16 A&B

My College Career (So far)

I have discovered, as a college student, that by giving attention and effort to my classes, that I can achieve a lot more than I thought. I breezed through high school without paying much attention to grades. I got mostly B's, with the occasional A or C. After coming to college (and realizing that I am now paying for my education) I have worked on developing strong study habits and other educational skills. I have started caring about the grades I get- I have an important final tomorrow morning and am currently stressed about maintaining my A in the class. I have also decided that if my professors next semester offer extra credit I will do it. The class I am currently worried about did, and now I am looking back at the course and wishing that I did. 

Even though I have decided to be stricter about my grades, I have also discovered that being more relaxed and open to new ideas and opinions helps in meeting new people. Throughout high school I always tried to be friendly to everyone, and in college this trait helps immensely. Simply laughing at someone's joke, no matter how corny, can cause a new friendship to blossom. I am actually not looking forward to break, as I am accustomed to being with my new friends all the time. Not seeing them will be a hard transition. 

I have also discovered that I am very independent. I prefer to do things on my own schedule than to tag along to others, which I did often in high school. Here, I can be my own person, while in high school you were fit into a mold and expected to behave as you were told. By being independent and my own person at college I have learned much about myself; one of the greatest is that what may be important to others may not be what's important to me. After learning this, I look at life with a new light. I must put my own needs, especially educational, before most others. 

After deciding that majoring in history was not for me, I started looking into photojournalism. I have always had a passion for creative writing and photography, and having a career in what you love is more important, to me, than making a lot of money. Happiness outweighs wealth. I have also decided to double major in advertising, so if photojournalism does not work out for me I have a back up plan. 

I came to Southern knowing I would transfer, and it has been quite an adventure finding a college or university that is in the area where I want to move to and has my majors. The original university I wanted to transfer to was the University of Vermont, or UVM, but they do not have journalism as a major. Luckily for me, there are several colleges in the same city that UVM is located. I then found Champlain College, which has a very good journalism program. I may also move to Georgia, so I discovered that the University of Georgia has an excellent visual journalism program. I haven't looked at their advertising programs yet, as I have decided today that I would like to double major. 

To accomplish this, I must maintain a GPA of at least 3.2. I have around that now, so next semester I am going to try to bump it up to at least a 3.5. I think this is possible, especially if I continue to use the strategies I learned this semester. I am also going to try to join more clubs, even though it may be late in the year to. I have to make sure my transfer application looks as balanced as possible. I fully believe that I can accomplish this, and if I set my mind to something, I make it happen.

Final Video Project

Adjusting to College Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIBRjYx3MLI

15B

Finals Week

I am preparing for finals by going over my notes and making sure all my work is done. I have finals on Wednesday, Thursday, and Tuesday. I am going to start studying for my math exam which is on Wednesday this weekend. I have my Inquiry and Sociology exams on Thursday, so I will start studying on Monday so I have enough time for math as well. My final exam is on Tuesday, the last day of exams. It is History, so I will start studying after my exam on Thursday.

I will make sure that my grades are up and see if there are any last minute extra credit assignments I can complete. I am also going to make sure that I study enough so I get a good grade on my final exams. By getting good test scores, I can improve my grade even more. I am also going to make sure these last days have my full focus so that I can get the best grade possible.

15A

Final Video

What. I learned from watching the rough drafts was that videos seem very awkward when they are quiet and do not have music, so I am going to be sure to include music clips into my video. I also learned that to keep the audience interested in what you are trying to convey, you should break up the video and have introduction slides for a new topic. I am going to continue to do so, as I think that I had been doing that already.

I also learned to stick with the same font, font size and slide length for a professional looking video. Doing this will not be hard to fix, and will pay off immensely. For my feedback, I was told that my font size was too small, so I am going to make it bigger and hopefully it helps my video easier to watch and more professional.

In my final video, I want to include skits and little video clips to enforce my topic and arguments. I am also going to take interviews with students, both who go home on the weekends and who stay on campus. This will not only help with the college-level thinking aspect of the video, but the creative as well. For the skits, I plan on keeping them short and funny, to maintain the creative portion. 

15V

Autonomy

Autonomy is having independence or freedom and to have free will. This word is what America, as a country, is based on. We, the people of the United States, have the freedom and liberty to self govern, which is also what autonomy is. This word comes to play everyday in our society.

15I

Day of Peace

Wednesday night I went to the Day of Peace concert in the ballroom of the Adanti Student Center. It was put on by my roommates inquiry class. I got a free tie dye t-shirt, pizza, and a bracelet. The bands that played were good, even though there were not a lot of people that attended. The event was from around 7 to 10, and I enjoyed it even though I did not stay for the whole thing.

carren final video

14B

Being Thankful

This semester, I am thankful that I learned who my true friends are. I came here with one of my "best" friends from high school, only to discover that she is not the nice, thoughtful person I thought she was or knew her to be. To make matters worse, she killed my fish. I am thankful to have made amazing, true new friends that truly care and respect me. I have met some of the most amazing people I know here. I am also thankful for my boyfriend who, even though he lives an hour away, can still make my day better and help me through any problems I have to face. It is nice to know that there is someone at home who I can talk to everyday and keeps me grounded. I am thankful that everyone in my life is not terminally ill and that they are in good health. 

I am also thankful that I am not failing any of my classes. I was never worried that I would, but it is still something to be thankful for. I am most thankful that I am not failing math, as that was more of a possibility than any other class. 

14A

Relaxing

This week, I am definitely going to focus on relaxing in preparation for upcoming finals. My workload for classes is starting to calm down, so I can avert my attention from homework and busy work and focus more on preparing for finals, both mentally and scholarly. 

I am going to Pennsylvania to visit family over break and have Thanksgiving at my grandmothers house. Being with family, mostly my cousins, will help me relax and become less stressed about finals. My friends are also coming home for break, so I will finally be able to see them after these past three months.

In order to prepare for finals, I am going to look at the schedule and decide when each one is. Then, I will plan my studying to it. I am going to go over notes, quizzes and tests to make sure I remember the material. I am also, especially for math, going to use the practice books and do different problems. If I set a study day for each class, I am sure that I will be able to study enough to do well on my final exams. 

In these last weeks, my professors have been giving out lots of last minute projects and tests. It is a very stressful time, especially with finals quickly approaching. I have decided that these weeks must be filled strictly with school- no more nights out, movie nights, or 2 hour Conn runs. These are the last chances to bring my grades up, and I intend to do as well as I can on them.

13B

Final Video- Being Creative

In order to be creative in my video project, I am going to film part of the trail that is part of Southern as an example of what you can do on campus during the weekend. I am relating people who leave campus on the weekend to my topic of adjusting to living on your own in college. I want to show how Southerns campus does not necessarily fit the typical college life, as the majority of students leave for home during the weekends. This is not allowing yourself to fully enjoy the college of experience of living away from home. Even though I am one of these, when I transfer at the end of sophomore year I will experience that.

For my skit, I am going to use my friends help and explain what the typical college experience is, and then show how it is different at Southern. I am going to have some friends act like they are staying on campus over the weekend and some that are leaving. I am going to show the "average" time spent in each location, and show how staying on campus is better.

13A

Final Video Project- Thinking on a College Level

In my video project, I am going to exhibit a higher level of thinking by not only covering the students who live on campus in dorms, but those who go home every weekend. I am going to try to show the difference between those who stay and those who do not. I feel that many people hear that you live on campus, and they believe that you are cut off from everyone at home. Especially here, that is untrue. Many people leave for the weekend, myself included, and leave the campus dead and boring. In my video, I am going to try to cover what there is to do on weekends so hopefully more people stay. 

For example, I know that there is a trail that students may hike that is not too far from campus. I am going to explore that, and show how it is not only possible to remain active in college, but there are creative ways to spend your weekends and free time. I am also going to interview some of my friends who stay on campus during the weekend and see what their point of view is. I can then relate what they say back to my and my other friends views who leave every weekend. I want to try to focus on addressing the problem of living on your own in college and coming up with solutions and ways people get around it.

13V

Purpose

To me, purpose means having a drive to do something or something that is important. Something may have purpose in your life, or be purposeful to you.

Two words that I came across are apostate and martyr. These were both in my history class. We are learning about the Christian missionaries that came to Japan trying to convert the Buddhists to Christianity. Apostate means to renounce your faith. Martyr means someone who died for their religion. Christian missionaries were being killed as martyrs, so the Japanese tortured them and made them apostates so they died an uncelebrated death. 

13A

Final Video Project- Thinking on a College Level

In my video project, I am going to exhibit a higher level of thinking by not only covering the students who live on campus in dorms, but those who go home every weekend. I am going to try to show the difference between those who stay and those who do not. I feel that many people hear that you live on campus, and they believe that you are cut off from everyone at home. Especially here, that is untrue. Many people leave for the weekend, myself included, and leave the campus dead and boring. In my video, I am going to try to cover what there is to do on weekends so hopefully more people stay. 

For example, I know that there is a trail that students may hike that is not too far from campus. I am going to explore that, and show how it is not only possible to remain active in college, but there are creative ways to spend your weekends and free time. I am also going to interview some of my friends who stay on campus during the weekend and see what their point of view is. I can then relate what they say back to my and my other friends views who leave every weekend. I want to try to focus on addressing the problem of living on your own in college and coming up with solutions and ways people get around it.

13I

Integrity

This week, I went with a friend to a seminar in the Farnham common room. It was about integrity. The seminar made you think about if you were a good person or not behind the scenes when there is nobody watching. I decided that I was, because one time when I was younger I was on a playground, swinging on the swings. I found a wallet, but there was nobody else there. I took it home, opened it, and found a drivers license. I contacted the owner, and brought it back. I could have simply kept the money inside, but that would not have been the right thing to do. 

There were some good points and ideas brought up, but the seminar itself was quite boring. Not many people showed up, and I felt as if it were a waste of my time. There was, however, pizza and soda after. This made up for the 20 wasted minutes. 

12B

Innovation

My question is: "What is the difference between having a 'college ready' education and an 'innovation ready' education?" 

Many high school courses simply prepare you for the basics of college. This means that they have you take basic classes that make you "ready" for your freshman year. These classes, however, simply fill the basic needs. They help you see the problem and come up with the simplest answer as quickly as possible. There are no lessons that teach you to be "innovation ready." 

Having an "innovation ready" class would be one like the critical thinking all college freshman have to take. They help you think more creatively and in depth. This type of learning is more important nowadays than the simple courses in high school that are simply a+b=c. These "innovation ready" courses would not only help with other college courses, but would also prepare students for their careers. Employers are now looking for employees that can problem solve and use deeper thinking rather than simply getting the job done. 

This can be somewhat of a struggle if educational facilities continue to only teach "college ready" courses. High schools should make it mandatory that all seniors take a creative thinking course, or have one every year. This would greatly benefit the students, as they would have a jump start at thinking creatively and would be more likely to obtain a job in the career field that they want.

High schools should start teaching more innovation filled courses that force students to think creatively and not simply producing an answer. These courses should include in depth, deeper thinking. 

12I

Movie Night!

This week, I went to the Student Center Theater to see the movie We're the Millers. It was put on by ProCon, and it was very well produced. There were free snacks along with the movie, so we stocked up on Skittles, Hershey Bars, and Twix. I would highly recommend going to their next movie, which is the Hunger Games. They are putting it on next Tuesday.

11I Bus Trip!

This week, I went on the bus to downtown New Haven for my friends birthday. I had gotten a bus pass from Wintergreen earlier this year, and had never used it before. We waited for the bus under the bridge, and all had to figure out how to use the passes as we boarded. We went to the Shake Shack and Yale. We got a little lost on our way back, and had a hard time finding a bus to take us home. We finally found another bus station, and swiped our passes again. It was a lot of fun, and I would definitely use the bus again to go downtown.

https://www.google.com/search?q=birthday+cake&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#biv=i%7C2%3Bd%7CpFRgzfc9PycNgM%3A

10I Sin Fest

On Wednesday, I went to an event called Sin Fest that was held in the ballroom of the Adanti Center. It was supposed to be a concert for little-known bands and artists. I went with my friend, and we stayed for about five minutes and left. There were barely any people there, and there was little to no energy in the room. I felt bad, because one of the RA's were performing, and they were actually pretty good. 

I think it may have been more of a success if Lorraine Warren, one of the people who's experiences the horror movie The Conjuring was based on, was not speaking at the Lyman Center. There were roughly fifteen people in the ballroom. 

10B Being Creative

I think the first memory I have of being creative was writing a story in second grade. I wrote about a girl who lived in the rainforest and became friends with a tiger. It was only about two pages in length, and the majority of the sentences ended with an explanation point, but I used a lot of description and there was an exciting plot. I handed it to my teacher, and she had me read it aloud to my class on parents day. I was very proud of myself, and I think that was my inspiration to start writing for fun, not only for work. 

The best idea I ever had was in freshman year when I decided to draw the heart on my left wrist that later became a tattoo. Not only did I think it looked cute, it held much symbolism and many memories. It means so much to me that it makes the idea even more important. 

My dumbest idea was probably when I was younger and I decided to take all of the books in my house and make a "library fort" in between two couches. I threw a blanket over them to make the fort part. I got all of the books in it, but then there was no room for me. When I was going into it, I ran face first into the couch arm rest. That couch was nicknamed the torture couch in my family, as it was very hard and not that comfortable. The arm rest was one of the hardest parts, and I knocked one of my teeth out. This was a stupid idea because thinking back on it, I would have been yelled at to take the books out and put them back in their rightful place, and I would not have knocked my tooth out. 

My creative ambition is writing. I love writing poems and short stories. I have actually been working on a book for the last two years, but I have hit a major writers block. I also lost the hard drive of the laptop that it was saved on, so it may be gone forever which is disappointing. I took a creative writing class last year, and it was one of my favorite classes. I also try to write songs, but I'm not that good at rhyming and having the meaning make sense. Writing is, unfortunately, not one of the best ways to make money, so I had to find another passion of mine to specialize in. 

10V Creativity

The word creativity, to me, means thinking outside the box and being your own person. You cannot be creative and simply follow what others do. You do not have to completely disregard social norms, but you must have original ideas to be creative. 

Two words that helped me in classes this week were discriminant and acrylic. Discriminant was in math, when we were learning about the quadratic formula. The discriminant is a part of the formula that can help you decide what kind of answer you will get. Acrylic is a type of paint that I researched in my English class. I had used acrylic paint before, but had not known how it was different. Acrylic paint is made with latex so it is insoluble in water.

10A Video Project

I think I met the requirements of the video assignment. I met the time limit, I got it in on time, I interviewed the correct amount of people, I had a title that included my name, and a slide thanking those who I interviewed.

I had the most trouble with the technology. I decided to the the project on my iPad, so I downloaded an app that said I would be able to upload and edit a video that was 10 minutes or less. I spent two weeks creating it and editing it, only to find the day that the project was due that I would have to purchase it for 4 dollars. That day, I also had a commitment that I could not miss, so I had to do the project, with the help of my friends, two hours before it was due. If my friends had not helped, I would not have gotten it in by the deadline. This was not only very stressful, but hard to accomplish in two hours.

I tried to inform students how the study abroad process works by including interviews with Jazmin, who works in the study abroad office. She explained how students can come in, plan to have a meeting with one of the people who work in the office, and the paper that the students advisors have to sign saying they would recommend them to the study abroad program. I also interviewed my RA, Melody, who studied abroad last year in Australia. I had her explain what the experience was like, and how much she enjoyed it.

I would give myself an A- on this project. I think I covered my topic well, and I put in the effort to get a good grade. I would, however, go back and work on the transitions between the slides. I had them planned out perfectly in my original video, but the redone one that got posted was not what I had planned.

9A Thinking

Critical thinking is not only answering the basic question, but going deeper and thinking of other deeper questions to answer the basic one. It is not something that we are born with naturally, but something that must be learned. 

It is important to think critically because you not only have a greater understanding of what was asked, but you can learn more by going in depth by answering the multiple questions that were brought up through thinking critically. 

To think critically, you must not only think about the simple question. You must delve deeper into the question and raise questions that are similar to it or relate to it. After doing this, you must apply what deeper questions you thought of to the original question. 

I use critical thinking in my English, inquiry, sociology, and history courses this semester. It helps to think of deeper answers that are more correct and expand your horizons.

https://www.google.com/search?um=1&client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=ap5pUr6oHfSh4AOZloCICQ&q=the+thinker&oq=the+thinker&gs_l=img.3..0l10.2446.5364.0.5474.11.10.0.1.1.0.126.839.8j2.10.0....0...1c.1.29.img..0.11.856.3m1mN_SM-F4#facrc=_&imgrc=X0PlkMxs8ziEhM%3A%3BEywy2R4DzBHy5M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flegionofhonor.famsf.org%252Ffiles%252Fimagecache%252Fexhibition_preview_large%252FTHINKER_side_columns.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Flegionofhonor.famsf.org%252Fabout%252Fthinker%3B421%3B600

9I Justice Sonia Sotomayor

This week, I went to Justice Sonia Sotomayor's program this Monday in the Lyman Center. I found her very down to earth and genuine. While adding her book, I was under the impression that she was boastful and rude, but after seeing her in person, my views have changed. I enjoyed how she not only spoke about how students should try to get good grades, but also to have a well rounded education by trying new courses, clubs, and reaching out and expanding your friend group.

https://www.google.com/search?q=sonia+sotomayor&client=safari&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=nJRpUpOlEZHskQeq5YG4AQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAA&biw=1024&bih=672#facrc=_&imgrc=Dw8ZAvFbIdjHjM%3A%3BqBVYrlFI9TFVwM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fcommons%252F1%252F15%252FSonia_Sotomayor_in_SCOTUS_robe.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fen.wikipedia.org%252Fwiki%252FSonia_Sotomayor%3B2400%3B3000

9V Wait...What?

Critical thinking, to me, means being able to solve problems and think of answers that help go deeper than the basic answer to a question. 

This week, I came across the words sociobiology and familism in sociology. Sociobiology is a sociological perspective that explains people's behaviors as determined by genus. Familism is the belief that the most important unit is the family, in opposition to individualism where the most important unit is the individual themselves. 

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=672&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=65BpUu-pPMjKkAfTtYCwAg&q=sociology&oq=sociology&gs_l=img.3..0l10.90311.91866.0.91990.9.8.0.1.1.0.189.766.6j2.8.0....0...1c.1.29.img..2.7.418.OOhvENWcTB4#facrc=_&imgrc=X1QOD8Ejua4o1M%3A%3BUNoQK2k6uz2T9M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.unco.edu%252Fsociology%252Fimages%252FSociology%252520Wall.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.unco.edu%252Fsociology%252F%3B640%3B480

9B Midterms!

When I went to go check on my midterm grades, which are available on Banner Web under Student Services, I was happy to see that I had all A's and B's. In high school, I usually would have a C in math. This year, however, I have a B. I am not surprised with any of my other grades, as I feel that I put the amount of work into each class to get the grades I did. 

I have had many successes so far this year. One is the good grades I obtained in English, as I have an A. I have always been able to write well, and I know the preparation I had in my AP Language and AP Literature courses helped me this year. 

I need to work on improving my history, math, and inquiry grades so I have an A in them. I know that I can achieve this, as I can be a hard worker. If I put more effort into these classes, I know that I can achieve an A in all the courses that I am enrolled in. I think that if I study more and work harder on homework assignments instead of doing the minimum to complete it, I will be able to reach my goal of obtaining all A's for the second half of the semester and next semester.

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en&tbm=isch&q=red+letter+a&revid=1177581120&sa=X&ei=IoxpUonCJcjvkQfawYBQ&ved=0CDUQ1QIoAQ&dpr=2&biw=1024&bih=672#facrc=_&imgrc=T-nWJXfTaFSHSM%3A%3BPyWu9c-0vVjiPM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdellagation.files.wordpress.com%252F2011%252F02%252Fred-letter-day-small1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fdellagation.wordpress.com%252F2011%252F02%252F08%252F336redltrday%252F%3B607%3B750

Study Abroad Midterm Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Ohtd5BRTA

8A I Wish I Was That Good at Blogging...

As I looked through various blogs, two bloggers from our class caught my attention. Those blogs were An Owl's Mind by Kali and The Rest is Still Unwritten.. by stepphhr. (I'm guessing Stephanie?) Both blogs had catchy titles and drew me into what they were talking about. 

Kali's blog, An Owl's Mind by Kali, is easy to read and talks about interesting things. The blog I picked was about the Majors Expo on Wednesday. It has a very catchy title that makes you want to know what the event was about. It starts with the title, and gives some background on her situation before getting into the experience. She goes into depth about what she found out about her major, and poses questions that she had and their answers. Overall, i would say that this blog is A+ work. It includes many cute pictures that help back up what she is writing about. it was actually hard to pick just one of Kali's blogs to write about, as they all seem to be A+ work.

http://anowlsmind.blogspot.com/2013/10/8i-major-event.html 

The second blog I found was The Rest is Still Unwritten. I picked the blog titled Role Models. It had many good insights on Sonia Sotomayor's memoir, My Beloved World. This blog started with some background on the memoir and a summary on what happened. It continued with how this memoir is helpful to college students. There were many good points brought up, like how students should welcome failure, not to be afraid to find a mentor, and how students have to experience something before they learn from it. 

http://stepphhr7.blogspot.com/2013/10/8b-role-models.html

8V Mastery

To me, mastery means to have a complete understanding of an issue or subject. Those who exhibit these traits are then masters. These people have put in their time and patience into completely learning a subject.

Two words that I had to look up this week were from my history class and the sociology class that is paired with inquiry. They are remonstrate, which means to criticize in a superior way, and conformism, which means to get together for a common cause.

8I Play 

This week, I went with my friends to the play at the Lyman Center on Thursday night at 8pm. The play was "Shakespeare in Hollywood." 

I thought it was a cute play, but it was very long. It ended around 10, which I thought was a little over the top. However, it was entertaining, as I love Shakespeare plays. This was a spoof on A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favorite Shakespeare plays. They included lines from various other Shakespeare plays, which I got very excited about. 

8B Sonia Sotomayor

My six word memoir is "Reaching out to my true self." I created this memoir because my entire life has been an attempt at trying to decide who I am. I am not sure if I will ever know who I truly am, but coming to college has given me a more realistic view of my true self. 

I think "My Beloved World" by Sonia Sotomayor was chosen because it tells the story of someone coming from almost nothing and working up to a fantastic career. This book was chosen to inspire us to be who we want to be, which is a very important lesson for a college student. I do, however, believe that reading this book was a waste of time. The book could be summarized in a few sentences, and I found it very boring. I also felt, by the end of the book, that Sotomayor was simply bragging about the famous people she has relationships with. It left me feeling more annoyed and put down than inspired.

This book did have one strong point. Many students have parents who want them to do something other than what the student themselves truly wants. I know that I am one of these students. My parents want me to do something more affluent than teaching, but I have no desire to do such things. Sotomayor's memoir tells students to follow what they want and to create their own path in life. They do not have to follow in their parents footsteps to be happy and successful. 

"My Beloved World" can also teach college students that anything is possible. Sotomayor came from a poor household but managed, through her studies, to get into an Ivy League college. Nobody believed that she could, but she set her goals high and showed them that she could. Many students who come from poorer home lives are set in the mindset that they will never amount to anything educationally and should not try. Sotomayor shows that by having a growth mindset, you can actually achieve whatever you set your mind to. This is not only aimed towards students who come from challenged backgrounds, but all students who feel that they are not able to do something.

Video project draft 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DREbtBXayn8

7B Supposed to Be My Best Subject?

I felt that I was failing at my history class, which was alarming and surprising to me as I am a history major. You're supposed to be good in the classes for your major, right? Well, I was not actually failing it, but I had the lowest grade in this class than I had ever had in a history class. 

The only grades we have in that class is quizzes and the midterm and final. We had had one quiz, and even though I did not fail, I did not do as well as I had thought. After getting that grade, I promised myself that I was going to do better on the next one. 

I had not really studied as much as I should have for the first one. In high school I rarely studied and still got good grades, so I thought the same would apply here. I was very wrong. I realized that this must have been my mistake, so I made sure to take excellent notes and study both the night before and in the break I had before history. During the quiz, I made sure to read the questions thoroughly and go over my answers before handing it in. 

I got my grade back today, and I got a 95 on it- I got one question wrong. I now know how I have to prepare for future tests and quizzes in not only my history class but all my others as well.

7A Failure is a Harsh Word

I believe that to succeed, you need to first fail. If you do not fail, then how do you know if you really succeed? Succeeding after a failure also makes the feeling of success better. We are both pressured to succeed and told that it is okay to fail. I feel that it is okay to fail in some situations and frowned upon to fail in others. For example, it would be okay to fail at a minor event, like a test, and frowned upon to fail at something major, like a surgery. 

There are definitely safe places to fail. One of these is school, because there are usually many opportunities to correct the failure. In school there are also many opportunities to change these failures into successes. An example would be failing a test, staying after for extra help, retaking the test, and getting a much better grade on it. 

There are many places that you should not fail, like in your career and occasionally at home. Some people have the home life that failure means harm or stress put onto you. Failing at your career can not only be detrimental to you, but others around you as well. For instance, I want to be a teacher. If I were to fail at my teaching, I would not only hurt my career but my students education. 

I believe that without failure, there is no success. So, to be successful in life, you must overcome failure. Failure actually makes you a stronger individual. It helps you overcome problems you face in the future, and makes you more careful of your actions.