Learning Challenge: Success Challenges

 

Fireworks

Picture by Victoria Pickering

Source: Flickr

"The 9 Principles That People Who Feel Successful Say They Live By" 

This was definitely a good read for anyone. Personally, this article applies to me in many ways. Some of the aspects of this article I would like to include in my own life are "Have fun," "Seek Challenges," and Pursue Meaning." I feel all of these are equally as important and useful. The section "Have fun" mentions that if you're not having fun, then you are basically doing life and success wrong. I feel this is something I've truly put an important on this year, and plan to continue to remember in the future. I am and will continue to do this by making each and every person in my life feel special by giving them time. I think time is one of the most valuable gifts. 

A challenge I struggle with is the section "Seek Challenges." At the end of this section, the writer mentions how your friend isn't running a marathon because it's fun, but because it's a challenge to push through and conquer. This section really stood out to me. I feel I can improve in this area by not ignoring things I want to learn like certain workout plans because they are hard, and taking each workout a day at a time for a better lifestyle and success. 

I feel "Pursue meaning" is one of my favorite sections because if there is no meaning behind what you are doing, it's not as valuable in my opinion. I plan to keep this in mind by reminding myself the real meanings behind the relationships I build, the things I apply for, and why I work as hard as I do. I think I will write these down on my sticky notes in my macbook and keep it on my desktop as a constant reminder. 

The link to the article is located above. Enjoy!

Growth Mindset: Quotes

Chicago; Flickr

I absolutely love this Growth Mindset extra credit opportunity. I think quotes are such a great way to be able to think deep about something, and with your own perspective. That being said a quote that caught my attention was "Stop being afraid of what could go wrong and start being excited of what could go right." Personally, this is something I have to constantly remind myself of. Don't get me wrong, I am truly proud of my accomplishments, but I have the type of personality and mindset of always wanting to do more and better. It's a blessing and a curse. I always think of all the things that could go wrong when tackling something new instead of thinking about what I could do right. I tend to surprise myself when I tackle a task like an exam, and make an A. I guess you can say this is a confidence issue, but this past year I have truly learned to believe in myself and be confident in my own abilities because they've gotten me this far in my college career. This quote is going to be a reminder for me to take a step back, and think of how good I will feel when things go right. 

Another quote I was inspired by was "Practice failure. It sounds harsh, but it's really not. This means to fail, and fail some more until you've reached your ability to be comfortable in challenging environments and setbacks."Take a moment and think about this. How many times have you been devastated about getting a rejection letter, or even failing an exam? It hurts. It makes you feel stupid, not good enough, a failure, etc... However, this quote is a reminder to me and everyone else that these experiences are necessary to be able to push forward and most importantly, not stress! The concept of failing stresses me out, but when I'm comfortable with knowing my potential and still failing, but knowing I did my best, there is no stress - only the ability to move past it and try again. This quote inspires me to not be scared of failure, and "keep swimming" like Dory once said. 

I chose the Chicago skyline as my image because it represents all the possibilities to come when we are not afraid of failure.

Reading Notes: The Golden Ball (A)

Golden Ball; Flickr

I thought this story was adorable. I couldn’t help but think of chivalry when I read this story. Something that really stood out to me when compared to the other stories I’ve read in this class was the format of this one. It seems like the format is like any other story, but then there is a riddle towards the end. I thought this was very creative and unexpected. This is something I would like to keep if I wore to write my twist of this tale.

My favorite part in this story was the ending where her “sweetheart” saves the day. I thought this was precious. I also liked how they added giants in this story! I could picture the giant being cut in half as if this was a movie I was watching. I also enjoyed the drastic consequence of losing the golden ball. It made the story more dramatic than it already was. Haha. I did wish the characters were more complex. I guess that’s another thing I would like to change up because I wanted to know more about the girls as I was reading. This story had a little bit of everything—love, drama, fear, and more. I appreciated the different elements represented in this tale. Some things that kind of caught me off guard were all the gold on the man. I found myself wondering if he was just super rich, or had some kind of magical powers. Another thing was the bogles. I was not expecting the giants to be their master at all, but I thought this was a nice unexpected event. Clearly, this ball was worth a lot to the interesting characters in this story. Overall, I definitely enjoyed it! 

Bibliography: Joseph Jacob's More English Fairy Tales: The Golden Ball

Reading Notes: Mr. Miacca (B)

Sofa Leg; Flickr

Wow, I thought this story was such a good story for little kids. There was definitely a lesson to be learned—follow rules, or there will be consequences. My favorite part was when I realized that Mr. Miacca didn’t chop off Tommy’s leg, but chopped off the sofa’s leg. I also liked how Tommy finally decided to not break the rules the third time, and waited to go around the corner till he was old enough.

I think any little kid would be a little scared if you said, “Don’t go around the corner, or else this man will eat you for dinner.” This reminded me of when parents say if you don’t eat your tomatoes, then you won’t have rosy cheeks. I thought this story was very easy to follow, and I appreciated that. I also appreciated how there was some dialogue.

For my story, I would like to keep the lesson in the story, but have Tommy’s escape be a little bit more dramatic. I think it would be fun to write about what all happens on his way back home. I’m exited to write this story because I found it humorous and cute even though it was kind of scary and definitely unrealistic. I think I can really use my imagination in this story. I want it to be funny and unrealistic. I also think Mr. Miacca’s wife’s character is something I can elaborate on. I feel she isn’t given much importance in the original story, but I would like to include her in my story more. Wish me luck! 

Bibliography: Joseph Jacob's  English Fairy Tales: Mr. Miacca

Reading Notes: The Promise of Dorigen (cont.) (A)

 

Loyalty; Flickr

 

I thought this was an interesting story. I have not read the previous story, and started in the middle I feel like, but as I was reading this section of the story, I wanted to know more. My favorite part about this story was the loyalty and faithfulness for the main character’s husband. I thought there was a lot of emotion and love in this tale. It was almost like a love triangle, and who doesn’t love a little drama in a love story?

I feel this would be a fun story to write because of the love, loyalty, and desire. These are topics that create a very interesting story. I think I would like to include all these elements in my own writing. Something I do want to change is the magic. I feel I’ve written enough about magic and unrealistic events, so for this particular story I would like to incorporate Gossip Girl!

I think this would be a perfect story to put my own twist on with a popular tv show. I would like for there to be two men fighting for one girl. I’m super excited to write this story. I think I’ll also include symbolism with having a heart be the symbol of the story. In this story, the heart there is a lot of emotion coming from the heart, and in Gossip Girl Blair attaches a heart pendant on a sweater for the love of her life, so he can have her heart wherever he goes. It’s a little cheesy, but I think this would be a perfect element to add into my story! I’m super excited to write this little love triangle. Wish me luck! 

Bibliography: Eva March Tappan's The Chaucer Story Book: The Promise of Dorigen (cont.)

Famous Last Words: Gossip Girl and Blogging

Gossip Girl 

Picture by Warner Brothers Television

Source: Wikipedia

 

I’m a couple years late, but I just started watching Gossip Girl this weekend, and I am absolutely intrigued by the storyline. This show has actually inspired me to incorporate some of the scandals into my stories that I plan to write for this class. I’m a little sad about just now starting Gossip Girl, and wanting to use it into my stories, but better late than never right? I feel like I can use so many specific scenes from the show into my writing.

My favorite characters are Vanessa and Nate—so far. I am also very interested in Chuck and Blair’s relationship, and watching how the writer develops their character as the seasons go on. I’m only on season two. Haha. I had no idea this popular tv show was actually a book! I think I might have to read it because the show itself is so interesting, I can’t imagine what the book is like. I’m a firm believer on books being better than the films.

Another concept I would like to utilize in my stories inspired from this show is the idea of social media. This show is a prime example of what social media can do to someone, and how one post can become very ugly. Those of you that have seen the show know exactly what I’m talking about. I would like to incorporate how social media in today’s world has such huge influence on lives into my upcoming stories. As mentioned before, Blair and Chuck are interesting characters. I feel like they would be perfect characters to add into a story of love. There are so many options for my own writing with being inspired by this show. I am super excited to see what I come up with, and seeing my stories come to life! Wish me luck!