10V: Creativity

Creativity is the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns, relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, and methods.  This includes, but is not limited to, writing, drawing, dancing, performing with an instrument, or performing on stage.  Basically, the product of your creativity is your interpretation of something commonly seen in a different way.  

An interpretation is the act of explaining, reframing, or otherwise showing your own understanding of something.  When something appears one way, some people may see it differently.  This is their personal interpretation of that object.  Many people can express their interpretations through many different methods.

10A: Midterm Reflection

I like my midterm video. I think I did a good job on it.   It had a clear beginning, a full middle and an end that tied everything together.  It included all the necessary information about volunteering on campus that most freshmen are unaware of.  I interviewed two staff members and five students and quoted them throughout the video.  The length was just over the minimum time limit.  Since I did meet all the requirements, and the video was well produced and submitted on time, I would give it an A- grade.  

I know most college students are very busy but, volunteering is very important and easy.  I tried to stress this in  my video.  I asked all the students I interviewed what are the reasons they didn’t volunteer on campus.  That is exactly what I formated the video around.  When students watch the video, I want them to related to the excuses and see the answers.  Hopefully, some students will realize that volunteering on campus is good for the community, easy to get involved with and will benefit them when they begin to apply for jobs.  

I admit, my midterm video isn’t perfect, that is why I only gave it an A-.  Since this project was assigned in the middle of the first semester, during the time when everyone is preparing for midterms,  there were no volunteer events or fundraisers.  Most club meetings and events were put on hold until after this crazy, stressful time was over.  This was bad news for my project because, it made it impossible for me to get any videos of students volunteering.  I had to resort to old pictures from previous years and events.  Unfortunately, most clubs, especially clubs that are very busy with outreach and servicing the community, don’t have the time to update or even add photos on their social media sites such as, collegiatelink, facebook, twitter, and instagram.  This left me with very few pictures of events and information.  

10I: Shakespeare in Hollywood

There is a club on campus that is called the Crescent Players. They are a theater group that puts on various shows and plays throughout the year.
These past two weeks the Crescent Players have been performing a small cast play called Shakespeare in Hollywood. Don't worry it's not a play in Shakespearean text. It's basically a remake of Shakespeare's play Midsummers night dream.
It was a very cute production and it only cost $5. It was located in the Lyman center and the player perform three times a week for two w
eeks. There are always seats available so go check them out!

9V: Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a type of disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, and informed by evidence. Critical thinking requires you to look at different points of view and many different outcomes.  You must dissect every possibility and figure out which is the best answer or opportunity.  The most effective way to think critically would be to have a discussion.  A discussion is the action or process of talking about something, typically in order to reach a decision or to exchange ideas. If you have a discussion with people that are very similar to you and are going through the same situations as you, you are going to have a very dry, or lacking interest and information, discussion.    

9I: Sonia Sotomayor

On Monday, October 21, 2013, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor came to Southern Connecticut State University.  This assembly was a big deal.  Tickets to see her were sold out and the lobby of the Lyman Center  was packed.  Everyone there was eager to see her.  Most of us that were there have read her book,”My Beloved World.”   This may be over exaggerating, but, speaking mainly for my friends and I, we felt like we practically knew her.  We all have read her memoir, and we have heard about her work as a Supreme Court Justice.  It was incredible to be able to meet her, well, to come close to meeting her.  

9A: What does it mean?

“Mommy, why do I have to go to school?  How can I become a princess when I get older? What does sorry mean? When can I stay up later at night?”  When we were all younger, we asked a million questions about everything, all the time.  Little did we know at the time, that was the first to step to critical thinking.   

To me, critical thinking is when you come to a conclusion based on some facts, personal experience, personal opinion, popular opinion and outside of the box thinking.  When it comes to this type of thinking, you are never wrong. You simply have an idea. People can disagree but, it is never completely wrong. For example, if you think that you will do better on a test if you use the same pencil on the test that you used when you took notes, then you are right, as long as it works for you.  That doesn't mean that someone else who thinks that strategy will not work is wrong either. It is simply how you got to your conclusion that is important. If the strategy with the pencil has worked for you in the past, and you have rational reasoning as to why you think it works for you, that is critical thinking at its best.

Critical thinking is a good skill to have but, it is hard to develop. Especially within a strict high school curriculum. Most students are used to having an idea and then supporting it with multiple facts and surveys, as we all did in high school. We were never in any critical thinking classes and we were rarely apart of critical thinking discussions.  Class arguments and debates were much more common.  By the time we reach college, most of us are afraid to voice an opinion without facts because, we don't want to be wrong.  

9B: Doing well!

For this semester, I did very well.  In fact, I did better than I thought  I would  do .  My grades for this semester, so far, are B,B,B,A-.  This averages out to about a B+.  This was the goal I set for myself!  All I have to do now is keep my average here.  I, obviously, want to improve and will try to bring my grades up but, if they were to stay at a B+, I would not mind at all.

 

Reflecting back on the first half of the semester, I realized that I could do so much better for the next half of the semester.  I would always do the homework that was due for my next class, first.  This would work only because the homework gets handed in on time.  I now realize that the homework was sometimes rushed or not done to the best of my ability.  This is, most likely, due to the fact that it was due the next day and I did not have time to do my best and completely understand it before handing it in.  Next semester, I plan to do the homework that is assigned, as it is assigned to me.  For example, if a professor gives me homework on Monday and it is not due until Friday, I will do the assignment on Monday or Tuesday and use the days in between to review the assignment and make sure it is done to the best of my ability.  I hope this will help increase my test scores and give me more confidence to speak up and participate in class.

I was very successful with studying strategies this semester.  I was having trouble with that in the beginning of the year but, I think, I am finally getting the hang of it.  I make flashcards of the material, read the cards over a couple of times everyday for a few days.  Then I quiz myself on the material everyday, until the test or quiz. If the material isn't flash card accessible, which, often it is not, I will read over my notes a couple of times a day for a few days and then I quiz myself on the material everyday until the test or quiz.

8B: Memoir

“Try to see the brighter side.”

“My Beloved World”, by Sonia Sotomayor, was an alright book.  It was, most likely, chosen for our Common Read book because it demonstrated a great role model that had to overcome many challenges to get where she is today.  There were a lot of factors in her life that could have held her back from achieving everything she accomplished.  Sonia Sotomayor always took a deep breath, studied hard and became the best person she could be.

  

Throughout the book, there were also a lot of situations that could be useful for college freshman to know.  These situations gave a lot of good advice and it also got us started on thinking about how we should approach our freshman year.  When Sonia Sotomayor first got to Princeton, she didn't join any clubs or organizations.  Instead, she took control of her studies.  She became comfortable with the workload and got secure grades.  It wasn't until her sophomore year that she joined clubs and began to get involved with campus life.  Even though many freshman at Southern didn't follow her lead, it is a great plan.  I referred back to her book when I contemplated joining every club possible.

Something else I learned from Sonia Sotomayor’s book was to use whatever I learned, from anywhere, to help me everywhere.  She mentions, a few times in her memoir, that the most important lessons and skills that have helped her through the toughest of situations came from unexpected places.  She learned how to be a great public speaker, not from public speaking class, or her debate team but, from her Abuelita reading poetry in the living room.  I am sure the class and the team practice helped a little but, Abuelita showed Sonia how to add feeling and capture the attention of the audience through passion. Sometimes, the most important lessons don’t have to come from the classroom.

8V: Mastery

The first thing I thought of when I saw this word was Masters’ Degree. I made this connection because, in order to get a Masters’ Degree, you need to go through extensive schooling and have a complete grasp or understanding of a particular subject.  Mastery means just that.

Mastery is to have expert skills, or knowledge in a subject. In order to have a mastery in a certain subject, you need to know all aspects of that subject. Also, you need to be able to use and understand the subject. This involves a lot of patience and practice.

 

Midterm Video: First Draft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLIHwEZDlAk&feature=youtu.be enjoy!

7B: Nap time?

I never use to take naps when I was living at home.  I could have had the roughest, longest day and, I would still be awake to watch my television shows at 10 o’clock at night.  Here at school, I am always tired.  I could sleep a full eight hours and wake up feeling like I haven’t slept in days.  I don’t even know why I am always tired.  I must have taken a dozen naps last week.  To me, that is a failure; to not be able to stay awake.  Excessive napping may not seem like a failure to you but, it can lead to some real problems.  For example, I will not be able to get my homework done, and I will miss out on events and activities that Southern is hosting if I napped all the time.

Last week, I took a nap between ALL of my classes, and even one before dinner.  Luckily, I was able to finish all of my homework but, only because I didn’t have too much.  If I have a lot of homework and I still take a lot of naps, I probably won’t be able to finish all of it. Studying may also become impossible because I might sleep through the time I allotted for studying. 

Southern always has something fun and entertaining going on. My friends and I love to attend theses event and activities.  How awful would it be if I missed out on something exciting because I was either doing homework, which I could have finished earlier if I wasn’t taking a nap; or, if I was actually taking a nap during the event or activity!  I would be so upset if that happened!

So far, I have only taken 2 naps this week and I feel great! It was hard at first but, it is getting easier.  All I did was go to bed a little earlier and wake up a little later.  I also made sure I was always sitting in an upright

position when I was doing my homework so that I wouldn’t, accidentally, fall asleep. 

7V: Failure

Failure is not an option. This does not mean that you are never allowed to fail, ever.  It just means that if you fail, you have to keep trying until you succeed. It is hard and it takes a lot of work but, it is worth it.  After all, no one wants to be a failure.

Failure is when a person or thing is proven unsuccessful.  If you fail at first, you must check everything and figure out where you went wrong; the moment you realized that you failed. Once you figure out what you did wrong, figure out how to fix the problem. You only fail when you stop trying succeed. 

7A: You only fail if you stop trying.

Failure has a big impact on people in their everyday lives.  I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing.  Not everyone can win, not everyone can be successful, and not everyone can achieve that complete comfort zone in their everyday life; that place in life where there is no room for improvement, known as “winning.”  Based on the culture we live in, people are taught to believe that we can achieve anything if we try hard enough.  Unfortunately, that is just not true.  Failure is inevitable.  People don’t always understand how hard it is to face and achieve all their goals on their first try.  Sometimes you may get lucky and the first try is all you will need to overcome something.  But, that does not happen every time. You need to fail sometimes in order to improve and accomplish your goals.  According to J.K. Rowling, “Achievable goals: the first step to self-improvement.”

Failure is important for children to understand and they should be able to experience it.  Children are absolutely allowed to fail and it should be expected.  In fact, when they first start competing or playing games for more than “fun”, they are encouraged to fail.  Failing teaches children how to win and lose.  After all, no one likes a sore winner or a sore loser.  Failure will help children learn to cope with whatever happens at the end of the game.  Also, failure eventually helps children to become winners.  No one likes to fail.  The natural thing to do after you fail at something is to practice more and keep trying.  This teaches children to develop goals and a good work ethic.  It teaches them to see things through and to be persistent.  I am not saying that children must fail all the time, because that will cause self- esteem issues.  Children should fail just as much as they succeed. 

When it comes to children, it is important to talk to them about their failures.  You have to make sure they know that it is

ok if they failed, as long as they learn from it.   This is important for adults too.  Especially people that are under pressure.  There should always be a safe place for people to go and discuss their mistakes, learn their lesson and be supported in a judgment free zone.  No one should be embarrassed of their failure.

7I: My new den.

If you go to Engelmann, head down the hallway to the B wing, stay on the first floor, keep walking until you reach the end there you will find my find den.  My math class is later in the day, about 3:30 p.m.  My other classes end around 1:00 p.m., so I have a two hour break before my math class begins.  Some days I go back to my dorm room.  I usually don’t get much work done when I do that.   I easily get distracted.  In this den, I am focused and get a lot of work done.  It is quiet, peaceful and the couches are surprisingly very comfortable.  When I am here I usually do my homework, sometimes I catch up with friends and family and, on a rare occasion, I might take a nap.  It is so nice to have a place to go to really focus and get stuff done.  

6A: No Hablo Español

Spanish is my least favorite subject.  I started taking the class in 6^th grade.  My teacher was amazing and I had a lot of friends in the class.  That year Spanish was a lot of fun.  It was almost easy learning the basics.  That is where it stopped, though.  After that year, Spanish became a real challenge for me.  I don’t know why exactly.  I always had a friend in my class.  All through middle school and high school my teachers were very nice.  They would always give extra help when anyone needed it, especially me.  I studied every day, did all my homework, and did my best to participate in class.  For some reason, I just couldn’t grasp the language. 

With a lot of help from my friends and teachers, I was able to pass each year with a good grades and minimal understanding and retention.  By some miracle, I ended up in Spanish 200 this semester.  I have no idea what’s going on in my class.  My professor speaks only in Spanish.  Apparently, my Spanish professor is funny because she said something, in Spanish of course, the other day and the whole class laughed.  I hope it wasn’t at my expense. Even the directions in my workbook are in Spanish.

Since it’s too late to drop the class, I have no choice but to pass the class.  I make an appointment with my Spanish tutor, Ursula, every Wednesday and Thursday, the only days she is available, at the tutor center.  I make flashcards of the vocabulary for each chapter and I have even started watching my favorite movies in Spanish with English subtitles.

I clearly have to put more effort in, based on my first exam grade.  I passed but, not with the grade I had hoped for.  I will have to study a little more every day.  I would like to finish my online lab homework early, so I will have the time and energy to go back and edit it. I will not let this language get the better of me.

6V: Persistence

Persistence is the ability to do a continuous action in the hopes of completing a difficult task or obstacle.  This trait will allow you to finish anything you are working on regardless of all the challenges that are put in front of you.  Being persistent is a nice way of saying you are stubborn.  Stubborn is easily being fixed on a purpose or opinion. If you are persistent, or stubborn, you have grit.  Grit is firmness of character. This means you are tough and willing to take on challenges.  Basically, if you are persistent you won’t easily fail, making you fixed on a certain obstacle.  This is when your grit will help you overcome this obstacle.  With these traits you can take on the world and win.  Who knew being stubborn would be a good thing.   

6I: Day of Service

On Saturday, September 21, 2013, the majority of the school participated in the Day of Service.  This meant that the students, teachers, and graduate students that signed up to help, were separated into groups and sent to different locations around New Haven.  This was after breakfast, of course.  People cleaned up litter at some locations, other locations painted fences and some locations even cleaned graffiti off of buildings.  Everyone was then taken back to campus for a free lunch from Verona’s Pizzeria, a pizzeria in New Haven.  I am a member of the service commission but I didn’t get to go to a site.  Instead, some of the other members and myself, set up breakfast; checked everyone in; broke down breakfast; set up lunch; then broke down lunch; and cleaned up after the day was done.  It was a great bonding experience for all of the group members and we had so much fun!!