Having a Growth Mindset

Having a Growth Mindset, Striving for "Yet"

Before this week I had never heard of Carol Dweck or the growth mindset concept. It is very fascinating. 

While I had never heard of the growth mindset, I certainly grew up with this idea. My mom always encouraged the process more than the result, to the point where I never questioned my ability to do anything as long as I tried hard. This now translates into every aspect of my life. At work it is always the process that is most important and I am constantly striving to improve my logistics tactics because they are not there "yet". I am continually improving upon them by taking on new work challenges. 

This also applies to my school work. When I first transferred into OU many, many years ago; it was a culture shock and a failure. While it did get me down at times, I constantly strived to finish and now I will graduate in December. For the last ten years it was always, "I'm not there yet; but I will be if I keep working at it."

Some of my biggest learning challenges are, perfection. I always strived for straights A's and perfect papers; but when I came into OU I realized that not everyone learns the same and not everyone is perfect. I could accept my failures because I continued to bounce back and challenge myself. I am glad to know that this is a practice that is becoming more widely spread. I think it's an important concept for children and adults; because no one is the same. No one learns in the same manner or responds in the same ways to exams, assignments, or life. 

I have several personal goals for this semester but my biggest is to learn and achieve a great score on the GRE so that I may attend graduate school. I am not there yet, but I will be. 

                                                               Me, taking the GRE

Starting the Semester

Getting Organized:

One of my favorite parts of starting a new semester is picking out my new academic planner. This year I went with one from Ban Do and it's really a great organization tool. You can take a look at it here. I then take my syllabi and get to work. Every assignment and reading due date go into the planner, with color coordinated highlighted dates for when I need to begin the assignment based upon my work schedule that week. Because I work full-time and for twelve hours a shift, it's imperative for me to maximize my time on my days off. Therefore; I write and plan to finish my assignments on the off days so that they will be turned in by the due dates. 

Another of my favorite organizational tips is tabs in my books. I tab the reading sections so that I'm completely aware of how much reading needs to completed that week. 

It looks a little something like this

For this course in particular I downloaded the Canvas app to my phone and it sends me notifications of due dates as well. It is my final fail safe to make sure I do not miss any deadlines. 

Also, this tip is obvious but important, make sure you log in and check your assignment listings everyday as well as your email. 

I love school, so getting organized is always fun for me. However, I understand for some, it really is just a chore. I hope some of tips have been helpful. 

I'm Pretty Excited about these Reading Options

Week Two Reading Choice 

The Iliad

The Iliad, I love this epic poem and always look for an opportunity to expound my knowledge of Greek mythology and epic poetry. Achilles is one of my favorite characters from mythology and I cannot resist another chance to learn more about him.  

 British North America 

British Mythology

These reading grabbed my attention for the simple reason; I love British History and everything that goes along with learning more about the country. I really look forward to reading about their folklore and seeing it reflected in the historical elements of which I am already familiar.  

Faerie Queene 

Faerie Stories

Okay, this unit is intriguing to me for a very odd reason, I really enjoy the Mortal Instruments book series and I am very curious to see how the legend of the Faerie Queen compares to her representation in the books.  

                                                                    Faerie Queen

Twenty-Two Goblin 

Goblins

Another book nerd reference, I love Harry Potter (doesn’t everyone?) and I also love stories about goblins. They seem to be such weird, mean little creatures.  

Ovid's Metamorphosis

Ovid

I read the Ovid in one of my many mythology classes that I have taken along my academic journey and I always find it difficult and confusing. This presents me another opportunity to take a look at it and maybe finally gain some insight into the famous epic poem. 

Storybook Favorites

Abraham Who? By Marissa Dutton 

I found this post immediately interesting as someone who has grown up in the Christian faith. Marissa is a very excellent writer and her introduction does a great job of letting you know the basis of her story and inciting you to read the story. Her premise of a time traveling father and son are very well done and entertaining while still telling the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. I found the navigation of her page very easy. It was eye catching without being too much and easily navigated. I really enjoyed this story book. The title "Abraham Who?" is also great one because it lets you know exactly what you're about to learn. Who Abraham is the context of a story.  

                                                            The Sacrifice of Isaac

Bed Time Story: Time to Learn Your Werewolf History  

There is nothing I love more than a good Lycan story, it is probably why "Underworld" is one of my favorite movie series. So this story was an easy choice for me. The introduction is well done and informative. I love the idea of learning the history of the werewolf from the momma wolf teaching her young pups. It made me want to read the whole story (which I did, it was wonderful). The blog was easy to navigate, but not very pretty. Overall, that doesn't matter because I like the side links for each story. It made everything much easier to flip through. The title is exactly right, there were no guessing games for what you were about to read. Clearly, this story is for learning the history of Lycanthropy.  

                                                            Turning into a Lycan

Mount Olympus Gossip 

Who doesn't love a good gossip? The title of this story really drew me in as someone who loves Greek mythology and maybe a little bit a gossip as well. I liked the inclusion of the sitemap option in the blog, but probably would use one since all the links to the stories are already in widgets on the side. The introduction was great, it made me feel like I was about to read a juicy gossip column over the Greek gods (which I did) and everyone who knows Greek mythology understands that that those people were crazy and could easily be turned the most entertaining column, which this writer does very well. 

                                                              The Mighty Apollo

Introduction to Me (A Huge History Dork)

Introduction to Me: A Huge History Dork

When I was eight years old my mom allowed me to purchase the book, Mary, Bloody Mary, by Carolyn Meyer (If you care to check it out, here is where you can purchase it here: Mary, Bloody Mary). This wonderful little novel sparked a love of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs that has never stopped; therefore, I have never stopped pursuing knowledge about these intricate rulers. 

Bloody Mary Tudor

Fast forward twenty-one years and here we are today. I'm on the verge of graduating from the University of Oklahoma this December and it's been an incredibly long journey. I am an MDS major focused on History and Classics with the intent to continue my education in the Masters of Library Studies program either this spring or next fall. I am very excited to further my education in the hopes that I can work in a public library. I really want to help design children's reading programs and activities for the library. I currently work full time as a logistics coordinator for Love's. It's a pretty intense job but I enjoy planning and coordinating. I'm a highly organized person in my work life. 

In my free time, I love to eat and explore the city. I am always down to try the next new things around the city. Chae Modern Korean is currently my new favorite place to eat and if you haven't been there, you should definitely give it a try. Also, Waffle Champion, chicken and waffles might be my favorite breakfast food and they excel at this dish. I grew up in Moore, OK. and I have greatly enjoyed watching the city grow, change, and expand over the last several years. It has brought so many wonderful places to eat and I love them all. 

I fell into my love of classics and Greek mythology through a professor at OU. He no longer works for the school but he taught Ancient Epic Poetry and I fell in love with the subject of drama and mythology. I then continued to take four more classes with him and pursue my love of mythology vigorously, it's a passion that has only continued to grow since the beginning of the class. 

I look forward to continuing my love of these subjects and being the ultimate planner through this course and then on through graduate school. 

Story: The Lonely Unicorn Finds the Perfect Friend

The lion and the unicorn 

Were fighting for the crown 

The lion beat the unicorn 

All around the town. 

Some gave them white bread, 

And some gave them brown; 

Some gave them plum cake 

and sent them out of town 

In the kingdom of Fiery Briar there lived a lonely unicorn, Gemma. Gemma had always longed to have a friend, but because she was last of unicorn in Fiery Briar the other animals treated her as a queen instead of a friend. Many of the other animals were scared of her, because of her horn and her queenly state.  

The Last Unicorn

All Gemma truly wanted was someone to talk to and enjoy eating delicious food as friends. So it was that she decided she would go on a journey to a far away land in the hopes of finding a friend.  

Some gave them white bread, 

And some gave them brown; 

Some gave them plum cake 

and sent them out of town 

Gemma began her travels and journeyed to the country of Peonia where she met a lovely bird who was singing in a tree. 

 She said to the bird, "Would you like to be my friend and try delicious foods with me?"  

The bird looked at Gemma and thought, "This is a very funny looking horse and I'm afraid she will impale me with that silly thing on her head. I do not wish to be her friend." So he responded to Gemma abruptly, "NO, I cannot be your friend, for I have too many friends of my own. There is no time for you."  

Gemma slowly walked away, trying not to cry. She traveled far and wide in search a great friend, but try as she might, no one wanted to be friends with her. They all found her too beautiful or too scary because of the horn on her head. No one could understand that being a queen and the last of her kind was lonely and she needed someone to talk with.  

The Sad Lion

Finally, the wonderful, lonely unicorn traveled to the desert land of Rory. It was here she said to herself, "If I cannot friend in this waste land, then I shall never have a friend. This land seems like the saddest place in the world." 

She did not know just how right she was, for in the land of Rory there lived a lonely king lion. Everyone was afraid of KB, the kingly lion, because he was big and ferocious with large claws. No one understood that he simply wanted to be loved.  

While on his daily walk of the desert KB found Gemma wandering the wasteland crying. He asked her, "Girl, why are you crying? One who is so beautiful should not be so sad." 

Gemma looked up at the lion in amazement, no one had ever asked her what was wrong or called her beautiful. They were all too scared to talk with her.  

She said the lion, " I am sad because I am lonely. I have traveled very far in search of a friend to talk with and enjoy meals together."  

KB looked at her and said, "I want to be your friend. Let us live in the kingdom together and talk, laugh, and eat."  

For the first time in many years, Gemma smiled. She smiled down at KB, the lion, because to her he was not scary, he was magnificent, and she desperately wanted to be his friend.  

As so it was, from that point forward Gemma and KB were inseparable. They spent the rest their days walking their kingdoms, talking and trying new kinds of delicious foods.  

The lion and the unicorn 

Were fighting for the crown 

The lion beat the unicorn 

All around the town. 

Some gave them white bread, 

And some gave them brown; 

Some gave them plum cake 

and sent them out of town 

Very Best of Friends

Authors Note: The original rhyme is a simple story of a lion and unicorn who were fighting for a crown and then after eating appeared to be tossed out the town they were fighting to control. I chose to portray the two magnificent creatures as searching for friends and finding each other instead of fighting for a crown. The value of friendship is something very important. This story reminds me of the Greek mythology story Damon and Pythias. Pythias is released by Dionysius to take care of some affairs, on the promise that he will return and face execution because if he did not Damon would be killed instead. When Pythias returns Dionysius is amazed at the bond of friendship and lets them both go free. 

Bibliography: This story is based on the nursery rhyme "The Lion and the Unicorn" in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang.