Final Project 2012

My experience as a first year student has been very interesting. I have developed a strong mindset on my goals for the future, gone through many challenges, and succeeded in certain things that I did not think I could do. One of my biggest challenges was letting go of my past habits. These habits include going out with friends all the time, procrastinating work, and being a mediocre student. As most people know it is very common to be uncomfortable with coming out of your shell or nervous when trying something new. Since I am from a small hometown called Portland, CT going to a school where you did not know everyone or people were from many different states was extremely different.  To say the least I have experienced things that I did not think I would at the beginning of the semester.  Studying for more than two hours was something that I have gotten used to, unlike high school I could not wait till last minute to start a project or review my notes. I have also met new people who have helped push me along the way.   

Even though I have my family and close friends from back home it is still always helpful to have someone there for you when you are stressed out. Believe me college is a fun and relaxing place at times, but when you have many assignments or exams to study for in the same week it can become overwhelming. I think that I have developed the proper mindset to help me get through the rest of my four years of school.  Being someone who does not have a set major it was hard to take classes that I had no interest in. Even some where I thought were pointless but I still stuck with them and did all the work that I was required to do.  This task is important because through out life there are going to be many different things that you do not exactly “like” but you are forced to do. It will make you a stronger person inside and out.

One of my favorite quotes is “It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.”-Jane Austen, This quote to me signifies that if you want to achieve something you can’t just say it or think it you have to actually do something about it. This quote motivates me to accomplish my goals in life.

The goals that I hope to accomplish in my next four years of school is to major in something that I enjoy doing, get the right education, and end up finding a steady occupation to continue my future. How I plan on succeeding these goals is by never giving up. I will strive to do well and stay focused on the more important things. Since I have found it easier to stay on track with my schoolwork and still have time to be with friends it will hopefully become a habit for me to continue. I plan on making daily tasks to help me remember what it is I have to do and manage my time more by having less distractions. This will result in a wider range of study time and will allow me to take advantage of some of the resources on campus. The resources that were most helpful to me were tutoring sessions and the writing center. 

Each resource helped me raise my grades and teach me how to properly understand the specific material I had difficulties in. It is important for students to be aware of the places on campus that will benefit them. I hope that the tough experiences I went through this semester will be lessons learned and the positive ones will be routines to carry on. 

A fun way to stay healthy

On Tuesday my hall held a Zumba class for anyone interested. I have only done it one time so I was very excited to do it again. Zumba is a workout for all parts of your body. It is based on dance moves that allows you to lose weight while having fun. This program benefits you to stay healthy and interact with other people. It is also a great way to get out of your comfort zone. Southern provides many different programs for students to stay healthy such as gym memberships, kick boxing, yoga classes, cycling, ab classes and much more. I recommend these programs to the southern community as well as the first year students who are scared to get a "freshman 15." After taking this class it made me want to sign up for other programs that are going to be held next semester. 

With each failure brings a new success

Through out the first semester as a first year student I have gone through many successes and failures. The failures that I have overcome was not being able to push myself as much as I would have liked, I feel as if I could have tried harder to get better grades rather than being mediocre. I also believe that my study habits and distractions could have been less of an impact on my school work. I started to get over these failures by organizing my work more and putting all of my goals into schedules. This was a way to help me get my work done on time and also put in enough time to study. As a first year student I was not used to studying as much so it was hard to manage the time that was needed to do this. Another success was putting my phone away during study periods or while I was doing homework. I found this very hard due to the fact that most teenagers live off of their phones on a daily basis. 

I recommend students to do this it was such a huge relief and you get so much more work done without the distraction. Another success was taking advantage of what Southern offers. Such as the library, writing center, and tutoring sessions. I believe that in the beginning of the semester I felt uncomfortable/nervous about using these options to help me as a student. Coming from a small home town with a small high school I was definitely not used to the big community. Now I feel as if I am well out of my shell and have no problem taking advantage of these resources. I also have learned to not be afraid to try something new. In the end you only benefit yourself. 

What I would take away from these experiences are the times that I worked myself up for no reason or the assignments that I could have done better on. I believe every failure brings a new success and within that is a lesson learned. I look forward to my next semester here at Southern and the new experiences it will have to offer. :)

My Personal Experience

After starting my self-assessment for this semester I have used some of the questions that my professor has provided on blogger. These questions allowed me to get where I am right now with my project. I have started writing this out instead of doing a video. It will be about my experiences and changes through out the past few months here at Southern. These changes will consist of the positive and negative ones. It will also talk about which ones have changed me academically and personally. At the beginning of the semester I had a different perspective on how I thought my first semester was going to go, towards the end I have found many things important to me where I did not think would be nearly as important in the beginning. I plan on being interesting by talking about what I have learned and the things that were beneficial to me. Since everyone is different I believe it will make it more creative and unique. I also plan on mentioning the struggles I have faced and how I over came them to be more successful. Some of the classes that we are required to take for first year students will also be discussed. I have different point of views on what classes I took. Many first year students have different out takes on what to expect. Since I have thought well about my project I am very confident on completing this assessment.

Southern Cares

At the beginning of the week I attended a lecture in my hall called "lets talk about sex". The woman center came to teach students how to stay protected from STD's and how important it is to have a healthy relationship with your partner. They also made it humorous by acting out skits of real life experiences. One of the skits that interested me was when a girl was pressured into having sex with someone who was drunk. As a result she ended up getting an STD. This is very important for first year students to be aware of how serious sexual harassment is. The woman center is the perfect place to go if   you need advice on sex relating issues or anything that is bothering you. Men are also allowed to go for the same reasons. They provide a resource room with information on sexual assault, domestic violence, eating disorders, stalking, body image, dating violence, and woman's health. They are very private and confidential so there is no reason to feel uncomfortable when going. I am glad that I participated in going to this event with people in my hall because you never know what kind of situation you are going to get into. College is a great place to be but you always have to be careful for things that effect your health. 

Peer Pressure Video

After creating my video I found it very easy compared to the previous ones I have made. My video was on peer pressure. I believe this is an important thing first year students face not only in school and on campus but outside as well. Students need to realize the effect of giving in to peer pressure. It can result in many things, although peer pressure can be seen as a positive or negative. Most of the time it is a negative effect. I hope my video will help future first year students and regular students in general. Some people do not know how to stand up for themselves in certain situations, there are people and places you can go on campus to help you. Saying no might seem like an easy thing to do but in reality it might not be to some people. This will benefit students who have a hard time with this common problem and give them critical information as well


(**please check your email my video will not post on here for some reason)

Creativity in a Different Perspective

After reading Twyla Tharps book The Creative Habit and going over readings/discussions in class I really enjoyed how well she explained her "habits". Her readings were very interesting and allowed me to think more outside the box. Twyla made it very clear how each individual can be creative in their own way. The chapter about creative DNA made me realize how each of us are born with creativity and how each individual expresses it in a unique way. " I believe that we all have strands of creative code hard-wired into our imaginations. These strands are solidly imprinted in us as the genetic code that determines our height and eye color, except they govern our creative impulses."pg.34 This quote stood out to me when reading because growing up most people do not often realize that creativity started as a child. When you are simply given a piece of paper and begin to scribble certain things that create something your imagination is being very creative. Some people tend to lose this creativeness because we are so used to following a set of "rules" in life that we do not use autonomy. It is important to be independent and have confidence in all that you do.

Twyla proves that her biggest successes comes from her biggest failures. I agree with this because you need failure in order to push yourself and do something outside of your comfort zone. Failure is often a lesson learned. If you dwell on your past it will be difficult to strive for your goals. If most people take control over their actions and create their own guidelines rather than being a follower it will not be as easy to stand out. That is why it is so important to be creative in life. It takes autonomy and agency to be creative. Autonomy is your control and agency is actually taking the initiative to do things you desire. The creative part is what you make of in the end, all your ideas and how you express them. You can teach creativity to a certain extent. For example, when an art teacher shows you how to draw something you can try as hard as you can but it will not look exactly like your teachers drawing. In the end this shows your creativity, and how everyone is different. It is important to never lose your creativity and to always broaden your imagination.