Post in Social Media Blog

http://charlottesocialnetworking49.blogspot.com/2011/10/when-twitter-accounts-are-hacked.html

2012 UNC Charlotte Homecoming

Everyone reading this blog probably understands by now that I am a very school spirited person. I try to advocate for UNC Charlotte as much as possible. I love my Niners to death and attend as many sporting events as my schedule allows. I try my best to bring this institution to its fullest potential (which it is not at yet). 




Just this past week I helped to start a student organization called Niner Traditions. Niner Traditions ultimate aim is create new traditions and revitalize old ones through the cooperation of a wide variety of other student orgs. We have plenty of ideas in NT, and can create lasting partnerships. If you are interested, please contact me at mmurrow1@gmail.com.




Because I want to be a better advocate for this institution, I am announcing that I will be running for Homecoming King in February of 2012. 




Thanks and Go Niners! 
-Matt

Life Happens. Get a Twitter.

Here is a post I made in a group project blog.

http://charlottesocialnetworking49.blogspot.com/2011/10/life-happens-get-twitter.html

Community Day

Today our SIFE team participated in Community Day at the new Uptown Center City Building that will house the MBA and Urban Design programs at UNC Charlotte. We had an excellent turnout on our end with 18 people that showed up. We actually had more people at some times than things to do.

Overall, the day was pretty fun. I'm not very good at face painting or putting fake tattoos on children so I basically took pictures all day. Getting to know a lot of our newer members was pretty cool today. The future of our team is really bright and they motivate me with their enthusiasm.

I might be mentioned in the Niner Times on Tuesday as I was interviewed briefly by Ciera from the paper.

Here are some of the more interesting photos from earlier today:

Tie Tuesdays Press Release

In the light of recent demand, Matt Murrow will be participating in Tie Tuesdays beginning August 23rd. This will push his personal brand by wearing all black with brightly colored ties. Green, white and Gold will have special emphasis. 


There are two main reasons for participating in Tie Tuesdays:
1.) Matt teaches his peer mentoring class on Tuesdays.
2.) Matt has weekly SIFE meetings on Tuesdays at 5:00pm. 



Matt Murrow is a Junior at UNC Charlotte double majoring in Marketing and Management. He is the VP Marketing for the Students in Free Enterprise and is actively involved in a number of other student organizations. He currently holds a position as a UCOL Peer Mentor for the 2011 Fall semester in which he will teach a class along with a fellow Niner, Sekona Washington. He also holds a position as a work study student at the UNC Charlotte Graduate School. In Matt's free time he likes to (edit: there isn't much free time).    



































Yes, this was meant to be comical. 




Be sure to like the UNC Charlotte SIFE page on Facebook!

Update

Its been a while since I wrote in this so I thought I would just jot some things down.

The SIFE table at SOAR ended up getting 205 signups, which is far more than I expected. I'm hoping for a 20-30% conversion ratio which would place our freshmen recruits just from SOAR at about 40-60. These numbers might be a little overly optimistic, but we'll see.

We have a SIFE EB meeting this week. I'm excited to see what we all have been up to.

I'm taking two summer classes this session. Both are history classes. One is on Germany after Hitler and the other is on Euro history since 1660. The Germany class is much more interesting, even though both classes have the same teacher. I made As in both of my classes last semester.

I've been going to the gym and shooting hoops with Dallas a good bit. I'm getting better, although I'm no where near where most kids are my age. My shot is falling better... sometimes.. and my ball handling is slowly improving. I still look really bad in competition though.

I have a massive reading list backed up. I am way behind.

I've started watching the Jimmy Falon show and its pretty funny.

It seems like sometime over the past few months my overall attitude towards life has changed. I'm amazingly inspired and see the forecast as very bright. I love my life more than ever before.

I move into my new apartment in like the second week of August. I'm really excited and can't wait to put some IdeaPaint on my walls. For those of you who don't know what that is, it basically turns your wall into a whiteboard.

I'm really excited about next school year as well. Aside from all the SIFE stuff, I'm a peer mentor for a group of freshmen and I get to teach a class. I want to apply for the tour guides still but I am uncertain because of a scheduling conflict. I dropped one of my classes to try and have an easier semester. Hopefully the adjustment isn't too much, but I'm preparing for it.

Summer Reading List

In Progress:
The Social Animal by David Brooks

Yet to Start:
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
How Full is Your Bucket by Tom Rath
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Marketing War-Fare by Al Reis and Jack Trout
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
What Would Google Do? by Jeff Jarvis
First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman 
The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz
The First Billion is the Hardest by T. Boone Pickens

Completed:

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss 

The Truth about Search Engine Optimization by Rebecca Lieb
Organizing Genius by Warren Bennis
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Music Videos

How My Brain Operates

A while back I took a Skills Assessment test which is supposed to tell you what type of person you are. My result: competitor.

Yes, I live for competition. I live for the moment when you know you have beaten everyone around you, when you know you are superior. I live to prove people wrong. Tell me I can't do something and I will do my very best to prove you wrong. Its a competition. Me verses you.

I used to be a competitive bowler. I started when I was about 14 years old, entering high school. My first season I was horrible. I think I averaged something like 135. My second season I got better and averaged something like 165. During my third year I made some significant strides averaging somewhere between 185 and 190 and during the summer I had my highest average of 208. My time in bowling taught me something, it taught me how to perform under pressure, how to compete, and occasionally how to win.

Bowling is one of those weird sports. Its a solitary sport. When you are on the approach it is just you and the lane, there is no team involved at that moment. Yes, the team can motivate you and encourage you but I noticed their encouragement had nothing to do with my performance. I always seemed to bowl better around better bowlers. Its all because of competition. I remember one summer night after I got done bowling in the sport league I went down to the higher end of the house to bowl with Dustin, Chris McSwain, Chris Postell, and a few other of the better bowlers in the house. I was on a sport shot. Given my average I shouldn't have shot over 170-190ish.  I ended up bowling 280.  It was all because of competition.

Back in May our SIFE team went to the SIFE USA National Exposition. We put in countless hours into our presentation and were sure this would be our year to make it out of the first round at Nationals and onto the stage. I recall the moment the announcement was made that we didn't advance. The whole team was speechless. The SIFE USA National Exposition is all about competition and we lost. As a business major I believe that competition spurs innovation. And that is what will happen, we will strive to do better, and remember the bitter taste of defeat.

Our SIFE team consists of about 55-60 members. I see myself as competing against not only other SIFE teams but against different people in SIFE. I want to come out on top. I want to be one of those people 20 years from now you admire because they did something special, they achieved greatness.

On campus all the time I see these rich kids walking around with their preppy clothes and the finest girls. It seems like the prettiest girls are only attracted to the richest boys, even if they are asses. These always seem to be the boys who have the nice, new sports cars and live in the nice suburban houses that my family couldn't dream of affording.

Now I'm not going to try and make myself sound poor, because I know firsthand that there are millions upon millions of people who simply can't make ends meet. However, my family still lives off paychecks from week to week. When I graduate college I will be the first person in my family to do so. But to me this doesn't sound good enough. I want more for some reason. I don't want to live paycheck to paycheck. I want to break through class barriers unforeseen by anyone in my family or circle of friends.

Above all I want respect, respect that I am somehow capable of deciding my own future, independent of what others may think. I want to become an expert in something, and I want others to consult me for my expertise.

I believe that a person can't easily control his/her interests. I am normally not a person to enjoy reading, AT ALL. Recently, I began ordering some business books from Amazon.com. Given these are not all stereotypical business books. These are books that talk about how people were able to differentiate themselves, how people interact, and where our ambitions come from. For some reason I am hooked on these books. I believe its because I understand that these books will help me compete, to be the best.

People seem to have such low expectations of themselves. They all say "I want to get a job with such and such company and get paid well." Well what happens after that? Do you see yourself working for "the man" for the rest of your life? Maybe I am destined to start a business for myself, maybe that is where my passion is.

In SIFE I am able to connect my passions with work. I enjoy doing almost everything I do as VP of Marketing. I love trying to make my student organization look better than the countless mobs of Greeks. I want SIFE to stand out to freshmen above other student organizations.

Maybe SIFE is where I help to understand my passions. Maybe it will help me to understand where my life is headed.

I'm reading this book called Organizing Genius. The author says that most "Great Groups" consist of people in their 20s-30s. This is attributed to their being passionate, and not realistic. They don't know what they can't do, and therefore they try to do the impossible and end up somewhere in between.

I live for the fight.

I live to come out on top.

I hate when someone does better than myself.

I hate to lose.

-MGM

Thoughts for the Day; June 23rd

First summer session is almost over and it really wasn't that bad. It was actually easier than I expected. My grades have been much better and I have made an A on every assignment except for one.

The UNC Charlotte SIFE part of Niner Night is going great. So far we have about 105 interested students in only like 7 sessions. I'm on target to hit my goal of 200 contacts.

I really enjoy working at Niner Night. Its great to be able to share a passion of your's with other students. Things are really looking up for SIFE next year. We are doing amazing things and I'm proud to be a part of this group.

I've been reading a lot recently. I'm interested in business books. In particular, ones that talk about entrepreneurship, marketing, sociology, some psychology and leadership. I'm working on three books right now. These books are The Tipping Point, The Social Animal, and Organizing Genius. I've found myself staying up late reading. This is something I NEVER used to do. I ordered about 4-5 books last weekend. I love Amazon used books.

Next week seems like it will be pretty chill. I have an exam on Tuesday and a fairly brief paper due on Monday and that will be it until I work on Sunday night. I do have Niner Night, but thats fun.

Google Analytics are awesome.  

Why You Should Support Your University

One of the big issues at UNC Charlotte among the more school spirited students, like myself, is people that don't support the University as much as they should. Its not an uncommon sight to see UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, ECU, App State and other University's clothing being worn by our students on campus. It really bothers me so I'm going to blog about it and give my reasoning for being as school spirited as I am and reasons not to necessarily support Chapel Hill or Duke.

First off, I love my University. Coming out of high school I could basically go to any college in the state I wanted to except for maybe Duke. The colleges that I applied to were Charlotte, NC State, and App State.

I applied to Charlotte because it has a very good business program, beautiful campus and I enjoyed my time at open house. The proximity to my house (30 minutes) did not play a predominant factor but it also didn't hurt.

My reasoning for applying to NC State was basically because I was nominated for the Park Scholarship. I didn't make it past the first round and I didn't like NC State's campus when I toured because of the size. State ended up being last on my list.

App State was the third school that I applied to. For quite some time I thought I was going to go to App State. The outdoors was a large part of what attracted me. I wanted to take up snowboarding, I thought it would be really fun and it kind of had that cool factor attached to it. Their program was pretty decent and App State was still on a high from their win over Michigan State. It was kind of seen as cool to go to App.

My decision essentially came down to App and Charlotte. Charlotte separated itself because their business program was better, it is located in Charlotte where I can get better internships (as opposed to Boone), and I had a better chance of getting a job during college if I needed it because there are naturally more jobs in Charlotte. I made a decision for my future, I invested in Charlotte. Charlotte invested in me.

So my time began as a Charlotte 49er. I started off going to a few basketball games... and then I experienced Halton Arena. I recall there was one game against UNC-Asheville where Shamarr Bowden hit 4 threes in a row and the roof almost blew off the building. I was of course sitting in the upper section and from that point forward I was determined to sit in section 104. From that point forward my interest in Charlotte grew and grew.

You know, over time I have become much more passionate about Charlotte. I believe that everyone should support their University, no matter which one it is. I look at a Gardner Webb student wearing Chapel Hill clothing  the same way as I look at a Charlotte student wearing Chapel Hill clothing. Chapel Hill students should support Chapel Hill, not NC State or Duke or Charlotte. Its the way things should be. You should be loyal to your University, and set other allegiances aside shortly after attending that University.
**If I ever hear about a Charlotte student staying home to watch a Carolina or Duke game over coming to a game in Halton then I will slap you, honest to God.**


Here are some points:

1. I invest so much time and energy into my institution and my degree will reflect upon that time when graduation comes. It should be my personal responsibility to make my degree worth as much as possible and being school spirited does that in an indirect manner.
2. I pay somewhere around $12,000-14,000 a year to attend UNC Charlotte. I don't pay that money to attend Chapel Hill, or NC State or App State. If you pay it to Chapel Hill, NC State or App State then you should support your respective institution.
3. I have no relationship with Chapel Hill, or Duke. Why should I support them? I do not have an immediate family member who has attended either institution, I don't know any faculty, or athletes. I've never been on the campus of either institution. Why would I have any reason to support them? I don't like the bandwagon if you can't tell.
4. "I'm from North Carolina, I should pull for UNC-Chapel Hill." WRONG!!! Just because I am from somewhere doesn't mean I have any reason to pull for the team that people historically pull for.
5. "I'm live in North Carolina. I pay taxes to UNC-Chapel Hill." You pay taxes to all 17 institutions, 16 public Universities and the NC school of Math and Science. Why not pull for Elizabeth City State? You pay taxes to them as well. It comes from the same pot.
6. "I was raised supporting UNC-Chapel Hill or Duke". The Hitler Youth were raised to hate the Jews, gypsies, etc. but that doesn't make it right. Some people are raised atheist or believing a certain religion but that doesn't make that religion right. Just because you were raised one way doesn't mean you should grow up supporting it blindly, without questioning why. Too many people blindly follow people around themselves.
**I'm not comparing Chapel Hill or Duke to Nazi beliefs, if you're somewhat intelligent you should get my point. I will not argue about this.**
7. People complain about their Universities, fair enough. Some people will complain to the point that they hate their University. At this point you can no longer blame the University, you should blame yourself. Get involved, be active, voice your opinion. Its the same concept as your responsibility in being a citizen.


At UNC Charlotte we have some issues with school spirit. I blame part of this on the students we accept. Last year we took in something like 3,500 freshmen. We also took in about 2,700 transfers. These transfers come from local community colleges such as CPCC or RCCC but others come from other Universities like App State, NC State and so forth. I think this might have something to do with it. Students come in here with allegiances to another institution. Its like trying to mix the Indians with the white people. Well we know how that turned out.

Another issue might be that we are a young institution and we have grown a lot since our inception. We have grown faster than our reputation has. We are still viewed as a commuter school when in reality we are just as much of a commuter school as NC State. We have a student body of 25,000 students. About 18,000 being undergrad with the other 7,000 being graduate students. There are 5,000 students on campus with another 5,000 within a 5 minute drive. A lot of students also move to houses in Harrisburg because there is no property tax there. Others just move into a house with roommates in a nearby suburb. Nevertheless, we are viewed as a commuter school, an over sized community college, which we really aren't. Our admission standards aren't the highest in the state but they are rising. Our business program is the best in the state except for Duke. We have one of the two engineering schools in the state and one of the two architecture programs in the state. Charlotte has a lot to offer.

There is generally a lack of known traditions and this spurs from us being such a young institution. We have traditions and a lot of unique history if the students only knew about it. I'm currently working on this with a group of other students. Stay tuned!!!

As I wrap this up I believe it is important for people to step up and be leaders. Leaders for the institution, leaders for athletics, leaders for academics. I am willing to be a leader in a few different aspects, athletics being one of those. Take a look at the following video:



I'm willing to be the first leader, are you willing to be the first follower, second follower? What we need to create here is a mob mentality. If you have ever been in the bottom half of 104 during a basketball game then you know what I'm talking about. Its a mob mentality, its soooo easy to get pumped up, to love being a Niner. As leaders we have to ask ourselves, how can I be a leader and how can I make it so that others can follow me easily? You have to embrace the followers as equals, you have to be inclusive. Exclusivity at this point accomplishes just the opposite effect and will backfire in the short run and the long run. I urge everyone reading this that is a member of Niner Nation to think of a way to get others excited. And then embrace them, and get them to invite more people. This is supposed to be fun, it is your chance to stand out from the crowd, to make a name for yourself.

Be like the Uh-Huh guy, don't be afraid to be known as "that guy"!!!

Bleed Green and Go Niners, 

-Matthew Gordon Murrow

P.S.Oh and UNC-Chapel Hill still has it's hypen. Charlotte lost it's a long time ago. **words for thought**

Thoughts for the Day

Its a long weekend. We have Monday off for Memorial Day. I'm making the SIFE plinko board tomorrow, going home Sunday afternoon and riding on the Virginia Creeper Trail on Monday afternoon. I have to redesign the SIFE bulletin board sometime this weekend. I'm thinking tomorrow night if the Friday building isn't locked.

This was my first week of summer classes. I'm taking the history of the American Revolution and Microeconomics. The history class really is a little high school. It involves a decent volume of reading while we are discussing a lot of events and not ideas in class.

I went to eat at Nick's in Gastonia tonight. The building used to be the old Web theater and has recently been renovated into a restaurant. The atmosphere in the restaurant is really neat. Live in Gastonia? I would recommend it.

Laurel Hall vs Hunt Village

I moved into Laurel Hall on Sunday afternoon and its 10x better than Hunt Village. My room has to be at least twice as big as the one in Hunt Village and there is 2 to 3 times as much general living area. This is ridiculous.

I have this class on the history on the American Revolution. The teacher normally teachers full time at CPCC. I know its only been one day but the level of work seems a little high school to me. She has us going to the library tomorrow. I haven't been to the library with a class since... well.. high school.

I got a job with Live Nation today. I'll be working the VIP section at the front of concerts this summer. It sounds pretty awesome and I'm really excited. My first concert should be the Kenny Chesney one on June 2nd.

-MGM

The Importance of Positive Role Models

A couple of days ago I heard about a kid who died from drug overdose. The kid(whose name I won't mention) went to high school with me and graduated the year after me(2010). He hadn't even been out of high school for even a whole year.

I remember him in my Biology Honors class which I took when I was a Junior. Basically everyone else was sophomores. I recall him often making comments about doing drugs, drinking beer and being violent. It seemed to me that he had some masculinity issues, not in the sense that he was feminine but that he thought you had to those things to be a "man." I remember one time him making a reference to how his dad was an alcoholic.

These observations made me realize that he probably didn't have any positive role models in his life. Its really a sad thing.

Some people aren't given the chance to see the bigger picture, to realize they can accomplish so much in life. I honestly feel that a huge problem with youth delinquency is caused by having negative role models(or none at all) in their lives. Broken families(even ones with families still together) can have tremendously negative roles in the lives of young people. After a certain time period, there would theoretically be a ripple effect thats created. The only way to reverse these effects are to impact the lives of youth at an even greater rate than the ripple effect. The longer people wait to intervene the more intervention is needed. It increases exponentially.

About a month ago I saw a movie called "Waiting for Superman" which outlines the problems with the education system in America. The movie was really good but had some opinionated statements which are debatable but I feel that all of them had at least some merit. The main point I took from the movie was that I can play a role in countering the problem. As a college student I can serve as a role model, who can relate to young people because I am still young. My role doesn't stop there, I can also serve as a mentor which will help close the education gap(and therefore delinquency rate) in America.

I urge each of to ask yourself "what is my role in this problem" and "what can I do about it." People complain about these problems all the time but rarely do something about it. Thats called hypocrisy.

Is Time on the Menu??? Nope!!!

I get asked all the time if I ever sleep. My response is usually "not really." I always find myself trying to re-motivate myself because I'm just worn out. I have had people tell me quite often in the middle of the day that I look tired. I guess this is just a part of my life.

 You know I've made personal sacrifices in my life in order to put myself first. And for once I can actually say that I am more happy in this situation than I was before, with personal commitments and such.

A lot of kids come to college and end up partying, getting into trouble, chasing girls or working 40 hour a week jobs on top of school. I have chosen a different path. This path is that path of success, and by success I mean that I am achieving things that others haven't. I'm exploring my abilities, interests and creativity. I'm putting myself first, and doing my best not to let anything get in the way of that.

I've had two relationships in the past year end essentially because I had too many time commitments. The first was mainly because of location differences and the second was almost entirely because of my time restraints. With this being said, I think that its all worth it. Its worth putting off chasing girls to work on myself and put myself in a better position in the future.

Quite often I find my roommates asking me if I want to go to the gym and play ball, go to the movies, go out to eat, etc. It seems like this semester especially I have had to say "no" more often than "yes." With this being said, I believe that if I put off these pleasures I will be better off in the future. Its essentially a choice of opportunity cost. Is future gratification on a larger scale worth putting off instant gratification on a smaller scale?  My answer is yes.

I was in a discussion about a month or two ago with a person about this exact thing. I expressed that its almost painful to not have freedoms that other college students have. People who just go to class have it so easy, they have almost zero time commitments and can therefore go do whatever they want in their spare time. I would love to pick up running but truth be told, I'm either up to late or too tired if I finish early. To get back on point, she told me that I didn't have to punish myself. The more and more that I think about this the more I think that I'm not punishing myself. I'm just delaying gratification for a much stronger gratification later in life.

One of the greatest pleasures I can get is when someone I respect has told me I did a good job, or that I found a creative solution to a difficult problem. In an essence, I enjoy being entrepreneurial, I enjoy creating new things. I love being the precedent to which people in the future strive to be like.

In a gist, I love my life, not because I don't have time to sleep, go play ball or play video games but because I am achieving. Achievement is my drug, I live to lead.

-Matt

P.S. Go Niners!!!!  

The Nugget

Back in February I went to a conference in Raleigh with SAA and I was given this book called the FBook. The FBook is produced by a student group at the University of Florida and is distributed to all of the freshmen, 9000 copies are produced and the extras are sold at the bookstore for $5 a piece. It costs $3 each to produce. The idea behind the FBook is to orient students to Gator traditions and reward them for accomplishing a certain number of traditions.

When I heard about the book I thought it was a very unique idea and I wanted to see it implemented at Charlotte. So I gave the book to a girl named Raegan Perry who was running for the UNC Charlotte Student Body President at the time. She loved the idea and put some pretty heavy emphasis on it in her platform.

I was approached a few weeks ago by a student named Joel who wants to start something similar to the FBook on campus. I was referred to Joel by one of Raegan's roommates who also knows Joel. Its funny how things come back to you. Anyways, what he wants to do is to create a semesterly publication called "The Nugget" which will have a collection of essays on Niner History. The format is to be similar to the Sanskrit. Topics covered in each publication will include random articles on Niner history such as something about Bonnie Cone, the 1977 basketball team, maybe the founding of a building, or basically anything that is found to be interesting. Each issue will have a central theme, so for example, the first issue might be about firsts.

To date we have formed a small group of dedicated students, a constitution for being a student organization, and a few other supportive documents. Things are coming along very nicely and its exciting to be a part of something brand new that could potentially play such a large role at UNC Charlotte in the future.

We have also developed a pretty decent preliminary structure with an EB of 6 members. A position is dedicated in the structure to allow for the creation of a publication more similar to the FBook. More of this is to be discussed at a later time.

Overall, this is one of the most exciting things I've been a part of in a long time, but then again I'm inspired easily. If you are reading this and would like to be a part of this initiative then please email me at mmurrow1@gmail.com

-Matt

SAA

I've learned today that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes no matter what your plans are they just seem to go wrong and something better happens. Today I gave my speech for SAA president, thought it was a cinch and ended up losing. I had a vision for SAA, for SAA to fill a long needed role at the University but it looks like that will not come to reality.

I could have brought so much to SAA, we even had an amazing executive board ready to roll into office and hold no prisoners. We were going to change the whole executive board structure, and change the committee structure among others. We were going to delegate different roles to certain individuals along with create certain initiatives which benefit the University as a whole. We were talking big things. things that haven't been done before and won't be done for a while.  

My speech wasn't great, I didn't prepare a whole lot because I underestimated the opponent. I had basically all the votes of the dedicated SAAs, it was just the new ones and the ones that she knew that voted for her. It was basically a popularity contest, which I rarely win.

All being said, I understand that things will work out for the best. No matter how much work I would have put into SAA it couldn't be anywhere near the level of SIFE, we are on our own playing field, there is no competition. Now I'll have time to focus on getting The Nugget off the ground, SIFE VP of Marketing, CGI and a few other various things which are almost certain to pop up. I might even have time to do competition team next year again.

Last year around this time I had high hopes of winning the Odyssian study abroad scholarship and going to London for a semester. I ended up withdrawing myself from that because of several reasons but SAA being a big part of it. This past year has honestly been better than I could have ever imagined and I don't believe it would have been as amazing if I had gone to London.

Everything happens for a reason. Big things are coming!!!

Skeet Shootin'

Skeet: 

Today I discovered a hobby that  I will most definitely take up after college, skeet shooting. I went with my grandpaw to shooting around noon and it turned out pretty well. I turned some heads and a bunch of people were making comments on how good I was doing to have never fired a real gun before. People kept asking my grandpa if he was sure it was my first time shooting. One of the guys that owns the place even made the comment to him that some people are just natural shooters.

Nevertheless, all this made me feel really good and its definitely something that I will take up when I have the time and money. I like to excel at things and if this one will be easier than other then I'm up for it.

Reflection

I should be doing homework or finding something productive to do but I would rather start this blog and hopefully I can keep it updated. I just was thinking about some of the things that have happened over the past few years and I am astonished at how far I have come. I am going to try and break this down fairly systematically(since I'm fairly organized and like structure).


Intro: 
So a few minutes ago I was in the shower thinking about all the things that have changed over the past 2-3 years. These range from relationships, my increase in confidence as a person, professional development, my diminishing shyness and a variety of other things. I will start off this blog with a reflection of my senior year of high school.


High School (Go Huskies!!!):
If I had to pinpoint a pivotal year in my life it would have to be my senior year of high school. Its a point where everyone makes huge decisions on where they will go in their life. For me, I feel that I made the correct one. In my senior year I experienced a good bit of emotions/events that have set my life into it's current place. Entering my senior year I had almost no idea where I would end up within the next year's time frame. I was facing a major decision with choosing college and a major. I applied for a good number of scholarships (and didn't get but one). I started a year and half relationship which I still look back upon to this day. I began to actually believe in myself as a person. The development of my self-confidence is something that I attribute largely to the events which shaped my senior year.

The most powerful event was probably my relationship with Nicole. For the first time in my life I had someone who believed in me, someone who I could share my deep thoughts with and all of my experiences with her taught me how to be in a deep, committed, loving relationship. I am still grateful for everything I gained with her.

College was a decision that was weighing on me fairly heavily. I wasn't completely sure what I wanted to do but I still understood that I enjoy being creative and organized (despite my lack of artistic talent). So I looked at my options. There weren't any schools that really stood out to me. I initially applied to NC State because I was nominated for the Park Scholarship. I went to open house and hated it. I applied to UNC Charlotte mainly because of the business school and its close proximity to home. I applied to Appalachian State because it was my option to escape from society. I had this idea that I could disappear into the mountains for 4 years, grow a nasty looking beard and then suddenly re-emerge at graduation. I liked the idea of trying out snowboarding. Their recent popularity also weighed on me. My 4th option was this small private school in Kentucky called Bellermine which was my option to bowl if I wanted to. The school didn't offer many majors and the coach lost contact with me. Guess who was cut first! Bellermine!! My second cut came with NC State because I didn't like the campus, or the idea of living in the dorm rooms that were nasty looking. Now that I look back at it, it should have been my 2nd choice, not 3rd. So it came down to Charlotte and App State. I toured both colleges. I went to Charlotte's open house twice and had to been to App State on private tours 2 or 3 times. I decided that my future should come first so I chose Charlotte. Major factors were that Charlotte's business school is years ahead of App's, Charlotte's location makes it prime for internships and future jobs, Charlotte's campus is beautiful and that I had a friend that was offering to room with me.


Go Niners!!!!: 
My freshmen year started off a little slow. I was adjusting to college classes, living on my own, driving to Boone every weekend to see Nicole (goes to App State), and bowling on Saturday mornings in Gastonia. My life was pretty simple then despite the idiots in the hallway which I won't get into.

While I was in high school I believe I started to identify myself as a leader due to the number of student organizations I was in. I didn't hold real high position in any of them (except senior class President and NHS President) and we didn't accomplish a whole lot. I have this little theory of mine where I believe people identify themselves with a certain role (in my case leadership) and they try to fill that role from that point on in their life. I like my role so I will try to fulfill it.

Anyways, I applied to Emerging Leaders my first semester of college because I want to be just that, an emerging leader. Other than that I didn't do anything first semester of college other than try out the bowling club which was a huge flop. My second semester things started to open up. I was recommended by my BEST advisor, Ms Kristen Galloway, to join this student organization called Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). It felt exclusive to me so I decided to go to their upcoming Tuesday meeting. I spoke to the girl who told Ms Galloway about it, Rachel Williams, and she helped get me involved in some projects. I was initially involved in the Sam's Club Challenge with Yolanda Kennedy, Jonathan Curry and a few others. I also helped in the Marketing Committee with Rachel. JCurry was also in this. Developing a few friendships was crucial in me staying a member in SIFE the first semester. At the end of the semester I felt that SIFE was something to do so I decided to keep it. For some reason or another I decided to volunteer to lead this startup project called Success for Teens which mentors high school students at West Charlotte and Olympic high schools. I think the main reason I volunteered to co-lead was because I identified with those kids because my high school was similar in terms of dropout rates and poverty.

In mid second semester I applied to the Student Alumni Ambassadors because I felt that it was exclusive and I had the chance to represent the University in a formal style. I also applied to study abroad at the same time. I had a growing interest in England and traveling and I wanted to explore the world. I applied for this $12,000 study abroad scholarship which I interviewed for, I felt the interview went very well. I ended up withdrawing myself from the scholarship after I had interviewed for it because of a combination of factors. The largest one being that I had just been accepted to SAA. Others were leaving Nicole for a semester and leaving my grandparents behind for fear of something bad happening. I believe I made a good decision to drop study abroad, it was a once in a lifetime chance and I do wish I could have went to London but at the same time opportunities would have been closed for me.

My summer between freshmen and sophomore year was pretty good. It was boring because I didn't have a job and had tons of free time but I still enjoyed being with Nicole and going on vacation. Looking back, I will forever cherish that summer because it was the last one I got to spend with the person I first fell in love with. I remember all the good times we had like they were five minutes ago. I was completely infatuated with her, even after over a year. We had plenty of good times but there were some bad ones, mainly arguments that would originate over something stupid. From my memory I would say that it usually came from one of us saying something and the other not being able to overlook small comments. With that being said, we did look after each other and stick up for one another, no matter what the circumstances. That is one thing I still miss.

Starting sophomore year was  really the beginning of the beginning, as it stands now. Being SFT leader made me grow up a lot and learn how to be a leader. I continued to feel that was fulfilling my role. I lost Nicole over  stupid stuff. I ended up being too busy and poor to make frequent visits to see her. The life of leading on campus takes lots of your personal time away, and that doesn't mean just during the week. We grew apart from each other and I got fed up with her complaining that we weren't as close as we were before. So when she called me saying things need to be different, I didn't object. That was the closing of a huge chapter in my life, one that I will never forget. After a few months I thought I was ready to move on, I thought I had the time availability if someone was in Charlotte. Turns out I was wrong. It ended after 2 1/2 months.

Events between November and the ending of February are ones that I think have set me up for the future. I advanced my position in SIFE as a member of the competition team, next year's VP of Marketing, started a SIFE finance committee, won a $10,000 grant for a environmental project and furthered SFT. My roles around campus expanded. I met hundreds of new people. I organized and ran a can food drive at the last minute for SAA, I decided to serve on a board that oversees student media funding, made it to every home basketball game, ran a chest painting event at Homecoming, and was in basketball and flag football intramural sports(men's and co-rec for both).

March was another crazy month, except more crazy than any before. SIFE competition team won our 8th regional championship and advanced to Nationals in Minneapolis, MN on May 10th-13th. I helped a girl named Raegan Perry run for Student Body President, she lost but has still rallied people together like nothing I've seen before. Because of my involvement with her campaign I was approached by a guy named Joel who wants to start a new publication of student media.

For the first time in my life I feel like I have the experience and ability to accomplish anything I want to. I feel kind of like a "top-dog." I feel entrepreneurial, I now know that I can find people and connect them with resources to accomplish specific goals.

Overview: 
So I was at home the past few days for the first time in a while and it made me get to thinking, thinking about the past. Thinking about how I have been going to my grandparents house since I was born. I was thinking about growing up there, getting ice cream out of the fridge as a child, swimming in the pool, and hanging out with Nicole for countless hours.

To continue, I now feel that I am living for myself and only myself and actually making pretty decent progress. I can see the vision of what life looks like after school. I can see what I want it to look like and I understand that what I am doing is the right thing in order to accomplish it. I've sacrificed personal relationships in my pursuit for happiness. I do of course wish I could share my life with someone but at this point people are just too complicated. Once I find someone who can keep things simple, then I will be happy in that aspect.

I've changed so much in the past 2 years and even the past 6 months. The face of my life is completely different than it was. I feel like an adult now.