A Bachelor's Degree...What is it Worth?

There are many responses, beliefs, and opinions when it comes to this question. Some vehemently argue that a college degree is an absolute in order to provide for a family. Others easily disagree that a degree is not needed, and go even farther by saying that it doesn't really mean much at all. There are also many in between the two extremes and this is where I find myself. One of the best Christmas presents I received was this on my student account. Check it out and see if you can tell what has just happened...




After looking at my online account at least 300 times and always seeing it say "incomplete." It now reads "complete" and though it feels great, overall it is quite anti climatic. After hours and hours of lectures, homework, papers, and group work this simple change--incomplete to complete--is what I am left with.

Yeah a paper declaring the same thing will come in the mail in a couple of weeks but I doubt it will do much to change my present attitude. For a long time I wondered what it would feel like to be a college graduate and as I cleaned the floors of a retail store I thought...is this really what it means to be a college grad. Though my current job is far from permanent ( tomorrow is my last day) it was still an eerie thought: How much is my degree really worth?

My retail store manager has a master's degree in graphic design, another one a degree in electrical engineering, and even another in biology. All these college educated people working the day after Christmas in a retail store is a bit bewildering to me. How bout you?

Yet I know that a college degree really does mean so much more than cleaning floors, a piece of paper, and the proud feelings I will have every time I mention, "Yeah, I have my degree." To me a college degree primarily means a lot of intangible skills and qualities that only a formal education can give. It also means more money. Though there are numerous exceptions, the numbers just do not lie. Take a look at this:




The bottom line is that on average a degree means a lot of things including more money in the bank, at least if you are intelligent enough to save some of it. Consequently, I am proud of this accomplishment and I know it is just the beginning of much more to come. Around the corner is law school, the professional degree which I will pursue, along with all the future professional opportunities that await me. There are numerous ways to make a living, and for me a formal education is a superb avenue to take.

I AM Legend

My brother in law, a big Samoan brotha, and I went and saw one of the most thrilling movies, from start to finish, that I have ever seen. Not only was my mind entrenched in the storyline but my body clinched over and over during the fantastic action packed scenes. The movie was thought provoking and also emotionally compelling. At a time when I really haven't been highly impressed by too many movies, this one was a perfect way to start a holiday vacation.

As we left the theater we discussed how we would have enjoyed learning more of the background of how the world got to be the way it was when it started with Will Smith all alone with his dog hunting some deer in a Mustang. There were also times during the movie when I thought to myself that I am watching one of the greatest actors that my generation will know and not only that but he is African American. I think about a time not long ago when there were no colored people on the big screen and how men of previous years through their courage have opened the doors for Smith, Gooding Jr, and Denzel. I am grateful that I didn't live in the era of extreme racism and misunderstanding due to a lack of knowledge and ignorance. Although we still see, feel, and are reminded of the cruelty which was once as common as a minor cold. Hopefully it will never be as bad as it was for the first slaves of our country.

Consequently, this movie not only entertained me but it reminded me of how far our country has come and how much farther we still need to go. No fence will help the progress of this country much more is needed: more people, more kindness, more forgiveness, more tolerance, and more love. I recommend this movie which impressed me with flying colors.

Join the Cause--Money for Law School

Take a second to donate a couple dollars to the Law School Tuition fund. Every single donated penny will go towards the paying of law school tuition. The cost of graduate school has risen 40% over the last 5 years. Many students have to take on thousands of dollars of debt in order to receive a quality education.

SUPPORT the cause. Help a fellow blogger PAY for law school tuition. Again every penny will go towards the cost of tuition.

There are 2 ways you can help out...The FIRST is through simply DONATING to the fund. Click here to do that. There is no minimum amount that you can donate. Just a little bit will go a long way! Law School Tuition Fund

The SECOND way is through MY TOP SPOTS...By a small donation of $3 not only will you help pay for law school, you will have a LINK to your website or blog. Such a small amount can HELP out SO MUCH! ScratchBack

HELP EDUCATE the Rising GENERATION. DONATE TODAY!

Win an iPhone

Sara on her blog, i make money on facebook, is having a contest and giving to one lucky blogger their very own iphone. It really is quite the deal. There are a couple of ways you can get added into the drawing and none of them require any money and to make it even better you can be entered into the drawing through a combination of ways. Just go check out her blog by clicking here to read all about it. Happy Holidays and good luck with the drawing. Let me know when you have entered so we can place our bets.

Help Me with RSS Feed and Get 50 E.C.

As you know I am new at the whole blogging world and consequently, there is a very steep learning curve. I found that I really need your help because I can't seem to figure it out and this is the first time that I am asking. Most bloggers seem to know that having a growing number of suscribers to their RSS Feed is an important tool for measuring the improvements of your blog. The problem is that I can't seem to figure out how to add that button, widget, tool...whatever you wanna call it to my blog. I am hoping to be able to add it to every post. Please help. Thanks. I will send you 50 E.C. if your comment ends up being the most valuable!

Tulsa, Oklahoma...A Real Possibility

For those of you who were naively unaware, I am in the process of applying to law school. Just saying, writing, or thinking about the phrase causes me to fear a bit...law school...kinda scary. Well I have already heard back from the University of Tulsa and they offered me quite the acceptance package so they suddenly went up the list of possible places we will move. The problem is that they are not a very highly ranked school and I will most likely have to work regionally upon graduation. There are so many decisions that will have to be made. In the meantime I am still waiting to hear back from a bunch of other schools and I have begun my online ventures as well. I found this picture online of Tulsa. He is a pretty big guy dont you
think. I wonder what he is for. Anybody have any ideas?

The Digital Era

I'll first call attention to the fact of James being the biggest blog fanatic in the world. All he ever wants to do is talk about blogging and how people make money off their blogs. He's quite the character. I came home from work one day and he came to greet me. I asked what he was doing and he said, "Something bad." Apparently he was signing himself up for AdSense and putting it on our blog. He knew I wouldn't like it much. Instead he writes about pull ups for push ups or whatever that was. Whatever makes him happy I say.

Carly introduced me to digital scrap booking and I was instantly interested. Tonight, since James is working 3pm-11pm, I started downloading a bunch of freebies. I need to subscribe to service because I am running out of options. Anyway, I did one layout. That's it. I need practice.

PushUps for Presents

My title doesn't necessarily tell the story but I like it nonetheless. So I found this website entrecards.com that lets you make an ebusiness card and connects you to alll the other bloggers out there that also have the card. When you go to their sites you can drop off your card and they can drop off their card. People can also "pay" you to advertise on your site. Down on the bottom of the right column you will see someone's blog that gave me so many "credits" to advertise their blog. With these credits I can "advertise" our blog on other people's blogs. It is fun and a great way to find other bloggers. The traffic to our blog has already increased 10 fold in about a day.

One blogger has the "1000's PushUps" blog and I found this intriguing and so I want to go for it. Here is one way to get there:

"The schedule is 10 days long, and looks like this:Days 1, 3, 5, 7, 9: 200 push-ups each day in as few sets as possible, resting 2 minutes between each set.Days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10: 200 push-ups each day however you'd like to do them; the number of sets and rest time doesn't matter."

I am going to try it and see how consistent I can stay. It's only 10 days...I guess a lot can happen in 10 days though...maybe like...losing a guy...lol

Yay for December!

It's already December and I am LOVING it! Only three weeks until vacation starts and four until I'm done working. Absolutely crazy. I can't believe how fast five months has gone by. Well, only four have gone by, but I know this last one is going to go by quickly.

The best part about it being December is that I get to see these three little chickens!


One of my biggest wishes ever is that my kids get know their aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents! (I guess I could have worded that sentence better.) I didn't grow up knowing my extended family (I STILL don't really know my extended family), but I really hope that my kids get the chance to know theirs. My parents, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephew and in-laws are all so important to me and I would be SO sad if my kids didn't get to know them too!

Finally 22

We went to Brett's football game last Friday. On the way up we stopped at UOP to look at their law school. We sat in a fake court where the students were practicing. I can't believe James is going to be doing that! Crazy! I did some gardening on Saturday. Sunday James spoke in the Spanish branch. Monday was work and James took me to the mall to try on the cutest Gap coat ever. I'm going to buy it.

This morning James surprised me with donuts, milk, an apple pie for a snack at work, and flowers. It was sweet, forreal. He was so cute and proud of himself for getting me surprises. Of course, he is cute and I am proud. After work he took me to a movie. We haven't been to a movie in so long. After we went to dinner w/ my parents and little brother. It seriously was like the best birthday ever. Well, is, because it's not over yet. One of the best parts though... James and Peter made me a birthday cake. James wanted to do it instead of having my mom. I love that it says "James" all over it hahaha.'



Oh, and my mom brought me peppermint hot chocolate and a poinsettia to keep in my office at work. I am so glad I can say I'm 22. I've wanted to be 22 for a long time. I didn't feel 21 at all. Okay, that's it!

North to Santa Rosa

Life has not gotten much more exciting this week, but last weekend we spent our time in Santa Rosa w/ James' family. We ate a mock Thanksgiving and had a family picture taken. Jeran decided she wanted to start a new tradition for the family. Every year everyone will help tie a quilt/blanket and one family member (+spouse & children) will win it. James and I won it! I was so excited. It's ironic just b/c of the history of the weekend trying to make the rules for who can win and how many years and what not, but I won't go into details here. Anyhow, we won and it was glorious. Right when we got back to Livermore we took a picture. :) The whole trip in Santa Rosa was fun though. I have two super fun sister-in-laws that make me laugh that I got to go shopping with them and that was definitely an adventure.

Tuesday night was James first time helping butcher an animal. He ran the grinder to make some ground elk. He did an excellent job. He may not be into hunting, but he is a great helper for the aftermath! James ground (I wrapped) about 140lbs or something like that of elk. I think my dad and his friend ended up getting almost 400lbs of meat total. I'm glad we helped though b/c it's better justification for taking some back to Idaho with us so we don't have to buy meat.

Okay, anyway. Maybe that's it for now. I have a full day of work ahead of me. Bye!
P.S. I know I have cankles, you don't need to point it out.

Let Me Talk....

Well, clearly I don't recall telling erin that our lives are uneventful. I mean come on we stay up late to wait for Paul's letters on Sundays coming all the way froom Korea, we watch episodes of pushing daisies on abc.com, we even sometimes put whip cream on our ice-cream, but that is only if we are lucky. If this doesn't sound very eventful then I don't know what is...oh yeah, I watched erin put together the newest additions to the family room...two chairs. Now that was funny.

I really just wanted to post something I read today that supposedly some psycologist wrote...it says...it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking then to think yourself into a new way of acting...think about that for a second...yes you should read it again to make sure you understand what it says because it is very insightful especially to those who are striving to "be like jesus." (say that with your best singing voice) That's all for me today and just remember that erin's perception of fun is sometimes distorted. I love you erin.

Treasured Trailer Trash

So James told me a couple days ago that there is nothing to write in here because our lives aren't very eventful right now. He is absolutely right (although we did have an earthquake last week--that was pretty exciting). Basically life right now consists of working and applying to grad schools. We eat dinner at my parent's house almost every night and sleep there on the weekends. James likes to think of it as a bed and breakfast resort haha We are greatly appreciating the break in finances right now with rent being $50/mo, living in the middle of nowhere country land, and having my parents house be our priceless grocery store. I thought people called California expensive! haha Just kidding :) Our life in Livermore right now is definitely a blessing.

He Has Arrived

Wake up everyone. I have now made my debut. Blogging is here to stay and you might as well start now then later. Everyone on the universe has a mind, heart, spirit, and desire to speak. Blogging allows you to project your thoughts of the day to the world. This is my debut. I hope you will be around to witness the meager beginings reach great heights.
James

I miss snow.

hehe.