Time Strategies

     In "Eat the Frogs First Thing in the Morning" by Thomas Oppong, active procrastinators are mentioned. I would consider myself one of them. I don't necessarily think I work better under pressure, but I do know that I don't get overly anxious about what I save for the last minute. I oscillate between thinking saving things for the last minute gives a person more time for what they want to do and thinking doing a little often is more efficient. Actually, I think both are true. Not having anything on the calendar mentally means you're open up to doing things you might otherwise think you don't have time for. I would say that's one benefit to my procrastination. Until I truly need to do something, I'm usually available for last minute events and surprises. I need more balance! Hopefully starting this class in advance is a good start. There comes a point when I do a grand task at the last minute, such as a programming assignment, that I become inefficient because I'm burnt out from staring at something for so long. Then I find my spark! I've done almost all of my academic writing the night before it's due. It's not necessary in my mind anymore, but I do like to write all at once to understand how it all fits together. I don't just mean the overall structure and theme of the paper as much as I mean how specific sentences interact with one another. I find that kind of stuff fun. 

Eat me. I dare you.

Frogger

    "11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time" was a little too generic for my tastes. However, I do see myself doing many of the items on this list. Back to my factory worker status from high school, I only ever did what was in front of me and didn't worry about the future too much because I didn't know where my future was going. Biblically, only worrying about today is a good thing, but it can have consequences when there is no vision beside the focus on today. I have mostly eliminated the fear surrounding graduating and finding a job. Now it's time to create an inspired vision of what my life is going to be. In essence, I need more goals and do need to schedule sometimes. Balance...

Technology Is Cool

     I like the setup of this class. I've been keeping a tab open for this class, and whenever I'm ready to do another assignment it's right there. It doesn't seem to reload and lose your place. Blogger is a very easy tool to use. I enjoy the simplicity of all these tools. I've been learning new technologies the past couple years as an MIS major, and sometimes the programs and services we use aren't so simple. 

    I used a website called Github to create a website last semester, so I'm interested in finding out how Google's Sites compares. 

    The folder tool for bookmarks is really smart. I don't use bookmarks too often, but the bookmarks I do have seem completely random, so it'll be nice to have a little organization. 

Who knows what could be in there...

Folder

Assignments and Thoughts

     I'm most excited to write fiction. Fiction is forgotten in scholastic writing once the five paragraph essay format is taught. At least in my experience. I have been told my writing style sounds very verbal, so I'm interested to see if I should find another voice for fiction or if my own can be adapted easily. I've had ideas for stories I could write for awhile. I hope this class gives me the experience and confidence to stop putting off writing them. 

Sharing them can be costly...

(Pixabay)

Growth Mindset

     I actually mentioned growth mindset in my previous post. I don't know if that wording was on my mind because I saw the name of this assignment or if it's because I've heard about growth mindset for so long. I mentioned growth mindset was one of the takeaways from my career class I took as a freshman at OU. 

    I believe in the growth mindset. I've never thought I'm incapable of learning something. I do sometimes think a person's baseline is different than another person's and that achieving that baseline might require more effort for one person than another. I've run into arguments for believing those things, but I always try to explain those beliefs in no way detract from what growth mindset proponents believe.

    On the subject of schooling and the growth mindset, I agree the current grading system does promote chasing a grade rather than learning the material. I was one of the valedictorians at my high school, and I sometimes joke the reward should have been titled "Best Factory Worker." I looked at high school as a game in some ways. I just needed to figure out the system. Luckily for me, I did retain a decent amount of what I was tested over. However, I think if grades weren't seen as such a big deal I could have possibly learned and remembered more. At the same time, without grades, I might not have applied myself to all the classes I took and instead would have focused on only the ones I found most interesting.

    One particular path has never stood out among the rest for me, so incentives such as grades have always been a carrot at the end of the stick for me when my interests didn't lead me anywhere. My explanation for why I focused on getting good grades was that my only job as a student was to do so. I've always wanted to make the most of time, so I think I did that in high school. Why I was able to achieve the grades I did was because I didn't give up when I probably could have. I believe that's what separated me and the other valedictorians from all the other students who were just as capable of getting all A's.

I like to learn most of the time...

(Caption by Laura Gibbs, Image from Flickr)

Introduction to an Unknown Future

     I have never considered myself a man of fear but a man above fear. One of my favorite movies, one I just watched recently with my girlfriend who has somehow never been exposed to a Batman movie, is Batman Begins. The theme in the film is overcoming your fears by putting them in their place and maybe even channeling them into a purpose. My fear as a child was the terrible, ominous dark. I thought I overcame it then. My dad, hopefully with my consent (although I can't remember), would put me in dark rooms by myself to overcome my fear. And it worked as far as I'm aware. I don't remember being scared of it all that much as a child, and it's been a long, long time since I thought someone or something was following me as I quickly ascended unlit stairs to the safe haven of a room with a light switch. (If your reader voice is out of breath from that sentence, then you understand the feeling of trying to get to that light.)

    But it's not really the dark children are scared of, is it? It's the unknown. The dark is a stand-in for the unknown and all that comes with it. What I've realized--more recently than I would like to admit--is that the best way to overcome the unknown is to depower it by making it known. I don't mean making the unknown known in any particular way other than understanding the unknown exists for everyone. So in that way, the unknown is quite known. 

    My unknown for the longest time was my career. And actually, it still is. My takeaway from a career class I took in 2018 was that major doesn't matter as much as an ability to adapt coupled with a growth mindset does. I think I looked at majors as shackles rather than keys. I was so concerned about picking the right key for the right door that I didn't realize the door doesn't lead to a single path. A college degree, no matter what it is, propels a person forward. Forward is the direction I want to go. I shouldn't be scared of forward. There are many vehicles carrying me forward, and at anytime I can put one of them into park. 

    So yea. I'm a Management Information Systems major, and we'll see where this vehicle takes me. 

Road to the Unknown

Storybook Favorites

The Demon Slayer Named Sun

 https://sites.google.com/site/thedemonslayernamedsun/home

    I knew by the staff and the monkey holding it that this was based on Journey to the West. My awareness of the Chinese myth comes from one of my favorite shows: Dragon Ball Z. Z doesn't share as many elements to Journey to the West as the original Dragon Ball anime series and manga, but the main character did have a tail before getting it cut off. I enjoy the author's writing style. It does somewhat remind me of a translated story because of the easy to read sentences and how words such as "demon" are written nonchalantly. I like the design of the website, too. The background reminds me of an ancient scroll. 

   (Illustration by Xiaojun Li, from The Monkey King)

Badass Biblical Women

https://amandasmythandfolkstorybook.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html

I thought the title was interesting. While there are strong female characters in the Bible, I wouldn't traditionally think of them as badass. So in that sense, the title is intriguing. I'm interested in what perspective the author, whom I imagine is female herself, can provide to these characters. I am most interested in Bathsheba since her situation seems the worst and is representative of one of David's greatest sins. However, a lot of good came out of the situation. Eventually. 

Looney Tunes Goes to India

https://sites.google.com/view/indianepicshayden/home?authuser=0

My mind immediately goes to pop culture and my favorite heroes when I think about writing stories of my own. The first story made me think of Goku, the second Jesus, and this one Batman. Now that I see we have the ability to tell stories of our own while working off a myth, I see possibilities of incorporating Batman somehow. I think I'll need to get more ingrained in myths before I start thinking of how I can work Batman in. The author's note at the bottom of each page is useful. If I can explain how I'm combining the elements of the myth with my own story, then I can probably get pretty crazy. 

My Favorite Place: Boulder, Colorado

My favorite place in the world is Boulder because my girlfriend goes to school there. 
Mountains in Boulder, Colorado 

First Post

 First  Blog

This is my first blog.