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".