The Art of Learning

In highschool, it always seemed to be about the grades. Actually, ever since I can remember it always seemed to be about the grades. From the time I was little and in kindergarten, I was taught that an "A" meant Awesome and an "F" meant you were a failure. And as the years went on, it just keep getting more and more intense. If you were an "A" student, you recieved special awards, you got your name announced, and you even got to be in the special "Honors" classes. But if you got an "F," you were shunned. You were put in the stupid classes and no one really cared about announcing your name.

I was always preached to in highschool saying, "You're grades are some of the most important things that will get you into a good college." So it's no wonder that students are so pressured to get that A. It's how we were brought up. If it wasn't an A, or sometimes a B, it just wasn't good enough.

Which brings me to my next point. How do you get those grades? Well, mostly through tests and homework and projects. By reading endless amounts of passages from a lot of books that you just don't care about and taking copious notes and then studying those notes to put back onto a sheet of paper for a test. But then the interesting this is, most people just forget what they studied right after they turn in the test. I sure know I did. I didn't really care about the year that the Indians were moved onto reservations or what the name was of the third president of Ireland. But, I had to get the garde, so I had to study.

I pretty much had that attitude of "nothing else matters except the grade" until the second semester of my senior year. I took a class called contemporary issues and I thought it should be relatively "Easy A". On the first day of class, my teacher asked us how much we remembered from all previous classes we had taken. I thought about it and said about 5%. And that's when he explained to me that this class wouldn't be about grades, tests, homework. It would be about learning. And learning something useful. I was shocked. Never had I taken a class like that before. But it really taught me a lot. My teacher taught me to open my eyes to everything I hadn't paid attention to. I learned about life and I learned so much about myself. But most importantly, it taught me that school isn't just about making the grade. On the last day of class, my teacher asked us how much information we remembered from the semester.

I smiled and said 99%.

I realized that when I wasn't so focused upon the grade, and just focused upon learning something new just for the sake of learning, it could be a lot more beneficial in the end.

I Guess You Could Call Me a Fashion Emergency

The truth of the matter is, when it comes to fashion, I much prefer comfort over the looks. If you look in my closet, I guess you could find a couple of cute dresses and nice pairs of slacks. But you would mostly find sweatpants and sweatshirts. But I like it that way. When I wake up in the mornings for class, I don't really feel like making myself look cute to sit in a classroom all day. So I usually sport the baggy sweatpants and my hair shoved up into a ponytail.

But I guess what you could really call the fashion emergency would be my shoes. I've always been a fan of the crocs. Now, I'm not saying that crocs are the most fashionable of all the shoes out there. Because, believe me, I know that they aren't. They're a wide floppity looking shoe usually of some flamboyant color that screams "Look at my feet!" But they're comfortable. And they work. They don't get ruined if you step in a puddle and I can honestly wear them all day long without my feet starting to feel the least bit sore. I got a pair of what I call "Ugg-Crocs" for Christmas. And if you think that the Crocs are bad, well wait till you see these puppies. It's basically normal crocs with fur on the inside. But soooo comfortable. It's just that I can't do heels. The other night I put on a dress to go out and decided that crocs really wouldn't kick it. So I dug through my closet to find my one and only pair of heels. And in comparison to most of the other girls here, my heels would be considered flats. But, against my will, I put on the heels and by the time I walked out of the dorm my feet were already screaming at me. I just don't understand how some girls can go hours upon hours putting their feet through misery. I couldn't do it. By the time I took them off, I couldn't really feel my feet anymore.

So next time I wear a dress, I'm just gonna have to wear my crocs with it.

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Blogging is a very interesting concept. It isn't exactly what teachers would assign as an orthodox assignment. It makes students think outside of the box and dive into a deeper part of their brain. But I like it. I like doing something different.

After reading the two articles assigned to us in class, I have learned that blogging is basically another way of expressing oneself. Some people express themselves through music, dance, sports, etc... But blogging is also a way of showing the inner thoughts of oneself to others. And because blogging can be anonymous, people can share their thoughts without having to give out their true name. So there's nothing to fear.

Blogging also allows the "Oh, well isn't that interesting?" quote that many times pops into people's minds after reading a fellow blogger's post. And because many people post comments and their opinions about others blogs, it allows for a chain of reactions to spur many new interesting concepts to be created based on one person's blog. So in essence, it is basically taking one idea and creating something to start a discussion about. I can see why some teachers would strongly urge their students to use this blogging method. A teacher's goal is to help the students excel and prosper. So blogging allows for debate and learning to go on both inside and outside of the classroom.

After reading the blog of Andrew Olmstead, I realized that blogging seemed to be his way of relieving what was on his mind. He could discuss current events and anything and everything he chose to share with his readers. Yes, I think it was sad and depressing to read his last letter of goodbye, but it showed how much a part of blogging and sharing his ideas was to him. So that's awesome.

Overall, I think blogging is new, exciting, and different. I think more teachers and professors should introduce the world of blogging to their students because I think it could really open a new side of their students.