14V: Invest Yourself

Making an Investment is the act of using, giving or devoting time, talent, etc., for a purpose or to achieve something.

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Right now in my Inquiry class I have to invest myself in my video project. I am balancing a lot right now with other classes and both of my jobs, but I have to commit myself to this project because I am paying to take this course and have to put my best effort into it. It is hard to fully invest yourself in one thing when you have so much on your plate, but investment is about devoting your time and energy to accomplish something. That is what I have to do to prepare for that and each of my other finals.

 

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A few more words I encountered this week were stress and thankful.

I have spoken about both of these words this week, but I have yet to really define them.

 

Stress is mental, physical or emotional strain or tension. Everyone is stressed out right now because of finals, but it is very bad for anyone to be too stressed, so we should definitely try to relax as much as possible.

 

Being thankful is feeling or expressing gratitude and being appreciative. On Thursday we were encouraged to recognize what we are thankful for, and it is a very good thing to do every once in a while.

 

All of these words are very simple, but they can really have a huge affect on our lives. It is so important to keep each of these topics in your mind on a daily basis. If we do not invest ourselves in our work, we won't do as well as we are capable of doing at school. This will lead to bad grades and even more stress than we are already under. When we are so worried about or preoccupied with one aspect of our lives, we tend to stop thinking about all of the things we should be thankful for. So keep these words in mind, (especially this time of year) and you will be happier.

 

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14B: Cheesy

The other day we celebrated Thanksgiving, so what better way to reflect upon that than to talk about what I am thankful for? (Get ready for the cheesiest thing you've ever read.)

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There are so many things that I am thankful for. Just yesterday I was thinking about how good my life actually is and how lucky I am, but here are a few things I am very grateful for...

 

My Family- Of course they are the number one part of my life. They are all so crazy and weird, but that is what makes them different from other families. I'm thankful for my parents. They have such a strange relationship like brother and sister which most kids with parents who are not together can't say, so I am thankful for that as it has made my life from childhood easier. Also for my step mom who is a great person and makes my dad really happy. I'm thankful for my brother and two sisters who are all really cute and should stay little forever. I'm also thankful for my Nana who admittedly loves me more than her own children, and for everyone else in my family who has ever supported me, (and I am thankful for my bunnies).

 

http://www.someecards.com/the-new-normal-cards/crazy-family-gay-parents-the-new-normal-funny-ecard

 

My Boyfriend- He should really be under family, but what the heck, I'll give him his own category. This is beyond corny, but we have been together for four years and I am never happier than I am when I'm with him. He's just a really genuinely great person. I won't go into anymore about him because I don't want to make anyone barf from the cuteness.

 

My Home(s)- Not many people can say they have multiple places they could go if they needed somewhere to stay, but I have multiple homes where I am welcome any day and I am truly grateful for that. Some people don't even have a roof over their heads at all, so I am extremely lucky.

 

http://traditionalchristianity.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/home.jpg

 

My Education- My family is definitely not poor, but we don't have a lot of money. The fact that I am able to go to college when neither of my parents, grandparents or aunts and uncles have gone is something I am very thankful for. I am able to get a high level education and give myself a better future.

 

There are many other things I am thankful for, but I would be sitting at this computer all day if I wrote about everything. Reflecting on my life really gives me great perspective. Sometimes we lose sight of all of the great things about our lives because one bad thing happens to us. It is really good to think about how lucky we are and never forget that there are people who don't have half or any of the things that we take for granted. I am grateful for the life that I have and the amazing people in it.

 

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14A: Go Away, Stress!

It is quite ironic that I am currently working on a video project about stress relief when I am actually extremely stressed out basically 24/7.

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I have pretty bad anxiety, so I tend to get anxious and stressed fairly easily, but that should not stop me from taking my own advice on stress relief. This week, I have probably felt less stress than I have all year, but it still has crept up on me from time to time over the past few days.

 

I think that this past Wednesday was the least stressful day I have had since summertime. I have to work every Saturday and Sunday at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning (and I am NOT a morning person), so being able to sleep in past 9:00am for the first time in months was amazing. Not having to worry about an alarm clock or having to be anywhere is the best feeling ever.

 

http://funny2fu.blogspot.com/2013/06/funny-babies-sleeping-image-cute-baby.html

 

Once I woke up around 1:30pm on Wednesday, (I am not even joking- it was probably the Zzzquil I took before bed), I ate a late brunch and quickly got "cabin fever" and felt the need to get out of the house. Then, I decided to drag myself to the gym for the second time this year in preparation for the 20 pounds I anticipated on gaining the next day for Thanksgiving. Exercising definitely did not feel relaxing at the time since I am horrifically out of shape, but I know from my own research that it is good for your body and lowering your stress level.

 

I ate a lot of amazing food over this mini break, of course because it was Thanksgiving, and that always seems to relax me. Also, I just relaxed and watched a couple of movies a few nights this week. I try to remain calm most of the time, but with my elderly car, work, and school, it is definitely hard sometimes. At least I had Wednesday to recover a little bit from the stress of impending final exams.

 

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14I: The Voice of CT

Earlier this week, Southern was visited by Javier Colon the first ever winner of the award-winning singing competition/TV show, The Voice.

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The Voice is probably the biggest talent competition on television right now, so the fact that the winner of the very first season came to SCSU's Farnham Programming Space this past Monday from 6pm-10pm for FREE was amazing. Javier is a singer/songwriter originally from Hartford, CT. I remember watching that season in 2011 and rooting for him right from the beginning because he was amazing and from my home state. Of course he was just as great a singer in person as he was on the show, and I can absolutely see why he won. Monday was a very fun experience and I feel privileged to have seen such a great artist at my school for no cost.

 

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Final Video Project First Draft

Managing College Stress

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV6viTuMNag

I am a little less than half way done with my project, it has three more parts to be filmed: how to alleviate stress, the health problems that are caused by excessive stress, and my conclusion and credits.

13V: What's Yours?

Purpose: the reason for which something exists or is done.

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Purpose comes into play in just about every area of our lives, and sometimes we ask ourselves: Why am I doing this?

I am writing this blog post so that I pass my Inquiry class. I have to pass INQ so that I can take classes in my major. I have to take classes in my major so I can become a teacher. I do not have to become a teacher, but I feel like it is my purpose in life to teach and help young people learn and grow. I agree with Viktor Frankl's perspective on meaning and purpose. You may be happy with your life, but the way to make it meaningful is to live for something outside of yourself and to help others.

 

http://tiffanyfulcher.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/PurposeEquation.jpg

 

Two interesting words from my classes this week were deism and Marxism.

Deism is belief in the existence of a God on the evidence of reason and nature only, with rejection of supernatural revelation. In my history class, I learned that all of the founding fathers of the United States were deists.

Marxism is the system of economic and political thought developed by Karl Marx that says the state, throughout history, has been a device for the exploitation of the masses by a dominant class. We have been talking about different sociological perspectives like this one in my sociology class.

 

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13I: Off to Office Hours

With my first college finals impending, I need to start preparing so that I can get good grades. This realization led me to my history professor's office earlier this week with a few questions for him.

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This past Wednesday, I visited Dr. Troy Rondinone's office hours in EN C211B at 12:00pm. His tests are some of the hardest exams I have ever had to take. He gives us so much information every class that it is difficult to guess what we will be tested on. This class is a lecture, so I am just furiously writing down that he is saying because there are never any notes written on the board to copy down. Also, my test scores in the course have been decreasing lately, and I feel as though I need to gain as much information about the final as possible in order to get a better over-all grade in that class.

 

The first question I asked him was, "Is the final going to be cumulative?"

He informed me that it will be, but he will provide us with a study guide so that we can narrow down the topics which we have to study.

 

The second question that I asked was, "What will the format of the final be?"

He said that it will be entirely multiple choice and matching like our other tests so far this year. He told me that the only difference between the final and our previous exams is that it will be longer and have questions on each section we have studied so far.

 

After speaking to Dr. Rondinone I feel less anxious about our final. The fact that it will be very similar to the other exams I have taken in that class makes me feel more at ease. I feel better prepared for the final exam now that I have spoken to him.

 

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Contact information:

Troy Rondinone, Ph.D.

Office: EN C211B

Office hours: Mon 12-2; Weds 11-1 pm; Thurs 12-1pm   

Office phone: 203-390-8836

Email: rondinonet1@southernct.edu