There is always success and failures in every great story. My self assessment blog.

Starting college is always a struggle at first, especially for first year’s students. As for myself I was struggling to keep myself organized and how to divide my time into studying, doing my homework and working. I’ve learned a lot of new things this semester starting with much success but also failures. This semester taught me what to do and what not do to for next semester and taught me a lot of different things starting with myself.

 It wasn’t easy at first because in high school I didn’t really care I just did what I had to do to pass my classes but I never went that extra mile to get an A, I just confirmed with a C. I didn’t push myself and that’s why I was so nervous to start college because I want used to studying and trying my best. It was tough at first but as I started to get the hang of my daily routine it started to get easier with dividing my time everyday for the things I needed to do. As a college student I found ways to and where to study. Before I studied at home, and I have a 2 year old brother who is always running around making noise and I couldn’t rally concentrate so I started to go to the library in which I found is my perfect place to study and get all my work done.

 Once I found a quiet place to do all my work I started to get all my essays done and realy concentrate to do good in my classes. I also found out that I can do good in school if I try, I was just too lazy to open up my notes and study but if I did what I am doing now back In highschool I could have been a great student . College also brought upon a lot of responsibility because its all on us now, professors aren’t chasing you to makeup a quiz or test its all on you, and your grade shows how much you care. Each class is different, For me, Writing and math are easier for me so my learning is more advanced because its all infront of you. When in science classes you  need to do a lot of extra work to understand, but this gives my mind a chance to advance and my brain to expand.

             My biggest challenges so far is procrastination. Since in college they give you so much time for one thing to be due I leave it to the last minute because every day is the same thing “Ill do it tomorrow”. Since I wait for the last minute I get stressed out because I have so many things to do which dosnt give me a chance to go over it and make it as good as I can because I have no time. Another challenge has been balancing work and school because some of my classes give me a lot of work and I usually have work until 9 and by then I’m already too tired to do my work so I put no time to make it perfect. One day I was so stressed out that I couldn’t do anything from then on I decided as soon as I was given an assignment I was going to do it that day just incase I had to improve on something I had the time with nothing being in the way.  Now that I don’t leave everything to the last minute I don’t get stressed out because each day I work on something different so I am not doing a whole bunch of essays and homework in one day. Since I was getting home late from work I cut my hours so after class I would go to work and get out by the latest 6 in which I have a lot of time to relax and get my homework done without rushing. As you get older you find techniques to help you in the future and that is what I am learning now.

            My biggest achievements have been getting thru the semester with everything I have been thru in college. I had to go thru a lot of strategies to get my priorities straight because I wasn’t doing well in all of my classes. I learned how to keep myself organized and how to do well in all my classes. I feel a lot better about myself because I know I’m able to achieve what I want I just need to prioritize my time. College isn’t for everyone but I have big dreams and I want to graduate and reach my dreams, which is what is on my mind right now.

            All of this taught me a lot that is going to help me during my next semester. I’ve achieved a lot during these couple of months and it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. With all the failures I’ve been thru I believe that it helped me be successful too. From here I am going to do everything I possibly can to achieve my dream and graduate as a registered nurse. I don’t know what the future has for me but going thru this experience taught me a lot and I wouldn’t change anything for the world cause this made me grow up.

           

success and failures

College has brought upon a lot of success and failure. My first success was getting into college and getting started being the first step to beginning my career as a nurse. My dream was always to get into college so I can begin the nursing program as soon as possible. I heard Southern had a great nursing plan so that was always one of my choices to get into. School hasn't always been the easiest for me but knowing that this can give me a better life and get a degree motivates me to do my best. The semester is almost over which is my other success finishing strong. The first semester is always hard because you’re not used to all the work and your first getting used to everything and getting back

 to school. Especially from me getting out of high school, having all my classes in one building with people you saw everyday to being close with. In college you meet people from all over the world being more mature and making new friends. Making time for school and work was difficult at first but once I got my priorities straighten out it started to get easier and it made me feel good because I was able to balance everything out and be able to do both the things I need to do. I haven’t really had many failures which is good but when I first started college I wasn’t very organized so I missed a lot of my assignments for not looking in the syllabus. I was so used to having teachers tell me when everything was due not realizing that it was my responsibility to look for myself. I also didn’t study as much as I should have to get the best grades that I can. For next semester I am going to look over my notes everyday and study at least an hour each day to get high grades. This semester thought me a lot of things like how to be responsible and most important to be mature. 

Here we go with our Paper!

I have not started my final project but I started writing down my main ideas in which I want to discuss in my paper. By doing this it helps me think better and it makes it overall better for me to write and brainstorm. I decided to do a paper because doing so many videos; I saw that it wasn’t my greatest strength. Even though you can show your creative side and show emotion, Its more interesting to write a paper because if you make it creative and distinctive its better to read. I am planning to start my paper tomorrow since we don’t have class and I can concentrate to do a great job on my paper. I find going to the library very helpful for me because its quiet and it really helps me concentrate on my writing and it’s my place to study and do my major projects. Writing a paper is hard to be interesting and or distinctive but I plan to make it sound like I’m talking to my audience and show my personality into this essay. I think if there is more personality the more the audience gets more engaged because they want to know your thoughts not some statements towards something or someone else.  I want to make it as interesting as possible, in which I may refer to my older papers and show how I have evolved as a writer over the years. This year I had to write a lot of different essays and papers so I eel like every paper made me a better writer. I physically want to show my past papers so my audience can see it physically in how I am as a writer and post pictures up on my blog along with my paper. Writing this paper will be easier because it’s personal and your writing about yourself and who doesn’t know more about you than yourself? I ant to give as much examples as I can to get the grade I want. 

Mon: Discuss the brainstorming/idea generation portion of your final project. Where are you with it? Where are you going? How are you going to make it interesting/distinctive?

Day of Peace

For my last campus safari I decided to attend the day of peace. It was on thursday at the Lyman Center from 3pm-10pm. The day of peace included a festival of music, dance, discussion, and other similar events. Many clubs and groups performed like the SCSU Dance Team, the University Step Team, and the Symphonic Pulse Dance Company. Music groups also performed as well as students who wanted to read their poetry. It was an event full of different events and entertainment for the students and staff. This was a great way of promoting peace and meeting new people. I really enjoyed myself and it was great seeing all the performances! 

Stress Video!

For this video i really wanted to talk about stress. Finals are coming up and many up as are stressed thinking that we have to study for all our classes. Unfortunately a lot of us don't handle stress too goo including me. What students don't see is the more you stress out the more work your putting on yourself. We all want to get a good grade and that's why we sometimes over think too much and thats when we really get stressed out. Usually when I am stressed out I take a nap so I can just forget about everything and start out with a positive attitude. But for other times I leave it for last thinking that it wouldn't be as stressful obviously being wrong. I honestly didn't know of all the services that SCSU offered for students that needed help with their stress and thats why I decided to do my video on it. I didn't want any student to think that they are alone when they feel really stressed out because all of us go thru it. We all need help sometimes and i really tried to get as many resources and information as I can. This video was different from the others because I believe that these videos will actually help students because its on campus and its reliable information. I hope you enjoy my short video and get as much information and data as you can, especially those who are very stressed out rite now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0M8ui_jj00

Its the End.

Twyla Tharp's book has come to an end. Her book had a lot to do with creativity, at first when I thought of creativity I thought of art but Tharp showed us that you don’t need to be an artist to be creative. Creativity can be anything like the clothes you wear to how you do your hair. Everyone is creative in their own way. I personally don’t think creativity can be thought nor passed down to but its natural, something you create yourself. Creativity is used in every day life like finding a job or simple things like studying. When you study you find ways to memorize what you need to know even if its just reading it over and over again or something more creative like writing  song. These simple things are coming from your mind, which brings creativity. Twyla Tharp works in a blank room with mirrors, which helps her concentrate and gets her thoughts together. By doing this she gets creative, which helps her do her thing. She uses this room to make dance routines and put moves together, which is her way of letting out her creativity. She emphasizes the word PRACTICE because she believes that the more you practice the more creative you get which brings upon success. By the end of the book I really started to see creativity allot different. Everything you do is creative because it’s your own ideas and thoughts that came from you. Anything can be seen as creative no matter how simple it can be. Now that I rad this book I see how creative anything can be, it does not just have to be art but it can be anything you just have to see it in a different perspective which I do now. It's been a great book, Creativity is unique. 

Career Services

This week for my Campus Safari I decided to visit the career counseling center. Whether you are looking for a job or just a student planning your future or selecting a major, the career counselors will help you make a choice.  This great service allows you to meet with a professional to discuss career options, resume writing, interviewing, job search strategies, selecting a major,and any other career- related topic. You can meet one-on-one with a career counselor without an appointment. Walk in hours are only during certain times. Although it is better to make an appointment the office hours Monday- Friday are from 8:30 am- 4:30pm. You can visit them at the Shwartz office 102 or call 203-392-6536. 

Work With the Best

In order to succeed you have to work with the best which was one of Twyla Tharp's exercises. By working with the best you go further because you are working with people or things that help you succeed. Tharp mentions that a composer works with singers, instruments, beats to make the perfect work of art including music. By working with the best you are giving yourself a chance to be where you want to be. For me this week, I worked with some of my classmates that are doing really good in their classes. I studied with them so I got a different way of studying and maybe that can help me in the future to get better grades than I already have. By working with other people or techniques you are learning more things and you are giving your brain and way of thinking go beyond the basics. For example, song writers and singers always untie with other singers/songwriters to make a song because they know they will make a great song because they are joining two different ways of thought to make the perfect song. I think this is very important because you are expanding your way of thought and or ideas and going beyond your comfort zone by experiencing different experiences. Work with the best and you will learn different things and not only that but you will grow as a person and succeed.  

Face Your Fears

We all have a fear even if its being a afraid of spiders or being afraid to talk in front of a big crowd. Some of these fears hold us back from succeeding. In Twyla Tharps's book she mentions 5 main fears we all may have: 1.People will laugh at me 2.Someone has done it before 3. I have nothing to say 4. I will upset someone I love and 5. Once executed, the idea will never be as good as it is in my mind. She mentions these five fears that relate to most of us which hold us back from doing some of the things we want to do. I personally relate more to I will upset someone I love. At least for me I always have my parents in the back of my head thinking that everything I am doing is for me but more for them. I want my parents to be proud of me and that is why I do what I do the majority of the time. I went into nursing for my mom because she always told me to go into it and it was the best choice. Before she had my sister she went to become a nurse but she couldn't finish because she had my sister so all her dreams kind of passed to me. I want to graduate and become a nurse because its all my parents have talked about so I can help them financially and go traveling. These five fears can relate to us in different ways but we may not think about it as much.

SCSU Fitness Center

For this week's safari I decided to visit the fitness center located at the Adanti Student Center on the second floor. The fitness center includes all machines plus fitness classes from Zumba to yoga! Its only $60 per semester and this center is open for all the students, faculty and staff at Southern.This is a great way to stay in shape and take all the classes they offer and have fun doing it.  For any questions or concerns you can contact them at fitness@southernct.edu or call at 203-392-8971.

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Thursday: 7:00 am- 10:00pm
Friday: 7:00am-8:00pm
Saturday: 9:30am-4:30pm
Sunday:2:00pm-7:00pm

Classes can be found at our southern website for the schedule.

Twyla Tharp

For the past two weeks we have been reading "The Creative Habit" by Twyla Tharp. I really enjoy the book a lot its very different from the readings we have done starting with the structure she chose. The way she structured her book was both interesting and different from all writers that I have seen. She has sentences and words with different font or different size so its not like most books that are just paragraphs. I think she chose to do that do catch the readers attention and maybe show us the most important sentences and words. What I related to is she is a dance/choreographer and she mostly compares dance to creativity. Creativity is towards everyone, we all are creative in our own ways like what you wear or how you style your hair shows your creative side. Twyla Tharp uses this book to give us examples of what she uses or thinks creativity is. In class we are talking about creativity and how it involves to us especially being freshman. As I said before we can use our creativity in a way that can help us go further or tie into studying. It really is much different than any other book I have read and i look forward to reading more!

Video Project #2 School Spirit

This Project was quite different  from my last video project. This time we were able to pick our topic having to do with school spirit. What isn't better to show school spirit than our school sports including 7 Men's sports and 10 Women's sports. This video was more interesting to do because we actually got to pick our own topic so we got more involved getting the information and gathering our project the way we want to rather than getting an assigned project. Last week we had a hurricane which effected me because I wasn't able to finish or post my video so it took a little bit longer than I expected it to be. I really wanted to catch my audiences attention and that is why I did or put some of the things I had in my video. Since I was talking about sports I wanted it to look like a newscast so that is why i chose the template so it went more along to sports. I chose music also because I wanted everyone to engage in my information and I know with music it would catch their attention and it wouldn't bore them. The type of music I chose was upbeat something that athletes would hear for their warmup song. I did work hard on this project and I tried to do everything I could to make this video more appealing to the audience. My last video was all interviews and not more informational slides, and i knew students found all interviews being rather boring so I put more information so it would help students get involved with sports which ties into school spirit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg_YFaFMSkg&feature=g-upl