Benefits of blogging

Wow! I really lost track of time looking at my classmates blogs. I think writing and reading blogs is such a great use of time. It gives you a chance to learn new things about people and about yourself. For me, writing a blog has been a reflective time. Every week, I sit down on Sunday afternoon and think about what the past week has brought for me and what the new week will hold. It gives me time to organize my thoughts and figure out my plans for the week. Writing an exercise blog has been an interesting experience. I am, by no means, a gym buff and finding the time and energy to go for a run or work out a few times has been difficult at times. But, this blog has helped me to stay on track. Reading the blogs of my classmates, I got a chance to see the many different types of blogs out there. For example, Isis Ash has a blog about writing reviews of places and things in Gainesville. I'm sure she has gotten to do some pretty interesting things! Another awesome blog that I got to look at was Ryanne Doumet's. She has definitely gotten to see some amazing things and travel to some crazy places! A third blog that I really enjoyed was an awesome weather blog, made by Morgan Falcon! You should check it out!

I really can't believe my junior year at UF is coming to an end. I have loved my time here more than anything. I don't want it to end. I always tell my friends that if I could go back in a time machine to freshman year, I would definitely do it. Being a student here, at UF, has been the most incredible experience and I would recommend it to anyone. For my Interactive media class, we made blogs. Using my blog to talk about what I'm doing on a weekly basis has been very cool. I have definitely benefited from taking some time to talk about my thoughts and goals. I got a chance to check out some other blogs that my classmates have been working on and I really loved them! Kayla Kawalec's blog about self improvement was very interesting and motivational! I also loved reading about Maria Carter's life on her blog. She is so cool! Another blog that I really enjoyed was Sarah Kimbro's. Her blog is similar to mine and is about healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle.

A quick biography

My name is Sloan Patterson. I am from the town of Palm Harbor, Florida and I have three younger siblings and the most amazing parents. I am currently living in Gainesville but love to go home and visit my family. I grew up near the beach and I have always loved it. Soccer was also a very big part of my life. I played club soccer my whole life and I still participate in intramural soccer at UF. Now I am 21 years old and am just finishing up my third year at the University of Florida. I am majoring in Journalism and Telecommunications and minoring in Communication Studies. I love my major. It has given me the opportunity to experience broadcast journalism in a hands-on environment. For the past two years, I have gotten the chance to be a student intern/reporter for WUFT News. WUFT News is a NPR affiliated TV and Radio station that broadcasts on PBS. I have loved learning how to report, edit, write, and produce scripts and packages for the news. I'm not completely sure that broadcast journalism is what I want to do with my career but the experience has been great and I know that I could always end up pursuing a job in telecommunications. Instead, I have recently decided to go to law school. I am starting up an LSAT class next week and I will be taking the LSAT in June and then I will begin applying to law schools. I am planning on applying to different schools in Florida because I really love it here. As for what time of law I want to practice, I am not 100% sure. I plan to figure out what I like when I am in law school. For now, I think I would like environmental law or something to do with human rights because that is what I am most passionate about. I am also heavily involved with Dance Marathon, a student-run philanthropy that raises money and awareness for Children's Miracle Network hospitals. We work all year to fundraise and plan the event. This year UF raised over 2 million dollars for our local hospital, Shands. I participate in Dance Marathon fundraising events every year, such as bowling, food truck rallies, and a 5K race. The University of Florida truly has so much to offer and I have loved attending this school for the past three years. Thinking about graduation makes me feel sad but I plan to make the most out of the rest of my time here!

Next year, I will be starting my senior year at UF. I'm planning on applying to law school and I have been doing a little work on my resume. Check out Sloan Patterson's resume.

I love 5Ks!!

If you follow my blog, you probably know that I participated in a Gainesville 5k race about a month ago. A couple friends and I ran the 5k just for fun and finished the race in a little under 30 minutes. Running that 3.1 miles had been a lot easier than I was expecting so I have decided to register for another 5K and challenge myself to beat my previous time. The Midnight Fun Run is a UF tradition that usually occurs at the end of the semester during reading days. Starting at midnight, runners take off on a 3.1 mile run through campus. When they finish they receive free breakfast at the dining hall. I can't think of a better way to finish off the semester! I am trying to find some friends to participate in this race with me!

Life with my Nike Fuel Band

Since receiving my Nike Fuel Band for Christmas this year, I have seen my activity levels and desire to exercise improve greatly. Having a band on my wrist that is constantly tracking my steps, burned calories, and activity helps motivate me. I find myself taking the stairs instead of the elevator, to see how many calories I burn. I recommend the Nike Fuel Band to anyone that is trying to live a more active lifestyle. I can also plug the band into my computer, which will pull up my fuel points chart for the week. I can see which days I burned the most calories and see which days I almost didn't hit my goal. The Nike Fuel Band is a great way to regulate yourself and stay on track. Nike Fuel Bands are available for purchase at any local Nike Store. Let me know if you get a fuel band so we can become Nike fuel friends and share our progress with each other!

So far this semester, I have been doing my best to exercise regularly and stay active. My Nike Fuel Band has been helping to regulate how many steps I take and how many calories I burn per day. On days that I walk to class, I walk so much that it is easy for me to hit my goal for the day (which is 10,000 steps). But on the weekends, when I don’t have to walk as much, I have to make a conscious effort to get outside and do something active. I am making sure to go to the gym or go for runs this week whenever I can find the time. But next week is going to be another story. Next week begins spring break for the University of Florida. I will be in Key West with ten of my friends and although I am very excited, I decided to take some precautionary steps to make sure that I don’t get too far off track in my steps to be more healthy and active. Vacation can be a very hard time for people to exercise and eat healthy. I have experienced this firsthand. It is easy to make excuses like “I’m on vacation! I’ll exercise when I get back to the real world”. Next week, I am not letting myself make excuses like that. I am setting goals for myself so that I can make sure to hit my fitness goal every day of spring break. In the Keys it will be so warm and beautiful outside so I will be taking a short walk on the beach everyday of spring break. I will walk either in the morning when I wake up or in the evening as the sun is setting. I have put reminders in my phone so that I will be sure not to forget my goals. My friends and I have also signed up for some cool activities to do during the week. One of them is a bike ride around downtown Key West. We found an awesome bike rental place where you can rent bikes for the whole day for only $10. The other activity is a cool snorkeling experience at a coral reef. We booked the snorkeling trip through Sunset Watersports. I know that both of these activities will help me to stay active and moving during the day instead of just lounging around by the pool. These are just a few of the precautionary steps I’m taking to ensure I don’t deviate from my exercise plans! Of course eating healthy can go a long way too. Vacation is a good time to spend lots of money on unhealthy foods. But, I have decided to kill two birds with one stone by packing some healthy snacks for our trip. I have encouraged my friends to do the same! I am packing a cooler full of fruits, veggies, lunchmeat, and cheese to make sandwiches. I am bringing Gatorades, bottled water, power bars, and trail mix. This way, when we are at the hotel and start to get hungry, we have healthy snacks waiting for us. I think this will save my friends and me a lot of money so we don’t have to go out to eat as much. I hope these ideas will help me this spring break to keep my healthy promise in mind! I know it might be tough, but setting these goals aside will definitely help. Who knows? I might end up doing one of my favorite abs exercises, too! But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves!