Final Self-Assessment.

So, my first semester in college is over. It’s been a crazy ride. It went by so fast, first of all. Like in the blink of an eye. I still can’t believe it. It actually still seems like just yesterday I was starting high school, singing in the choir, making new friends, falling in love, going through endless trials and tribulations, actually succeeding in my junior year math class, learning a new language, auditioning for a choir, getting into that choir and being apart of a new family, watching my classes powder puff game end in a complete and utter bullshit tie. (We totally won), to my senior outing, hanging out with my classmates, to senior prom. It all went by so fast, much like this first semester in college. I honestly remember being terrified to graduate, leave the comfort of my hometown, my high school where I’d met people that changed my life. I remember thinking freshmen-the first half of my senior year, I could not WAIT to get out of what we all referred to as “hell hole” otherwise known as O.H. Platt High School. Like I said, it was only until the second half of my senior year that I felt this way. Once it hit a certain time of the year, it actually made me sad to think of leaving everyone behind. My senior class was so close. A lot of us had gone to school together since elementary school. We’d been so used to seeing each other every single day for most of our lives. Now, they’re not there anymore, and it’s weird. I’d met amazing people in high school, including my choir director who seriously, changed my life. And I’m not trying to come off cliché, but I honestly never thought of teaching a high school choir, until him. He broke me from my comfort zone as well. I used to be terrified to sing in front of people. Now, I could care less. I never wanted to teach music, I just loved music, it was my way of expressing myself. Now, I’m studying to become just like him. You see, the point of me summarizing my high school career is to show you how far I came in those four years, and how far I’ve yet to go, and how in just four short months, I’ve come even farther. See, I changed a lot in high school. From my confidence level, to my weight and jean size. Both extremely positive, by the way. And I think I’ve changed quite a bit in these four months as well. These four months have been a crazy roller coaster ride, filled with stress, tears, smiles and laughter. Along with lots of “I’m not gonna do this now, I’ll get to it later”, “Maybe I’m not cut out for this?”, “What the hell did I get myself into?”, “I just need some help”, “What could that possibly mean?”, “I don’t even know what’s going on in this class”, “I suck at math”, “I don't care about Neanderthals!” and a lot more.  I found myself wondering if maybe I should have taken a semester off, like the financial aid office had almost forced me to do, but I’m a fighter, I wasn’t going to let them just drop my schedule because they screwed up. I had found an answer to most of the questions I had coming into college. The truth is, I really didn’t think what I got myself into was a wise decision. But looking back on the semester, I know I wouldn’t have it any other way. Yeah, it was hard. Of course its hard, its college! Why did I ever think it would be easy? I recall the feeling of dying to graduate and go to college. Now sometimes I long for the simplicity that high school held. Am I weird for missing high school? Will I be weird when I most likely miss college after graduating? I don't know, maybe to some. But that’s kind of a normal thing for me. I always miss the old days. But I digress, I look back on the past four months, and I feel like I’ve matured quite a bit. Yeah, I procrastinated a bit and that’s my biggest downfall. Hell, I’ve been trying to put off writing this since I woke up this morning, simply because I’m feeling lazy. But when you just start doing your work, it takes all the stress off you. Now, this is just one more thing to cross off my to-do list. (Seriously, I have a to do list app on my phone.) I know now that not putting things off and just sucking it up and doing it, helps you out in the long run. It sucks to get started when all you wanna do is anything but your homework, but in the end, you’ll have less stress and that’s a wonderful feeling. Looking back on the mistakes I’ve made this past semester, I realize that making mistakes is completely human. No one is perfect, so why was I trying to be “super college student?” That’s never going to be me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get better grades next semester by simply just doing my work when it’s assigned! I want to correct a lot of the mistakes I’ve made along the way. I want to try harder. My main goal for next semester is to absolutely ace every single tutorial I have. I want to blow my professor away with my progress and make him proud. I want to come back with a vengeance and prove that I really am a fighter and I’m going to work damn hard for the things that I want. After all, I want to be a great choir director like mine from high school? Well, then I’ve got to work my butt off to get there. So next semester, I’m going to work hard, but am I going to try to be the perfect college student? Absolutely not. I’m still going to hang out with my friends and go to concerts,(which I do all the time, seriously if you saw my twitter, you’d be surprised) and still have fun, while also buckling down and just doing my homework and stop procrastinating so much! I still have to write my anthropology paper. Which is completely outlined already, yet I’m still putting it off because I procrastinate too much. I also chose to write this blog, which is due after that paper! And that paper is due the same day as my next concert I’m going to! So I’m not going to be doing this next semester. The best thing to do would have been to do my anthro paper this past weekend. I’ve still got time, but its possible I’ll keep putting it off. Anyways, I look back on these past four months, and I smile.(I sound like I’m giving a speech at my high school graduation.) I learned so much. I’ve grown. Yes, I’ve made mistakes, but every freshmen in college, every student, every person on the planet has made mistakes. We are only human. I don’t regret the decisions I made, since I didn’t make any decisions that affect my health and well being. Unless you consider staying up later to watch FRIENDS something that affects my health, since its less sleep, but anyways. I feel like the majority of the decisions I made were good ones. I didn’t hurt anyone, I didn’t hurt myself. I did my best and made mistakes but I survived and I’ll do better next semester. Since I sort of know what to expect now, no more adjusting is really needed, so it should get a little easier in that sense from here. I’m excited to start my second semester. But I’m also excited for a well deserved break, as I’m sure everyone is. I wouldn’t change a thing about my first semester, except maybe the night math class, which was totally out of my hands, but I survived that no matter how much I hated it. I had a great experience in my first semester and I really enjoyed myself and its made me like SCSU even more.

Common problems faced by freshmen in college

I like the outcome of my video despite the MANY problems I faced with it. I spent a lot of time on it and I hope everyone enjoys it. I'm so happy that I didn't have to restart the video completely.

Success vs. Failure

It's inevitable. Everyone is going to fail at some point, and everyone is going to succeed at one point. It just happens, it's a part of life. It depends on how you react to these successes and failures that make you better able to cope. This semester has been full of ups and downs for me. To failing math because I have never been good at math, to doing horribly on a tutorial because my practice sessions were not sufficient enough. Yeah, it sucked to see the bad grades on my papers. Grades I had never seen in my life! But it made me want to try harder to get back on the right track. So I practiced more efficiently for my tutorials and my professor continues telling me that I've improved. I've worked harder in math and started giving the professor my undivided attention and brought my grade up. Maybe it's only a D now, but I'm passing. I also ran into a slump where I had gotten the lowest grade on an anthropology test, but I made a comeback in that class as well. Maybe I'm not at the level I'd like to be at yet, but I can only go up from where I am. Some of the successes I've had this semester include beginning to understand everything behind music theory. I had never taken a theory class in my life, so everything was so new to me. But I've gotten to a point where I understand everything, and the class has become more fun than a burden. It was only a burden when I felt stupid and like I was behind, now I feel pretty confident about my final. The point is, you can invest a lot of time into something and still fail, like I did with math. But you need to pick yourself up and try harder and great things can come of it.

Brainstorming for the final!

So our final is to write a final blog post, or make a final video. I'm pretty sure I'm going to write a blog post, because if I make a video, I'll lose my train of thought and start rambling. Plus, technology has not been on my side lately. I also come across better in writing. It just seems like a no brainer to use my strength. There's a series of questions that we should answer or touch upon in our final posts, I'll probably answer most, if not all of the questions, since the post has to be 600 words. Judging by some of the questions, it will really help us get an idea of our overall performance this semester and help us improve on some things for the spring. To decide what I'll actually include in my post, I'll probably answer each question and elaborate a little bit on each and see what answers will really show how I've grown and what I've done in my first semester in college. I've been through some slumps and achieved some pretty great things in my opinion that I'd like to talk about as well, to show that it's okay to fail once in awhile, as long as you pick yourself back up and try again. I'd also like to talk about how I plan to improve next semester, get rid of the things I've done this semester that didn't work, keep the ones that did work, and try to stay on track throughout the whole semester to keep my grades up where I should be. I'd also like to discuss how much more work I'll have to put in next semester compared to this current one. I'd also like to touch upon time management and stress management for sure, since I could use some improvements on that from time to time. I hope my final self-assessment blog post will show the things I've overcome this semester and the things I need to work on and still change for the upcoming one.

“If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.” ~Marc Chagall

In my opinion, Twyla Tharp's book was great. I think we can learn a lot from her. Most of the people in the world today think creativity only exists in music, art, dance or something of that nature. But creativity can be used anywhere, in any field. I think she's trying to show is how creativity can be used in our everyday lives. In education, in relationships, in an exercise routine, in medicine, in basically any career field you can imagine, you should be using your creativity. I also think a lot of her exercises included in the book can help us to trigger our creative thoughts. Something has to trigger you to come up with a new innovative idea, and I think these exercises are very helpful, to an extent. Not every exercise will work for everyone but it's worth a shot right? You should try anything and everything to get yourself into the habit of thinking creatively. I also think that this book can help you learn a lot about yourself, especially through the exercises. One of them, which I previously wrote about, was when you let your mind wander. And when you let your mind wander, you get a closer look into the things that hold a lot of meaning to you. That will help you get a better understanding of who you are. I also loved the chapter about skill. In this chapter she discusses different types of skill within different people, like musicians, dancers, artists, and of course, careers outside of the arts. She also made a list of different categories of skills, like musical skill, dramatic, athletic, painterly, sculptural, psychological, design, theatrical, temporal, motivational, entrepreneurial, promotional, and literary skills. She also defines each skill and what it can be used for. I think it's a great way for people who don't think they're very creative to see that they really do have some creativity they aren't using. In conclusion, I believe being creative is important, not just as a musician, but as a human being, you'd be surprised where you can use your creativity.

Autonomy. Library. Research.

Autonomy means to be independent. Autonomy is a trait that every college student must have. We must be independent. We're in that point in our lives when we're basically on our own. Some are living on campus, so they're already out of the house. But for people like me who are commuting and still living with their parents, it doesn't make the need to be independent any less. My parents don't tell me when to do my homework. They don't tell me what to do. They know that I'm smart enough to do it on my own. And they also know I'm responsible enough to take care of myself when it comes to school. And in our library visit on Tuesday, we learned how to find books online that had to do with the subject of autonomy. We also searched for articles on it as well. I believe that teach applies to us as first year students because we're going to be at southern for the next few years and there is no way we will never have to go to the library. So we need to learn how to use the system so we can find books on our own, autonomy. We also need to know how to search for anything we're looking for, like journals, articles, encyclopedias. It's very useful information for when we need to go to the library and do research for a class. There are also a ton of databases and sources for you to do research on your major. There were tons of music databases for me to look through. And each one was so different so I would be getting so much information from different aspects. I can only imagine how many databases there are for majors like nursing. At any rate, you see, having autonomy, being independent is very important for first year students, also knowing how to find what you need in the library is important for first year students. This way we won't have to ask for help every time we're there, another way to have autonomy.

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think. ~Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

Twyla Tharp says "You're alone, you're suffering and you don't have a good reason for putting yourself through that misery. To build up your tolerance for solitude, you need a goal". I'm referring to the second exercise in the book. This exercise is about having moments of solitude and being okay with it. I've created a list of things I like doing alone. I like reading alone. I like writing alone. I like going for runs alone. I like doing homework in solitude. Sometimes I enjoy just sitting in my room listening to music in solitude. There's probably more but I'm drawing a blank. You see, I don't mind being alone because it gives me a chance to recuperate and straighten out my mind. It gives me a chance to think clearly without the clutter of others words and thoughts crowding my mind. For example, I like to write alone. I can't write a story, a song or a poem with people around. I'd never be able to concentrate. I rarely let people read my work unless its something I'm really proud of. So in order to make something I'm proud of, I need complete solitude. Another example, I like reading and doing homework alone. How can you concentrate on schoolwork or a good book with other people talking around you? You won't get the full idea of the book or be able to do your schoolwork to the best of your ability because you won't be able to concentrate. Twyla Tharp also says "Sit alone in a room and let your thoughts go wherever they will. Work up to 10 minutes a day of this mindless mental wandering." She's basically saying its okay to daydream, and being alone isn't something that should make you feel lonely. Yes, sometimes I'd love to be out with my friends all day and not want to be alone one bit. But other times I enjoy being alone. When you're alone you have time to think and do something you enjoy. You can end up finding something that makes you extremely happy, or at least find your peace of mind.

"Fear is only in our minds, taking over all the time"-Evanescence

Everyone has fears. It's part of being human. A lot of people are afraid of heights, the dark, the ocean, flying in a plane, being alone, perhaps. And these are normal fears that everyone can overcome. When people tell you to face your fears, these are probably the first ones that come to mind, or whatever it is you're afraid of. But after reading Twyla Tharp, I've started to look at my fears in a different light. There are more things that I'm afraid of than just heights, or what lurks in the dark, or spiders. I'm actually afraid of a lot of things. These are my inner demons. I'm afraid of failure, I'm afraid of not accomplishing my dreams, I'm afraid that if I do accomplish my dreams, I might lose some important people in the process. I'm afraid of losing everything I've worked for, I'm afraid of not being good enough, I'm afraid of settling. I'm afraid my loved ones will judge me, I'm afraid of a lot of things. What I need to realize is my loved ones won't judge me and I won't lose anyone if they really care about me and my happiness. I shouldn't be afraid of failure, I should try my best and tell myself that I can do it. I'd rather fail in something I love than succeed in something I hate. I need to realize that I won't settle if I know what I want. I can't tell myself I'm not good enough, I have to know that I am good enough. I need to realize that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to. I will realize these things and I will face my fears. I encourage everyone else to do the same. Life isn't something you should be afraid of, it's something you should embrace everyday and tell yourself everyday "I'm good enough. I will face my fears".

“The thing about creativity is, people are going to laugh at it. Get over it.” ― Twyla Tharp

So far, I've enjoyed reading The Creative Habit. I think it gives a great insight to the creative world to people who may not necessarily be apart of it, or people who don't see themselves as a part of it. It's a good book to read to expand your knowledge and see things in a different light and actually appreciate the creative people and creative thinkers out there who don't get much credit, especially in school. It's terrible to say, but creativity isn't held as high as it should be. It's made me look into my own habits of what I do with my music and made me think a little bit deeper about what I do and maybe should start doing. I've never been the type of person to not be creative, it's just who I am, and part of the reason I've always been so involved in music. But this book also explains that being creative doesn't have to do with just arts. You can be creative in almost any job area in the world, you just have to incorporate your creativity into it. When you're a teacher, you have a different teaching and learning style than that of your colleagues and your students. Therefore, you need to create a way for every student to be able to learn in their own personal way. That goes for a lot f job fields. This book is definitely a good way to get people thinking in a different way and to get the world to realize that being creative is important, and not just in art, dance or music. It's important in so many ways. Society seems to forget about the arts though. They think that learning to play an instrument or learning to draw or dance is not as important as finding what X equals. And honestly, how important is finding X? Where is that going to get me as a musician and music teacher? My student will never need to find X. So why must that be drilled into our heads when it's not necessarily important? I think it's important to be well rounded, and know how to play an instrument, or to be able to draw, or dance as well as being great in science or math or being a teacher. I think this book shows how important creativity is very well. Creativity is not dead.

What makes SCSU a great place to go to school?

I think I like how this video came out better than the first one. I'm pretty satisfied with it and I'm happy I used some effects with this one. The effects made the last one weird and messed up the timings so I didn't use them. I like the effects of the pictures in the beginning of the video the most. I think this video does show what a beautiful campus southern has and explains the amount of diversity throughout campus. I hope you enjoy it!
Pictures from Google
Song; Unity by Shinedown

Thank God midterms are over!

So midterms, huh? Well in high school, they were nothing to worry about. I never even studied in high school! I always did great. But college is a whole other story. You have to actually open your book and read it. Overall, I'm not as satisfied with my grades as I had hoped to be. Of course I tried my best. I never once said "This isn't the best I could have done. I just gave up" I didn't give up, but obviously there were things I didnt understand as well as I thought. I did do my best, but I will do even better for the rest of the semester. So, I'm not completely satisfied, it sucks, but seeing grades that I never saw in high school has caused me to want to try harder. It lit a fire inside me to do my best and go above and beyond what I'm used to. Maybe there were times that I slacked a little bit but still felt my work and effort were sufficient when they really weren't. But I'm not going to beat myself up over a midterm grade. I'm going to let it inspire me to do better. You shouldn't let one grade define you as a student. You're smarter and stronger than you believe and you can always push yourself. And if you're failing a class, you should definitely push yourself so you won't have to take it over again. Just don't let it make you think stupid, you can overcome it. These grades don't show up on your transcript anyways. It would be in your best interest to learn from the mistakes you've made and your final grade will be so much better as a result. And if you have a professor anything like my wonderful music theory professor, then you're lucky. He told us that if we do considerably better on the final than the midterm, then he'll make the midterm weigh less than the final, and it'll help our grade. My professor lives for his students to improve, and that's all you can ask of yourself. So yeah it sucks you failed your midterm, but you can always do better.

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance."-Aristotle

In the past few months, I’ve wandered around campus in my free time and while doing that, I noticed that there are a lot of sculptures and art work all around campus. I think its one of the things that makes SCSU’s campus so beautiful. The one that I like the most is the one outside of Engleman Hall. It’s called H2o: Liquid Zone by mikyoung kim. I think today I realized why it’s called that. When it rains, all the water collects in the base of the sculpture. I really like this sculpture because I’m not too sure what it is. It’s pretty much up to your imagination. You can interpret this sculpture in so many ways. It can look like so many different things. At first, I thought it looked almost like three birds. But now that I know what it’s called, to me it looks like it could be a body of water. Maybe a beach of some sort, because it’s curvy, so that could represent waves. Or maybe a river and the curviness could represent the current. I often walk by this sculpture, just to look at it. I’m not really sure why I’ve taken such a liking to it. Whenever I meet up with my cousin on campus, that’s where we meet up. We just called it “the weird sculpture thing outside of engleman”. But now that I know the name of it, we can actually refer to it by its name, or “the water sculpture thing”. But I digress, this sculpture is a very interesting piece of art work and you can never really be too sure of what it is unless you google it, maybe. But it’s more fun to interpret it in your own way anyways. Any piece of artwork can become anything you perceive it as. That’s what is so great about the arts, everything can be perceived in a different way by different people.

Your professors are your friends, ask questions; they will help.

I recently went to my Music Theory and Musicianship professor during his office hours to ask for help on certain things I didn’t understand in class. He asked me what I was having trouble with, I explained to him the problems I was having. I was having issues understanding divisions of beats, and certain things pertaining to rhythm. He explained everything fluently, and made it much easier for me to understand. I think it benefitted me a lot in the rest of the activities we did with that information and I understood it better for when I took my midterm this morning. I love that professors will take the time to explain things to their students one on one to help them understand what they’re doing in class.

How do you get rid of stress around midterms?

Everyone knows that midterms, exams and finals make people stress out to the extreme. And we all know that stress affects you negatively in so many ways. So it's very important to find something that will take your stress away, especially when you've got a big exam to worry about. So what I did on campus one day, was get my cousin and my sister who both go to SCSU as well, to go to the track with me. The three of us went on a walk/run. Exercise is one of the best ways to relieve stress because it releases endorphins while you're doing it, and endorphins make you feel good. The little exercise session made us feel really good and less stressed afterwards. We got to spend some quality family time, did something that was good for us in more than one way, and felt better afterwards. It felt really good to get out there and forget about all my worries for a little while because all I had been thinking about was my midterms and how nervous I was. Going for a run with two people I'm very close to made me feel a million times better and made me less stressed and less worried about them. I started to feel at ease with the whole situation and I began to think clearer than I had been previously. I realized that I just need to study a little at a time and not just pour it all on myself at once because I won't learn or retain any knowledge that way. And doing everything at once is a great way to stress yourself out as well, but doing everything too late will also stress you out. So I decided I needed to make a schedule of when I would study for my exams and it helped me a lot. The point is, when you're feeling stressed, take a break and do something that will take your stress away and you'll feel so much better.

How am I doing? Midterms...

Looking back on the first half of my semester, I felt like I did all right in my classes. I feel like I could have done better. I think I could have studied harder for tests, I could've listened better or tried harder on homework. I also think I could've talked to my professors more if I was having a hard time with something. I'm going to do my best the second half of the semester and keep that going throughout my entire college career. I'm not saying I did terrible the first half of my semester, but I don't believe I did the best that I could. I mostly think that's because I needed to adjust to college life, but partly because I may still have the "senioritis" mentality from high school. Those are two things I need to overcome on my own, and I think I'm starting to, and I believe that will help me do better for the rest of the semester. My goals for my first semester were to do well, to get at least B's in my classes, because I want to adjust still. Hopefully I'm getting good enough grades. I also wanted to make sure I had time for myself and time to have fun. I didn't want to just do homework and have no social life, because no one wants that, especially as a college students. Besides, that's a fast and easy way to burn out. You have to set aside time for yourself and time for your schoolwork and time for a job, if you have one. I'm hoping that when I see my midterm grades, I will be satisfied. Once I see my grades, maybe I'll be less stressed out. At least, that's what I'm hoping for. But at any rate, I plan on doing better for the rest of the semester, and the rest of my time in college. I don't want my college career to get screwed up because of one bad semester, so I think I need to step up my game.

Majors Expo

On Wednesday, I went to the Majors Expo to learn about my major and other majors that SCSU has to offer. Naturally, I went to the table for my major; music. I had a wonderful conversation with a man from the music department about everything they have to offer. He explained to me all of the requirements a music major has, he also explained that free lessons are offered to music majors. I definitely plan on taking voice lessons, or piano lessons. Even though I do both, there's always room to grow. I also visited the theater table. They told me about the show they are putting on this month. I also got free tickets to the performance! I enjoyed learning about my major and different majors and I wish I could have stayed longer but I love knowing more about my major than I did before. I also like learning about other majors, in case I ever wanted to change my mind. I think it's a good idea to explore different avenues just in case things didn't work out. I hope everyone went to the majors expo and learned some new things.

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone"-Neale Walsh

When you push yourself out of your comfort zone, and it ends up being worth it or something not as bad as you once thought, it's a great feeling. I'm not a fan of roller coasters. Mainly because I'm afraid of heights. I freak out and go completely numb and can't move. But this weekend, I went to six flags, and I forced myself to go on Batman. I'm not gonna lie, I was freaking out. My sister and boyfriend told me it wasn't that bad, there were no flips, which was a lie! There were quite a few. They were just trying to get me on the roller coaster. After I got off the ride, it ended up not being as bad as I thought. I enjoyed it, actually. I had a rush of adrenaline. I wanted to go on again. It felt good to step outside of my comfort zone for once. I feel like that's something everyone should do, Step outside of their comfort zone. You never know what good could come out of it. I just sort of conquered my fear of heights, I've still got a ways to go. But you could accomplish something great if you take a risk and take a shot. You could get a promotion at work, or get a better grade on a test. You could end up in a great relationship with someone you've been interested in for awhile, if you just tell them how you feel. Besides, taking risks makes your life exciting, and no one wants to live a boring life. You want to have fun, so do something out of the ordinary. Take a risk. Just don't do anything that could get you arrested. That's not exciting, that's just expensive. So take a chance, you never know what could happen.

Failure shouldn't be what defines you, you should be what defines you.

Failure should be seen as the motivation to do better next time. Failure should never stop you from following your dreams. Everyone fails or makes mistakes at some point, but you have to learn from your mistakes to be better. Think about the music you listen to. All those musicians probably went through a period of time where they didn't think they were good enough because they made mistakes and failed something. But look where they are now. They achieved their dreams. Think about doctors or nurses. They have to work so hard to get where they are, and they have to work really hard everyday. Not everyone can deal with the things they see and go through everyday. But that's what makes them special and important. But in high school or college, they might have failed an anatomy test or chemistry test and thought they couldn't do it or they used it as the motivation to try harder. Think about an artist. They work really hard to fine tune their drawings or paintings. They make sure every line is perfect. There were probably times where their picture didn't come out right or it didn't go into the school art showcase and it made them feel like it wasn't good enough. They can either let that ruin them or try harder on the next picture. Think about all the athletes that you look up to. They worked so hard getting into shape and working on their skills. If they had a bad game, they wouldn't let it get to them. They'd try harder next game. The point is, you shouldn't let failure define you. You should let it encourage you to do better, push yourself to your limits and see what you can do. Failure isn't who you are. It's a part of life, but you can always turn it around.

Growth mindset vs. Fixed mindset

So we've started reading a book called Mindset, and its all about the two mindsets that people have, fixed or growth. As I was reading, it kind of opened my eyes to the reason behind why people are the way they are. People with the fixed mindset won't put in any effort if they feel like they won't succeed, and people with the growth mindset are always pushing themselves. Reading this book also inspired me. It made me realize that sometimes I take on traits of the fixed mindset and I don't want to be there. It inspired me to always push myself even when I get in those moods where I feel like I can't accomplish something. This book basically tells you that you can accomplish and be anything you set your mind to, if you change your mindset. It shows that people with the fixed mindset will beat themselves up about things they do wrong, won't listen to constructive criticism, they won't put in the effort if they feel like they won't succeed because they want to look smart and successful and don't want to fail for fear of looking inferior. But people with the growth mindset will be successful because they will put in the effort, they will work harder when they get a not so good grade or critique on what they put out, and that's why they are successful. They won't dwell on what they did wrong, they'll fix it. I think every student and everyone in general should have a growth mindset. We can always push ourselves, we don't have to limit ourselves because we messed up one time. If you put in the effort, it will get recognized and you'll be happy with your end result. We never know what we're capable of until we try.

Healthy Living

I'm very satisfied with how my video came out. I think it is informative on living healthy and hopefully will encourage some of my classmates to change their lifestyle. I think I managed my time very well while creating this video. I hope you enjoy it!

SCSU's Women's Health and Fitness event!

On Wednesday, I attended the Women's Health and Fitness event the Wellness Center was hosting. While I was there, I got my posture checked out by a chiropractor, I got blood sugar, blood pressure and my chorlesteral checked. I enjoyed healthy snacks and got a Reiki massage. Reiki is basically "energy work" and a deep relaxation. Usually the sessions are an hour long but I got to experience a 10 minute session and it was quite refreshing. I also got some information on no equipment workouts, courtesy of the SCSU Fitness Center! I really enjoyed my time at the Women's Health and Fitness event. I think it would have been a great thing for every girl on campus to attend.

My weekly schedule

In INQ class, we did a study on time management. We were asked to write down our weekly schedule. It taught me a lot about how I spend my time. I realized I spent quite a bit of time watching tv, which I rarely do. But I enjoy doing it with my parents. We do more talking than watching anyways. I spend a lot of my time listening to music, doing homework and working out. 3 things that I believe are very important. I enjoy being healthy, I love music, obviously, and of course I have to do my homework. I found myself procrastinating to do my homework sometimes. I was either too tired or just wanted to do something else but I forced myself to do it that way I could nap if I wanted to, or do whatever else it was I wanted to do. I think if I were to change my schedule in any way, I'd want to spend more time studying and doing what I'm supposed to. But I also wouldn't want to be up to my ears in schoolwork, so I'd also like to plan more fun things to keep me hanging on throughout the week. But if I procrastinate less, I'll be less stressed and be able to have more fun during the week. Which is always a good thing. You never want to work too much and have no social life. I actually think I planned my schedule pretty well this week, if I can continue to do that, then I will be less stressed and college will be much easier in the long run. Time management is very important for everyone, especially college students and especially first year college students. Since we need to adjust from the transition from high school, where we had little to no work and did little to no studying, to having tons of homework and actually needing to study. When I was in high school, I never needed to study. If I payed attention in class, I did well. When I had homework, which was rare, I did it and that added to my grade. I didn't have to worry about time management. But now I do, and I'm starting to manage my time much better now, and I think writing my weekly schedule down helped.

What will my video project be on?

So we've been assigned a video project for INQ. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about what I would do my project on. I had a ton of ideas but I think I've decided what I will do my project on. I've decided I will do my video on healthy living. Being healthy is something that is important to me. I work out almost everyday, I eat healthy. I think it's especially important for first year college students to learn about healthy living as well to avoid the "freshman 15" but I think healthy living is something everyone could use more education on. Even people who live healthy everyday! There's always room for improvement. I plan on asking questions like "how important is being healthy to you?" "How often do you exercise, even if its just going for a walk?" "Do you consider your diet healthy?" "Do you get stressed often?" "Did you know stress can lead to weight gain?" "What things do you think you could change so that you become healthier?" "Do you think you eat a healthy and balanced diet?" And so on. I'd also ask about other things that add to a healthy lifestyle, as in "How often do you hang out with friends and laugh?" "How often do you relax?" "What relaxes you?" "Would you say you're a happy person?" And so on. I believe that being healthy is one of the best ways to enjoy life, because when you're healthy, you feel good. And who doesn't want to feel good, and look good as a result of that? Coming from someone who lost a ton of weight when they decided to become healthy, I have never felt better in my life! I want everyone to feel this way! It's a rewarding feeling, and I'd love to help people feel that way as well.

I be up in the gym just working on my fitness! SCSU gets fit!

Today, I visited the SCSU Fitness Center. I got some information on classes, operating hours, and everything else anyone would want to know if they planned on joining. Their hours are pretty good for anyone who would want to join. Monday-Thursday, they're open from 7am-10pm, on Friday, they're open from 7am-8pm. On Saturday, they're open from 9:30am-4:30pm and Sunday, they're open from 2pm-7pm. The price is also very reasonable. It's $60 per single semester or during the fall, you can purchase 2 semesters for $120, but they only take your Hoot Loot so make sure there's money on there! I also got a list of the classes they offer. I think the class I'd be most interested in taking would be Zumba, which is at 7:15-8:15 pm on Mondays, Tuesday's, and Wednesday's. I definitely think anyone who wants to join the SCSU gym really should. It's a great value and a great way to get fit!

I love my classmates' blogs!

Reading through some of my fellow students’ blogs, I felt like I got some insight into who they were. Every blog I read was very interesting. There was some that definitely stood out to me. Aliyah’s blog was one. I read all of her posts and they were all very interesting. Especially the one that she wrote about moving from Bridgeport to Shelton. I could relate to that because I had to move and leave friends before too and it is anything but easy. I also enjoyed her post about moving into college and she listed all of the things she would miss about home. I think that’s definitely a common feeling between freshmen living on campus, and as a commuter, you don’t really get that feeling. I feel like her blog deserves an A because its personal, but factual also. Someone else’s blog I particularly liked was Beata’s. She used great language in all her posts. The post about her mother really touched me. That’s how you know you’re a great writer, when you can write something that strikes up a certain emotion in someone, and that post did exactly that. It actually started to bring tears to my eyes. I also loved that she included that she can speak fluent Polish in her blog. I’d love to hear that sometime! I think Beata’s blog deserves an A as well because she’s a great writer, and very creative. She knows how to stir up emotions in you. At any rate, I was very impressed with all my classmates’ blogs. I would definitely just go through and read them anytime I got bored or had some downtime. I think everyone in my INQ class is interesting and very smart people and I’m glad I get to share two classes with them and get to know them.

What will help you in college?

Some of the tips that I’ve gotten from people over my first few weeks as a college student that I think will really stick with me are ways to manage your time, how to take initiative with your professors and in the class room. One thing I definitely think would be helpful for some students, me included, if I was ever presented with this issue is to let your professor know you will be late to class because you only have ten minutes to run from one building to the farthest building from it. Also, something every student should do is take initiative with their professor’s. If there is something you don’t understand in class, you should ask your professor after class or during office hours for help. Especially if it’s something vital for the rest of the class. Your professor will be more than happy to help you. I plan on visiting my music theory professor during his office hour for help on certain parts of the class that is the base for everything else we will be learning. Another thing every college student should do is take initiative in the classroom. Answer every question you can, say something if you have something to say. That is something I must start doing. I have to start taking initiative in the classroom and start sharing my opinion and say something if it comes to mind and has something to add to the discussion in the class. Also, every college student must learn to manage their time. For me, it’s been hard at times. To go from the transition to never having homework as a senior to all of the sudden constantly having homework is crazy. I had all electives my senior year, so I never had any homework, now I have homework for every class and its always more than one assignment. I just need to manage my time correctly and everything can get done without any problems. I believe once a student has all of this down and more, they will do great in college.

SCSU Radio Station

For my campus safari this week, I thought it would be interesting to visit the school’s radio station’s website. But come to find, there was nothing on there. There were no shows for me to listen to. Other people had said that there hadn’t been anything up the previous week but I thought there would be something up now. Hopefully, by next week, they will have some shows up and running so other student can enjoy it. I’m sure a lot of people are looking forward to it, as am I. I never thought a college had a radio station. I encourage people to go to SCSU’s radio station website and listen to something when they have started.

"To do something that you feel in your heart that's great, you need to make a lot of mistakes. Anything that's successful is a series of mistakes"-Billie Joe Armstrong

To be successful, you must learn to work smart, and work hard. Working smart means making a plan and working hard means working the plan. That relates to what we talked about in INQ about taking initiative. In order to be successful, you must take action. Whether it’s with your professor in college or in your college classes or if it with your boss, when you have a great idea and know you deserve credit or a raise for it. Life is all about taking action, and chances, and those risks will help you become successful. To also be successful, you must keep your mind on your work and stay focused. In the article, ‘Debunking the Myth of Multitasking’, the author talked about how multitasking can affect your productivity. Many students do their homework while watching television, or listening to music. While they may think it helps them concentrate, and I will admit, I have said that music helps me concentrate, it really throws you off. I never actually thought about it until reading this article, and then when I tried to get some homework done while listening to music, I found myself stopping periodically to sing out the lyrics to what I was listening to. Continually doing that, will not make my homework get done faster. See, the point is that some people, especially today’s youth, don’t understand what it takes to be successful. You can’t just make a plan and expect it to work right away. You have to work hard in high school to get into college, you have to work hard in college to graduate and get a good job, and even then you have to work hard to keep that job. To be successful, you must learn that you are going to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone learns from them. The people who work smart, and work hard learn from their mistakes and turn them into positives, that will help them on their way to success.

"They say its never too late to stop being afraid"-Shinedown

When asked about a difficult task you have overcome in your life, naturally, you would talk about the loss of a loved one. Yes, I have lost family members, but I won’t be talking about it, because it’s a touchy subject for me. However, I will take you back to March 29^th, 2012. That was the date of my school’s talent show last year. I know what you’re thinking. “How does being in a talent show compare to the loss of a loved one?” It certainly doesn’t, but it was difficult for me, and as I said before, I don’t like talking about death. I’ll start from the beginning. The auditions were in February 2012. I really wanted to be a part of the talent show because it was my senior year, and I wanted people to see the real me. So, despite my terrible stage fright, I auditioned. I was so nervous, practically shaking through the whole song. This is weird because I’ve sung in front of people many times before, but as a part of my schools choirs, not by myself. It was completely new to me, and totally out of my element. I ended up making it in the talent show. To say the least, I was surprised. I was really excited, however. I knew it was something I needed to do. I’m a performer, I needed to get over my stage fright once and for all before college, because I knew more opportunities would come along. So now its March 29^th, 2012 at 7 pm. I’m back stage. I’m nervous and freaking out and everyone around me is trying to calm me down saying “You’ll be fine, don’t worry, just don’t look at the audience, look above them”. I’m still nervous. The show starts. I’m the 7^th person to go on. The first six people are all great, and now it’s my turn. I step out on stage and I can’t even see the audience, all I can see is this bright white light shining on me. I took a deep breath and started to sing. Once I stepped off stage, I had a huge adrenaline rush. I was so happy I did it! It was exhilarating. I was proud of myself for getting out there and doing it. If I hadn’t, I probably would still be beating myself up about it. I feel like that experience will definitely help me while in college. I’ve become less nervous to sing in front of people. It has become second nature almost. I learned a lot from that experience. I learned that even if you’re afraid, it shouldn’t stop you from following your dreams or doing something you really want to do.

What is stress?

Today, during my break, I went to the health center on campus. I asked for some information about common health problems faced by college students. One of the things I got the most information on was stress. What is stress? Stress is an emotional/bodily reaction to physical, psychological or emotional demands. This will definitely happen when you’re first starting college. I’ve definitely already felt some stress in the first week or so. What causes stress? Many things cause stress, such as major life changes, daily hassles, as well as the expectations we put on ourselves, the expectations of others, our physical environment and our internal environment. Some symptoms of unmanaged stress are; increased heart rate and blood pressure, irritability, fatigue, depression, lack of interest and ability to concentrate, avoidance behaviors, abuse of alcohol and other drugs. After reading about all the negative affects stress can have on your body, I wondered what things you could do to relieve stress. One of the biggest things was laughter. Humor and laughter can enhance your mood and bring happiness to your life, while strengthening your immune system. A good laugh can also reduce stress, lower blood pressure, elevate mood, boost immune system, improve brain functioning, protects the heart, connects you with others, and makes you feel good. There was so much information about how to reduce stress and to relax, and I think it will definitely help about a lot of students to visit the health center and get some information on stress and stress relief. They also give you a little stress kit, which I was particularly excited about.

What direction will my blog be going?

 

Over my years of "surfing the web" and since starting college and this blog, I've come across a blog or two. What I've noticed with a lot of them is they happen to be a series of complaints about world issues or what's going on in the author's personal life. But others that I've read had a specific purpose. They were made to advise about a certain topic, such as health and exercise or a celebrity, or something of that sort. Other things that I’ve noticed are that some of them tend to be just a place for people to record their thoughts and opinions in an inoffensive manner. What I've decided to do for my blog this semester, is to record my thoughts, opinions, and whatever else I may write about in a friendly and reasonable manner. I wouldn't want to offend anyone, but I don't mind disagreements. I've decided my blog will basically become a diary if need be, but I certainly will not be complaining. I found it repulsive when all an author did was complain. Why would you want to read a blog like that? I'd rather read a blog with a happy mood, which is why I've decided my blog will be upbeat, and personal when it needs to be. I don’t feel like a blog should be used to criticize the whole world. I feel like it should be a creative outlet for people. After deciding the direction I wanted my blog to go in, it made me very excited to blog more. I became excited for future assignments, which sounds kind of weird, but I’ve never had to blog for school before, so that in itself is pretty exciting to me. Since I already have a personal blog, blogging for school will just be another way to get my thoughts out.

What is college?

What is college?  To me, college is an opportunity for a better life, a step closer to following one’s dreams. Going to college can accomplish many things for someone. You will obviously gain knowledge, learn responsibility, learn to take care of yourself and manage your time wisely. Which is something not necessarily taught in high schools. Being a college student also means you must commit to your classes. You must make time to do your work, as well as make time for friends and family so you don’t go insane from all of your academic responsibilities. For me, presently, I believe that attending college was something I needed to do, not only to get a higher education, not only to get a better job in the future, but to grow up. The experience of being in college will definitely be an exciting one, between the late night cram sessions for midterms and finals to learning all this new information in a new atmosphere. Like most students, I have set goals for myself for my first semester in college. I plan to work hard to pass all of my classes, to retain all the information I can, to make new friends and become a better person and student because of it. While I am excited to be in college now, I am also a little worried that it may become overwhelming. I am worried that I won’t be able to handle it or that I will become so stressed out that I won’t even be able to function. I know with the support of my friends and family, though, I will be able to handle it. So far, the impressions I’ve gotten from my classes are all very good. The only class I truly am worried about is anthropology, and that’s because I never knew and still don’t really know what that is. I’m hoping it won’t be too bad. All I or anyone else can ever do is try their best, and I believe that as long as you try your best, you can never go wrong. At any rate, I think college will be a fun and great, as well as sobering experience. It will definitely make the most immature person grow up. I think my time at SCSU will be exactly what I need in my life, not only for the future but for the present as well.