February 2, 2016

No Big Deal: My Switch from HomeSchooling to College

Im not dead yet! Most people stereotype home-schoolers as being unable to take on the real
world when they graduate from high school. I would beg to differ. Home-schooling was my
whole life. Now, I am at my second college on track to graduate in the spring semester of 2017.
The first college that I attended was Grand Rapids Community College. I only took a few classes
my first semester, just to see if I liked the whole college thing. Turns out I did because I am now
here at Trinity Christian College.
Homeschooling is not that uncommon in the United States as some people may think. The U.S.
Department of Education stated that there are 1,770,000 home-schooled in the United States. Not
all students are home-schooled their whole life though.
Some students come from public or Christian schools and are transitions into being a homeschooled student. This transition can be hard of some pupils.
Shannan is one of the many mothers who decided to take on the challenge to home-school her
son Garrett. The transition from public school to home school was difficult for Garrett, Shannan,
Garretts mother stated. Garrett is very social and had lots of friends (in Wisconsin), she
explained. He wanted to go back to public school. He has adapted to home-schooling and
enjoys a more relaxed, but busy schedule, Shannan said.
Even though that switch can be difficult, I found that transferring from Grand Rapids
Community College to Trinity Christian College was probably more of a change then going from
homeschooling to community college. At my community college I was use to a very different

crowd of students, then coming to Trinity the majority of the students were Christians. The two
atmospheres were very different from each other.
I will say that it is different going from being the only student that got all the attention to a
classroom that was full of students. With being home-schooled I was used to having all of the
teachers attention focused on me to help me through the problems that I had. In being in a
classroom setting I realized there is not enough time for each individual student to receive
attention due to the ratio.
I still remember my first day of college classes. I was so nervous. I got to my English 101 class
and sat near the front corner so that way I would only have to sit by one person. A girl sat next to
me. Neither of us said anything to each other we just sat there waiting for the teacher to start
class. To open up the first class the teacher wanted to do an ice breaker, and we had to introduce
the person that was next to us. I learned that the girls name was Makhala Stevens.
As we started to get to know each other we became friends. About a month later, we talked about
our first class together and both of us said that we were so nervous and did not know what to
think of everything that was going on.
Throughout my semesters at GRCC, I met many different people and in the end the people that I
had stereotyped before were not like I had pictured them to be like. As for me I broke the homeschooler stereotype. I realized that people have different stereotypes of different people that are
completely wrong sometimes. A way that I saw how people stereotyped home-schoolers was in
my English 102 class. There was a discussion about homeschoolers. I listened to the students talk
in class about how they thought that home-schoolers were socially awkward and always needed
their parents around to be able to do anything. I sat in my chair and did not say a word. I found it
interesting listening to the different views on home-schoolers.
What are some of the tips that I would give a home-schooler that is going in to college? I would
have to say the most generic answer and that is to be yourself. Besides that I would say that you
are no different than anyone else and that everyone is in the same boat as you, because they dont
know anyone in that class room too. My first semester I thought that I was going to be the one
person who did not know anyone. Turns out no one really knew anyone and everyone is just as
nervous as the next person. As a matter of fact with being home-schooled, not very many people
from different schools know you from high school, so in a way you have a clean slate and you
are able to be the person that you want to be.
Was I nervous?
Yes, but I believe that you have to get out of your comfort zone to experience something great. I
am not dead yet, in fact I am living a life that is full of adventure and surprises! I am so thankful
to God for letting me able to experience the life of a home-schooler, the life of a community
college student, and the life of a Christian college student. Each experience has made me more
alive and has prepared me for each step a bit differently.
March 3, 2016

Pure Michigan is as Pure as it Gets

Pure Michigan. That is the slogan that draws people into the mitten state. What makes it so pure
though? I have lived in Michigan my whole life and I still have not found something that I do not
like about it, except for the roads, sometimes they can get to be bumpy because of the pot holes
from the winter before. Michigan is a great vacation spot for many people to come and visit.
I asked a couple of people who also live in Michigan and a few people who come to Michigan to
visit and vacation where their favorite spot is in the mitten. I received a variety of different
responses. The most common favorite places to visit are Holland, next Mackinac Island, and
finally Silver Lake.
Holland, Michigan is a great tourist attraction without all the tourist traps that are normally
around a popular vacation site. One of the times that is popular to visit Holland is during the
Tulip Time festival which happens at the beginning of May. I have participated many times in
this festival and every time it is a new experience of celebrating the Dutch culture that originally
found Holland. That is only one example of a good time to visit Holland. During the summer
many people will migrate up to the cottages that are located just off of the shores of Lake
Michigan. Another pull to Holland is 8th street in downtown. This town has a rustic and
community appeal that it has not lost over time. Many people who live in Holland enjoy strolling
up and down 8th street listening to the different street performers and looking into the different
shop windows. Also, downtown has many different delicious restaurants that draw people in. I
have not been in one restaurant yet that I did not like the food.
Another key destination in Michigan is Silver Lake. This area has many different attractions that
calls people in. The main attraction is the sand dunes that people can ride on with their own
motorized vehicle, or they can rent one to use in the dunes. I have never been to these dunes, but
I have had many friends go and every time they come home with great tans and funny stories. If
a person is not big into riding in the dunes, Sliver Lakes has other options for those individuals.
There is a new brewery that has just recently opened called Big Hart Brewing Company. It is
starting off with 12 different beers that a person can come in and taste. Not only will there be
beer for the adult but there will also be food for the families that comes in. Michigan is
beginning to be known for the different craft beers that are being produced in a variety of
microbreweries around the state. This new brewery opening is special because it is the first
microbreweries in Oceana County. General Manager Phil Thomson in the journal article First
brewery for this rural Lake Michigan country set to open stated, We want to shine a light on
Hart and what it has to offer.
Mackinac Island is a beautiful place to be all year round depending on what a person is interested
in. During the spring, summer, and fall months one can access this island by traveling on a boat.
On Tripadvisor.com a traveler asked the question, Best time to visit? There was 202 people
who responded to this post with a variety of different comments. Mainly it all matters on a
persons preference and what an individual would like to see. A main draw to this island is what

makes this island truly unique and that is that there is no motorized vehicles on the island except
for during the winter when the ice bridge is open. The way that an individual can travel around
the island during the non-snowy months is by horse drawn carriage, bicycles, or by his own two
feet. During the winter months, the people who enjoy snowmobiling can access the island by
crossing on the ice bridge that is between the mainland and Mackinac Island.
Some may question if Michigan is really as pure as the tourist sights make it out to be. Being a
resident of the state I will say that Michigan does have its downfalls like many other states, but
in my heart I do see Michigan as pure. The people who live in Michigan have a love for their
state which makes this place so special where ever a tourist goes. Some people would ask a
Michigander what the best time of year to visit Michigan is. I would have to say the fall when the
leaves are turning color. Driving up north with the family and admiring the colors that are
painted on the trees is the perfect family vacation. No matter what time of year a person decide
to go to Michigan, there is always something to do in pure Michigan.
March 29, 2016

The Comeback of the Road Trip

Travel is a large part of Americas society today. There are many different trends that happen
such as where the popular places are to travel, what are the means of transportation to get there,
or what are the best packages to use.
How a person gets to their destination has fluctuated over the course of time. Sometimes it
depends on how much the cost of the transportation cost, other times it matters on how fast a
person wants to get to the destination, and some of the time it matters on what means of
transportation is the safest.
There are more people who are taking road trips than any other way of getting to a destination.
In the past many of my family vacations consisted of sitting the back seat of a minivan trying to
entertain myself for hours. In fact it was a treat when we got to fly to the vacation spot. For my
family it was all a cost thing. It was cheaper to drive with six people instead of fly. Also, another
perk to driving in the car for the long hours is all the different places that a family can stop and
look around. With flying most of the time is spent in the airport if a person has a layover at a spot
that is not their destination.
When I was flying to Oregon, one of the layovers was in Colorado. I tell people that I have been
to Colorado, but honestly all I saw of this beautiful state was the inside of an airport. If we had
used our car and drove through Colorado on our way to Oregon, then I would have really
experienced the beautiful scenery of this state.
So, what makes a person choose the means of transportation that they are going to take. Is it
based on safety, money, the distance, or some other factor that isnt even related to traveling? I

asked some of my friends on Facebook what determines how they travel. A majority of the
people said the cost and which means of transportation is cheaper than the other. A few others
said that it is the distance of the place they are going the helps them to decide.
The United States Bureau of Transportation states that, Almost 9 out of 10 long-distance trips
are taken by personal vehicle, and about 10 percent use public transportation modes. Over 7
percent of long-distance trips are taken by air, while 2 percent are by bus (including scheduled,
charter, and other bus trips). Train travel represents almost 1 percent of long-distance trips.
Looking at this a person can assume that it is based on cost because traveling by a personal
vehicle is much cheaper than jumping on an airplane with a bunch of kids and taking off.
Looking at the safety of the different transportation, it is shocking to see what the most
dangerous means of transportation is. 96.1 The Eagle, a radio station that is located in New York
looks at the different means of transportation and how dangerous each one is. For cars it is 4
deaths per billion miles. If a person decides to fly then it is 0.5 deaths per billion miles. Buses
have the same death rate as a plane. Trains have the lowest death rate which is 0.2 deaths per
billion miles.
What means of transportation is moving forward? More people are choosing to drive instead of
fly. Perhaps it is because of the decreased gas prices in the United States. With having gas below
the $2.50 per gallon mark it encourages more personal vehicle usage. While looking at a few
charts the use of airplanes has gone down. Perhaps this has to deal with the different terrorist
attacks that have happened around the world. As a matter of fact there was recently a terrorist
attack in the Brussels airport within this past week. This causes more people to question the
safety of airplanes and choose to drive instead.
Experts in the field believe that in the years to come people will continue to travel more than
they are now. According to the US travel association it have a chart showing that within the next
six years travel will increase by about 200. According to some data, that means that people will
increase their use of their personal vehicle for their means of transportation.
Now looking at this all if the use of personal vehicle increases over the past few years for using
for vacation travel and the use of airplanes has gone down. The correlation would be according
to cost because the gas prices has gone down over the past year making it cheaper for a person to
use their personal vehicle for traveling. If gas prices stay at the same price that they are at, the
use of personal vehicles will go up.
Maybe its time to start looking at getting a new car for all of the fun adventures that you will be
going on in your personal vehicle.

Treatment to Terror: Airport security

There was an explosion at an airport recently. Pretty much everyone heard of it, Brussels. On
March 22, 2016, the terrorists killed 32 people and injured more than 300. These different
explosions and shootings are starting to become a more common occurrence in airports. Since
airports have been created, there has been around 23 terrorist attacks on airports. The shocking
part was that the people did not even go through security. The terrorist set off explosions before
the security check points so they did not have to be checked.
What could be the answer to stopping these explosions? When does airport security violate
personal freedom? There is always two sides to every argument. Some people think that the
airports already have too much security that is intrusive on peoples privacy, and others believe
that Airports should increase security.
Increasing security in all airports is a solution that a variety of individuals believe would solve
the terrorist problems that have been occurring in airports. This would make it so that people
would have to take more time going through security. Increasing security would make it easier to
catch the terrorist and the people who are trying to take guns, explosives, or other dangerous
items on the airplane. Perhaps airports could place different stations of security at every entrance.
This would be to try and stop what happened in Brussels from happening again by making every
person that enters the airport have to go through security.
Wagner suggests U.S. airports establish pre-terminal screening before travelers enter the
facility. That is a common approach in many countries around the world you cannot even get
in the terminal until your bags and your person have been pre-screened, he said. That is,
through an X-ray machine both for the bags and for the individual.
On the other hand some people think that some of the security that we have in the airports is
senseless and that the rules should decrease. Throughout the years since 9-11, airport security has
increased with difference machines and rules that are to stop terrorist attacks. Many people think
that some of these rules and regulations are unnecessary. I have heard different complaints that
the airports will let people take knitting needles on an airplane, but they will not let a person take
a small scissors on the plane. For some people this precaution does not make sense because it
would seem that a knitting needle would do more damage physically if used as a weapon than a
small scissors.
People also complain about the pat-downs that occur at the airport security. The women who are
going through security feel uncomfortable having a man pat them down, but they do not know
that they could request a woman security person to do the pat-down. In the TSA rules it states,
Travelers have the right to request that the pat-down be conducted by an officer of the same
gender, although there is no right to shorter wait times. Sometimes travelers will have to wait
until an officer of the same gender becomes available. Some people even think that the patdown is an unnecessary procedure that is carried out when there are many different machines that
check over a persons body already.
There is new technology that is out and starting to circulate throughout airport security. One is a
large machine that will pat down people instead of a human doing it. It is a machine that a
person steps inside of and after the doors of the machine closes it will blow puffs of air on the

person. The puffer machine is what the TSA calls an explosive trace portal, a state of the art
device capable of detecting traces of explosive residue on a persons body or clothing. This
could solve the problem that most people have with hands on contact. This could also be better
than the human pat down because it can detect more chemicals that a person could be hiding on
their bodies.
Perhaps another way that airports can make sure that the same attack that happened in Brussles
never happens again is by placing security outside the airport before people enter the building.
This could cause more problems in the long run.
Tom Symonds states in his article Brussels attacks: Airport security under the spotlights again,
Passengers will wonder why there are no security scanners at the door of the airport, or the
entrance to the car park. Should we move the line of security? The problem is that this simply
moves the place where the queue forms. And queues are the ideal soft target for a terrorist. So,
the solution that many people think would be the best idea would actually make people more
vulnerable to the terrorist attacks.
There are many different ideas that are beginning to sprout about getting more airport security. A
few of the airports around the United States and around the world have increased their security.
Time will tell if this increase in security will actually help protect people or give terrorist more of
a challenge to bring explosives into an airport.