Southerns Radio

I went to the Southern Connecticut School website and found out they do not have much information on their page. As far as events go, they showed many links and posters for Sinfest. Which past this last Thursday outside of Conn Hall. They have information up on how to get BOMB tickets and other prizes you can win. They had information about times the radio aired. The times consisted of; Monday: Full radio 6:15-7:00 PM, Tuesday: WTF are you listening to? 6:15-7:00, Wednesday: Radio Stevie 6:15-7:15, and Thursday: Mixdown Mixup where they will announce winners for a game they play. However, this is only for this week. In addition they had an Eboard with news on it, although there was nothing on it. As far as actually listening to it, either it does not work or I cannot find the right place to play it. All in all, I was not impressed.

Video Work Up

For my video assignment I chose the Topic of time management. To me this seemed like the most logical topic to pick, mainly because this is something I personally struggle with. Therefore I figured if I did “research” and interviews with students, faculty/staff, and older students it would be a great opportunity for me to learn more. By hearing a vast majority of others opinions and strategies I can see all ways others manage their time and find which ones would work for me. So this video will not only be helpful to others, but it will also help me in the process.

            When thinking about the questions I would ask, I could only come up with a few essential ones. This is because it’s more about the variety in answers than the variety in questions. It’s one main idea or question that everyone could have a different answer to. Some questions I would ask include:

1.)    What is your biggest set back in managing your time?

2.)    What does your daily/weekly schedule consist of?

3.)    Do you have a set schedule or do you go with the flow?

I have many more questions but I don’t want to spoil the whole video!

Anyways these questions are important to first year students because I believe that is one of the biggest struggles new college students face. This is something every individual needs to work out for themselves and perfect to ensure they can use it in the real world as well. This is an important tool we will need to use for the rest of our lives. Now is the time to look into suggestions and figure out what works best for you.

            These questions are going to spark an interest for those who are unsure of their time management or maybe want to explore other methods or schedules. For some who already know how to manage their time, they may not be as intrigued but they could still learn a lot and be open to other suggestions. I think it will be interesting just hearing a variety of different people’s responses. Maybe the differences in responses based on age and experience. This is what I am planning so far for my video project and I hope it works out well!

 

Tick Tock

                                                   

Time flies by in the week and before you know it, its over. After recording and being aware of what my schedule is I realized a few things. First off I did not realize how long I spent eating. When I go to Conn Hall to eat with my friends sometimes we will be there for hours. I knew we would spend a decent amount of time there but between lunches, dinners, and after dinner snacks and late night meals, I am there a decent amount of time. I also realized that there is not one set time I do my homework. Whenever there is nothing to do is when I get my work done, or when it needs to be done for the next day I will do it that night. My hours spent doing work is less than then or equal to the amount of “free time” I have, mostly because I stay up late. If I spend 4 hours doing my homework during the day, nap and then stay up late at night, I have more time to hang out with friends in the night. Overall my schedule has a general flow, from classes to naps to eating to homework in between. Yet I do not have certain times set for homework. Maybe that is something that I can work on, creating certain times where I know I will sit down and do my homework, no distractions or excuses. This is something that might benefit me. Although this is something I do not want to do but maybe I need to pick and choose the nights I stay up late with my friends in order to get more sleep and be more awake and able to do work the next day. Something I will take away from this for next semester is to slow down in the beginning and map out what your schedule should look like. Based on what classes, how many, the amount of work, and other activities and free time. Of course it can be adjusted as you go, but at least be conscious of it, in order to enable yourself. 

                                                   

Which club is for you?

There are so many clubs and organizations in this school. I was completely overwhelmed, and to this day do not know what organization to sign up for. Outside of Engelmann Hall they set up a big show for everyone to walk through and learn information. There were long rows of tables each broken up into sections for each individual club. Most had little treats such as candy, popcorn, free trinkets to entice you to come learn about their club. Towards the middle there was a section where anyone was invited to come sing, receipt a poem or whatever they choose. In total, it was still interesting and somewhat helpful to look through and see what there is. 

What's Good?

This one is definitely difficult for me to answer. I think everyone did a great job. I like a hand fun of them but there is not just one that I like the most or that I think is better than the rest. I will however talk briefly about some things that I did like in these blogs.

 For example the blog “My Experiences” was very interesting to me. I liked the pictures and the outline of the blog. I Enjoyed the writing, it had a certain style and personality to it. On top of that the writing was creative and fluent in places. 

Another blog I enjoyed was “What you make of it”, this one had a distinct look to it. It was very simple but attractive and clean. The way she writes grabs my attention and makes me want to read more. The pictures were relevant and taken herself.

 The last one that I really liked was “Setting the tone for the semester”, because he had quotes as his title, quotes in interesting pictures that drew you in and made you interested. Also the way he wrote was clear and informational and sounded educational. Those are just a few of the ones that stood out to me and that caught my eye. 

What helps you?

In these past few weeks we have discussed many tips and methods to studying, note taking, time management and much more. Some suggestions that stuck with me came from the note taking discussion. I liked the point that you should be writing down questions as you go along. The type of critical thinking questions that make you think about the big picture. This helps you make connections and think more about what we are really thinking about. Another good point was how we should make connections and analyze the notes while still in class to save time. Do not simply write down word for word what the professor says.

            An element I decided to use in my weekly schedule was a time management trick. To plan out a certain time a day or week that you sit down to make sure you get all of your homework done in a timely fashion. This way you know from say 2-4 you do homework, take a break and eat then 7 to whenever finish up and have the remainder of the night to do whatever you would like.

            Some aspects that were not useful to me was the outline of the notes. I don’t particularly like that structure because I cannot have a set sections for certain things because most times I will need more room and then it will mess up the whole page. I have my own way of doing notes so I will just stick to that. Which is not a big deal.

            I can use everything we discussed in class and read in the readings to ensure I successful meet my goals and be the best student I can be. I can make sure to go over my notes from class everyday and synthesis so further my thinking process. This will help me learn and get the most I can out of this course and any other.

Owls loose

Today I attended the SCSU football game. It felt like I was back at high school, sitting on the bleachers watching my school except for the fact that everything was bigger and better. I liked the fact that there were so many tents out in the tailgating section. Each one filled with delicious food and friendly people. There was a great vibe and lots of activity going on. They also played much better music than normal. My school only played band music so this was much better. The game was as interesting as football can be so I cannot complain about that either. Also the other teams marching band was insane! It looked like it must have took forever to practice and they were on point. In the end we did loose the game 30-14 but it’s the spirit and the effort that matters!

Nature Vs. Nurture

For this weeks readings and discussions I would like to talk about Malcolm Gladwells 10,000 hour theory. When thinking about this it reminded me of something I learned in Psychology, the Nature vs. Nurture theory. Which questions if we were born the way we are going to be (inherit traits) or do we learn them because of our environment. This relates because in our class discussion we debated whether it was because we were born with natural talent or learned through hard work to become successful and whatever task. I believe the answer is also similar to Psychology. I believe it’s both, being born with a natural ability always helps (genius theory) but you could also learn through hard work. Let me give you some examples. Someone who is extremely awkward, uncoordinated, and has no sense of rhythm is not going to be good at dance, yet with 10,000 hours of course they could learn however they might never be as good as someone with natural ability. At the same time someone could be horrible at math, or anthropology or a certain type of study but with 10,000 can master it. I believe it depends on the activity or genre you are trying to master. In addition to this most children are born with genes that make them good at certain things but they are never explored. If you don’t use it you loose it. However by practice and dedication you could still master that skill, even if your not necessarily good at it now. In the article Gladwell even says, “It’s certainly clear that great achievement is possible without putting in 10,000 hours of deliberate practice ”.

Of course some discoveries or brilliant people can master or accomplish things much faster but I believe the point is for those who are not genius. That they too can accomplish great things using this method. Meaning that yes both are true. 

Depo Provera

Trying to find a difficulty I faced in my life that I wanted to share was extremely challenging. While I was debating my roommate reminded me of something I told her. One difficulty I went through recently was when I got the Birth Control Shot Depo Provera. For plenty of people this shot is harmless and does its intended job. For Me however I got severe side effects.

            The thing with the Depo shot is that once it’s injected into you there is no way to take it out. You have to wait five months for it to run its course. Once it is injected it takes two weeks to take affect. Exactly on the 14^th day I randomly got an anxiety attack and began throwing up. For the remaining 3-5 months I had to deal with anxiety issues I never had before. It also made me extremely nauseous and sometimes eating at all would make me vomit. I am an already skinny girl and throughout this time I lost around 14 pounds even though it is supposed to make you gain weight. In addition to all this the imbalance of hormones created yet another problem for me. After seeing several doctors and cardiologists I learned because of this I had developed Atrial Tachycardia. A heart condition that could or could not go away after the shot wears off.

             To me those months were a living hell and even today I do not feel one hundred percent back to normal. But through this I learned to not take the short cut and try the new experimental things. I had heard warnings about the shot but figured it would be much easier then remembering to take a pill everyday. I learned to stick to the proven methods and to never put something in your body that you cannot take out.

            This lesson helps me in college on a small scale but is still important. It just teaches me to be careful about my body and to treat it as best as I can because you only get one life so you shouldn’t make it worse with drugs and whatever else

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The Life of a CC

There are a few simple steps to becoming a CC at SCSU. The first step is deciding you want to be one, once you have decided you can move on to attaining that goal. Step two; you must have lived on campus for a year for the simple fact that you have to know what you’re doing and be able to give advice. Step three; you need to simply apply. After that you will have two interviews, the first a group interview and the second is individual.

            Being a CC however comes with plenty of responsibilities. You have to be a good influence and leader for your residence hall while enforcing all school policies. If someone is breaking the rules it is their responsibility to do something about it. They must create a community by hosting programs and getting to know everyone. They are also in charge of health and safety by inspecting rooms twice a month to make sure there are no rules being broken and your room is clean. This also goes for the halls and bathrooms. They also have duty nights once a week from 7pm to 2am at the front desk. They also have the option of attending hall counsel because that’s where their funding comes from for their programs.

            You may be asking “What do I get out of it?” The answer is you get plenty of benefits such as free housing. That’s huge! That saves thousands of dollars. It is also a job meaning you get paid on top of it. You also get the privilege of making programs and activities for your hall. So you are given money to create a fun activity with food! You also develop new and better relationships with the staff members. That can serve very useful.  

Heather; My CC for Wilkinson Hall

What's your style?

When looking around at the recommended blogs and many others I noted a few things in particular. There seemed to be a few main types, organized information for a purpose and random personal blogs. They went from simple and clean cut to extravagant and detailed. One specifically was very organized for a purpose. The blog ‘my goal is to help others “thrive in life & business”.’ His goal was just that, he also had sections or links such as; services, products, speaking, planners, inspirational ideas, empowering women, etc. I found out a lot about the tone of the bloggers. Some were very casual speaking whatever came to mind and others were more business like. To be honest I liked the more casual ones because they were much more interesting to read. I like that they could come up with new and interesting topics frequently instead of talking on the same topic although the more informational blogs would be more useful. One of the recommended blogs “Rebecca blood” I was not the biggest fan of just because the posts were so short and hardly had any topic at all. It was more like status’s. Which would be alright but the things she posted about, for example the mail, was not too interesting to read. For my own blog I am clearly aiming for my audience to be college students therefore writing things in a casual tone that pertains to them. Things maybe I could bring to others attention or interesting things I found out or learned. Maybe occasionally a question, why is such and such like this? Seeing as this is the first time I have ever experienced blogging my goal is simply to do a good job. To make a blog that will earn me a good grade as well as being interesting to others. As far actually making it interesting to others I will just have to wait and see what I come up with. I am sure there will be plenty of motivation and inspiration as I go. 

College Trial

College to me is somewhat of a trial. You’re living away from home and trying to balance your responsibilities without having someone there to remind you or step you through it. No mom to nag you to make your bed or do your homework. I say this is a trail because we are learning to grow up while having the luxury of not paying bills, groceries, and much more. College to me is the transition into the “real world”. At first it will be nerve wracking and the first few days, weeks even and you’ll have moments of doubts when you’re not sure how you will manage but you’ll realize how short the year really is and how everyone says it flies by so fast. College really is what you make of it, if you want to have a good time and do well in school you will. The more you get into the experience by joining new clubs and meeting new people the better time you will have. There are so many things I want to accomplish and learn. For example I want to perfect time management, to be able to map out and use my time effectively instead of the usual procrastination. I would love to be able to be self sufficient, figuring out new and challenging things on my own. Socially I want to grow with this community and join clubs in order to meet new people and branch out. Yet overall the hardest thing will be to balance my work and play. I need to buckle down when time to do work but of course have time to go out and enjoy my time here. All this talk about what I want to accomplish brings me to my set of goals for this year. I am planning on keeping a great GPA while still participating in activities and having free time. But with that goal my expectation is that I will be able to get help or tutoring when need be. Some times it might take me that extra step to do well. That would be my only concern is that I will not have time or will not be able to get extra help if needed. Other than that I have had a great college experience so far, met some great people and have been enjoying my free time.