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In the movie Survivor, Kate Abbot is the main character who is a Homeland Security Officer for the U.S. Embassy in London. Kate's assignment is to sort through via applicants looking for possible terrorists coming into the United States. In the beginning of the film Kate ran into a Doctor wanting to travel to the United States for a pediatrics seminar, she quickly become suspicious. When questioning the Doctor she found his responses to be vague and lacking. Kate's supervisor quickly dismissed her suspicions and told her to move on, interrupting and interview process, forcing her to approve his visa.
"Nash: For Emil it's personal but for you it's all about greed Pavlou: For a hundred million it's a lot more than that" Siege of Jadotville
Siege of Jadotville is a movie where a unit of the Irish army is deployed by the United Nations in Africa to combat an illegitimate president. They encounter great endeavors only to be punishment for their actions when returning home. Writing Topics
In this blog assignment we are to respond to the following questions (which I will now do.):
Four Academic Mindsets [Category: Mindset]: Please read Chapter 5 (pp. 28 - 38) of Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners [...] (Chicago University). Then, select one of the four academic mindsets ( belonging, growth mindset, self-efficacy, or relevance/purpose) and post an argument about how your selected mindset is the most important one for you to achieve academic success at DCCC. Avoid discussing other students' mindsets. Rather, focus on your personal mindset and academic goals. Here is a list of the four academic mindsets: "I can succeed at this" -- Is the truest reason behind the majority of my choices made in the Academic scene. Living in comfort zones is a challenge that I have to face and love, battling it constantly. In a normal day, choosing things that seem completely out of my individual comfort zone peak my interest greatly. Although, in the classroom where my upcoming career depends on it, I find it extremely difficult to chance my abilities. Through experience, I have found it to be easier on the mind to pick the choices of which I am certain I will do great in. (similar to the Growth vs Fixed mindset). Classes that I am certain that I will struggle with are much easier to avoid for myself.
So, what makes this Academic Mindset great for me? Well, it isn't great at all honestly, think about being trapped by fear of failing... that's what this mindset is all about. Think about always debating if you should take the easier class because you know you'll pass or should you take the harder class because it'll look better but be uncertain about passing. This mindset has not only helped at Delaware County Community College but also in the workplace and when I attend high school. I always believed in myself as a "Go-getter" when it comes to something that I am specifically interested in, but once a subject comes along that confuses me or intimidates me, I rather choose the easier path. Although, at Delaware County Community College using this mindset has become second nature which is a relief and a nightmare at the same time. Picking which mindset best fit my personality was not a difficult task to complete for myself, once I reviewed the specified chapter of the article, I knew instantly. The personality that I have is open and the majority of people understand whom I am, but some may not understand why. My goals are simple right now. My desire is to obtain my associate's degree in computer science and uses it to get into my desired field which happens to be programming. Using my Academic mindset I have a strong believe that it will assist me to get where I wish to go. As I grow as a student I am becoming more likely to choose classes that are outside of my comfort zone, though. Personally enjoying picking the classes and clubs that I know I am suited for is not a trait that I should always live by. My goal is to start fading into "I belong in this academic community". The idea of belonging is something that I believe is something that could greatly boost your progress and ability to be a product student. If we truly think about it, where does the feeling of belonging come from? In my opinion, it would come from a supportive community and loving individuals all around you. This mindset seems it is extremely less stressful as the previous. Knowing some one has your back must be an amazing feeling. An article posted on USNews.com regarding Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Standford University way of viewing Growth and Fixed mindsets. Dweck believes that by giving students or children Fixed Mindset (Verses Growth Mindsets) treatments (Basically "everyone deserve an award") you are directly hindering their ability to understand that they can improve. We are teaching our children that either you are good at, or not good at certain subjects, making them believe the idea of growing greater in that area is unlikely. it's important for children to know that our brains are a muscle that can absorb the knowledge that we throw at it. One of the interesting points Dweck makes is the idea that: When you give a child the idea they it is impossible for them to do wrong when they actually do wrong it hits them like a train.
An article posted on Salon.com by Alfie Kohn seems to be contradictory towards Carol Dweck's claims. Honestly, it's a very long article and a lot of information to sum-up, feel free to read more about it here. To give you a sense of what you are reading: It's an article that is debating Dweck's ideas, and brings up the facts that the research is almost 20 years old and couple possibly no longer accurate. Honestly, read the comments and you'll be laughing for twenty minutes. So, with that out of the way... What's the difference between Growth and Fixed mindsets. Well, Fixed Mindsets are the idea that you are either good in certain areas or not, you are skilled in this and not that and it isn't worth your time attempting to get better at that area. A Growth Mindset is the idea that we should be teaching our children and students that they can improve in areas they are not usually good at. The idea that we should be teaching our children and students to work harder, not just give up because they believe it isn't their cup of tea. So.. Which would I consider myself to have? More than likely a Growth Mindset. I don't believe everyone deserves an award and I don't believe everyones perfect. Living with the idea that I could never improve is not something I would be comfortable with. A feeling of doing better is something that always is in my life, there's always that next step and next goal... even if I fail many.. many.. many.. times. of thWho did I work with to compose my hiraeth project? Was this a good idea?
A more intelligent choice was have been to choose someone who writes naturally, but I don't anyone that does that. Due to my situation I had to settle with my buddy Zach, he review it, and that's about it. It wasn't a good idea, it was most likely a horrible idea. I didn't get a lot of feed back. In fact, all I got was "Looks good". What was the most difficult part of my writing process? Why? What did I do to overcome the obstacles? Recalling, writing, and getting my point across. Remember what I was writing about was the hardest part in my opinion, I do not have a very good memory to begin with. Writing was also difficult, as I'm not a natural writer. The majority of my writings are very awkward and hard to understand, if even readable. Getting my point across was is a huge challenge of mine, like right now, this is supposed to be a paragraph but it feels like I'm writing a bullet list. I wasn't truly able to overcome these obstacles. When did I write this project? Good Approach? Late... Clearly not a Good Approach. No excuses but there have been a lot of fucked up situations in my life right now, I'm doing what I can. Where did I write this project? Good Approach? In the middle of my DPR 100 class. I wouldn't consider this a bad approach as I'm way ahead on all of my work.. did it all yesterday. Why did I choose to write about my chosen hiareth? Really the only good memories I could even attempt to put on paper. How will I adapt/revise my writing process for further revision of the hiraeth assignment? There's a lot.. I honestly want to rewrite the entire project, it feels lacking. It doesn't have nearly as much meat as I would like. I fear that I do not get my point across nearly as well as I'm supposed to. Living in a childhood filled with confusion, fear, and deception is the worst thing that comes to mind. Family constantly cutting corners and telling lies, believing they are protecting you from themselves.
The remembering of a safe, normal home, is something that is slipping from my mind as everyday passes. It used to be, Mom would come home from work and prepare dinner. Dad would arrive shortly after her, somedays. It’s so easy to ignore, or not notice that things that are truly wrong with a family, especially when you’re so young. The best memory I have of my family are on those pennsylvania snow days. A fluffy snow on the ground, perfect for sledding, but a beautiful sun over head. Just warm enough to make you feel safe, and warm. I remember leaving in the morning with my Dad, sometimes having to make a run to Walmart first because the day previous we somehow cracked the old one. I remember making a WaWa stop right after Walmart and getting a warm hot chocolate. The feeling I would get when we first pulled up to the park with the great big hill was overwhelming. It looked as if it was molded perfectly by someone who loved to sled. Dad and I pulled up to the park and sat in the car finishing our hot chocolates, soon as I finished I hopped out and grabbed the sled from the back seat of that old Dodge Caravan. Sled in hand I ran to the top of the hill getting in position as I was glace to my Dad, he was still walking up. I trusted myself flying forward letting out a loud giggle, he would too because by the time I’ve completely flipped because of a divide in the ground. It was so cold, but so enjoyable. Right after sledding we made another stop at WaWa of course, getting those delicious stuffed pretzels and I would get another hot chocolate and my Dad would get his normal dark roast coffee. Home would follow Wawa, where we would sit and watch some random TV Show, usually Courage the Cowardly Dog, or something of the sort. It wasn’t long after those sledding days that I began to realize those drinks that my Father loved so much were a gift from Johnny Walker himself. I began to realize those days when my Mother was extra tired was actually from the consumption of two percocets, a normal for her. When i was ten years old I watched my family fall apart and creep into this dark zone. Hiraeth is a welch term which means to have a longing for which a place you cannot return or never was. In this blog assignment we are told to write about our possible topics for our Hiraeth papers. This is hard for me, I know what I want to write, I know how to write it, but it's a topic I don't talk about much.
My topic will have to do with my childhood and the inability to ever have my family the way I wish it once was. My family was consumed by drug abuse my entire life. |
JoshuaA computer science major, and an a college blog-man-guy. ArchivesCategories |