Rey Fire

The day before school started.

As you are all probably aware by now, California is in desperate need of rain. There has been several outbreaks of wildfires all around this state within the past month, including in Santa Barbara. The Rey Fire began August 18th and firemen are still trying to contain it. The good news is that the containment percentage has increased over the week or so. Right now roughly 78 percent is contained after burning 32,601 acres according to Noozhawk.

The first day of school before I

went to work. View from my
apartment.

School had just begun when the smoke started hovering over the mountains towards the ocean in Isla Vista and was visible from the city college. I was unable to capture a picture of the sunset because I was at work, but I can tell you that the sun was RED. I didn't want to begin my blogging for the year by beginning with a blog about the fire, but I think it's important to talk about it and make it aware that this is a local issue. All this smoke in the air can't possibly be positive for our health. My thoughts on cancer is that it comes from genetics or pollution. So honestly when I saw all the smoke in the air it was quite terrifying to me. This is not to say that all of us need to freak out about our health, but we do need to become aware of our environment and appreciate it for all that it is by doing our part to take care of it. However, at the same time California is a desert. I wish it was dessert so I could say that I basically live in Candyland, but sadly I cannot. The reality is that wildfires are spreading all over California and we need some agua up in here. 

Keeping my tacos safe. Thought this fit
in this blog because Lily's Taqueria is fire.

I find out a lot of interesting things about the school through The Channels newspaper class. Apparently last Friday there were dead, bloody bodies all over the school. IT WAS FAKE, IT WAS ALL FAKE!!! SBCC faculty and staff participated in a disaster simulation sponsored by the county. You can checkout the article here.

My Fall 2016 Classes

Cutest and realest planner I've ever owned.

The Channels: Reporting/Writing (JOUR 121)

Career Planning: Self-Paced (PD 191A)

Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 101)

Mass Media and Society (COMM 171)

Week 1 DONE! Above are the classes that I am taking this semester. The journalism class and the communications class are required for Journalism majors. The personal development class is an online, one unit class that I'm taking to help motivate me to plan out what career I'd be interested in. As of right now, I am not sure what I want to do and that's okay! All that matters right now is that I have an interest and a starting point. As for the philosophy class, it is my last General Ed course I will ever have to take! I'm not mad about it though because it sounds really interesting to me and it will involve writing papers.

Introduction to Ethics
I had the hardest time finding this class, just to find out that it is in the same classroom my JOUR 101 class was in last year. However, I was still a minute or two early and I walked in to the teacher already taking roll. Of course, since my last name starts with B, he already called my name. No big deal, if you are "late" to the first couple classes teachers are understanding that you are either trying to find it or parking is... well, crap.
Quote of the day: "If you get a D on an ethics exam there is seriously something wrong."
Ethics is the study of how we ought to live with others and ourselves. It is knowing or debating disputed/controversial topics right from wrong. So basically if you are mentally sane and have good morals, this class should be pretty understandable.

Mass Media and Society
I trucked my way over from Ethics on East Campus to this class on West Campus beginning right after. "Partition" by Beyonce is playing, giving the room a laid-back, and myself a confident feel. What do you know, this is the same classroom my communications class, Argumentation and Debate, was in last year!
Quote of the day: "We could talk about Donald Trump every day. Election is a great year to be in this class."
After going to this class a couple times this week, I've realized that I am interested in this class a lot more than I thought I would be thanks to the teacher! One of the things she mentioned is something I have been worried about as someone who may work in the media in the future. She said that the media is sometimes "ugly" and "crap", but that she wanted this class to be the opposite: "kind" and "brave."

The Channels: Reporting and Writing
As I was walking from the parking lot, I checked my phone to see what classroom this class would be in. Really? Really? This class is in the same building as my journalism classroom last semester and the same class as my ethics class this semester. I guess I kinda wish I had new classrooms for a new semester but that's okay. The only thing is this class is in the ECC buildings that aren't really even buildings, so it's either freezing cold or humid hot. Anyway! I was obviously the most excited for this class. But really, my heart was racing. It wasn't from nervousness, but the coffee shop ran out of iced coffee and offered me the Americano (expresso shots over ice). Yeah...never again. When we had to stand up in front of the class and introduce ourselves my heart was racing and I was shaking from the caffeine on top of the pressure. Yes, I introduced myself as a proud, third year school blogger! Two crazy things I learned was that as school journalists, we get a "press pass" to every event and game. YAY FREE THINGS! Also, I learned that we will be publishing a news story every week starting Week 2......WHAT? Not being able to control my facial expressions, the teacher caught me after she said that and laughed and the truthfulness of it.
Quote of the day: "In journalism we say.... It is never done, it is only due."
HEY EVERYBODY I KNOW MOST OF THE SCHOOL DOESN'T KNOW BECAUSE I ONCE DIDN'T KNOW, BUT WE HAVE A SCHOOL NEWSPAPER!!!! Click HERE to check it out. This is where my articles will be published. When I publish my first one, I will make sure to blog about it and give you all the exact link.

Career Planning: Self-Paced
There is not too much to say about this class as it is one unit and online. I was worried about it being online, but came to find out that it is much more simple than I thought it would be. I received an email the first day of school from the teacher, Christopher Phillips. I actually met with him when I was trying to decide on my major last Fall. So really you don't even need to take this class to get help deciding on a major or career. You can simply go to the Career Center in the Student Services building. I am taking this class only because I need that push to make sure I make time for this priority to figure it all out. The class seems so simple in fact, that after I read the email and syllabus from him, I emailed him asking if there were really only four assignments due the whole semester all by December 9th. He said yes. Talk about testing my persistence of procrastination.

I hope all you current SBCC students are settling into the classes you wanted. I have a couple tips for you! The parking will be even worse than it normally is the first few weeks of school until people figure out their best ways of transportation, so I suggest getting there early. Also, the campus is doing construction on the Bookstore. Now it is right above the stadium in these little rooms that used to be classrooms so the security is a little strict. It is normal for the Bookstore to have a huge line at the beginning of the semester while buying books. On top of that, now there is a line you have to wait in (up to an hour wait) before you can even enter the Bookstore for what I believe is security reasoned. I suggest buying your books online to save time! Have a great, first weekend :)

The Beginning to My Final Year at SBCC

Hi!!!! I'm back for my final, third year at SBCC and am so excited and grateful for all of you readers and the opportunities coming my way this year and all the years to come.

For those of you that are new to my blog, welcome! I have 101 other blog posts over the past 2 years ever since I was a freshie that you can go checkout. I'd be very impressed if you looked through them all! Never mind read them word for word. Because every day is a new day, every year is a new year, here is a third introduction of myself, Angela Rose Bickmann, during my first day at SBCC for the 2016-2017 school year (I almost typed 2015 yikes): 

First off, I am a Journalism major. Last year I was contemplating what major to decide on, which ended up being journalism. My entire life I have always changed my mind on what I want to do because I want to experience everything exciting life has to offer. However, I always found myself finding my way back to writing. Over the summer, it hit me that journalism has a couple different branches: writing and broadcasting. Many people this summer have hinted to me that I have "the look" for broadcasting on T.V. What I say back to them is what if I'm interviewing someone who is over 6 foot and I (5'2") am looking up to them reaching for what seems to be the sky with the microphone to their mouth. Haha, but seriously most of the contemplating I have done has been deciding between film and writing. Broadcasting may be a middle ground and I could always do writing on the side. Who knows, I am currently looking into an internship at the KEYT Santa Barbara news station which may help me decide. My main thing is I don't want a job that is boring or a job I dread going to. Film is entertaining and writing makes me feel good. What do I enjoy doing more? I don't know, but hopefully through all the opportunities I have this year I will be able to decide.

A couple other things you should know about me to understand the personality behind my blogs are as follows: 

- I was born in Thousand Oaks, California and moved when I was 8 years old to Illinois. A year and a half later I moved across the river to Iowa. I stayed there until halfway through my freshman year of high school when I then moved to Virginia. That is where I graduated high school.

- I am a writer because I have been through a lot and think a lot and writing my ideas/thoughts down and getting it out of my head leads me to this creative flow that is in a way therapeutic. My mom and brother passed away when I was one year old and I was diagnosed with cancer, Hodgkin's Lymphoma, when I was 15 years old. Those two things, along with many others, have made me into the type of person I am and choose to be today. I am a survivor and I am motivated with the desire to make the most of this life. 

-I recently put in my two weeks at my restaurant job for this reason. This year I will be working for the blogging team, The SBCC Channels Newspaper, possibly an internship, and another opportunity. I can't do it all, no one can. This summer was my 5 year remission mark for being cancer free, but that doesn't mean the struggles of it are over. I notice myself getting overwhelmed when I have too much on my plate at once. Well, this year my plate is full and I needed to make some room before I got too full. Get what I'm sayin'?

Last but not least I want you all to know that I am here to give you advice, I am here to be your friend and say hi at school, and I am here to hopefully inspire your college education in the direction you want your lives to point to. Comment below if you ever have something to say! You can also shoot me an email for any work or school related discussions ---->

arbickmann@pipeline.sbcc.edu

Face the ocean. Take a deep breath. Stretch. You've made it. And guess what? You can make more of it! Peace and love my friends.

Finishing Strong!

This was definitely the semester of creativity. I was really able to strive through my writing and designing skills. Grades are not out yet, and I still have to write a 15 page paper and take another final, but I have calculated up the potential outcome of my Spring 2016 grades!

Reporting & Writing: A-
Graphic Design: A+
Music Appreciation: A
Argumentation & Debate: B

From the looks of it, I should end up having THE BEST grades I have ever received in college. Let me tell ya , I will be proud of that B  because I put the most effort into that class. That is actually a great, soothing reminder to all of you college students out there. If you don't receive the grade you were hoping for in a certain class, don't get down about it unless you know you did not try your best!

I'm in shock of how fast college is flying by. At least I have another year at SBCC to experience it even more! A few of the bloggers are leaving SBCC, but I plan to stay and hopefully continue this blog for my last school year here.

Here is a video of the two projects I am most proud of from my Graphic Design class. Yes that is my bald head. And yes, I was and will stay obsessed with Guinness/ pugs in general. I spent over a month working on the booklet about my pug that passed. I made sure to give you enough time to read through each page since I never got to blogging more about it. I knew if I blogged about it, the blog would be several pages long. Ain't nobody got time for that! And if you did, well I didn't. Hahaha, I worked my butt off this semester. Although, it didn't seem like it sometimes because I was taking classes I enjoyed. I hope you have enjoyed my blogging entries for the past two years. I have certainly enjoyed writing and putting them together.  Summer starts this Friday!!!! You know what that means? One more month until I go to Israel! Make sure to travel, relax, and celebrate life by having fun this summer. We deserve it! See ya next school year :)

The Ultimate Job

Here's to 100 blog posts and to the (almost) end of my second year at SBCC! 

One hundred blog posts....One hundred memories! I want to thank you all for keeping up with my work. I've said it before and I'll say it again, if I could get paid enough money to blog about my life for the rest of my life, that would be the ultimate writing career. Experiencing life to the fullest and spreading awareness about it to help people, while having it all to reminisce back on sounds like the life. All of your support means the world to me because you are helping me make my dream job of being a writer become possible.

Journalism IS an Art

Before school in Fall 2014 even started, I went to a welcoming event for the incoming freshmen (yes I used to be a freshmen, wow that seems like forever ago, but yesterday at the same time, okay moving along). At this event, I noticed a stand that mentioned something like, "Love to write?" and I was instantly drawn in. I was shy, but I thought it might lead to something positive for me, so I went up to the stand and here I am today, a blogger for SBCC for two years! I look forward to hopefully blogging next year up through my transfer to wherever I go because wherever I go, I know I will be happy that I did this. I plan to print out all of my blog posts and put them into an album that I can look back on and have my future kids look at after they graduate high school and are about to leave for college. I've learned a lot and shared a lot and hope you have enjoyed it.


As of right now, I am all over the place finishing up my spring semester. By all over the place, I mean all over SBCC. Sunday night I was at school. Monday I was at school for 14 hours. Tuesday was somewhat normal. Yesterday I went to school twice from Isla Vista. Today, I am doing the same thing, on top of leaving straight from school to work. Guess, GUESS where I will be tomorrow on my "day off"? Santa Barbara City College. I am losing my mind while at the same time, trying to use it for the end of school. Summer is on the horizon and I cannot wait to be under that sun, relaxing and enjoying break. You know that saying where things gotta get worse before they get better? Well....you gotta study and lose sleep before you can have fun and gain sleep. Once I finish this blog post, I will be on my way to the last SBCC 2015-2016 school year blogger's meeting. Time to celebrate with some pizza! (Stress eating on the down low) Good luck everyone, and thank you again for supporting me through my journey at SBCC as a blogger! I wouldn't want it any other way! This is just the beginning of my writing career.

First Birthright Meeting

Monday, April 26th I finally got to meet my fellow adventure-mates who I will be traveling with halfway across the world to Israel in ONE MONTH AND A HALF. Before I went to this meeting, I had a feeling it would make me even more antsy to just go already!!! Let's just leave now. Midterms? Finals? NAAHHHHH.

We played games to get to know each other. I was nervous about whether I'd like the people that I'd be trusting as my first time traveling buddies. I'm not so nervous anymore, more like excited, pumped, and extremely optimistic. After the silly games, we watched a video and went over the orientation guide. The guide literally lists everything that you need to pack, prepare for, and know about the trip. Rafi, one of the leaders of my trip, mentioned how close we would all become and that they even set up reunions afterwards. To be honest, I don't think I will be going to my high school reunion. I've been to three different high schools and obviously high school was complete chaos for me, so I didn't really get the chance to form friendships that were close enough to last. After going to this meeting, I cannot tell you the names of everyone I met. However, I am positive that some of those people will become my close friends.

PS: I cannot wait for the day we ride camels and the night we lay out under the stars.

The World is Tough But So Are You

Yay!! I was going to sign up for the Channels Newspaper anyway to complete my Associates Degree in Journalism, but the fact that I got recruited makes it a whole lot better! My Journalism teacher, Professor Molina, had told my class he would directly speak with The Channels teacher, Professor Stark, about who he thought would do well moving up to SBCC's newspaper class. You're looking at her blog right here ;)

Yesterday I had gone in to speak with an academic counselor about making sure I wanted to major in Journalism and not major in Communications (which is very similar). Well guess what? Journalism wins again! Ding Ding Ding! What I like about communications is that it really makes you do deep thinking, sort of like psychology but less scientific. So recently after that annual conference I went to and loving my Argumentation and Debate communications class, I started to question....Do I want to major in Communications and minor in Journalism? However, I spoke with the counselor and communications is a more business-like route whereas journalism really pertains to the type of job I want to do.

We went over schools that I could transfer too after next year and she kept mentioning the competition is high for the colleges that I'm looking into. However, I know I have to go to them because I want to stay in SoCal and I'm limited on the colleges that provide Journalism as a major. The good news is, that there a couple more schools besides San Diego State and CSU Long Beach that have it, Fullerton and Pomona. I was told, "San Diego is nearly impossibly to get into."  Look, I am tougher than anything that get's thrown at me, but that doesn't stop me from looking at the world as "tough" or the world proceeding to be that way. I know I need to stay in SoCal because I have worked so hard to get here. For a whole decade I dreamed of being back. Leaving would be like leaving a piece of me I have been yearning for for so long. I have been so extremely focused on school recently because I know what I have to do to please these schools to get accepted. Unfortunately, CSU schools do not have to look at your personal background and skills unlike UC schools where you submit an essay. I know that would help me so much because of how much I have overcome and what I am doing now, blogging for almost 2 years! In the end, when I search for a career, it's the writing that counts. However, right now it's about the GPA. That's the tough thing. I should've taken some of my general ed classes pass/no pass, but I can't turn back now, nor should I.

Just remember when things get tough, that you are tougher. That is the attitude that will get you through anything you are succumbing. Good luck these last few weeks in school! Focus on the prize!!! (Your degree and summer)