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.