My Take on the Debate

     Wednesday night I watched the first of the three Presidential debates between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.  I watched as Romney shocked liberals and conservatives alike with his incredibly strong performance.  Romney came out firing and didn't let up for the entire 90 minute debate.  Romney looked confident, prepared, relaxed, and professional.  Obama, on the other hand, looked rattled, stiff, uncomfortable, and unprepared.  His moments speaking were laced with "um" and "uh".  Romney knew what he wanted to say, and he said it.  He called Obama to count for his failures in office, and explained why he would have done differently.  This is the first time Obama has had to answer for himself...and he failed miserably.  Romney looked and sounded like a man who was ready to be President of the United States, and Obama looked like he wasn't up to the task.

Midterm Madness

College students everywhere

   Oh, Midterms...why must you torture us?  Midterms.  A word college students have learned to hate (along with finals, test, quiz, alarm clock, etc...).  Here at Benedictine we have just hit the first round of midterms (they will hit us with round 2 right after fall break).  This weekend I had a test to study for, a presentation to prepare (which involved reading 150 pages of a book), and a take-home test to do.  Yeah...I studied all weekend...as well as all Monday.  I felt something like the guy in this picture.  Ok, maybe not that bad, but still...you get the point.  Round 2 of midterms is even worse.  This is due to the fact that the administration had the bright idea to have class signups at the same time.  Last semester I had two tests, a 12 page paper, a 5 page paper, and my class schedule for next semester to figure out...all in the space of a week.  I legitimately felt like the guy in the picture that time.  Stress, stress, STRESS.  If you know anything about college students, you'll know that this is one of the most commonly used word in our vocabulary.  There is one good thing about stress (if you want to be an optimist).  You feel great once you get everything done and all the stress is gone.

Huskers and Bears, Oh My!

   What a week for my sports teams!!!  On Saturday, my beloved Nebraska Huskers won in impressive comeback fashion against the Wisconsin Badgers.  Taylor Martinez used his feet and *gasp* his arm to dismantle the Wisconsin defense in the second half.  Nebraska scored 23 unanswered points to win a 30-27 thriller.  Huskers were dominant on defense as well, allowing only 7 points all second half.  Burkhead showed no signs of rust returning from his injury...he picked up right where he left off.   Hopefully this game is a sign of what is ahead for Nebraska this season in the Big Ten.  GO BIG RED!!!
    As if Nebraska's win wasn't enough, I also got to watch the Chicago Bears dismantle the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football.  The Bears were firing on all cylinders last night.  The defense put up one of the most dominant performances I have seen in a long time, recording 5 INTs (two of which went for TDs).  On offense the Jay Cutler/Brandon Marshall throwmance continued, with Cutler connecting with Marshall 7 times for 138 yards and a TD.  Cutler stayed mistake free and the O-line played well enough to keep him on his feet most of the game.  If the Bears can show up like this the rest of the year, watch out NFL!!!  BEAR DOWN CHICAGO BEARS!!!

Leadership

"Just as the diamond requires three properties for its formation -- carbon, heat, and pressure -- successful leaders require the interaction of three properties -- character, knowledge, and application.  Like carbon to the diamond, character is the basic quality of the leader.  But as carbon alone does not create the diamond, neither can character alone form the leader.  The diamond needs heat.  Man needs knowledge, study and preparation.  The third property, pressure -- acting in conjunction with carbon and heat -- forms the diamond.  Similarly, one's character, attended by knowledge, blooms through application to produce a leader."  -  General Edward C. Meyer, former US Army Chief of Staff