8A: Admirable Blogs

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Looking through all of the blogs, I found some that were very well thought out and interesting to read, and feel they are worth A or A+ work,(or mastery of blogging.)

The first one is Kali's blog, http://anowlsmind.blogspot.com/.
Looking through her posts, they are full of information that is relevant to the topics and she gives many great examples to go along with it. I also like how she includes interesting photos to go along with all of her blog posts. One of the posts that I found to be really good was 7B: Fighting Failure. It started out with a little humor which I found to be very entertaining to read, and it didn't make it as 'boring'.She said,  "My Algebra professor and I have a bit of a language barrier. I am not 100% sure what his accent is, but it sounds Russian"., and then went on to explain her struggles in math and ways that she could get better and get help with it. This specific post related to me because I am also having some troubles in math right now. You can tell that Kali takes time to write her posts and she is a very creative writer and it was enjoyable to read some of her posts.

The second blog I picked is Sam's blog, http://samanthamonaco.blogspot.com/
Like Kali's blog, Sam's posts are also detailed and relevant to the topic of the post. She separated her paragraph, which made it more neat looking. When the paragraphs are separated and not all in one long paragraph, it definitely shows part of mastery of blogging because you can read them easier and they look neater. At the beginning of each post, she has an interesting hook, which is also great because it really grabs your attention and makes you want to read on. In her post "5B: Surprisingly Easy to Manage Time", that post got my attention because she used bold words as part of her writing to show important parts or parts she thought were interesting. Sam's blog definitely displays hard work and lots of thought.
 
Overall, you can tell that those two blogs I picked, the writers took a lot of effort and time to write their posts and they deserve A+ work, and that they most definitely show mastery of blogging! I definitely look up to their blogs and would love to write mine like theirs because of the way they are written with so much detail and creativeness.

8V: What is Mastery?

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Mastery is defined " knowledge and skill that allows you to do, use, or understand something very well". Usually, mastery takes a lot of practice and in the past we've talked about the 10,000 hour rule, which is practicing something for 10,000 hours before mastering it. Also, using the skill of deliberate practice is a very good trait to have because you can easily master something when you have deliberate practice involved (deliberate practice is practice beyond repetition, and may not be 'fun' practice.)

I think in order to master something, you do need a lot of practice and definitely more practice on the things you struggle with most and your weaknesses. People aren't born with mastery and they have to work hard for it, even if it is hard it will pay off at the end.

Other words I've learned this week:

1. Red Herring fallacy-fallacy in which an irrelevant topic is presented in order to divert attention from the original issue
2. Aptitude- a natural ability to do something.

8I: Office of Study Skills Enrichment

After having my meeting to talk about classes next semester, my major, and any questions I had, I decided to take a trip to the Office of Study Skills Enrichment. Located in Engleman Hall C016, they have a lot to offer. There are workshops for students in order to help with their academic skills and specific questions. You can go for help for any class you need, and bring all your questions to get answered. It is a great tool to use because if you don't understand something, you can get help. On their website, they quote, "OSSE provides supplemental learning assistance designed to promote an efficient approach to study, master learning techniques for success in higher education, and cultivate scholarship." (http://www.southernct.edu/student-life/academic-success/study-skills-enrichment/index.html)

If I ever have a question or think I may need some help in one of my classes, I will definitely come to here because I could easily get help and get back on track right away!

Midterm Rough Draft

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WrpcrwRPYA&feature=youtu.be

7A: Failure is a part of life

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Failure is a hard topic to talk about with most people. As we read last week, nobody likes to talk about their failures, and discuss what they could have done better or to not have failed. They are embarrassed about telling their mistakes. However, in today's day and age people are expected to fail in their life because we are humans and everyone makes mistakes. I think that kids are allowed to fail, because then they learn from their mistakes. Once you do something wrong, and see what you need to do in order to correct it, you know not to make that mistake again.

However, people are definitely pressured not to fail, because a lot of people think that people need to be perfect. For example, some students are pressured by their parents to get good grades, and if they do not, they get straight A's, they get consequences. Then, if that student does fail, he/she will feel as if they did something wrong. That should not be the case. Yes, it is a horrible experience to fail at something, but it doesn't necessarily mean you should give up. Kids are not usually encouraged to fail, although some people/parents may tell their children "As long as you're trying, it doesn't matter". I know my mom says that to me sometimes, so she's not necessarily telling me to fail, but to try my hardest. So telling somebody this means that it's okay to fail, but as long as you're trying your hardest.

In this weeks reading "The Myth of Practice Makes Perfect", it discusses how you need deliberate practice in order to successfully accomplish something. Deliberate practice, being that you it requires effort that is not essentially enjoyable. The article states, "Having given us fair warning, he reveals the secret of deliberate practice: relentlessly focusing on our weaknesses and inventing new ways to root them out." (http://ideas.time.com/2012/01/25/the-myth-of-practice-makes-perfect/) Deliberate practice relates to failure because as I mentioned above, some people are told to "try your hardest". If you are using deliberate practice, then you are trying your hardest and will be able to better yourself.

In the other reading, "The Fringe Benefits of Failure", JK Rowling said, "The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive." (http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination). The role that failure plays in peoples lives is an important one. As JK Rowling stated, failure is inevitable, if you do not fail in your life, then you simply fail by default, because everyone at one point has to fail. No matter what age you are, and what you fail at during your life, it is always a learning experience, so failure is not always at bad thing. You can easily learn from your failures to make them a positive thing and so you may not make the same mistakes in the future. Overall, having failure in your life is something that everyone needs and without it, you may not learn some important things about yourself, or succeed at anything else.

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7V: Failure=success?

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The online definition of "failure" is "an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success." However, many people give different definitions to the word. People think of the world "failure" as a negative, bad word, but can you take your failure and learn from it?

For example, if you fail a test at school, you can learn from your mistake, study harder next time, and get a better grade, right? This weeks readings talked about the benefits of failure and the 10,000 hour rule(practicing something for 10,000 hours before you can fully master something.)  One of the quotes that I liked, taken from JK Rowling's speech on "The Fringe Benefits of Failure" says"The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive." (http://harvardmagazine.com/2008/06/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination). Failure isn't always a bad thing, especially when you have a learning experience with it. So take your failures, and instead of being mad about them, you can make something better out of them and know that everyone has some failures every now and then.

Other words I've come across in this weeks readings are:
Invariably: in every case or on every occasion; always.
Competency: the ability to do something successfully or efficiently.

7I: Stress, be gone!

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This week I took a trip to the campus heath center, and learned all about stress and stress management!

One of the main things that's talked about in college students lives is stress. Stress is a big part of students because they are in a whole new environment, have a lot of work and studying to do and sometimes don't know how to deal with it. It also factors in with your diet and exercise. In order to learn how to manage it, you need to realize when you are in fact stressed. You may start to get sick, feeling like you have a cold, or you may be tired all the time.
Some symptoms of stress, taken from Southern's health center webpage are:

• -Changes in sleep patterns
• -Feeling fatigued
• -Changes in eating habits
• -Being short tempered
• -Recurring minor illness:  colds, muscle aches and pains, indigestion, headaches, backaches (which if stress is left unmanaged can turn into major health problems)
• -Feeling or acting disorganized
• -Fear or anxiety
• -Feeling overwhelmed
• -Forgetfulness
• -Difficulty concentrating

So how do you manage it? For one, you can start with an activity to help you relax. Take a yoga class, exercise regularly, or just sit and listen to music for a while. You should also try your best to eat properly, because we all know when you're stressed all you want is junk food, which will not help the situation. Other ways to help stress are writing down your thoughts/journal writing, talking with friends/family, and manage your time better. If you do all those, your stress should be long gone!


Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 8:00am-4:30pm
Friday: 9:00am-4:00pm

Phone Number: (203) 392-6300 

Website: http://www.southernct.edu/student-life/health/healthservices/index.html