Thursday, August 21, 2014

Week 1:Introduction- Around the World

Hello everybody! My name is Anthony Clark and I am a Junior at The University of Oklahoma. I plan on majoring in Supply Chain Management. I don't know what it is about supply chain that interests me so much. Maybe it is just the mechanics of it all. I find it very interesting to be the guy "behind the scenes" of a business or cooperation trying to find the best technique for saving money or allocating funds. I am just really excited to lean the ins and outs of how things work. Next semester I will be taking my first Supply Chain class so hopefully everything will turn out great.

Anyway, I'd like to say that I am from Edmond, Oklahoma, but I find this statement to be a bit bit misleading. I am actually from all over the place!

I'll start from where I was born. I was born in San Antonio, Texas. My parents are both in the Air Force (my Dad just recently retired) and this is where they met. I lived there for about 5 years then I moved to Panama City, Florida. I do not remember much about that but there are still some things that I can never forget. The first thing is the abundance of wildlife. There were many different colorful frogs and animals. It was so cool to see them: except when they were inside of your house! The next thing I could never forget is the huge paper mill. It was a factory that constantly makes paper. I don't know why but it constantly smelled so bad just like a sewage. Every time I walked outside I could smell the paper mill. I lived in Panama City for about 2 years then I moved to Moore, Oklahoma. Here, I went to Mid-Del Christian School for about 3 years. It is now called Destiny Christian. Living in Oklahoma at the time was much different than Florida. I never experienced tornadoes until coming to Oklahoma. After 3 years in Moore, I then moved to Okinawa, Japan. This, by far, was my favorite place to live! I was about 9 or 10 so I was young, but I still remember everything. I lived on Kadena Air Force Base, so I basically went to a regular school like you would in the US. Even though I lived on base I could still go off base. My family would always go off the base and experience all the wonderful things such as all the Japanese malls, the many different aquariums, and the amusement parks. Another perk from living in Okinawa was that it was a island! On certain parts of the base you could look out in all 4 directions and just see the vast ocean. It was a beautiful site to see! There is one thing though that was bad about japan and I will never forget. It was the spiders!

Scariest Spider Alive  (picture taken by Seule at Lamma Island)
More information about the spider: Wikipedia

Let me tell you that I have never been scared of anything else more than spiders. Spiders just freak me out more than anything. Again let me emphasis my fear for them! I had a hard time just finding and uploading a picture of one. I had to look away constantly. Putting up this picture was about a 10 minute process! Anyways, I was not always terrified my them. I was just afraid ha-ha! My friend and I used to find these banana spiders in their webs and throw grasshoppers in them and just watch the spider take off and roll up the other insect. The next day there would just be a corpse or legs of the grasshopper. We did this all the time and I don't know why it was fun. Until one day a banana spider got on me... It didn't bite me or anything ,but I don't want to talk about it. Lets just say that it changed my life forever. Overall Japan was an awesome place and I if I could go back I would in a heartbeat. 

Finally, after Japan, I came back to Oklahoma and lived in Edmond were I would spend the rest of my regular grade school. I went to Deer Creek High School where I played basketball. I loved my school and met tons of great people there. I still go to Edmond about every other week to visit my girlfriend McKenzie.

18 comments:

  1. One of my best friends is actually a supply chain major and she loves it! This past summer she worked at Texas Instruments as an intern and she was hired after the summer as a supply chain analyst starting next year. It's super exciting because she can go into her senior year already having a job offer, so I'd definitely look into that if you're interested in being in Dallas! That's incredible that you lived in Japan, I am so jealous. I am originally from China (and was adopted) but I've been back and would love to spend a significant amount of time there and possible work there for a few years. I've heard Japanese is insanely difficult to learn though, have you ever thought about studying it? Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wow, you weren't kidding when you said you were from all over! I've lived my whole life growing up here in Oklahoma, so living in Japan or Florida sounds pretty exciting. I definitely share your fear of spiders though. When I was about 10 or 11 I woke up and when I opened my eyes I saw a large spider on my face, directly between my eyes. That is something I will never forget.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are so lucky to have lived in these different places, Anthony - and I hope you will get to go back to Japan! It sounds like Supply Chain is the kind of major that could lead you to all kinds of international career opportunities, right? that would be exciting! My husband is retired from the Air Force; he was a meterologist, which is how we met - his last posting was at Tinker, and then after he retired he taught in the School of Meteorology at OU. He didn't have any overseas postings — he sure lived in a lot of different places in the United States, though. I feel lucky that he ended up in Oklahoma of course!

    About spiders: I have to warn you - they are coming up in some of the reading units... so choose at your own risk! There are the famous Anansi stories from Jamaica where Anansi is a spider trickster, and Anansi also shows up in the stories from West Africa... AND Iktomi is the trickster spider of the Plains Indians... so watch out for the tricky spiders! They're out there!!!
    Wikipedia: Iktomi

    ReplyDelete
  4. My dad was also in the Air Force and recently retired. He was in the military for 22 years and now works at Boeing in Midwest City. How long were your parents in? Also, my dad lived in Okinawa when he was younger! That's crazy. He has told me stories and I bet he wishes he could go back. He remembers loving it there! Nice to meet you Anthony!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi, Anthony! Nice to meet you. I'm so excited for you that you get to start the classes for your major next semester! It sounds like you really enjoy the business! Living in Japan sounds soo cool! I would love to visit there someday. And now I will know to bring lots of Raid because I can't stand spiders either! And those ones look especially terrifying.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Anthony! You really are from all over the place which is so cool! I have a friend whose dad was also in the military and moved to Japan, and she loved it as well! Haha what a small world.
    I remember watching a video about spiders in my high school biology class and it ruined me. I was always kind of grossed out by them, but now I am terrified and hate them. It's crazy to think that something smaller than my foot can kill me. On that note...
    It was nice meeting you!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Japan! Yay! I studied abroad in Japan for 5 months and can't wait to go back after I graduate. My friends at the university took a little trip to Okinawa after I left and I was insanely jealous. The aquariums look like so much fun! You've really been all over the place, huh? I'm sure you have fun stories. :)

    Also, that spider has little knee joints and it kind of makes me want to cry. I got used to spiders in Japan, but I still can't really LOOK at them. Especially if they're not hairy. Hairy spiders are okay but the ones like you posted are terrifying. It's mostly the legs I'm afraid of, for some reason...

    Anyway, I hope I see more from you during the semester! I'll have to check back and read your stories.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Anthony! Living in Japan sounds great (minus the spiders) especially since you got to have the best of both world living on a military base.

    I can totally relate to your fear of spiders! I hate pretty much all insects/arachnids but my main thing is crickets for some reason. I think if I had to post a picture of a cricket I would have the same issues that you had with the spider.

    Fun Fact: I'm also from Edmond, though I've lived here my whole life, and regularly visit my parents (currently writing from Edmond.) I'll try not to hold the fact that you went to Deer Creek against you (kidding!) Maybe we'll run into each other at Sushi Bar or Uppercrust or someplace. I just get so excited when I meet someone from Edmond!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anthony, I can relate with you a bit when it comes to the spiders. However, wasps and hornets constitute my biggest fear. I'm not sure why they have such an effect on me, but I'm of the opinion that it's downright unfair for stinging insects to have the ability to fly. It probably doesn't help that I was attacked by bees after a hot air balloon ride when I was five. The funny thing is that I'm fascinated by them...

    Here's to our shared dislike of things that bite and sting!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow Anthony, you've moved around quite a bit!! I too moved around a lot, but it wasn't because my parents were in the military! I've lived in Indiana, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, and Iowa. My dad changed jobs a lot lol!

    I can also relate to your fear of spiders!! I was an arachnophobe for YEARS!!! But when I moved to Oklahoma THEY WERE EVERYWHERE!!! I killed so many spiders, I started to worry about my karma!! So, I started to get a bit used to them. Then, one day I had to go the the OU Museum for a biology assignment and a man was there with a kart with a few different creatures. He had snakes, bees, and a rosy-kneed tarantula. I figured it was now or never.... so I asked him if I could hold his tarantula. Her name was Rosey! She was very light and her little feet just felt like I had tiny pinpoints of velcro on my hands. Now, I'm very proud of myself for doing that, but I don't sit around my house covered in spiders either!!! I do try to catch the Wolf spiders and release them back outside. Brown recluse, though, well let's just say they really shouldn't come into the house, because they won't make it out alive!!

    You've led a very fascinating life so far, I hope the rest of your life can be as wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hello Anthony! I did not know there was a degree for supply chain management. I probably don't even know a fourth of the degrees at OU but yours sounds pretty interesting. I used to do the same thing with grasshoppers. I also used to take the back legs off and then give the grasshopper to ants. Crazy the ideas we come up with as young children. You sound like you had a very interesting childhood. I just wonder if all the moving was hard on you or were you able to adapt well?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anthony,

    You are the first person that I have met to have a major in Supply Chain Management. I don't know much about it, but I think that it is so cool that you're into something that is sort of out of the norm (being a science major that's all I really hear about). I think that it is awesome that you have been able to live, and move to different places all over the world! I've only visited Japan's Okinawa airport and it was absolutely beautiful! I couldn't imagine actually living there, though I do want to visit a side of the family that does. Spiders are definitely the number one thing that I am afraid of. I can say they can be cool to look at, but only when they are behind a glass screen. I completely understand why you wouldn't want to discuss being touched by one, believe me I wouldn't want to either. Good luck with the rest of this semester and your future studies!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey Anthony! It sounds like you have lived a very interesting life! I always love hearing people’s stories who have lived in different states, but you take it a step further since you lived in another country! I was born and raised in Oklahoma, so I do not have any exciting experience like that. It was nice to read your introduction! Hope you have a great semester without running into too many spiders!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh man Anthony, I saw that spider picture and I was wondering what you were going to say about it! I absolutely freak out about spiders too, especially ones that look like that, haha! I bet it is awesome to tell all the stories of the places you have been, because wow you have been all over! Okinawa sounds like it was quite the experience. I think I would freak out about watching spiders though. All I can think is nope, nope, nope! Interesting introduction and thank you for telling us about yourself!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anthony,

    I cannot believe you and those spiders. That sounds exactly like something my boyfriend would do. He is completely terrified of spiders as well. You have really been everywhere! I bet Japan is completely beautiful. Did you learn a lot of Japanese while you were there? It was really nice to meet you Anthony! Good luck with all of your classes this semester and starting on classes for your major next semester!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hey Anthony, that is really cool that you have gotten to experience so many different cultures. I would love to be able to travel around and experience the different cultures around the world. Spiders are never fun to deal with. My mother is also scared to death of spiders. Her reactions are just priceless. Good luck with the rest of the semester!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hey there! You’ve certainly been to a lot of places. It’s pretty amazing. I thought about going to Japan with study abroad (Japanese is my minor) but I ended up not being able to. Probably a good things, considering how badly I reacted going on a plane to New York City. Needless to say, I think I’ll stick to driving from now on. Good luck with the year!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Anthony, being an OU student. I have never heard about your major before, so I thought that it was really interesting to read about. I am glad to know that you really have a passion for your major. Which I thin really helps. If youre really have an enjoyment for what you are studying it really helps with your grades. So good for you on that.

    ReplyDelete