Yes. Nine hours. J'ai beaucoup de français homework to complete this week and a lot of reading for world politics and am slowly chipping away at translating a poem from German to English... for my creative writing class. My first essay is due this week for Families from a Sociological View and I just found out I need a book for yoga. On top of an already heavy workload, I'd really like to go see a movie tomorrow for my birthday but find I cannot do so without as much of my work being as done as possible for Wednesday, lest I suffer extreme guilt.
The weird part is, I'm enjoying it. Perhaps I'm still in the honeymoon phase of college, but this sense of motivation is utterly strange and wonderful to me. In high school, I was a B-C student who frequently had the comments 'could do better' and 'graded assignments late/missing' on her report cards. I put the PRO in PROCRASTINATION, and I spent so much time in dance and drama on a daily basis that I barely had hours to sleep, never mind do homework. I didn't start AP classes until my junior year and only took 4 total. In comparison to the average student at American, and especially to what appears to be the average student in this class, I am in no way the classic academic.
I've been trying to analyze my newfound commitment to my schoolwork, to preserve it mentally, the feeling, the idea, so that when I falter or feel like going back to my old ways, I can grab a handful of what I'm feeling now and climb back on the proverbial balance beam. I would say it has many factors. The sheer necessity of keeping my scholarship. The overwhelming desire to find a path in life that has me diving headfirst into every subject that could be THE subject. The fact that, unlike in high school, I can take classes that honestly interest me. Obviously the lack of distractions helps (mostly due to a spinal injury I have removed myself from the dance and drama mailing lists, at least for now).
On the other hand though, I'm almost afraid that this introspective analysis, this desperation to grab a hold of this learning-oriented and work-doing me has me toppling over the other side of the line. I've always been a loud and highly social person, but the past two weeks have been very strange for me socially. There are people I look at and say, if I'd met her/him in high school, we'd be really great friends, and instead I've had only a conversation or two with them. These occasional and sudden realizations make me very sad, but may be the trade off included in Fiona 2.0. I guess the question for next week is just whether Fiona 2.0's increased efficiency and higher capabilities are worth sacrificing the user-friendly interface of Fiona 1? And, much like when Facebook changes interfaces and everyone whines up until they adapt completely, could I even remember how to go back?
-Fiona, Reflection Week 1
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUhm, so I just finished reading (occasionally skimming) all the reflection blogs from both sections of the class and now feel that I was totally off the mark. If this is unsuitable as a reflection (Erin/PTJ this is mostly for you haha) please let me know and I'll rewrite about PEPFAR and soccer. Alternatively, if my reflection of the week (which is essentially just that) is sufficient, please let me know as well so I can stop worrying about potentially being the one person out of 50 who didn't even use the word soccer.
ReplyDeleteWhen in doubt, always refer back to the syllabus. Here's what it says about the reflection posts:
ReplyDelete"In addition, each student in the class must post to their blog one entry per week reflecting on the course and their participation in it, and should comment on the entries of others in their group—or respond to comments on their own postings—as the occasion warrants. As with the structured responses to the weekly discussion questions (which should be posted to the same blog as your reflections) posting something each week will earn you acceptable credit; engaging in a discussion and engaging with the contributions of others will earn you additional credit. [...] “Reflection” is defined broadly, and could encompass an application of that week’s course material to a situation that we did not discuss in class, a reaction to the material that you want to develop in writing,a meditation on how the class is affecting you, and so on."
Does that answer your question? :)