Chinese 100

Something that really interests me and always has is the Chinese culture and language.


 I have two cousins that are adopted from China and ever since I learned about where they came from and how different their culture was I was interested and wanted to learn more.


This year as a freshmen in college I am taking Chinese as a language and I love it. I have never had this opportunity before. It's very hard but it's so much fun. We learn how to write in pinyin, and also in the characters. It's a very interactive class and the professor is the best!


 I would definitely recommend this class to anyone who wants to try something new and/or wants to fulfill their language requirements here at the university.


Not only do we learn the language but we learn about the culture and the vocabulary is integrated through out the lessons.

Campus Safari #2 find a book in the library

I took this book out of the library a while ago when we went to the library for the presentation. I learned how to look up how to find books on the computer and locate it on the shelves.

This book was recommended to me through my search of "critical thinking" for the essay portion of our website scavenger hunt.

This book helped me find different things about critical thinking and get others opinions on different aspects of it. The book not only helped me to write my essay but it also gave me a lot of outside knowledge for my critical thinking classes.

Finding the book was kind of hard even though I had the exact location number and shelf. I don't go to the library that much and being in a college library was a little overwhelming for me because it is so much bigger than my high school library. There are many floors with rows and rows of books. I think once I get the hang out where to find things and how to locate them it will get a lot easier for me.

It's finally midterm time

For me, this was a nerve racking time. Getting my first set of grades for my classes in college was a scary thought. I suspected I was doing well and for the most part knew about where I was grade wise in each class. My midterm grades reflected what I thought. In one or two classes I thought my grade was a tiny bit higher, but not much different. I'm doing very well at this time and it makes me very happy and motivated to keep it up and do even better by finals.

I think my grades were good because I really focused and I had good time management. Luckily I had nothing else going on such as a job, sport, group, etc. so I had all the time I needed to complete my work and study for things. Also, I knew that coming into college the work was going to be much different from my work in high school. So I put high expectations on my work and completed the work the right way instead of trying to just complete it to say I did it. I make myself a to do list and prioritize my time very well.

For the remainder of the semester a goal I want to set for myself is to keep my grades up and improve them even more. I would really like to make Dean's list so I always keep that goal in the back of  my mind. I also want to get more involved in the school community with a group or club.

Zumba!

My weeks lately here at school have been very stressful so last week when CAC put on Zumba Pink I went with my room mate.

This activity was somewhat outside of my comfort zone, dancing with a group of people I don't know was a bit nerve racking for me. I ended up loving it though and I had a great time. It really relieved a lot of my stress and took my mind off of all my work and  grades.

The class was only for an hour but it was a great work out and a fun new experience for me. I've always thought that zumba would be an activity I would like since I love to dance so that's why I tried it.

Campus Safari #3 Go to the Health Center

Last week I made a visit to the health center on campus because one of my room mates was sick and needed medicine. This was a different experience than I had expected it to be. I was thinking the health center was just like a nurses office in high school, where you would go in get checked out and then leave.

The health center was nothing like that, it was an actual doctor's office which I was not expecting. She went in and a nurse came in to take her blood pressure and temperature, etc. Then the actual doctor came in and did an exam and prescribed her medicine.
When I first walked in there was this bulletin board (to the left) of 7 health hazards hidden in college dorms. They were all pretty serious illnesses and issues that really scared me because it's not like you can see them right away, they're hidden in the rooms. The board also explained ways to keep these problems from happening by staying clean, wearing flip flops into showers, and more.
It is very comforting to know that we have a doctors office just right outside of our dorms in case I ever got really sick and needed treatment right away. And our insurance covers the fees too so we don't need to pay more.

Time Management comes in everywhere

Managing my time when I get a big assignment or project, like the video midterm project, I feel is a little harder than it is to manage my time for a regular, weekly assignment.

I think it is harder to do because normally with a project we got a lot of time to complete it. So, I  will first make a plan in my head and think the project over. Then, I start writing things down and planning and finally I begin to work on it. For this specific project, I have worked on it a little each day. I keep envisioning different things I can add to it all the time, but never really sit down to actually do it. I need to start really planning my time wisely considering the project is due next week!

Estimated time of work done on each section:

a) Brainstorming~ 2-3 hours

          b) Interviewing~ 3-4 hours

          c) Gathering materials (articles, music, etc.)~ 10 hours+

d) Transferring all my materials to computer~ I didn't have to transfer anything because I used my computer to record

e) Learning to use video software~ 2-3 hours

f) Making the video~ still in the process of completing

g) Editing~ still in the process of completing

 

Troubleshooting with Video Project

I know everyone is probably having a little bit of trouble constructing their midterm video project, as am I. I've had some very stressful situations occur during the process of me trying to figure out:

1. How to work the program (iMovie is brand new to me)

2. Figuring out how to add my video and cut it

3. All the little details of adding music, transitions, slides etc.

I think for the most part I have everything figured out and planned to be put together for my final project. One major problem I encountered in the beginning was adding a slide with text on it. That took me a couple hours to figure out how to do, but I finally found a way that works for me and is easy enough to remember each time I need to add a slide.

Lowering Volume of music while someone speaks:

The second thing I had some trouble with was adding music and turning to volume down lower so that when people are speaking in the video you could hear them. I figured out that if you click on the video clip you want to lower the volume for and go to the bottom where it says "Clip" and has a percentage next to it you click that bar and you can bring the volume up or down, however you want it.

Those are the only two major problems I have run into thus far. I plan to continue working on my video and hopefully everything will come out the way I want it to for my final project!

Midterm Video Project

The video midterm project, at first, was really stressing me out and I was very confused and unsure about it. I am slowly figuring out the iMovie program though and putting the project in terms that make sense to me. I watched the sample videos that Professor Guarino posted on her blog and those helped me a little bit to see where my video should be headed and gave me a few ideas on how to make my video a little more interesting. I'm starting to actually have fun putting my video together and trying different things with it. I still run into problems sometimes though that stress me out, but I have luckily been able to figure it out.

I have three interviews done and I'm still waiting on the faculty member I chose to email me back with her responses. Finding people to interview wasn't really hard for me, the hard part was writing up a bunch of different creative questions to ask them all. I managed to mix them up though and get a variety of great responses to help me construct my video. I'm currently working on music in the video and how to get the music volume to go down while someone is speaking. If anyone knows how to do this, it be a great help if you could tell me! Otherwise I will probably google it, like I've done for a majority of the things I didn't already know how to do.

I have many visions for how I want my video to come out, so I hope that in the end I can actually get it to look like I'm imagining! I have been working on parts of my video a little bit everyday, and I think if I continue to do that I will have no problem finishing by the deadline. If anybody needs help on any thing, don't hesitate to ask.. I'd love to help with anything I can! :)

Critical thinking in the SCSU library

Critical thinking is a very broad topic that has many different parts to it and can be interpreted in many different ways depending on what people feel the true meaning of it is. Critical thinking in my own words and mind is a deeper more constructive way of thinking about something. I also think of it as being thinking that has a lot of ones own opinions in it. I found a great book in the library to help me further my understanding of critical thinking called, Critical Thinking written by Brooke Noel Moore and Richard Parker. In this book they believe critical thinking has three parts to it helping students:

1.    More engaging- students learn to apply critical thinking skills to situations in a wide variety of areas.

2.    More relevant- real life boxes integrated throughout the text show students how critical thinking skills are used everyday

3.    More student success- students can better explain things and have a more thorough understanding of the issue.

Critical thinking is a very important part of a students academic success, more commonly though in a college students life. More of the work I get in college I feel requires a lot of critical thinking and in depth responses and answers. Teachers are always asking for a further explanation of the answers I give or evidence I cite. There always has to be more, which can sometimes be frustrating, but in the end I feel like it helps me to better understand what’s going on or what was said. In the book they explain critical thinking simply as “thinking about thinking”, which I think is a very good way to explain it in simple terms. Critical thinking can also be broken down into arguments followed by different supporting premises and then a conclusion drawn from the premises. We learned how to do this in Anthropology class for a while. It helps students to think deeper and breakdown different statements and pick apart the credibility of the argument.

         I think that teachers should start teaching students about critical thinking and the importance of it in high school. This will help students when they get to college because they will already know about it and can go ahead and start applying it to their work right away. If I had learned about it before coming to SCSU I could be a better thinker and understand the importance of things with more experience. After a few years of practicing my critical thinking I think it will be very beneficial to my future and I will be glad I learned so much about it.

Works cited:

Moore, Brooke N., and Richard Parker. Critical Thinking. 10th ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill. Print.

Campus Safari #7 Go to the Fitness Center

 

This week I visited the fitness center located in the Student Center on the second floor. The gym is open everyday here on campus for students to work out or take classes offered.

HOURS OF OPERATION:

 

FALL 2011 SEMESTER HOURS*    

MONDAY-THURSDAY   7AM-10PM

FRIDAY                    7AM-8PM

SATURDAY                9:30AM-4:30PM

SUNDAY                   2PM-7PM

The cost for students to join is $60 for one semester and $120 for two semesters. There will be a sale starting October 17th and the cost to join on that date will be $35. 

One class I would be interested in taking is Zumba. I love to dance and have never taken a zumba class, but all of my friends say that it's so much fun. There are zumba classes: Monday's at 7:15-8:15 pm, Tuesday's from 5:00-6:00pm and Wednesday's from 7:00-8:00pm. 

 There is a strict dress code you must follow before going to work out to keep up the cleanliness of the machines. You can't wear jeans, racer back tanks, street shoes, flip flops, or sandals, no altered T-shirts, and no midriff showing tops. There are no exceptions to these rules and if you are not dressed appropriately you may be asked to leave. 

 The fitness center does not only offer many different classes for students to participate in but they also provide personal training. The pricing for each session is as follows:

                     PERSONAL TRAINING -

                    STUDENTS                         FACULTY/STAFF   

                    $15/session                        $23/session

5   sessions: $75                                     $115

10 sessions ($12/$20): $120                    $200

 

I don't really like going to the gym and working out but after visiting the gym and seeing all the great things it has to offer, I am now considering joining so I can keep up a healthy lifestyle in college.

Calm down! Don't stress it

This week I tried something new to see if it would help me relieve stress. Normally, for me dancing is a way to relieve my stress. My room mate mentioned she was going on a run and asked me if I wanted to join her. I decided, why not take a break from all this homework and try something new? So I went with her. It was such a good exercise, the weather was nice and the route we took was beautiful. I had my ipod with me playing my favorite music, which that in itself is its own stress reliever. After we got back from the jog of course I was tired and a bit sore but I felt so much better and not stressed. It's like I took all my stress out by running it off.
I also really enjoy doing things with my room mates. It's weird but being with them makes me not so stressed because they are in the same boat as me and we all talk about our work and help each other out.


    Other things I do to relieve stress is by doing homework in sections. I'll do a little here and a little there with breaks in between so I don't become overwhelmed by everything all at once. During my breaks I will listen to music, have a snack to stay focused, or just lay up in my bed and relax. I like to think of the end result when I become too overwhelmed. I think what will happen if I just give up and don't do my work? The answer to that always motivates me to not give up and keep going so that I can achieve the grades I desire even if I have a lot of homework. Getting at least some of my homework done each night is such a big stress reliever for me. I would like to know what others do to relieve their stress so I can try some new strategies for myself.

Staying healthy as a college student

For me, staying healthy means eating a well balanced diet and getting enough exercise. Also keeping myself from being sick or catching a virus I make sure that I don't touch things that could be germy.. for example the hand rails in an elevator. I always wash my hands before I eat and after I eat, after being in the bathroom or touching anything dirty by accident. I don't share my food or drinks for the same reason of not wanting to get sick. My mom always tells me when I'm starting to feel sick to drink a lot of orange juice because vitamin C fights germs and bacteria. If I'm coughing or sneezing I always cover my mouth so no one else will catch what I may have. Sometimes in the summer I go out with my hair still wet, but in the winter I always dry my hair so I won't get sick. I take a lot of precausions when the weather starts getting cold and people start getting sick, I avoid being around people who are sneezing or coughing.

I went online and searched some strategies to stay healthy while at college and I found this website: http://www.sheerbalance.com/nutrition/10-tips-for-staying-healthy-at-college/ , the top ten pieces of advice that Emily Thomas gives are as follows:

1. Watch out for dorm food and make sure you don't overeat 
2. Take advantage of campus gyms
3. Play sports
4. Walk or ride your bike to class
5. Take time to de-stress
6. Don't forget to get enough sleep
7. Limit late night snacks
8. Don't keep unhealthy snacks on hand
9. Find healthy friends
10. Get regular check ups