It's the END!!!! :)

Writing 150 has been an interesting class. Or maybe this whole semester has been interesting… Yep! I think the former statement is most true of the two. I enjoyed Writing 150 for the most part. It was definitely not my favorite class, and I would never choose to take it again, but it wasn’t as miserable as I thought it would be. Over the course of the class I have learned lots about writing, but even more about life. I’ve learned to revise, revise, and then revise again. I’ve learned that reading my paper out loud is REALLY helpful. There were so many times when I would think I had a decent paper and then read it aloud to someone. I almost always found a few errors per page. It was amazing to me! Like I said before, not only did I learn lots about writing, but I learned a great deal about life. This has been the most challenging class I have taken yet in my college career… probably because it was a writing class J So, this class made me realize that my grades in school are not going to stop me from accomplishing my goals or from entering the celestial kingdom! Yes, grades are important. But, just because I get one or two bad grades does not make me any less worthy for Heavenly Father’s love. I also learned the lesson about procrastination. Procrastination is seriously of the devil. I’m not going to lie; I procrastinated on all of my assignments. It wasn’t bad for the first two papers, but the research paper was miserable. I waited until the last week to finally get started on it, and then family issues arose and school got even crazier, and it was just miserable. That was seriously one of the hardest weeks of my life. And, I’m not ever going to let it happen again! I will start on my assignments the day or day after they are assigned. It is so much easier to stay on top of things, rather than wait until the weekend to try to catch up on everything. It just doesn’t work that way. I was really thankful for Sister Elliott as a teacher. She was very kind and understanding and I am so appreciative of that. She is a very kind and wonderful person. I don’t really know what else to say about the class. I will certainly be glad that it is over, but I will miss the people! I think that’s about all J

Diane Rehm Show

I actually really enjoyed listening to The Diane Rehm Talk Show thing… it was interesting to hear what people had to say about the topic I listened to. I listened to “Shyness and Social Anxiety”. At first I started jotting down notes just so I could write this review, but near the middle of the recording I was jotting down notes because I was genuinely interested and hooked to the topic. I found myself laughing at how into the show I was… J So, in this recording they talked a lot about the broad spectrum of shyness. One of the guests said that about 15% of people would qualify for a social phobia. That was kind of a crazy statistic to me!

One really weird thing they talked about was if shyness was a part of survival. One of the guests told about research that he did on animal survival. It was really strange. They talked about observing shy versus bold animal characteristics… Interesting….

Overall there were so many good things they talked about! It was neat to think about how this topic applied to me. They talked about how of all highly sensitive people who are very aware of their environment and surroundings, only 20% become bold and more outgoing. And that’s ME! I think a lot of times that I am so shy and quiet, when really I’m quite the opposite. Now, granted it depends on the setting and who I am with, but most times I’m the loud, obnoxious, crazy one the everyone secretly wishes would shut up… well hopefully I’m not really that bad. But, I can get pretty crazy and bubbly.

In the podcast it also discussed how having therapy for shyness and social phobias is not a bad thing. A few years ago I started going to see a counselor, just to talk about things and get my head on a little bit straighter. It was amazing what talking to someone about my specific problems did. In the podcast, one of the guests said, “Everyone needs psychological fitness checkups!” They compared this counseling to an athlete with a personal trainer. A personal trainer just works with the person to help them improve their physical abilities. A psychiatrist or any other counselor helps their patient improve their social abilities.

SO… I think I could keep going for a long time. Instead, I’ll just tell you that you should go listen to it, cause it was really good! Here’s the link if you are interested: 

http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-08-09/shyness-and-social-anxiety

ENJOY! 

Movie Assignment

My all-time favorite movie is, “The Ultimate Gift”. It is such a wonderful movie and has a powerful meaning. The movie takes you through the life/change of a young man. At the beginning he’s a typical rich, spoiled 20 something man who goes to parties and doesn’t care about anyone but himself. His grandfather passes away and has left him a gift. But, in order to get this gift he has to work really hard. He them proceeds to be exposed to very challenging situations. All of his things are taken from him, thus becoming homeless. He has to make a true friend. While overseas working for his grandpa’s library, he gets taken captive and almost dies. During the course of the movie you watch as this young man makes changes. At first he is only continuing with the gift searching because he is greedy and wants money. However, he soon realizes that maybe there is more to life then riches and pleasure. He falls in love with a young mother and her daughter. I don’t want to give away the rest of the movie…. Because it is so good and if you haven’t seen it- you REALLY should. The message of the movie is so incredible. Each time I watch the movie I am reminded of the many gifts and blessings I have in my life. The movie also never fails to make me cry… which for some reason makes it even better. When a movie can get you that involved and attached, I think that almost guarantees it as a winner, at least to me! :) I love “The Ultimate Gift”!

Assignment: Uhh ohh!

So I'm going to be COMPLETELY 100% honest.... I am SOO behind in this class. For some reason it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the pile. So, sadly I haven't done too much with this paper. I tried really hard to get all caught up with the readings over the weekend, so that has been encouraging. I know that I have a lot of work to do on it, but I'm ready! This is going to be a GREAT week and I am going to be super de duper productive..... And now..... DEEP BREATH! Here we go... :)

Assignment: Oh the good ole Rhetorical Analysis

I have never been so happy to have a paper finished! I don't know why this one was so hard for me, but I really struggled with it. I've had to write lots of papers before that were harder and longer to write, but this one seriously drained me. It was probably because all my other classes were crazy busy the past few weeks too, but oh well! I survived and now I'm going to party this weekend! I'm paper free and test free until... well... like next week :) On a more positive note... I felt like I really got to learn about rhetorical tools and how to analyze what I hear and read.


YAY! IT'S OVER :)

Quote :)

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. -Berthold Auerbach

Reflections on Life

Who am I? What is my purpose? Where am I going? Searching and seeking, many people are in a daily battle to try to find the answers to these simple questions. I have been so blessed to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life from the moment I was born. I grew up knowing who I was, why I was on this Earth and where I was striving to go. "I am a child of God and He has sent me here, has given me an Earthly home with parents kind and dear. Lead me, guide me, walk beside me. Help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday." This children's song helps us answers these vital questions. We are all daughters and sons of a loving Father in Heaven. He sent us here to receive bodies. We are here to learn and grow, to struggle and progress, towards our ultimate goal of living with Him again someday. Our purpose on this Earth is to show our Heavenly Father that we love Him and will keep His commandments and live worthily so that He can grant us the privilege of living in His presence for eternity. Eternal life is our goal. Everyday we must try a little harder to be more Christ-like. It is not easy, but the path is clear. If we work through our trials and heartaches, there are great treasures in store for us. I love my Savior! I know He lives and loves each of us. He knows us by name, and He wants to know us even better. I know that if I will turn to Him and rely on Him for guidance and love in my life, that I can and will receive it. He will never leave me alone. And He will never leave YOU alone. He loves you! He knows your wants and needs. He knows your thoughts and the intents of your heart. He will grant you your righteous desires if you will come to Him on bended knee and plea for His guidance in your life. I'm thankful for a Father in Heaven and for a Savior, Jesus Christ, who love me. I love them with all my heart.