I am a Texas born, Texas raised Junior Nursing student from Katy, TX with a passion for life. I have a younger brother who will be graduating in May and he and both parents live at home with my 3 adorable cats, Kiki, Angel, and Blackie. I recently "inherited" 2 fish from a friend of the family who moved away and now have just one left (Kiko)...apparently the tap water in FW is no good for fish... I enjoy listening to any sort of music that I am in the mood for, usually country music since that is what I grew up on; and yes, I do sing in the shower...and in the car, my room, down the hall...need I go on? Of course I do occasionally go out dancing at any local clubs. I LOVE movies! My all-time favorite movies are Gone With the Wind and Scarlett! I also love to swim! I was on swim team with the same coach for 11 years and then I helped coach for the past 3 years! In my quiet time I like to read historical romantics because it is my escape from the "real" world. I am also an active member of Eta Iota Sigma, or better known as HIS (He Is Sufficient).

What brought me to TCU? Well I honestly can say that I never even heard of TCU until my aunt told me of her friend who attended TCU for the trainer's program. I wasn't really into going to visit since it was a private school and I knew it would be expensive, but as soon as I set foot on campus, I knew TCU was meant for me. I absoulutely fell in love with the campus, the people, everything! If I were made Chancellor of TCU, the first thing I would change would be the meal plan; and I only say this because it is so expensive. I would not require that every student had to get a meal plan. Instead, I would lower the costs (by re-designing the meal plans), increase the quality of food and then only reqiure freshman to have a meal plan and let the sophomores and upper classmen decide on whether or not they would like a meal plan.

One of the things that really drew me to TCU was the teacher to student ratio. I have always had small classes in the past and it made it easier to establish and develop a relationship with my teachers so that I could come to them for help or even just to visit. To me, a good teacher is one that challenges the student and is attentive to the student's learning style(s). Being a good student helps with the teacher-student relationship as well. Knowing how the class is to be run and doing assignments on time and participating in the class discussions is what makes a good student. All of this combined leads to a great classroom atmosphere.

On a completely different subject, I would love to have a sit-down, relaxed, girls-night-out dinner with Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, and Martina McBride! Ever since I was 8 years old and watched the movie "Steel Magnolias" with my mom, I have wanted her at every birthday party, she would be the top on my guest list! As for Reba and Martina, they both have some of the same qualities as Dolly as well as a character of their own that makes them inspirational to me. I love Dolly's quote: "You gotta have the rain before you can have the rainbow."

As for what I would like y'all to know about me, well, as you can tell, I am a pretty open person and easy to talk to! I love meeting new people and hope that this class will create and renew friendships. I also love food, cooking food and of course eating food. So if anyone else likes to cook, let me know and we should have a cooking night or something. As for what I would like to know from y'all, well I want to know who likes and wants to cook! I would like to know what you're interests are, what you do in your free time (that is, if there is any after classes and homework!). I want to know what your favorite movies are too, since I absolutely LOVE movies! I think a class movie night should definately be on the schedule!

I chose this course honestly because I needed the Literature aspect of it for my TCU Core and because it was located in Bass at a time that fits into my busy nursing schedule. After today's first class, I am excited and a little nervous about all that we have planned to do in the next 16 weeks! I hope to become a better writer, reader, and have a more opened mind when it comes to reading new texts, or even old ones. Currently, most of the reading I do is for my nursing courses...which can get a little boring sometimes. When I want to escape (as I mentioned earlier) I grab one of my historical romantic books and get lost in a world of empowered women, brave and brutal men turned into gentle lovers and most of what I enjoy is the love story of it all. Every now and then I will grab a mystery or thriller book just to change up the mood a little bit. As for my writing, well it mostly consists of random journal entries or poetry that comes to mind. I write down a lot of quotes from various sources including books, songs, the Bible, etc. Of course most of my writing is really texting to my friends or emailing to my family. I have never really thought about my writing as anything but a letter or a text. When I do catch my muse every now and then though, my journal entries and poetry to have a deeper meaning to me. Sometimes, but very rarely, do I even share my collection.

I think (and hope) the way I chose to design my blog, and the way I speak pretty openly on this blog will allow others who decide to read it to be able to talk to me knowing that they can just talk or start a discussion about anything. I am pretty sure, with the length of this blog, as well as the content I provided shows that I am ready and willing to participate in this course. Oh and speaking of this course, I did read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which I see as a contract for our course.