Alexis Nowell's Weblog

My winter break begins 5:00 p.m. Monday, December 8. I was going to fly home to Delaware on December 9th but my parents and I have decided that my dad is going to fly down to Tampa and we are going to drive my car home. When I get home, I plan on sleeping a lot. I want to relax and enjoy my 27 days at home. I am so excited to get home because it has been so long since I have seen my family and friends. I plan on working out three to four time a week because as soon as I get back from break softball season starts. I also plan to practice softball with my dad because I want to be ready when I get back and I miss practicing with him since I’ve been down in Florida. I want to spend a lot of time with my friends and my sister doing the normal stuff that we usually do before I went off to school and just catch up. My mom, sister, and I have also planned to spend a day in New York going shopping and seeing a Broadway show. Finally, my sister and I are going to a concert in Philadelphia called Jingle Ball. It is the biggest concert in Philly and is always one of the best concerts. I am very excited to go home and I am counting down the days.

Celebrating holidays with my family are always my favorite parts of the year. My family and I celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, and Thanksgiving together as a family. My family also come together on small holidays too. We come together on Fourth of July, Halloween, Labor Day, and Memorial Day.
For Thanksgiving, my whole family goes to my uncles house for dinner. We all bring our favorite dish, we watch football games, play football in the backyard, and enjoy each others company.
My favorite holiday that I spend with my family is Christmas. There is nothing better than saving money to buy a present for your loved ones that you know they are going to love. One Christmas Eve, my parents, sister, brother, and I go to the catholic church that we belong to celebrate the birth of Christ. After church, we have my dad’s and mom’s sides of the family over our house for dinner. It is so nice having literally my whole family over to celebrate Christmas. Christmas morning we exchange presents and relax until we go to dinner at my grandparents house. My favorite part about Christmas is spending time with my family and being home.
Easter is also a great holiday that I spend time with my family. We attend church Easter morning and then go over to my grandparents and spend the hole day with my family. Holidays are always my favorite part o the year because I see my whole family and get to enjoy their company.

Celebrating holidays with my family are always my favorite parts of the year. My family and I celebrate Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, and Thanksgiving together as a family. My family also come together on small holidays too. We come together on Fourth of July, Halloween, Labor Day, and Memorial Day.
For Thanksgiving, my whole family goes to my uncles house for dinner. We all bring our favorite dish, we watch football games, play football in the backyard, and enjoy each others company.
My favorite holiday that I spend with my family is Christmas. There is nothing better than saving money to buy a present for your loved ones that you know they are going to love. One Christmas Eve, my parents, sister, brother, and I go to the catholic church that we belong to celebrate the birth of Christ. After church, we have my dad’s and mom’s sides of the family over our house for dinner. It is so nice having literally my whole family over to celebrate Christmas. Christmas morning we exchange presents and relax until we go to dinner at my grandparents house. My favorite part about Christmas is spending time with my family and being home.
Easter is also a great holiday that I spend time with my family. We attend church Easter morning and then go over to my grandparents and spend the hole day with my family. Holidays are always my favorite part o the year because I see my whole family and get to enjoy their company.

To attend the University of South Florida for four years it will cost me $121,720. Since I am an out of state student it will cost me $50,880 more than a student that lives in the state of Florida to attend the University of South Florida. Each year I will pay $16,710 for my tuition which will add up to $66,840 for tuition for the four years. For Housing and meals I will pay $8,120 a year and will add up to $32,480 for four years. It will cost $1,500 for books a year and $6,000 for books in all four years. Finally for other expenses it will probably add up to $4,000 a year and $16,000 for four years. This will all add up to $121,720 for my college education.
Because I am a student-athlete, my softball scholarship will pay for most of what I owe for my college education. I received a scholarship that was eighty percent for all my four years at USF. This means that I will receive around $24,00 every year because of my scholarship and only have to pay around $6,000 dollars out of my own pocket. Thankfully, my parents made a packet with me that if I received a scholarship to college that they would pay for whatever the scholarship did not cover. My parents have been very generous and I am going to work my hardest to receive the best education that I can.

Last Weekend, I was invited to a birthday dinner for one of my teammates. The diner was at Ichiban, a Japanese steak house. I was not really excited to go because I really do no like Chinese or Japanese food. At home, when I was growing up, I had a really bad experience eating at a Chinese Restaurant. The waiter brought my food out and it was disgusting. The food was so cold that I could not even put it in my mouth. However, I decided to go anyway because I knew I would have fun with my friends. When we first got there, they sat us all down at a huge table with a grill right in front of us. They brought us our drinks, salad, and soup, which were all delicious. Then, the chief came out and began cooking the food right in front of us. It was so much fun, entertaining, and the food was mouthwatering. I learned from this experience that if one restaurant is not good, it doesn’t mean that all of the restaurants like that one are the same way. I am really glad that I decided to forget about my past experience because I found out that I really do like Japanese food.

Living with others can be a lot of fun but at times it can be very hard. Everyone comes from a different background, living arrangement, and a different way of being brought up. What I find the hardest about living with others is learning how they live. It isnt always easy living with others because everyone is different. The first week living with my new roomates was really easy. Everyone was meeting each other and trying to make a good impression. We were letting each other know that we are going to have a great year as college freshmen. However, after about three weeks everyone is continuing to get along but learning what gets on our nerves about each other. We have found out whether one person is messy or a neat freaky and so forth. One thing that really annoys me about ivng with others is the way that they do not care if the dorm is clean. I like knowing where all of my stuff is and having a clean room, kitchen, and bathroom. However, my roommates are not really worried about it. I think as time goes by I will learn to adjust to my roommates and and show them how much better it feels to live in a clean dorm.

My first two weeks at USF has been a time of adjusting. This is the first time that I am living on my own and slowly but surely I am getting used to it. I am also adjusting to living so far away from my parents, family, and friends in Delaware. Coming from such a small state to Tampa, FL can be a little bit intimdating. There are so many people on this campus that I feel like a may never see a person that I walk by again, which feels really wierd for me. Not only do I come from a small state but I also come from a very small High school. My graduating class was only 82. I get a little homesick on occasion but i just have to remind myself that i have a wonderful opportunity right in front of me and my family would not want me to give up on it. I am also getting used to my busy schedule. I am not only a student at USF but I am also an athlete. I have had to learn to manage my time with lifting in the mornings, classes, study hall, meetings with my advisors, softball practice, and then homework and studying. I have to say though that colleg life so far has been a lot of fun. I don’t have my parents telling me that I cannot go out, I don’t have a curfew, and can do whatever I want. But i know that i need to make decisions and I am pretty sure that I will. My first two weeks of colleg life has been great and I hope the rest of my time at USF only gets better.