Wanna know what kind of woman my mother was?

Growing up, we weren’t rich at all and there were times when we simply didn’t have any money for anything beyond the basics. When I was in the 5th grade, my grandmother passed away and since I lived with her, I had to stay with my mother. I already had a room in her apartment so I moved all of my things into it. That summer, I still hadn’t made a lot of friends and was getting pretty sick and tired of staying in the apartment all the time. The cabin fever was thick and i begged her to go to the movies, or go somewhere. She felt bad because we simply didn’t have any money to spend on going anywhere.

She wouldn’t be deterred though. She and I corralled every bit of change we could find in the apartment as if it were a treasure hunt. Together, we managed to get a little under 3.00. We both searched the Goings On section of the newspaper for ideas and she saw a coupon for 3 strings of bowling + shoe rental for $2.65. Off we went.

I remember bowling my little heart out. We didn’t have enough for her to bowl with me, but she was quite happy to sit there and cheer me on. I wasn’t a very good bowler, never had been, and since this was my first time, there were a lot of gutter balls. She marked each one with a sad face.

I remember her carrying that score card in her purse for a short time later and would show it off to people as if I was the greatest bowler in the world.

I’ve tried a lot of diets in the past and only had success to Atkins. We, as a race, always look for the easy way out. The first step to proper weight loss is to understand how your body works, the bullshit the diet and nutrition industry has been feeding you, and change your thinking.Get yourself the book, Healthy at Any Size and read it. It was a huge wake up call and when I did the research, she was spot on. Second, be skeptical. When a nutritionist, or anyone tells you something, look it up, research it. Don’t be lazy.

Lastly, realize that there is a science. Eating all meat, all carb, no carb, all cabbage or whatever diet you can think of, is not going to do it.It comes down to simple thermodynamics:

Calories in – calories out.

Below is the secret the world is waiting for, and it hasn’t changed in the history of mankind:

This is a lightweight wiki article, which means that the only way to slim it down is to edit it yourself.

Do the math

Want to drop 10 pounds in two months? All you have to do is the math, says Autodesk founder and Hacker’s Diet author John Walker. Here’s the skinny:

1. Multiply the pounds you want to lose by the number of calories in a pound of fat: 10 x 3,500 = 35,000.
2. Divide the total by the days you’ll diet: 35,000 ÷ 60 = 583.
3. Calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate 100 calories per ten pounds of body weight
4. Calculate your calories expenditure from exercize
5. Then use the formula (BMR+Exercise)-diet=total allowed calories

Recalibrate your sensors

Try this: One night, eat only half the amount of food on your plate. Wait 30 minutes, assess your feelings of satiation, and then wait 90. If you’re still not hungry, you’ve probably been overeating. Most people grossly overestimate the amount of food they need to feel full, says Dr. David Kessler, author of The End of Overeating. A sensible meal will keep you full for four hours, and a sensible snack, for two. Experiment with reducing your portion sizes, and serve yourself those meals on smaller plates or bowls.

Identify your danger zones

Then avoid them. Overeating is a compulsion like any other. It would be a bad idea for a shopping addict to go near a mall on Black Friday, or for a chronic gambler to book plane tickets to Vegas. Likewise, are you always pulling into the drive-through on your way home from work? Try taking a different route. Replace your clear glass cookie jars with fruit bowls. This goes for friends, as well. If you find yourself commiserating about dieting difficulties over your third beer, suggest meeting for coffee instead. Or a walk.

Don’t deprive yourself

Think of long-term weight loss as a long, pleasant stroll, instead of a sprint to the finish line. Concentrate on accruing good habits slowly and painlessly. If you can eliminate 100 calories per day, that can add up to about 11 pounds a year, says Dr. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating. 100 calories – that’s less than the calories in a can of Coke! Substitute one glass of water for one can of soda a day, and you’re well on your way to permanent weight loss.

Use peer pressure

Let your significant other know your intend to lose weight – they will help by suggesting that you skip dessert and by keeping the cookies out of the house. If you are really a exhibitionist you can now automatically Tweet your weight and your goal every time you step on a scale with WiThings scale

Exercise

A little exercise regularly can go a long way into helping you shed some pounds. At least 10 minutes of exercise a day can do you a world of good. If your workplace is close by, walk or use a bicycle to get to work. If it’s too far, a combination of public transportation and walking could get you there; and in the process, you’ll also earn points for being concerned about the environment!

Yeah, I teared up a bit writing it.

“I am not led; I lead”

This quote is something that has come to define me in the past year.   In order to understand the present, I should expound on my past.

I grew up as the son of a single mother in Gloucester, MA, where I was always referred to as being smart, but I just didn’t “apply myself”. I never had an idea of what I wanted to do after high school, and the only talent I had was art. This wasn’t really my calling, and I had to forsake it and try to find my niche in the world. I worked in hotels and then found a home in the computer field, where I have worked for the last 10 years. A couple of years ago, I realized that this would need to change as I was becoming continually complacent and realized that I have spent most of my adult life making other people rich and comfortable, and being the sprocket in their american dream machine.

This needed to change.

In 2007, I fulfilled a life long dream of going through the EMS academy and earning my EMT certification. I did this, not because I want to be an EMT, but because I always had a goal of having training as a paramedic, and being able to know that I can help those around me if need be. After the academy, I set my eye on getting into the nursing program, which is what my goal was up until July of this year.

As I said, I’m the son of a single mother.  She was date raped at the age of 19 and gave birth to me at the age of 20, and never was able to go to college a she had dreamed.  She never used this as an excuse for her station in life, and over the past 10 years, as her health declined, I never once heard her lament the course it had taken. She was truly my friend, and champion.

August 8^th, of this year, my mother passed away. She was hospitalized with MRSA, Staph, and pneaumonia. It was during late night research sessions and frantic phone calls to her doctor that made me realize that I do not have the mindset to be a nurse. I need to be more of an active participant in changing the lives of those around me, and am not comfortable with simply being a provider.  When I had to make the call, while en route to Boston, to have her taken off of the life support, I swore silently to her that the next half of my life would be devoted to providing strength to the weak, a voice to the silent, and empowering those around me.

“I am not led; I lead”

I have changed my major to Chemistry and undertaken an arduous goal of getting into medical school. I always did like to bite off more than I could chew, knowing that anything can be consumed, one bite at a time.  I will make the decision in the next couple of years of whether or not to continue on my goal of medical school, or become a science/chemistry teacher.  Either way, I want to give back to this world. I want to be someone’s champion. I want to make sure that my mother’s sacrifice was not in vain.

I find it ironic that I find myself applying for this scholarship because back in August, I setup a memorial scholarship in my mother’s name. This would be awarded to a student of a single parent, who, “wants to change the world”.

Honestly, I never applied for a scholarship because I always thought that there were others more worthy/needy than I am. It would help me immensely because I’m paying for all of my classes and incidentals with student loans, and since I had to spend what little bit of savings I had burying my mother, anything would be of great assistance. Just for being considered, I thank you very much.

Here is the response:

From: Patti Barney <pbarney@broward.edu>
Subject: RE: WIFI Access
To: “Robert Muise” <robbmuise@yahoo.com>
Cc: “J. David Armstrong” <darmstro@broward.edu>
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2009, 9:37 PM

I told her that I was quite appreciative of her assistance and it was a shame that I have to email everyone in the executive team at BCC about issues. We talked for a bit about my experiences with her department and she wants me to share any and all issues I encounter with her so that she can relay them to the board and work on learning from the mistakes that are encountered first hand by a student.

Chalk one one up for me

I sent this to you on Monday, and am wondering when I may get a response.

I’d also like to add a new issue that has come up. I have received a call from financial aid today, to let me know that my funds for my student loan are now delayed because Broward College requires an updated transcript showing the 2 summer classes that I took at PBCC and subsequently had to withdraw from. When I asked the gentlemen who called why I was only notified of this AFTER my loan funds were available, he stated that it was because they only check for discrepancies after the loan funds are ready for disbursement. This will now delay the disbursement of my student loan for at least 2 1/2 weeks.

I have requested a transcript from PBCC in both written and electronic form. The last time I requested it be transferred electronically, your admissions personnel informed me it could take 2-3 weeks for them to process it electronically.

I’d like to know why:

• BC does not proactively inform students of problems with their paperwork. I’d be delighted to share the story of how it took me almost 2 months to transfer from PBCC to BC because of all the snafus and roadblocks put into place by your institution.
• Why, in 2009, it takes longer to have a transcript sent and evaluated electronically than being hand delivered.

When I first brought my transcript, i had to go on to the archaic Broward College website and try to schedule an appointment with an advisor, in person, so that I could ask them to please submit my transcript for evaluation. I was informed that the 1 person who evaluates transcripts has a lot of work to do and is behind schedule since she went on vacation in the month of july, arguably one of the busier months before the fall session starts.

I anxiously await your reply to this and the prior matter.

I am currently enrolled in 3 classes. One thing that I have noticed is the lack of WIFI internet access in the classrooms. Since it is 2009, and laptops/netbooks are quite prevalent, I am at a loss as to why this is not the case. I checked my fees, beyond the tuition, I am being charged in  EACH class, the following:

UNKNOWN FEE                               $9.60

The last item, doesn’t even have something listed next to it, so I’m to assume it is a gratuity of some sort? This means that I am paying $60.30 for each class, or a total of $180.90  in extraneous fees this semester. Yet, I do not have wifi access in any of the classrooms I am in this semester. In fact, I see that on north campus, and downtown campus, its only available in a few select classrooms.

Previously, I attended PBCC and in both campuses, I had full access to the school administrated WIFI system. This allowed me to access files for class remotely, access online resources, and in general, get a lot more done.

Since I am a customer of Broward College, I would like to have an explanation of why WIFI access is not accessible throughout the campus. I would like to know what the additional 9.60 fee that I get charged is for. I would like to know what plans Broward College has to provide WIFI access throughout the entire campus?

Perhaps while you are viewing this, you might want to walk through the registration/administration areas of the school, as if you were a student. Getting the simplest of things done at this school is an exercise in futility and has made me rethink my enrollment on more than one occasion. I would be more than happy to provide details of where the system is faulty by design, and show where improvements to the process could be made.

Thank you for your time.
Robert Muise