16A,B&I: My final post!

It’s so crazy to believe that my first semester as being a freshman has already come to a close.  I have had my ups and downs on my journey, and in the end I have learned a lot about myself.  It’s so weird to think that just a year ago I was still in high school.  I was just getting accepted into college at this time.  I had no idea what life had in store for me after I graduated Shelton High.

                Even though my first semester seemed to go by so quickly, I have learned a lot about myself as a college student along the way.  One very important thing that I have learned is that I am a great independent thinker.  In high school we didn’t have much of an opportunity to be independent.  We also worked in groups and we were told specifically what to do at all times.  Everything is high school seemed to have been already drawn out for me.  In college I learned to form my own ways of thinking.  I have learned to solve problems on my own and have my own opinions. I know I still have a long way to go in the learning process but I am proud of my progress so far.  Not only have I become more independent in school, but also in everyday life.  College has given me the opportunity to see what the real world is like, to make my own decisions.  I feel like I have taken on more responsibilities and I am becoming more of an adult.  I depend on myself now a lot more than I used to.

                To me, becoming more of an adult meant to take on more challenges.  This semester I took on the challenges of commuting to school five days a week, working three days during the week, and on weekends.  At first everything was so overwhelming and I can honestly say that at one point I hated the fact that I was commuter.  After some time I got used to it though.  I had to learn how to manage my time correctly.  Time management is huge in college.  In high school it wasn’t really something I had to be worried about.  In college, professors don’t give a lot of time to complete assignments.  They expect you to study and learn things on your own time.  I learned that in order to be successful you can’t procrastinate.  In class this semester we made a chart of how we spent our time for a whole week.  This activity really helped me realize that time management is key.  I learned from this activity that I did have extra hours in my days to put in more studying.

               

              Next semester I plan to manage my time just as I learned to do this semester.  My biggest goal is to get into the Education program here at Southern.  In order to do this I need to keep my GPA high.  I am going to do this by setting little goals for myself in each course I take.  If I do this it will encourage and challenge me to keep my grades up.  Next semester I want to continue getting good grades, and even better grades than I did this semester.  I know that I can accomplish this goal if I just put my mind to it and remember that if I do I will get into the Education Program. 

                My first semester here at Southern has been quite the experience.  I have made so many amazing friends and learned a lot about myself.  I am going to continue working hard to accomplish my goals of one day being a teacher.  When I first started my blog, 16 weeks seemed so far away.  But it has honesty flown by in the blink of an eye.  I thought that blogging every single week would be terrible, but I’ve actually grown to like it.  It has become such a habit to me now it’s going to feel weird not to blog every week! I hope everyone has a great winter break, and has another successful semester!

Final Video!

Here is my final draft video about college students being broke! Enjoy :)

16V: Last Vocab word!

free·dom  the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

When I think of the word freedom America is the first thing that comes to mind.  We are a free country where everyone has the right to have their own opinions.   Another thing I think of is winter break!  I can’t wait to be free from school for a whole month.  I get to do what I want and not think about anything school related for a while.  It’s a great time to relax and enjoy my freedom!

Two other important vocabulary words that I learned are immure and wherewithal. Immure means to enclose within, or to imprison something. Wherewithal is the means, resources, or money.  

15I: Study Time!

Since finals are next week I thought it would be a good idea to to study with friends and people in my classes.  I have found that even though I like studying alone, studying with a group can be very helpful in many ways as well. This week I have had multiple study groups with my friends in the library.  I even stayed on campus one of those nights to study with friends for a test that was the next morning.

Studying with other people helped motivate me more.  It helped me actually want to study and not to procrastinate.  When I didn't know something another person in the group was always willing to offer me help.  When someone else didn't know material that I knew, I stepped in and helped them too.

Studying in a group is a great idea for everyone and I recommend that everyone starts a study group with people from class.  You can all help each other out and learn better that way!  The library is also open extra late now for night time studying!  Good luck on finals everyone!

15V: Autonomy

au·ton·o·my the state of existing or acting separately from others

I have never heard of this word before, but now that I know the definition I think that it relates really well to college students.  In high school we were told what to do, everything was laid out clearly for us.  College is way different.  In college students are expected to think on their own and be independent.  I think college encourages individual autonomy.  Students need act individually and be an individual.

Some other vocabulary words for the week are volition and constrain.  The word volition relates to autonomy.  Volition means the power to make your own decisions and choices.  In other word it is to be an independent person and to think for yourself. The word constrain is control that limits or restricts someone's actions or behavior.

15B: Rest up!

               This semester has gone by so quickly I can hardly believe that it’s almost over.  With classes wrapping up finals are the only things separating me from my winter break!  To prepare for finals I plan to study just as I did for my midterms.  I was happy with those grades and I feel if I keep up the same habits that I will get good final grades too.  I am going to try to not overwhelm myself with studying.  I remember in a few of our readings this semester they said not to study all day, but to study in little chunks and take breaks.  I don’t want to ware myself out and not be able to remember anything at all!  I think that if I study a little at a time and only focus on one subject at a time I will do just fine!

                I am also preparing myself for finals by getting a lot of rest.  I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately with all my projects for school and with working.  During finals week I am planning to get a good night’s rest every night and to make that my number one priority.  I can study however much I want but still fail due to the lack of sleep.  That’s why getting enough rest this week is going to be very important for me!  I am going to try to take naps during the day between study or before work so that I will have enough energy to focus on the things that really matter!

                I with ensure success in wrapping up this semester by getting good grades on my finals.  I know that once I pass them all I will be stress free until the start of the second semester.  I want to finish the first semester off strong, giving me a solid start.  I am so excited for what future years to come will have in store for me here at Southern.

15A: Getting feedback

The past few weeks have been set aside to watch everyone’s rough draft of their video projects.  I think that doing this was such a good idea.  Having these viewing days helped me and other students to not procrastinate.  We all had a certain date that our video was due and everyone had to show it to the class for feedback.   I can honestly say that without this draft dead line I wouldn’t have gotten as much done on my video as I have.  I have been so busy with finals coming and projects and tests for my other classes that I know I would have tried to put making my video off.  I am so glad now that I did get a lot done because during finals week I can relax a little more knowing that I don’t have much to add.

                

       Watching everyone’s video really showed me how creative everyone is!  Almost everyone in my class had a funny skit idea that caught the viewer’s attention, and no two skits were alike!  I think it was very helpful that other students gave use advice on our videos.  I was able to then see my video in other people perspectives and use what they had said to my advantage.  Almost everyone gave me the same sort of feedback.  They loved my music and skit but they wanted to see more college level thinking!  As I finish my video project I am going to take their advice!  I am going to add more music since everyone liked it, and I am definitely going to add more actually facts to have more college level thinking.

                

       Watching everyone’s videos was a fun learning experience.  The feedback from other students about my video is going to help me polish my final draft and make it awesome!  I also learned from other peoples drafts too.  I listened to all the advice for others and can apply that to my video too.  Overall it was a great learning experience in will help me with my video in a positive way.

Rough draft video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DccGZidJJhI&feature=youtu.be

14I: Explorers

Since I am a commuter finding time to video my skit was probably a little more difficult than for people who live on campus.  I rarely have time between classes and I can't stay later in the day because of my work schedule.  Even though it was a bit difficult for me to find time I think I can get everything done on time if I don't procrastinate!

During one of my hour breaks a few friends and I wanted to find interesting places to record parts of our skits.  We all had very different ideas for our videos and wanted to find cool places to act out a skit.  My friends and I searched all over Engleman Hall and found so many places that I didn't even know about!

The search for a place to shoot a video turned into more than just that.  It became an adventure.  We found hidden lounges and little nooks with benches in them.  Most of these areas I would have never even knew about!  On the bottom floor we found an area with comfy chairs and a table.  In the language lab hallway we found another area similar.  We did most of our recording in these places.  We even ventured all the way up to the third floor and ended up in a really fancy office hallway with comfy chairs.  We found out shortly after that it was the vice presidents office and we weren't allowed there.

Searching for a spot to record skits for our final videos was actually a fun adventure!  I got to explore all around Engelman and I found so many cool new places to study and rest between classes!

14V: Investing time

in·vest·ment  the act of putting money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage, or the money, effort, time, etc.

The word investment deals with a lot more than just money.  In college I would have to say that one of the biggest investments is time and effort.  In order to achieve goals and get good grades time would have to be put it.  Good things don’t just get handed to you, you have to work for them.  The most important thing I have learned about being successful in college is all the time you need to invest in order to achieve success.

Some other words I found important are nomenclature and protract. Nomenclature is a system or set of terms or symbols especially in a particular science, discipline, or art.  Protract means to lengthen in time or to cause to be or to last longer.

14B: I'm thankful for...

So many people love Thanksgiving because of the great food and forget to take the time to be thankful.  I have to admit, the food is awesome but it’s also an important time to reflect on the things in life that we are grateful for.  My first semester at Southern has been full of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything.

Coming from a town so close to Southern, I knew that I would be surrounded by kids from my high school.   I was fine with that, but I didn’t want to stay sheltered and only stick close by the people I already knew.   One of the things I am most thankful for this semester is all the amazing people that I have met.  Making new friends wasn’t as hard as I expected it would be.  I was able to meet so many new people and not just stick with only my Shelton friends.  Since orientation in the summer I knew that Southern was a place I could feel as if I belonged.  During orientation I made many friends and I even starting carpooling with one that lives a town next to me.  Once the semester started I met even more people.  I have the same students in my Inquiry and Media class.  I love the idea of this learning community.  We have all gotten to know each other so well and it was a great way to feel comfortable.  I have made the most friends from these classes this semester and I am so thankful for all of them.  I know that if I need help in school or with just about anything I have people who will be there for me. 

Next semester I will not have this learning community anymore and I already know that I am going to miss it.  I feel the most comfortable in those two classes because of how well I know everyone.  It’s going to be so weird without being able to see them every day.  Even though I won’t have these classes anymore I know that I will stay in touch with quite a few people from them.  I am so thankful for everyone that I have met at Southern and I know that I will continue to meet more people in my next few years here at Southern.

"It is not happy people who are thankful, it is thankful people who are happy."

14A: eat, sleep, repeat

This Thursday is Thanksgiving day so we have a five day break off from school.  This break is perfect timing in my opinion.  Finals are right around the corner and this is the time students start to really get stressed out.  Hopefully these five days will allow everyone to catch up on sleep and come back on Monday ready to tackle the last few weeks of the semester!

I am so excited about break that I already have most of my week planned out.  On Wednesday I have to go to work, but not until later in the day.  On a normal week I usually have to wake up around 6:20 for my 8 am class.  When I get home from school I have just enough time to eat lunch and do some homework.  Then I go right to work and to sleep after.  This week will be different though without school.  I am planning on sleeping in as late as I can and just being lazy until I need to go to work.  The next day, Thursday, is thanksgiving!  Every single year since I can remember I have gone to my Nana and Papas house to spend the day with my huge family.  Unfortunately, this year is going to very different.  This past year both my Nana and Papa were diagnosed with cancer.  They have been going through treatment and just aren’t feeling up to having people over or going anywhere.  I am just going to have a thanksgiving meal with my parents and two brothers this year.  It’s going to be such a change for me.

On midnight of course I’ll be one of the people rushing around the mall trying to find the best sales!  Black Friday is one of my favorite days!  I love the excitement of staying up all night finding the best deals. After shopping I’m definitely going to sleep, sleep, sleep! That’s probably what I’m going to be doing on the weekend too!  I think that if I take a few days to rest, be lazy, and catch up with friends on Monday I’ll be extra focused.  I want to be able to come back to school and finish out the semester strong.  I am hoping that I will be able to do as good (or ever better) as I did on my midterms.  This upcoming break is definitely a good stress reliever to stop waking up early every day and to think of things other than school work.

13B: Stop Spending!

Being creative can be such a hard thing to do sometimes.  I am a naturally creative person but in certain situations it’s hard.  I think that being creative comes naturally to everyone, but some people are just afraid to express their ideas.  In my final video draft I am going to try and use my creativity as an advantage.

I think that without some form of creativity that all these videos would be boring to watch!  Hopefully mine will end up being interesting and catch the viewer’s attention.  I am going to try to do this by using skits.  My idea is to video a bunch of common situations that students are put it about spending money.  On a daily basis we are given the chose to either spend more money, or save some.  I am going to video people asking to go out and eat and just keep spending money.  I am always put into these situations myself and sometimes it’s hard to say no!  These little skits will be able to show real situations in a creative way and show why students are suffering this problem.

I am also going to use my creativity by coming up with not only solutions to the problem but also tips that students can use.  There are so many different solutions and ideas for me to explore about how students can go about saving their money instead of being broke.  I am going to use my own ideas as well as ones I research.  I want to be able to add a personal touch to my video.  I think that if I connect myself with it personally, that it will be easier to get my ideas across and make my video more meaningful.

My main goal for this video is to make it interesting to watch, but also to actually help students who are going through this problem.  My creative approach on this video will hopefully make it fun and will encourage students to stop wasting their money when they don’t need to.  

13A: Thinking harder than ever

I can’t even believe that it’s almost time for finals already!  This semester really flew by.  In inquiry instead of an actual final exam we are doing a video project instead.  In this video we are asked to use college level thinking and creativity to express a problem that students face at college, and come up with a solution.  

For my video topic I chose the problem of being broke.  I picked this topic because I can definitely relate to it.  You may be thinking how I’m going to use college level thinking on a simple topic like having no money.  I thought that at first too.  I didn’t really know where to start, but after a lot of thinking and planning I think I’ve finally figured it out.  I am going to go in depth with the problem, and show a lot of examples that show why most college kids don’t have money.  I really relate to my topic, so I will have an insight about that this problem actually feels like and what students are really going through.  I can use this connection that I have to really go in detail with my video.

I am also going to use college level thinking in my solutions for being broke.  I have already started doing some research and I am going to talk to multiple people to get different perspectives. Getting different perspectives on things for my video will be great so that it’s not just my ideas.  I will be able to hear different sides and what other people think students can do to save their money. 

I really hope that all the practice I’ve done in class with college level thinking will help me get a good grade on my video!  I am going to try and get a better grade than I did on my midterm video.  I hope with my college thinking skills I can turn this video into a success!

13I: my perfect schedule

To be totally honest I was super nervous to register for spring classes.  I know it probably doesn’t seem like a big deal, but for me it was.  All I could think about the whole night was sleeping through my alarm and missing registration!  I barely got any sleep, and at 5:40 I was ready to go.

I signed onto banner web extra early, and the site was already loading slowly because of all the students online.  I typed in my pin number and clicked submit at exactly 6:00 a.m.  The first time I tried it said I didn’t have access to the website.  It said this because the site couldn’t handle all of the people at once.  The second time I got right through and I put in all my classes.  I was so nervous as I hit submit.  I thought some of my classes would be full and I’d have to use one of my backup schedules, which I really didn’t want to do.  To my surprise it said that I was registered for all of my classes!  I was done registering by 6:05 and had my perfect schedule.  It was so much easier than I had expected!   Hopefully every semester it will be this easy!

13V: what is our purpose?

pur·pose the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.

Everything in life serves a purpose if you really think about it.  One thing that people have trying to figure out the purpose of is life.  Why were we specifically put here on earth, what is each of our exact purpose? No one really knows the exact answer because everyone serves a different purpose in life, but an article I read this week said a little bit more about it.  The article said that instead of living for the purpose of happiness we should live for the purpose of meaning.  We should go through life thinking of others and not our selves.  When we live for the purpose of meaning we will also find happiness.

Some other words that I came across this week are terminus and bias.  The word terminus means the end of something, like the end of a travel route or the station at the end of it.  The word bias is one that is frequently used in my Media and Everyday Life class.  A bias is a tendency to believe that some people, ideas, etc., are better than others that usually results in treating some people unfairly. 

12B: learning to learn

After all of the practice I had last week with coming up with inquiry questions and college level answers I feel so much more comfortable coming up with more!

A question I came up with to answer is: How would a shorter school day, no homework, and no tests change children?

If schools cared more about actually learning rather than wasting so much time preparing for tests and giving out homework children would value school a lot more.  Since I was in elementary school I have always thought that the school day was way too long!  Some of the day just seems to drag on and on.  These long school days just bore children!  A lot of kids don’t have a very long attention span, so after a while they start to daze off and stop listening.  If the school day was made shorter the kids would be able to take in more information because they would be paying attention.  If they didn’t have to sit in one chair for eight hours they would be able to focus and understand things better. 

 Without tests and homework children would learn for the actual sake of learning, instead of learning something just to pass a test.  I know that sometimes I just memorize something until the test comes, and then I forget all of the information after the test is over.  Without tests students would be more interested in learning for themselves instead of just to get good grades.  Without homework students will enjoy school more, and stop looking at it like it’s a chore.  Some people may argue that without tests and quizzes there is no way to see if a child is learning or not, but memorizing something just for a test isn’t learning either.   

With less hours of sitting in a classroom, having no tests, and no homework, students will actually enjoy learning things.  They will stop looking at school as a chore and will actually enjoy going to learn new things to better themselves. A shorter school day would change children for the better!

12V: Vocab Lesson

in·ter·dis·ci·pli·nar·y  per·spec·tive: involves two or more areas of learning, having more than one perspective on the same subject.

An Interdisciplinary Perspective refers to a comprehensive knowledge of skills which a student can use to find and evaluate information about two or more disciplines.  This is a very important aspect to learn.  This perspective allows a student to look at one subject with more than one perspective.   It helps students understand that there is more than one way to view something.

Some other important words that I came across this past week are dissertation and requisition.  The word dissertation refers to a long piece of writing about a particular subject that is done to earn an advanced degree at a university.  The word requisition is the act of formally requiring or calling upon someone to perform a specific action.

12I: Save the owls

This week while I was walking through the Engleman Hall lobby I noticed a group of girls sitting behind a table.  I’m not going to lie, the first thing that caught my eye were the m&m cookies!  The best way to draw attention is definitely free food!  After eating the cookies I then actually took a look at their project. 

They had a big colorful poster set up that said “Save the Owls!”  Their whole table was filled with flyers all about animal endangerment.  They even decorated the wall in Engleman with awesome animal pictures.  I thought it was so clever of them to name their project “Save the Owls”, since our mascot at Southern is an Owl! 

Even though at first I just stopped by to get free cookies, I really enjoyed everything that was set up at this table.  They used a catchy title and great pictures to make it more exciting!  I could tell they put a lot of effort into this project and really cared about helping save the animals!

12A: Well-rounded

          If you had asked me what the Liberal Arts Program at Southern was a few months ago, I wouldn’t even have an answer for you.  It sounded so complicated when I first heard the term.  Once I started college here at Southern I started to slowly understand what it meant.  I understood that all students had to take a set of required courses to fill the Liberal Arts requirement.  At first, I’m not going to lie; I thought it was a little stupid to waste a whole year on courses that have nothing to do with my major. Over the past week we have had some in depth discussions and readings about the program and my feelings towards it have changed.  Now that I have a better understanding I can see the true value of the Liberal Arts Program.

          The real value of a Liberal Arts education is to help make every student as well-rounded as possible.  In an article that I read called “Liberal Arts Education and the Know-nothing Bandwagon” it said that education is more than training and job creation, it is about developing critical thinking, writing, and communication skills.  I agree with what this article said because if you really think about it these abilities that the article refers to, can all be used in a number of careers, not just specific ones.  Employers these days want a well-rounded person not only skilled in their specific major, but also skilled in the ability to communicate and solve problems on their own. 

          The Liberal Arts Program here at Southern provides students with a basic knowledge of many subjects, not just one specifically.  I think that this program also helps students explore different paths.  Most students come into college thinking they know exactly what they want to do, but then they realize they don’t like the major they thought they would have.  The Liberal Arts program lets students take classes they would not have taken on their own, and sometimes students end up finding a subject that they really love.  I personally, am happy to be at a school with this program.  I know that when I graduate college I will not only be skilled in my specific major, but I will also have a little bit of knowledge in many other subjects.  I will have to ability to communicate and problem solve on my own because of my back ground knowledge.  

“Liberal arts is founded on a whole person, developing a person athletically and academically.  Liberal arts is going international.  The 21^st century is one of entrepreneurship and innovation.  There will not be fixed careers.  The liberal arts teaches you to think outside the box” –Rebecca Chopp President of Swarthmore College.