Week 14: What's on Your Mind

We were asked this week, "what's on your mind?" good question, as a slight ADD and a type 7 on the enneagram my mind is always buzzing. Whether I like it or not. If it ever looks like I'm not paying attention I probably am but I am also thinking about Human Biology and singing the theme song of "The Office".  Overall my mind is always full.

Yet what is on my mind NOW. At this moment its reflection, reflecting on everything that has happened this semester. The good, the bad, the wonderful, and the ugly. I think back to my first week and move in day. I remember my parents leaving at that awful meeting. My first RA meeting as I sat curled in a little ball just wanting to go home. I stayed and thank the Lord I did.





If you sat me down 14 short weeks ago and told me that college was like this, I would laugh. It is so much better, so much stranger, a little more painful, but oh so rewarding. If you told me I would join the equestrian team I would've laughed, that to me was just a far-off dream of a child. Yet there is where I found my big and one of my best friends.

I think if someone told me my fate of rush I wouldn't have bothered doing it. I sit here now with an AOII hat on feeling proud to be chosen to be with a group of amazing girls. I would've missed out on so much, like staying up till midnight with my big watching the Polar Express, laughing the whole time, and trying to bounce whip cream off our hands and catching it in our mouths. I wouldn't have gotten into Step Sing and the dance break, which I still can hardly believe.



If I hadn't come to Samford I wouldn't have felt turmoil with people and struggled with certain things. But if I hadn't come to Samford wouldn't have learned to trust fully in the Lord and his plan. I wouldn't have gotten into the habit of reading my Bible each and every day and praying whenever stress came my way. If I hadn't come to Samford my life wouldn't be amazing.

Most of that may not make much sense but hey my mind is kinda weird!

Week 13

This week we were asked what healthy habits we have, which healthy habits do you hope to have one day, and what does, "hope is not a strategy" mean?


Some healthy habits I have are, exercising, eat healthy, reading, and give myself time to recharge. They are necessarily all about physical health but more mental health. 



I love to run or ride horses they are both very different because one helps with cardio and the other strength training. Running helps me gain stamina for equestrian and riding helps me get muscles for running.  This and eating healthy(most of the time) help me stay fit for my sport and life.

Reading is a good way for me to stay intellectually healthy. I love to read so it has never been a challenge for me to do so. Reading Harry Potter is a great way to end the night.

Giving myself recharging time is either through reading my Bible every morning or just sitting alone for a little why. It helps me a lot when I am in a stressful time.

In the future, I really need to have a  solid scdhuele for all of these plans, it is hard to stick to one. I can be a bit flighty and distracted!

Saying "hope is not a strategy" just simply means to put things in practice and not sit and hope for change. This is a hard lesson to learn but once achieved it helps in life.

Week 11: Being a Friend

This week we asked out of 13 characteristics of friendship we possessed. I believe I have the following qualities some strengths and some weaknesses:

Strengths:


-I am loyal to the people I care about:

I am very loyal, as a person you can attack me and make fun of me and I usually will just hold me ground and walk away. Yet if you attack my friend I will not stand for it and turn pretty offensive(appropriately of course).

-I experience and express empathy for others:

I love expressing emotions, I love emotions because they show a person's true nature. I enjoy just letting people vent to me or laugh with me because I feel their pain or joy.

-I am good listener:
This goes with empathy one, listening to other people bring me joy. As a person I want to know what is going in your life.

-I am there in the good/bad times:

With listening I also am willing to always just be there, any friend of mine deserves it.

-I am usually able to see the humor in life:

I love to laugh, so watching The Office for the 10th time is always a good idea. For me making others laugh makes me happy.

Weaknesses:

-I am honest with others:

It can be hard for me to to hurt people, being a southern girl I am a big people pleaser. Telling someone bad news is hard for me.

-I am easily able to trust others:

Though I am loyal it takes a while for me to warm up to you. Of course I will be nice but before I deeply care about you it takes a little time.

-I am self confident:

I have a nice little anxiety bug that likes to criticize everything I do. Lately I have got in under-control but I really feel like I missed out on some great friendships because I let it get the best of me.

Week 10 Spiritual Life at Samford

I am a strong Christian so of course having a good  Jesus community at college was extremely important. So far I have enjoyed convo, going to a dgroup, and am running for Chaplin of AOII.

Convo has been very good, I try to go as much as possible but my scheduled classes are pretty intense so a lot of my time is still spent in the Library. Convo is a good time for me to reflect.

I go to a dgroup every Monday night. It is lead by a Samford grad and few freshman girls. I have made some ever lasting friends through that as well!!

I am also running for Chaplin of AOII. The competition is fierce but I think I am ready.

Overall the spiritual life at Samford has exceeded my expectations.

What do I Think it Means to Educated?

Being educated to me means a few things. These are truly my ideas and I could be totally off but from my experience this is what it means to be educated.

First I want to say it is different from smart. Being educated you can act well in all situation the best and most logical way. Not simply knowing who was the first Queen of England(Queen Mary I).

Second off it means basic courtesy for a human. Willing to acknowledge they are not the only person on the planet and helping others to teach others how to act. Having that social awareness displays emotional smarts which is needed in this world.

Third, being able to hold a conversation or arguement. In our world today many people fail in this arena, due to the constant state of social media we are in. I know it is so much easier to send a text with someone then sit down with them and engage in a conversation. An educated person will be willing to talk someone wether they agree with their thoughts or not.

Finally having logical smarts is a good sign. They may not know the answer but they usually figure it out. They use their educated brains to make a very educated guess.

Overall this is what I believe makes an educated person.

Week 7 in Test Heaven

So far we have been asked a lot of questions about our lives, financial things, and now academically! I can't lie and tell you everything has been perfect, full of straight A's and sunshine. It has been hard and grueling work but I am proud.

Are first question was, "How are you doing academically"? I answered it basically above but I can eloborate. I spend most of my day in the library studying everything I learned that day. It is not that bad, the third floor is a great place to feel motiviated to work. I am really shaping my study habits to help me get the best grades I have. I used the charts for Human Biology and it really helped me on the test! I feel like overall I am doing pretty well and I am proud of where I am as of now.

Next question was, "Are you getting the grades that you were expecting"? I'd have to say yes and no. I have all As and one C(which I am not proud of). I didn't expect the C, I have always been a pretty good student and thank one surprised me, I know I can bring it up, I just need to work a hard for this next test.

3rd question was about our dream class or semester. Class would probably be a drama class or an equestrian class(which I know they do not have so I will stick with drama). Drama is really my strong suit and I enjoy getting up in front of people and performing. I hope to take it as an elective later in college.

My last question was about my advisor and what I would ask her. I really want to know if I am able to study abroad. I love traveling but I am crazy in-love with London. A jan-term there would be a dream come true. Though the weather here has matched Londons pretty well this week so I get a little piece of it.

Overall, college is hard but I am always ready for a challenge.

Studying

This week we were asked:

"Do you think you have good study habits? Would your study habits work well for other students?  If not, what do you plan to do about it?"

I would have to say my study habits are good but they are still being shaped to how I like. At the beginning I was quizlet crazy but when I walked into my first test I freaked out and forgot most of the knowledge I had worked so hard on. I barely got a B which I was upset about. Now, I really use those flow charts in class we were given as well as teaching my notes to an "imaginary class". 

I learn all of notes and then make a flow chart based off it, study for 45 minutes and take a 15 minute break doing nothing and not touching my phone, then I attempt to fill in all the blanks of my flow chart, finally I teach it after studying for about 15 more minutes.  It is very tailored to my style of learning so I am sure another student could use it but would have to tweak it to their learning style. 

For example, I showed my friend my flow chart and she looked at it and was so confused she said, "What is that? Looks like you threw up Human Biology on a page". I told her how I learned it and she quizzed me and I was able to get all the questions right. She basically reviews everything by acting it out and then writing it down so not my style at all, I hate hand writing things. 

I also am starting to make a daily schedule, a min. of 4 hours of studying in the library and making sure I get breaks. It may seem like a lot but most of my classes are brutal. I do hope they get easier, which they won't but I know I will become more accustomed to them over time. 

Overall I think my study habits are really over trial and error which is hard but it doesn't mean I am not gonna succeed.