One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do

(ironically case#1)

Well, step one I think, would be to get a home pregnancy test. ( I want to make a flow chart, it'd be easier...oh well) If that was positive it would be important to see a physician, or in El Dorado, they have a pregnancy center or other local clinics.
Step two: if pregnancy is positive, get in contact with that weasel of a boyfriend, and pray to God he is supportive and will amend the relationship, hopefully, he'll step up and be a man. After that, it is important to talk to both parents (FUTURE GRANDPARENTS). This site would probably be helpful to Jessica. This won't help Jessica's parents' situation, but it may help them at least come together for their daughter, who will no longer be lonely. She could talk to a school counselor. OR contact SGA for support groups. Then, depending on her and her family's and her weasel's family's religious and political views they should decide to keep the baby. maybe talk to a teacher in the nursing part of school. I work with a girl in a very similar situation to this, which is what I'm basing my answers off of. I've heard of this site, I know it's been cited somewhere before, and it appears very helpful. It's too late for purity rings, or anything like that. Basically it's just keeping the baby health and realizing that it needs to be shown love, and sometimes love means someone else may be able to better care for your offspring, here is a local adoption agency: Adoption centers of Kansas
I respect myself and my girlfriend enough to know I won't be in this situation. But unfortunately many people go through this, but they just need to realize, there are plenty of places to get answers and support from.

It's late September and I really should be back at school

My academic plan is rather simple, yet rather complex. But first, a bit of history. Starting in kindergarten I wanted to be a paleontologist, by eighth grade I was dreaming of doing Paleo-work on Mars. In high school, things changed, I was dreaming of a life as a coder for Microsoft, and one day taking the place of Bill. This all changed when I read the book Microserfs By Douglass Coupland. It illustrated the drab life a programmer leads. After that I fixed my sights on NASCAR, realizing I don't have the money to break into driving, I considered engineering and then mechanics. However, by the end of my Senior year, I realized what my calling was. Someday, I will be a NASCAR analyst, columnist or announcer on the Motor Racing Network (MRN). Yet, I am still considering going into the ministry with Motor Racing Outreach (MRO). Either way, the degree I'm seeking at ButlerCC, Mass Communications, will greatly help me. Originally I was going to earn a degree at butler by the end of the '08 Summer semester and move to North Carolina to finish a Bachelor's or Master's degree. North Carolina is where I must I go to pursue my NASCAR dream(s). But, yet again, times have changed, I'm now planning on transferring to K-State in the fall of 2008, where I will stay until I get my master's degree and/or save enough money to move to NC.
But, I digress...
I need/want to go to this seminar eventually...I believe that will help.
I found this, but it isn't racing specific. It's talking about sports anchors on various stations, but I hate pretty much all other sports outside of racing. My dream job's website is Racingone.com.
For more info on MRO click here.
While at K-State I plan to double major, in electronic communication and Public Relations.

So that's how I plan to eventually get involved with NASCAR. Who knows, in the future I may end up being an engineer after all.

(title from Rod Stewart)

Is it any wonder I'm not crazy? Is it any wonder I'm sane at all?

Time management is something I sort of struggle with. But I've always made it work, in the end. I procrastinated all the way through High School making A's and B's. So far college hasn't been any different. In case you didn't notice most of these were written with a week of the deadline. In my opinion this only prepares me for a career in or related to journalism, where deadlines are tighter than a fat man in an airliner seat. I haven't really changed anything, I'm used to staying up late and still getting things done. I know sometimes I wait too long and then have to decide weather it's better to turn in a lack luster assignment or to take a penalty (usually lose 10%) and turn in something that is better. I usually go with the latter because it, in my opinion, is at least my best efforts. Come to think of it, in speech class I always go over the time limit. I just have a busy schedule, between church, family, friends, a long-distance relationship, school and work (not to mention some time just to wind down and goof off), certainly takes a toll on me. However, I do what I can, and I'd have to say I think I do a pretty darn good job for such a full plate.
There are several resources that come in handy, however software like this digital date-book can be rather helpful. Having the support of someone can help too. If parents are involved grades tend to do better. Here is a nice article about the lack of sleep I'm not getting right now. Maybe these ideas could help me. But nonetheless, there is always something else to do within a 24hour period. Sometimes, there is just not enough time.

(Title from STYX)

"Feed the babies that don't have enough to eat...

...Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin in the street
Oh, oh, theres a solution"

Famous words from the great Steve Miller. Fly Like an Eagle was written in 1976. This iconic and well known song describing problems that should have been taken care of long ago, hence the "time keeps on slippin'..." Miller was saying 'get it done'. Yet these issues, of child abuse/deprivation, poverty and homelessness are still a cause for concern in modern America. This is an issue that has arisen through the current Presidential campaigns. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.-D) has an experienced past, as he worked in inner Chicago for years helping the less fortunate neighborhoods. Read more here.
THIS is why it is a serious issue, even though the article is kind of dated. It is our job to help our fellow Americans. Those who are not as financially fortunate as others could still donate time at local organizations such as community centers or The Lord's Diner in Wichita.
The time to help is now, the time to help is then, the time to help will be always. Everyday someone will need your help. Just donate your old shoes, pick up an extra package of Ramen Noodles to donate. Give a blanket to the local shelter. Maybe, you could just give a few hours of your time to lend a helping hand and help those less fortunate know that there is still HOPE for them.
From one of the most powerful, moving, and uniting speeches in modern political history "The Audacity of Hope" - Sen. Barack Obama:

"Hope -- Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope!"

Read, listen or watch the full speech here: American Rhetoric

People Livin' In Competition/ All I want is to have my peace of mind.

Why do people feel the need to cheat? Much of that, I believe, can be attributed to the focus for everyone to be the best. I believe this to be true because of the pressure to graduate with straight A's or as Valedictorian. What happens when someone notices several people with the same report? THIS!
That same link also shows how it can affect someone outside of school too. In addition to that here is one from a Psychiatrist, who could potentially lose his business across the pond.
Plagiarism, however, is rather easy to avoid. Here is a nice safe guide from Purdue University. Which basically states that you just need to give credit where credit is due. Even with easy guides as such. I think Mr. Clark has a nice idea in his article hear, where he basically calls for a better more universal definition.
I chose the title of this (of course coming from the band Boston) because I think that's why people plagiarize, they're trying to compete. However, if one should just do their best and take the peace of mind that they know they won't get into trouble, in the end it will work out better. My High School English teacher told us the story of one of her husband's friends:

This man lied about having a degree and was hired by a company, that didn't check,when they asked him to go to school, that the company would pay for, to get his master's degree...he had to come clean.Obviously he lost his job.

It will get you in the end. All you really need to do is have enough self-respect to trust your own thoughts, ideas, and research; and, when you need someone else's opinion, you just need to make sure you give credit where credit is due.

Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town...

The biggest for me in the last year is that I'm here, here at home. I'm moving on, next fall, for sure. My friends have parted, they've got a jump on things, but I'm about to leap. It's going to be a leap of faith, into a new region, a new time zone, a new life. All this, just to chase my dream, it's what I want to do, what I'm going to do. I'd love to be able to be there now, but I'm not, I believe God has me here until then for certain reasons. This time, my new college, whatever that may be, is going to be different than a small Community College in a dusty oil-boom Kansas town. The engines roar to life, as I hope my dream flourishes into reality. Skeptics have questioned it, I don't care, their doubt and cynicism just exasperates my drive to capture it. So, I don't doubt I've faced some change going to college (more free time), but I haven't really had to cope with it or worry about it. What I am going to have to cope with, is this bigger change, just over the horizon. The time has come and the decision has been made, in 365 days from now, I'll be somewhere in North Carolina, it's calling my name, it's the captor of my dream. I'd have to say the thing that bugs me the most is trying to get new friends out there. It's just something I guess I have to sacrifice to get where I want to go.


(Title from PINK FLOYD)

Time may change me, but I can't trace time...

My Thoughts On Change

It's not necessarily always good to change. When it comes down to it, society needs people who may not change, the nonconformists. I'm sure many people will tell you that you have to change, but this may not be true. This is what I believe because, if you surround yourself with good people, people who truly care about you, where you can develop as an individual, then there is nothing better in life. Society will constantly tell you to change, and that there are changes all around you that will make you different (such as going to college). It shouldn't change someone's essence, it shouldn't make them a different person. It does though, College is a savage beast that lets a person think that they're gaining control and gaining in life, but are they? You can't believe everything you hear, weather it's from word of mouth, from a book, or anywhere else. Abraham Lincoln once said

"You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time."

Besides, if you haven't noticed, it IS true that history repeats it's self; it's just a giant spinning wheel- war, peace, war, peace, race issues, gender issues, economic issues, race issues, economic issues, war...without change, we'd be stuck. Yet it is only natural that humans are actually fairly limited. The point is that no matter how you cope with change, it's just going to happen again, so just "turn and face the strain" and embrace it, but don't mess with the cornerstone, or the structure crumbles.

(title from David Bowie)