http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/ en-us Copyright 2008 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:32:19 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Hello friends, I’m truly sorry for such a long wait for this latest entry, but man has my life been crazy. The first thing that has been keeping my busy is, of course, school. It seems like this years classes are keeping me busier then ever with projects, tests, quizzes and homework. The next thing that keeps me busy is the Eagle Eye. The Eagle Eye is the on-campus newspaper for LHU and it is a ton-o-fun. I hold the position of Opinion Editor, which means that I must put long hours into editing, writing and laying my section out. I love working for the paper, but it takes a lot of time up (though, not as much as the other sections in the paper). At lately, the Lock Haven Express has kept me quite busy. The Lock Haven Express is the newspaper in the community of Lock Haven. As part of my news reporting class I am required to work at the Express for two weeks. It’s not going horrible, but I’m having trouble finding stories to write about in a town that I do not live in. So as you can see, the Haven is keeping me busy. But hopefully this is all for the benefit of myself. I’m sure it will be good training for me when I get out of school…. Hopefully I will talk to you guys soon… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/10/busy_busy_busy.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/10/busy_busy_busy.html Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:32:19 -0500 Hello friends, this is an Opinions article that I recently wrote for the Eagle Eye, the oncampus newspaper and I thought it really reflected my thoughts on this milestone in age... As I watched the clock turn to midnight last Wednesday morning and the calendar switch to September 10, I felt a bit depressed. This is because, you see last Wednesday marked the twentith year of my existence of this earth. Though I knew that this day would eventually come, and in the weeks leading up to this day I wondered what my reaction would be as I turned the “Big 2-0”, I can not sincerely say that I was prepared for the shock that cameover me as the realization of actually turning twenty hit me. It’s not that I feel old or that I somehow think that my life is ruined or over because I am no longer a teenager, I just want to know where the time went. Where did the time go that I so irresponsibly wasted on friends, family, school and on occasion, fun? Now, it’s not that I actually feel that these things were a waste by any means. It’s just that looking back; I don’t feel that I really accomplished anything. The only things that I have really accomplished in these short twenty years are graduating from High School and being accepted to LHU. Some might say that I am still young and have plenty of time to do something meaningful in my life, but as we all know too well, tomorrow is not always a guarantee. And yes, I know that turning 20 is not the same as getting ready to retire after a full career, but an average life expectancy is somewhere around 70 or 80, so I have some what successfully completed about a quarter of my life. As I thought about completing one-fourth of my life, I had to stop and say, “Wow”. My life had always seemed so young, even a half a year ago, I felt as if I was still the scrawny, little kid who could do anything with the world as a big-time eighth grader. Now, I’m a 20 year old sophmore with more experiences to better understand this world and, I would hope, knowledge so that I can become a better piece of this world. I fully expect that one day I will look back and see that these times were not fast, but just the right speed. So as I look back at these twenty years, I realize that life is too short to worry about things that you cannot control. Time will pass at the same rate as it always does, but it takes such a milestone as being two decades old to make you appreciate the time that you wish away. I can remember times when I am sitting in class just wishing that it was an hour later or it was two days from that point. Now, as I sit in class, I still don’t want to be in class, but I never wish away that time. I just appreciate it and go with the flow. So, what have I learned in the past twenty year? I have learned that I know nothing, but I’m willing to do better and learn all that I can. As I see it, everyday and experience is an opportunity, an opportunity to do better then before and to make a better future. http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/09/turning_20.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/09/turning_20.html Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:57:33 -0500 Hello there everyone! Well, it’s official, I am officially back at the Haven. I had a some mixed emotions about starting this new and second year of mine at Lock Haven. On one hand, I had to leave my family and friends back home once again but on the other hand, I was excited to see my friends here again and to learn more about my classes. Life has been pretty slow while I’ve been up here. I moved in on Thursday evening and was just getting settled in, then on Friday the real fun began. On Friday I had to fulfill my obligation to the Honors Program. You see, the whole reason I got to move-in so early is because I volunteered to help move the incoming freshman honors kids into their dorm rooms. There were people that told me that they would not want to help anyone to move-in, but it was actually not that bad. It even, dare I say it, fun. On Saturday I awakened at 8am by the sound of the rest of the freshman as they began this voyage called College. It was pretty hectic the whole day but on the plus-side of things, some guys that I knew from my high school decided to take the leap into college at LHU and I got to hang out with them for a good amount of the day. Alright, it’s getting pretty late, I better hit the sack. I don’t want to be too tired for another fun-filled day at THE HAVEN… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/08/back_at_the_haven.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/08/back_at_the_haven.html Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:13:20 -0500 Hello again! I have some interesting updates on my summer for you residents of this blog. The first update on summer happenings for me is that I got an awesome opportunity. I was able to go and see a rodeo. Ya, that’s right, one of those “cowboy rides a horse and ties up cows” rodeo. It didn’t start out so hot because it rainedand we didn’t bring anything for the rain because it was so hot that day. But then once the events actually started, the skies cleared up. The actual rodeo was pretty intense and there were people from all over the country at this rodeo to compete. The next little update that I have for all of you is that as many of you know , “The Dark Knight”, the new batman movie, came out. Ya, this kid went and saw it. It may not be very exciting for some of you but for those of us who were looking forward to it, it was very exciting. I have to say that this movie was beyond good to me, the way everything happened was just spectacular and Heath Ledger played an awesome “Joker”. Alright, that’s all the updates I have for you guys and gals right now, I’ll blog to you later… O and less then a month until I’m back in the Haven… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/07/summer_updates.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/07/summer_updates.html Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:11:54 -0500 Sing us a song… Hello people of blog land allow me to tell you of what an awesome experience I recently had. I was hanging out in my living room when my sister tells me of this awesome thing that is happening in Hershey, Pa. What is happening, you ask? The man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Billy Joel is playing a concert in Hershey Stadium and she had tickets. I was super excited that I would be able to see one of the most excellent performers ever to play a piano. So the day came and I could not wait to hear all the classics. I was so excited that I could barely stand the wait. When we got there we had to wait an extra 45minutes for the concert to start because as he explained he wanted it to be a little darker out, so he could set the mood. Man was that concert awesome, I was a little worried near the end of the concert because he had yet to sing “Piano Man”, which I was really looking forward to. But after he left the stage at the end of the concert he of course came back for an encore and played two more great songs, neither of which were “Piano Man”. At this point I was going to start throwing some punches as the band left and he was doing his last bows for the night. But of course he threw us a curve ball of awesome-ness when he quickly belted that classic out. The night was amazing and I will never forget it. Until next time I talk you, just remember, it’s still rock n’ roll to me… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/07/sing_us_a_song.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/07/sing_us_a_song.html Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:17:27 -0500 Hello blogging friends! Let me begin this entry by saying that I am hoping that all of your summers are going excellent and that I hope you are having a great time doing whatever you are doing. My summer is going quite good and it got even better on Saturday of this past week. On Saturday my family and I adventured down to Baltimore, Maryland. We did this to do something that my whole family enjoys doing, seeing that Baltimore Orioles play a little baseball. I know what you are thinking, the Orioles, they stink. But I have to admit that no matter how bad they are, they’re still my team and I will continue to root for them. So, my family hopped in our car and made the almost three hour trip down to Baltimore. The ride down was pretty stress-free, except for when my sister (the navigator and direction reader) decided to make us go in a huge circle looking for this one exit that we shouldn’t have been looking for, but don’t worry, I got us back on track. When we arrived the first thing we did was go and take a little adventure the Inner Harbor, that place is a hoot. It has entertainment and awesome scenery. Then at 7:05, it was game time. The Orioles were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates. The game was exciting and had a lot of thrills. Four of these thrills were homeruns, two for each team. And the best part the Orioles won, winning with a walk-off single. The final score was 8-7 and I have to admit I was as happy as can be. This is something that I am hoping that my family will make a yearly tradition because it was a blast and there’s nothing better then a hotdog and a ballgame. Alright, catch you bloggers on the flipside of this information highway. http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/06/take_me_out_to_the_ballgame.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/06/take_me_out_to_the_ballgame.html Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:04:55 -0500 Alright Blog maniacs, here was my big adventure for the week. So, my sister, who just recently graduated from Grad School with her masters in social work, wanted to take the civil service test. She signs up for it and guess where she has to go… that’s right, Lock Haven. Now, my sister’s been up there before but is not totally sure where she is going, so I lend my excellent directing ability to the cause. We get up there with little to no reason to worry about anything going completely wrong. We found the place with little difficulty, thanks to yours truly. So we get to the place and she gets settled at the test-taking facility and then I realize it, I have no way of knowing how long it is going to take my sister to finish this test and I didn’t bring anything to do. This may sound like its going to turn out horrible, but it’s not because then I realized I’m at “THE HAVEN”, the most magical place on earth. So I got to relive some of my younger years (aka the past couple months of my life). I walked downtown waved to some people who I had never seen in my life and for the most part had an excellent time. This is where my story takes an excellent turn, as I walking back to the testing facility because my sister had called to tell me that she was done and had totally rocked that test I saw something that caught my eye. No, it wasn’t an awesome pair of suspenders, it was a hundred dollar bill! I’m just kidding, it wasn’t a hundred dollar bill, it was a good friend of mine from the F YE program. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone that I knew there since classes were out, but I had totally forgotten about summer courses. So there I was talking to someone I wasn’t expecting to talk ot for another couple of months. Although I hadn’t managed to make it back up to the LHU campus, it was still an excellent trip. Alright, I guess I will see you folks later… so, until the next time I blog, you can go for a jog, or buy a dog or sit on a log… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/06/a_visit_to_the_place_they_call.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/06/a_visit_to_the_place_they_call.html Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:27:00 -0500 Hello there good people of blog-ville. It has been almost a full month of summer vacation and I thought I would update you fun people on some of the excellent summer activities that some of my friends and I have done. To begin with, I and seven of my friends went on an adventure to a pleasant place called Williamsport to see very pleasing performance by an entertainer that goes by the name, Rodney Carrington. Mr. Rodney Carrington is a comedian that specializes in telling things from the male point of view. It was a blast watching Rodney up on stage with his cowboy hat and singing his crazy songs. Some other things that I have been doing is that my friends and I have been going to the local basketball courts to play some basketball. We will bet anywhere from three to eight people to play an assortment of games. If we don’t have that many people we will play a game like “21” or “three point shootout”, other times we will get some intense pickup games. So, if you’re feeling like you want to challenge us, come on down, we’ll be more then happy to take you on. And finally something that is very relaxing is that we sometimes have campfires. We’ll invite a few people over and just sit around the campfire for a few hours. This is fun and allows us to catch up with eachother after a fun-filled year away from eachother at college. Well, I hope you are having an awesome start to your summer as well. So, I guess this is good-bye for this week, I will surely anticipate our next meeting so that I can give you updates on how the summer is going... http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/some_summer_activites.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/some_summer_activites.html Fri, 30 May 2008 17:56:17 -0500 Aloha Blogging Buddies, what’s new with you? Really, that’s neat. Summer time is here and though I am not currently in the Haven, I will be back there in the fall. Now is just a time for me to relax and take a break from the constant grind of school. I am not doing a lot right now just trying to make a nice and smooth transition back into living at home and being back in my hometown. I am currently trying to a place of employment for the summer and the hunt is going kind of slow but it is looking promising. Other then that constant search, I am also catching up with friends that I have not seen in a little while because of us being off at college. It is good to see these old, yet still good friends and to see that we have not grown too far apart from each other. This is good to see because when we were graduating almost exactly a year ago, they told us that we wouldn’t see almost all of our graduation class again. But my friends and I made an effort not to let this happen to us, we made sure to stay in contact and to see each other whenever we could because we figured if we wanted to see each other we would make it happen. A big adjustment for moving back into my house is that at first I almost felt like a guest in my own house. Don’t get me wrong, nothing really changed about my house, it is just that I was not used to staying for such a long stretch of time in my house. When I was home, it was only ever for about two and a half days. But now that I have been here for two weeks I am getting adjusted well to it. Alright, I guess I better get back to doing what I do best, relaxing. Until next time, may the blog be with you, young jedi… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/smells_like_summer.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/smells_like_summer.html Thu, 22 May 2008 22:37:52 -0500 Wow, I almost totally forgot to give you guys and girls an update this week. Sorry about that guys and girls, it’s not that I don’t enjoy telling you all how awesome college life is; it’s just that I have been totally swamped this past week trying not to fail a bunch of finals. But I guess I can spare a few precious minutes to tell all of my excellent blog-friends how the week is going. Well the finals season started this past Friday when all of the dorm buildings went on a mandatory 24 hour quiet hours. That means no loud music, yelling or carrying on in the hall or else you got some explaining to do Lucy. Everyone was pretty much on study-mode the whole weekend. Then it came, the beginning of the finals week. It was scarey but you have to do it, well actually I guess you don’t but it’s in your best interest to take the finals. So, on Monday I had my Intermediate Algebra final bright and early at 8am (as you will see, 8am finals will be often for me). Then later that day at 6pm, I had my literature final. Both of these finals weren’t bad, not great but they didn’t kill me which is always good. Then luckily I had a review session from 8-9pm Monday night for our final in World History II. Tuesday wasn’t such a bad day, I only had one final exam period. But of course, it was scheduled for 8am. I didn’t have a final in my Newswriting class but we were still expected to show up to do a little assignment. The rest of the day I spent studying for my history exam. Then Wednesday came and once again, I woke up for a super-awesome 8am final. World History II came calling and I had to take the final which I actually feel really good about. That’s not a good sign, because if I feel good about it, I probably didn’t do too hot. Now, all I have to do is take a Leisure, Wellness and Personal Lifestyle final on Thursday (10am, it’s about time) and then I’m done for the year. Yes, I will no longer be a freshman, but a sophomore. It’s hard to believe that my first year at the Haven will be done, but I could use a break. Alright cool people, I guess I should get back to studying… you know, I don’t want to fail. Until next time, I’ll see ya next time… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/finally_finals.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/finally_finals.html Wed, 07 May 2008 21:27:05 -0500 Hello blog-friends, I want to sit down and talk to you about something that will be very important to your LHU and/or college experience, dorms. Your dorm room will become your home, away from home. And like it or not, it’s going to take some getting used to. One big difference is the amount of people that you will be living with. Unless you are used to having over 30 people in your house, this will be a major change. Living in a country-like setting where there is barely any traffic or noise, it took a little getting used to all the people and comotion. But now at the end of the year, I go home and it seems weird and odd that it’s so quiet. Another difference is the fact that you’re basically on your own. Now there are RA’s (Resident Assistants) that will help you and are there to make sure things don’t get out of hand, but there isn’t anyone there to make sure you eat right, to study or anything else. This experience really shows you how responsible of a person you are. At first it just hits you that you have to take care of everything, but once you take a breather, you’ll be fine. And possibly the BIGGEST change about the living areas is the bathroom. I’ll tell you what, never before had I had to worry about being locked out of room while going to the bathroom but that was the situation I found myself my very first morning at the Haven. Imagine if you will, the morning comes and I need to go to the bathroom, BAD. So, I jump up and begin to run out my room, without my keys, and I’m about to shut the door when I realize that my door is locked. Then everything goes into that funky movie-like slow-motion. My eyes get big and I’m like “NOOOoooo…” and quickly put my foot in the door. My foot got a little sore but it was better then getting locked out of my room in shorts and my hair sticking up. Moral of the story, no matter how bad you have to go to the bathroom, make sure you have your keys. There are a lot of differences that you’ll have to get used to when you come to college, but there’s adjustments you’ll have to make in everything you do. Alright, I’ll catch you excellent people when I decide to blog it up again… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/dorm_sweet_dorm.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/05/dorm_sweet_dorm.html Thu, 01 May 2008 22:13:03 -0500 Wow, what an exciting and busy week we had here in the Haven. First thing that happened is that Bill Clinton came to campus. Ya, that Bill Clintion, the former president of the country, you might have heard of him. He came to do what he does best, campaign, but this time for his wife, Hilary. Campus was crazy that day with the excitement for this huge event. And boy, you should’ve seen the line for that sucker. I couldn’t even see the end of it when I looked at it from across the street, it was pretty nuts. As if that little piece of awesomeness wasn’t enough for the week, that Friday the Honors Program held its end of the year awards banquet. This was held at the Elks’ in downtown Lock Haven, pretty excellent stuff if you ask me. Everyone from the program got all dressed up in their schnazziest clothes and prepared for a great night. There was a lot of excellent food and there was even a dance after dinner. This thing had loads of awesome-ness in it and it was definitely a great time. Then there was the school week, classes are starting to get a little stressful just because the semester is winding down. It seems as if each class has decided now it a perfect time to load on the work. But it’s not that bad, I’ll survive it. Alright, like I said, I got tons of work to do… so, I’ll catch you awesome folks when I ride this blog wave again… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/excitement_in_the_air.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/excitement_in_the_air.html Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:22:26 -0500 Hello, allow me to welcome you back to my blog, just like Mr. Kotter (If you don’t understand this, ask your parents). A lot has happened since the last time that we met. The biggest event that I participated in was “Relay for Life”. “Relay for Life” is a great cause that helps bring awareness to cancer. It also raises money for cancer research to help those who are diagnosed with it. It was a great showing; the university’s original goal was to raise $10,000 for cancer research. We ended up doubling the goal and raised over $20,000. I was part of the LHU Honors team for the event. “Relay for Life” is runs from 7pm to 7am the next morning. Your team has to keep atleast two members walking around the track at all times. Luckily we had a lot of people on our team, so we had that covered easily. It was quite the excellent time, but sadly I could not stay awake the whole time. I could only stay until 5am, two hours short… dang it. I have to admit I was disappointed in myself, it was definitely a non-spectacular moment in my life. But the most important part was the great chunk of change that we raised for the foundation. Another cool thing that I got to do was learn the editing process. I have recently become the co-editor of the Opinions Section for next semester for the Eagle Eye, the student newspaper at LHU. With this position I must learn the process of being an editor. On Tuesday I went down to the newsroom to learn this process. I learned how to edit and do the overall layout of the newspaper. It was a pretty interesting process and a great learning experience. Well, that’s about it for this week. I’ll be sure to report back to you most-excellent people next week on the crazy happenings here at the Haven. Until then, keep it excellent… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/relaying_the_message.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/relaying_the_message.html Wed, 16 Apr 2008 21:39:24 -0500 Greetings Friends and/or Readers that I have not met but know are cool, The weeks are winding down on my first year at the Haven and it made me think of how far I’ve come. I came in to the university a scared little freshman, and I’m leaving a slightly less fearful kid who still has a bit of a nervous twitch, just kidding, it’s all good. The experience has been one to remember and it’s still happening. When I came to the Haven I was still acting like I was in high school and still had my high school habits, but now I can see that I’ve made a pretty excellent transition to a college student. In high school I was able to get good grades and be on the Honor Roll without doing a lot of hard-studying and doing things off the top of my head. I attempted to do this on my first exam of my college career and let’s just say, it didn’t go to well. But now I’ve learned to proper ways to study and prepare for college-level exams. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a pretty good procrastinator, but I’ve learned to cut back on the amount of time and work that I procrastinate on (I’m sure that by the time I graduate I will have cut that habit out completely, but I’m not promising any miracles). I’ve found that I have come out of my shell a bit as well. In high school, I knew everyone and had my set friends because we had gone to school together for atleast four years, if not longer. When I got to Lock Haven, I knew maybe four people and was a bit hesitant and shy. Now, I’m not as shy and can talk to people that I’ve never met before. A big help in this process was my involvment in different organizations. I am currently in the ‘First Year Excellence’ Program, which is part of the Honors Program here on campus. This helped with meeting people because they require you to do atleast two hours of meetings and activites each week. This allows you to get involved with the other students in the program. Another big help with getting to know the campus better, was writing for the Eagle Eye Newspaper. This not only helped me with my skill in my major but also allowed me to meet other people in my major. It also got me more accustomed to the campus by having to go out and cover different events and talk to different people around the campus. Alright, I guess I’ve babbled on long enough, I’ll let you cool people go. I guess I’ll catch you on the flipside… http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/transitioning_from_high_school.html http://blogs.targetx.com/lhup/JoeStender/2008/04/transitioning_from_high_school.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:54:55 -0500