Summer 2014

Konnichiwa (Hello)!

This summer is going to be an interesting summer. I'm finally done with my freshman year and received my grade. I ended up with a 3.19 GPA for this term and overall I got a 3.41 GPA. So I wonder if I ended up with honors this year.

For my plans this summer I want to be as productive as I possibly can be. My summer started on Wednesday and I haven't been productive since the start of break. Tomorrow I'm going to change that. I'm going to do better on learning Japanese, cleaning house, keeping in touch with my friends, keeping up with the blog (which will be just entries about traveling and life, until school starts up again in August), as well as traveling.

Next Saturday, I get to celebrate end of my Freshman year with my family and my boyfriend by going out to eat at Hu Hot Mongolian Grill. My favorite food is Asian food, so this will be a treat for me.

I may not post all that often this summer, but when I do, it will be full of stories about my adventures, before I get in the motion of actual Information Technology classes, in which I will be super busy.

Oyasuminasai (Goodnight)!

Who I Am

Who I am

Carleen Brandenburg

My name is Carleen Brandenburg. However, I go by Carlee Margaret. In my writings I'm Carlee Em. On June 22, 1994 in St George, Utah, I was born to a wonderful mother and father. I would end up being the younger sister to an amazing woman, yet an older sister to a unique brother. When I was 1 1/2 years, I moved to Iowa, where I would spend most of my life so far. I experienced a mixture of good and bad events in my life. My theory of all the hurt I've dealt with is that it makes me into a stronger person. In fact, that's what I think of hurt for anyone. Hurt makes us stronger, even if we don't feel like it.

Currently I'm going to Sitting Bull College. I was originally going to do General Studies, but earlier this term (Spring 2014), I decided to do a major switch, to Information Technology. Throughout this year, I've had a variety of different experiences. I've become better with my grades, formed an Anime Club with my friend Hunter, learned about Lakota and Dakota culture, and went on a conference called AIHEC (American Indian Higher Education Consortium). When I compare college to high school, with all the experiences and everything, I personally think that college is way better than high school. 

I have a lot of favorite things. My favorite things to do are watching movies, singing, learning languages, learning instruments, dancing, art, reading, crafts, computers, and quotes. I also love hanging out with my friends and my family. My favorite music is K-pop (Korean Pop), metal, and pop music. My favorite shows are Doctor Who, anime, House M.D., and Sherlock. I consider myself to be a nerd. I have this huge theory that nerds are ultimately the coolest people you'll meet.

The languages I've learned any bit throughout any part of my life are Spanish and Japanese. When I was in high school I took Spanish class for a couple years. I've haven't practiced Spanish since my Junior year of high school (which was about three or four years ago). Since my Senior year of high school I've been learning Japanese. My motivation is my cousin Naomi, who was born and raised in Japan. She's married to my cousin Steven, so that's how she became my cousin. She has helped me so much with learning Japanese. As an example of what I learned in Japanese I'll give you this sentence:

わたし　は　ﾆﾎﾝｺﾞ すき　だよ。

Watashi wa Nihongo suki dayo.

I like Japan.

I have a few conditions. I have ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and when I was young I was diagnosed with depression. Living with these conditions can be difficult sometimes, but I figured how to empower myself anyway. In fact, I think all the conditions I was diagnosed with has made me into a fighter and a believer of being the best you that you can be. When I was in high school, I don't think any of my classmates really knew about all I went through, so I was deemed as the weird kid.

So who am I? I'm a 19 year old. I'm a college freshman. I'm a daughter and a sister. I'm a nerd. I'm one of 68 who have autism. I'm amazing. I'm the person who will defy labels. I'm a free spirit. I'm a person who doesn't let people tell her no. So who are you?

My Favorite Place (College Prep Writing) 10-3-2013

My Favorite Place

Carleen Brandenburg

When I’m in Ames, Iowa, I’m at my favorite place to be. Ames is nice because it can be both lively and relaxing. I can go to the parks all over the city, go walk on the trails, go shopping at the mall, as well as watch movies at the theatres. Whenever I go out and about, I see diverse groups of people. Sometimes, I’ll go out to eat at the various restaurants like Asian, Mexican, American, Bar-B-Que, fast food, and even pizza. In Ames, there are a lot of entry-level and professional job opportunities that would provide a better life style. My favorite part of Ames is my relatives that live off of Lincoln Way; I enjoy visiting them. These are the many reasons why I like Ames, Iowa.

Important Relationships in My Life (Classification and Division Essay) 4/10/2014

Important Relationships in My Life

Carleen Brandenburg

Everybody has a few important relationships in their life that make them who they are. Sometimes their children and friends are their relationships that help them be who they are and sometimes it’s their family. A relationship that people have could even be their enemies, even if it’s not a good thing that the enemy of a person is what’s important for them. For me, I think of my friends, family, and significant other as my important relationship. My family, friends, and significant other are the people who have helped me become who I am today.

Family is important to me for a few reasons. My family has always been there for me no matter what I did. Because they were always there for me, I feel as though I can trust them with most everything I say. I’m glad to be as close to my family through various family bonding activities. The activities that helped me bond to my family were eating dinner and other meals together, having game nights on some Sundays, and going on vacations with them. Jane Howard once said “Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.”

Just like family being important to me, I also feel as though my friends have helped me become a well-rounded person.  Friends are just like my family to me, because they helped me through so much.  My friends influenced who I’ve become and influenced my personality as well. They have helped become the best person I could be, even if what they have told me made me sad sometimes. Since they have helped me become a good person, I can trust them with my secrets, since I know they won’t betray my trust.

Having a significant other is just like a friend but I can connect with him on a deeper level. My significant other is the one person I can tell absolutely anything to and not have to worry about it. He is the person that makes me feel completely special and good about myself. My significant other is the person that I can love so much. Intimacy is important in this relationship, especially if it’s emotional intimacy.

Although everyone has different relationships that make them who they are, my family, friends, and significant other have helped me become who I am today. I’m always so thankful for these people in my life and I always will be.

References

More on Disney Baby. (n.d.). Disney Baby. Retrieved April 10, 2014, from http://www.disneybaby.com/blog/10-of-the-best-quotes-about-family/#slide4

APA formatting by BibMe.org.

American Pop vs. Korean Pop Music (Compare and Contrast Essay)

American Pop vs. Korean Pop Music

Carleen Brandenburg (3/13/2014)

All around the world, music has been an important part of culture. In the 1700s and 1800s it was classical music. In the 1900s it was jazz and rock and roll, which made the music popular today. Currently we have pop music as one of the most popular genres and every country has their own version of pop. America’s pop and Korea’s pop are trendy for teens and young adults, has large fan bases, have a mix of high energy and slow tempo songs (most of the songs being high energy), and have award shows for their music. Although American Pop and Korean Pop are similar, there are a few significant differences with how the industry is in the two countries.

With every country’s industry there is a focus on the band. Who’s the most important part of a band? In America, the focus of the band is the singer and the instrumentalists. Whether the band wants to focus on the guitarist as well as the singer or the drummer and the singer, there is some focus on another part of the band as well as the vocalist. Within the Korean pop music industry, the focus is slightly different. Korean pop still focuses on the singer, but you never see any instrumentalists on stage with the group. This is because the pop music industry in Korea focuses on the dancers. To be a famous musician in the pop industry, you must be a good dancer as well as a good singer.  There are so many rehearsals for choreography because the industry wants the dancing to be flawless.

With every band there must be a steady fan base setup. The record labels help to publicize the band, so the band can have a decent amount of fans. It also helps to have attractive people be the famous, because appeal helps sell no matter what country you live in. In America, a pop band gets to be famous worldwide really fast. Because the fan base becomes huge so fast, a pop band can do a complete world tour within a couple years. However, in Korea, the fan base has a gradual growth. The industry in Korea also helps publicize their artists so they have a lot of fans, but they have to work really hard to get to a world tour. When they go on tour, they start out with a tour all over South Korea, then eventually they get popular enough to have a tour for all of Asia, and once they get really popular they can tour at select locations in the USA (like LA and NYC sized cities) and Europe.

In every country, the songs are sung in the language that the citizens speak. Some countries will sing more than one language and for others it’s a rare thing to hear them sing in a second language. With America, the pop artists only sing in English. Rarely do they ever sing any words or phrases in a foreign language of any kind. Whereas in South Korea bands do sing in Korea as well as a few words or phrases in English. It’s rare for a song to be completely Korean in their pop industry. Once a band gets popular enough in Japan, the band will do Japanese covers of all their best songs that helped them become famous

With every country, music is important. Every country may have a different idea on how to put the music together, which makes music diverse. There are also aspects of the industry that are similar within different countries. Although American Pop and Korean Pop are similar, the differences they have are significant, but that’s what makes music interesting.

Upward Bound 2008: A Perfect Memory (Narrative Essay)

Upward Bound 2008: A Perfect Memory

Carleen Brandenburg (February 20, 2014)

                Throughout my high school years I went to a program called Upward Bound. Upward Bound is a program that is funded by TRiO, which is a series of federally funded programs that are designed for educational outreach. Upward Bound is meant for high school students who are either potential first-generation college students, meet low income guidelines, or even both. There’s a summer program which lasts for about six weeks, and then an academic year program where the Upward Bound students meet up once a month to have fun and learn about college at the same time. During the summer program, there’s a week long break where students can visit their family for the fourth of July. Some programs allow you to stay in a college dorm and others you commute to the college campus every day. The program I went to allowed students to stay in a college dorm. During the academic year portion of the program, they would hire tutors for anybody who needed help on school work (and was required for those getting any Cs or worse in school). The Upward Bound trip I went on during the summer of 2008 taught me important skills about making friends.

During late February my dad, sister, and I went to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa for Upward Bound Orientation. I felt nervous and shy at first, but after meeting Jazmyn, who was also starting Upward Bound this summer, it started to become more fun and interesting. At the Orientation I got to learn about what Upward Bound is, make new friends, and go on a campus tour. I also received a packet I had to fill out so they could set up the dorm rooms. Since I chose for them to pick out my roommate, I wouldn’t know until the very first day that Jazmyn would be my roommate. This made my summer a lot better having her as a roommate.

                June 15, 2008 was finally the day I would be moving into the dorms for my first summer of Upward Bound, which would last for six weeks. I was very nervous, yet excited to move into Olsen Dorms and for Upward Bound in general. I would be able to move into the dorms at 2 pm on that day. At 2 pm I arrived at the dorms with my father, mother, and my sister Helen. When I arrived at the dorm I had to fill out a form about any allergies and medication I was taking. Once I turned in the form, I went onto the second floor to sign-in and receive my key for my room. I also received another form I had to fill out which would explain the quality of the dorm and any needed repairs so they could fix anything. After receiving the key and the form, I unlocked my room and brought in my things so I could unpack. This was the moment I found out that my roommate was Jazmyn who I met at Orientation. This would cause me to be a lot more excited about Upward Bound.

                The next day would be my first day of classes for Upward Bound, and it ended up being very eventful. At around 9 AM, two staff members opened our door and woke me up with a good morning song. When I woke up I looked at my clock confused and then realized we were late for class. So I woke up Jazmyn and she also looked at her clock. In the end, both of us became panicked because we were late. The two staff members told us to get ready and then go to the library for tutoring. After we got ready, we grabbed a couple cereal bars and went to Preus Library. While we were walking, we got lost a few times which made the walk really confusing for Jazmyn and me. Because we were late, we were “campused”, which is basically being grounded. We had to check in at 9 pm and had a half hour to get ready for bed. At 9:30 pm, we had to be in our dorm room for the night.

                Every night before sleep, Jazmyn and I would hold a conversation. This would make me feel at peace (I eventually learned that she thought I was talking to myself). I would talk about anything and everything with her, which helped build our friendship. I don’t remember any of the conversations we shared at all, but I remember it being fun. For the first week we would sleep on the beds in our dorm room.

                After the first week, we decided that it would be fun to sleep by each other on the floor. It was a random decision, but it was probably one of our best decisions we made. We would do this every night for the rest of the summer. This resulted in better bonding and hearing the music we’d fall asleep to better. This made me feel happy and ended up being comfier than most people think.

                There was this week long break during Upward Bound for the 4^th of July. That break was really boring, so when I arrived back on campus, I was really happy. I missed hanging out with Jazmyn. During our first week of being back on campus after the break we shared a class. The class we shared was called ‘UB Idol’. This class was taught by a staff member named Eli Pollock. In this class, we learned about proper singing techniques and had to split into groups of two to perform a duet at the end of the week. Jazmyn and I chose to sang “I’ll Cover You” from RENT. I thought this class was fun because I got to sing and learned how to sing better.

                A few weeks later, it was the last day of the 2008 summer for Upward Bound. It was a very sad day because that would mean I’d have to leave Jazmyn and go home. When Jazmyn was leaving for home, we gave each other a hug and traded stuffed animals, so we could remember each other. Jazmyn gave me her stuffed cat she got when she was young named Mr. Jolly. In return, I handed her my stuffed cat I made for my 11^th birthday at Build-A-Bear Workshop. Even though we would see each other at weekend events during the academic year, it was still a sad day, since we bonded so much that summer.

                Upward Bound was still fun the following summers of my high school years, but this summer was the best because I got to become best friends with Jazmyn. Most importantly, the friendship we shared made this program fun and loveable in my view. The summer of 2008 ended up being one of my best summers ever and I’ll never forget all of the people that I’ve met, especially Jazmyn.

A Special Person In My Life: RaeLyn Rebekah Rose Walrod (Descriptive Essay)

A Special Person In My Life: RaeLyn Rebekah Rose Walrod

Carleen Brandenburg (February 6, 2014)

                A small and tiny infant can have an impact on a person’s life in ways they never thought possible. On May 15, 2012, my friend Jazmyn and her boyfriend Corey Walrod gave birth to a baby girl named RaeLyn Rebekah Rose Walrod at Mason City, IA. RaeLyn was a really tiny baby (weighing at only 5 lbs 5.2 oz), but she became so special to me because she’s a fighter, taught me important values, and has determination.

                RaeLyn is a fighter because when she was 23 hours, she had to be med-flighted to Iowa City for specialized care. While at the children’s hospital in Iowa City, RaeLyn was diagnosed with CHD (Congenital Heart Defect), a heart murmur, one functioning kidney, a defect in the liver, and Alagille Syndrome (is a genetic disorder, which affects the appearance of the person as well as major organs in the body). RaeLyn had to get a silo for her intestines (she ended up with a serious infection in the intestines), be put on breathing and feeding tubes twice, and overcome various tests and surgeries while at the hospital. When she was around four months old, she would finally be discharged from the hospital. However, RaeLyn will have to go through even more tests in surgeries in the future because of the various birth defects she has.

                While RaeLyn was at the hospital in Iowa City, she indirectly taught me various life values that are important. The life skills I gained were about being strong, keeping hope, and not taking my life for granted. I learned strength through being there for Jazmyn and Corey so they would cope better with everything that went on at the hospital no matter how much I wanted to breakdown and cry with them. I had to have hope that RaeLyn would be okay and nothing serious would happen while she was at the hospital. The most important value was not taking life for granted. I’m lucky that I’m healthy and that I don’t have all these defects. From now on, I look at life with a different (and more positive) perspective than what I had before RaeLyn was born.

                What I’m so thankful for is RaeLyn’s determination to leave the hospital. There were a few high risk surgeries RaeLyn had to go through. She would always make it through the surgeries no matter what, which always made me happy. Even when she was able to go home, RaeLyn was determined to learn everything that babies need to learn.

                Today, RaeLyn is about 17 pounds. She has mousy brown hair, with adorable brown eyes. She can do things other toddlers can do, even though she learned those things in a shorter amount of time. She’s still really tiny, as she can fit in the same size of clothes as a six month old baby. RaeLyn is super adorable and energetic. She makes all these cute faces at the telephone whenever I call.

                These are a few of the reasons why RaeLyn is one of the most special people in my life. I know that throughout RaeLyn’s life, there’ll be more reasons why she would be special in my life. I also know that RaeLyn will always be a fighter, teach me more life values, and be determined.