Video #3, Freshman 15.

For our final blog post, I wanted to try to make this one my best. I thought the topic was very interesting and could be done in so many different ways. I chose the freshman 15 and I’m happy with the way it came out. At first when I knew we had to make a skit, I was nervous because I hate doing that. But it ended up going very well and I had a lot of fun with it. I think I did a good job with explaining the problem, especially in the skit. That’s how many students are at southern because of the many options available. I could have included a little more information about the solutions, but I feel like what I did was enough. I also didn't want it to go over five minutes, so I had to cut a little out. Overall, I am very happy with myself with how this video turned out. I was so used to the technology used so it came so easy to me.

Creativity and Tharp's Perspective.

Tharp’s perspective is something that is very unique and creative. From her book, we can see how important creativity really is. Creativity is being able to use your imagination or come up with multiple different ideas to something. It’s the ability to think deeper about something. We gain so much knowledge about how important this is and also we realize things that we would never think about before reading the book. Like accidents. I liked this part because we realize that in order to be creative, we need to be prepared for something unplanned to happen. The creative aspect comes into play when you need to be able to think of a way to fix it. We can incorporate this into our everyday life when something unexpected happens in school work, or anything else. We shouldn’t just get bummed that nothing went as planned, while instead we should think of new options. Teaching creativity is hard, which is why it’s not taught in schools. It’s more of a personal thing. Not one person has the same creative habits as the other. It’s all personal. But, it can and should be taught to express it. Expressing creativity is so important and should be done more often instead of pushing people away from their creative self.

We need to attempt to be more creative. As an individual, I think I am personally a pretty creative person. It is important to surround yourself with creativity. People shouldn't be afraid of what others think. They shouldn't be afraid to take risks, to be wrong, to accept challenges or to come across failure. This is important because it shows how each person is different. You shouldn't be afraid to express yourself because of the fear of being judged. We need to become aware that there isn't only one way to do something. 

Autonomy.

                From our class in the library today, I learned a lot of useful information that I will keep in mind throughout my time here at southern. This was only my second time at the library, and the first I only walked in for a few minutes. Our assignment today was to search for a book on anatomy, find a journal article, and a definition of it on an online dictionary of encyclopedia. The book I found on anatomy was called “Anatomy of Public College”. The journal article was really interesting that I found. It was called “Faculty Motivation and Scholarly Work: self determination and self regulation perspectives”. This article was very interesting. It talked about motivation and how to fulfill basic needs of an individual. If you put your mind to something, you can get it done. It’s as easy as you are willing to make it. Anatomy is defined as “free will; self governing, ability of a person or a group to choose a course of action. Autonomy is a basic human right and is one of the principles of bioethics.” (oxford dictionary). Autonomy definitely applies to any first year students. As a first year student, you learn your own time management and what works the best for yourself. First year students need to discover themselves as an individual. You gain a lot of independence as a first year student, which is a part of what autonomy is. Autonomy is commonly defined as self determination, so as a first year student, you realize how important it is to be able to be able to get things done by yourself, and know what pushes you to do something. This is all very important for first year students to gain knowledge on, because it will only help them out throughout the college years. The lesson on autonomy today in the library I think was a very well start to our lesson on it. 

Campus Safari #16: Career Counseling

For this week’s campus safari, I went to the school’s career counseling. I gathered some information while I was there. The office hours are Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 4:30 pm. It is better to make an appointment, but sometimes if you just walk in they will have some available space. At the career counseling services you can talk to someone about anything career related. They will help you with anything like selection a major or finding a job. From what I saw I think this service would be very useful to many students. It will help them out so they feel like they have someone to guide them to the right direction career wise, because this is a common struggle for most students. 

Brew Ruts into Grooves.

On pages 208-209 in The Creative Habit, I chose to do the exercise call Brew Ruts into Grooves. In this exercise, I had to pick a bad habit and do something to make it “good.” Bad habits aren’t meant to be eliminated completely right away; you just need moderation, which is exercising the groove. A bad habit I have is chewing too much gum. I can easily call it an addiction. Throughout the day, there will be countless moments where I need to be chewing a piece of gum just to be able to function correctly. This especially occurs when I’m stressed out. To make this habit worse, I don’t just chew one piece of gum then I’m all set for a few hours. I chew multiple pieces of gum, one after another. I’ll chew a piece then put a new one in not even a minute later. I constantly find myself chewing and spitting out gum in a constant cycle. I buy gum so often, and I need to make sure I have a 60 piece pack of gum with me always.

Habits need to be slowly fixed. To make this habit “good”, I limited the amount of gum to be put into my mouth. I made sure once I started to chew a lot of it, I had my sister take the gum away from me so I wouldn’t chew any more. This was honestly so hard for me to do. I felt lost and like I was missing something. Thinking about it now, I realize this is a good thing to do. I know limiting my gum chewing habit is for the best, and by trying to slowly fit it will really begin to become easier. I made sure that each day I would have my sister take the gum away sooner. It was so hard, but I’m glad that I took part in this exercise. 

What Are Your Fears?

Everyone has at least one thing that they’re afraid of, that holds that person back. There’s one simple solution to this. Face them. I know that sounds so difficult, because even I have a hard time facing my fears, but it’s the only way to get past them. My biggest fear is change. I’m afraid of changing something that has been set in stone in my life, into something completely different. I just can’t do it. Change stresses me out so much even just thinking about it. Even if it’s just a simple thing like updating my phone to new software… I refuse to do it, just because it will look different. I need to tell myself that change is good. It opens you up to more things in life.

I’m also afraid of opening up. This is weird for me to write about this, because I never even talk about it. So I guess in a way I’m facing that fear right now. I always have a hard time telling someone something deep or personal. I just feel weird about it, so I just hold back and keep it inside. I usually begin to start telling someone, but I start to panic and just say “never mind”. I get mad at myself always, I say “wow that was the perfect time to bring it up, and I missed my chance”. Opening up is just too hard to do. But, I know it’s best. Opening up makes yourself and the other person closer, and so that person has a better understanding of where you are coming from. This is something I need to work on.

My last major fear I have never figuring out my life. What if I never find something that interests me? What if I go through college only to end up with no major? What if I spend my life working part time jobs just to get by? These questions constantly consume my thoughts. It’s so hard to picture myself later in life, with a career that I’m happy with. I have absolutely no clue where I want to end up in life, and that’s what scares me. I need to tell myself that this stage in my life is the beginning point to finding my path. Everyone find themselves. It may take longer than most people, but I will eventually figure of my place in life.  

Campus Safari #1: Talk to a Professor

For this week’s campus safari, I got in touch with one of my professors. Dr. Olumide, math 95 section 10 professor, has his office hours on Monday at 515-615. If you can’t make it that time, other times can be arranged by appointment. His email is olumidek1@southernct.edu. I have taken advantage of emailing him multiple times this semester. I asked him two questions. I missed one of your quizzes, can I make it up? And how important are small quizzes in effect to my grade? In answer to the first question, he told me that there are absolutely no make ups for quizzes, except if you have a document or note. I wish I knew that because the quiz I missed, I had pink eye and couldn’t make it to class. It’s good to know now though. To answer the second question, the quizzes are only 20% of the grade in his class. He said he will continue to give out more of them to help boost people’s grades. Asking him these questions that I wasn’t sure about really did give me a better understanding of this course. 

The Creative Habit

                When I first started reading “The Creative Habit” by Twyla Tharp, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. At first, the first chapter didn’t really make me interested to keep my attention. As I read a few more pages into the book leading to the next chapter, I started to like it a little more. I’m not a huge fan of all the personal connections, yet they do help me understand what she is trying to say. In chapter two, I did find myself pretty interested though. When she started off talking about how rituals are the beginning of the creative progress and how they are a reminder that you are doing the right thing. I never thought of it that way, and it made me think of my rituals. I realized that they actually do remind me that I’m doing the right thing, even though I’m not thinking of if that way.

                She then talks about DNA and how it is kind of like your creative hard wiring or personality. I do agree with this. Its kind like where all your creative genes are stored. We are all made differently, not one of us is made up the same way. We all have different creative parts about us, it’s what makes everyone their own person. Still, I’m not a fan of what she added in at the end of the chapter in the “exercise” and “creative autobiography” section. The memory chapter of the book was also interesting. I have an awful memory, and I liked reading about all the different types of it. As I continued reading more chapters in the book, I slowly started becoming less interested. I think this is because of all of the personal connections. She could have easily left these out. But putting that aside, the main topics or ideas are very interesting to read and become aware of. 

Video Reflection

                This video assignment was definitely more difficult than the first one in my opinion. It took me a long time just to figure out what my topic was going to be. After I decided on one, it was still really difficult. But once I finished and I was in the process of making, it actually started to get easier. I think it turned out pretty decent. The last video I used iMovie, and this one I used movie maker. So, it took me a long time to figure out how to use the program, which made it so it was my first time making a movie. I think one of my strengths is that the text slides have interesting affects and are easy to read. Also, the music fades out nicely and doesn’t just stop randomly. I also like the interview I put in, because it gives someone else’s opinion. For the interview, it was taken while driving in a car, which went along with the theme of the video. I think that added a nice touch to it.

                All videos will have weaknesses. I think one weakness in this video is that it’s kind of a boring topic I chose. There was not a whole lot to include, so I feel like it was kind of just repeating itself. Compared to my last video, I think this one flows a lot nicer. I made it so there was less to read on the slides, because my last one had too much text. I definitely made some progress, even though I used a different movie program. I felt more experienced and knew what would look good and what wouldn’t look good, so I kept that into consideration. For the next video to come, I feel like I will improve even more, making a more advanced and interesting video. Here is the link to my finished video: