Learning Challenge: Getting Motivated

This week I have been starting my day with a TED talk and so far it has been a really motivating way to begin each day. Here's one that I watched earlier this week by Kelly McGonigal. She talks about rethinking our perception of stress and the benefits of a positive outlook.

How to make stress your friend

Growth Mindset: Grit

I have been listening to one TED talk each morning on my way to work or school this week and I have really enjoyed all of them. However, this morning I found this particular talk where the speaker mentioned Carol Dweck to be both interesting and inspiring.

Grit: The power of passion and perseverance

Week 8 Review: Spring Cleaning (Fall Edition)

I saw this on today's calendar feed and really liked it! This is definitely how my weekends go.

Interior Life by Grant Snider (Web Source)

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Now that I have completed all of my prerequisites for medical school, this year is about taking all the classes that just didn't quite fit into my schedule before. So, I am completing my honors requirements, working on a Spanish minor, taking neurobiology courses, and taking humanities courses that help me learn more about cultures that I am interested in and/or grow my writing skills. All of these things are very important to me and I see them as a way to continue pursuing my goal of lifelong learning, but it also forces me to grow in other ways. I am accustomed to balancing a heavy work and school load, but my classes are usually 4 or 5 hour classes, as opposed to 3 hour classes. My classes this semester are all 3 hour classes, making this a much different course load than my standard schedule. I think that in striving to take on new challenges, I sometimes take on more than I should. 

Growth Mindset meme (Web Source)

Week 8 Reflections

 Reflections

Reading
My reading notes could definitely be formatted better in order to transition more effectively to a story. I have not written many stories this semester because I find the Wednesday deadline to be extraordinarily challenging to meet every single week. It feels like I am constantly making a sacrifice between finishing my reading for the week and writing a story. I love the readings, so I usually finish those, but it takes much more effort to write a story.

Writing
I think that my stories are typically well written, if I am able to complete the story for the week. I find myself having plenty of ideas for stories as I write my reading notes, but unless I write the story during the weekend before that week, I am often unable to write something that reflects the quality of work that I would like it to. I will say that I am very excited about writing my storybook and that a lot of thought has gone into the structure and plot of the story.

Connecting
At first, commenting on others blog pages was challenging and I was not sure how to really comment on a post introducing someone to me that I had never met. As the semester has progressed, I have found the process of doing this to be much easier and I now consistently write more than required.

"Eye of the Parrot" (Web Source)