As the semester flies by...

The beginning of this semester was I can say something else. College is way different this high school. And on the first day of my classes you learn that. Some of my teachers just went straight into learning. You have to learn to set your priorities straight. Not going to lie I am still struggling with making sure they are correct. I see myself sometimes waiting till the last minute to do something or put it aside for a while because I don’t want to miss out on what my friends might be doing. But now its midterm time, so far I had my History midterm and it had to be an essay. I am praying it I get higher then a B. I really studied hard and focus for this midterm. But I struggle with writing and getting all my ideas down on paper. So I hope my professor sees all the effort I put in a shows that I know my material. But I feel like she would know that because I make sure to participate and get as little or many points I get can. My next midterm coming up would be my csc midterm, which is all you, have to follow the directions in the book and do it on the computer and you will be fine, in which in class and homework assignments go over it to make sure you learn it. And my last midterm will be my math midterm that is Wednesday. I am really great with Algebra so I am not so worried but in that class I always make little errors on my test and quiz and get the littlest things off. So this week I am going to do as many practice problems as I can and I know as I go into the test to take my time and go over each question when I am done to make sure its correct and there’s no errors. But with the opening of the semester I learned what not to do and what to do so now I hope by the end I will pull out good grades. But it all depends on my focus and time and making sure I can manage it right which I now taught myself how to do.

All Laughs

Ever since I was little I always rocked a smile on my face. I love to laugh and have a good time but as you get older people get more interested into comedians. So I would hear about funny comedians and how I should watch it because I would love it. I thought I would too since I always laugh at non funny things. Over the past year I started to watch comedy shows on Netflix and for some reason they just were not funny to me. I would sit there with a straight face and felt nothing. I heard the John Witherspoon was coming to campus , but I wasn't really interested because I just don't laugh. Tonight as I went open minded the opening act didn't have me laughing. Then 'pops' came out and he had funny jokes that had me chuckling. I got frustrated into thinking why can't I just laugh like other people. Then started to tell a story and I can say I was laughing so hard I was crying. So now instead of watching a comedian on TV for me to get the full effect I learned I really just have to go to the shows.

Failure = Mindset

After reading mindset it opened up eyes to the different mindset. Growth mindset is the belief that basic qualities are things you can cultivate through effort. Fixed mindset is belief that you have a fixed amount of ability or intelligence and cannot change that. I think I have a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. I am fixed mindset sometimes when learning new things if I know something I hate and refuse to learning something over and over again. Like for instances in college, I am taking an algebra class I hate sitting there learning what I learned in high school. I get annoyed and bored. I understand it is an easy A but it just still bothers me and feels like I am wasting my time. But I am more growth mindset to other things like I am willing to learn new things I love to take on a challenge. In the future I wish to be a pediatrician but my mother sees that as a hard thing to accomplish and says I should be a nurse. She’s having a fixed mindset and I am growth because I want to be a pediatrician. Failure is not an option to me. Failure comes into play with mindset. When you have a growth mindset you take responsibility to learn from failure and self improve. When you have a fixed mindset you take less responsibility for your failures. I always see things as if something failed you it helps you grow as a person to keep going. In the book mindset and failure comes into play with sports if you have a growth mindset you will have 10,000 hours of practice and when you fail you will keep going and fix what’s wrong to get better. When your fixed you usually have a natural ability and put less effort in something and when you fail you get discourage and wont try again.

“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.” -Denis Waitley

      Since coming to college there have been many things that I have faced that pushed me out of my comfort zone. Like I am a very outgoing person but in the beginning of getting to know someone I am very shy and quiet to myself. I usually liked to have few friends and be to myself and do my own thing. As being here I had to try and change my ways be this outgoing person I am. I can say I have made more friends here then from living in Shelton for seven years. But I can say it was easy to come out of my comfort zone on campus everyone is very friendly and especially freshman  are on the same boat as me that everyone on campus is new to them they will have to expand their comfort zone to making some friends and meeting new people. Over this weekend for some reason my friends all went home I was literally the only one left on campus. My comfort zone has gone that I am an independent person but for some reason I hate going to eat at Connecticut hall by myself. But with none of my friends here I had to try and find someone to either come with me which I couldn't or just go by myself. So I had to go by myself I felt very weird and came to find out as I got there , there wasn't many people in Conn Hall but I did see faces I did recognize . I wanted to go back to the old shy me but if I didn't want to sit alone I couldn't do that. So I put on my big girl panties and be myself and go up to them and talk, I can say college makes you face a lot of things that make you uncomfortable but if it feels rights go with your gut. If I stayed to my comfort zone as being shy I would be with the few friends I had in high school compared to the variety I have here in college.

Eat An Apple A Day And Keep The Health Center Away

This week I wanted to find a little bit more about our Granoff Student Health Center. Because as you know fall is here and colds are coming at the speed of life. So I wanted to see how it was because when I am sick I will be sure enough to show my face there so I can get treated. As I got there I was very please with there help and all the information they were giving me about different things that occur on campus. They had information on eating disorders, on STDs and other sexually transmitted diseases, and also on how to manage stress. They also have help with rape victims. So don’t ever be afraid to ever go to Granoff Student Health Center.

“Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it.” ― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

In the book Mindset written by Carol S. Dweck, the target of the book is to show the power of out mindset. Dweck is trying to show that not only is it our abilities for us to achieve success its our mindset. In Chapters 1-3 it talks about two kinds of mindsets. First growth mindset, the belief that basic qualities are things you cultivate through effort. Second fixed mindset, the belief that you have a fixed amount of ability or intelligence and can not change that. Growth mindset connects to what we previous learned called intrinsic motivation because with intrinsic motivation is self-motivation, long lasting. I think they connect because when you have a growth mindset you are willing to learn and have no limitation. With having a growth mindset that will help with achieving a dream because you will take responsibility to learn from failure and will look for self improvement you will be giving your self capacity for growth. Fixed mindset connects to extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation is external you depend on earning something in the end and its more for short term goals. I think they connect because when you have a fixed mindset you think you know already so its all you need to know, you wont seek new knowledge, you limit yourself, and you take less responsibility for failures. If you have a fixed mindset with a short term goal you wont set your self short and wont give up as easy as you would for something more long term. With Chapter 8 these mindsets also connect to 10,000 hours what we learned in class. The book talks about an athlete who had a fixed mindset but changed his mindset to being a growth mindset . He figured out with a growth mindset you will put in the in more practice such as 10,000 hrs and with a fixed mindset you have this natural ability and wont put in as much hours into practice.

Ready, Set, Camera, ACTION!

With this video project, it took a lot more time then I had expected. I had two projects due on the same day so I really had to manage my time well. With this video I spent more then 8 hours of putting it together on imovie and this time doesn’t include the time I had to use to get information and ask people around and choose the right people to use in my video. I felt like I showed more information that no matter how many responsibilities you have you can still manage your time to getting those perfect grades. For example, Me , I am just getting use to how to manage my time well and getting all the hours I need to make sure my work is A work. I can say not all the work I do is A work but I am working hard to break my bad habits of slacking off in high school to becoming this great college student. I haven’t made that 360 but I more then 180. But the reason I did this project I worried about when I go back to work this fall at the Hamden edge will I be able to have time well spent. But I think I can. Marcela and Taylor showed me I could they both commute, work and come to southern. Marcela is a senior who use to live on campus and decided to become a commuter so she knows both sides, she has proved to me that it is hard in the beginning you may struggle but you will get the hang and make your schedule perfect. With two projects due on the same day it helped me open my eyes make sure I use my time wisely and put my school work first and with getting this job cut socializing hours never cut your study hours.

http://youtu.be/OvGOKHBiibc