Blog #1

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    Hi! My preferred name to go by is Nicole. I just transferred from Greenville Technical College where I took all of my general education classes. I have changed my major once or twice because I was trying different things out. I ended up deciding on my English major and Business minor with dreams of working in publishing one day.

    Obviously one of my passions is reading. If I ever have any free-time, you'll usually find me with a book or my kindle in my hands. Learning to read at a really young age, it's always been a huge part of my life. I apparently have a bad habit of continuing to buy books when my TBR list is at least in the triple digits by now. My mom likes to make fun of me for always receiving book packages haha. Other than reading, I am a huge music person. I could spend hours and hours just listneing to music. I like pretty much anything that makes me want to move. My genres jump around from pop, to country, to hip-hop on a daily basis. My all time favorite time period of music has to be 2000s. I don't know why the music I was exposed to at 8-9 years old has affected me so much, but songs from the 2000s are on a daily roation and I'll never get tired of them. In regards to other hobbies, I like to lightly-game. Am I great at any of the games? Not really, but sometimes it's fun to play with some friends or sit down and play the Sims for hours just to relax my brain.

    I work a lot. During the week I work at Lowes Foods in the bakery department. I will have anywhere from 20-35 hours a week. It depends on our production really. But honestly, there are things that aren't good and I'm really trying to find something else. Anyway, on the weekends I work for an extended cousin's wedding catering company. They have 2 venues in Greenville and I do a little bit of everything, from waitressing, to setting up/breaking down the decorations, floral arrangements, to cooking in the kitchen. I usually rack up anywhere from 6-12 hours at the weddings.

    I'm not too picky as a learner. However, I am a hands-on person. I have some professors who just flip through slides and tell me that's how they teach. To me, that's not teaching. It's so hard for me to just hear information and absorb it. It never happens and I have to go back and re-learn whatever they were trying to teach me. I enjoy listening more than speaking, but with the right group or topic, I do enjoy some discussions. As long as the content is involving and engaging, I will have no problem with any course.

    Reading for so long, there are so many books and characters floating around in my head that when I'm asked about a favorite, I usually blank instantly. In my childhood, Junie B. Jones and the Wayside stories stand out to me a lot. My mom and dad helped push me into chapter books and increased my reading abilities with Junie B. Jones. I love those books and actually a few weeks ago I bought the entire box set just so I could re-read them. My second grade teacher (who was also my fourth grade teacher) used to read a chapter or two from Wayside stories every day after we came back in from recess. I have a few of them that she gave me, but she was so animated when reading to us as we all calmed down in the afternoon. She was the best. In my adolescence, I was just starting to find the genres I still gravitate to. I am an avid romance reader, I just love them. So Sarah Dessen books grabbed me when I was younger in that genre. I also used to be big in fantasy or dystopian-adventure books like Divergent. That was probably one of the first 'big series' that I finished and I still have my physical set from when I was in middle school. I like to think that Divergent or Sarah Dessen kept me reading during some rough times. Like we talked about in class, people usually stop reading before they get to high school even if they enjoyed it. Luckily, I always had great teachers to continue pushing me and parents who always wanted me to read. I never lost my love for books and I hope I never do. It's just a part of me now. :)

Comments

  1. HelenAugust 26, 2022 at 5:26 PM

    Hey Nicole :) I transferred from Greenville Tech, too! I used to love the Junie B. Jones in elementary school, and Sarah Dessen books in middle school, but I totally forgot both of them till you mentioned them just now! I never forgot Divergent, but that's probably because I watch the movies every now and then. The Hunger Games was another one of the first series I read in middle school, except I've read all three Hunger Game books, but haven't seen the last movie yet, and I've read the first two Divergent books, watched all three movies, but haven't read the last book yet lol.
    I would totally be you, buying enough books to fill up my house...if I had any money XD As it is, whenever I get some cash, I spend it on a book or two at Barnes and Noble, and it's always a gamble if I'll read them or if they'll end up on my shelf while I reread my favorite books XD
    It's cool that you're doing so much; I hope you find a job and a career that you love :)

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    Replies
    1. NicoleAugust 26, 2022 at 9:34 PM

      Hi! I will never forget Divergent because I do the same, the movies are such a guilty pleasure. I started the Hunger Games when I was in middle school too, but I could never get into it. I thought about giving the books and the movies another go to see if I've changed my mind. If I get really antsy to buy new books, I try to limit only buying one book per paycheck haha. My dream would be to have an extra room in my future house where I could create a library. I can picture it in my mind and hopefully one day I'll have a one. I read somewhere that you only need 1,000 books for it to be considered a library. I'm getting very close, I think I'm close to 650 now.
      Thank you, I also hope I find a job and career I love. I hope you do too. :)

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    2. HelenAugust 27, 2022 at 10:47 AM

      Thank you! I think that's such a cool idea, and I actually know a person on Instagram whose husband helped her turn a room in their house into her personal library; even the door is a bookshelf!

      Delete

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