College, knowledge and experimental learning

One of the options that we are given our senior year of high school is whether we want to go to college or not. This can be overwhelming because it’s such an important decision to make at such an early age. Some people believe that they will have the ideal life they have always wanted if they don’t go to college, but for the rest of us, college is necessary in order to attain this major goal. Right when we think that we are done with making important choices when we realize that the next step is to pick a major. What I realized after reading “The Idea of a University” is that no matter what we major in, we’re still attaining an education. “I have said that all branches of knowledge are connected together, because the subject-matter of knowledge is intimately united itself,” wrote Newman (165).

I decided to come to college because I want to somehow give something back to my mother, because I want to have a better life, because I want to help others and to experience everything a university like this has to offer. To some people these reasons may not be good enough reasons, but they mean everything to me. It doesn’t matter why we’re all here because in the end all that matters is the education we attain while we’re here. “Men, whose minds are possessed with some one object (education in our case), take exaggerated view of importance, and a feverish in the pursuit of it, make it the measure of things which are utterly foreign to it, and {138} are startled and despond if it happens to fail them…Those one the other hand who have no object or principle whatever to hold by, lose their way, every step they take” (168).

The knowledge that is learned in a university doesn’t compare to the knowledge that is learned outside. By this statement, I’m saying that only university education “…gives a man a clear conscious view of his own opinions and judgments, a truth in developing them, an eloquence in expressing them, and a force in urging them” (170).

Experiential learning is a way in which many of us prefer to learn. This technique allows us to experience knowledge firsthand. In the text (page 184) it says that experimental learning makes both sides of our brain work and it also allows us to learn from our own point of view instead learning form someone’s point of view who we don’t even know sometimes like the authors of our books. I’ve learned that experimental learning engages us more in learning and it encourages us to want to learn more. “Experimental learning is considered more meaningful because it allows students to practice roles unfamiliar to them and fully immerse themselves in experience that generate authentic knowledge” (184).

Links?

http://attractions.uptake.com/blog/files/2009/01/uttower.jpg
http://candliciouscreations.com/myPictures/Texas+UT+Longhorn.jpg
http://www.123collegedegree.com/images/jaxairnewsarticle1.png
http://openreflections.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/knowledge-eye-chart-by-choconancy1.jpg

Tyranny and Leadership

“How to spot a Tyrant” was very interesting, more interesting than what I thought it’d be. At the beginning of the show, when Dr. Paul Woodruff was speaking he said that “Tyrants are people who have power and they let it get to their heads.” When I heard this, I could think of several individuals who have fallen into tyranny. A couple minutes later he gave us examples of people that can be tyrants and it surprised me that tyranny is still around. It’s like saying that slavery is still around in the United States. Our country is known as a free country, but according to Woodruff, “Freedom is the absence of tyranny” so are we really free? When we think about tyrants we think about Hitler or Fidel Castro, but Woodruff and the actors gave us an example of tyranny in Shakespeare’s plays.

Tyranny is caused by leadership. In Covey’s book, he says “Distrust of leadership is the best defense of democracy, as Greek popular speakers understood.” What he is attempting to say is that monarchy was created to avoid democracy. Cover also speaks of people who “feel victimized” (pg. 43) and they “focus on the weaknesses of other people and the circumstances that they feel are responsible for their own stagnant situation” (pg. 43). In the three scenes of the three plays that we watched, it was effortless to notice the three symptoms of tyranny that the villain characters had. These three symptoms are hubris (over winning pride), lawlessness (they believe that they can get away with anything), and fear (they’re always afraid of being attacked somehow so they frighten others to protect themselves).

When Creon and his son are altercating about killing the girl Creon’s son loves, Creon feels threatened. During the argument he says that people should obey him in order to avoid being punished. Fear is obvious in this scene. In the second play, Measure for Measure Angelo asks Isabella to have sexual relations with him in order to save his brother from being killed. When Isabella tells him that she will tell on him, he says that nobody will believe her and that he is the “recording voice of law”. Lawlessness is easy to spot since Angelo thinks that he can get away with having sexual relations outside or marriage and punishing somebody for doing it. In the last play, A Doll’s House, Nora’s husband’s hubris isn’t as easy to spot because he’s a loving father and husband. When he finds out about Nora’s loan, he gets mad because he’s afraid of what others will think or say. He doesn’t take in mind his wife’s intentions to save his life. He has too much pride to accept that his wife did the right thing.

All these villains have all the symptoms, but those specifically stood out the most to me in the plays. Another thing that I noticed is that Woodruff is right, “leadership and tyranny always [do] come together.” Creon was the ruler of the city, Angelo was the king and Nora’s husband was the leader of the family simply by being the man of the family. They’re all given a leadership role and they all abuse it. In page 240 Covey speaks of how individuals sometimes are too into themselves and they forget about what others think or what others have to say. He says, “We’re filled with our own rightness, our own autobiography” (pg. 240). This quote can apply to all of these tyrants because they were all selfish and they lack empathic listening. According to Covey, empathic listening is to listen to people and try to understand them. The tyrants hear the other people talk to them, but they’re not really listening.

http://a.khmelnik.googlepages.com/split.jpg


http://a.khmelnik.googlepages.com/split.jpg

Role Model!

“The Times Were A’Changing” is written by Betty S. Flowers, at UT student in the sixties. In 1979, she won the Amoco Teaching award and just four years later she received the Holloway Teaching award. In the late seventies and the early eighties, she served as an Associate Dean for Graduate Studies. She is also currently an Associate Professor of English as well as a member of the Texas Committee for the Humanities.

In “The Times Were A’Changing,” Flowers talks about her experience as a student during the Vietnam War. She described the campus as a mixture of the 50’s and the future. Which I think we can all relate to today because what starts here does changes the world.

At the beginning she informs us about how she was one of the few females in her Chemistry lab section and in one of her German classes. By being fearful enough to be one of the only females in her classes already made her a leader, but she did more than that for UT. By 1967 the protests against the Vietnam War began. Students and other individuals who did not belong to the university protested and chanted John Lennon’s song “Give Peace a Chance” (193). A peace movement had begun and everything changed. Many people referred to these protesting individuals as “dirty hippies,” (913) but before anyone knew it, most guys had grown out their hair and the girls had lose hair parted down the middle, including Betty S. Flowers.

I personally would have probably been part of that protesting crowd and I’d probably be found in the “peace rallies” (916) if I would have been alive in the late sixties, but I wasn’t privileged enough to be born yet. Flowers said that all this made people over thirty reject their hippie movement and many students weren’t allowed to go home until they cut their hair. So what many of them did was rent big houses with many students and lived their crazy life. According to Flowers, “the issues were black and white, and the people you met were either young, long-haired, and against the Vietnam War, or older, short-haired, and against the Vietnam War protestors" (916). The spring of 1970, over 2,000 people protested at the Capitol against the Vietnam War. At that time is was dangerous to be a hippie. “Make Love, Not War” (916) was a famous quote back then.

Flowers said that The University of Texas in the sixties was not simply a campus experience, but an introduction to the larger world, to issues of war and peace and courage and betrayal and the need to question the values inherited by authority” (916). I would definitely agree with flowers because besides the hard tests they had to deal with a nationwide issue, but no matter what, they did what they believed was right. The University of Texas was where Flowers grew as a student and as a human being. Later she wrote many articles, poems and even a book on Browning. She is an one of the many “children of the sixties” (916) who followed their beliefs, but changed the world somehow.

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Road Maps!

I really enjoyed watching all the road maps. They were all unique in their own way and there was something I really liked about each one of them.


Veronica

I really like how close Veronica is to her family. I love the way she expresses herself about her father. She describes him as the ideal dad. If my parents were still together I know I'd want my dad to be like Veronica's dad. I also like how she's so close to her sister and her family in general. I've never been that close to my family, but it'd be nice to spend time with them all like Veronica does. It's hard to get such a big family together, but they manage to do so and that's admirable. The quote that Veronica said that her dad always tells her ("Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres") reminded me of my aunt because she used to always tell me that when she thought I was hanging out with the wrong crowd. One of the songs she included in her video really reminded me of my house. My mother always played Mana's music when we were at home and it was nice to remember the old times.

Jonae

Jonae and I have something in common. We're both from El Paso! Even though we went to different schools I know where she comes from and vise-versa. I like how she had about five pictures of the cheer leading squad/her friends. I know how close team members are because I'm extremely close to people I ran cross country with. It may be a different sport, but it applies to all of us. Her aunt's story gave me the goose bumps. I've always admired people who know how to fight, and more so people who fight for their life. It doesn't matter how strong we are physically, but how strong we are mentally and I'm amazed by the way this woman has fought. It's sad how we sometimes think that we have it bad and just when we're ready to give up, we meet people like Jonae's aunt.
Jonae's trip to New York sounds like a fun experience. I've always wanted to go to New York and watch a Yankees game so it was definitely nice to see all the pictures she took. I also thought that her wish of being a queen came true. Being homecoming queen is something that she's always going to remember.

Ashley

Ashely's video was fun to watch as well. I like the fact that she loves her culture because I love it as well. Like Ashley, I try to practice my spanish because it's a beautiful language and I don't want to be embarrased when I go to Mexico. Elephants aren't appreciated often and it's neat that they're Ashley's favorite animal. I never thought much about elephants until Ashley pointed out how amazing they are. The part on the video where her house was burned and she realized that "a house is just a house". Most people would be destroyed by something like this happening to them, but Ashley and her family are recovering from it and they value what is important in life.

Nam Le

To be honest, I had never heard of Nam Le and I wasn’t expecting to be interested if I went, but I needed the points so I went. It turns out that I once I head Nam Le read to his audience out loud I became interested and fascinated. If anybody would’ve read the passage he read to us, it wouldn’t affect me the way it did. By listening to him, I learned that he is a sincere person and that he has deep and profound feelings. I always thought writing could express someone’s feelings and make others understand them, but what I experienced was deeper than that. He read to us about brotherhood and he made me realize how strong brotherhood could be. I always thought that writing came from the mind, but by listening to Nam Le I learned that it is also possible to write from the heart.

At the end Le allowed the audience to ask him questions and one girl asked why he decided to quit being a lawyer and write. He laughed and said that he hated what he was doing. I admire the fact that he took such action because I’m sure people expected him to be a lawyer and make the big bucks, but he did what he wanted to do instead. This is what a leader should be like. We should never try to do what others want us to do. Instead we should do what we want to do and enjoy it.

I had never met an author and the way I always thought an author would be a serious and intelligent person. Yes Le is incredibly intelligent, but he’s not that serious. When he was answering questions he made several jokes and made us laugh. From listening to him and watching his conduct I noticed that he’s an amazing individual. He is caring, intelligent and he has good principles.

Links?

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/files/2008/11/nam-le.jpg

http://blogs.crikey.com.au/literaryminded/files/2008/12/the-boat.jpg

Type Zelma

After taking the quiz I learned that I am type ISTJ!

Thinking/Learning Styles
According to my results, I sometimes find it hard to take notes because I feel like everything is important and I am a “simple and direct” learner (138). That is very true because I dislike taking notes because of the fact that I’m afraid of not copying information I might need in the future. Another thing that caught my attention was that my results confirmed that I “like to argue” (139). I don’t mean that I like to argue with people, but I definitely like to debate with people and decide who has the best point of view. I don’t get hurt if somebody proves me wrong because I’m always willing to change my mind. I try to be as open minded as possible and that’s a problem sometimes. I tend to make people feel uncomfortable because I’m willing to talk about anything. Often I think that others feel the same way and that’s that part where they feel uncomfortable. I like things to be in order and I do think that it is relevant to follow rules. I’m such a chicken and I’m afraid to break the rules. My mother was very strict with me when I was growing up and I believe that’s the reason why I am the way I am. I hope that’s a good thing. One thing that bothers me a lot is disorganization. According to my results, I prefer to have a plan. It can sometimes be stressful, but “going with the flow” stresses me out even more. I like scheduling my time and following it. As an extrovert I think out loud and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing. I say what I think and I think what I say, well not so much. I tend to say things in a cruel way sometimes and I’ve hurt people by doing that before. I’m trying to work on it, but it’s difficult to state my opinions in a not so blunt way.

Instructor/Class Typology
My type is similar to Mr. Bump’s. We’re introverts, sensing and judging. I’m sure the percentages aren’t identical, but it’ll be easy for me to understand Mr. Bump’s lectures. I love the “if you want it done right, do it yourself” motto (141). I usually choose to do things on my own because I like to rely on others and only I know what I want. I’m not very patient, but one of us has to be patient, right? Luckily, Mr. Bump is the patient one in this case. It’s good that I’m open minded because this is a very different class from any class I have ever taken. In a classroom I would be the inspector (145). Ha, who doesn’t like authority? I’m sure we all do, but according to the book, ISTJ should be the inspectors. I find it sad that “changes in class structure should be avoided…because ISTJs are negatively disposed to it” (145). I disagree with this because I love change. I’ve always believed that change is good!

Writing styles
When it comes to writing I fit in the judging type. As soon as I am given a writing assignment I begin to think about possible topics. Then I narrow it all down little by little and choose the topic that I think I will have the most fun with. A strength that I have is that I “meet deadlines and produce more writing” (154). I don’t like to be late on anything I do and that’s why deadlines are so important to me. I am a determined person, but sometimes I’m too determined. I like to begin to start with some context and add to it little by little as I go. If I don’t do this I feel that I’m going to forget a significant piece of information. I usually don’t like writing first drafts because I always feel like they’re incomplete. Since I add my data little by little, it’s difficult for me to turn in something right away that I won’t change dramatically in the future.

My thoughts

I was a little surprised by my results, but I had it coming. My exact results were 33% introverted, 1% sensing, 50% thinking and 44% judging. That makes me look like a terrible person! Don't you think? I've never identified myself as a shy individual. Maybe I am a little shy at first, but that always goes away with time. Another thing that was quite surprising was that I don't hate people. I do enjoy being from people at times. I think tha everybody needs some time for themselves at the end of a day to think about where they're heading, but I would never isolate myself from society. I could never be away from society for too long. I've noticed that many people think that people who like spending time by themselves are depressed, but I'm not depressed at all. Only because you like to spend time on your own it doesn't mean that you're emo or something similar to being emo. I had never thought about how much I judge others until I took this quiz. I had noticed that I judge people, but I didn't think it was that bad. I like doing the right thing and being fair to others. I was raised to be a fair individual and treat others equally. I suppose that is where the 44% came from. I try not to judge others without knowing who they really or stereotype them, but I think we've all done it. Sometimes, rarely, I find stereotyping somebody without even noticing and I stop myself and remind myself that it's wrong. Being in such a diverse university should help me get used to the differences between individuals. The thinking percentage didn't surprise me. I sometimes find myself thinking about random things that others seem to ignore. I've been told before that I'm a very pensive person, but it just happens. I think it can be a good thing and a bad thing as well. Yes, it's good to think beyond other's expectations, but sometimes that prevents you from listening to what others are saying. I am aware of how bad this is, but it I'm working on it. Other people who are our same type are J. Butt, M.M. Heiss and D. Keirsey. J.

Links? http://dsquared22.com/blog/wp-content/images/introvert.jpg
http://www.dealsawards.co.uk/a/i/Judging.jpg

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/clipart/images/thinkingcapwhoa.gif