we forget -- e-mail!  I know people whose grandparents utilize some of these applications which goes to show you how easy it is to use social media.

2. Building relationships with people across the world (i.e., networking), including those in positions of power with whom you might not otherwise feel comfortable approaching, is becoming a simpler process.  I recently attended the ResLifeTECH conference at Western New England College that highlighted social media's expansive reach in student affairs (it was an overwhelming but enlightening conference for me).  One of the presenters, Jenna Magnuski of Northeastern University, talked about how she was nervous for interviewing at a professional conference, and she used Twitter to express that anxiety.  Someone tweeted her back and offered to assist in preparing her.  It turned out this person was a vice president of student affairs (or similar position), so she ended up connecting with someone she may not have otherwise felt confident approaching.

3. Cyber-bullying is a problem we can't ignore.  There are unfortunately many, many cases of people being bullied through social media channels.  This is true especially for adolescents and young adults who are still developing their identities and self-confidence.  A decade ago, if you were bullied by someone, at least it was only when that person was physically nearby.  But nowadays, social media unfortunately gives bullies a lot more power to make life difficult for someone.  Victims of cyber-bullying simply cannot get away from bullies because social media is a constant presence.  Of course, cyber-bullying has garnered the attention of educators, administrators, parents, and the media, so steps are being taken to address this problem.

4. Social media is ever-changing and in flux; technology that progresses too much for society can lead to something called "future shock."  In 2002, when I was in graduate school, I was captivated by a book I picked up on my own called Future Shock, written by Alvin Toffler. It's an "oldie" written in 1970. The author defines future shock as "the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in individuals by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time." Wow. Alvin Toffler, a sociologist, basically attributes many social problems (i.e., depression, addiction, violence, etc.) to technology that is advancing too quickly for people.  His book impacted my worldview significantly, as I infused many of his arguments into the way I think about technology.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed by technological advances, including those within social media.  There always seems like there is a new web site or way to communicate with each other.  And Facebook seems to change its' privacy settings and overall look on at least a monthly basis.  We are forced to adapt more quickly to changes, and there is great danger in that psychologically.

5. The infrastructure for social media is not sustainable in its current form.  This is definitely my biggest concern about technology and social media.  We live in a world of more than six billion people, and that number is rapidly increasing.  Because of limited resources on the planet, it is impossible for everyone to have access to social media in the way that many of us do in developed countries.  All of the technology built around laptops, iPads, and cell phones requires a lot of materials.  In all stages of the consumer process -- building, shipping, and disposal -- there tends to be a lot of waste.  So while I love social media, I also harbor fears as a concerned citizen that problems of sustainability must be addressed before we cause too much harm to our planet (and ourselves).  Limited resources + many people = conflict.  Imagine that on a global scale.       

Two things are clear -- technology in the form of social media is here to stay for quite a while, and we should expect social media to dominate our lives.  We have to make individual and collective choices as to how we use technology and social media, for better or for worse.

BSU BlogFest - Day One: Learning

This week, I am participating in Bridgewater State University's BlogFest, a five-day blog series focused on a different topic/theme each day.  The blogs are written by BSU students, staff, and faculty.  As a Resident Director here, I'm excited to also contribute my perspective!  BSU BlogFest is one of the featured aspects of Social Media Week, hosted by the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership.  Social Media Week aims to initiate conversations via various social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and blogs. For those interested, follow me on Twitter at @mtgoodha (please know I'm still getting the hang of it).

Please check out other bloggers' contributions via the BSU BlogFest web site!

Monday's BlogFest Theme: Learning

We've been offered a prompting question for each theme just to help exercise our brains, and I can easily work with today's prompt:  "What has been a learning experience that has impacted you the most in your life?"

Learning is such a broad concept, but to start this conversation, I think it's important to consider that learning is an individual experience that is affected by many factors such as genetics, the way we're treated as children, personality, teaching and learning styles, and social interactions.  We don't all learn the same way, and "teachers" don't all teach the same way, either.  I put the word teachers in quotes since they could be in or outside of the classroom.  The best form of learning is one that contributes to our personal growth and confidence throughout life.  While learning might be a single "ah-hah" moment, I like to think that it's more about a series of moments that reinforce our growth.

For me, my most impactful series of moments of learning revolve around reading and writing.  Writing is among the abilities where I feel most confident.  As a relatively quiet introvert, writing plays an integral role in my life.  My "teachers" empowered me with (and reinforced) the ability to read and communicate in the written form.  It's a useful skill that helps counterbalance an adequate speaking ability (certainly, I can speak publicly with some confidence, after much life-long practice - but it's not my strength).

Confidence in reading and writing started for me at an early age when my mother nurtured an appreciation of words.  She saw I loved when she read books to me and I'd request it often as a toddler.  She was then purposeful in directing me to read books out loud to her; I enjoyed reading out loud so repetitively that it became fairly annoying!  But, this reinforcement and attention instilled my quickly progressing enthusiasm for vocabulary in the English language.  When you love learning about something, you tend to stick with it.

The Alluring Speak & Spell

Remember the movie E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial?  Well, it's a prime example of how the media can influence what we learn.  There's a significant scene where E.T. uses a Speak & Spell toy to phone home.  Product placement in the movies at its finest.  I was three years old when E.T. came out in the theaters in 1982.  So when I got this toy and used it frequently, it reinforced my love for words - and more importantly, spelling the words correctly.  It's probably not a coincidence that a little later in life, I'd look forward to and thrive in annual spelling bees in school, eventually making it to the regional levels in the eighth grade.  Thirsting for re-living the Speak & Spell experience?

I appreciated it when teachers guided me in the right direction, too. Even in college. I distinctly remember when Dr. Tod Burke, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University where I received my undergraduate education, made it a point in class to everyone on how to properly spell judgment, writing it on the chalkboard. I was among many in the class who spelled it "judgement," but you better believe I remembered the correct spelling after that.

My second grade teacher made a big impact in my development, too.  I was learning that it was fun to put words together to create short stories.  I think it was Mrs. Capehart who saw how much I enjoyed writing.  She encouraged me to keep writing and then would occasionally send me to a kindergarten class to read my stories out loud to my slightly younger peers.  I'm so impressed by her creative means of inspiring me in this way.  This was a process that trended throughout my life, where I'd enjoy writing, then appreciate the positive (and critical) feedback from teachers, family, and friends.  English classes, especially ones that focused on creative writing, were consistently among my favorites.

We'll return now to my mother, who assisted in expanding my grasp of the written language by taking the time to review my papers that I'd have to do for classes.  She'd point out how I could re-word a sentence or where I needed to correct a grammatical mistake.  I yearned to know how to properly arrange sentences, where to place a comma, when not to use a semi-colon, etc.  I guarantee I will have re-read this blog posting several times to ensure it's as perfect as I can make it (no guarantee that it is perfect, though).

I firmly believe all of this learning -- and constant practice in writing on a daily basis -- has been exceptionally valuable for me.  Writing a final case study in graduate school, putting together a quality cover letter for a job, and maintaining two blogs are all examples of... well... a lesson learned.

(Not) Born to Run

An update on my role in the world of jogging and walking is long overdue.  The last five weeks have been difficult for me in terms of exercise.  Now's a good time to finally share what's been happening.

The last time I jogged was on February 7th.  It was a 3 mile jog, and I was proud of myself for finally beating the 12 min/mile pace.  I really felt like I was making progress in transitioning from brisk walking to jogging.  But I was ignoring the sharp pains in my shins.  You're told to "run through the pain" and I did, proudly.  But I've now recognized you shouldn't run through sharp pain.  That's your body telling you, "Hey, I'm not just tired - I'm literally falling apart here, so you had better stop this."  On that last jog, I even sprinted and though the pain intensified (it felt like a knife was cutting along the front of my shins), I stuck with it.

For several days, the pain stuck around, but I started to think maybe jogging just wasn't for me.  So on February 13th, I went for a semi-brisk 3.2 mi walk.  Still ignoring my body's screams, I walked through the sharp pain.  After that walk, I finally listened and decided I would rest until the pain went away.

Except the pain didn't go away.  Week after week, the pain was in fact getting worse.  Simple walking, standing up, sitting down, sleeping - it didn't matter, the pain was there.  So I scheduled an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon.  Maybe this wasn't just your simple case of shin splints.  I was lucky that I only had to wait a week for the appointment, even as a new patient.

During the appointment on March 7th, the doctor did a physical examination of my shins, pushing here and there, asking if anything hurt.  At one point, I nearly yelped in pain and he immediately thought it was stress fractures.  A stress fracture is a small crack in your bone, though not as bad as a full fracture.  It is however an indication you're overdoing it.  So he sent me to have x-rays and a bone scan to confirm that diagnosis. 

The tests were done on March 10th.  The x-rays were straight-forward but I'd never had a bone scan before.  They injected a radioactive fluid into my bloodstream, then I waited three hours for the radioactive fluid to spread throughout my system.  Then they did the actual bone scan.  They strapped me down (literally) and told me I would need to lie completely still for thirty minutes as a machine overhead scanned my body.  It's not like an MRI where you're in a tube; in a bone scan, the machine is simply above you, albeit only a couple inches above you.  Apparently, a bone scan can see where your blood is flowing in greater amounts.  If it is flowing more than usual in a certain place, it likely means your body is in the process of healing itself in that location.  Hence, if you have a stress fracture, the bone scan will show a dark area in that location because the bone is healing.  The bone scan results are then compared with the x-rays.

When I returned to the doctor this morning, I really thought he'd tell me the bone scan confirmed stress fractures.  Instead he said, nope - it's definitely shin splints.  He showed me the x-rays and bone scan.  I find these fascinating, by the way.  The x-rays showed all was well with the bones in my legs.  But he pointed out the bone scan did show the shin splints at least.  There were clear dark areas along the sides of my shins, and he said it was a classic case of shin splints.  Granted, I do have severe shin splints, but now I kind of feel like I'm a wuss!  My pain tolerance must be lower than I thought.  The doctor said rest will cure shin splints, but he was concerned that the five weeks of rest I've had so far hadn't yet relieved the pain.

So, now he's recommending I get an MRI to get a closer look at the shin splint injury and see if there's any other factors at play here.  The MRI has yet to be scheduled, as they're waiting to hear from my insurance company for approval.  But at least the main diagnosis of shin splints is confirmed.

I will continue to rest my legs.  No brisk walking, and certainly no jogging.  The doctor said that perhaps, "jogging is just not your friend."  I'd agree.  All I really want to do is briskly walk - I enjoy walking, and I'm good at it.  Heck, I beat the 3 hour mark in a half marathon just walking, and I'm proud of that!  I'm just ready to get back to exercising.  I miss it all, and I can't wait to have it back in my routine.

The lesson here for me is that Bruce Springsteen's song "Born to Run" doesn't quite fit in my situation.  That's right, Bruce, you've got it wrong.  But you better believe that when I'm in good shape again and briskly walking, my iPod playlist will include that song out of pure spite!  Haha, it's good to have a goal.

I'll keep you all updated on what happens with the rest of my journey to full recovery.

Buckeye Chocolates

Yup, I actually prepared these.

Buckeye chocolates: The finest peanut butter & chocolate delicacy.  OH, you say, what the flippin' heck is a recipe doing on YOUR blog?  I know, I know... this is much too hard to believe.

I wanted to make these for my staff and for anyone else I know, and, ah - of course, me. :)  They are essentially a home-made version of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, but a bit richer and (I think) more delicious.

Firstly, a little cultural fact about the Buckeye chocolate.  They're very popular in Ohio where folks bleed scarlet and gray (figuratively, as a preference).  Those are, obviously, the colors of The Ohio State Buckeyes.  You'll likely find these chocolate treats at a party for an Ohio State game, and they are especially common around Christmas.  The unique trait about a Buckeye chocolate is they're shaped like a Buckeye nut.  Now you wouldn't want to eat an actual Buckeye nut as they are mildly poisonous - it won't kill you, but it'll probably give you a stomach ache.  So the only way you can really appreciate this is by making Buckeye chocolates!

I shouldn't brag that much as it's a REALLY simply recipe.  But I actually use a kitchen for its true purpose perhaps once or twice a year, so it's a big "to do" for me. 

Below you'll find the recipe I use to make them. I've modified it from a recipe I found a few years ago. I was slightly disappointed in this batch I made tonight as they came out a tad soft. I'm hoping that leaving them in the freezer overnight will help. Regardless, I already ate one and it still tasted... magnificent.  The amount of time you'll spend making these is about 45 minutes, plus the time you leave it in the freezer or refrigerator.

Buckeye Chocolates Recipe
Servings: About 50 pieces

Ingredients:

2 (18 ounce) jars of creamy peanut butter
16 ounce package of confectioner’s sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened
2 (12 ounce) packages of semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 tablespoon of shortening

Directions:

1. Blend together peanut butter, sugar, and softened butter. This will require you to use your hands a bit to mix it up!
2. Roll mixture into 1 inch round balls. Use flour on your hands if mixture is too sticky. Place in freezer for at least 1 hour.
3. Melt chocolate morsels with shortening. Whisk together until smooth.
4. Insert toothpick into each ball and dip into chocolate so that it is about 2/3 covered with chocolate. Place on waxed paper and allow to set in refrigerator.

Trying A New Work-Out

In an effort to expand my work-out routine from just jogging/walking, I went to a local sporting goods store today on the search for free weights and a kettlebell.  Admittedly, my original plan went astray.  I was a little overwhelmed by the selection there, and I decided that I'd go for something I'd never imagine myself purchasing.  An "As Seen on TV" work-out called KettleWorx.  It features cardio, core, and resistance routines on DVD using a light weight kettlebell.  They vary in weight from five to 20 pounds.  I thought kettlebells are supposed to be heavy, but these are not... well - so I thought until I actually did a work-out this afternoon.  This is designed to be done three times a week for 20 minutes each, over the course of six weeks.  First cardio, second core, and third resistance.  Then you repeat the next week, and supposedly it gets more intense over time.

I went with the ten pound kettlebell, but now I'm thinking a five pound weight probably would have been better for starting out.  The first routine is cardio (though it felt like strength training, too).  It consists of a warm-up, two sets of a variety of exercises, then a cooldown.  I honestly had to press the pause button after every couple of exercises, because I was either completely out of breath or shaking from muscle fatigue.  Yep, I might have to go back tomorrow and get the five pound weight.  I really enjoyed the cooldown period!  Ultimately, it took me about an hour instead of just 20 minutes and for that I'm a little ashamed although I did do the exercises. 

So on Monday, I'll move on to the "core" work-out.

Also, tomorrow - I plan on going for a brisk walk.  Something that has me slightly worried is that despite taking a very long break since my last jog (and sprint) on Monday, my shins are still bothering me.  Sometimes they ache, and sometimes they give me a little jabbing sharp pain.  I think I probably injured myself overdoing things.  But five days of no cardio (aside from the intense KettleWorx work-out) has been a little disheartening.  So a short two-mile brisk walk tomorrow is on the agenda.

Over and out.

Twelve Minutes

On Monday evening, I got in another three-mile work-out at the indoor track on campus which is really only a two-minute walk from my apartment - super-advantageous for when I'm walking in shorts and it's only 10 degrees outside.  I took pride in the fact that for the second time in a row, I was able to jog for a full mile without stopping or walking.  I jogged a little more throughout the three miles than I did on Saturday.  And this is all paying off because I beat my pace record and broke the 12-minute mark.  11'57"/mile average! 

It appears that during my mile-long jog, it took about 10-11 minutes.  My brisk walking pace is more like 13:30.  So it should figure that if I can gradually increase my stamina, I could jog for a longer period of time and keep on improving my time.  I'm also thinking about buying some weights to do some strength training at home.  Ever since I quit the gym a couple months ago, strength training went 'poof' and we simply can't have that!  Perhaps this weekend, I'll make a trip to a sporting goods store.  My federal tax return should help with that!

As much as I'm happy about my time last night, my shins are killing me.  I know I might have overdone it, and part of the problem might have been when I did a one-lap sprint.  A friend pointed out that I might be tensing up in my legs which could contribute to shin splints.  Reflecting back, I probably did tense up for that lap (plus there was sharp pain in my shins during that sprint).  But the rest of the jog felt pretty darn good - a little bit of shin pain then, but very tolerable.  Another factor is the track's surface might be a bit tough on the shins.  I might need to rest an extra day to give time to heal first.  A shin fracture from repeated stress without rest time would be bad news bears.

If you'd like to see a visual chart showing my work-out on Monday, have at it.  I love the Nike+ipod that I use for my indoor walks where GPS is not possible.  Here it is: http://go.nike.com/63etido

Oh yeah, and in case you're wondering, there was nothing whack on the track this time around. :-)

What's Whack on the Track?

It seems as though every time I go for a walk or jog on the indoor track on campus, I am bound to find someone who is doing something whack on the track.  It didn't happen as much in the spring and summer, but the winter seems to bring the strangeness out of people. 

It's been a week since I last ventured over there, and I had a really, really great workout - more on that in a moment!  But I thought I saw all the strange things until half-way into my jog today.

• A young woman, I think she was perhaps in high school - it'd be a stretch to say she might be a first-year student - came onto the track with a fake stuffed dog on wheels.  She starting "walking" this dog at a very, very slow pace - and of course, in the opposite direction.  As I slowed to a brisk walk, I tried to process it in my brain.  Was she training to walk a service dog? Nuh-uh.  If so, she failed, because one time, the dog fell over on its side and she dragged it like that for half a lap.  I should have asked her what she was doing... but I didn't.  Now unfortunately, I'll have no idea what that was all about.  But that was definitely whack.
• A couple weeks ago, a couple were casually jogging - and holding hands.  It was not enough for them to be enjoying a healthy public activity together - they had to make it romantic, too.  There are three lanes on the track, and they were of course right smack in the middle and taking up half of each of the inside/outside lanes.  As I was sprinting toward them and then asking them to move... nothing.  After maybe three seconds, they heard me and moved for me.  But that was... seriously... whack.
• The other thing I witnessed a few weeks ago was a man going in the opposite direction (why not?) doing ballet kinds of moves.  Perhaps he was a dance major - an aspiring movement artist.  Really the lesson is people need to pay attention to the directional sign and go with the flow of the rest of the crowd.  But I thought that was kind of whack.

That's enough of my sarcastic somewhat mean-spirited observations of people at the track.  I give everyone props who are there to truly get a good work-out and stay in shape.  But it's those outliers who don't really know what they're doing.  Or they just have an imaginative sense of humor and enjoy the strange looks from folks like me. :-)

Now for what was not whack on the track.  This morning, I jogged for the first time since my first 5K on December 5th.  And I was proud of myself today because I accomplished a feat not done since maybe P.E. class in middle school when the teacher forced you to jog like a drill sergeant would.  No, today - I finally jogged a full mile with no breaks and no walking!  And more than half of my 3 mile work-out today was jogging or sprinting.  It was my second best pace compared to the December 5K.  I did a 12'10" mile pace - total 36'27" in 3 miles.  I was a little disappointed I didn't beat my record pace, but I think this was pretty awesome considering the lapse in time since my last jog.

Regardless, I'm happy with today.  I think I could do this more often!