Stuck on My Mind..

This week’s post leaves us with a lot of room for creativity. I'm not really sure what to write about. I thought about some things that interest me like snowboarding or drawing but what I find myself consumed by recently is the death of a close friend of mine. She passed away about two months ago and it’s really taken a toll but I’ve learned a lot since her death. She died in a freak car accident on her way to her mom’s boyfriend’s house. There was never an explanation on how she actually passed. I've learned how to cope with such a severe lost, how to pick up the pieces and move on and how to let her live on. So I thought that I would do all these things with this post. I have learned that the best way to cope with such a freak accident is to talk. This doesn’t mean just saying how sad it is and how devastated everyone that was close to her feels, it means sharing with the people that did and didn't know her how crazy and loud and full of life Lauren always was, how her voice would carry through the halls of our high school so everyone could know how she really felt about something. At first we all felt stuck, we didn’t want to leave Cromwell where we were surrounded by our friends and family. However I learned that dwelling on the sadness that Cromwell ways surrounded by only makes it worse. By leaving and coming to school I got a chance to breath. So what is there to learn from all of this. The bottom line is that you just need to move on from the sadness because if you don’t it is just draining and completely unhealthy. 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/RIP-Lauren-Bedell/271009859582574

how I feel about my grades..

I’m fairly happy with my grades. I have all A’s in my classes except for BIO and INQ. I understand now why my grades in these two classes are low. In INQ I didn’t realize that I had to put a picture or a link with my posts. The reason I don’t have an A in my BIO class is because I was unable to study for my lecture exam because Vista was down at my house or there was something wrong with my browser. I know how to fix it now though so I should be able to do much better. I’m not really surprised by my grades except for INQ because I have been getting my grades back for all of my assignments. I wish that my grades were higher than they are in a few classes but I’m sure I will be able to improve them by the end of the semester. I’m just concerned about my GPA because I am a nursing major and it is really competitive. I think that being really organized has help me to maintain my grades. In high school I was really unorganized and I think that that reflected in my final GPA. Now that I am putting in a lot effort I can easily see myself getting all A’s or almost all. I just need to make sure in the future that I print out the notes for BIO and make sure in don’t the whole assignment. Some goals that I need to set for myself are to bring up both of my lower grades. Also, I need to maintain the grades that I currently have. Another thing that I definitely need to work on is my time management skills. I’m so bad when it comes to putting assignments off.

Outside My Comfort Zone...

The event that I chose to go to that is outside my comfort zone was the haunted basement in West Campus, my dorm. They set up what was supposed to be a haunted house type thing but it ended up not being too scary. I usually don’t go to any of the hall events so I didn’t really know what I was in for. Of course I chose to go to the event that was haunted. I usually don’t like going to the haunted houses and graveyards. I’ve only gone to one in the past. It was the one at Lake Compounce. There were parts in this haunted graveyard that were actually really scary. I was so scared because I thought that it was going to be legit. We waited for so long to go downstairs because they were only taking down a few people at a time. I found after that it was more funny than scary. They did their makeup really good though. Apparently they had someone from fear factor or something like that come and do their makeup. It actually looked real on most of them. Also, some of the people played their part in the haunted basement really well and go really into it. At the end there was a guy that was sitting at the stairs and he looked so creepy and this girl came out from under the stairs screaming. I didn’t really find it that scary but their acting was really good. I know that if it was me that I would have just laughed. Overall it turned out well, especially considering they had pizza and dirt cups at the end.

INQ Midterm Video

Time Management..

a) brainstorming- 45mins - 1hr..none
b) interviewing -1 hr so far...I would assume another 2-3 hrs
c) gathering other materials like articles, quotes, facts, photos, music, etc.- none yet...about 1 hr
d) transferring all of your materials to your computer- none yet...30 mins
e) learning to use the video software- 2-3 hrs..hopefully ive got it all figured out but with my luck I don't
f) making the video, troubleshooting- 1 hr...another 2-3 hours
g) editing- none yet..about 1 hr
h) other time- not sure yet.. the above categories seem to encapsulate it all but i do need to think of a catchy phrase
Have you used your time wisely? What could you have done differently for a better result?
- I have tried to use my time wisely. Whenever I get a chance to sit down and start working I do. The one thing that I have been procrastinating on is getting my interviews. I know who I want to interview but I need to actually do it. I only have another 5 days before this project needs to be done and I'm going away this weekend so it really has to be done by Friday.

Troubleshooting..

So far I've just been trying my hardest to figure out how Windows Movie Maker works. Ive gone online and found some really useful tutourials that show me just how to navigate arounf the Movie Makers interface. Another issue that i was having is finding time to interview people. I have to work around my schedule and the schedules of others. Which has shown a challenge because I dont just want to pick a random kid off the side of the street. That and tracking down my CC whos never ever in her room. Ive learned that this assignment is going to take me much more time than i had originally thought and that i need to find more time to work on it.

Counceling Services #16

I always walk by the counceling services room but i had never actually walked in. I chose to use this as my safari post for the week. i found out that people use counceling services kind of like how in high school we had guidance councelors. People can go to counceling services to just talk to some one if they need it. Also is completely confidential. So if your parents or anyone called they couldnt say anything. This is unlike high school. Pretty much the councelors are there as someone to talk to iff something or someone is bothering you.

First Draft

So far its gone ok except for putting the blog together because i just dont know how. Im using windows movie maker and it seems difficult im hopeing i can get some helpful feed back tomarrow on good tutourials.i tried to find some but had a difficult time finding ones that were the new version of Windows Movie Maker. Overall ive got a good start but theres a lot more work that needs to be done.

Library Wkst Post

 

As part of our assignment in the library we had to write a short essay on critical thinking. To do so we were told to do some research on critical thinking. After figuring out how to do this research I was able to come across a book that had to do with both my major and critical thinking. I read the section pertaining to these two ideas and found that critical thinking has more to do with nursing than I had originally thought. The part of the book defines what critical thinking is and then goes on to tell me how it applies to nursing. Critical thinking has to do with many things. Conceptualization for one applies to nursing because a nurse you have to understand many concepts and be able to carry them out. Also, it’s reflective. Critical thinking is not about jumping to a conclusion and acting on it. You must look at all the options and weigh them to come to a thorough decision. I mean if you were in the ER because you had a gash that wouldn’t stop bleeding you wouldn’t want the nurse to freak out and just staple your arm shut. Another aspect of critical thinking that has to do with nursing is creativeness. By being a creative thinker you can come up with new ways and ideas to do things that may work better for you and you’re a patient. The book says in the past that nurses were taught to do things one way and only one way. But by being a creative thinker you may think of new ways. All in all creative thinking has much more to do with nursing than I had originally thought. It is almost surprising how much critical thinking has to do with being a nurse.

Library Book #2

This week as my Campus Safari I chose to use our class trip to the library. We had to find a book as part of our assignment. The book that I chose to use was Nursing Process in Critical Thinking. I chose this book because it pertains to both my major and the class assignment. I always was afraid to try and find books because I wasn’t really sure how the system worked. In reality it’s not as hard as I had thought I actually found it easy to find the book. The assignment was actually really helpful because now I know how to locate books really easily.

How I Manage to Mange My Stress..

So today’s blog is supposed to be about something that we did this week to relieve stress. One thing that I do every week is make a to do list. I find this helpful because I used to be really unorganized and I would forget things I had to do. this just essentially lead me to more stress. I think that making a to do list really helps to manage your time and things of that matter. Another helpful thing I do which helps me to keep my stress levels down is to write out my assignments on a desk calendar so I know what’s coming up. This way i can manage my time better. Its much easier to see what you have time for and dont have time for when all of your assignments are layed out in front of you. these two things are new ways that i am trying to stay organized which realy means stay a little more stressless, even though its impossible to be stress free.

Staying Healty at Southern

I was here at southern over the summer and we had a couple of people from the health center here talk to us about staying healthy at southern. They told us lots of things but everyone got a kick out of the stress balls that they handed us as the end of their talk with us, which some people were later yelled at for because they insisted on throwing them and almost setting all the sprinklers off in the building. However they stressed that we find ways to deal with stress. As an incoming college student it’s a huge adjustment. Therefore this adjustment can lead to a lot of stress. Some ways that you can relieve stress are as simple as just taking a walk and getting some air. Also, joining a club, exercising or being on a sports team can be productive ways to relieve stress. Another key aspect in being a healthy college student is surrounding yourself with people who care about you and have the same goals to stay healthy. Also, everyone’s heard of the freshman fifteen. So eating healthy while being active is important. Now, what to do if you’re feeling sick. Some things that come to mind are definitely sleeping more or just trying to get to bed earlier. Another thing to do when you’re sick is to eat healthier, even though you should already eat healthy. Lastly, if you really need to a weekend home may help you feel better. Downtime is the key when you don’t feel so well. If you can’t make it to class you can’t forget to email your professor and make sure you get class notes from your fellow class mates.  If you pick and choose just a few things you’ll be much healthier.

Interfaith Office #15

This week’s blog I chose to go to the Interfaith Office. Before getting there I didn’t really know what to expect. I figured it had something to do with religion and faith. So after arriving I learned a little bit about what this office does. They told me that I had been on the right track. This office is there to acknowledge all different religions not just one. The head of all this is Jim Furlong, who comes from the Archdiocese of Hartford. Overall this group is at Southern to bring faith to students, and faculty also.