Critical thinking (9v)

Critical thinking is a process that allows us to question data. It allows us to process certain bits of information in order to analyze it. The exact definition of it is a process that leads to skills that can be learned, mastered and used. We use critical thinking in everything we do. We can use it to help us with everyday task. Or it can help us with complex data or information. Critical thinking is something that we have used since elementary school. We start out small and eventually make it up to college style critical thinking.

First semester regret. (b9)

With midterms just being released, I can reflect ton my first semester at college. So far I have 3 classes with C's and one class with a D. I need to work on all of them. I think B averages for the classes can be achieved if I work hard enough for it. The only problem is, I lack motivation. I don’t have any drive to complete the task's I am given. So far, I don’t really like college. It just seems like High School all over again. I am forced to take classes that I don’t want to, I get tons of homework each night, and I have to drive thirty minutes to class every day. I thought that college would be a new start. I expected to do a lot of homework as well as I expected to drive a lot. But my main thought was that I could take what classes I wanted to. I thought that I could take classes that inspire me and help me achieve certain goals. But I'm still forced to take a language, meet mathematic standards, and meet writing standards. In the work that I want to do, I am never going to need to know how to divide a compounding function by a variable function. So why am I learning it?

                If I have any goals for the rest of the semester, it is to finish it. Because right now, I don’t enjoy college. I don’t know if I'll come back next semester, or if I'll take a semester off. But whatever choice I make, I plan on sticking with it. It's going to be my decision. People keep telling me that I have to go to college. But I'm not being forced to go. So I'll finish the semester and see where life leads me after that.

Critical Thinking (9a)

Critical thinking is a necessity for college. Critical thinking is almost like thinking outside the box. You have to be able to think outside your normal view. Critical thinking is something that is restricted in school. Classes always say they require critical thinking but that is only to a certain extent. Schools don’t allow for full amounts of critical thinking. I can remember many times throughout the years in school, a teacher would tell me I was wrong for thinking a certain way. That is what school is. It is a place where our critical thinking skills are not allowed to be free. We are prisoners in a world where only one answer is the right one. But college should be different. It is where we can have many right answers to one single question. But at this point in our lives, we are so used to only being allowed one right answer, we have evolved into thinking that way. Critical thinking should allow us to explore many answers to find the best answer. Although the best answer is not always the right one. Critical thinking is the process in which we analyze data. It is how we read, listen, or write on order to come up with conclusions.

For college, analyzing data comes with time. We as students have to learn how to process data in good time, but also analyzing the data. We need to be able to do it quickly but also to retain the data. It's something every college student must do. It comes with time. But eventually we understand it. I think that critical thinking can help people with both retaining knowledge and using it to there advantages.

Southern Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ERnHoli8Cw&feature=youtu.be

Mastery 8v

Mastery is a term that is defined as comprehensive knowledge or skill in a subject or accomplishment. But mastery isn’t just being good at something. It is being able to use that skill to your own advantage. Being a master at guitar really doesn’t mean anything unless you use your skill to better the world in a way. Being able to master a skill is just a waste of time if you don’t use it to better your life. Becoming a master tasks about 10,000 hours of practicing that skill. One has to have a very strong dedication to learning a skill in order to be a master of it.

My beloved world 8b

My six word memoir is “Life’s a stage, act it out”. I think that we should live our lives how we want to. We should be able to do what we want in life without fear of being judged. We should be open about whatever we want in life.

I think that “My beloved world” is a good book to start college off with. It talks a lot about responsibility and about how we are in control of our lives. In the book, Sonia starts off by telling us about her life. About how her father died when she was young. She talks about how her mother struggled to make ends meet. She had to go through so much as a young child that a lot of us never had to experience. I think that the experiences that she faced as a child are what made her so successful. She learned at a young age that hard work can’t be compromised. She worked very hard to be where she is today. She went to Yale, which requires more work than any school in the country. And although we are attending southern, the same applies to us. We can’t compromise on hard work and full effort. Not just for school but for life in general. We must start everyday willing to push forward. Something that I liked in the book was when she talks about her mother trying to attend class and work at the same time. I feel like sometimes balancing the two is impossible. I try to priorities but sometimes I can’t. So I think I can relate to the book in some ways. But the book can help first year students a lot which is why it makes it a good book to read freshman year.

Video Preview

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

Campus life (7I) (26)

                Last week, I was walking back to my car after class. I saw two people sitting in the open grass near the dorms. They were playing acoustic guitars. They sounded really good. I started to talk with them and remembered I had a bongo in my car. So I went to my car, got the bongo and sat down and stared to play with them. It was a lot of fun, I knew all the songs they were playing so I could keep a beat with it. I hope I see them again at some point so we can play some more.

(7v) Failure

Failure is a word that nobody likes. It's a word that means not good enough. In our culture, we use this word to often. Failure is defined as Lack of success. From the day we start school until the day we stop, failure is always around us. We are brought up to thin failure is a bad thing when really it’s a good thing. We can learn from failure. We should embrace it because it will make us better in the long run. Failure can drive us to become better at what we failed at previously. We just need to use failure to our own advantage.

Me and Math (7b)

                In high school I wasn’t very good at math. I failed Algebra 2 my junior year, and barely passed my senior year. But on my S.A.T I scored very high in math. Because of this, I was put into Pre-calc this year. I knew it was going to be tough. I was thinking about dropping it before it even started. But I thought it would be a challenge that I could conquer. The first week I tried very hard. I studied for a very long time, and I was doing all of the homework. As the weeks progressed, it became a lot harder. I was forgetting things and started to forget homework. I couldn’t keep up with the amount of work. The first test we had went very bad as well. I studied for hours each day before the test day. I ended up scoring a 16 out of 100 on the test. It was really disappointing. Only a month into class I was so far behind. But I wanted to pass for the year, I wanted to accomplish my goal. After I got a low grade on my second quiz of the year, I decided it wasn’t worth the time and effort. I had to withdraw from the class. I figured I couldn’t keep up so why bother suffering for an entire semester. I learned that trying to accomplish certain goals can take a lot more than time and effort. You really need to push forward if you want to accomplish goals. You have to go above and beyond. I just didn’t have the time for it. With work and school, it was an impossible goal from the start. But I learned from it, so I am glad it happened. I'm happy that I know what it takes to be successful.

(7a) Examining Failure.

It's unfortunate that we are a society that rarely allows failure. We become programmed at a young age to push failure away from us. We are taught that failure is bad for us and that is we fail, we will not be successful. At a young age, I believe sports have the biggest impact on how we look at failure. When we are young and still developing, failure in sports can leave lasting impressions on us. We learn that failure is ok, because no matter how you do, you receive a trophy. Once we hit middle school, it changes from everyone winning, to only one team winning. From that point on, failure is not accepted. I can remember my coaches yelling at our team when we lost games. And that was a park and Rec league. Stuff like that sticks in your mind forever. And when I think about failing, those are the things I remember. Sports aren't the only things that effect our thoughts on failure. School is a huge part of it. There is nothing worse than studying hours for a test but still failing. It's not only upsetting, its un-motivational. It can kill the drive we have to be successful. We are all human, failure is just something that happens to all of us. Being punished for failure is just punishing us for being who we are. Failure is a good thing. It can drive us to be successful is used the right way. We need to be trained at a young age to accept failure and use it to our advantage. I think that is we could do that, kids would be able to accept it and use it to drive them to be successful. Failure is something that will always exist, so we should embraces it while we can as a positive thing, not negative.

5(a) Challenge

A very hard challenge I had to overcome happened to me my junior year. I was in a an SCC conference wrestling tournament. I had been training three years to make it into that tournament. I set a goal for myself to place in to top three. About a week before the tournament, I tore my rotator cuff in my left arm. It was the most painful thing that I have ever had happen to me. Although my athletic trainer advised me to sit the tournament out, I didn’t. I wrestled in the tournament as well as I could. I had 4 matches in one day. I battled through the pain into my final match. In that match, I was taken down which caused me to put all of my weight onto my left arm. The pain felt  as if my shoulder had been hit with a sledge hammer.  I had to stop the pain was so intense. But I set a goal for myself and I needed to accomplish it. So I put the pain aside, and continued to wrestle. With a minute left in the match, I scored two points which put me up by 1 point. I held on to win the match all though I had to stop wrestling after it. But I accomplished my goal. I placed third in the Tournament.  Although I would have liked to have placed 1st, I accomplished my goal. I figure that if I can accomplish that goal. I can accomplish anything I want. I battled through the pain and that will help me with other things I try in life. I could get through the pain of a torn rotator cuff. So to me, I can accomplish anything. I just have to set my mind to it.