final video draft

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKyTQVZgEz8

14B What Are You Thankful For??

            I think that the holiday of Thanksgiving gets overlooked as just a day where it is socially acceptable to eats five days of food in one sitting, but instead of actually reflecting on what they are blessed to have, because some people may not be as lucky as you. For me one I think that I am thankful for is my education. My dream is to one day work in the marketing department for a NHL team, hopefully the Buffalo Sabres, and I know I will never get there without an education. When I feel that the work is just pilling up and feel myself wanting to quit, I remind myself that I can never get my dream job if I don’t preserve on and that I am lucky enough to be able to afford college and should my best to absorb every minute of it that I possibly can.  I am also thankful for my friends; I swear I have the best friends that anyone could possibly have. It is always nice to know that they are there for me whenever I need them, and that they would stop what they are doing to help me. A girl can’t ask for any better friends than that!!

            There is one thing overall that I am the most thankful for, and that is my family. I come from a big Italian family where everybody knows everybody’s business and that does get really annoying, but my family is a blessing to me. If I have a problem I usually go to my parents for advice, but I know that there is always someone in my family who is there to help me when I need it, and if I ask it to stay between us it does, and I know that this is a luxuary that not everyone has. There are always squabbles going on in my family, but whenever someone is in serious trouble, we forget everything and do whatever we can to help each other out, which I think helps keep a family strong and close. So even though we may get under each other’s skin from time to time, my family is something that I am the most thankful for and wouldn’t trade any of them in a heartbeat!! 

14A Time To De-Stress??

I don’t think anyone is more looking forward to this Thanksgiving break than I am. Although I would like to say that I won’t have any work to worry about over the break, I know that that isn’t true, but I am not going to let it consume me, and I am going to take some time for myself and to just unwind. One of the first things I am going to do is sleep in for as long as I can, for five days I am going to be sleeping past 8 in the morning, and it is something that I am actually looking forward to!!!

My goal is to get my work done ahead of time, so I can have as much time as possible to be with my family. I feel that I have been working so much that I barely have time to see any of them, which I hate because my family is a very close one. One thing that is a great stress reliever for me is being able to spend time with my 9 year old cousin Mikey. This kid so funny, but he what might sound strange some of you, he is actually an inspiration for me. I have never met any kid with an imagination greater than Mikey’s, every time I babysit him, he is always coming up with these creative and elaborate games that even when I was his age couldn’t come up!

My plan for this Thanksgiving break, is to not slack off on my work so I won’t have any stress, it is to take time for myself and to allow myself to take greater breaks, and focus on something that is more important, spending time with my family. I may come from a big Italian family when our dinners consist of everyone yelling across the table at each other, but oddly that is exactly what di-stresses me the most. 

14V Investment is key

Investment: to give, or devote (time, talent, ect.) for a purpose or to achieve something
Gamble: take risky action in the hope of a desired result
Flutter: to move about or behave in an agitated aimless manor

Investment is something that is key to the success of not just college students but everybody. Anything good that is worth having takes time to get it. Whether a student dreams of making Dean’s List or a 50 year old man wants to own the brand new Mercedes, it still takes countless hours of hard work and dedication to achieve your goals. That being said a person cannot play it safe all the time, there has to be some kind of gamble, meaning they have to take a risk every now and then. There are some rules that go along with taking a risk ,and one of them is don’t flutter. A person can’t move about aimless and hope for the best, before they take that risk they should do a little research first to help them make the decision of whether to do it or not.

14I 12 Clash of the Generations

I heard the best news that any student could hear, my Online Communication professor saying no class on Monday November 18; just as we were getting ready to cheer instead we were meeting in the Adanti Student Center Ballroom, to hear Kim Lear speak from 12-2 PM about the different types of generations that are out there. For many of us college students we are in the millennial generation, those who are born between 1982 and 1995. What is interesting is that this is the most studied generation in American history. Another interesting thing is that was mentioned was the parenting difference between the Baby Boomers and Generation X; it was said that the parents who were born in the Generation X time and have kids who were born in the Millennial Generation had a closer bond than any of the other generations. It was also interesting how Kim Lear said that those who had parents that were born in Generation X were skeptical, and told their kids exactly how it was and didn’t try to sugar coat anything because they want them to be prepared for the real world just like they had to be. 

13B How Am I Going To Make This Video Creative?

Building off of how I am going to make my video exhibit college-level thinking, I am going to use that information to help me make some kind of joke out of the process and try and make my video light and humorous. Some people don’t understand how stressful it really is picking your major; think about it, whatever you choose is going to more than likely lead to a career that you are going to be doing for the rest of your life, that’s scary!! Students need to find something that they love so it will become a vocation, not a job. My plan with this video is to try and take some of the stress away from deciding on your major, at least for 5 or 6 minutes.

One way that I plan on doing this is turning the stress into a cartoon. One thing I learned from the last video is that my friends don’t like to be videotaped, so I’m staying away from that as much as I can. I think having a funny cartoon will make the video lighthearted, but will also be able to help my get my point across. Last year in my high school, I created a video using this website that allows you to choose the theme you want, and place your information where you want it. Once you have done that, it turns your information into this adorable cartoon, so if I can find that website again, I plan on using that as a helpful resource for myself. Another way that I can make my video more creative is to stage a skit, but make it as believable as possible, keep this part a little but more serious, and use it to focus more on the problem, and how to go about solving it. 

13V What is Your Purpose??

Purpose: the goal that someone want to achieve or intended to achieve

              a goal or meaning in your life because there is something that you want to achieve.

Empathy: the feeling that you understand and share another person's experiences and emotions.
Sympathy: feeling that you care about and are sorry about someone else's trouble, grief, or misfortune. 

I think when it comes down to why chose someone to go to college or not is because of purpose. A person who chose to go to college may have a purpose of just to please their parents and family, or it may be because they have something to prove to themselves. They want to walk across that stage and have their diploma handed to them, knowing that their hard work paid off and have reached their goal. If a person decides not to go to college, then that might be because they feel that their life has no purpose.

In class we talked about how living a meaningful life needs to involve a person to have empathy for someone else. Now I don’t know about you, but I always get empathy and sympathy confused, so for this week’s vocab blog I decided to find out the difference between the two. Empathy is understanding, but also sharing in the experiences that another person went through, while sympathy is feeling sorry and caring about what other people are going through.

13I Time To Register

As a freshman, I knew that registration was not going to be great, but I never expected it to be as bad as it was. I know that there were a lot of students trying to log on at 6:01 AM, and that’s what made the server slow, but there were some issues that I don’t think were necessary!! Every time I went to add a class to my schedule, it would log me out, so I had to start all over again, but luckily I was able to get all but one of my classes. What really bugged me the most was that I had gotten the math class that I wanted, but after I hit submit it told me that I was full!!! So I won’t be taking math until next fall, but I guess it’s okay because I wouldn't mid a break from math at all!!!! If there is one thing to look forward to for us freshman is that the registration process will only continue to get better as we climb up the ladder here at Southern. 

13A Let's Film and Think Like A College Student!!

My video project topic is about how to pick a major that is just right for you; and it something that I think a lot of students struggle to do. Out of about 10 of my friends, I think only 3 knew what they wanted to pursue as a career, and I was one of the three. There are a lot of reasons why students have difficulty when it comes to picking their major; it might be from family and friends pressuring you to do something; I know my mom keeps telling me that I should be an account or something to do with number because I am good at math, but honestly I hate math so I would never chose to do that as a career. Another reason, which this may be the most common one, is that kids are just unsure of what they want to do because there are a lot of areas that seem interesting.

When it comes to making my video exhibit a high level of college-level thinking, my idea is that I am going to play off the reason of why kids struggle when it comes time for them to pick their major.  To begin with, my plan is find out as much research as I can to help build a foundation to what I’m trying to display with the video itself. Once I have done my research I plan on interviewing at least three students, who don’t know what they want to major in, why that is? And if they have any plans as to how they are going to find out what it is that they want to do? When I get the answers from those questions, I can then go on and use critical thinking to turn those problems that students are facing into solutions and hopefully help them in some way.   

12I #9 How To Get Involved

        So even though I wasn't able to go the Involvement Fair, I did go the office of Student Life and found out about two clubs that sounded pretty interesting to me. Being a Recreation and Leisure major, one club that really appealed to me was of course the Recreation and Leisure club. They meet every Tuesday from 4:30-5:00 in the Recreation and Leisure office, which is located in office building 1, and they organize trips to the Sound Tigers games in Bridgeport, and right now they working on preparing a Thanksgiving food drive.
       Another club that sounded interesting to me was the Service Team; Their main priority is to better serve the Southern Campus and the local community as well. The Service Team works with community agencies around the New Haven Area, and they try their best to make the Southern campus aware of the importance of helping your community.

12A The Importance of a Liberal Arts Education

           Many people view a Liberal Arts Education as a somewhat pointless, and argue that it doesn't accurately prepare students for a career in a certain profession, but personally I think that they are wrong, and that a Liberal Arts Education has many benefits to it. in the article "Why Liberal Arts Education Matters" is says " university should not be a cloister; it should be a laboratory that creates habits of action trough inquiry laced with compassion, memory, and fidelity". What this is basically saying is that a Liberal Education caters to the needs of everyday life. It is true that this type of education doesn't prepare you for certain profession, such as a doctor, but it allows you to become a better rounded person, and makes you more interesting; not many people can hold a discussion on Van Gogh, and that is something only a person with a degree in art or someone who had a liberal education can do.
           A Liberal Education can provide students with a variety of experiences. Even though a liberal arts education provides a broad base for knowledge, it also helps in providing communication and analytical skills that are needed for whatever career you chose to explore. In the article "Liberal Arts" is said that, "a candidates ability to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems is more important than their undergraduate major". These types of skills are something that cannot be taught it a learning environment that focuses on the needs of one particular area, but rather a place that caters to the needs of everyday life skills. A Liberal Arts Education provides a platform for students to use to help them get them to a desired career, many employers feel that content can be taught because it is always changing but their a skills, such as communication, that cannot be taught without the help of a education in Liberal Arts.

12V What is Interdisciplinary Perspective?

Interdisciplinary Perspective: one in which 2 or more disciplines are brought together and interact with one another, and have an effect on another's perspective.

Liberal Arts: areas of study that are intended to give you general knowledge rather than to develop specific skills needed for a profession.

Vocation: a strong desire to spend your life doing a certain kind of work.

               To me interdisciplinary perspective is the way that someone views a particular branch of knowledge, and is something that we college students need to have. Even if we find that our anthropology class is the most boring thing ever, we need to look at it from a different perspective. It is not up to our professors to make the class interesting, but rather the students to see how the class can be intrinsically interesting.

                Two other important words that I came across this week were liberal arts and vocation. During this week’s readings the words liberal arts education kept coming up, but I never really knew what it was. Liberal arts are basically just a general knowledge of areas that you wouldn’t come across if you focusing a specific career.  Also vocation I found out to be something that you want to spend the rest of your life doing. So if you were going to a vocational school for electricity, it would be because you have a love for that trade and want to spend your life doing that profession. 

12B More College Questions and Answers

                This week’s readings focused on the importance of a Liberal Arts Education, which is the type of education that Southern Connecticut State University prides itself on. These last couple of readings also brought up some interesting questions such as do you think it is important for a child to be “innovation ready” rather than “college ready” why or why not? Do you feel that a liberal arts education is important or would you prefer focusing on one subject area? Why? And lastly, what is the pass/fail system that was implemented at Swarthmore? And what benefits come out of using that system?   

                The question that I chose to give more thought to was the last one, what is the pass/fail system? And what benefits come from it? The pass/fail system that is available at Swarthmore is something that all students in their first semester have to do and it is designed so students can take classes that they otherwise wouldn’t take if they are focused on their major; a student can neither get an A or D in a class under this system. In the article, Two Views on Liberal Arts, it says “an aspiring doctor can take an art class without fear of bringing down his grade point average”.  I think this type of system is something that all colleges should consider trying because it has many benefits that can come out of it. The pass/fail method allows students to take classes that seem interesting to them, which not only helps them to become a better-rounded person, but also helps them to realize if they are on the right path or not before they are too far into their area of concentration. The pass/fail technique creates a safe environment for students to explore other options without having to worry about it counting against them, and if they find an area that they enjoyed than they are able to continue on with it more in the future. 

11B What Makes a Good College-Level Question?

After doing these exercises both in class and for our blogs this week, I definitely think that when it comes time for me to take tests; I will feel more prepared because I have learned how to better anticipate the test questions. I think what was hard about adjusting to the way the questions are being asked on tests was because I was so used the way that they were in high school. Here in college, the questions aren’t just about summarizing what you read anymore, now they are about being able to analyze and synthesize the information that you just read, and the questions test your ability to apply that information as well. Now that I know what types of questions are being asked, it can make studying for the tests that much easier. If I know that the test is going to be formatted as an opened-ended response or have short answers, I can anticipate the questions before I even take the quiz. While I’m reading, if I find something that is important, instead of just writing it down, I can take that information and turn it into a type of question that I am likely to see on a possible quiz or test.

Our blog B assignment for this week was to read our classmates responses to their own college-level questions, and chose which students provided the best answers to those questions. One blog that I think really has hit the nail on the head when it comes to both college-level questions and answers was by Paige Slack http://paige2017.blogspot.com/2013/11/11a-inquiry-based-questions.html. The question that she chose to go more in depth was, what are ways college students can cultivate more creativity? How can this be important for their future? I think this a great question because it deals with the readings, but it is asking you to take the information that you read and not summarize, but rather to apply it. Paige’s answer to this question was also top quality because she responded to both of the questions that were being asked, but she also brought in examples from the readings, but most of it is her own words and opinions and I think that is really important if you want to have a strong answer on your test or quiz. 

11A Questions for the Practice Quiz

                The readings that were assigned for this week all had interesting points to them, but they also raised a lot of questions. For instance, what is interleaving, and why is it an important strategy to have? Also Steve Jobs said that “the best meetings happened by accident” what does he mean by that? And why is it important? Another question that popped into my head was out of the 32 innovative ideas, which one do you think would be the most beneficial to society? And why do you think that is? The last question I had was a nurturing environment is a place where a person doesn’t have to fear about being ridiculed for what they have to say; how important is that type of environment for fueling creativity?

               Out of the four questions that I had, I chose to focus my attention to answering the last one, how does a nurturing environment fuel creativity? To me a nurturing environment fuels creativity because it creates a safe place for someone to express themselves and not constantly live in fear about having someone tell them they are wrong. Kids are naturally creative, and in the TED talk that we watched, Ken Robinson makes the point that schools kill creativity because they put restrictions on it and focus more on math and literacy. An environment that caters to creativity can be beneficial in the future because the best ideas come from people who as kids were able to express their creativity. Robinson gives the example of the choreographer, and what I took from that was that because she was able to explore her creativity as a kid, she was able to implement it into her future career. This week’s vocab word was innovation, and that relates directly with creativity because innovation is a new idea or method, and person can never come up with idea if they were never allowed to explore their creative side; but to be creative it all has to start with an environment that encourages it. Overall I think a nurturing environment allows for creativity to grow and be explored, and because of that it allows people to become more innovated and eventually can lead to creating something that can change the world for the better.    

11V The Road to Innovation

Innovation: 1) the action or process of innovating

                  2) a new method, idea, product, ect.

Vicissitude: a natural change or variation occurring in the course of something

Deviation: departure from a standard norm

               Innovation is all about progression, making the future more efficient. It all starts with an idea, but the key to being innovated is that that idea will be useful and that you are able to implement it, and make it a reality. I think that creativity really plays a role in innovation because some of the best ideas come from people who can think outside the box, but can also think of alternatives ways to solve a problem that may not be as obvious to someone else.

                Two other important words that I have heard about are vicissitude and deviation.  Vicissitude is basically the natural change that occurs, and I think this is important for us as college students because we are all going through changes that need to happen to help us grow as individuals, and I think that we need acknowledge it. The other word is deviation, and that is described as moving away from our normal standards. People become set in the ways that they have and eventually end up in a rut, I think that for a person to grow and become more well-rounded they need to get out of their comfortable zone and experience something that they would otherwise be hesitant to try.   

11I #26 Getting Involved

For weeks my Recreation and Leisure class has been talking about some way for us to get involved in the Southern community, and we have finally found the answer. Southern partners with the City of New Haven in an event called Friends of Rudolph, where they bring 1000 kids to campus to participate in games and arts and crafts, and at the end of the day they go to the Lyman Center where they pick a toy. My class decided that we were going to have a toy drive, with boxes in the classroom and the Recreation Department, and the toys will then be given to the kids. We were originally going to hold a Toys For Tots drive, but this seemed like the better option because we can now volunteer to work with the kids before the receive their toys, and it is a great way to give back to the community.