Growth Mindset

I had never heard of Carol Dweck before watching these videos, but I find the topics to be somewhat familiar to me.

As much I would like to say that I am a part of the "Growth" mindset, I find myself in the "Fixed" one. A lot of my educational experience has placed the greatest value in receiving A's in every class, or learning just as much as I can to pass a test (standardized, AP, benchmarks, etc.). My frustrations with myself have come from not receiving the grade, not necessarily that I didn't learn the information.

I've learned a lot about my style of learning being at OU. I have found myself, in particular instances or classes, learning more towards the "Growth" mindset. Especially in the classes that I am the most passionate about, I find myself wanting to do all assignments to learn the most I can while I am in that class. The grade means less to me, as I feel it will automatically come after learning everything I can. I think it took the first couple of years of college to find that out, as I went through the process of changing my majors and finding what I truly wanted to study.

That's one of the reasons I wanted to take this class. I am in Latin right now and a lot of our curriculum is placed in Ancient Rome and certain mythological aspects of their history. I found myself at a complete loss when we would talk about these kinds of topics, so I sought out as way to combat that! Coming from that, I dropped a couple of classes I thought I wanted/needed to take in order to better root myself in courses that would keep my interest and begin to strengthen the "Growth" mindset in myself.

(Growth vs. Fixed, web source: Flickr)

I chose this picture because I really do feel like this is one of the best visual representations of this concept. A "Growth" mindset leads to endless opportunities and continual advancement while the "Fixed" mindset leaves you stuck worrying about failures or not meeting expectations that are sometimes unrealistically placed on children.

Starting the Semester

One of my biggest weaknesses is that I am kind of an incredibly disorganized person. My saving grace is my planner. I have never been good at keeping up with a planner until my life became a mess without it. I color code entries into my planner, certain colors for different classes and for extracurricular activities.

I have an Erin Condren planner with the vertical weekly layout. The usual horizontal layout causes a whole bunch of confusion and things get jumbled up. This allows me to set things up in chronological order or section things off by subject or school vs. activities, etc. There's an example below:

(Erin Condren planner, web source: Flickr)

Another trick I learned from one of my friends last semester is to take all the syllabi from my classes and make a list of all of the due dates in order. It's kind of like a check sheet to keep all the assignments and due dates in the same place. Color coded by class, of course.

Potential Reading Options

Week #2 Choice:

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-women-saints-of.html

I have thought for a long time that the histories of saints are fascinating. Ever since I found out about the first Native American Saint, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, and learned about her story in a Women's History course I've wanted to learn more about the stories of other saints. I am also woefully uninformed about classical and biblical stories alike; this seems to have a relation to the kinds of historic info I am interested in learning about.

Other Standouts:

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20King%20Arthur

This one stood out to me because I have taken European history courses before, and enjoyed them immensely. However, honestly, this one stood out because my family has always been huge fans of the Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I figured it might be nice to truly know the stories and legends behind the farce.

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20Homer%27s%20Iliad

I picked this unit out because I am currently studying Latin and in the later semesters we study these classic stories in their original Latin. I read the Odyssey when I was maybe in the 9th grade, but am ashamed to say I don't know the story of the Iliad. Maybe this will help me brush up a little bit.

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20Dante%27s%20Inferno

This has long been a book that I have been too intimidated to read through. Its depth and complexity don't fare well for the very limited time for reading for fun I get during the semester. Interestingly, when I was in band in high school, we played the symphonic adaptation of these stories. It might be nice to know the details of the plot beyond the measures of a score.

(Three Headed Dog, web source: Wikimedia)

My Storybook Favorites

I read through quite a few Storybooks and found that the out-of-the-box ones were my favorite!

#1: https://sites.google.com/site/biblewomentruehollywoodstory/

This was one of my favorites that I read. I'm all for creativity and found that the layout of this one really stood out! I'm a sucker for reality television so the Introduction really sucked me into wanting to read all of the stories. I'm not entirely familiar with the stories that were presented here, but really enjoyed learning about them in this format. The use of an "interview" was really creative and showed a lot of determination to make these stories relatable.

#2: https://sites.google.com/site/mermaidscsi/introduction

I want to say that this is my favorite. I absolutely love crime shows and this was a really interesting way to present these kinds of stories. I'm really not an incredibly imaginative person, so these keep surprising and impressing me immensely. As soon as I saw the title, I knew I was going to write about this one. The introduction takes on a first person narrative, which gives it a more familiar feel. This is a vantage point used in narratives often, one that I usually don't enjoy reading. I'm not sure if I would have kept reading if it hadn't been for the CSI in the title. This is a purely personal opinion; I don't like first person books either. However, after reading the stories, I loved the way this author set this up.

(Demon, web source: Wikimedia)

#3: https://sites.google.com/site/justicealdante/introduction-court-of-contrapasso-3rd-circle

I know I just said above that I dislike first person vantage points, but I think this story just may change my mind. This is so well written and witty that I can easily look past my opposition to this vantage point. A fondness for the environment in which this is set also helps: a courtroom. I honestly can't say enough about the lengths that this author went to take a classic completely out of its element and transpose it into an environment that seems to have no correlation to its original one.

Week 1 Story: A Take on the Hares and the Frogs

There were two families, the Andersons and the Smiths. The Andersons had a son, Alex and there was a Smith boy named Jordan. The Anderson family had a wife, who worked as a nurse, and a husband, who worked as an attorney. The Smith family was a single parent household, with the mother working as a secretary at an orthodontist's office.

Alex was a precocious child, but had what his parents referred to as "only child syndrome." As a child, he did not want for anything. He had enormous amounts of toys and new clothes, and enjoyed being the only child in the family.

Jordan, on the other hand, had quite a different childhood experience. His mother loved him very much, but could not always provide the newest toys or clothes that weren't hand-me-downs from his older brother. She worked very hard to provide food and shelter for Jordan and his 4 siblings. They were always well-fed and had clean clothes on their backs.

Alex and Jordan went to the same school and were in the same classroom. One day, Alex came to school and announced that his birthday was coming up and everyone in the class was invited to his party that would be that coming weekend at his house. None of the children could wait, including Jordan! Jordan loved playing with his siblings a lot, but was so excited to finally get to spend time with kids in his own class.

The day of Alex's birthday party finally arrived. Jordan's mother could not keep him from bouncing off the walls; he was so excited. He had woken up early that morning and was dressed in his nicest clothes. His mother dropped him off at Alex's house and he raced over to the groups of children playing games and chattering wildly.

The whole afternoon was an incredible success for Jordan but, for Alex, it was a different story. Everything was going along fine until it got to the section of the party where he got to open presents. Now, Alex had really been wanting this new video game that had just been released. However, much to his dismay, he opened every single present and did not find that video game. He received plenty of other great gifts, including a multicolored soccer ball. Now, Jordan was an avid soccer fan and had loved to play with the other kids in his neighborhood, but had never owned his own ball.

Alex threw an enormous tantrum and the party had to be ended a little early. However, Jordan's mother was working a shift and couldn't come to get him immediately. So, while Alex's parents dealt with his meltdown, Jordan had decided to take the new soccer ball for a spin. Once Alex had calmed down a bit, he was looking out of the window in his bedroom and saw Jordan having the time of his life playing with a soccer ball. A soccer ball?! It took until then for him to realize that his tantrum was a little over-dramatic and he should be grateful for the presents he had received.

There is always someone worse off than you that sees the value in things that you take for granted.

(Multicolored soccer ball, web source: Pexels)

Author's Note: I took my inspiration from the fable, "The Hares and the Frogs." This is a short story about a group of hares. These hares were afraid of persecution from most other animals and would run away anytime they saw a single animal approaching. They were tired of being afraid and went to a pond to drown themselves, when their approach scared away a group of frogs. They saw that not everything was as bad as it had seemed. I wanted to take this classic story and apply it to a more modern setting, with realities that many people, children especially, face today.

Bibliography: "The Hares and the Frogs" from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs. Web source.

Introduction to (hopefully) a future attorney

Just a little about me, I'm a Political Science and Letters: Constitutional Studies senior at OU. I am also a part of the Accelerated MPA program in the Political Science department, so I will graduate in May 2018 (taking 5 years) with my Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

After I graduate, my plan is to go to law school. My dream school is Boston University in Massachusetts. I'm a huge U.S. history buff, so somewhere like Boston that's enveloped in history would be perfect. The school itself also has incredible programs that I'm looking for and is a well-ranked school, so win-win.

(Boston University School of Law, web source: Wikimedia)

Besides going to classes and studying for the LSAT, I don't do much. I enjoy Netflix, of course. My favorite TV show that I have been making my way through for the 9th time this summer is the West Wing. It's a fictional show about the inner workings of the White House and the executive staff that works out of the West Wing of the White House. It's one of the greatest shows that has ever been on the air, and I can't recommend it enough. It features young Rob Lowe and Allison Janney, what could be better?

In addition to my Netflix habit, I have gotten really into reading historical novels. I just read two out of a series of three over the summer and now I'm really hooked on the genre. The two I read were books that constructed a narrative from many different characters' viewpoints. The first book took us through the lead-up and the duration of WWI. The second one did the same through WWII. These books were called Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, respectively.

                     (Fall of Giants, web source: Flickr)          (Winter of the World, web source: Flickr)

When it comes to music, I'm kind of all of over the place. Some of my favorite artists are Bear's Den, Frank Ocean, One Direction, Drake, Sara Barielles, etc. To go along with the pseudo-theme of this post, however, one of my favorite things to listen to right now is the Broadway musical Hamilton soundtrack. I mean, it combines all of my favorite things: American history and musicals. I've also been listening to the Chernow biography on audiobook that inspired the musical. All of it is amazing. Alexander Hamilton is certainly (well, maybe not now thanks to Lin-Manuel Miranda) a forgotten yet influential figure in our nation's history. My dream, which is quite literally impossible now, was to see Hamilton on Broadway with the original cast. Alas, many of their contracts were up this summer and are now undoubtedly off to bigger and brighter things.

Favorite Place(s) Around the World

I have a handful of favorite places. Coincidentally, none of the three are in the United States.

Place #1:
The first place I'll list is a town called Oakville in Ontario, Canada. My entire family, myself included, is Canadian. My immediate family lived in Oakville before we moved down to the States and we often go back to visit. It is basically my dream town, with good downtown and residential areas.

 

(Downtown Oakville, web source: Wikimedia Commons)

This is a central spot along the main street in Oakville, Lakeshore Road. There's a square with restaurants surrounding it. My mum always tells me about a little coffee shop here where she would take me when I was a toddler.

(personal photo of Lake Ontario with the Toronto Skyline; photo from July 2016)

While this isn't the most beautiful photo in the forefront, this is from Lakeside Park in Oakville. It backs right onto Lake Ontario, and you can see Toronto across the way. In person, it's pretty magical. This park is actually where I lost my first two teeth at 18 months. That's what you get from metal playground equipment.

(personal photo of a church along Lakeshore Road; photo from July 2016)

This is just a beautiful church along the main street in town.

Place #2:

Place number two for me is London. I had the amazing opportunity in the summer of 2016 to study abroad, and I was able to travel around Europe for a couple of weeks before my classes actually began. Even though my trip was centered in Italy, London was my favorite place that I went.

(personal photos of the Parliament Building and Big Ben; photos from June 2015)

Here is the stereotypical London tourist pic...Big Ben from different angles. One across the river and one from the square closer to Westminster Abbey.

(personal photo of the University of Greenwich; photo from June 2015)

This was one of the coolest places I visited in London. I was staying with a friend's relative who is a Ph.D. student in film at the University of Greenwich in London. It was especially interesting because many popular movies used this campus as their backdrop (a fact that I'm sure drew this guy to the school). These movies include Sherlock Holmes 2, a recent James Bond movie, Les Miserables, Thor and many more.

(Tower of London, web source: Wikimedia Commons)

The Tower of London was truly one of the greatest "tourist spots" I have ever visited. I'm a historical buff, and this was certainly the perfect place for me. British military officials known as "beefeaters" are the keepers and tour guides at this palace. Beefeaters have become sort of a novelty, but to become one is actually an incredibly challenging process. First off, you must have 22 years of military service. They act as the guardians of the buildings themselves, as well as the crown jewels which are housed in the Tower. They have a moving sidewalk right in front of the jewels and I'm not ashamed to say that I took a couple laps to really appreciate these magnificent pieces.

Place #3:

Last, but certainly not least, is Riomaggiore, which is in Cinque Terre on the coast of Italy. I had a free weekend while on my trip with OU, and immediately headed for the coast. If you happen to find yourself in Italy, you MUST take the time to seek out any one of the villages within Cinque Terre. Seriously, if I am ever ever seeking a "summer home" (HA), it will be in this region. 

(Riomaggiore, web source: Pixabay)

I was here for about 27 hours, so I didn't take the time for many pictures. But, if I had, they would look exactly like this. The vibrant colors around the city were amazing. I had an amazing view from my B&B's balcony, where I ate real Italian pizza and played cards for hours. It was perfect! I can't wait to go back someday.