thinking chemistry (9A)

               Critical thinking is a skill that everyone needs. Critical thinking is something used every day; it is a tool use to evaluate different things. When you go shopping you use critical thinking to decide what’s healthiest, tastiest, and most cost effective. In arguments and debates it is use to assess the validity of each argument and what has the most evidence. All in all critical thinking is used to make logical decisions in life. There are many things that are involved in critical thinking.

Critical thinking is useful because it can help people understand complex abstract concepts. It helps people be more creative and solve problems more efficiently and effectively. Critical thinking helps people overcome such logical barriers such as egocentrism, sociocentrism, unwarranted assumptions, relativistic thinking and wishful thinking. Each of these blocks logical thinking in societies and in individuals. Once someone masters critical thinking they will chose the right side of arguments, be more creative, and most relevant to college become better problem solvers.

In order to think critically you have to let go of all biases. Once you have done this you need to become secular towards all sides of any given issue or problem. Once you have a completely open mind you can think on a level few can think on. You will be able to solve difficult problems and do so creatively.

In college I have had to use critical thinking for two major problems. First is time management, I have used critical thinking to take time from classes I’m doing well in and put them towards those I’m struggling in. And secondly is in my chemistry class. It has many abstract concepts and the math is very difficult, so I have use critical thinking to solve the difficult problem and mental blocks chemistry has presented to me.

Sonia the wise (9I)

This week I saw Sonia Sotomayor answer a bunch of questions thought up by the students here at southern. One of the questions asked her who her most important role model or supporter was. Her response was that they all were important and she wouldn't have succeeded without all of the people that helped, advised, and supported her along the way. This struck me and I realized that everyone, no matter how small, plays a role in everyone’s life. And even the simplest remark or easiest action can impact a life for the better, or worse. From this I thought that I would try to make more of an effort to be a part of others’ lives, no matter how insignificant my role.

critical thinking (9V)

According to Google Critical thinking is a way of deciding whether a claim is true, partially true, or false. Critical thinking is a process that leads to skills that can be learned, mastered and used. Critical thinking is a tool by which one can come about reasoned conclusions based on a reasoned process. This process incorporates passion and creativity, but guides it with discipline, practicality and common sense.

So in my own words it’s a method of thinking that has certain specific guiding aspects.

This week in chemistry we learned the following terms.

Subatomic particles- Electrons, Neutrons and Protons.

Rare earth metals- the Lanthanides.

Chems a.... Challenge (9B)

               In my INQ class I have a good solid starting grade. I feel that if I continue to do my work and keep participating in class that I will end up with an A at the end of the semester. I have no real complaints about this course and there haven’t been anything surprising in terms of the amount of work and set-up of the class.

               Second is sociology. Again I have a solid grade and have been doing everything I should be doing in the course. And again I feel that at the end of the semester I will have an A in it as well as INQ. While the material is not what I expected the workload and difficulty align with what I thought the class would be like.

Next is Spanish. I’m not doing the greatest in Spanish, and although language has always been difficult the cause of me not doing the greatest is not entirely my fault. However I know if I work a little harder and get slightly better test grades ill end up with a solid B or higher for my final grade.

Now for stats, I have a much lower grade than I’d like to have. However I know that with a little extra effort and a little luck ill end up with a solid b at the end of the semester. I’ll be honest its difficulty took me by surprise; I figured it would be much easier. But life is all about the adjustments so will a little change I’ll be fine.

Lastly is chemistry. I always knew it would be difficult based off of stories and rumors but it truly is the hardest class I’ve ever taken. This class will be my only real challenge in getting the B I want. However he drops our lowest test grade so if I do good on the next two I’m sure to get the B I need.

Midterm video

http://youtu.be/xDpJDAKgTDM

majors expo (8I)

This week I attended the major’s expo in the Adanti student center. The reason I went was because I want a backup major in case everything I have planned well, doesn’t go according to plan. I am currently in the pre-nursing program. The competitiveness of the program is extremely high so just in case i don’t get into the program. Are there less intensive medical majors I can go into? I looked around but nothing interested me so I came to the conclusion that if worse comes to worse I will transfer to a different less prestigious school. That being said the expo was a great success.

mastery (8V)

               Mastery to me is knowing everything there is to know about, well whatever you’re a master of. If you are a master of molecular chemistry then you know everything there is to know about it. If you are a master runner then you know of all the techniques and exercises to improve your speed. To truly master something requires all of your energy and focus to be directed at that task or knowledge base.

Two chemistry words I learned this week are:

The dissolving substance in a solution is called a solvent.

The dissolved substance in a solution is called a solute.

Memiors (8B)

“Always looking up, never overlooking downsides.”

Throughout my life I have always been extremely optimistic. My mom even complains that I say “it’ll be fine” too much. I have a philosophy that everything works out for the best eventually. “Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end” –Patel. This being said I am not ignorant to difficulties in life. I think that if you recognize difficulties then you can overcome them and make things right in the end. Everyone has their own philosophical take on life, mine is that you are born to make as many rights out of the wrongs in life as possible. This is making the world a better place. Even if the difficulties you face are simple such as raising a proper nice family, or complex like being president and trying to solve the world’s problems, it’s important to fix the wrongs you see.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s memoir was probably chosen as a book for freshman because it is full of inspirational stories in her life. It is about her many struggles as a child but then overcoming those to hold one of the highest positions in the U.S. government. Many freshmen have many problems and struggles and it’s daunting to think of actually succeeding at overcoming them. This book inspires people with current struggles to prevail and overcome their problems. It also makes you think about how overcoming struggles adds to the value of life. If you come from nothing and make it to the top is far more impressive then starting at the top and staying there. Sonia Sotomayor is an example of someone who started at the bottom and made it to the top. It was chosen as our common read because it is both inspirational and educational on the benefits of overcoming challenges such as college.

posting mastery (8A)

               First ill start by defining what I think goes into a good blog. One of the most important things in a blog is flow. It has to have a beginning middle and end. The sentence order should make sense and not switch topics without a transition. Second is the relevance. Every part of the blog needs to relate and build on whatever the topic is. For example if you need to talk about mastery you should not talk about sleeping, because I’m pretty sure everyone has mastered sleeping. Lastly is the personal touch. A blog after all is a personal writing so you shouldn’t leave out yourself. Whatever the topic of the blog, you should relate it to a quality or experience you have had. If an essay contains all three of these aspects then it deserves an A.

One post that contained these three aspects was http://garrettsblogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/7-b-failed-motivation.html . It had a clear opening and closing statement along with the “meat” in the middle. He was on-topic and most importantly he related it to a personal experience.

A second post that deserved an A is http://deejellis.blogspot.com/2013/10/7b-college-so-far-nothing-but-failure.html . In this blog she not only relates college to herself but herself to other people which I really liked. Secondly she had goo order in that she started by saying what was happening and ended by saying what she was going to do. Lastly it was relevant to the topic she was asked to blog about.

While there are many good blogs and many styles of writing blogs I think that the three basic principles of flow, relevance, and the personal touch are the key to a great post. While it is not very difficult to include these three aspects, it is harder to do them successfully. Those people who post like this post like masters.

Midterm project

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKF5z8e7F54&feature=youtu.be

I will be adding the interviews along with a video of an intramural sports event.

Nursing acceptance (7I #12)

            This week I attended my majors meeting on what classes and requirements there are in order to get accepted into the nursing program. I learned that you need at least a C+ in all of the prerequisite courses for them to be counted, along with the fact that you need at least a 3.0 GPA to apply to the program. They also went over what classes to apply for next semester and the application process as well. While these are high expectations I know that if I keep my mind to it I will succeed in getting into the program.

fighting for the finish (7B)

                So far this semester I’m doing pretty well in the majority of my classes, however I’m not doing the greatest in chemistry. Since we go through a chapter a week and need to remember all of the information and methods to solve the various math problems I find myself struggling to keep up with the information. While I am not failing the class (as far as I know) I certainly need to bring my grade up in order to get into the nursing program. In order for the program to accept it I need to have a C+ or better and I would guess I have a C- or D+ which is far below the grade I am used to getting in my science classes.

               This week I have spent an extra half an hour a day on studying chemistry. However I won’t know if this strategy will help me retain the information until after my next test. However it should allocate more time for my brain to process and retain more of the information I receive. I also went to his office hours for extra help in order to further understand the class materials.

               I am not the type of person to give up on things I have started. Once I start something I push through to the end no matter how long or difficult the task is. One example as proof that I don’t give up is that I am an eagle scout. This takes years of effort and hard work. In the end my final service project took about a year to complete. Other than my education I have never spent so long on any given task. I will fight to raise my chemistry grade until I have at least a B in it. I will fight till I succeed and that’s all there is too it.

societal failure (7A)

               In today’s society failure is strictly forbidden. If you fail a test everyone is disappointed in you, and if you succeed, oh well that’s the expectation from birth. Kids are not the only ones able to fail at something. Adults too can’t do anything wrong at work of they will get fired. This world, at least in America has turned into a world of tests. If you succeed (or pass) the tests you are given you succeed in life, if you fail them you fail at life. I think this world has developed into a place where failure is not an option. For example is school if you fail just one test it can ruin your whole grade for the semester. This leads people to want to be successful at everything the first time.

               

               Parents are so afraid of their children failing that they become over protective. While this creates their success in certain areas kids can grow to rely on their parents too much. Also if they never fail then when they are older and do fail for the first time they won’t be able to cope and will just crumble apart at their disappointment of themselves. This is one downfall of society’s lack of tolerance for failure.

               

               Another problem with today’s view on success and failure is that everyone needs to be successful very quickly. Everyone is expected to get it right the first time. “We would estimate, very roughly, that a master has spent perhaps 10,000 to 50,000 hours staring at chess positions”. This quote is about how it takes years of diligent practice in order to truly master something, yet in our society you’re expected to master chemistry or statistics in a few short months. In my opinion failure is not allowed in society because it is not possible, one cannot “make it in life” with any failures under our current system.

failure without learning (7V)

               Failure to most people is not succeeding at a given task. While this is technically the definition of failure it is not totally correct in my opinion. If you don’t succeed at something but learn from your mistakes then it is not a total failure, however if you fail at the task and don’t learn anything then the whole task was pointless. To me failure is being unsuccessful at something but simultaneously failing to learn anything at all.

            

               This week in chemistry I learned the following terms:

Internal Energy- The sum of the kinetic energies and potential energies of the particles within a system.

Kinetic energy- Energy of motion.

mindset level: Grit (6B)

           Throughout this semester in my INQ class we have read an assortment of articles ranging from delayed gratification to note taking strategies. But for this post I will compare mindset to the grit test. Mindset is where if you think you can do something you will be more likely to succeed at the task. For example if you think you’re going to fail a test you will probably go in and fail it, but if you have some confidence in yourself you are more prone to do well. This also goes for if you think intelligence is something you can grow on, rather than it being a set aspect about yourself.

“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits.”

“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point.”

(http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html)

Grit is essentially your perseverance level. If you have a lot of grit you stick with things until you succeed. Angela Duckworth talks about the grit test and how those who are “grittier” that others are more likely to succeed at challenging tasks.

“At the elite United States Military Academy, West Point, a cadet's grit score was the best predictor of success in the rigorous summer training program known as "Beast Barracks." Grit mattered more than intelligence, leadership ability or physical fitness.”

(http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/tomorrows-college/grit/angela-duckworth-grit.html)

Now to compare the two, Grit is the result of your mindset. If you have the mindset that you can and will complete something the chances of you finishing it are much higher. However if you believe that something is impossible, the task then becomes impossible to you. If you have the correct mindset throughout your life then you will be successful it whatever you attempt.

Stress :S (6I#3)

One of the health centers biggest concerns is stress. This is because stress itself isn't bad, but because it leads to illness and has many detrimental side effects. Some major stressors of freshman include- leaving home for the first time, forming new relationships, the desire to succeed, and managing finances. All freshmen will encounter at least one of these stressors. Stress can weaken the immune system making people more prone to illness such as colds or the flu. Other symptoms include: feeling fatigued, being disorganized, changes in eating habits, and forgetfulness. These can lead to poor grades and poor health which is obviously not wanted on campus.

persistence (6V)

Persistence to me is the will to keep going without giving up, no matter the road blocks you come across. When I get a bad grade on a test I don’t despair, I simply look over what I did wrong and study harder for the next test. Some people see they failed at something and just wither away from the task. These people don’t have persistence. Those who push through to success, those who work to get what they want rather than take handouts have persistence.

This week I learned 2 words in Spanish.

Abburirse: means “to get bored”

Instalarse: means “to settle down”

Forever alone (6A)

When I was in eighth grade I attended a parochial school with a class of 8 kids, and 6 of them graduated. These were the same eight people I had known and been friends with since kindergarten. We all had known each other and didn't really have friends outside our school. Naturally I was nervous for high school because it was always explained as a scary “sinful place” and that I would have 300 kids in my class instead of 6. That the rules were very different and I was going from the top of the totem pole to the bottom.

Only one kid from my school was going to attend the same high school as me. We had one class together and I had no other friends or acquaintances. I not only had this but my older brother Jared who I have always been very close too left for college a few days before I started high school. I felt so out of place when I sat alone at lunch the first week or two and my life seemed to have turned upside down. My grades went from As and Bs to Cs and Ds. I was no longer the smartest kid in my grade but was now below average with no friends. What made making friends really hard was that everyone knew each other from our towns’ public schools.

Of course it all worked out but it was not easy. At the end of high school I had a GPA of 3.1 and many friends compared to the virtually no friends and 2.7 GPA freshman year. Today I’m proud the way I came out of that experience. I’m stronger, more social and have infinitely more confidence in myself. I’m no longer the timid alone boy; I am now a strong independent man.