School Year

With the school year coming to a close, I get the same feeling that I got when I finished high school. Some what sad, some what excited, and some what scared. I'm sad because I made some great friends that I pretty much see and talk to everyday and when peoples lives move on and they aren't in the same place doing the same old routine things change. I'm sure I will still keep in touch with the close ones through all the technology these days such as facebook and cell phones. I'm somewhat excited because schools out which means summer vacation for most of us. Time to hang out with friends, and do summer activities such as camping, swimming and water activities. Also I feel scared because seeing I chose to do the one year program over the two I'm graduating this year and I don't know what the future holds for me. A lot of people don't know what their future holds but its just different when it's yours. We had the business showcase tonight where employers from towns close in radius come to look at your portfolio and see if your a potential employee. It went really well for me. At first I was really nervous and didn't want to be there, but once I started talking I found it very easy to talk with them. They seemed really interested and cared about what I was saying which made it really easy for me to talk. My teacher said that this was a very worthwhile experience to attend and I found out that it really was. The whole plan was to "network" with people and I felt that I successfully did that with many employers that I would possibly want to work with in the future.

Books

Some of my favorite book are by the author David Pelzer. He writes about his struggles growing up and how his alcoholic mother abused him. He tells this very inspirational story with some hate against her but then seems to still love her in the end because she is still his mother. He has 7 books that tell about his life from growing up from a small boy to a grown man. He nearly died by the hands of his mother. Either it be by starvation, isolation, abuse, or even just stabbing him straight with a knife. In the year's following his escape from this terrible childhood it was found that his case was one of the most gruesome and extreme as California had ever seen. This may not sound like a happy go lucky story that you want to go out and buy right off the shelf but I highly recommend his books about his life that start off with A Child Called It. My mom got me interested in these books when I was younger. I know it's not exactly a book you want your children to read but when their mature enough to know that this abuse and isolationism happens everyday to ordinary children they will be ready to sit for hours indulged in Pelzer's books. Their easy fast readers that keep you guessing whats going to happen next and what David will try to do to survive his horrible mother. It is a very sad story but to see a happy ending come out of it makes the story that much inspiring. So if you haven't read these books yet I highly recommend either going to your local library and checking out these books or even purchasing them for your own personal library.

Whats Next?

There is only three more weeks left of school which is very nice but yet I don't know what to do after school. I thought about maybe going back for something else but I have no idea what. I also thought about getting a place up here but as I said in recent blogs that I am in a job search mode. I have applied at many places but haven't really heard anything. I check certain job sites everyday but it just seems that most empolyers aren't hiring right now which sucks becuase I was planning on moving out of the dorm and right into a apartment. My plans of right now are to move back home seeing I don't have a job set up and just keep looking up here. If I do get a job set up I plan on moving here with a good friend of mine into a apartment. I know I will find a job eventually but I wish everything would just fall into place. My friends around me make it look so easy to get a job, one came with her program and the other one went to an employer that needed help desperately. I know that this shouldn't effect me but I just feel that I will never get a job. It sucks! So hopefully sometime soon I find that job I want and can spend the summer in La Crosse surrounded by friends.

Summer

This summer I'm planning on getting an apartment with some of my close friends. We have things planned for the summer to do to make sure it will be fun. Going to some brewer games for sure on the the list. Along with road tripping anywheres, going to the Mall of America. Some amusement parks or water parks would also be fun. Now I know that all of this takes money hence the reason I'm still on the job search. When getting an apartment they ask you for your income information to make sure that you can afford your monthily rent payments. So basically everthing is riding on getting a job. Moving to La Crosse this summer and having a fun summer with friends. With all the people getting laid off with the sucky economy these days, it's harder for college students that are graduating to get that job that they have been training for. Especially when future employeers see that work experience on their resume and hardly anything on yours because you've been in college for the past year. They get the feeling that these people understand what its like to work for an organization and they understand the ins and outs of what is to come if they were to get hired for the job that is posted. Job hunting can be very frustrating but as I've heard a lot of instructors say it's not what you know it's who you know. Which is totally true so hopefully this business showcase thats coming up will hopefully help me get in with the employeers. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Job Searching

Seeing graduation is right around the corner the job search has begun. I have been applying at a few places and the application process is stressful yet rewarding. I've been through a lot of classes that have taught me all about the interviewing process and I fell like I know what to do. But when I get in that room with a potential employer it's a whole different story. There's no training you for when you get face to face with someone and they ask you questions that your not prepared for. Also I get very nervous under these conditions and I have to remember to be calm and collective and try to represent myself well. Employers look for these things especially in my field of work because every day I will be out there answering questions I won't be prepared for from clients or consumers. And I need to be calm and collective and try to answer these questions to the best of my ability and represent the company in the best way possible. There are many jobs out there, people just have to have the urge to apply and go throught the drawn out process of the paper work and interviews that go along with getting the job. I feel that I have the application paper process down packed because I have filled out quite a few. But I can never get used to those always nerve racking interview sessions. You have to walk in there with confidence and be perpared with anything that these people will throw at you. I feel that a person can become very succesful with anything that they put there mind to if they just practice and try their best.

Baseball Season

Every year about this time I get the urge to drive down to Milwaukee and see the Brewers play at Miller Park. I wasn't always a Brewers fan but after one summer a couple years back I fell in love with the game and the atmosphere. I believe that you dont have to be a true blue brewer fan to love the atmosphere and have a fun filled day at the park. There is many things that a person can do there that can make them keep coming back every season. During the whole game theres always something going on either it be bingo on the jumbo-tron or Bernie the Brewer sliding down his slide. Its very family friendly where you can bring your youngest child or you can bring your oldest it dont matter. I even like the road trip down to Miller Park especially when its with people that you know and are fun. I usually end up going to about five games a season and wish that I could attend more. If I wasn't afraid of driving in big towns I would probably go to lots more. My brother is going to the game opener this season and I'm so jealous. This year my birthday falls on a friday which also is a home game so I'm thinking about attending that game with some friends, that should be fun. So if you haven't been to a Brewer game because you think that it won't be any fun because your not into baseball or any sports give it a try because I used to be that person but now it's one of my favorite past times to watch.

March Madness

Every year when March Madness rolls around people start talking about brackets and college basketball. Even people that usually have no interest in sports are hopping on the band wagon and flipping there tvs to espn or sports center to get the lastest box score. I was one of these people. I didn't give two hoots about college basketball and didn't know what the sweet sixteen was other than a television show that spoiled kids getting whatever they want. I started enjoying March Madness a couple years ago when I was invited by a friend to fill out an online bracket. I filled it out with no background on who was who when it came to college hoops. After pretty much choosing teams by random, I didn't even know how it worked. After my brother explained to me that when a team wins I gain points and the higher the upset the more points I receive. After figuring out the ins and outs of the brackets, I started to check my standing more and more. It was exciting one minute you were in the top five the next your in the bottom five. It didn't help that there was money involved. I haven't been a big gambler but when it comes to March Madness I get all excited to watch the games. I haven't done so well this year, even though I did start off in first I have now fallen to eleven place out of twenty two players.

Spring Break

Over break I didn't do anything too exciting just hung out with my friends and relaxed. But it was a well appreciated break none the less. What are some things I did? I went to the movies and saw she's just not that into you. Which was an alright movie but nothing I would go out and buy. I also went swimming a couple times which was really fun seeing its one of my favorite past times. The weather was awesome so my friends and I did a litte walking on the local bike trails. Also we had a family get together to grill out and just enjoy the weather. Some things I didn't enjoy on break were last friday night i went in the ditch with my car again. After all that good weather, it snows once and that's what I do. Yay me! I also went to visit my aunt who owns a tanning bed so I must thought it was a good idea at the time but went in for 20 minutes on the first time and cooked myself silly. Which is the reason im peeling after a horrible 3 days of painful burns. Over Spring break most people go somewhere fun in the sun but I think I had a pretty good break myself couldn't ask for anything better then spending it with people I love and are a blast to hang out with. Not to mention it's a lot cheaper. ;)

Random

What's with the weather? One week I can wear a t-shirt to school and the next I can't make it out of my driveway. Seeing spring break is about a week away, people would think that spring might actually be here or at least close. But seriously who could tell with this crappy weather. Hmm... what's new in my life? I'm apartment hunting, so that's kinda exciting. Looking for a place in the area, so I can move out of the crappy dorms. Well the dorms themselves are in o.k. condition but just living in a space so small with somebody gets tiring after a while. It was an o.k time i guess didn't get into it too bad that I had to switch roommates, like many other people. But I just need my space and a small dorm just doesn't cut it. I can't wait till school is over because I will be hopefully starting out in my career and making money for kinda of the same stuff I'm doing at school right now, but without the extra hours of my life I spend on homework. That is a big thing that I can't wait for, going to work and not having to bring any home. Also making money along with it. I also go home every weekend because I can't stand to be in the cruddy dorms for more than 5 days, but after I get a place with some of my closest friends and actually have a space to call my own, meaning my own room, I will be much happier. I'm also looking forward to paying for stuff myself. I know that's weird to say but I hate depending on other people. My parents won't let me get a job through college because they think I need all my time devoted to school. Which I'm glad I did in the long run because I wouldn't know how to balance both work and school then the loads of homework we get on top of that. So all in all I can't wait to see where my life takes me in the near future.

Giving Speeches

I don't use hate very often, because it's such a strong word but....I HATE SPEECHES. Giving them and listening to them, i hate them both. In my speech class we have to give four speeches throughout this semester. After I accomplish one, I have to admit I do feel good to have one over with but I know that the next one is just that much closer. Some people fear speaking more than death. I don't know if I'm that strong of a hater, but it's pretty close. I get up there nervous as ever and ready to give a speech that I'm not fully confident in. It doesn't help when the teachers videotaping either. It just makes my level of nervousness go higher. I know everybody else in the class is probably just as nervous as me but their not the ones up there at the time giving a speech. I think the second hardest part of speech giving, falling second to actually giving the speech, is picking a topic. You have to find something that you feel stronlgy about that if your up there giving it and lose ur place, you can go on with just the knowledge you have. You also need to pick something that everybody in the room is familiar with so they don't get bored. I picked this blog topic because I have to give a speech tomorrow. It seems like it puts a damper on my whole day. When I wake up in the morning I say to myself ugh I have to give a speech today.

Family Vacations

When I was young family vacations consisted of driving to Wisconsin Dells and going to some water park, which my brother and I loved because we didn't realize that the Dells are only a half an hour away. It seems quite impossible that something that fun can be so close to us. When we grew up and started to go there with our friends on the weekends it didn't seem like such a vacation to go to. Although it is a nice weekend getaway to get away from everything for a couple of days. My favorite places in the Dells to stay so far have been the Great Wolf Lodge, Kalahari, and the Chula Vista. These past few summers we have been traveling a little farther though because my mom says that it will be some of the last vacations we take together before we start our own families and have our own family vacations that we make memories during. Some of the funner vacations we've gone to have been Door County, Florida, and Green Bay. In Door County we visited Washington Island which is the farthest Island out there. Although this Island is very pretty to visit I would recommend bringing a lot of money if you choose to visit this place, because everything is very expensive. Also in Door County we took advantage of what they are known for their cherries and stopped at a local orchard and did some picking of our own. While in Florida we choose to visit some of the local shops and beaches. In Green Bay I visited Lambeau Field and watched the Packers at training camp. We also went to the Hall of Fame, which my brother and dad enjoyed the most because they watch the Packers religiously. Also every summer since I was 12 I've also enjoyed going to at least two Brewer games.

Facebook

I thought I would write a blog about facebook seeing everyone and their mother seems to have one. When I was in high school my brother had a facebook and I asked him what it was and he said it was only for college students. Either that was the truth back then or he just didn't want me to get facebook i dont know. Which it was probably the second one but he better get used to everyone having one because it seems like everyone from the ages of five and up have one, including my aunts. I could really care less if they had one to communicate with their friends their age but when they start adding my friends just because they can and they want to snoop at whats going on, i draw the line. A good example of them snooping was my aunt added me on facebook where i have pictures of parties that i've been to where there was alcohol present. I never had alcohol in my hands in any of the pictures but yet she assumed i was drinking. She then proceeded to hint around at things that I was turning into a rebel child in college. Like asking questions such as, "how old are you?", and "what's the drinking age?" I'm not going to say that I've never drank before but when things are assumed by my pictures, it makes me mad. Number one I wouldn't put any pictures on there that would create a bad image of myself because I'm fully aware that anything posted on the web can be seen by potential employers. People have been fired, and their applications just thrown in the trash because of what is assumed on facebook and other websites just like it. Let's just say my aunt wasn't a facebook friend for long. So the next time you think about posting those pictures of that party that you just went to or of that rockin skimpy outfit you wore for halloween, think twice about who will see that and will maybe assume things about you that aren't true.

My Family

My last blog told all about me. I found it really hard not to talk about my family seeing they make me who I am today. And they are so much a part of me that I think about them everyday. Lets start out with my dad, his name is Leonard Roy Rueckheim but we call him Roy. He comes from a large family of thirteen kids. O' did I tell you that I have a "huge" family. My mom also comes from a large family of twelve. Her name is Donna Rae Rueckheim. All of those brothers and sisters on boh sides have at least one child. Some of them even have as many as five. So lets just say that our holidays get a little crazy. We have to have most of the holidays at our house because it's the only house that can hold all of our family. It can get out of hand sometimes but I wouldn't trade my family for the world. My immediate family consists of my parents, myself, and my brother Nathan. My brother is twenty-two and lives here in La Crosse also. He works at Trane and loves it. He currently has a girlfriend named Ellyn and she fits into our family perfectly. My dad is a truck driver for Martins in Wilton, Wisconsin. He once drove one of their trucks but now owns his own and is an owner operator and can chose his own loads. He has drove truck his whole life and was once my mothers families milk man, which makes me the "milk mans child". Which is how my parents first met. My mother works for Walmart and has worked there for twenty-two years. She has always worked in customer service and is used to communicating with alot of people. But she has become sick of whining customers and might consider taking on a new career part-time and taking it a bit slower. We also have a family dog named Harley. He's a pure breed yellow lab. He can sometimes be a real pain but still we spoil him to death. When we first got him we didn't have anywhere for him to stay so we let him stay in the basement, which was not such a great idea. He started off by eating the sheet rock and he has been eating and chewing up things ever since including two central air covers, pop cans/bottles, and all the toys we buy him which claim to be indestructible. But thats pretty much all about my family.

About Me

My full name is Miranda Rae Rueckheim. I grew up in a small town called Ontario, and lived there all my life until I moved into the dorms last semester. I am currently enrolled in the Office Support Specialist program. I enrolled in this program because I was undecided with what I wanted to do for a career. With this program you are able to get a job at pretty much anywhere they need administrative help. I felt like I didn't know what kind of atmosphere I wanted to be apart of so I picked this education because it was a broad enough topic where I wasn't pressured into working in a specific area. On my free time I like to go to professional sporting events such as traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and watching the Brewers. Not only am I a Brewers fan, I also like to go to Miller Park for the atmosphere. If you're not even into the whole watching baseball, you'll probably still enjoy the experience. My first Brewer game was when I was twelve and I've been back every season after that. Also on my free time I enjoy reading. Some authors that I have read include: Dave Pelzer, Wilson Rawls, and Beverly Lewis. I also enjoy shopping. Some of my favorite stores include: Maurice's, Pac Sun, Old Navy, and Buckle. I live in the country so some things I would do for fun back home include: four wheeling, fishing, hiking, and just being outdoors. I chose to come to Western for my education because my mother and brother went to school here and got a quality education with a great job outcome. I also chose Western because I'm familiar with the area. My town is about an hour away from La Crosse but still we travel here frequently because there is hardly anything to do there. The closet grocery store is about a half an hour away. So that pretty much sums up what I'm about and what I like to do in my free time. If you have any questions feel free to look me up on facebook and message me.