Online Education Review

What I liked most about this particular online class is the ease of having everything in the same place, not having to worry about spending a lot of time studying, and the fact that I was able to do work whenever I wanted to.

(Personal Photo of me working on an assignment)

I tried to take on online class before, the summer after my freshman year.  It was a pre-civil war history class.  The thing that I really did not like about the class was that, the teacher expected us to read a couple of chapters (from a history book) where the print was very small, then we had to take a quiz with only five questions.  I really struggled trying to do well in the class, but I eventually just dropped it because the effort I was putting in was not worth the grade I was receiving.

Gen. Ed. Review

If I am being completely honest, my Humanities courses have helped me in the fact that they have been some of my easier classes, thus giving me a boost in my GPA.  The thing I have liked the most is that there are some very interesting class that I enjoyed taking during my time here at OU.  However, it can also be hard to find a class that you will like but not have to spend a ton of time studying for because you want to focus on the classes that are prevalent to your major.

(Image found from kluv.cbsnew.com)

What I will remember most from my general education courses, is how much I was ready to be done with them due to the fact that it was so hard to figure out which classes to take and which classes would work with my schedule.

College Writing Review

My major is psychology and there is typically a decent amount of writing that goes with the major.  A lot of the time, the writing will deal with writing about studies that someone has performed or write about a critique of a study that has already been performed.  The writing itself tends to be a little bit more straight forward instead of imaginative like a creative writing course would require.

The only other class that has been very writing intensive, that I have taken, was an expository writing class called Music, Sound and Noise.  The class was focused on how music and sounds change throughout time and how different sounds effect us.  We started the class by focusing on the sounds around us and at the end, we learned about Stravinsky's, music the ballet The Rite of Spring which was choreographed by Sergei Diaghilev, a famous choreographer in the dance world.

(Dancers in The Rite of Spring Wikimedia)

I think overall, that I have definitely learned what my strengths and weaknesses in my writing are.  As I have learned about those strengths and weaknesses, I have been able to focus on what needs to improve and what I need to do in order to keep making my writing stronger.

Extra Reading Diary - Russian Folktales

For this reading diary, I am reading Russian Folktales.

The Dead Mother - Well that was a creepy tale.  I didn't want to read about that.  I thought folktales were supposed more happy, not similar to horror movies.

The Treasure - It is so sad that no one wanted to help the old man bury his dead wife.  In the middle of winter too, which makes this tale all the more sad in the beginning.

(Wikipedia)

The Bad Wife - I wonder why the bad wife was so mad and angry all of the time.  She certainly didn't like her husband.  

The Three Copecks - Well the young man was certainly a lucky young man to have all of that good fortune happen to him.

The Miser - This story reminds me of the story of Scrooge, however this is not a Christmas story, nor is the Scrooge story set in Russia.

The Water Snake - The

Week 14 Storytelling: My Bad Luck

“Liz, we are no longer supporting you.  You have to move out and get a job.  You can not live in this house forever.”

I looked up in shock at my parents.  “Wait what?!  You said I had until I graduated, but I am in the middle of my sophomore year!”

“Yes, however, you have showed such adaptability towards college and we now have your sister’s wedding to plan also.  So the timeline has moved up a bit.”

“A bit?!  How about a lot?!  It is SO unfair that you are just dropping this bomb on me!  Besides, Sara has been saving for this for the past for years!  Can’t you help me out any?”  I turned from my mom to my dad, a horrorstruck look on my face.

They looked at each other, sadness in their eyes.  “We can support you until you get a job and start making money yourself.  But as soon as you start getting your paychecks, we won’t give you any more money.  How about that?”

“Fine, whatever.  Y’all always liked Sara more anyway,” I grumbled as I walked out of the living room.

Stunned by the massive bombshell I had just been given by my parents, I went into my room, unsure of what to do.  I stared at my ceiling in shock for about the next 30 minutes.  Panic raced through my mind like the cars zipping past at the Indy 500.  I had no idea what I was going to do.  But I got my stuff together and started to make a list of everything I needed to establish.

Most importantly was a job.  Second was a place to live.  While we lived in a college town, there were still plenty of recently graduated people, many of which I knew.  I could talk to them about the different places to live and what my best options were. 

As I started to make the list and started to plan of what my next steps were going to be, my mind stopped racing and started to put things back into order. 

Over the next few days, I messaged all of my friends about potential apartments and then sent my resume to as many places as I possibly could.  My future seemed like someone had tossed everything into the air, and I was just waiting for it to land so I could put everything together again. 

(Wikipedia)

Soon enough, I got a job at a bagel place and found an apartment where I could live with one of my friends.  The nice part about the job was that I could work early in the morning and then be able to take my classes during the day and then do homework at night. 

A little while later, after I had finally gotten a routine down, I realized how much I had been able to accomplish in such a short period of time.  “Maybe my parents were right,” I said to myself one day as I got ready for work, “I can handle just about anything that gets thrown at me.”

Author's Note: I wrote this story based on the first half of the story The Dirty Shepherdess.  I read the story, and I was just inspired to take the and change it so it was more fitting for this day and age.  I also wanted to change the setting a little so that is was more appropriate towards our age group, i.e. college age people.

Reading Diary B - European Fairy Tales

For this reading diary, I am finishing reading European Fairy Tales.

I Know What I Have Learned - Well it certainly is silly that a troll could knock some of his own head off in order to have some meat for a broth.  But if that is what trolls are able to do, then let them do that.

(Wikipedia)

I Know What I Have Learned (cont.) - I was very confused how this story ended.  The whole thing seemed to be a jumble of multiple story lines all happening at once.

Lovely Ilonka - I do think that the king had the right idea having his son wait to marry.  But it also seemed like the son just wanted the idea of marriage without having someone to actually marry.

Lovely Ilonka (cont.) - All is well that ends well.  It is certainly true in this case because the right maiden married the king and the wrong maiden was found out.

The Death of the Sun-Hero - People who get a big head and think they are better than everyone else always end up getting what is due to them in some way or another.

The Giants and Herd-Boy - The herd-boy certainly had it easy.  I am surprised that the Giants didn't miss the load of bread since it gave out gold coins to whoever tried to eat it.

The Voice of Death - I wonder what the man's wife thought about her husband going on the crazy journey to find a place where there was no death.  I would certainly think it was crazy if it was my husband that said he wanted to go.

The Goat's Ears of Emperor Trojan - I wonder why the Emperor wanted to hide his goat ears so much.  Or why the emperor always killed the barbers who said he had goat ears.

Reading Diary A - European Fairy Tales I

For this reading diary, I am reading European Fairy Tales I.

Puss in Boots - I enjoyed reading this story.  I had heard of the character of Puss in Boots before, however I had never read the actual story of Puss in Boots before.

(Wikipedia)

Puss in Boots (cont.) - I liked finishing the end of this story.  For some reason the story sounds familiar to me, yet I know that I have never read this story before.

The Dirty Shepherdess - This is an interesting story to read.  It is rather sad that the King kicked out his own daughter for saying she saw him similar to the salt on her food, which seemed to me that it was an expression of how much she loved him.

The Dirty Shepherdess (cont.) - This story reminds me a lot of Cinderella, except the main character was first rich and royal and then became a commoner.  I guess you could say Cinderella was the same way because she was rich in happiness first and then became a maid to her step-mother.

How the Dragon was Tricked - I wonder why the young man became such a trickster.  Because there really was no need for him to be so many to so many different people in the kingdom.

How the Dragon was Tricked (cont.) - This was certainly an interesting story.  But the poor king, all he was doing was ruling his kingdom and he was killed by the dragon that he wanted.

The Young Man Who Would Have His Eyes Opened - I really did't understand this story.  I thought it was weird and confusing overall.

Kisa the Cat - Well the giant in the story was really mean.  He captured a young girl, and he didn't expect her to cry?  Clearly he never had to deal with a lot of living princesses.

Kisa the Cat (cont.) - I really liked the ending of this.  Kisa was so helpful to the princess that she deserved to get some sort of reward, which of course she did.