Reading Options

Week 3 and 4:

 I decided that I would prefer to read the more novelistic version of the story. I have a kindle so I went ahead and ordered the kindle version of the book. I also think that the reading guide will be really helpful since I am unfamiliar with the general story. 

iereadingguides.blogspot.com

Week 5:

The reading option that emphasizes Indian heroines seems particularly interesting. As I stated in a previous blog post I really liked the former storybook that told Sita's side of the tale. I do not normally read graphic novels or comic books but I think it would be interesting to check out some of the free options. 

Graphic Novel
iereadingguides.blogspot.com

iereadingguides.blogspot.com - Female Heroines

Week 6 and 7:

Again I think I will read the novel version. I will see how much I like reading the novel version of the first story before I buy the kindle version. I may also listen to the audio of the other version just to see whether that helps me absorb the story. 

iereadingguides.blogspot.com - narayans-mahabharata

Post Week 7 - I am going to wait to decide my game plan until after the first 7 weeks for the rest of the semester. 

Time Strategies

I'll be honest. Time management has never been my strong suit. The work always gets done, and I have never missed an assignment that would severely impact my grade. However, more often than not I put everything off as long as humanly possible. While I have been able to manage my procrastination well throughout college (aka my last minute work is still good quality, and I am great at pulling all nighters), I do not think it is a viable strategy for when I get to law school. I am excited for the resources this class offers for time management and look forward to trying to implement them. Some of the resources that stood out to  me was  S.M.A.R.T. Goals and making lists. I love making lists in general. I tend to put big goals on them, but I plan to start using more specific tasks to see if it helps me feel more productive as I complete those goals.

Me, Everyday
pinterest.com

Technology Tools Reaction

The blogging aspect to this class is by far the most overwhelming to me. For the past three years 90% of my assignments have consisted of typing papers on Microsoft Word and then proceed to upload those to canvas. I have never blogged before. However, over the pst week I feel as though I have gotten the hang of these, very simple, first posts. I look forward to getting more acquainted with the ins and outs of the site. I am familiar with Pinterest and Tumblr. I have never used Tumblr to blog but did create a presentation using the site my freshman year. While I am not a particularly technologically savvy person, I look forward to expanding my skill set over the course of the semester.

Technology
www.pinterest.com

Class Assignments Reaction

I am excited to begin the assignments for this class. Everything so far appears to be pretty strait forward. As a letters major I always appreciated opportunities to improve my writing abilities in new and challenging ways. I think the storyboard and portfolio assignments will be particularly useful in that regard. Most of my class thus far have had a few large projects and assignments over the course of the semester. However, very few contain daily work. While I think the accountability factor of this class will be good for me, I know that it will probably take a little adjusting on my part to conform to a different class schedule.

Good Writing Meme
pinterest.com

Growth Mindset Reaction

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or growth mindset (using that particular terminology) before. I liked what she had to say and thought she did an excellent job of presenting her information. I was not surprised by her conclusions at all. When I was younger I had a lot of test anxiety, which I think most likely was related to a fixed mindset. I was terrified of failing standardized tests. I was not the only one having issues so the school brought in a speaker about two weeks before a big test. He talked about the test without ever using the word test and presented it as an opportunity to learn how much we knew. I took his words to heart and my scores drastically increased. Ever since then I have developed into a really good test taker. Even though I was unfamiliar with the terminology "growth mindset" I believe that it was my shift to that mindset that  allowed my test taking skills to flourish. I would be extremely interested in learning more about growth mindsets this semester. I am particularly interested in the challenge regarding the different types of intelligence.

Growth Mindset Cat
growthmindsetmemes

Introduction to an Almost Real Adult

This summer I had to learn how to be a real adult. For the past 11 years I have either attended Kanakuk Kamps over the summer, or, in the case of the past two, worked there. This summer all of the “adulting” that I had put off finally caught up with me. Luckily, I still got to start out the summer with something enjoyable.

Rothenburg, Germany

 

Study Abroad (aka the victory lap for my graduated friends):

I began my summer of adulting by going on a study abroad trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria with a combination of PLC and Society of Fellows alums. The trip lasted ten days and for the most part was the last time I got to see some of my really close friends from the past three years. About three-fourths of my friends graduated last year so this trip served as a stark realization that we were all going our separate ways. The trip was incredible and I got to experience so much history and culture with the same people with whom I struggled through Latin and Literature classes.

The LSAT (aka the worst day ever):

After returning from my study abroad trip I had two weeks before taking the Law School Admissions test, more commonly known as the LSAT. Let me tell you something about the LSAT… It is pure evil. The Law School Admissions Council is probably just Satan sitting in a basement taking great joy in the misery he inflicts on 20,000 law school hopefuls every three(ish) months. I studied extremely hard for three months in preparation for the test. While the studying paid off and I did well on the test, you could not pay me enough money to sit through the five-hour exam and then wait three and a half weeks for my score ever again.

Wisdom Teeth Removal (aka the time I had a poor reaction to Hydrocodone):

I decided to schedule my wisdom teeth removal surgery for exactly one week after I took the LSAT. My decision was based around the idea that surely the pain medicine from the surgery would keep me calm enough that I would not even think about the fact that I did not know my score yet. Unfortunately hydrocodone, the post-surgery medicine my doctor selected, had the opposite effect. Not only did it not effectively dull the pain from the surgery, it also actually intensified my anxiety level. Needless to say, my wisdom teeth removal process was not the most pleasant part of my summer.

Grownup Jobs (aka my realization that I need to become a morning person):

For the last month of my summer I decided that I needed to do two things: gain experience in the law field and make money. Luckily I was able to get a part-time unpaid internship with a district judge and a paid part-time job with a local bank. I spent three weeks diagraming and labeling the bank’s safety deposit vaults. While it was a pretty tedious job, I actually  enjoyed having something to do that did not require much brainpower. It was a stark contrast to preparing for the LSAT. I also had a lot of fun interning for the district judge. I got to experience what the behind the scenes of a courtroom was like and I saw some very interesting people.

Overall my summer was a whirlwind of preparing for the next few years of my life. As much as I missed my summer camp counselor days I am glad I stepped foot into the real world for a brief moment.  

Storybook Favorites

One of the storybooks that stood out to me was Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers. I loved that, Katie, the author interwove Indian epics with well-loved pop culture. She managed to make to the project very unique by emphasizing the two characters of Indian descent who where only background characters in the original work. While I had never heard the story of the four brothers, I was able to immediately relate to the Hogwarts setting. Out of all the storybook's I looked at Katie's design and layout was my personal favorite. I thought the site made sense aesthetically but was not overwhelming.  

Yule Ball
Katie's Storybook

Another storybook that I found very well-written was Rama and Sita: Even Fairy Tales End. I enjoyed that the author subverted the original story in a poignant and occasionally humorous way. The story emphasized how poorly female characters are often treated by their "heroic" love interests in ancient myths. While I do not personally have much experience with Indian Epics, I am familiar enough with Greek and Roman mythology to recognize the trend. I did not like the page layout as much as some others, but overall I really enjoyed the story book. 

Rama and Sita

Even Fairly Tales End

Similarly to the Hogwarts storybook, I found How I Met Your Mother highly entertaining. I like the concept of blending the ancient epics with a modern sitcom. In most myth and folklore that I have read, I have been astonished at some of the "first meetings" between the lovers. The author also appears to have pulled from different epics than most of the storybooks I read which was a nice chance.This storybook highlighted how absurd some epics seem in a modern context. The layout of this web page was also my second favorite. I thought it made sense with the theme and was easy to navigate.

   

How I Met Your Mother Storybook

How I Met Your Mother

My Favorite Places: Oxford

Oxford University, Oxford, England. In the summer of 2016 I studied abroad for three weeks at Oxford University in Oxford, England. I lived in Brasenose College, which is pictured directly to the right of Radcliffe Camera in the image below. Oxford is a beautiful city, overflowing with history and culture, and I loved living and learning there last summer. The second image shows my favorite place to study when I was at Oxford. The Eagle and Child is a historic pub near Brasenose. C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien and the other "Inklings" would gather there to brainstorm, write, edit, and share community with each other. C.S. Lewis is one of my favorite authors. The ability to go and write my papers where he first presented Tolkien with a draft of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was a surreal experience. 

Oxford University, Radcliffe Camera
commons.wikimedia.org

Eagle and Child Pub
geograph.org

Test Post

This blog is going to be a great new adventure for me. Hopefully this post works.