Dallas' Change Over the Last Semester

 Over the past semester, the first one of my college career, I have changed quite a bit, for better or for worse. I came to the University of Kentucky, in a new state with none of my old friends. I began pledging The Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, which may have been the biggest factor in my complete change of who I am. This is the goal of pledging, much like joining the military, the goal is to break down the newcomers, and turn them into the men you want them to be. I pledged, and eventually joined the fraternity, gaining the experience of being back on the very bottom of the food chain as a part of it. This was a feeling I had hoped was long gone after being homecoming, and prom king of my high school, head captain of my high school track and cross country teams, and overall seeing myself as a leader prior to coming to college. It was a humbling experience, that gave me somewhere to put all my time, after I did not have competitive running as an option anymore. The reason I had this opening was because of a risky decision I took, that changed the course of my entire college career. After discussing my options with my high school coach, I decided I wanted to try out for UK's Track team for decathlons. Long story short... I did not make the team. I also found out later that the Cross Country team picked up a few freshmen that I could have beaten regularly. This is incredibly disappointing news to find out now, but at the same time I could not imagine having taken Track and Cross Country over my Fraternity. It was a choice between keeping my old life, or developing a new one. This is what brought me to UK over the D2 and D3 schools that I could have run for, been the big fish in the small pond, and relived my high school career. I made the decision to come to the big school, and unknowingly made the decision to leave my life as a competitive runner behind. Along with all of this, how I spend my free time, what I see as admirable traits in people, and what kind of a person I want to be has been changed, once again, for better or for worse.

The Crafty Cats

I took the opportunity I was given in my CIS 110 class to observe the Crafty Cats, the crafting, and primarily knitting club at the University of Kentucky. I was given the assignment thinking I was going in to search for drama in the personal lives of it's members, but really I found that the reason the Crafty Cats exists is to avoid this drama. It is a place where the problems of the real world are not allowed to come. I looked into it enough to realize that it wasn't about the knitting at all. There were even members who came just because of the relaxed atmosphere and had never touched a piece of yarn in their lives.  The main thing I pulled out of my weeks of in depth observations was that it is a culture, not a hobby. Between my own investigations, and those of all my classmates, I have also made the realization that it is very important to look into a group or organization before making claims or assumptions about the people it is made up of.

Crafty Cats Website

For more on the Crafty Cats, visit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1f_6ADIEbkxQHkC84kFFzpq8FLG-LnIkb--OJ0gNpsy0/edit

MISSION STATEMENT and VIDEO LINK

My name is Dallas Parnigoni, and I have created this blog to talk about the massive transformation I have undergone since coming to the University of Kentucky in August. Despite all the words of advice from high school teachers and parents, I simply did not believe that I would change as much as I already have. I tried to hang on to my old lifestyle and morals for quite some time, but the complete flip of personality I was warned about was simply inevitable. Here, I will talk about who I used to be, the stages of change that brought me to become the person I am now, and how my environment played a part in all of this.

http://youtu.be/F7b2AfZSikc
DALLAS' VIDEO