Understanding Technology with Different Blogging Resources

Understanding Technology with Different Blogging Resources

Branching my knowledge bases together

I am someone who has dabbled with using many of the online resources mentioned in the tools article by Professor Gibbs. Specifically most google related applications and PBWorks. They've all been easy applications to grasp knowledge over in the past, so I have no doubt that I'll will utilize them in this course!

(Social Technology Connections: Pixabay)

Assignments from Week 1

Assignment Overview

My current take away for my Myth-Folklore Course

I didn't expect the orientation assignments for this course to be as mind opening as they are to continue throughout the semester. I'm actually pretty excited about what we'll get into in the future weeks. I've never taken a class that has a setup similar to this one, making it a new territory for me to adapt to. I'm excited about the readings, and the tech related and heart related extra credit assignments. I'm sure over time I may change was catches my attention but as for now, my thoughts are nothing but positive going forward!

                             (Happy Dog: Pixabay)

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

Maybe I can develop confidence in this crazy system we call academics

(Learning Zone from Growth Mindset memes blog)

After watching the videos of Carol Dweck, it really got me thinking about how I view my worth because of how I am evaluated as a student. I understand the concept of being tested on skills so that if you were to use that skill in the real world, there's confidence behind your abilities. If I was to interact with a doctor or an electrician then I'd want to be comfortable knowing that they know exactly how to do their job. Those things are nice to have since we live in a world where doubt lives in even the smallest of places.

Dweck got me thinking about the moments in life where I would be more focused on what I was doing instead of just getting to the "perfect" outcome that was expected of me. I've taken many courses at this university that have broken my confidence when my marks end up being below average or not what I've come to define as "acceptable" regardless of how comfortable I feel with the material at hand. As a senior in her final semester, my capstone and the rest of my upper division science course have me horrified just by looking at the syllabus alone. I love and have great interests for the topics at hand, so why am I so scared? Why is learning about what I want to gain more knowledge in so scary? Is it the percentages that each task I'm expected to complete are weighted by that freak me out so much? So many questions that go into why my mood instantly shifts during syllabus week.

I want to take these Growth Mindset ideals and methods and use them towards the things I'm afraid of. Hopefully my love for my course topics won't be drowned out by the fear in failure based on one, maybe two assignments. I like that this concept focuses on both progression and effort which is what instructors desire out of their students, right? My evaluation can be a true view of the effort that I know I can apply to my tasks.

Introduction

Brief Introduction

Let the info session drown us all

Hello Everyone! My name is Jasmine Pearce and I am a Microbial Pathogenesis major here at the University of Oklahoma. I'm going into my final semester of university, being my 5th year. My degree is now at this point a planned program degree due to some complications I had last semester, but I have primary focus on Microbiology (which is why if you look up my major name, it won't show up in the degree check-sheet directory.) I love conducting research about how different pathogens can enter the body and cause a shut down to different systems that we rely on. I don't love the "oh no I'm dying due to disease" part of it, but more of the "my body is a microbial army and it's gonna fight" kind of thing. I've taken classes like Infection Disease, Immunology, Microbial Physiology, Microbiology, even both engineering Physics and life science Physics; all of which have been extremely rewarding and very very very difficult to say the least. I love games, crafts, leisure walks around a brightly lit park because I'm too afraid of water for beaches and too out of shape to hike mountains (for now.) I have a dog, who I love dearly. He's half pug, half chihuahua, and fully bent on being spoiled and sassy.

He can not only be as photogenic as Kendall Jenner, but he also has his awkward moments...

He currently lives with my dad right now, but hopefully once I'm in living area that allows pets I can start waking up to a little bit of extra love each morning.

I am an African Asian American. Being mixed with both Japanese and African American has been a great cultural flow for me since I was young. I know enough Japanese to get me where I need to go if I ever make the trek up to Japan, but I don't know enough to feel confident in saying I'm fluent in the language or anything. I was also a military child so I moved around a good amount, making traveling as a future goal something I wasn't comfortable with for a while. It made me into someone that preferred being a home body if I was given the choice.

A great deal has taken place in my life over the past year, and though I am a young adult I know I still have much more development in my future to shape myself in the person I'm supposed to be. Thank you for your read and I can't wait to learn more about my fellow course mates this semester!


                                                  (Personal photo of my mighty beast, Toki, from March 2016)

Storybook Favorites - Let's Spark Some Inspiration

Storybook Favorites

The Three That Start it All

This post will serve as my starting point to construct my own story for my Myth-Folklore class this semester. Scrolling through all of the options I had to gain some inspiration really got me stuck between three different themes I believe I'm interested in taking on. I've always been fascinated by mystery tales that keep the reader on their toes. It's the type of story that keeps you up at night because you just can't stop thinking about the final outcome. The second thing I've been very into reading are choose your own adventure just because no experience is ever the same.  What you want to happen in the story is also the exact direction they take, even if it doesn't mean the best outcome.🤣 It's still a fun journey though! The last thing I'm tempted to write about is a play on a song of sort. I would like to think I'm as passionate about music as any other millennial and love to do a play on words with pretty much anything. The challenge in taking a classic and morphing it into something like saga makes my creative juices jump for excitement.

With that being said, here are the three stories that fit into those realms of possibility. All of which has some pros and cons but overall wonderful concepts to my interest.

Tokyo Underworld

(Tokyo Underworld: Pixlr Images)

Tokyo Underworld is a story written by a previous student of the Myth-Folklore course that takes you through a 'whodonit' sort of murder scenario. As the reader, you are given different sections of facts as the story progresses and the characters unfold; having the opportunity to make a choice as to who you suspect to be the murder. This story doesn't do great at giving an introduction to what the story will entail; however, it does have a beautiful layout and keep the vibe of mysterious and a little creepy.

Dungeons and Decisions

Dungeons and Decisions is just like it sounds, you make the decisions in your story in order to make it to your own ending. It keeps the thrill alive because you try to pick up every detail in order to make the best choice you believe will help you get the best conclusion. I loved the introduction of this just because it gave a lot of instruction, reference information as to how this idea because his story, and where to start. The layout is a bit simple for the type of story it is, but it definitely seems captivating.
            (Dragon from Trine 2: Wikimedia Commons)


LSD in a Yellow Submarine

LSD in a Yellow Submarine is just such a funny concept to me. I love the Beatles and I love that because it was related to the music, it put me in the same dazed and pleasant mood that the song usually does. I think I'd take a slight different direction than this poster did in order to get what I want out of using song inspiration, but I'm still enjoying this content for sure.











(Yellow Submarine: Deviant Art)

My Favorite Place - The Story of how I Decided to Start Traveling

Salt Lake City, Utah

 A city of wonder A city of history A city of art

I had the pleasure of going on a trip with two of my closest friends to Salt Lake City. This was my first time ever venturing up North farther than up the coast in California. Not only was it a great sight to take in, but the hospitality, outdoor activities, and the food were some of the best parts of my trip.

One of the best sites was going to Temple Square and getting a visual of the Temple in the center. My own personal photos don't do it much justice but, this is a great representation of the building itself. We were told that it was built many years ago completely by hand (and is the largest of the Latter-Day Saints church establishments.)

(Salt Lake City Temple Slide 1: Wikimedia Commons)

Though I find Utah to be stronger in religious practice, I recommend people of all religious beliefs to make a pit stop here for the beautiful scenery and worth-while activities you get to experience along the way. I've only been to about 4 different states in my life, but I'm hoping to take a big leap and go to Japan this winter! Fingers crossed it will be my new favorite place. 🤞🤞