10. My World View

These last few years, my stereotype of people in general has been altered significantly. I used to think that everyone was always doing good all the time and that I was the only one who was really struggling with anything. It certainly seemed that way from very surfacey interactions including small talk as well as happy faces on social media I'd grown accustomed to. I think I was also a little too self-centered to really look outside myself long enough to realize that underneath the happy exterior, many were going through heart-breaking challenges everyday. Through advice from my mother, I began to talk more deeply with friends and try to feel compassion for their trials. The more I listened and prayed to feel empathy, the more I desired to help.

I think this was a big turning point in my life because after this realization, I wasn't always worried about what others were thinking of me. Instead, I was looking around to see if I could offer assistance to anyone in need. I felt my heart begin to expand and I started to genuinely care about those around me. I began to understand the love Christ has for each and every one of his children because I could feel it whenever I served anyone. I then took it one step further and thought this must be how Christ loves me. This changed my perspective on so many things. I started praying more regularly because I knew He wanted to hear from me, I relied on his guidance because I knew He'd steer me in the best direction, and I was more motivated to keep His commandments because I knew that would bring me the most happiness. These little epiphanies throughout my life have completely altered the way I view life, the gospel, and people in general. I am a happier and more service-oriented person than I ever thought I would be. I think my findings can be summed up into one verse "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10). If we remember that every human being on earth is a child of God as well as our brothers and sisters, we'll be more apt to lend a helping hand and really feel of the love Christ has for each of his children. I know because I've felt it and there's not a more peaceful feeling in the world.

                                         

9. Chapter 12 Summary of Mindful Writing

Chapter 12 Summary of Mindful Writing

- Ask questions while reading including: What does it have in common with my previous knowledge, do I agree with what they're saying, what anecdotes are similar, exc. We do this because it's priming. It is better learned and more durably remembered.
- Various texts in various situations require various reading strategies
- Be aware of who writers are, why they wrote this, when they wrote it, their purpose, rhetorical strategies, and how they constructed an experience for their readers.
- Remember that you can question what the authors are saying
- If we think about how we're approaching our learning, we act with greater purpose, and skill.
- Set goals to focus on how you'll be reading- reward after
- Social goals- talk to someone about what you're reading
- Instead of highlighting, write off to the side why you're highlighting it. Ask questions in margins.
- Sometimes reading is not about every nit-picky detail. It's more about the the big picture so skip some things.
- Summarize: main point, argument, conclusion, message, theme
- Retrieval or self- quizzing after reading
- Be an active learner and don't space out. Remind yourself why you're reading in the first place.
- Reflect on what you just read
- Build a learning process that works for you

8. Chapter 1 Summary of Mindful Writing

Chapter 1 Summary of Mindful Writing

- Everybody's a writer

- People in sports (like Lebron James and Koby Bryant) still practice basketball even at their professional level. Like them, writers only get better at writing by practicing writing. This means that I can get better at writings. Not completely and inborn talent.

- The world we live in runs on communication: emails, proposals briefs, newsletters, and essays exc. so you'll need to write constantly in whatever it is you're doing.

- Writers get better when they're mindful of writing

- You'll have to write yourself into a job

- Writing changes attitudes and judgments

- Planning (goals- how they'll get essay done), practicing (learning effective principles and trying them out through drafting and constructive criticism), revision (feedback, new goals, new strategies), and reflecting (think carefully about what they wrote).

- Rhetorical knowledge- write to get someone to feel, think or do something. This device is used for specific audiences.

- We need subject matter knowledge to be good writers for that topic. We write about what we know.

- Hold in your mind the purpose, your audience, and the text you are writing.

- Don't have fixed mindset like I'm a good writer or a bad one, believe our basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Useful to think of yourself as naive. 

7. Family Story

                                                        A Peachy Keen Family

The next person to laugh gets sent straight to bed.” Lavauna Ellsworth very firmly warned her two young children. It’d been a very busy day and being the mother of five young children often left her feeling exhausted and irritated. She put a tired hand against her forehead and sighed. Eight year-old Lesli stared wide-eyed at her mother as her older sister Launa quickly got back to work from her position perched atop the kitchen counter. Sweat beaded on Launa’s face and dripped down her back, the sweat causing her t-shirt to cling to her. It was an unreasonably warm summer night in Davis, California in 1975. The two girls were helping their mother can peaches, but had come down with a case of the giggles due to the lateness of the hour as well as the strong bond between the sisters. Lesli looked at Launa and made a face. Launa did her best to keep her composure and only just succeeded in stifling her laughter. “It’s late and these peaches won’t can themselves” Lavauna gently chided, repeating the systematic pattern of canning: washing, boiling, freezing, caramelizing, and then finally canning the peaches. The fortress of finished peaches lined the countertops while the daunting line of clear mason jars still hinted at more work to do.

Launa swept a glance around the kitchen. Her gaze finally settled on her sister. She locked eyes with Lesli and started panicking when she felt another round of giggles coming on. She looked around frantically for something to muffle the impending burst of sound and snatched the first thing she could find. Her hands swiftly wrapped around half of a peach and she shoved the entire thing in her mouth. Her lips and eyes bulged from the strain of keeping the bubbling laughter in. She turned towards her sister. Upon seeing this spectacle, Lesli could no longer contain her laughter. She let out a great guffaw and laughed until tears streamed down her face, the echo filling all the space within the small kitchen. Lavauna let out a sigh almost as loud as the laugh had been. “Go to your room.” She commanded and made a flourishing motion with her hand indicating her wish that Lesli leave the room. Lesli quietly and obediently stood up from her spot in her chair and trudged slowly up the wooden stairs, the floorboards making a creaking sound under her weight. Launa stared regretfully after her younger sister. This family anecdote seems like a fairly basic, inconsequential one, but it has more layers than you’d expect. Lavauna’s parenting style lists a consequence for an action taken and if and when that action is completed, the consequence immediately follows. Lavauna’s mother’s parenting, on the other hand, followed an authoritarian style consisting of frequent bouts of mostly verbal but often physical abuse. The consequence for thetwo young girls’ uncontrollable giggling was merely getting sent to bed. Had it been Lavauna uncontrollably laughing, her mother would have forced her to stand in a corner as she yelled at her for over an hour.

 Lavauna could have followed this trend and started a whole cycle of abuse for her children to pass on, but instead, she decided from a very early age to be a kind and nurturing person just like her dear Grandma Pinkerton. She would look after her siblings, control her temper, and eventually come to feel the peace that comes through the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. There were some negative things that came from this abuse, but due to her unfailing charity and love, Lavauna overcame many challenges and grew up to be a loving mother to her five children as well as a great example to her 17 grandchildren. Because of her, her posterity had a healthy, happy childhood and could go on to raise grandchildren in the same manner of their parents. She had the power to change the course of her family history by deciding to rear her children in a loving environment with understood rules. For this reason she is one of the best role models I have and I'm forever grateful she was able to give her family the love and care it needs to flourish.

(Lesli is pictured on the far right with Launa next to her)

6. Reading Improvement Plan

The main things I need to work on is previewing the assignment to determine what it's about, how long it will take me, and how hard it is, making connections to myself, the world, and other texts/studies, keeping a list of questions I don't understand, and finally evaluating all I read to determine what is the most important to remember in the future (e.g. for tests, papers, discussion).

I will find which assignment is my highest priority and then quickly preview it and make a plan figuring out how long it will take, how hard it is, and what it's about through skimming. This will make it easier in the long-run because I can schedule my other homework around it and not take so long on an easy assignment. I will make connections from the reading to my life right now. This will help the information I read to stick in my head better because I will remember the other more pertinent thing in my life and it will remind me of the reading and then I'll remember. I will keep a list of questions about things I don't understand. This way, I don't have to stop in the middle of my reading and can just go to a lab and get the concept clarified. Lastly, I need to evaluate what is the most important information that I've read either in my head or in my notes. This way, I'll be able to quickly recall the most key information from each reading and be able to take in-depth notes if i need to write a paper on it, notes with main ideas and key vocabulary for tests, and making sure I understand the details and the specific stories found within the textbook and articulate my own opinions if I need to be able to discuss it. Using these various strategies, I will be able to read textbooks more effectively and spend less time reading textbooks that don't require as much in-depth reading.

5. College Wisdom

From high school to college is a gigantic transition. Living apart from your family paired with the foreign dynamic of college courses is enough to drive almost anyone out of their mind with stress, but even though it was pretty awful semester, it was also a lot of fun and very informative. For one, I've learned that different textbooks warrant different types of reading. Teachers assign a formidable amount of book work so in-depth reading on each of these books would take centuries to complete. Knowing which books to skim and which to read in-depth interspersed with ample note taking is key to acing any class.  This means not spending 2 hours on a fifteen page american heritage reading assignment. Taking notes on the broad ideas and key vocabulary is the most important thing here. A specified time and place to study is also very important. If you don't assign yourself specific books and times to read them at, it won't get done. I try to get my history and mythology homework done on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and then get my physical science, religion, and writing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You definitely need to find what works for you though. One of the most important things you can do is stay up to date on homework assignments. Although it seems daunting, plan out a schedule for everything you need to do that day and then do it. Don't make it a huge list that can't possibly be completed in one day (meaning leave yourself breaks and allot enough time for each assignment), but make sure you're scheduling enough that you have time to get ahead if one week is going to be busier than the others. Plan for that too. Finally, the most important thing is to have a good study schedule. Finals week is full of last minute cram sessions and very very late nights trying to keep up on stuff. It probably will go like that anyways, but at least if you have been studying since week one, usually your test scores will be higher than those who rely exclusively on the last minute study sessions to pull them through. I recommend looking over notes right after you leave class to solidify everything you've learned that period, and then looking it over later that week. Repeat this process through all of your classes as well as going over any key vocabulary and getting help outside of class in a lab or something if you have any questions. It saves you a lot of trouble later if you put in the work now.

4. Dreams and Aspirations for Life

I've always been the type of person working on something whether it's a project or a goal of some sort. My roommate jokes that if she had a dollar for every goal I've ever set, she could afford tuition easily. This is probably true because I really enjoy getting things done. I usually separate my goals into separate lists to make things less confusing. This will be basically a rough draft of my short term aspirations, long-term aspirations, and miscellaneous/fun goals.

Short term: have fun, stress less, make a cook book, cook something fun every week, floss every other day, gym 3x/ week, study scriptures thirty minutes per day, listen to a talk a day, get better at sports (I'm in a racquetball and basketball class this semester), be more genuine, be more empathetic while talking to roommates, prepare to receive patriarchal blessing, write in journal 2x/week, and stay caught up on homework for all homework.


Long term: Find a job that is worthwhile, interesting, secure, and well-compensated. Get married in the temple to someone who helps me be my best self, find my purpose in life, go on a roadtrip to Zion's with friends (check), go to Paris, visit Harry Potter World, be the type of person people feel comfortable talking about anything with, and have an unwavering testimony of God's love for each individual child of his.

Miscellaneous: watch every disney movie again, make the most bomb roadtrip playlist, have a movie night with the roommates, take more pictures, get on an intramurals team, play more racquetball, learn how to surf, learn how to juggle (check), and learn how to make the best smoothie ever.

3. On Failure and Finishing: Devotional Response

Today, I had the pleasure of listening to Cassy Budd as she addressed the Byu students and staff. Her speech "On Failure and Finishing" recounted past failures as well as validated the reality that all humankind is prone to failure. She talked extensively on her trials of the past. One of my favorite stories she recounted was that when she'd been given piano lessons, her teacher used to wrap her on the knuckles to signal that she'd made a mistake. The wraps were less painful when she'd quickly remove her hands from the piano. This behavior was slowly conditioned in her so that whenever she would make a mistake, she would abruptly remove her fingers making the piano stop and making it harder to pick up right where she left off. Years down the road, Budd was called to be a piano player in church, but because this behavior of stopping whenever she made a mistake was so ingrained in her, she could hardly make it through one song without stopping. Once, she made a mistake, stopped, and then couldn't find her place and so the chorus sang all four verses of a hymn without musical accompaniment. She said this is the exact opposite of what one wants to do in life. A person, upon failing at something, should not simply give up or remove their fingers from the piano. We should continually strive for perfection, but when we inevitably fail, we should press forward by repenting and then learning from those mistakes.

To demonstrate how failing at certain things is beneficial to us, Budd compared us making mistakes to the Japanese pottery style of kintsugi. This is the technique of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusting or mixed with powdered gold, silver. platinum. The resulting piece looks absolutely stunning, better than the unbroken pottery in most cases. This example helped summarize her argument: After failing and being resilient, we are often better off and more perfected through the atoning power of Jesus Christ. Failure is often seen through a pessimistic lense, but we learn more from our failures and the correct solution is often more ingrained in our minds if there were many failures before we reached the correct solution (Budd). As Mrs. Budd said "Living perfectly is not the plan, repentance is the plan. Jesus Christ is the plan." It is okay to fail continually if we are frequently learning from these mistakes and utilize the atoning power willingly granted to us through Jesus Christ.

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(Cassy Budd pictures above)

2. Reflection on Writing

For my research paper, what do I want to get out of it? I would like to be able to talk extensively about my topic in everyday language and be able to anticipate and then answer potential questions fielded to me by my audience. This writing will teach me how to conduct in-depth research on a particular topic and be able to find reputable sources to help back up my evidence. I think my topic will have something to do with how certain people interpret things and the way those interpretations help to shape how they react and I've been interested in this type of thing for awhile because there have been all these psychological studies about how the power of positive thinking can cure you of ailments and make you a more successful person overall.

For this last analysis paper, I didn't find peer reviews that were just looking at one area of my essay very helpful because my biggest problem is not connecting ideas and ineffective transitions. I think I would like to have one person peer review my entire paper and then give me feedback on it so for my research paper I will probably have the writing center review it and then get feedback. I did find some of the advice from my peers helpful because they all said I needed a clear topic sentence for each paragraph and after I reread it I realized they were right. One thing I learned about myself through this process was that I require a lot of time to write. Once I start writing, words start to flow pretty easily, but it takes many revisions to get it to where I want it so for the future I'd say I need to allot more time for the writing process of writing, reading, revising, rerevising, exc.  I also need to space this allotted time out better so I'm not so sick of rereading my arguments. That'd be my number one goal while writing my research paper. Another important aspect of the research paper is picking something I'm interested in. If I'm going to be writing 10 pages about something, I don't want to get bored of it easily or it'll be torture to write.