School In Zion...AGAIN!

so we went to the school in zion for class last friday. That was kinda cool, not gonna lie. I think sometimes i forget how much was sacrificed for me to be here at this school. Plus, i heard some new stories i didn't hear before. For instance, back in the olden days, they could pay their tuition and what not by IOU's. cool huh? yaa. But also, kids back then didn't have as much, and still had to sacrifice a TON more! Oh goodness. I'm so lazy it's ridiculous. I can just sit on a lap top and type away. People used to have to use type writers. Kinda funny, yet kinda sad. Sad for them, cuz my ways easier. Sad for me, cuz they've learned hard work, and well I haven't necessarily fully gotten there yet. 

There are two HUGE pictures in the school of zion. WOW!! they are amazing. They make me want to take a photograph or two like that someday. beautiful! Also, I watched this video that had President Hinckley in it. It made me sad, cuz i miss him and love him oh so very much. 

Oh ya, I also didn't realize how much they tried to portray the light of christ in the museumish thing. Like the sun roof at the top of the building, and the vines on the couches, and on the rug, and also in the paintings where it had the light shining on the school and stuff. It was cool. Also made me feel bad cuz that just goes to show how little i pay attention to detail. I didn't figure it out on my own...the lady working there had to tell me .

I should probably go back and visit that place a few more times, and see how many new things i can learn everytime! mmm. yummy yummy knowledge. BYE!

Childhood In An Indian Village

So for University this week we had to read and annotate some articles. I'll just talk about Childhood in an indian village. It was actually a really good read. At first i thought it was going to be kinda lame, but it totally wasn't. It was this guy talking about how when he was a kid they used to play games and sports and do different activities, but no one was better at something than anybody else. Everybody was equal. Nothing was work. No one was a ruler or the boss of anyone. Everyone contributed. Everyone shared, and was giving to everyone. It sounded way cool. Almost like a perfect system to me. It showed me that if we have honest people doing honest work, then we really shouldn't have to worry about getting cheated or cheating anyone else. It also taught me a lot about attitude and how different attitudes reward people differently, and can bring someone to a way different outcome. Like, if you take something that is technically work, and regard it as something that just simply must be done in order to further your life, it won't seem that bad. It will just be something that is there that is going to get accomplished, and you're gonna like doing it. I thought it was way cool that there were any villages that existed like this. He also talked about how people came in and changed their way of doing things. It made me kinda upset to think that other people came in and tried to take control and force them into doing things. I think of how upset i would be if someone did that to me or my family or community or something. It would totally be crappy. They don't know me or my standards or ideals or my way of living. So how could they possibly think that they have a better way of living and doing things than I do? Ya, that part made me pretty upset. Also, I just thought it was cool how kids got to think for themselves and weren't forced into their parents ways. Eventually life came out the right way, but for the time being they got to act and think and be the person that they wanted to be. It seemed waaaay cool! I loved it. He also said something about how while he was writing he was also exploring what had happened. This reminded me of journal writing and how if we took the time to write down the events of our lives, we would understand and gain a lot more from them, instead of just letting the days and weeks and months pass us by, as if nothing important was happening. Obviously we would have to learn something during this time. But there's always a deeper meaning to something. So we should probably take a deeper look at it to find that. Well, that is all for now. Thanks for reading. You are much too kind! :D LOVE YOU!

Revere it, Cherish it, Love it,

So today I went to the Education in Zion exhibit in the JFSB. It was super cool to see how our ancestors started out BYU, or what was then called BYA. I loved reading about the different contributions people made, or the things they had to say when they lived back then. One point that stuck out the most was the segregation that existed throughout the world between church and school. The world believed that you couldn't bring faith into education, because faith was things that couldn't be seen, and education is based on fact. Bringing the two together just didn't make any sense. That is, it didn't make sense to the rest of the world, but to Brigham Young and Karl G. Maeser, it did. I'm really thankful for their determination to do so too. This has brought many blessings to the church and its people through these last generations. One quote that was on the board said that the soul and spirit of the children must develop with proper teaching. They said that this was through education in the hearts and minds. The only way to do this was through secular and nonsecular learning. This learning however only does us good if we revere it, cherish it, and love it. We have to accept it into our lives and use it on a daily basis. When we do this, we will be rewarded in this life and in our eternal lives. :D How cool is that!? Plus learning is fun. So why not do it if we receive those blessings TOO!!!!

I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it

So last week for my University 101 class we had to take a test on Map Works through BYU. It asked a series of questions about how i study and act, and the goals i have, etc. Anyway, I got my results back and they point out a few interesting things, like the fact that a lot of students overestimate the grades that they will receive in school, which results in a lack of effort and getting poor grades. Also, grades reflect academic/learning ability, but that is not all. They also are a reflection of how hard i work and how much dedication i have with school and my classes. I thought that was interesting because I always think that a bad grade just means i'm stupid or something, but that's not necessarily true...In fact, I'd assume that most of the time it was just a lack of effort on my part. It also said that by starting out strong and committed I will more likely continue that way throughout the semester. This is sooo true! I find a lot of times that one of the reasons I don't work as hard as i should be is because i didn't start out that way and i feel it's too late to get into the swing of things. Plus, it's just hard when I've been so used to wasting away my time to all the sudden switch over to this really determined, hard working, planned out schedule. Understand?

It said I'm Strong in these three areas....

And I need to work harder in these three areas...

It's funny because this was a self evaluation. So I know that these are the things that I'm not doing so hot with, and yet I haven't changed them yet. But don't worry, I'm trying a lot harder on 2 of the 3 thus far. Spending time to study (More in depth, even though it's only a day or two before the test, so i guess i can work on that now), and paying attention in class. It's always been one of those things that's been really hard for me, but i feel i'm doing a bit better. :D So that's good. 

It also told me to spread out my study times and don't study for more than an hour during each period. As well as spending at least 3 hours of studying for each college exam i take. YIKES! 

so basically this is the breakdown. I'm good at the cores, i need to work on studying habits and advanced academic behaviors, and i'm really not spending enough time studying. 

Focusing on my weaknesses can help a lot. It's going to take a lot more time than i expect to get good grades. 

Hopefully i can do all these things and just take it one step at a time. It reminds me of the quote, "I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it." 

METACOGNITION

Last week in University 101 we learned about Metacognition. To some that may be a very complicated word...I know i didn't understand what it meant before the class, but it has to do with they way we think, and the way we think about what we think. It kinda has to do with the thoughts being produced as you are given an assignment and as you are tackling the assignment as well. It's funny because after learning about this process I realized that it's nothing NEW I have to incorporate into my study habits or life, because it's stuff that I'm already doing. I look at an assignment and make sure I know what it's asking and whether I can do it. I think about how i'm going to handle the assignment, and the steps that I'm going to take to complete it. I can do this by incorporating any skills and talents I already have, or by developing new ones. Without even thinking about what I'm thinking about I then evaluate how my approach is being effect and if I'm going to need to fix it in any way. And then lastly look at my end result and compare it to things i will change or do the same for future references. It might seem at first like a complicated process, but really it's just a natural thing I'm already doing, and have been doing since I've started school. It's way cool. Now that I'm aware of it though, it can definitely be a little more helpful.