Thanksgiving/Powerpoint

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!
I definitely had an awesome week taking a little break and being able to spend time with friends and family.  Also, it was my birthday on monday, so I was able to celebrate it at home with my friends there which was awesome.  I also went to visit the Pullman neighborhood in Chicago on Friday.  The south side of the city is a completely different place compared to the north side.  The area around Pullman is not very built up, and there are a lot of run down buildings.  However, nowadays as you go more and more south in the city there are a lot more up and coming businesses and residential areas.  It was so neat to go to Pullman.  I have been reading about the area and the people who lived there so much, that it was an even more awesome experience to go where they lived.  My mom and I drove around for awhile to look at the buildings at houses.  It gave me more of an appreciation for what I am writing about, and helped me maybe understand more the lives of the people who worked and lived in Pullman.  It was cool because I knew exactly what buildings were what and where we were because i have been looking at maps, and by the descriptions i have read in books.  All the houses are very close together.  considering how many people lived there, and the amount of land Pullman had set aside, it was pretty amazing to me how close everything was.  At first, we seemed to be in the "nice" area of Pullman, probably where his upper level employees lived, but as we moved more to the south end of the neighborhood, the houses got smaller, closer together, and less elaborate.  these houses were also the furthest from where all of the main happenings in the town took place.  you could definitely tell where the social class difference happened.  unfortunately, the museum was not open, but i have been emailing someone who works there to get as much info as i can.
My powerpoint is just about done, but i am still nervous about it.  i hope it is what Micalee wants.  I normally am totally fine talking in front of groups, and i feel prepared, so i do not know why i am so nervous about this.  my powerpoint is pretty much a brief history of Chicago, then talking about the community and the people, and some art and music about Pullman.  does that seem okay?  any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
thanks!

Phew!

So I literally just got back to my dorm from class, and I am so relieved to have finally handed in the final!  However, now after handing it in, there are so many things I feel I left out.  I'm not too worried though seeing as this was only the rough draft.  Now that I've got all the main points and the history of the company down on paper I'm ready to make it more interesting, and to add more of a story background to it.  Also, I didn't realize that we had to incorporate the books we read in class into the paper, but my topic relates a lot to what we read so I already have some ideas as to what I want to add:
-how the communities relate
-gender/race roles in the community and company
-stikes
-how the companies ran and were controlled
^ those are just some of the main topics I want to cover in comparing my research with our readings.

Also, I've already started my visual aid for my presentation so I feel confident about how my final paper will turn out and how my presentation will go.  Phew!  The stress is finally lifting a bit.  Now I've got it pretty easy until we come back from break, I've only got one quiz and a paper I have to do until break so it is going to be a pretty easy going week.  I can't wait till my meeting about my paper too! I know that's a little weird, but there is a lot I have to talk about, I wish we had more time with her!

Well everyone just take a breather and relax!  The hardest part is out of the way.  I hope everyone has a good week and their meetings go well!

Trucking Along...

So, I am taking a little break from writing my paper, so I figured I might as well write a blog while I'm at it!  I have been researching and working on my paper for awhile, I've got 9 pages done so far, but I still feel like something is missing! I actually read someone else's blog and they had the same exact feelings as me.  I feel like there is no point to my paper, and that it is pretty much just a history of the company I am writing about.  I have been struggling over this "so what" question FOREVER! And, I don't know, this company is so interesting to me and the history and everything I learned is so fascinating, I just do not know what would be interesting to other people.  I guess where I am at right now is either talk about how unfair this company town was to the workers, and talk about how everyone's idea of a utopia is not the same; OR, talk about the Pullman porters and the roles of African Americans for the company.  any suggestions?
Also, I don't really have a full on thesis yet (ekkkk!), but would that sort of go along with my "so what" question?
I've been working hard on this paper, but I do not think my rough draft will be all that great.  I am pretty much just putting all my information onto paper.  With all the papers and research papers I have done though, this is how I usually do it, just write out all my ideas for a rough draft, and then I usually re-write the paper at least 4 times.  Hopefully the final copy is good!

I am really enjoying the topic I am doing though, and am finding some awesome information.  And I cannot wait to visit the area when I go home for Thanksgiving.  My mom and I are going to go on a tour and walk around some of the old buildings and houses that were a part of the Pullman company town, and then go eat at the hotel that was there.  Can't wait!

I went to see Micalee speak at the museum the other day, and I was really glad I went.  I used her talk and her powerpoint as sort of an outline of how I should do mine.  You never want a powerpoint to be too much words, that will get the viewers bored.  So I have saved several videos and pictures to start putting on my powerpoint, and I will do all the talking rather than just reading straight from the powerpoint.  At Micalee's talk, I actually felt pretty intimidated surrounded by the crowd I was in.  It was full of professors and historians.  A lot of people who know their stuff, and then there's me, little freshman, just getting my feet on the ground.  Nonetheless, it was very interesting! Good job Micalee!!

Finally, I know this is VERY off topic, but I finally saw Toy Story 3 the other day and it actually really got to me.  I've grown up with those movies, and they fit my age group perfectly.  Andy and I are the same age, and we went to college at the same time.  I really wish I saw it before I came to school because it has to deal with growing up and moving on.  When he gives up woody and buzz and all his other toys at the end, ohhh my it really hit me!  I'm not a kid anymore, I have more responsibilities now and my life is really beginning.  I mean don't get me wrong, I didn't give my favorite childhood toy away, I actually brought him here to school (smokey my toy dog :] ), but I don't know, I thought I'd get a little more personal since this is a blog, and I am procrastinating from going back to work on my research paper.  This movie was for our age group, and to me it symbolizes the end of my childhood, and that I am growing up and moving on, and about change.  I mean none of that is bad, but at the same time it is weird to think about.  College is the time of my life where I have the least responsibilities with the most freedom, but after that, it is the real world.
I hope that isn't depressing or anything, I was just thinking.

Thanks for reading, hope all your papers are coming along well.
Now back to work on mine!

The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction

I have been actually really enjoying the reading of the Arizona Orphan Abduction.  At first I thought it was going to be more of a story, but as we have got in into the ready it has turned more informational, but that is okay.  I like how the author ties in factual information with an incident that happened there.  Therefore, you can relate with characters while also getting a sense of what these towns were all about, the lives of the mine workers, and who was all living/working there, and what was happening in this time period.  The author definitely helps me understand all of what was happening during this time period in this place, with immigration, the orphans, and the specific things happening in Clifton-Morenci.

I wanted to learn more about the area of Arizona that we have been reading about, so I decided to get more background information, even though the author is very clear and thorough in her writings, I still thought I could get more.
At first, I had it in my head that Clifton was named after a person because my friend's dad is named Clifton (who is the oldest grandson of Harry Truman).  However, I found out that the name from originated from cliff town, obviously because of its location, and the name was just shortened to clifton.
The Morenci mine is the largest copper producer in the state, and regularly contributes to half of Arizona's copper production.
-I plan on attending Micalee's talk on the 11th.

Also, I know this is off topic, but after reading REO Joe, I have been seeing things all over named for him.  There is a building on campus named after him, a museum for him, and even the CATA bus station in Lansing is dedicated to him.  It is pretty amazing on how big of an impact he had on Lansing, and its surrounding areas.