FINAL VIDEO!

http://youtu.be/ppwt4U4YghA

I'm finally all done with my video! Hope you enjoy!

Final Self-Assessment

1. As a college student I’ve learned that I can do anything I set my mind too. I’ve learned that in order to succeed you must go beyond the surface and really set goals for yourself. I’m still in the process of learning what I want to study in college.

2. My biggest challenges so far have been branching out and learning study habits. I can be very shy and it’s hard for me to just go out there and talk to people. It was a big challenge meeting all new people and not being around my normal group of friends. In High School, I got away with not studying but that’s not how it works in college. I had to learn how to manage my time and how to develop good study habits.

3. With branching out, I learn to be confident and go into Southern with an open mind. So far I’ve made great friends here and I’m glad that I did. For studying, I learned how to manage my time and work with friends when studying. I’m still working on time management because I still procrastinate, but I have gotten a lot better.

4. My biggest achievement so far has been my writing in my English class. I love that class and I’ve actually come to learn to love writing. My writing styles have changed from High School to College and I’m learning a little more day by day.

5. For English, I learned to manage my time with my papers and really map out what I was going to write. When I had trouble I would always ask my professor for help. I wish I used the Writing Center this semester but I know for certain that I will be using it next semester.

6. My time management skills have definitely improved since High School but I’m still not where I wish I could be. I do a lot of my homework the night before it’s due, which isn’t that bad but it would be a lot less stressful if I did my homework in the weekend. The majority of my time and energy was put into my essays and our Inquiry videos. I wanted those projects to come first and would actually plan out time for them. The results have been very good and I’m glad I cared a lot about them and saved time for them.

7. My grades have been good this semester, with the exception of Spanish. I don’t actually know what my grade is in that class but I try my hardest in that class. Spanish does not come easy to me so it’s a struggle. I actually did learn a lot this semester in my classes except for Anthropology, which we all know was a struggle. I learned the most in English and Inquiry. To maximize my learning I have to pay attention in class, go for help when I need it, and also take notes.

8. I am meeting the goals I’ve set for myself in the beginning of the semester. I haven’t slacked off like I used to do in High School and I am putting school first before my friends. I learned to make sacrifices and be confident in myself. I can still see myself moving forward in my college career by going for extra help when I need it instead of freaking out and just doing what I think is right.

9. From here on out, I want to be successful in whatever I chose to do. I have to have faith in myself and believe that I am capable of doing whatever I set my mind too. I really only need to improve on my time management and studying as soon as I get new material.

10. Next semester, I want to have all A’s in my classes. That is a big goal but I think I can accomplish it. I want to have study groups with people from my classes before a test so I do well on all of them. Also, I want to make a schedule for doing homework, essays, etc. so I’m not doing everything last minute.

Day of Peace: Campus Safari

For my last Campus Safari I'm doing the Day of Peace. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend all of the Day of Peace due to my schedule, but I did get to see my best friend perform is Symphonic Pulse Dance Company. The song that they danced to was If You're Out There by John Legend and they did a lyrical piece to the song. The song is such a powerful song and it is very peaceful. Their danced really moved me and I love going to all of their performances. Again, I wish I could have stayed for Day of Peace. I love how Inquiry classes organized this day. It really gets people thinking about making peace, not violence. Peace is such a powerful topic and I love how it was near John Lennon's death because he was all for making peace. I hope our school does this yearly and I would love to attend it!

Learning Community

When I first learned that we we’re going to have a learning community, I thought it was different. I didn’t know that we would have the same group of students in two of our classes. I really enjoyed having two classes with the same people. I think it brought us together and we all became close. We worked together on assignments and helped each other out when we needed. It was also a great way to meet friends. We were all comfortable with each other and out of all my classes, the learning community was the class that all the students were close with each other. I think that it was a great transition into college because these were the students that we shared our new transitions with. It was also a good idea to do a learning community because we could help each other out and work as a group on assignments or study together. As a whole, I think this learning community was a great group of students and I’m so glad I got to share my first semester with them. I’m going to miss going to Anthropology and getting a good laugh from it after in Inquiry. We always had fun stories to share from that class and it really made class interesting. We all became close with one another and built a strong bond. It’s sad that the semester is basically over. I really do think all colleges should have a learning community because it really does make a difference in your first semester. It was great t meet new people and I’m really going to miss this learning community. It made my first semester so much easier and I hope my second semester goes just as well.

Second Draft

Life After College

I always think about what I want my ideal life to be like after college. Since I’m still undecided for a major, I do know that whatever I chose, I want to get my Masters. I want to live in Connecticut so I can still be close to my family. I want to live in a house right out of college. I want a stable, full time job that requires me to do a little traveling to places like Boston. I want to travel to Italy because it has been a dream of mine since I was younger. I want to get married and have 2 kids. I want to go on family vacations at least once a year. I want a job that I am happy with. I don’t want to live life hating where I’m working and only staying for the money. I want to wake up every morning with a positive attitude towards work. I want to take up acting and be in a movie. It’s been a dream of mine for years and I always say how someday I’m going to become an actress. I want my family to stay close and I want everyone in my children’s lives. I want to stay friends with the friends I have now because they are amazing. I want to explore different countries and cultures. I want to own a family business that will be passed down for generations. I want to always be there for my family and whenever they need something, I can provide them with it. Lastly, I want to live life to the fullest. I want to live each day as if it were my last and make the best out of bad situations. I want to at myself and be happy with the decisions I’ve made. 

Campus Safari #1

This week for my Campus Safari I decided to meet with my English Professor, Stephanie Fischer. Her office is in EN B231 and her office hours are Monday and Wednesday from 11-12. The past couple of weeks we have really been cracking down and working on our portfolios, which will be submitted and looked at by the English Department to see if we are ready for English 112. SO STRESSFUL! So I decided to go to her office hours and just ask some questions about where I stand. I asked her if I'm in a good position right now with my papers. She said I was fine because I was all done with 2 of my essays and just working on my last one, which I already handed her that morning for review. She told me not to worry because it will get done! My other question was have I grown as a writer? Professor Fischer said my writing has become more structured and overall I have improved. My goal in the beginning of the semester was to work on my introductions and conclusions and she said I've definitely improved on both of those aspects. I love writing and Professor Fischer has really helped me improve on my skills. I'm so excited I have her for English 112 next semester.

Final Project!

For my final project I am only about 33 seconds in but no need to worry. After talking in class today I think I have officially decided what I am going to do for my project. My topic is all set which is dorm life and living with roommates. I was just going to do interviews like I did for my midterm project but I think I’m going to take a different approach. I think I am going to do a sort of intervention approach where there are two roommates who are having problems and it needs to be sorted out because it’s getting out of hand. I’m not going to make it a straightforward video. I’m going to chop it up and still use quotes, facts, etc. I am going to have music playing in the background to keep the flow of the video going. My video is going to be serious but funny. I think it’s a good idea to do an intervention type of approach because so many people have roommate problems and it is good to know that there are things you can do to make living with a stranger work. I think this will be a better video than my midterm video because it’s going to be more attention grabbing and it won’t just be dry. Also I’m going to have a clear beginning and ending because I did not have those in my midterm video. I want my video to be interesting and have an effect on viewers so they know that things like this really do go on in college. I want my video to stick out and make it my own and I think by making an intervention interview it’s not going to be like the rest or like the midterm video. 

Final Project Proposal

For the Final Video Project, it has to be a problem and solution video. For my video I want to do the adjustment to Dorm Life. When people live on campus they either live with their friends or strangers. No matter what situation, there is always going to be tension between roommates. I want to focus on how you adjust from living at home to living with a roommate, if roommates have had problems with each other, and how they solve the problems in the dorm. There have been many instances I’ve heard about roommates not getting along and sometimes they even move out so that is why I want to see if there is solutions to make living with roommates easier. I’m not only going to focus on students at Southern, but I will ask my friends from other universities because everyone experiences these problems.

Key Points I’m Going to Focus On:

-Personal space

-Personalities

-Study Habits (quiet, listen to music, etc.)

-Having people over the dorm

-Sleep Patterns (wake up early, sleep late, television on, etc.)

Project Layout:

-Title

-Clear Beginning

-Quotes from students

-Research

-Interviews on problems

-Quotes on problems

-Recap on problems

-Solution Page

-Interviews

-Research

-Quotes

-Recap on solutions

-Clear ending

-Credits

I think this is a good topic to discuss and do a problem and solution for it. Some people don’t know how to properly solve a problem and in this situation it could lead into a fight or even a roommate moving out. Yes, living with people is stressful but there are solutions people can use to make their experiences better. You don’t have to be the best of friends with your roommates, but you have to make the year last and make it less stressful on your part and on your roommates part.