Jeremy Adams Smith wrote an article called, "Six Habits of Highly Grateful People" in which he explores the qualities he has observed in truly appreciative people.  According to his research and observation these thankful people have six common traits.  One, they think about what life would be like without their daily luxuries, and then second they appreciate the things they have with renewed vigor.  Third, they choose to be thankful for the privileges they receive rather than taking them for granted because they "deserve them."  Fourth, grateful people are thankful for people as much, if not more than, the things and processions in their life.  Fifth, Smith observes that truly grateful people offer their loved ones specific thanks for what they do for them.  Lastly, and hardest of all, Smith challenges his readers to, "Thank Outside the Box."  This means to not only thanking the people who care for and help you, but also the people who have hurt you.  Smith leaves his readers with an incentive to achieve these six grateful habits he says that these six habits can help, "transform an obstacle into an opportunity...re-framing a loss into a potential gain, recasting negativity into positive channels for gratitude" (Smith).

I agree that the last step is the hardest.  I'm not sure if anyone, no matter how centered and grateful they are could ever completely master this one.  I also don't think that Smith meant that you literally have to go thank the people who hurt you.  You don't have to go to your old boss's office and thank her for firing you last year (although that would be something).  I think Smith is really trying to say that you thank them internally, or if not that, at least be grateful that the painful experince helped you grow as a person.  This semester I have blogged about some of the hard times I've had these last few months.  Some of them have been pretty devistating, others just tough to get through, but I have tried to stay positive about it all to help myself stay on top of things.  I've tried to stay mentally tough and by trying to be thankful for the obstacles I've over come.  I know I'm a much stronger person than I was when I started this college journey.  My stamina has probably quadrupled, with the amount of work I feel I can handle to even getting out of bed earlier every morning.  Some of the things that helped me to grow, were difficult to get through, but seeing them as blessings rather than hinderences definately helps me see my college in a much more positive light.




Works Cited

Smith, Jeremy Adam. "Six Habits of Highly Grateful People." The Berkely Blog. UC
Berkeley, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013. <http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2013/11/26/
six-habits-of-highly-grateful-people/>.

The Big Picture

In the "Spoiler Alert" post, I asked myself questions like, "What is all this for anyway?  Why am I working so hard?  What was it that made me so excited about college in the first place?"  It all leads back to a sense of purpose in what you do. Without a sense of strong purpose what's the point of being motivated?  Things like persistence and confidence are great qualities and important skills, but they can't stand on their own.  They need that sense of purpose to back them up. This post is sort of an extension of the post on gratitude.  In that post, I said it feels like you're running in place if you don't have the motivation you need.  I suggested that gratitude can help you find that motivation.  Gratitude is an important link in the greater purpose of everything you do.  Things that I am thankful for, my family and friends, my pets, music, literature, the opportunities I'm given, all make me motivated to do my best in college.  The things I'm most thankful for remind me of what's most important to me, and so inspire me to persist in the work I'm doing at TLU.  Being reminded of the bigger picture, and the purpose and meaning behind what i do serves as the motivation I need to make it through my college work.

Another big motivation for me, is thinking about my future.  The dreams I have about getting a master's degree, starting a career, and moving to Austin among other things help me put things in terms of this bigger picture.  It reminds me that things don't end here, they are only beginning.  This helps me push through all the hard work and tough days when I ask myself the questions I mentioned earlier.  Looking ahead to starting a career that I love, makes working through my homework seem totally worth it like I know it is, and thinking about getting my master's degree makes the work that I'm doing now seem much easier and worth the extra time I give to it.  When I think about the bigger picture, I realize that everything I'm learning now is preparing me for my bright future ahead!  this is the greater purpose that I'm working towards, the reasons behind my motivation!

Gratitude

This whole semester I've been blogging about the role of mental toughness in university life.  I have sited things like persistence, confidence, determination and motivation as definitions of mental toughness.  All of these things are both the cause and effect of staying mentally tough.  You need all of these abilities to survive the work load and ultimately succeed in college.  This week, I'm going to add a new word to this list of essential tools: gratitude.  At first, this one may not appear to belong alongside the others, but when I think about it, gratitude has helped me get through some of my toughest moments  during my first semester.  I can be persistent and motivated until my arms fall off, but without something to back this determination up, I'm just running in place. I won't be getting anywhere fast.  In my toughest moments, when I feel like there is too much work to handle, like everything is spiraling out of my control, and I can't get a handle on anything, one thing that has kept me sane is gratitude.  Actually, more accurately it has been the ability to slow down and catch my breath, because when you feel like you're spinning out of control, the first thing you need to do is steady yourself.  But once I'm steady and begin to think more clearly about the situation, I try to remember how lucky I am to be here at college and how grateful I really am to have this opportunity to learn and grow in a university setting.  Whenever I start to feel down, something always comes around that makes me put my struggles in perceptive.  According to the united States Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 66.2% of high-school graduates in America end up enrolling at college ("College Enrollment and Work").  When I slow down and get a better look at where I am, I have to be grateful that I'm here at all.  Even in the tough moments, I have to be grateful that I am in that 66%.  Being grateful for the opportunities I'm given while at college makes me so much more prepared to give my all to the work that's expected of me.  Gratitude belongs in the essential list of tools needed for success at college because it is the backbone of mental toughness.  Without the ability to slow down and be thankful for what you have, how can you continue to be motivated and confident?  There is no motivation without a little gratitude.  Don't be so busy pressing through college life that you forget to be thankful that you're here.  Gratitude is an important important part of staying mentally tough and staying motivated in college life.


Works Cited

"College Enrollment and Work Activity of 2012 High School Graduates." Bureau of 
     Labor Statistics. United States Department of Labor, Oct. 2012. Web. 25 
     Nov. 2013. <http://www.bls.gov/news.release/hsgec.nr0.htm>. 

Music and Memory

Last weekend I got to participate in a very cool event.  I first heard about the event from a flier hung on the mirror of the women's restroom in the music building.  The little square flier proclaimed the name of the event to be the "Music and Memory Benefit Dinner."  The pictures of the jazz band silhouette caught my eye and the mention of free food and t-shirts (a good enough incentive for any college student).  Later that day, I heard about it from a friend of mine in band who strongly suggested I go.  Then after receiving an invite on Facebook from my friends, I was committed to going.  I was definitely looking forward to Sunday afternoon. 

I showed up early to the event with one of my friend.  We went in together finding we were the first ones to show up.  People were running around trying to get things set up when we arrived, but we got first pick at the t-shirt table and got to watch the jazz band set up.  Once more people came, we interrupted our conversation to go get a bowl of soup each of us digging in our wallets for money to put in the donations basket.  My favorite part of the event was getting to hear the jazz band.  Their music filled every inch of the building: jazzy piano, saxophones, trumpets, drums, and bass.  You could tell they were having fun, and their talent did not disappoint.  I was trying to hold back the stupid grin that always comes out when I'm presented with loud live music.  There was nowhere I would have rather been.

Later, a video showing the purpose of the event was played.  This was not the first time I had seen the video.  Earlier that week one of my professors had shown it in class, and I had shown it to my family the day before.  Each time it brought tears in my eyes to see the powerful impact music can have in a person's life.  In the video, a story was told about a man in a nursing home who was unresponsive when talked to, someone who had lost the memory of who he wass and who is family was.  The Music and Memory Organization buys ipods for people like this man to be filled with their favorite music from when they were growing up to before they began to loose their memories.  The video showed a nurse giving the man his headphones, and the difference it made for him was astounding.  The speaker in the video commented that before given the headphones, this man was barely alive.  When the music was on, however, the man's entire face lit up, and he began humming and moving along.  Even once the headphones were taken away, he was eager to talk about what he had been listening to, and to tell about what he had liked as a boy.  It was miraculous.

Music has always meant a lot to me ever since I was very little and listening to Disney princess songs.  No matter what kind of music, it lights me up the way it did the man in the video.  Maybe there aren't words to accurately express the impact music has on us.  Music is a language all its own, and to me their is something magical about it that just can't be explained.  Music is something to be experienced.  In the case, of this man, and others who have been helped by this organization, music brought back their sense of identity.  I feel honored to have been a part of supporting this spectacular cause.

No Second Chances

I wrote this post the morning after I heard some tragic news.  At the time, I didn't have the heart to post it.  It's been sitting in my Gmail inbox, where I store all of my unfinished posts, waiting for me to come back to it.  Here is what I wrote:

Last night, I heard some terrible, awful news.  Someone that I used to know when I was younger was in a motorcycle accident.  It said in the paper that he was in critical condition, but last night we got a call that his family took him off life support.  I really didn't know him very well, but I used to think he was cute when I was little, and I still remember the magic trick he taught me at an open house for our church. His death came as such a shock to me.

He was only two years older than me.

He didn't even get a second chance. It seems so wrong that someone should die when they're just reaching the peak of life. It's just such a waist, such an injustice. I cried my eyes out in disbelief. How do you deal with something like that? He was there and now he's not. He doesn't even exist anymore. I can't imagine what his family is going through. I don't even want to.
I guess it makes me think, "that could have been me." It makes me not want to take anything for granted, to let people know how I feel, to seize every opportunity, to do what I love for as long as I can. Just like that, all your chances could be gone. What chances do I pass over everyday. Probably dozens. He had the chance to wear his helmet. He didn't take it. No second chance. 
I'll always do my best to remeber him by trying to take a few more of those opportunities every day.  Everytime I buckle my seat bealt or put on a helmet, I think of him.  I will never make the same mistake he did.  It's just not worth the conciquences.  I'm so sorry that his life had to end so soon, so sorry.  My insides ache with regret for him and sympathy for his family.  I will try to honor him by not taking my life or my safety for granted.  We are all so breakable.  Bones and hearts can be broken in the blink of an eye. 

Juggling Eggs

My little nugget of wisdom for today was given to me through a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip.  Calvin, a cynical, suburban six-year-old with the mind of a future philosopher opens the cartoon by carrying in a carton of eggs and announcing that he wishes to juggle them.  His stuffed tiger, Hobbes, brought to life through Calvin's imagination offers concern, but Calvin is persistent saying, "its a metaphor for life Hobbes!"  Unfortunately, like life, his endeavor doesn't turn out the way he had expected.  Anyway, see for yourself...

The theme of my Composition class this semester is persistence.  My professor likes to call it "mental toughness," which sounds much more dramatic and impressive.  I think mental toughness is a vital quality for anyone who wants to be successful at anything whether its a college, a career, or juggling eggs.  If you give up on the first try, you'll never know if you can handle it.  OK, so maybe you don't have to try juggling eggs, but as Calvin so wisely points out, it can serve as a metaphor for the more important things.  My parents have refereed to my transition to college as my transition to "real life" many times this semester.  "Hey, you wanna go do something fun?  Oh, you can't?  You have homework?  Oh well, welcome to real life."  With the beginning of my "real life," I have been learning the truth in this little comic strip.  Calvin says that, "each egg represents of life's concerns."  If I assigned a few of my life's concerns to five eggs, I'd say one of them is homework, one is my family, another is my new friends, one is my responsibilities as a college student, the last is any free time left over for me.  Calvin is right when he says that the key is balancing the different concerns.  If one egg takes to long to get out of your hand, the others will all crash to the ground, and from the looks of Calvin's living room, cleaning up the mess is no easy task.  In our Freshman Experience course (a course required at TLU that teaches freshman how to read and perform like good college students) we had a class on time management, something I am no expert at.  They may as well have been teaching me how to juggle eggs.  The longer I go along, though, the more I'm learning how to balance my busy college schedule, and move each egg from hand to hand fast enough that I don't drop any.  Even if I do drop a couple along the way, which I'm sure is inevitable, I'll remember to be persistent.  There is no fifth box in the cartoon that shows what Calvin does next, but if there was, I'd bet that Calvin runs to the kitchen for another carton of eggs and maybe gets Hobbes to join him for a round.  Most likely they'd make an even bigger mess, but after all, "the important thing is persistence."

Works Cited

Watterson, Bill. It's a Magical World: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection. Kansas
City: Andrews and McMeel, 1996. Print.

My Life as a Movie

One of the great luxuries of homeschooling, and a major difference between homeschooling and public school is that you don't have to go to school if you don't feel like it.  This means on a sunny day you can take the day off to go swimming, or on a rainy day you can take the day off to watch movies (there's an excuse no matter what the weather).  You can always make it up, of course, on the weekends, but this is one of the splendors of homeschooling.  A couple weeks ago I felt the absence of this luxury.  I woke up to rain puring down outside my window.  I realized that this would be  my first experience of a rainy day at school.  I complained about it before I left home, my mom not helping matters when she reminded me of rainy days in the past, "If you weren't in college we could be watching movies today..."  You do want me to go to college right?  "I'm just kidding, have a good day!" (pitying smile)

Once I got to school though and was walking to my classes in the rain with my little red umbrella, I actually began to enjoy myself.  Even though I had the worst hair day of the semester, all damp and curly, and even though I soaked my converse to the skin when I stepped in a four inch deep puddle, I still managed to enjoy my rainy school day.  I felt like a character in a movie, when everything is always so romanticized, even going to class.  The brick sidewalk in front of the library looked lovely in the rain, and kids were all wearing their polka-dotted rain boots.  Call me a romantic, but it gave the campus a poetic feel all gloomy and drizzly.

All the differences in my life, at least so far, have been mostly enjoyable for me.  I suppose I'm glad that I tend to take a romantic view of things.  Without it, I think I would begin to resent some of these
changes rather than seeing them as novel.  I'm a little nervous that as my college experience continues, I will begin to loose more and more of my previous luxuries.  I'll just continue to try to view things through my rose tinted glasses.

There's No Place Like Home

Last week was fall break.  Fall break at TLU consists of an extra Thursday and Friday tacked onto your weekend.  Most of the people I know hadn't seen their families since they left home.  I too went home for the break, of course.  I am living at home, so obviously I go home every weekend.  Even though I live at home, however, it feels different than how it felt before I started college.  Sometimes I don't even feel like I live at home.  I know I see my family every evening, but somehow it's not the same as it was before.  I think the difference is that, even though I'm still living in the house, I'm not on the same schedule as my family anymore.  I mean, being home schooled my whole life made me very close to my family.  I always knew what was going on with my sisters because we did everything together.  Now when I go home I have to ask them what they've been doing, and I have to make sure to tell them about my day.  It might sound funny to someone who has had a difference experience than me, but it is still a novelty to talk to my family about what I've been doing.  True, I live at home, but my family really isn't involved in my life until I sit down to eat dinner with them at night, the complete opposite of how it was before.

So for fall break, I went home.  For the first time since I started college, I really felt at home.  My dad was out of town, so my mum and sisters and I spent time together going shopping and watching the entire second season of Downton Abbey.  Just lounging around the house and getting homework done in my bedroom instead of in the campus library, made me feel like I was back to being home schooled.  It was the strangest feeling.  It suddenly made me realize how much my life has changed in the last two months.  I enjoyed the feeling, but it didn't make me sad.  I'm happy with how my life is going, despite the busier schedule and added stress.  Besides, on those days when the stress begins to feel overwhelming, I always have my family to cheer me up when I go home.

Back to Basics

Question: how is it that I am a college student, but feel like a kindergartner?
The answer: this semester, I'm taking Spanish one.

Spanish one is the covers the most basic Spanish, meeting someone for the first time and basic vocabulary you would use in everyday situations.  The description of the class read, "little or no Spanish required."  I took my two years of language in high school, but I wanted to start small in college.  I'm glad I did; this class has been stupendous in better cementing everything I learned in high school.  The emphasis on class participation in this class makes speaking the language so much easier.

I'm learning a lot, but taking this basic Spanish class makes me feel like I'm back in kindergarten.  For example, we just finished learning the colors and numbers and, yes, even the alphabet.  We also learned how to tell time in Spanish by using those little cardboard clocks you probably used when you first learned to tell time.  In class, all of the students (me included) struggle with writing out simple sentences on the board, or distinguishing between the pronouns.  It is the weirdest feeling to essentially relearn all of these things.  It is basically like experiencing kindergarten all over again.  On one hand, it's really fun, but on the other hand, it makes me feel pretty dim when I'm struggling to remember the order the days of the week go in: "lunes, martes, miércoles...uhhmmm...viernes?...noooo...jueves!" 

The class slowly made its way up to maybe second grade when we started doing two digit math problems in Spanish.  Now we've graduated to maybe fourth or fifth grade.  We are learning how to conjugate verbs and have subject verb agreement.  Today we also learned how to count up into the hundred thousands, which was actually quite a challenge!  Smarter than a fifth grader?  I don't think so.  Maybe sitting in on a Spanish kindergarten class would be a good way to learn Spanish.  I bet I could learn a lot from those little five-year-olds!

Don't Expect Perfection Right Away

This week TLU is holding a symposium on innovation where speakers come and tell us their take on this topic.  Last night, I went to hear Naomi Shihab Nye, a celebrated poet, and the speaker I was most excited to hear from.  My favorite part of the talk was when she gave insight into the things that stop us from being innovative: doubt, negativity, criticism, or more importantly making mistakes!  The piece of advise that really stuck with me was, if you're having trouble writing, lower your expectations.  One of Nye's examples, was a man who diminished the pressure he felt as a writer by scribbling down his poems on the back of junk mail envelopes.  I love this example!  For me, and I think many others, the biggest challenge of writing is getting past self-doubt and our own high expectations.  If I wrote on the back of junk mail, I think I'd have much lower expectations for myself.  That doesn't mean that it won't be good though.  It just means you don't put pressure on yourself to produce something perfect right away.  It's OK to make mistakes the first time.  Maybe that is yet another thing you can't learn until you experience for yourself, but if you begin your writing process with the expectation of imperfection right away, what is there to loose?

Nye also pointed out, however, that doubt is a critical part of the creative process.  She begins one of her poems with a quote by Rudolf Staffel, a ceramic artist she once knew who said that, "Procrastination is the most creative act there is."  At first, I was like, "Huh?"  I didn't understand how this was true.  Then I connected it to the famous quote, "Life is a journey, not a destination" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, and I realized that what you create is not as important as the "delay time," the time where you were immersed in the process.  Procrastination can be a time to let the creative juices flow, when you don't feel the pressure to create something meaningful, you just enjoy the act of creating.  This time where you step back from what you're doing and don't take yourself too seriously, where you give yourself freedom to make mistakes.  I think what Nye wanted to convey is that this is more important and essential to creativity than the resulting product.  Both of these lessons, to not expect to create something perfect right away, and to give yourself time and space to be creative and make mistakes are ones I'm still learning myself, but have been very helpful to me whether I am being artistic just for fun or doing serious homework.

Spoiler Alert!

Today's post is on all the "bad news" of college life, everything college students don't find out about until after they've been accepted to a university.  For anyone who has not been to college yet, beware.  Don't read ahead unless you want some serious discouragement.  For all of those who have been to college, or are in college now, you may continue.

Here's all the good news I was told before I started: "Everyone on campus is so friendly and helpful!"  "You'll meet lots of new people and form new relationships!"  "There are plenty of opportunities to explore your interests and have fun!"  "You'll get to take fun, interesting classes!"  "You'll graduate with a degree ready to start a career you love!"  All of this sounds fantastic.  In fact, these incentives are what got me so excited during the transitioning process, what I dreamed about when I was in high school.  Don't worry, I'm not going to tell you it's all lies.  These things did turn out to be true.  So what's the bad news?

Here's what I didn't know about: the amount of homework I'd have, the amount of pressure I have on me constantly, to get good grades, to get to class on time, to manage my time and schedule, the amount of responsibility I have, the tired feeling that follows me around all week until the weekend when I only might have time to catch up on sleep, the strong feelings of defeat I get when I don't do as well as I know I could have, the very few second chances available, and the feeling that I can't get ahead no matter how hard I work.  College isn't as sunny and breezy as I thought it would be.  I was an excellent student in high school, so I thought that college wasn't going to be so hard.  My confidence and excitement blinded me to reality.  This first semester has proved itself a challenge for me, even when I planned on it being an easier semester, and my upperclassmen friends tell me it's only going to get worse.

More than once, as I'm staying up late getting my homework done, I think to myself , "Why was I so excited to start college again?"  Then I answer, "because I didn't know it was going to be like this!  Not really."

OK so there it is, the bad news.  Did I discourage you?  I tried to warn you, but if you're reading this sentence, you obviously didn't listen.  Maybe I didn't discourage you, after all you can never really know these things until you've experienced them for yourself.  That is a piece of wisdom I've acquired as I transitioned to college.  It is something I never believed when I was younger, but now I understand.   My dad says it this way, "You can't know what you don't know."  Everything I described are the things about college, that you just can't know until you know.  Sorry for the spoiler, but don't despair, if I can do it, so can you.  All the bad stuff is worth the effort.  Unfortunately, you can't get any of that good stuff without it.

From Oldest to Youngest

I am the oldest in my family.  I have two younger sisters, but I've always wondered what it's like to have a big brother or sister.  Being the oldest means you're always the "ground breaker" for new things, like college for example.  My sisters get the benefit of being able to experience the college process through me before they have to go  They have the advantage of learning from my experiences and mistakes.  Oftentimes, I wonder what that's like.  I always liked the idea of having someone close to my age I could ask for advise and who would look out for me. I'm usually the one people look up to and ask for help.  Don't get me wrong, I don't resent being the oldest.  On the contrary, I believe my personality has been shaped by being the eldest.  Being a big sister has taught me to be responsible and mature, and I am very thankful for these traits.  I wouldn't change being the oldest for anything, but having an older sibling has always been something I've been curious about.

My sisters and I always had the same friends growing up, which means I grew accustomed to being the oldest in the group.  Even among our friends, I felt like the "big sister," but now in college, that is all changing.  The moment I stepped on the campus as an incoming freshman, I no longer had that "big sister" feeling.  Now I am the youngest.  It has actually been a little disorientating ; I've had to adjust to being the one asking for help rather than giving it, but has also been fun for me.  One of the reasons I love TLU is that everyone is so friendly and helpful.  I know that sounds like something someone would make up to put on a brochure, but it's true!  The upperclassmen have all been so welcoming and supportive, almost like big brothers and sisters.  I already feel like I've been adopted by several upperclassmen as their little sister.  It feels really good to have a peer who is going through the same things I'm going through that I can rely on for tips and suggestions I wouldn't have known without them.  It makes me feel more confident when I have someone there looking out for me.

I've already made it a future goal to "adopt a freshmen" when I become an upperclassmen.  Maybe that's why TLU continues to be so friendly: one person helps out another and then that person helps someone else, paying forward every good deed.  I'm looking forward to the day I can carry out that unspoken tradition, and make someone else feel as welcomed and cared about as I have been.

Slow and Steady...

Confidence is a quality everyone strives for.  Whether you're preparing for a job interview, taking an exam, or asking someone out on a date, confidence in yourself is a necessary tool.  Finding my own confidence has become even more important for me now that I'm a college student.  I have much more pressure on me than I had in high school.  I am responsible to look out for myself when it comes to my assignments.  The expectations on me from my parents, professors, and even myself are high.  There have been plenty of times for me to doubt myself, but there have been  equal opportunities for me to build my confidence.  I was just thinking this weekend, "Wow, I just finished week 4 of my first semester of college..."  On one hand, I can't believe it's only been 4 weeks, I feel like I've been in college for four months!  On the other hand, however, I am super proud.  I've completed four weeks of college!  How cool is that?!

If you think about it. confidence is all in how you think about it...

From now on, whenever I start feeling down or intimidated, I'll just remind myself that I've made it past the worst part.  I've struggled through the fist tough weeks, and made it out with my head above the water.  I finished my first round of exams today and feel pretty strong about what I put out.  I am now officially part of campus life.  I've already developed my own daily rhythm, feeling less and less like a wide-eyed newcomer and more and more like a part of the TLU community.  The change is coming slowly, but just the fact that it's coming is encouraging.  Instead of being discouraged by its slowness, I choose to feel uplifted that with each day I make it through, I'm getting closer to becoming the confident student I want to be.  Each long day, each exam, each blog post brings me closer to the bright future I've envisioned for myself.  My confidence is growing slow and steady...

A Crash Course in Focus

This week, I was challenged to work through what sports psychologist Terry Orlick calls a "Distraction Control Plan."  This is what it looks like:

1. Make a list of the most common distractions, whatever prevents you from studying or getting homework done.
2. Identify your usual way of responding to these distractions.
3. If your response is taking you away from your work, brainstorm a new way of responding that will allow you to stay focused.
4. Create a positive word or phrase that will help you to refocus.

So first I brainstormed everything that distracts me while I do homework, then I brainstormed what I can do to help me not indulge those distractions.  Already I am practicing what I came up with.  First, I'm writing this blog in a quiet, remote corner where I'm not likely to be distracted by my family or my pets.  (I've learned it is nearly impossible to study around my cat who likes to come and sit on my textbooks while I'm reading, and my puppy who likes to chew on the corners of my folders.)  I will also close the Youtube tabs on this computer to eliminate that distraction.  There we go.

I've found that the best way to stay focused is to eliminate any possible distractions before I even get started. Now I'm not as tempted to get up and pet my cat or to click on the Youtube tab to watch a music video.  If the distractions aren't as easily accessible, I'm not as likely to get distracted in the first place.

Numbers one two and three on the list were helpful to get myself thinking about the things that distract me, and to become aware of when they're successful at it.  Number four though, might be the most helpful on the list.  This one comes in handy when I start feeling overwhelmed by the homework.  There are those pesky bad days where I feel so behind, when really I just need to take a breath and start tackling things one at a time.  This week I tried to brainstorm on what phrase I say to myself during those slow down moments.  One that I've always found to be helpful is something along the lines of, "If other people can do this, so can I."  For college, I could revise it to, "Less motivated people than me have graduated from college, so, so can I!"  A phrase like this helps me slow down, put things in perspective  and realize things aren't as bad as they seem.


Works Cited
Orlick, Terry. In Pursuit of Excellence. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2008. Print.

Life of a Commuter

Like I've mentioned before, I have lived  in Seguin sinse I was four years old.  I know most people want to get away when they go to college, but TLU has been my home for fourteen years.  I just couldn't resist staying four more years to finally become an officail TLU Bulldog.  Because I live so close to campus, I am still staying at home.  It would be pretty foolish of me to spend all the money to live on campus when I could walk to class if I wanted to.

Being a commuter is sometimes hard.  I get asked all the time, "Don't you want freedom?  Don't you want independence?  Really, you still live with your parents?"  Sometimes it's hard to combat with these questions, making me doubt myself.  But then I go home at the end of a long day, and spend the evening with my family, and I realize how homesick I would be if I had moved away.  I go to sleep in my bedroom surounded by all the things that make me feel comfortable and at home, and I feel strong in who I am.  Going home in the evening everyday gives me time to recoop and reevaluate my day.  It gives me time to reconnect with my family and stay true to myself.  I am very close to my family.  I am not one of those who wanted to get far away as soon as possible.  I would be devistated if I lived so far away that I couldn't spend time with my sisters.  I can be myself with my family, and they give me support whenever I need it.

As for independence and freedom, I am on my own all day util I come home, making my own decisions.  I am responsible for my homework, and going to class on time.  I have the freedom to choose who I want to hang out with, to become who I want to be, to decide on the career path I want to pursue.  I came to TLU to get a quality education that will jump start my future.  Inndependence will come; I have my whole life ahead of me to be on my own.  Right now, I am thankful that I have the support of my family as I move through this transition. 

Dog Days

"H.O.T. Dogs" is TLU's annual day of service in the fall.  Volunteer driven individuals as well as entire sports teams spread throughout the community on this day to help wherever they can.  I have lived in Seguin since I was four years old, so this community service day is not new to me.  My Dad is the pastor of Mosaic Community Church which happens to be right across the street from the campus.  Our church is very motivated about being involved in our community.  For example, if you take a gander across Court Street, you'll see our ever growing community garden.  Because it is always growing, (both vegetables and in size) it requires a lot of work.  I have learned the backstage job of gardening: the watering, the planting, the digging, sweeping mulching, and the never ending weeding.  Before I started working in this garden I never really gave thought to the work that goes into them.  Since working in the garden, I have a better appreciation for everything from the flower beds I've always admired on campus, to the produce I get from H.E.B.

But where am I going with this?  Back to H.O.T. Dogs...

Every year in the fall, a whole crowd of TLU Bulldogs cross the street into our garden and completely transform it.  I may only have one t-shirt to show for it, but I've seen many more of these dog days.  This year, however, was the first year I got to participate as a true TLU college student.  It brought things full circle for me.  The students I worked beside when I was freshman in high school laying down stone, building vegetable beds, and pulling weeds are all graduated.  Now it's my turn to be a Hot Dog.  I still felt like a part of the Mosaic family, but for the first time I got to be a part of the TLU family as well.  It was a good feeling.  I was especially proud of our baseball and basketball teams who got a ton of work done in just a few hours.  When the day was over, I was very proud of everything we had accomplished.  Maybe I'm biased, but I think this is one of the best H.O.T. Dog Days we've ever had.

Putting Things in Perspective

I just finished watching a Ted Talk by Angela Lee Duckworth.  In her allotted six minutes, she discussed how perseverance and determination are more successful roads to success than mere IQ.  So far, I have found this idea to be true in my college classes.  My math professor gave out homework last week saying she would give more points to students who got the wrong answer but showed their work and would take away points from students who only wrote out the answers, even if they were right.  I was taken aback that I could actually get a better grade by working on a problem but not getting the right answer, than I could if I just wrote down all the correct answers.   Suddenly, I sat higher in my seat.  "I think I'm going to do really well in this course," I thought.  "Not because I'm a math whiz (I'm not), but because I have the determination to work through the problems and give them my best effort."  I think this is what Duckworth was saying in her Ted Talk.  You don't have to be the smartest kid in class to be a successful student.  You just have to be determined.  (Or "gritty" as she puts it.)

So what exactly is grit?   Grit, according to Angela Lee Duckworth is, "passion and perseverance for very long term goals.  Grit is having stamina.  Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality."  Then she sums it all up, "Grit is living life like its a marathon, not a sprint."  (03:02-03:27)  This is my favorite part of the whole video and I think the most significant.  This talk changed my perception of college.  I realized I had been living week to week instead of thinking about the broader picture.  I'm hear at TLU not just to get good grades, but to graduate with a degree so I can start a meaningful career.  I'm working towards a bigger goal than getting an "A" on my math homework.  This change of view puts things in perspective.  The fatigue and stress I'm feeling seems smaller now when I think of my future in terms of years instead of days.  Now I have a broader mission in my mind.  It was always there, but this talk helped bring it forward, something I need as my third daunting week approaches.  This video inspires me to see things from a different point of view, and motivates me to put a little more "grit" in my life.  I am passionate enough about starting a career that allows me to do what I love every day, and I hope I am persevering enough to get myself there.  

Duckworth, Angela Lee. Angela Lee Duckworth: The Key to Success? Grit. Ted: 

     Ideas worth Spreading. TED Conferences, 1984. Web. 7 Sept. 2013. 
     <http://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_the_key_to_success_grit.html>. 

Do Re Mi

I first fell in love with Texas Lutheran University when I was very young.  The exact moment I decided to come to TLU is a mystery, but if I had to guess, I would say it was during a Vespers concert at Christmas time.  Every December, I am in awe of the music that fills Jackson Auditorium.  In high school, I told myself that I would be a part of that someday.  During my sophomore year of high school, my sisters and I joined the TLU/MTS Community Music Academy Youth choir, and this dream grew closer.  When I was accepted into TLU, I knew that choir was definitely something I was going to try for.

On August 26th I walked into the TLU Fine Arts building for my audition.  I was very nervous.  I've looked up to Dr. Boyer for so many years; it was intimidating to get up and sing for him.  Not only did my nerves cause me to stray completely off rhythm, I was also thrown for a loop by the sight reading and pitch memory.  I tried to save myself by saying I'd work on it, but I was feeling hopeless and shattered by the time the audition was over.

On August 27th, I reentered the Fine Arts building to check the choir roster for my name.  I held my breath as I leaned over a music stand to peer at the bulletin board.  To my great astonishment and joy, my name was on both lists.  I had managed to make it into the Women's Choir as well as the TLU Choir!  I was proud and overjoyed, but at the same time realized that I would have a lot to work on in order to succeed in these choirs.

On August 28th, I attended my first TLU choir practice.  During the first ten minutes, my assumptions were proved correct.  It was obvious that being in these choirs would be very different from being in the youth choir I was in in high school.  I knew that even more would be expected of me, that we would be tackling even harder music.  But not everything had changed.  I still felt that unmistakable camaraderie you get by being in a choir.  That same sense of safety and family I experienced in the youth choir during high school.  We were in this together;  I wasn't alone.  When I expressed some of my doubts to other choir members, they reassured me, and gave me advise.  It filled me with pride and happiness to be welcomed into the TLU choirs.  I know this transition will be a bumpy one at times, but the end result will be well worth it.

Keeping Calm and Being a Bulldog

The other day, I was working on some of my math homework, and there was this one problem I just couldn't get my head around.  The question went something like this, "There is a three by three square made out of nine dots.  Is it possible to connect these dots with four straight lines and without picking your pencil up from the paper?  If so, show how."  I worked over a span of two days trying to figure out the solution.  I tried folding, trial and error, and even considered cutting the thing up, but I still couldn't find the answer.  I was beginning to think it was a trick question and it was impossible after all, but from my experience of math questions, it usually isn't that simple.  I was beginning to doubt my ability.  Part of my brain was trying to convince me to give up and just leave that question blank, but I was determined to find the solution.

And, at last, after drawing and redrawing those nine dots an innumerable amount of times, I managed to connect every dot with exactly four lines.  No cheating.  It was only later that I realized it wasn't my mathmatecal ability that at last led me to the solution, it was my stubborn determination.  I was bound and determined to discover the answer.  Without this mental toughness, I would not have succeeded.

In fact, without mental toughness, I'm not sure I would have survived my first two days of college.  I've already discovered that college requires you to combat with many different challenges in a very short amount of time.  Whether it is working on a difficult math problem or making my own snow cone at my first college party, college life presents dozens of new experiences every day.  All of these changes and challanges propose difficulty,  but I am learning quickly how to stay focused and determined even when I feel like giving up.

It's like what our black and gold t-shirts say, "Keep calm and be a bulldog."  I think this has become our class's unspoken mantra.  If we just keep calm and stay mentally tough, I know we will all succeed at TLU.