A Lovely Synopsis of My Life

Hello fellow blog members, my name is Melissa. Seeing as how this introductory post is supposed to give you a glimpse of what I'm all about, you should probably know that I have no aspiration to use world history as an aspect of my future career. I'm a sophomore here at Grand Valley where I'm double majoring in political science and economics with a minor in business. Needless to say, I'm definitely on the 'five-year' plan. I hope to attend law school at the University of Michigan and contribute to society however I can.

I've lived on a farm my entire life in the quaint town of Linden. Since it can hardly be found on a map, as if anyone has an actual paper map, I'll just tell you it's about twenty minutes south of Flint. However, you must be careful not to assume that the dreadfulness of Flint is at all present in my town. I assure you it is not, but I digress. Having daily chores on a farm was not always fun and games. Venturing outside in the chilly hours of early morning took a great deal of discipline and a great deal of parental persuasion of course. Although I cannot complain entirely since the money I earned from showing steers in 4-H is helping to pay for my college at the moment. School sports weren't really my thing, so I ended up figure skating from 7th grade until my junior year in high school. I feel that the aforementioned activities have had the greatest impact on who I am as a person today because they have shaped my work ethic. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of things I would simply rather avoid doing, but knowing there is potential for growth in any activity motivates me to push through.

These days I turn to ballet to help take the edge off of a stressful day, but it seems blogging will have to suffice for tonight. I'm new to the blog world because I've never understood what all the hype was about. Through this history blog I hope to gain an appreciation for what all of the die-hard bloggers out there do everyday. The idea of commenting on the thoughts of others in an internet environment seems quite impersonal, but I guess that might be the beauty of it all. Even though I don't plan to pursue a career in history, I have a great deal of interest in the lives of ancient people. It fascinates me to think about how we came to be where we are today, and I want to better understand the hardships that our ancestors endured to make it all happen. I sincerely hope discussing various historical topics by blogging with eachother will provide us all with some insight into how miraculous our world is. I look forward to what this new blog world may hold.

All About Ben

I am not quite sure how to start off a blog about oneself. Should it start with a "hello?" Well, that should suffice. Hello, my name is Ben Braschler. I am a senior here at GVSU, and I am studying Political Science and History. I hope to teach with it someday, but that being said I also know how hard jobs are to find, so I might be changing my major coming up here to something more marketable. I suppose I'll see what happens within the next year or so.

I am from Hamilton, Michigan, which is about ten minutes south of Holland, Michigan to put it into perspective. I went to a smaller high school by most standards. Growing up my father was the principal of the high school, so that was always, what's the word, fun. (I hope you picked up on the sarcasm there.) That's not to say I was a bad student, it just put a lot more pressure on me than most students. That experience did teach me a lot about how to be a better student, and has been valuable since going off to college.

History has always been a passion of mine. I can think back to the fifth grade, going on a field trip to the Gerald R. Ford Museum. It was there that I was really captivated with history, and my love for the discipline has grown from that point on.

In high school, I was fascinated with the Second World War. My Grandma had four brothers who all served in the war, and I conducted interviews with them all. I hope to someday publish the interviews, but I do not have the time currently to write a book.

As for what I hope to accomplish in this class, I want to gain a better understanding of ancient history. Modern history has always been my love, so studying some new subject material might be intriguing.

Moving away from history and back to me (wow, that didn't sound arrogant), I love sports. I am a big fan of the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears. I try to make it out to at least three or four games each per year.

My other love is music. Actually, I should probably not be admitting this, but I am writing this while traveling to Chicago for a Dave Matthews Band concert. At least I prioritize, right?

That should be enough information on myself, especially since we just arrived at our hotel.

So until next time,

You stay classy, San Diego.

Introduction

Welcome to our blog! I am a freshman at Grand Valley, the youngest in our group, and I am excited for my first year here. My declared major is history and my minor is undeclared. I am considering a music or English minor. With my history major, I hope to go to graduate school to get a Master of Library Science. Although my plans will most likely change given that I am an underclassman, I know that I love history, reading, and research, and I would enjoy a career based on these subjects.

I have loved history since middle school when my class discussed current events and debated about historical topics. I do not have a favorite area of history; on the contrary, I cannot decide which era is my favorite! I have never been exposed to an ancient history class so it will be interesting to learn about ancient cultures and customs.

In addition to history, I enjoy playing the piano, reading, knitting, and watching movies. I have played the piano for ten years and enjoy it as an emotional outlet. I had piano lessons since I was eight years old and I am feeling quite stressed in my first year without lessons and time to practice. I read frequently as well. My favorite literature is historical Christian fiction, with my favorite authors being Bodie and Brock Thoene. They write books about WWI, WWII, and the Israel-Palestine conflicts.

From History 203, I hope to learn more about ancient cultures, of which I know very little. I want to learn about the various ways that ancient cultures still impact the world today. Hopefully, in our blog we will be able to discuss topics talked about in class much more extensively. Also, I wish to improve my professional writing skills, because my high school did not prepare me well. I have never blogged before so it will be interesting to read and comment on other students’ posts.

A Little About Me!

“You don't hate history, you hate the way it was taught to you in high school.” (Ambrose)

My name is Staci Jager and I have lived in Coopersville, Michigan for my entire life. I am a junior here at Grand Valley with the intention of becoming a Secondary Education teacher in both History and English. This is my first year at Grand Valley after transferring from Grand Rapids Community College with my Associate’s Degree. My education began at Lamont Christian School, where I remained until 8th grade graduation; for high school, I went to Coopersville Public High School. I am thankful that my parents saw fit to make my siblings and me go to a Christian school first. I am equally thankful that they sent me to a public school for high school, thus giving me the opportunity to experience both private and public schools.
My passionate interest in history began when my brother brought home the mini-series “Band of Brothers.” I then began a personal endeavor to study all about World War II. This personal endeavor has turned into not only studying World War II, but as much history as my brain can hold. The quote at the beginning of this page is by one of my favorite authors. Stephen E. Ambrose is the author of Band of Brothers, the foundation behind the previously mentioned mini-series. I hope to be a high school teacher and to teach it in a way that students will not hate learning history.
Hunting, reading, playing piano, singing, and acting are just a few of my hobbies. I have gone whitetail deer hunting with my father ever since I can remember; every winter I enjoy sitting in a blind in complete silence, waiting for that moment of intense adrenaline rush. I took piano lessons from the age of ten until I was 16. Even though I have finished taking lessons, I find playing the piano quite relaxing and helpful during writer’s block. Finally, in 8th grade my class had the opportunity of putting on the production of Peter Pan and ever since I have enjoyed being on stage. I have also been on four mission trips. The first and third work projects were in Costa Rica, the second was in Haiti and the last one was in Neon, Kentucky. I hope to return to Costa Rica or Haiti in the coming year.
As previously mentioned I hope to become a high school teacher, but that was not always the case. In high school I was confident that I was joining the Air Force upon graduation; I even did a job shadow with a recruiter my senior year. However, after going to an Air Show in Battle Creek it all changed. I had a conversation with one of the Thunderbird pilots and he told me that I should finish school first. He said that if I still wished to join after graduation I could join as an officer, so here I am!
As conclusion, I will state that I hope have animated discussions with fellow students about historical topics that I would not otherwise have. I find that during class many people do not speak up and I hope that through these blogs people will voice their observations without hesitation. Thanks for listening to my rambling, and I hope you enjoyed it!

Quote - found on following website: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/s/stephen_ambrose_3.html

Welcome! Hello! Etc.

Hello to all the other world history students out there who will be following this riveting blog! My name is Anne Santa Maria and I am a junior at Grand Valley. Even though I am junior I have a fair number of classes to take, so it looks like I will be here for a few more years. I am a Geography major and I have not decided on a minor yet, but I am leaning towards Natural Resource Management. I hail from Crawfordsville, Indiana, a small town in West Central Indiana where corn and soybeans rule the landscape. I have lived in Michigan for nearly two years, but I am still astounded by how much it snows here.
I love all activities outside from backpacking to sea kayaking to playing freeze tag. I also like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain, but, more seriously, I enjoy napping, fishing, reading, and playing Rockband.
It has been a few years since I last took a history course. Blogging is new to me and it is an exciting way to allow us to discuss topics not specifically addressed in class. Last year I read the book 1491 by Charles Mann, and since then I have been fascinated with the study of the America’s before the arrival of the Europeans. Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel sparked my interest in the role geography played in the development of civilizations. I hope that I can use this blog to explore these topics further, but I am also fine with whatever topics we decide to discuss over the course of this semester.

Introduction

Hello, and Welcome to our blog about history before 1500, My name is Ashlee Stansbury and I am a senior majoring in Social Studies with an Elementary Education Minor. This is my first year at Grand Valley, I am a transfer Student from Akron University in Ohio. My husband's job required us to relocate to Grand Haven, and Grand Valley seemed to fit me best.

I grew up in a small village along the Ohio River, it will always be home but I hope to never have to move back. I have been married to my wonderful husband, Jacob for two years, we love to travel and meet new people. We are both very active in our church with the youth and enjoy playing volleyball together. (This is actually how we met.)

Some of my hobbies include skiing, scrap booking, hanging out with my friends and doing anything that involves the outdoors. I am looking forward to the snow, but sad that summer has officially come to a close.

My husband has a history degree and so I am looking forward to talking to someone other than him about the topic. A lot of my classes this fall are requring me to blog, so I hope as the semester progresses I get better and better!

Until next time...