Monday, January 24, 2011

If at first you don't succeed

Ok, so I have been struggling for ideas on what to blog about. There is plenty of stuff going on to blog about but there is a lot of stuff that is too personal and for privacy reasons I choose not to post online for the world to see. In our student planners each month has a word. For January it is Diligence. Each week there is a box with a discussion question and I am going to answer one of those questions. How do you know when it is time to give up and try something new?

I remember a quote, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." Well maybe it would be better written as: If at first you don't succeed, give it up! No, giving it up isn't right. Maybe: If at first you don't succeed, try again and if it doesn't work that time try something else.

There are always different ways to try something. Scientists do it every day. They change a variable to see what happens.

In our lives we don't always succeed on our first try. Practice makes perfect right? Well try again. If it doesn't work then try to think of another way to do it. Maybe the goal is to learn something new or make something. If one method doesn't work there are others. For learning you can listen to something, you can write something, you can see something. Try all three methods with different combination. Or with building something try a different tool. Try a screw and screwdriver instead of a hammer and nail. Try a different color: Black instead of White.

Or we can realize that we are humans with flaws. We can't do everything perfectly but when we work as a team we can be much more productive. So after a few failures, maybe it is time to ask someone else for some advice and/or help.

Well, if you are reading this I guess you must have been bored and wasted about five minutes but thanks for reading.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

What a Crazy Schedule

Out of my entire 7 semesters at ASU, I believe that my 8th and final semester has the craziest schedule of all my semesters. I have had some poor schedules and some great schedules. This one is in between and minus one thing would probably be my best schedule.

I am taking 15 credit hours this semester. Nine hours of in class Spanish, three hours of in class Journalism and Spanish Internship. I also have a lab for the Journalism class. The Internship and Lab were both TBA on their time and place. That is understandable to some degree. The internship we schedule around our classes. The lab we would probably sign up for some number of events in the community to cover. I expected to skip my Tuesday evening class a time or two. However, when I got to the class I found something out that was not pleasing at all.

The Journalism class has most of the events assigned. It seems the entire class will be there including the teacher. If we walk in late, it is an automatic letter grade deduction. If we leave early, same thing. We were told that most meetings would be on Mondays and Tuesdays. After class I ask for an estimate of how many would be on Tuesdays. Someone else asked times. I was told most meetings began at 6 or 6:30 and most would be on Tuesdays.

The whole reason I am taking a night class (5-6:15 on T/TR) is because the class I really needed for my Spanish major met at the exact same time as Public Affairs Reporting. So the department works with me and allows me to substitute a Special Topics course for it. I am in every Spanish class that I have not already taken (other than grammar) this semester. There are no other options for classes to take. And now I find that we are required to go to a lot of meetings at the same time I am already in a class.

My plan is to let my Spanish teacher know I will be skipping and/or leaving class early frequently on Tuesdays and tell him why. Most meetings are downtown so I have to go back to my appartment to get my car and drive there.

My second option may be to talk to the instructor and department chair and see if I can substitute a class in place of public affairs.

My updated calendar for the semester is at the bottom of the blog or at the link with this post.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Snow cancels first day of Spring 2011 semester

A light snow began to fall Sunday evening between 8 and 9. By midnight it had begun to accumulate on the grass, cars, and road. A little bit started to stay on the sidewalks. However, ASU waits until the morning of to cancel classes so students should always be prepared to have classes.

I didn't want to walk to class in the snow today. Nor did I want classes to be canceled. Oh well, they were. Before 6 A.M. they had announced ASU Jonesboro would be closed on Monday. So much for the first day of the semester. I just hope we get another snow-day in February and/or March when we actually need a break.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Job Search Begins

January 2011. New years resolutions. Goals to better ourselves. For me, the new year means something else this year: only one semester to graduate. Fifteen hours of class away. And then what?

My first application is in. It is to teach English is Spain for up to three years. I feel confident that I should be able to get the job, but I won't find out until April. I am a little nervous taking an overseas job my first year out of school but equally excited. But in case that doesn't pan out, it is time to research other opportunities.

I will have to have a job before I go to Spain, even if I do get it; it wouldn't start until October. So now I am in the beginning phase of the job search: finding places to submit a resume. So far I have found more than 25 magazines in Arkansas and Memphis. Now I have to go through them and find which ones are legitimate possibilities and research the outlets. So begins the process. It is hard to believe it is that time. It seems like I just started college! How time flies!