Week two story: Two athletes and a Freshman

A football player showing his next move

Football Image

It was time for college to start again and all the upcoming freshman's were excited to experience their college life. One day, one of the freshman was lost looking for a Dale Hall and ran into two football players. He overheard many people talking how great it is to be a student athlete at the University, how they get access to anything for free so he tried asking them questions about the university and the classrooms. Which eventually lead to asking questions about student life and the night life.

"What is there to do at night around here" said the Freshman.

"There are lots of interesting scenes around here, if you want to meet lot of higher end people you need to go to an all exclusive party" said one of the football player.

"We will invite you to this all exclusive party full of athletes, you might be able to meet your dream start there too" said the other football player.

"There is one restriction, you have to keep this low and not tell anyone" said the first football player.

"I promise, I will keep it low, thank you for the invite" said the freshman.

"When you come to the tower, just call us to get you inside the party and make sure you do not tell anyone about it" said the football players. 

It was the first week of college, and the freshman was excited to get an all exclusive invite to an awesome party. He could not wait to get to the party. Slowly it was getting to him from keeping down his excitement. By the end of the day he had told his whole floor mates about the party and many more. The news was spread to so many people that there were around thousands of people trying to go to the party. 

The freshman showed up to the party and just few inches behind him there were many others.

"We told you to keep this all exclusive party low" said one of the football player 

"You are not allowed to get in anymore" said the other freshman 

So at the end all the freshman's started going home, but that one freshman, who told everyone about the party. The freshman went to the party again and met up with the football players to say sorry. The football players were so angry that they just beat him up and the freshman returned to his dorm with a black eye.

Author's Note:

This story was based of The Turtle and The Geese, which was about the turtle being able to fly. The story started with the geese inviting the turtle to the dinner and the turtle asked them how he was going to get there since he can not fly. The geese told him, we will make it possible but all you have to do is keep your mouth shut. The turtle agreed, however he opened his mouth when others were making fun of him so he fell to the ground and died. I wanted to recreated the story but in a different perspective so I made it more college related.

Bibliography: "The Turtle and the Geese" Jataka Tales  by Ellen C. Babbitt, Text

Reading Notes: Rabbit and Cranes

I read all the stories in Jataka Anthology, the ones that I liked the best were The Foolish, Timid Rabbit and The Cunning Crane and the Crab. I liked them because they were short stories that had many insights to it. In my first choice, that one rabbit is dreaming about something he does not want to happen and then when he hears a coconut fall he believes the world is falling apart without even checking what is happening he runs and pulls other people into his belief until he is stopped by a brave lion. It was an interesting story because we all have fears and think about what would happen if the fear came to reality. Many people do not pursue their dreams due to the fears and they come up with many absurd reasons for not doing so. Some people believe their reasoning and then the one, who is brave shows them that their analogy is wrong and stir them into trying the things that they feared. In the second story, the lesson was not to open your mouth too much. The turtle wanted to fly and cranes were helping him, but all he had to do was keep his mouth shut. However, when he hears other animals talking bad about him, he opens his mouth and falls to the ground. The story tells us not only to think twice before speaking, but also to block out all the negative comments we get from around us and truly enjoy the things that makes us happy. 

Turtle living a carefree life 

Turtle

Reading Options

I am excited to read the comic folktales mostly because I used to read them when I was little and really enjoyed them. The one that excited me the most was The Giant and the Dwarf and The Gentle Wisdom of the Jataka. Those comic books look interesting because they seem familiar and also because most of them have an underlying meanings at the end of the story. It is fun to read the folktales and see what wisdom you can learn from it. Another book that I am excited to read about is Mahabharata, because I have seen the whole series before and it intrigued me. I like the stories of Lord Krishna and how he lived his life to guide others to the right path. I am excited to explore more into the stories and learn about them.

Folktale
Amar Chitra Katha

Time Strategies

When it comes to time management, I am not really the best. I tend to procrastinate majority of the time. Sometimes I tend to finish my work early, so I can be calm, but that's only when I am motivated to do so. I do not do calendars, however I have sticky notes on my laptop, where I write out all the tasks I have to complete for each class and that really helps me keep track of all the things that I have to do. I get distracted easily while working, especially if I am working in a room full of people that keep talking. This semester, my small goal is to stay away from distraction especially when I have to get things done. I read Four Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination by Peter Banerjea and 11 ways unsuccessful people mismanage their time by Áine Cain. Both of the articles helped me come up with strategies to make sure I do not over procrastinate. One of the best thing, I learned was to keep schedule of weekend as well with weekdays. Also, to get little bit done if you do not have time like going to gym. I usually go to gym five days a week, but this week I was only able to go two days due to work and classes, but they suggest to do like 15-20 min of workout at home before waking up or going to bed to feel accomplished, which might be a good idea for me to try out on the days I am not able to go to gym. I hope this semester, I keep up with all my to do tasks on stickies but also try a new thing like planning out each day. I hope to stay on top of all my classes and also other work outside school with the schedule I create.

Life of an average college student
College student reality

Technology

This is the first time I have created a blog so I am excited to use all the tools to see how it all comes together. I am not really familiar with the blog sites, but I am good at figuring out what tools to use or what how to edit. After all, I am a millennial. I have worked with google docs so I am familiar with that the most, but have not worked with Class Wiki or the support system sites. I will become familiar with those as well as we start working on the assignments over the period. This online environment is definitely going to be something new for me, which I have not encountered yet in any of my other classes so I am excited to see what I can learn. 

An image of a computer
Blogger

Class Assignments

The class assignments seems interesting and exciting. I am excited to read different stories and write about it with a different approach. I think this will be exciting and help me become more creative by the end of the semester. I am hoping that a semester long project comes to me easy. I saw some really good storybooks and those are hard to compete with, but hopefully I will get the hang of it along the way as we start working on it from next week. Extra credit is a great opportunity for anyone, who misses one of the weekly assignments and I am glad to hear that they will be offered every week. I hope to learn some interesting things about my religion and life. Let's get to learning!

"Study to learn, not just to ace the test"

Pinterest

Growth Mindset

I have personally never heard of Carol Dweck or the Growth mindset, however it was interesting to learn about it. I think I have always had a growth mindset towards my life and school like I always want to learn new things, no matter how hard it is. I like challenges, especially when I can solve them correctly. As a college student, I had a good year freshman year due to me being successful in all my courses. However, that changed quickly as I got into my core level science courses. I was constantly challenged and felt defeated when I studied hard and did not get the grade I expected. College has taught me that even if you work hard, it will be difficult to succeed in that particular course if you do not have the right strategy. Learning about growth mindset would be beneficial so I would like to keep learning about it. For this semester my learning goal is to make sure I get the strategy for each of my classes like what material should I study and how many times should I go over the topic if I don't understand it. I hope to succeed in my all upcoming classes through dedication and challenges.

Keep your mind open to new knowledge
Gospelcoalition

Introduction to a future Physician Assistant

Helloo!

My name is Urvi (ur-vee) and I am currently a Junior here at the University of Oklahoma. My major is Health and Exercise Science-Physician Assistant studies. My Dream goal is to become a Physician Assistant and help people around me. I am generally a very happy person and I try to make people around me as happy too. Past two years here at OU were full of growth, as I was challenged in Science courses such as Anatomy and Physiology. As challenging as those course maybe, they were also full of opportunities to learn. As I took those courses, I was reassured that my decision to be in health science field was the right one, I was excited to learn about how our bodies worked and what it was composed off. I was not bored of it as I am while reading for history or other similar classes. This last two years at OU are going to be crucial for me, as I am planning to take GRE this year. I will have to work extra hard and pave myself a path that would lead me to become a Physician Assistant. The admission process is highly competitive so I will be trying to make myself the best applicant as possible for this last few years to achieve my dream.

Evans Hall at the University of Oklahoma

Monuments at OU

As for a little background about me, I was born in India and moved to the United States with my family when I was eleven years old. I have grown up in a Hindu family, so I am pretty familiar with the Indian epics. I remember watching and reading the stories that plays an important role in the Hindu religion. I have had an influence of both the Indian and the American culture as I did most of my schooling here in Oklahoma. Some fun facts about me: I can speak up to four different languages, I like to dance or watch Netflix during my free time, I am a really outgoing person, who loves to socialize and meet new people, I like trying new things (anything basically whether it's food or an adventure) and I currently work at two different jobs.

A baby picture of me, when I was in India

Over the summer, I got to visit Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. The best part about the trip was going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with my friends at the Universal Studios. I love anything Harry Potter related so I was in awe when I actually went inside the Hogwarts and other Harry Potter themed places and rides. It was one of the best experiences I have had on a trip. I hope to visit the theme parks soon again. 

Me and my friends at Universal Studios 

Me in front of Hogwarts at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter 

Storybook Favorites

1. Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers
      The title caught my attention, as I am a big fan of Harry Potter. I had to click on the story to see how the author incorporated characters from Harry Potter into the story. The introduction was nicely composed, it had a similar theme to the movies and books of the school being sorted into four main houses. It was also unique of the author to come up with the four houses and their symbols to reflect the history of Hinduism. I was amazed by the design and the layouts. It actually felt like I was watching a Harry Potter movie. Each story lead to the conquering of evil and the designs completed the affects of the story by grabbing readers attention.

Hogwarts

Students are being welcomed to Hogwarts

2. Timeless Love Stories 

      I was a little lost on the name Kamadeva, but as I clicked on the story I understood the topics clearly. I am familiar with most of the gods in Hinduism as I come from Hindu background, but I was a little lost on this god's name. The introduction gave a well brief background to the love stories that were going to be represented. One different image per story was creative and helped me picture the god and goddesses effortlessly. The overall design of the story was good, the images in the middle of the writing was helpful to see what character was being addressed, without going back to see what each of them looked like. Although, it was strange to put the links and captions of all the images at the back corner. 

Ram and Sita

One of the love story, which shows Ram and Sita's wedding

3. The Four Elements: Birth and Death Stories 

      The titles gives an insight to the stories, as the author correlates the birth and death to the elements. I am somewhat familiar with the the topic, but not as much in depth as the story describes it. The introduction gives a wonderful explanation of major deaths in the Indian epic. It further shows how the character's birth and death are dealt by the four elements: water, fire, earth, and wind. The sidebar navigation tool was cool as for the design I thought it was a little too blend, it could have used  a pop of color. Overall, I would use the side toolbar, if I have to create a story in future. 

Elements of Earth

A collection of elements, representing the birth and death of Indian Epic heroes

My Favorite Places

Gujarat, India: I was born and raised in Gujarat for almost eleven years. This is one of my favorite places to visit because it just brings back so many of my childhood memories. The place is full of culture and various Indian cuisines.

Surat - Wikimedia commons

This is Surat, a city in Gujarat, close to where I lived. 

Orlando, Florida: Universal Studios is one of my other favorite places in Orlando. It holds many theme parks, one of my favorite is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I got to visit it this past summer and it was amazing to see how everything was brought to life from the movies.

Wikimedia Commons

This is Hogwarts, where most of the Harry Potter is filmed. 

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