Study Abroad: Where I'd go! (Make-up Blog)

My make-up blog for missing class on Tuesday, November 8th, is about studying abroad and where I want to go! When I study abroad I would either like to go to Accademia Italiana in Florence, Italy or Paris American Academy in Paris, France. These schools are partner schools with Iowa State and most, if not all, my classes I take there will transfer.

These two schools have outstanding Fashion Design courses and I would be very fortunate to have the chance to study at them. I am excited that my financial aid money would help pay for my tuition to study abroad in another country.  Both of these schools are actually very design oriented schools, so it will also give me the opportunity to take some elective courses in other areas of design.

I have been wanting to go to another country for eons, and finally going to Iowa State University is giving me the opportunity! With this opportunity I will be studying abroad my spring semester of my junior year here at Iowa State. I have also thought about doing a summer abroad. With this option I can go study abroad anywhere from four weeks to eight weeks in the summertime. If I do that I believe I would get to study at both locations that I want to!

What I've learned...how I've grown...

The past 4 months have been all sorts of exciting. I have learned many things here during my first semester at Iowa State. They have ranged from what buses to take to how to manage on my own. I admit I was fairly independent before coming here, but being here has taught me to be more responsible for my money, my classes, and myself.

I have learned that I am responsible for every single one of my actions. Which is not too hard, I just had to learn completely new study habits! Thankfully I am apart of a Learning Community which helps me out a lot. It introduced me to many freshman who are in my major and also helps with a sense of community.

I wasn't too worried when I moved here that I wouldn't have any friends or being homesick. I have been very fortunate to have many new friends and I also call my dorm home. It's been an exciting semester with many new things and I look forward to the rest of my adventure here at Iowa State.

What the Hixson Award means to me!

I would have to say the Hixson Award means the world to me. It is what made college a guaranteed thing. I had actually not finished the application for the award until the last possible minute...I know that is terrible...I should have finished it out sooner. Even though I didn't get all the way done I had spent hours and hours working on my paragraphs.

Well like a good amount of people I was starting to doubt getting any scholarships and was starting to get down on my luck. Well just as that was starting to happen I received a big envelope from the Christina Hixson scholarship office.

I was extremely excited to see that I had received the scholarship. It opened up a whole new set of options. It  made it so I had less loans and made me eligible for a loan that is unsubsidized and has the possibility of no interest gain at all! This is all exciting and allows me to go to Iowa State for fashion and to pursue my dream. I am so thankful for this scholarship.

Social Media

I personally did not learn anything from social media week. I use social media on a daily basis and I use it for a variety of things. I used Facebook for my social media. Facebook is a common website used by many people in many parts of the world. For this assignment we had to like 10 different companies and then post 10 things that come from those companies. We also had to choose the companies based of our major. My major is Apparel Merchandising and Design with my emphasis in Design on the Creative aspect.

Some of the companies I liked were Chanel, ModCloth, Rue La La, and more. I feel like this assignment was using me as way to advertise for businesses that I like in the fashion industry. I understand this was all to help promote and everything but they promote themselves just fine and they do it everyday via social media!

This assignment would be good for someone to do if they have never used a social media website. It would also be good if they wanted to learn about different companies and what they advertise and sell.

ENFP That's how you can describe me!

The MBTI is a survey that pretty much asks you questions and based on the answers you give, will give you your personality! Well that is pretty cool, I have already taken this survey twice now. Both times I've taken it I got the same thing, ENFP. This is extraversion, intuitive perception, feeling judgement, and perceiving. Extraversion is someone who is oriented to the outer world and is active. Intuitive perception is like seeing patterns and meanings and seeing all possibilities. Feeling judgement is when you apply personal priorities and take into account other people and their values. Perceiving is when your adapting and changing but also curious and always interested.

I wasn't surprised to see that I got this for my personality type. It describes me perfectly. We are called the "Planners of Change"! We are always imaginative, and individualistic. We live life without too much thinking and are spontaneous. I realized that I think about the people around me while making decisions and then I act. Something I don't really think is true is that we are always with people and that we can't stop talking. I know I talk a lot but I'm not constantly talking and I really do enjoy some alone time. I can't always be around somebody because I do get frustrated but I do enjoy being around people for the most part. Otherwise the whole description is pretty accurate and I'm proud to be who I am!

Diversity Event!

On Wednesday September 21st I went to the The Mystical Arts of Tibet diversity event. In this seminar the Tibetan monks told us about the symbolism of the Mandala. To start of the seminar the monks started this really interesting chant, on of the monks started it off in a very low, deep voice and then all the other monks joined in various levels of voices. Then one monk sat down and started explaining to us about the Mandala.

The Mandala was introduced 500 years ago, it's a symbol made of different colored sands that is created and used for meditation. Meditation is good for you health, good for your life, and is a release of the negative system. There are five colors that make up the Mandala, each color has a reflection of negative emotion. The different emotions are; ignorance, attachment, hatred/anger, pride, and jealousy, these are the real sources of anger.

The man who was talking had to start speaking his native tongue about five minutes within the seminar because he knew that we could not understand him very well. Well his translator wasn't that much better, but I feel I know a little bit more about another culture that I never really researched before. I'm glad I had the opportunity to go!

My Bucket List!

Many people of various ages make a bucket list. Some people find it silly that anybody makes one. Well I have two...One while I'm here at ISU and one for life in general. They can be filled with various things you just have to dream about what you want to do with your life. Here are my bucket lists...

ISU Bucket List:

1. Become an official ISUer.
2. Join lots of clubs
3. Make lots of new friends
4. Not gain freshman 15
5. Pass all my classes
6. Study abroad in France and Italy

Bucket List for my life:

1. Go skydiving
2. Go Skinny Dipping
3. Get married
4. Have kids
5. Thrive in my industry
6. Have my name known
7. Zipline
8. Travel the world
9. Bungee Jump
10. Grow old with my husband
11. Go Rock Climbing
12. Be apart of fashion week
13. Own my own boutique
14. Live a long and fulfilling life

There will be many more added as the years go on. At this moment in time I feel my list is long and exciting but also loving and sweet. I hope to fulfill many if not all these things.

My actual first post! (first one didn't count!)

  There are a few times when I have been at my best but the one time I was at the best I can be was during a car crash last summer. This moment was an extremely unsettling event. It's something my best friend and I will never forget and to this day, my best friend still apologizes for putting me through it.
  It was sunny June day when my best friend and I went from our friend's house back to her house to get a box of brownie mix. We were driving and singing being our usual selves. We driving along on a gravel road not knowing that it had rained the night before and the gravel on top was dry but the layer beneath was not. So we are driving going the speed limit when we started swerving. We went from ditch to ditch until the car hit it just right so that we started rolling. The car rolled a total of three and a half times before landing on it's top in the ditch on top of a barbed wire fence.
  I had blacked out for the actual rolling and when I came to we were upside down and she was looking at me with tears streaming down her face. (She thought I was a goner!) I looked at her and told her we needed to get out of the car. The whole time working at getting out and getting help I had stayed calm. I feel I was at my best then for it helped us to get help and to get to safety.
  Later at the hospital we had tests down and it was concluded that we were fine. My best friend still constantly worrying that I would hate her for life. But all is well and me at my best was me being calm for our safety and getting everything taken care of that needed to be.

~Lana

This is me.

Hello,

I am Alana Barnett the 2011 Hixson Scholar from Jones County. I am majoring in Creative Design from the Apparel Merchandising and Design program here at Iowa State University. I came from a boy filled family. I am the only girl out of six kids and believe me did it teach me somethings. It taught me to dream big and that I can do anything I put my mind to! I have had the dream of becoming a designer since I was around the age of 13. I would sit around drawing wedding dresses for my friends for when they got married. Then I started designing more and more getting better each time. As I got older I started making dresses, one of the dresses I made was my own design. As I got into high school I was more committed to my decision for what I wanted to be and started researching schools to further my education. Finally I found Iowa State! It was the only college I applied to and I was accepted. From then on I started preparing myself to live my dream and move on with my life to become what I wanted to be. That is a little about me and that's who I am!