The Creative Genius

After reading chapters one through three of Twayla Tharp’s The Creative Habit, I have actually come to enjoy the book. Even though I’m not a big fan of all the dance jargon she uses in the book, she brings up some very relevant points that not only have to do with stimulating a sense of creativity, but also important aspects of life. The beginning of the book really interested me because it had do with rituals and the importance of them when it comes to getting anything done. Tharp portrays our biggest fears associated with accomplishing anything having to do with procrastination. She believes that procrastination is driven by five factors including,  “people will laugh at me, someone has done it before, I have nothing to say, I will upset someone, Once executed the idea will never as good as it is in my mind” (22). I believe that Tharp is spot on even though she is making a generalization towards “everybody” who reads her book. When I read that excerpt, I could definitely see myself fitting the mold she portrays with several personal real life examples.

            Another aspect of the book I came to appreciate that we have already gone over in class is that there are no natural geniuses. I really liked the fact that Tharp drove home this concept with examples of people who literally grind out the hours until they are good at something. Tharp then connects this concept with what she refers to as “Creative DNA”. Tharp draws a fine line between what it means to be a genius and what it means to be creative. Even though you can’t be born a genius, you can be born with creativity. She makes a subtle connection between the two points that stretches far further than what she actually explains in the text. She is making the point that creativity is what leads to people who are considered “geniuses”.

           

            

INQ Video #2

Video #2 Reflection

I completed my video and am pretty proud of myself for how it came out. Even though it didn't come out exactly as I was hoping, it still portrays my initial vision. When I initially read the video assignment on the INQ page, I read about the hike up West Rock. I immediately thought to myself of how cool it would be to have the chance to go on a hike during a weekend when I had some free time from baseball. Little did I know, it would be probably one of the most relaxing experiences I've had since coming to school. The assignment though was to document something about Southern that is unique and distinguishes itself among other colleges. I think West Rock definitely does that. Even though I'm sure other colleges have surrounding opportunities for a student to become more in tune with nature, Southern has that opportunity right in its backyard. I thought it was amazing that all you needed to do was go in back of West Campus dorm to reach the trails for the hike up West Rock. It takes a little intuition though to find the trails because you initially won't find the trails for a good fifteen minutes after going in back of West Campus.
            When I first thought of the opportunity to go on the hike, I thought it would be a great idea to document large portions of the hike and fast-forward them for the video. The idea at first seemed like it would be really good and actually interesting to watch. When I had the footage though and came back to work on the video, I honestly didn't realize how shaky the camera would be during the hike. I thought the footage would be a little more stable than it actually was. Even though the footage didn't come out the way I necessarily expected in that sense, I still think the actual footage came out very nicely. I also really liked the way the video looked fast forwarded because you could take parts of the hike that were ten minutes and consolidate them to a minute or less. 

Journey To West Rock

Today I went on a hike for my project due next week. I went to

West Rock park and ended up going on the adventure with a fellow teammate. I asked him if he would go with me because I didn’t want to have to make the trip alone and it ended up being nice because I had some company along the way. I have never hiked a mountain or anything else for that matter so it was a first time experience. I actually had a lot of fun on the journey. I got to see some pretty amazing sites and get in touch with nature for a change. I think the best part of the entire hike was when we actually got to the top. The view was pretty amazing because you can see a fairly large portion of New, Haven itself along with the county Hamden I believe. The view at the end definitely made the entire trip worthwhile in my opinion.

            I think another great reason for going on the trip is that the assignment itself was to discover something about Southern that you never really knew. If I hadn’t read the INQ blog, I don’t think I would have ever known or even explored and opportunity such as taking a hike. I think it is very important at the end of the day to explore new things because of the fact that you may never really know what you are missing out on. 

Whata' ya know, half way done!

Midterms came out and I ended up doing very well. I got an A in Math, B+ INQ, A Web Technology, and an A in Anthropology. The only midterm that I can’t get at the moment is my Spanish midterm because my teacher has been busy and can’t release them yet. Overall, I am very happy with my success so far in the first semester. I have always been a pretty good student in school getting work done and studying for tests so I wasn’t that worried about it when the grades actually came out. I think though that people get way to caught up in the semantics regarding college. Everyone says that the first semester is always the hardest for incoming freshman. I think though that is just a poor excuse to set yourself up for failure. If you go into something with a negative attitude you are less likely to find success. I never really went into the semester initially expecting anything less than my very best.

            I think a lot of my success also had to do with how busy I was with athletics leaving less time to get actuall work done. It really helps in the regard that it allows you to really acknowledge what needs to be done so you can plan according and knuckle down to get the work done. I have to admit though also that a lot of my success stemmed from the mandatory academic study hall for first year student athletes. During those five hours a week, I have more than enough time to get a majority of my work done. Of course, it isn’t enough time to get the studying done for tests and some assignments that pop up every now and then, but it definitely gives you the chance to really apply yourself to your studies. A lot of the student athletes complain about the study hall saying that it is cramped and it is impossible to stay for the minimum hour and a half, but I have a funny feeling if you asked them what led to their success thus far this semester it would be because of that study hall. I think the hardest thing now is staying strong until the end of the semester.

I like the color blue

There is a piece of artwork that I see often is in the building called “Jennings” because I have to go there every week for academic study hall. The piece was created in 1986 by the professor of art as SCSU. Every time I walk through the building, I always look at the mural. I like the mural for several reasons. One of the reasons I like the mural is because it has so much going on in it. It has a sense of mystery associated with it because I can’t tell or even understand some of the things that are going on in the mural. The second reason I like the mural is because I really like the color blue. I’m often allured to anything with the color blue from clothing, sports teams, etc. I think the last reason I like the mural is because of the fact that I find the ocean calm, and tranquil so it kind of relaxes me.

            When I initially looked at the mural, I honestly wasn’t really sure what to think of it. I initially thought it was just a neat depiction of undersea life. Now that I’m asked to analyze it, I’ve come to the conclusion that the mural kind of represents the building that it’s hung in. “Jennings” kind of revolves around the study of the sciences whether it be physics, biology, or microbiology. When I think of the ocean, I kind of think about the biology of environmental science because of a class I took in high school.

            After thinking about the mural though I found a piece of signage that presents what the mural is actually trying to depict. The signage says, “It represents stages in human development: From left to right. The emergence of life from under the sea: The discovery of microbiology: The exploration of space.” I didn’t quite understand the exploration of space portion of the mural, but at the end of the day maybe it isn’t for me to get.

Community Service Trip

For this week’s campus safari, I did a community service trip with the baseball team. The team went to the Helene Grant Headstart School in New Haven. A teammate on our team has a sister who is a teacher at the school, and was in need of volunteers for the school’s fair that took place this past Friday on the 19^th.  Everyone on the team took part in the days festivities and helped out with various activities such as preparing food, hay rides, athletics, and arts & crafts.

            I ended up being put on an activity where I worked with the kids on making laminated bookmarks. The kids would basically take leaves and place them under a sheet of paper. They would then take crayons and push down on the paper to get the imprint of the leaf on the paper. My job was to basically hold down the paper for the kids so it wouldn’t move.

            Overall the day went pretty well and we got a lot accomplish on behalf of the school.  The kids were fun to be around and everyone on the team was in good spirits for the day. It was nice to get away from the baseball for a little bit and doing something different. 

Ray & Mike's

For my fun trip I didn’t do anything on campus but ended up going off. I didn’t really have time to do any activities on campus with our teams practice schedule so I asked a friend of mine on campus if they wanted to go off campus and get food. My friend played baseball with me when I was younger for the AAU travel team The Connecticut Blaze. Luckily he is a Sophomore and has a car so we could go off. We have stayed pretty close with one another since parting ways from travel ball and playing for our respected post legions later on in our baseball careers. Unfortunately my buddy Ryan doesn’t play ball anymore because of a should injury he incurred, but he still loves the game just as much as I do.

            We ended up going to a place in Hamden called Ray & Mike’s which is a place where you can buy sandwiches. Little did I know before going there that I would eat probably one of the best subs I’ve had in my life. We sat down and talked about stories from our past going on national trips in various places around the United States and the experiences we had. A friend of ours named Sal who we played with on the team came up in conversation who is currently in the Cincinnati Reds minor league program playing for the Billings Mustangs out of Montana. We talked a little bit about Southern in general and our thoughts on the school. He also had some questions about the baseball program, which was fun to talk about.

            Overall, I’m pretty happy I contacted Ryan because I hadn’t seen him in a while and it was nice to talk. It was also nice to get off campus with a friend and experience a little bit of different scenery other than Southern.

Subtle Differences...

            For the first part of the academic semester, I am actually doing very well. I haven’t had any problem with my classes as far as handing work in on time, or completing work to the best of my ability. A lot of people said that college is very difficult in the first semester and that new students usually find it very difficult adjust from their high school. This may be true for some students, but I think that because of the fact I came from a college prep school, I have a true understanding of what it takes to really make it in college. Coming from a school where teachers don’t hold your hand, and you are given a syllabus on day one to complete each semester, you really understand how to manage your time and get your work done.

            I’ve found that managing my time was actually harder in high school than in college so far. When you are kept busy during the day in high school to keep students out of trouble because they board with things like forums, formal dinner, chapel talks, playing sports every season, to a required two hour study hall every night of the week, school on Saturday, and lights at eleven every night. I’ve come to realize that college has been a breeze so far besides my athletic commitment. That isn’t to say of course that I have a ton of free time because I don’t. I have classes all morning every day of the week and then athletics taking up my entire afternoon with practice, inters quads, and lifts. I just think I have more time at night in order to get everything done that I need to.

            I think the fact that the extra free time at night I’ve had has definitely helped my academic success. I don’t feel stressed out when it comes to meeting deadlines and studying for tests. It is unequivocally clear that this extra free time I’ve had is reflected in my grades because at Millbrook I more or less maintained straight B’s and from time to me got and A. That is to say also that I feel Millbrook definitely expected a lot more their students academically than I have felt at Southern. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact thought that I’m taking general courses so far and less that actually have to do with my major.

Pep Rally Fun

For this weeks campus safari I went to the pep rally. I kind of had to go though at the same time because the baseball team had to walk out along with the other athletic teams on campus. Overall though I had a pretty good time at the event. The night was geared towards creating a sense of school spirit among the school population. There were raffles and prizes given away throughout the night in an effort to raise money for the schools athletic programs. Some of the prizes were actually quite nice like the 32’’ HD T.V, or the brand new Xbox 360. Both individuals who hosted the event did a very good job of creating a strong sense of enthusiasm and excitement in the field house. 

      Even though I though Southern did a good job of presenting the pep rally, I feel it also could have been better. I definitely think they need to create a stronger sense of school spirit. A friend of mine that goes to Alabama went to his pep rally and said that thousands upon thousands of students come out for the event. Even though I realize Southern isn't a top tier D1 institution, I believe there could have been a better outcome of students who came to the event.

Mix in a word every now and then..

What was most difficult for me to accomplish this week may seem extremely trivial to some people. The hardest thing I had to do was go up to my CSC teacher and ask him to change my grade upon the grounds that my work was completed on time and fully. Ironic though isn’t it asking for credit that you deserve, but having a difficult time asking for it. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been the type of person who tries to please everyone to the best of my ability. Even if it means I may lose every now and then in some sense.

            I think an excellent example of this was this summer when I worked at a construction company for an internship. My job was pretty basic and was simply to do what I was told. Sometimes I would have to pick up around the jobsite and at this time I was still heavily recovering from my UCL (Ulnar Collateral Ligament) reconstruction. Even though I was well aware that I couldn’t pick up objects that were heavy at the time it never really crossed my mind to tell someone that I couldn’t do it. I sometimes feel a normal person would immediately confront the problem and tell the person “no” I can’t do that. In my mind though, I feel like I’m letting someone down in a sense. Even though that isn’t the case I still feel that way from time to time.

            I was very proud of myself going up to my teacher and at least inquiring about the grade. Normally I probably would have just taken the grade and that would have been it. I thought though that since progress reports were going to be delivered my coach soon, it would be in my best interest to at least see what my teacher could do for me. Lone behold, it doesn’t hurt to get up and say something on your behalf from time to time. My grade ended up being changed and I now have a much higher mark in the class.

Failure Is My Success

After reading Mindset and the articles posted from Harvard and the New York Times, I’ve decided that they don’t really change my view on failure. Mindset more or less says that failure is a difficult thing no matter what. If you have a growth mindset failure isn’t going to be fun and if you have a fixed mindset failure won’t be fun. That appears to be a pretty fundamental feeling towards failure by most people, but I often see failure much differently. Furthermore, Mindset makes a clear distinction again about how people with growth mindsets and fixed mindsets differ when they experience failure. The author more or less states that people with a growth mindset would make a mental note that based on whatever outcome that they had failed. It then delves on the fact that people with a growth mindset then approach the failure as a chance to explore a different approach and find success. People with a fixed mindset though see a failure more as a moment to blame the failure on themselves personally and come to the conclusions that they failed and that’s it. People with a fixed mindset are much less likely to explore a different approach than an individual with a growth mindset and seek a different outcome to a situation.

            Personally I believe failure is a great thing. Failure is what creates growth in individuals and allows them to show their true colors. I can’t even begin to describe how many times in my life that I’ve failed at something and only seen it as an opportunity to go back and be successful. I use a lot of baseball analogies in my blogs, but that is merely because I’ve grown up around it and have a fairly decent understanding of what failure is. Ted Williams said, “Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer.” This quote has always stuck with me and I feel fits in great with these readings because this quote demonstrates that the other seven out of ten times, as a baseball player I’m going to fail. This failure though is not something I dwell on or get feelings of disappointment. I take the failure and go out everyday to the field and try to beat the odds. Even though the likelihood of an individual beating the odds by a large or even small margin are unlikely, it is our fuel to the fire. It is what keeps me going everyday. Failure is my success.

A little service on a friday

For this weeks campus safari I did a community service trip on behalf of the baseball program and the schools athletic department. I’m not sure if this is an acceptable campus safari but I thought I’d give it a try considering I was going to go to a workshop before I found out I had the community service trip. The trip itself wasn’t that bad, four teammates and myself made the excursion to Clinton Avenue School.

            We had the opportunity to socialize with the students, read books with them, and even play a little bingo. The kids were a lot of fun to be around and all of them thought it was pretty cool they got to be around college athletes. Especially one student who played football and had a lot of astute questions for only being a six year old.

            At first I was kind of discouraged about the fact that I was going to have to make the trip because I was honestly exhausted between the lack of sleep I got from tests I had and practices. At the end of the day though, I had a pretty good time and enjoyed some time with my teammates off the field along with performing a service to both Clinton Avenue School and Southern.            

One road and only one...

After reading the first three chapters of “Mindset The New Psychology Of Success” by Carol S. Dweck, I like some parts of the book but dislike others. The author discusses two main principles that he believes in which are the “growth” mindset and the “fixed” mindset. Dweck claims that people with a “fixed” mindset ultimately suffer from being narrow-minded and don’t explore different possibilities in various situations. On the other hand, the “growth” mindset is somewhat glorified in the text portraying an individual who has little to no anxiety and has multiple avenues to accomplish a task.

            I am not a big fan of making one mindset look better than another. The reason I don’t really like it is because you don’t know the person who may have one mindset over another. You could have a person with a “growth” mindset who is extremely privileged in life and can afford the time and resources to explore. On the other hand, you could have a person with a more “fixed” mindset who may not have the time or resources to necessarily explore. It is almost like saying if you don’t have a “growth” mindset, then something went wrong along the road. I don’t really think that is a great way to look at the topic because people with a “fixed” mindset might read those first three chapters and be like, “who is this guy making claims like this?” The author definitely takes has a bias throughout the chapters towards conforming to a “growth” mindset.

            I think this article relates to the reading we did on the 10,000 hour theory to becoming an expert in something. The reason I think it connects well is because the author more or less connects an individual who is an expert in a field with an individual that has a “growth” mindset. Even though I don’t think this is necessarily true all the time.

Managing Athletics & Academics Video

Managing Athletics & Academics

I had a very busy week so it was really hard to fit in the video project but I managed to just keep my camcorder with me everywhere I went. If I ever had free time, I would just go and get some interviews done. The topic I chose to do my project on is managing athletics and academics. I thought this would be a good topic because there are a lot of student athletes at Southern and I’ve only been a student athlete for a month here and find it hard to fit in academics sometimes. You are just so busy throughout the day with practices and lifts that your dead tired when it comes to sitting down and getting some work done.

            I interviewed both my coaches and got some information on how to get it done in the classroom by sitting in the front of the class and asking questions. I also wanted people who saw the video to understand what is expected of us as student athletes and that it isn’t all just fun and games. The next people I interviewed were two freshman athletes and two upperclassmen athletes. I wanted to get the perspective of being a student athlete as a freshman so far and what they struggle with. Lone behold the essence of time was the initial response followed up by the importance of the mandatory table study where you sit down and really grind out work. The upperclassmen had a much different perspective responding by saying that you need to get work done in whatever free time you have rather than going off and doing other things. Sometimes though that can be really hard to do when your entire team is going somewhere to do something.

            I actually had a lot of fun making the video because I’m not familiar with the iMovie software that is on my Mac. I had a lot of technical issues that I needed to go online and look up to solve. I even struggled with getting the clips off my camcorder onto iMovie. Luckily my dad knows an individual in his I.T. department named Sam who was able to give a helping hand. Overall though once I figured out all the nuances of iMovie it was a lot of fun. I still want to know how you can make text slides because that would have been a lot easier than using title slides and consolidating text.