Born on Third Base - Part 1

From what I have read so far from Born on Third Base by Chuck Collins, I have started gaining a new perspective on social inequality. I found what Collins had to say about the relationship status between U.S. people and the super-wealthy was quite interesting. People “feel enraged, admiring, and wish to be the object of…[their] own anger” (9). This quote really stuck out to me for some reason. Society tends to fawn over those who are rich and even worship celebrities and such with great fortunes. Yet, society also sees those that are most endowed as being greedy and selfish, and even hold resent towards the rich. But why does it have to be that way? I think it’s important for both sides to gain a better understanding of the other side, in order to work together to reduce social inequality. 

This is why I think Collins makes a good point when he brings up this concept of empathy. In order to bring about change to this issue of inequality, there is an empathetic barrier to change. In my opinion, society’s attitudes need to be changed. This current mindset that society has was acquired from historical systems of racial and class advantage, as well as from huge economic and political distortions in the economy. In order to solve this issue, everyone needs to work alongside one another to attain economic justice. 

I have enjoyed reading this book. I think some of the concepts discussed in the book are things I have seen in real life, but now it is put into words in a way that I can understand the impact that it’s making. I’m looking forward to seeing how the second half of Born on Third Base will be, and what other things Collins will discuss about. 

RANDOM 1

Just yesterday I got to go home for the first time since the summer session started. Home for me is Sacramento, CA, which is a bit far and makes it somewhat harder to go back as often. One of my favorite parts about coming home is seeing my dog. She's a small, 9-year old shih tzu named Gucci, who's been living with my family for almost 8 years now. 

You're probably wondering why she's named Gucci, right? Well, to answer the question you probably had in mind, she is named after the brand Gucci, but that wasn't the name my family gave her. We actually adopted my dog from some family friends living out in Atlanta, Georgia. They originally bought the dog for their daughter's birthday, but after a year and a half, they didn't want the dog anymore. We heard them talking about wanting to open their front door and just let the dog free, and we felt really bad so we decided to take her in. My dad actually ended up driving all the way to Atlanta to pick up my dog and bring her home. And that's how Gucci became a part of my family. 

My second favorite part about coming home is seeing my family. As much as I enjoy the freedom and independence from being in college and away from home, it can get lonely at times. During the summer, coming home means that I get to be a supportive sister and go watch my little brother swim at his weekly swim meets. It makes me proud to see how much he has improved in his swimming since the time he started when he was younger. 

And of course, my most favorite part is the food! Every time I come home, I always send my mom a request of all the dishes I want to eat. I usually don't eat my three meals every day since I'm so busy at school. On top of that, I can't really cook as well. So, it's nice to go home every once in a while and be able to eat yummy, home-cooked meals. 

Here's a picture of one of my favorite dishes--pho!

One of my goals this summer is to learn how to cook. Let's hope I can figure it out a bit so I can survive next school year. 

Expert Article

From Disco Days to Competition Craze 

An Introduction to Artistic Roller Skating

Do you remember the glorious disco days? Those were the days when the roller skating was the place to go as a pastime. As the years went by, roller skating became more than just a retro pastime. The skating rink became a place where family, friends, and just about anyone can come together to have a great time. You’re missing out big time if you’ve never been to a birthday party at the local roller skating growing up. But why does any of this even matter, you may wonder?

For 10 years of my life, I have roller-skated. While you may be thinking that I went to a roller skating rink for years just to roll around in circles, I actually did much more than that. I was a competitive roller skater, or as I like to call myself an artistic roller skater. What’s that you may ask? Well, you know the ice skaters you watch on TV competing at the Olympics? That’s exactly what I did, except on four wheels on a wooden floor. Amazing, right? I bet you haven’t heard about roller skating being a competitive sport. Well, let me introduce you to the world of artistic roller skating and how it came to be a sport that I have grown to love.  

Now Hold Up—What Exactly Is Artistic Roller Skating?

Source: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/000/263/315/da1.jpg

Like I mentioned before, artistic roller skating is quite similar to ice skating, although there are some differences. Artistic roller skaters generally use either quad or inline skates, with quad skates being the more traditional and common choice.

Source: https://www.outsidepursuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Difference-between-roller-skates-and-inline-skates.jpg

There are three main disciplines in artistic roller skating:

• Figures
• Freestyle
• Dance

Figures is a discipline that requires skaters to retrace a series of figure patterns on a set of circles painted on the skating rink surface. While you may think that skating on a circle may sound easy, it’s actually quite hard when you add in a variety of difficult take-offs, edges, and turns. On top of that, you have to try to keep a thin line between your wheels. This requires a lot of body control, concentration, as well as accuracy.

Freestyle is the more commonly known discipline, and the one that attracts the most attention too. It’s a combination of jumps, spins, and footwork done to music to create a performance. Freestyle tends to be the big attention-getter because of all the “cool tricks” that skaters do. 

As for dance, partners or individuals skate to arranged patterns and rhythms. Dance calls for timing, posture, accuracy, as well as musical expression from the skaters. Each dance has its own set of steps and patterns, and can be skated to a variety of “ballroom-type” music ranging from the blues, foxtrots, waltzes, to tangos, polkas and more. 

Here’s a video of my skating partner and me skating our dance event at the 2015 National Championships!

Let’s Roll It Back To the Start

Before I go any further, let me give you a brief history on how roller skating started. So, the first person to create roller skates, was actually a man named John Merlin in the 1760s. He was quite a well-known inventor, but not so much of a skater, since he ended up crashing himself into a mirror and hurting himself badly.

In 1819, Monsieur Petitbled became the first person to patent roller skates. The skate he made were inline skates, with wooden soles, leather straps, and three wheels. It wasn’t the best skates, since you couldn’t really turn, but it was a start.

 Source: http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/images/petibled.jpg

This finally brings us to James Leonard Plimpton, also known as the “Father of Modern Roller Skating”. With only inline skates being available for the longest time, Plimpton invented a new kind of roller skate in 1863. Finally, we had a four-wheeled roller skate that allowed skaters to turn.

 Source: http://www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/images/plimpton_skate.jpg

Later on came the 1970s, and with it a boom in the roller skating industry. Together with the disco popularity, many adults were going to the roller skating rink. And by 1977, you had people everywhere skating to music.

Source: https://cdn.concreteplayground.com/content/uploads/2015/03/ROLL-BOUNCE-BOW-WOW01.jpg

After the disco era, the roller skating industry slowed down a bit in terms of growth. But it still became an activity that provides fitness and a lot of fun. 

Lights, Sparkle, Skate!: The World of Competition

Artistic roller skating is rather a diverse sport. There are skaters of all ages, from all over the world, from the basic beginner to world-class champions. Although this sport may not be as popular as its ice counterpart, it still has a large number of skaters.

With the first roller Dance Championships in 1939, artistic roller skating competitions have come a long way. With local competitions, Regional Championships, and National Championships…there’s a lot in the competition world. But wait—it doesn’t stop there! Artistic roller skating has a World Championship too, in which the best skaters from all over the world come together to compete. Sadly, artistic roller skating is not an Olympic sport, which is one of the reasons it’s not a well-known sport.

Skating competitions, whether at the local, regional, national, or world level, requires a lot. Skaters spend hours and weeks at the skating rink dedicated to practice. Then, there are the skating costumes and skates, which plays a bit into the cost factor. You want to have good skates to practice and compete in, as well as beautiful costumes to wear. And, don’t forget about traveling to competitions. It’s quite intense if you take a step back and look at all the different parts. Especially, if you consider how a skater only has two to three minutes to prove their skating ability in front of the judges.

So Now What?

Even if you’re not interested in competing and learning the different disciplines, I still recommend grabbing a couple of friends someday and heading to the rink for a skating session. Just as it used to be a great pastime, it’s still a fun activity to do nowadays too. Who knows? Maybe you’ll get caught up in all the excitement around roller skating.

* Since I mentioned I used to roller skate, here are some more videos of my skating partner and me during my last year of skating at the 2015 National Championships:

Works Cited

Moore, Amy. “Roller Skating Facts You Might Not Know.” History and Evolution of Roller Skating, 2006, www.mooreamy.com/evolution/facts.htm.

National Museum of Roller Skating, 2010, www.rollerskatingmuseum.com/homework.html.

“Roller-Skating - Information.” WaytogoRI, secure.waytogori.org/Career_Planning/Career_Cluster_Profile/ClusterArticle.aspx?articleId=fyukfXAP2FPAXsj2MPdZdH9fcEs9QXAP3DPAXXAP3DPAX&cId=yJF7dgNzUI6xZl0h6IInegXAP3DPAXXAP3DPAX&sectionId=1.

 “USA Roller Sports Roller Figure Skating.” Team USA, USA Roller Sports, 12 Aug. 2016, www.teamusa.org/usa-roller-sports/figure.

Growing a Farmer - Part 2

In the second half of Growing a Farmer, Kurt Timmermeister continues to describe his journey as a farmer. He explains about how he eventually got chickens for his farm. I thought this chapter, as well as the chapter on butchering, really went into a lot of detail, which weren’t exactly very pleasant to read. Although I know that it is all a part of the process of getting these foods onto our plates, I would rather not read about how the animals are slaughtered and butchered. Besides that, I found it very admirable how he was able to learn so much from his experiences. For someone who didn’t know as much, Timmermeister was able to learn to adjust and change his practices in order to produce the best products. In my opinion, it’s important to have the mindset to want to learn from your mistakes. 

My favorite chapters from the second half of the book are “Chapter Fourteen – The Present-Day Farm” and “Chapter Fifteen – The Table”. For me, these two chapters really explained what the farm truly meant to Timmermeister. I like how even though Timmermeister doesn’t consider his farm to be “neither efficient nor particularly profitable”, he still loves it. Every part of his farm has a story and make up a significant part of Kurtwood Farms. I think the most important part for Timmermeister is the fact that this farm was something he shaped himself, as a part of his journey in becoming a more experienced farmer, and that’s what makes it meaningful. On top of all that, he created an environment and culture that he envisioned for his farm, and that’s what makes it unique. 

Overall, I really enjoyed reading Growing a Farmer. It was inspiring to see how Timmermeister was able to start with nothing, and after years of hard work, he was able to create the farm of his dreams. Even if it’s not the ideal farm, it’s still perfect in the sense that the farm was able to encompass all the visions and dreams that Timmermeister had. After reading this book, I can say that my perspective on the food that I eat: from where it comes from and how it was produced, to how it was prepared has really changed. And most importantly, I learned that it’s okay to follow your dreams, even if it can be a rough path. Because at the end of the day, perseverance is key to achieving even your wildest dreams. 

Job Description

USC Bookstore Student Supervisor

Oh no, the football season is starting and you don't have anything to wear to the next game! No need to worry, just stop by the USC Bookstore! We have everything that you'll need to show off your Trojan spirit. That's right, I'm one of the many student workers you can find at the USC Bookstore. Upon starting college, one of the many things I was excited about was getting my first job. That's how I found myself working at the Bookstore within a couple months of my first semester at USC. Just after a year, the head manager promoted me to become one of the few student supervisors. 

While working in college isn't always exciting, the past two years I've spent at the Bookstore have proved to be otherwise. Finding out when new products come in and getting discounts are some perks of the job. But what exactly does a student supervisor do besides working the cash registers?

There are three responsibilities that help to describe my role as a student supervisor at the USC Bookstore:

• Overseer
• Waiter/Waitress
• Interior Designer

I'll explain these using examples of what I do on a typical day. 

Overseer

While the store managers do most of the behind-the-scenes work to run the Bookstore, the student supervisors are the ones you see working mostly with the customers. Along with that, is also overseeing the work of the other student workers. We accomplish this in these ways:

• Assigning positions to the student workers and ensuring they complete their duties
• Keeping track of the schedule of student workers for the day
• Solving any problems that the student workers may have

This is essentially the main duty of all student supervisors. Usually what happens is that I'll come in for my shift and there will be about four to five other student supervisors there as well. We'll divide among the three main floors of the Bookstore and have a small group of two to three other student workers on each of the floors with us. Depending on which floor I'm on, I'll assign the student workers different tasks for them to do during their shift. If the student workers happen to run into a problem with a customer, then they'll come to me or the other student supervisors so that we can resolve the issue. 

Waiter/Waitress

In this role, the student supervisors act as a waiter/waitress and provide service to the customers by doing the following:

• Greeting customers with a smile and asking if they need any assistance
• Attending to any of the customer's need
• Providing the best in-store shopping experience

Most customers come to the USC Bookstore in hopes of being able to buy a nice souvenir of some kind, such as a sweatshirt, hat, mug, etc. And of course, we want them to get their money's worth by providing an exceptional customer experience. In order to do this, I always greet the customers when they come to the floor I'm supervising and ask if they need help finding anything. Normally, most customers are just looking around and don't need any help. For those that do need assistance, I do my best to attend to their needs whether that be finding a clothing item in a certain size, giving recommendations on what to buy, or even just giving out the code to the restroom. I try to provide all customers with the best in-store experience in hopes that they will want to buy more things and want to come back in the future. 

Interior Designer

The USC Bookstore isn't just a place where students go to get their basic college needs. There's actually so much more merchandise. If there's something you need, then there are chances you can find it at the USC Bookstore. That's why we need to make sure to display all of our items in an easy-to-find and appealing way. Thus, as a student supervisor part of our responsibilities is to be an interior designer by:

• Creating visually appealing displays
• Changing the furniture layout and space arrangement

The layout of the USC Bookstore is constantly changing, depending on the seasons (weather and sport) and events occurring. It's our job to help bring in various USC merchandise and organize them in an attractive way. I have actually spent hours folding shirts on our large T-shirt wall on the second floor just so that everything would look neat and aligned. The more visually appealing the displays, the more desirable the merchandise will be to the customers. 

Growing a Farmer - Part 1

Growing a Farmer by Kurt Timmermeister is essentially a mix between a memoir and somewhat of a farm guide. In this book, Timmermeister talks about how he transitions from running a café and restaurant in Seattle, to moving out to Vashon Island and establishing his own farm. Through each chapter, Timmermeister describes the process of how he becomes a farmer, including all the challenges he faced along the way. From starting with a four-acre plot, Kurt went from growing tomatoes to beekeeping, and even taking care of cows and producing raw milk. He writes in a very businesslike manner, which made it easy to understand the various farm processes that he mentions since I’m not that familiar with farming.

One of my favorite chapters so far is “Chapter Six – Cows”. In this chapter, Timmermeister describes how he got his first cow for the farm. He initially gets the cow so that his farm would be seen as a “real farm”, which would make him “a farmer”. It was interesting to see how he had a whole revelation with bringing in a cow to his farm. The cow became a commitment and would change his life to that of the “farmer’s life” that he always dreamed of. I really enjoyed reading about the different struggles he went through with having a cow and all the things he was able to learn from it. It was funny to see how Timmermeister compares himself to a cow since he considers himself “a stubborn creature of habit” (135).

As someone who doesn’t know much about farming nor has had much interest in it, Timmermeister’s book has found a way to get me to keep reading to see what becomes of his journey in becoming a farmer. I’m excited to see how Timmermeister will continue to expand his farm and making it a business in the next couple of chapters.