Random observations

East Campus Commons dining observations:
*Sitting at the tables adjacent to the condiments at the front of the cafeteria*

• Groups of friends scattered about the tables
• Doesn't seem to be very cliquey as I see a lot of interaction in between tables
• There is no shortage of diversity in the cafeteria
• Some people have finished eating and seem to have been here for some time just socializing
• The room is light up with conversation and background music
• Its quite busy today so a lot of people are in line waiting
• The food is being served at a slow rate so students are beginning to become impatient
• A girl dropped her whole tray of food on the ground and two other girls helped her pick it up
• I surprisingly witnessed a girl making fun of a guy and walked away, it seemed pretty serious and was an interesting confrontation for a cafeteria
• There are two isolated rooms in the back of the café in which a large amount of people have congregated for what looks like some sort of meeting.
• The meeting in the back does not look to be open to spectators or new members. A private group
• I see a couple flirting excessively in the middle of the cafeteria
• The cafeteria is closing in 30 minutes so people seem to be clearing out but I noticed a few stragglers coming in just now who are looking to catch the cooks before they put away the food!
• Leaving the cafeteria, a bunch of people have grouped up near the dunkin dounuts which always seems to be a little hot spot to hangout.

John Stewart: Commencement Adress

John Stewart is truly a gifted man having accomplished many great things, including The Daily Show with John Stewart, which is a show I have enjoyed on multiple occasions. He has a natural talent for bringing out the humor in everything. This is shown quite a bit in the commencement address, where he even starts his speech with "Thank you, Mr. President, I had forgotten how crushingly dull these ceremonies are." Haha funny right? This guy will throw humor in anywhere and continues to light up the audience with a humorous tone until a certain point. About half way through the address, the tone shifts. "I don't really know how to put this, so I'll be blunt. We broke it. Please don't be mad." This is the quote used to switch the tone to a more serious manner. He emphasizes how somewhere between the baby boomers and the new internet savvy world, things have died and the world is corrupt. He places the task of fixing this broken world in each graduates hand, and its true, the new generation is destined to take this world out of this state of behavior. I find it funny when he brings up the war on terror and how the generation before these graduates 'declared war on terror' and that's not even a noun, yet it is still a saying! John Stewart is truly a creative comedian. Along with this humor comes knowledge and Stewart has proven to be quite wise, "So how do you know what is the right path to choose to get the result that you desire? The honest answer is this: You won't. And accepting that greatly eases the anxiety of your life experience". He goes on to \say that life has no core curriculum. Every student at William and Mary knew what they had to do to graduate college and how many credits they needed. Stewart points out that the paths are infinite and the results are uncertain. For those who are used to achievement, life is full of experiences so you cant get tied up in all the small things. Make results turn into your own self definition of success, set your own goals. Love what you do.. or don't if that's the path you define as success, but whatever it is, get good at it. His tips for success are spot on even though the last few lines of this address may have confused me a little bit; I really liked it.

My Brother's Influence

From day one Derek Grant has been either pushing me around or teaching me something which I now realize that all these things my brother has been involved with me over the years has really molded me into the person I am today. In my earlier years it was mostly the teasing and fooling around but now I feel as if he made me a strong person. I have endured a lot with my family over the years and Derek has always been a solid figure that I looked up to. Maybe its the fact that I have never seen him cry before or maybe its because he has always had the determination for a healthy lifestyle and motivation for a active personal training job, challenging his body. I've looked up to him for multiple reasons and these are what I believe have shaped my morals and actions today. I chose to go to the gym for an hour 5 times a week, I have a easy going and social personality like him, I am motivated in almost everything I do and love people who are close to me. I do believe my parents had a large influence in shaping my lifestyle but growing up and learning a lot of technical things that parents aren't necessarily going to teach you was definitely a bonus or advantage I believe I now have over others who did not have a figure in their lives like I did with my brother.