14A - Halfway Reflection

1. Tenaciousness is a competency: I’ve definitely used a lot of my time management skills and planning skills throughout this course. It may be summer, but I currently work 40 hours every week and I come home exhausted. With this course, you can’t do all of your assignments in one day. The assignments are lengthy and many require you to go out and interview people. You also have a lot due each week, so you need to be able to plan out your week and use your time wisely. So far in this course, I have really learned how to step out of my comfort zone and go and talk to new people. You kind of have to be more open to meeting new people and doing things you aren’t used to doing, because the assignments require you to.
2. Tenaciousness is also about attitude: I have had a few moments in the past two months that I have felt like giving up. The first time was when I first had to go and interview a stranger. I am a quiet person, until you get to know me, so putting myself out there and interviewing people was extremely hard for me to do. I wanted to give up after my first interview because it gave me such bad anxiety and I didn’t want to do it again. I didn’t give up though, because I knew I would only grow from this and that doing things that make you nervous or anxious will only make you better.  I also wanted to give up after I got off of work one night and had to come home and do a whole entire assignment. I plan out my weeks so each night I have something specific I need to complete in order to stay on top of my work. I had just gotten home from a 8am-7pm work day and all I wanted to do was go to bed and not care about my assignments. Although I really wanted to give up, I didn’t because I really care about my grades and knew I needed to do the assignment to get myself one step closer to an A. I’ve definitely developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months. Working so much and taking classes will really push you and challenge you as a person. I work hard every day and I am determined to get an A in this class, as well as, succeed in everything that I do.
3.  Three tips:
• Foster the skill of time management and plan ahead. Being able to manage your time effectively is extremely important in life. Life isn’t always easy and it will throw you curve balls, we all know this. But if you know how to manage your time you will be able to get through these things and still be successful in academics and anything else you do. While taking this class (especially If it’s over summer) you may be working like crazy (like myself), or want to go on a whole bunch of vacations, maybe you are interning or studying abroad. No matter what is going on in your life you need to be able to manage the time that you have. I think time management is one of the most important things while being a college students, and for this class you will need to be able to do it.
• Come into this class with an open mind and be willing to step out of your comfort zone. If you come into class not willing to get out of your comfort zone and go talk to strangers, if you’re not willing to record yourself and your interviews, and if you aren’t willing to put a solid effort into your work, then you won’t succeed in this class. In order to succeed, you will need to put your anxiety, discomfort, embarrassment aside and go into each and every assignment with an open mind.
• Stay organized. There are a lot of assignments and peer reviews due each week. If you aren’t organized you may mix up your assignments while submitting them or may even forget to declare your assignment and you won’t get your points. I recommend to always look at the canvas calendar or write in your own planer. With 10ish assignments to do each week it’s important to keep track of what you’ve done, what you’ve declared, who’s post you have peer reviewed, what lectures you have watched, etc.

I wish you the best of luck in this class!! 

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