Assignment 2: Lincoln Video Blog

My video clip is on Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. I have never seen someone die before. I have never had to witness someone literally dying right in front of me. It is not a good feeling having to watch someone die. I can not really even explain it really. It gives me a mix of emotions. I mean I have seen it in the movies, just like everyone else. But that is not at all the same! The worst part of the video was when the assassin was just standing behind him. When I watched that part of the video clip, I had goose bumps all the way down my spine. It made me feel paranoid, I even looked behind me immediately after. I do realize that sounds ridiculous, but it was true. It was just disturbing. Once the people around him noticed he got shot, and they tried to help in that was the moment I felt it in my stomach- gut retching sadness. I felt helpess, because obviously there was nothing I could do but still, it was very sad. It really hit me, because I do not like watching someone in pain or who is dying. That is the reason I am majoring in athletic training, because I do not like to watch people in pain. I want to be able to help them. I have also been a lifeguard for over three years, all year round. This, once again, proves that I can not just watch someone feeling or looking distressed. I have to be able to get up out of my chair and fix the problem. I also went to a funeral on Saturday. I won’t go into the whole story, but that really made me think-it could have been me. I would never think it would though. I bet Abe felt the same way.

Assingment 1: Observational & Reflective Essay topic

For this assignment, I chose downtown Lincoln as my place. I think this will be a good topic for my observational and reflective essay. This is because there is so much to all take in down town. You can view so much. It has so much to see. There are numerous museums, art galleries, and other tourist attractions. There are stores, hotels, and business buildings. There are famous buildings like Memorial Stadium, the State Capitol, the Pershing Center, or the Courthouse. At night, it changes into bright neon lights that say OPEN, Tattoos, or Bud Light. There is a place for everyone. Of course, there is more to down town than the buildings. The people of Lincoln are always walking the streets of Lincoln. I see all the young adults walking to their classes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I see older adults, being in the real world, rushing down the streets for an important meeting or a business lunch. This image reminds me of The Apprentice, since they are all in business attire. There are also people walking the streets with friends and family supporting the Huskers, too. Some are celebrating a win or trying to forget about a loss; while others just like the whole feel of the down town atmosphere. Seeing is not all there is to down town, however. The smells and sounds of down town Lincoln help you take it all in as well. I hear music spilling out of bars. I hear groups of people cheering and laughing together. I smell all the varieties of food pouring out of the numerous restaurants that are downtown: Old Chicago, Buffalo Wild Wings, Jimmy John’s, and a bunch more. All in all, I think this will be a good topic for me, because I won’t get bored, and there are many possibilities in the great down town area of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Assignment 2:

The building that I chose for this assignment was Memorial Stadium at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It’s the home of the Huskers. I have not visited this stadium that often. In fact, I can count the number of times I have been there on one hand. The first time I went was a memory I will never forget. I went to the game on September 11th my sophomore year of high school with my friend. A that time, I was not a Husker fan at all really-both my parents grew up in Iowa so they don’t really like the Huskers all that much. Anyway, we went to the game and got these special programs, and the friend that took me had no idea why we had received them. (Her family were season ticket holders so they all thought it was a bit odd.) But we didn’t have to wait to long to find out. At halftime, all the fans were asked to lift up their “pamphlet” and flip it over to the backside. Once everyone had done so, it was a beautiful sight to see. We had made the American flag throughout the entire stadium. It was amazing! Whoever thought of that is a genius. I was apart of one of the red stripes. I don’t know why exactly, but I felt extremely patriotic at that moment. In fact, it might have been the only time I have really had that feeling. It was bizarre in a way. I can’t really explain it. The only other times I have been there is just walking right by it while on the campus, whether it was visiting friends or what not. When I went back to revisit it this past week, I immediately thought of that game, with the “human flag” we had created. It made me smile. I was happy to know that somehow, that brought all the fans together (even fans of the opposing team) in unison; we were all affected in one way or another by the 9/11 tragedy, and we were there for each other-even for people we really didn’t know. That was just comforting in a way.

Assignment 1:

The article I found on the Omaha-World Herald website that I chose to write about is “Runner hit by van is expected to heal.” I chose this one, because the headline grabbed my attention. I thought it was kind of odd. I can not believe that a fifteen year-old kid was hit by a mini-van! I actually think it is sort of ironic that it was a Dodge Caravan though, since it is a “Dodge.” I was also astonished to read that it was a cross country runner from Burke High School, because that is where I went to high school. Although it is normal for a senior to not know freshman, especially since the school had a good two thousand teenagers, I think I knew her. I do not know her all that well, but I know who she is, because I was a student athletic trainer last year. The main sport I covered was football, so I probably didn’t see her really all that much. I got ice for her or taped her ankle a few times though. I am relieved to hear she is going to recover okay. I can not imagine what that must of felt like. I have been in a few car accidents, but I would imagine this is quite different. Also, I hope the other six runners don’t feel guilty about it. They shouldn’t blame themselves just because they decided to cross the street in a spot that they normally do not cross at. The only thing I don’t understand is why they wouldn’t check the street before they cross it. I mean come on it’s Omaha, people are crazy drivers there. If you can drive in Omaha, you can drive anywhere. The same thing goes for running in Omaha. In Lincoln cars actually stops for people, which I am still not used to actually.

Post 2: The Telephone Museum

After visiting the Frank H. Woods Telephone Museum, I realized how much technology has changed in just the last century. Think about something, how many phones in your house are cordless? Do you even own a regular phone from a decade ago? Maybe you are one of the people who do not even have a landline anymore. All you have is your cellular telephone. Now think about cellular phones, how many different sizes and features have companies created in just the last few years? The advancement of technology is mind blowing! When the telephone was first invented, it was just the corkboard. When I saw this display in the museum, it reminded me of Morse code transmitters. It took up a whole desk just to talk to someone else. It probably weighed at least a good fifteen pounds, too. They went from a heavy drop down transmitter to the coin-operated phone booths to desk vanities to the landline phones we have now. And in addition to cordless phones today, we also have Bluetooth and hands-free cellular phones. It is just so remarkable how often the technology has increased over time. They also had Frank H. Woods’ actual desk and chair that he used in his office. It was cool seeing the replica of his office. The museum staff were also very friendly, and offered to answer any questions we had. My favorite part of the museum was when they had all the different varieties of telephones. They had numerous solid colors. They had a see-through phone where you can see how everything inside is connected to make it work; I actually had one of those phones when I was little in my house. I thought it was the coolest thing back then. They also had fun character themed phones like Snoopy and Gumby. They even had a teddy bear one that moved its mouth when the person you were talking too would talk back to you. I actually thought that one was kind of creepy.