A Gamecock by Nature

This past week my house has been filled with family.  My grandparents from New Jersey and my Aunt and Uncle from Pennsylvania flew to Tampa for my brother's high school graduation.  We have all enjoyed sitting outside eating Girl Scout ice cream, swapping stories, and sharing pictures.  We have also shopped and had some great meals together! 

On Monday night my brother stood in front of thousands of people in the Sun Dome and delivered his salutatorian speech.  His speech was a wonderful metaphor between his comic strip he draws for the school newspaper and each student's journey through life.  He said that everyone's first panel has been drawn in ink and represents their education.  He also challenged everyone to take the time to detail their panels with color and different shades.  I was very impressed by his presentation and I believe the crowd and his classmates were as well. 

We took a lot of pictures of my brother in his gown with his cords surrounded by family members.  I even managed to make it into a few.  Hopefully some of the pictures will end up in frames in my relatives' homes. 

My brother is relieved that high school is complete and he can't wait to begin college.  We are both excited that he will be a Gamecock in the fall!  So the drive in August will definitely be packed.  It's a good thing my mom put some of his college supplies in storage with my stuff! 

I hope you are all enjoying the end of school and the beginning of summer.  Let me know if there is anything I can answer for you. 

Posted by Lydia at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, my parents warned me that I needed to find a job for the summer.  They recommended I start looking for a job in Tampa while I was still in Columbia, but I neglected to take this advice.  (Word of advice: Listen to your parents' advice)  After I got home to Tampa, I began looking in the Tampa Tribune and St. Petersburg Times at the job ads.  I highlighted the ones that interested me and websites to look up online. 

Luckily for me I had updated my resume before I came home and I had written a cover letter that was relatively easy to edit.  I began applying online for teller positions at Bank of America, Wachovia, Fifth Third Bank and the Bank of Tampa.  I also applied to Amscot online.  Unfortunately for me I had no official money handling experience which a lot of the jobs wanted as a prerequisite. 

After a few days passed without any feedback from any of the companies, I decided to apply to work at the SuperTarget near my house.  I went into Target and filled out the application on the computer and within two days they contacted me for an interview!  I was thrilled and I started preparing my answers for the questions I thought I may be asked during the interview. 

My first interview was with a girl named Erica.  She asked me to tell her about myself, my involvement and job experiences, as well as how I would respond to different situations.  After about half an hour she told me I would have an executive interview with Christopher the same day.  Christopher asked me about the USC football team, Steve Spurrier and a few of the players.  He was so impressed that I was a girl who could talk about sports that I am pretty sure at this point I was hired.  However, he went ahead and asked me some more situational questions and the he offered me a cashier position.  It was a great interview experience and I am so thankful for all the practice I got in my Business Communications class.  I am convinced that class has contributed to a lot of my success. 

I can't wait to tell you about my job orientation and training!

Posted by Lydia at 09:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Linguini alfredo, chicken marsala, and spaghetti and meatballs are some of the great dishes offered at Olive Garden.  Everytime I eat at Olive Garden I look forward to the salad with cheese sprinkled on top and the breadsticks.  I personally have to limit the number of breadsticks I chow down on so that I can leave room for the chicken marsala with potatoes and mushrooms on the side. 

On Saturday night, Joanne and I ate dinner at Olive Garden with my family.  Joanne and I asked my dad to carry out an experiment for us.  We had my dad ask the waitress if our table could get some salad and breaksticks while we were deciding on our orders.  The waitress said "of course" and then returned with our drinks and nothing else.  She then took our order before returning with the large table salad and basket of breadsticks.  Why would she lie to us?

The whole reason we had my dad test our theory is because when Joanne and I ate at the Olive Garrden in Columbia we felt that we were discriminated against because of our age.  We asked the waitress if we could have the salad and breadsticks while we decided on our meals and she rudely responded with "no, I can't give you those until you've placed your orders."  In this case, that was only one of many things that our waitress did wrong that night. 

At the end of our meal Saturday, we didn't have any "new" information for our study.  It seems that either Olive Garden can't hire good waitresses or Olive Garden trains their employees to not serve any food before a real order is taken. 

Anyone ever had a similar experience while out to a nice restaurant with some friends?

Posted by Lydia at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spring Break is what every college kid lives for!  It's 9 straight days of no school, sleeping in, and no obligations.  For my first college spring break last year I went to my friend's beach house on Folly Beach (Charleston) and to Myrtle Beach.  It was me and three of my girl friends.  Since Spring Break was the first week of March it was still cold outside so we spent our days outside in jackets reading books and watching movies.  We walked the beach, collected neat shells, and threw a frisbee around. 

This year, Spring Break was entirely different.  My best friend Joanne ('09 Pre-Med) came home to Tampa with me.  She came for the first five days of Spring Break and we packed every moment with something fun!  For once I didn't find Tampa a boring place.  First off, Joanne got to meet my family.  Since her parents had already met me and had hosted me at their house, I was excited that she got to stay at my house. 

When we arrived in Tampa on Saturday morning, we went shopping at a mall and then laid out by my pool.  The whole goal of our Spring Break was to start working on our tans.  Saturday evening we ate at Olive Garden and then Joanne and I met up with some of my high school friends.  We even went and saw the midnight showing of the movie "300".  Due to the time change though it was about 4 am by the time we got home. 

Sunday was the perfect day for the beach!  The sun was shining and my parents finally let me drive out to St. Petersburg beach which is about 30 minutes from my front door step.  The best part was walking along the beach in the soft sand and listening to live music at one of the cafes.  Also, since I was smart and used sunscreen, I didn't get burnt! 

On Monday I got to show off Busch Gardens to Joanne.  Busch Gardens is the huge theme park almost literally in my backyard.  We bought our tickets through AAA and since I'm a Florida resident I paid for the day and got a Fun pass for the entire year.   We rode the roller coasters and water rides for over five hours! 

Then Tuesday was our big discount shopping day!  We both found great dresses, ate lunch out and grabbed Starbucks for the drive back.  In the evening, we went to my friend John's ('09 USF) and played poker, pool, and SuperSmash Bros on Nintendo 64. 

Wednesday was our last day by the pool and then sadly my family and I had to take Joanne to the airport.  We ate at TGIF and admired these huge elephants scattered around the airport.  Each elephant was elaborately decorated.  The one below is actually Mardi Gras! 

<img alt="SpringBreak 052.jpg" src="http://uscbloggers.com/lydia/SpringBreak%20052.jpg" width="2112" height="2816" />

Well that's the first half of Spring Break.  Now I'll find ways to entertain myself without Joanne around! 

Posted by Lydia at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Poker is one of my favorite pastimes from high school.  My friends and I used to play house games almost every weekend at different people’s homes.  Since I got home for break, my friend Gavin (’09 UF) organized an 11 person house game with a $10 buy-in.  As usual I was the only girl to show up for the intense card game, but I don't mind that one bit.  

I hadn’t played with everyone at the table, which definitely wasn’t to my advantage because I didn’t know how each person normally played.  I didn’t let this bother me though.  A few hands into the game my friend Richmond (’09 USF) went all-in!  Normally I would fold being that the pot was not worth potentially being knocked out of the game early in the evening.  However, on this particular Friday night I was feeling lucky since I knew I’d already flopped a flush!  Richmond was quite disheartened to find out that I’d won the hand and he’d have to sit and watch the rest of the game without any chips! 

The night progressed and I watched my friends go all-in and lose all their chips.  It was kind of amusing to me because a few of my friends at the table call me “luck box” or “lucky” Lydia because I tend to get the cards I need – all the time!  Eventually it came down to just me and my friend Jon (’09 USF).  He went all-in with an ace and a queen and I called him with an ace and a jack!  No one of course was surprised when a jack showed up on the flop to secure my win.  I walked away with $60 and a smile on my face! 

I wish I could be one of the women at the World Poker Tour, but I think that might be pushing it.  I think I’ll just stick to the books for now. 

Posted by Lydia at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)