Writing Is Powerful!

...And some of the things we've talked about in class are being written right now:

Water Rights

Zanesville Animals

Suitable Environment

I would like to live in large city like L.A or New York, preferably in the suburb of the city with easy access. I would like it to be mostly middle class. I do not ask for much around me, a nice school system for my future children. Weather is a big concern for me as well, I want to live in a warm climate. I do enjoy snow but not a lot; I can take a vacation to the mountains if I want to experience snow. I want to work in the film industry when I get out of college, so I think that living in California would be a good choice. It can be very expensive to live in that area so I have to make sure I find the right place at the right price, and not get overwhelmed and fall into debt. There is not a lot I need to live in a certain area as long as it is a nice safe neighborhood with decent job opportunities I would be happy.

Our Future

Mary's Place: My ideal place to live would be South Carolina. It is located next to the Atlantic Coastline, which I would enjoy because I like going to the ocean and appreciating the view. It also has nice whether, but may get a bit humid at times. The winters there are mild to cool, which I would prefer over freezing cold whether. There are several things to do in South Carolina like going to one out of their many beaches, unique restaurants, shopping, and all types of music entertainment. I have never been to South Carolina, but I believe I would be happy there because of all the things it offers and the relaxing feeling of sitting on a beach.


Lauren's Place: The perfect place for me to live would probably be in Florida. I would want to live there because of all of my family that lives there, and the weather isn't too shabby either. Florida has so many things to offer for me such as the comfort of having my family, the beach, plenty of job oppourtunities and the Florida sun. Also, Florida can have a night life that is so bright and fun or a country scene if I so choose. I could really see my life ending up in florida, I mean, come on, its the sunshine state!


Whitney's Place: My dream place to live is Hawaii. I have always wanted to visit, but to live there would be awesome. I would want to live there because I want to see the beaches, experience the culture, and live somewhere where it is warm. The weather in Hawaii is usually warm. It can get humid, but the trade winds help keep it comfortable. Most houses don't turn on their air conditioners because the breezes are so nice. If I ever move there, I would definitly go to a luau because that is what most people know Hawaii for.

We all have something in common; we want to live on a beach. This is probably because we are sick of Ohio weather changing so much.

Our Perfect Worlds

If it were up to us....

Michael: In my ideal world, football season would be all year round. Not only football season, but football weather too. I would want a big flat yard behind my house so my friends and I can play pick-up football and have fires at night. As for the location goes, I’m perfectly fine living where I do now in Pittsburgh, Pa. Instead of birds chirping, they would be singing J Cole songs. As long as there is a Moe’s, Fiori’s Pizza, Primanti’s and an Outback Steakhouse my appetite will be satisfied.

Julia: When you I think about my idea of “perfect”, I just think of warmth and comfort. The idea of warm air hitting me somewhere beside a beach and the comfort knowing I am surrounded all of my best friends and people important to me. I imagine sitting in the sand with my feet in clear, blue water getting totally caught up in everything around me. There would be no reason to worry, to hurt, to wonder solutions to problems; there would be an overall feeling of peace. In my perfect world, there would be ample amounts of seafood, Chinese food, Panera, and ice cream. Those foods would completely satisfy all of my wants and needs. Other than the warm weather and my favorite kinds of food, I have no other needs. I have no materialistic wants or needs because they would not make me happy. Just some good food, weather, and company is all this girl needs in order to be happy.

Krista: Imaging my dream land in my head, a million different things come to mind. First things first, there would be speakers playing music at ALL times. No exceptions to this. The genre of music would be all types, but rap and R&B being the leaders of it all. In regards to weather, I would have it be fall like weather all year around with a season of winter, forcing us to wear boots and use blankets. There would be a massive lake that covers 50% of the land. Everybody’s transportation would be boats and jet skis. I’ve grown up boating so this is one of the major necessities to my dream land. All resources would be present, such as water, food, shelter, and clean air (but no humidity). My top three restaurants that I would have built are Skyline (Cincinnati thing), Jersey Mikes (another Cincinnati place), and Cheesecake Factory. There would be concerts being played on all Fridays and Saturday, all different types. All of my family members would be with me, that’s the main ingredient to my dream land.

Alexis: In a perfect world I would live in a place with the pride of Pittsburgh but the weather and environment of a tropical island. Everyone seems all around happier in tropic places and I love the spirit Pittsburghers have for sports and their hometown. Everyone would live in similarly sized houses so the amount of money you had wouldn't matter, all that would matter was the sun, friends, and family. Also, Primanti's would have to travel to this tropical place with me... Along with Subway, Max & Ermas, and any and every Italian Restaurant I've ever been to. For entertainment, there would be a stage in the center of our town where there would be concerts by local and famous artists on a daily basis for anyone to enjoy. There would also be plenty of little shopping boutiques with cheap, cute, beach clothing. All of this put together would be the happiest, most carefree environment I could think of!

Where I am headed

One of the biggest decisions we have made so far is if we wanted to attend college and then where we wanted to go to college. Some of us knew right away that we wanted to attend Ohio University. While others looked around at other schools and eventually decided to come here. Eventually we are going to be faced with choosing where we want to live and begin our lives after college. This is also going to be a major decision for us. We discussed where we thought an ideal place to live at would be. We discovered that we all had fairly different answers.


Alex decided that she would want to be close to the beach. She thought that somewhere in California would be nice. She likes being close to a city but not directly inside the city. She wants there to be a wide selection of restaurants and entertainment places. She believes that California has a lot of different things to do than Ohio. She has also visited California before and loves the atmosphere and how beautiful it is. Alex believes there is a lot of diversity in California and she wants her family and kids to be accepting to everyone. She thinks living in California will help in exposing her children to a lot of different lifestyles.
















Brooke would also like to live by beach. She thinks that North Carolina or South Carolina would be nice. She wants to live in a more rural area but not to far from a city. She likes hiking and exploring. So she wants to live somewhere it is nice a lot of the time. North Carolina and South Carolina are not as cold as Ohio. She wants her children to be able to have a safe place to be able to go outside and play.


Madison wants to be close to her family. Ideally she wants to live somewhere warm and would love to be by a beach. However, she wants to stay close to home so she is not that far away from her parents and siblings. She thinks that being really far away from them would be hard. Madison hates the ice in Ohio and hates driving in the winter. If she could she would want her parents and everyone to move to a warmer state without much change in the seasons. Just warm all the time. She also does not want to live to far from a city or a mall. She wants there to be a lot of entertainment around where she lives.

Home Sweet Home

I guess it is customary for people to start thinking about where they are going to live when they get older. However, for me I already have my idea of a “perfect” place to live. That place just so happens to be right here in South Eastern Ohio. It wasn’t until this blog though that I really broke down all the reasons why I love it here so much. So I came up with 4 reasons why this is my Utopia.

1.Privacy/Openness: I can’t imagine myself living somewhere long term, and having to worry about making too much noise or worrying about whether or not my possible future kids will be safe while they play outside. To me it isn’t a necessity for the nearest hospital to be two blocks over, or for there to be a mixing pot worth of culture. In order for me to be happy I need to be in a rural area that is close to my family and that I can call my own.

2.Peace and Quiet: When I imagine living in a city, all I can think of is a constant roar of traffic zooming by my house/apartment. That doesn’t sound appealing to me. For me to be happy I need to be able to go out to my front or back porch and watch the sun make its way toward the horizon with nature creating the ambience for me.

3.Beauty: When it comes to beauty, words can only begin to describe the immense amount of splendor that is available here in this part of the country. There is nothing like admiring how the rolling hills flow across the land and watch them as they transform in color with the changing seasons. Or even the crispness of a clear, cloudless night where there is no outside light and the stars can truly shine bright. But probably one of the most beautiful sights is waking up early in the morning and looking out into the fields and seeing that the animals are healthy and that there is evidence that yesterday’s hard work has actually paid off.

4.Entertainment: When it comes to living in the country you tend to need to come up with some entertainment. Sure, I like to go to movies and go out for dinner and such, but I wouldn’t mind just chilling out and hanging with my family. Not to mention the fact that the closest city is about 30 minutes away so we kind of have to get creative sometimes. Some of the things I like to do are “redneck sledding”, jumping off the diving board, going mud running, and playing some family softball in the front yard.

**A Beach Nearby: The only other place I probably love just as much as this area is a beach. However, I don’t think I would want to live there because of sand getting everywhere, or having to worry about tropical weather. I just want to be able to visit when I have time. So the solution to my problem is that I am willing to travel to surrounding beaches like Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, or even longer distances like Florida.

Perfect Home

My ideal living place would be at least two hours away from the beach preferably on the east coast. I would also need to be at least twenty minutes away from a WalMart because itd be ridiculous to travel any farther to get my basic needs.

I would like to be in a town much like Athens with all of the variety of places and people, minus the partying. It would have to feel like home to me so I wouldn't want to live next to any big towers. Addition to that, I could be okay with just living on an acre of land as long as I could take my fourwheeler some where to ride; because it'd be hard to give that up.

As for the weather, humidity isn't awesome so I wouldn't mind not having it. And even though I like snow, I'm not a big fan of the freezing weather so a place that is cold enough to still wear hoodies and scarves but not "my car can't make it through the snowstorm" weather.

I guess my preference is to be very close to the city/beach but yet far enough away from all the tourists to be able to feel like I'm home. My choices sound a little odd together, but if I could pull it off it'd be my perfect place.

Our Perfect Futures

After thinking about what each of us want from our "perfect" world, we decided that our choices were very different from one another. Because our personalities and interests are complete opposite, the lives we want for ourselves are the same way.

Caitlin

My dream place to live would definitely be somewhere that is warm and by the beach. I have lived in Ohio since I was four years old and it is the only place I can remember living. I have grown sick of the inconsistent weather conditions and would enjoy living somewhere that has nice weather. I think Arizona would be perfect for me because it is not humid, it has great weather, and is on the coast which is a where I would like to be.

Living in a suburb would be an ideal place to live for me because it would provide me with the slower paced home lifestyle that I want. I would also like to live in a neighborhood with a strong sense of community. The neighborhood I grew up provided me with a safe place to hang out with kids my own age and play outside all day long without a care in the world. I loved this upbringing and would like the same for my family when given the chance. I want to have close relationships with my neighbors and have cookouts in the summer and parties for every holiday.

Erin

My dream house would be somewhere down south. I would love to live in a small little, country town a little outside of Nashville. I'm a country girl at heart but I will always love the city. Living outside of Nashville I will get the city feeling but also the small town comfort. I would love to live in a town where everyone knew everyone and has such a friendly atmosphere.

I want to live in a house that has a homey feeling. I want to be able to come home from a long day at work and just sit with my family at our big round dinner table and enjoy each other's company. I want to walk out of my house and be able to walk down the dirt roads to the town diner or honky tonk bar and dance all night. I would love to look around and just see all of my friends and family at a cookout and my children playing with their friends in the backyard. My dream place is where family and friends are always around and easy to get to.

Are we there yet?

My perfect place has a lot of energy. There is always something going on and there's no time to be bored. There would be a beach close by, but still have all the seasons. There would be concerts. I would always be surrounded by music or shows. I want to be able to explore different foods in my perfect place. I want to be able to walk down the street and pass an Indian, Mexican, Italian, and French restaurant, all on the same block.


My perfect place is ideally Washington, D.C. It has everything I need from a job and a fast paced lifestyle. I'd be able to do everything that I want to do after law school. I can't wait to be able to explore this city. 


I wouldn't have a house, though. I would live in an apartment, like a studio. It'd be small, but just enough space for all the necessities. I'd be able to have walk up to the roof on summer nights, just to look at the city. 


I can't wait to be there.

Living Prefences

Deciding where you want to live when you're older is a big decision. Most people are very comfortable with where they grew up, and don't want to ever leave. Being near family is often a huge incentive to stay in one's hometown. As college freshman, we know what it's like to pick up and move to somewhere new. This happens across the country with college students, but after college most adults choose where they want to live and stay there. A new place and new people is much harder to adapt to once you're older and more self-reliant.



All of 3 of us agreed that a suburban area is where we want to live. Although one of us is from the Columbus area, another from Cincinnati and the other from Pittsburgh, we all agreed our homes are very similar. We live very close to a city, but in a suburb with a good neighborhood. We all agreed that living in our hometowns is where we want to be when we're older.



Family, and just the comfortable feel of that area is most important to all of us when we decide where to move. Although weather is these areas isn't always ideal, you learn to live with it. It's nice to have a familiar place to call home. Each one of our cities gives us opportunity to explore great restaurants, concerts, and endless entertainment... less than 20 minutes away!

A beach house would be a great addition to make up for the harsh weather in the North, but it would never match up to our hometowns.

aihcalappA

I never really thought about whether or not I was Appalachian.  I figured I was near Appalachia when Appalachian State beat Michigan.  Other than that, I really didn't know a lot about it.  I decided to interview myself in hopes that I might find out more about the history of Appalachia and what exactly it is.

 
 -Did you know you were living in Appalachia?  Where exactly is Appalachia?
"Kinda... it stretches from the southern tier of New York down to northern portions of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia."

-What are they known for?
"Moonshine."

-There's supposedly some rumors about the region of Appalachia.  What are they?
"Early 20th-century writers portrayed the people of this area as an isolated, uneducated, violent group of people.  Sociological studies in 1970, however, disproved these portrayals."

-Do you call yourself Appalachian?
"No."

-What other things were the Appalachian people known for?
"They were internationally known for their ambushes, gunfights, and per-arranged shootouts.  Journalists depicted these as products of isolation, poverty, and even inbreeding.  In reality, the main participants were actually local elites with networks of clients fighting for political power."

What is the land like?
"A lot of southern Appalachian forests were chopped down so federal legislation was passed to create national forests similar to Yosemite and Yellowstone in the southern region of Appalachia