Dr. Suess has always been one of my favorite authors, from when I first began to read to even now at twenty years old. Seeing this on the Course Announcements sort of just calmed me down because it is one of my favorite quotes. I love to learn and my favorite way to learn is through reading, as reading is probably my favorite pastime! I just think it is so valid and needs to be said more as our society goes more and more towards visual media, like TV and Movies, instead of using the written word to learn!
As I am finishing up the first week's assignments, I look back on what seems like a month with everything going on. One of the weirdest (and hardest) things to get used to was just writing in a blog format, as I have never done anything like that! It's odd thinking you are writing these assignments and stories for not just your professor to read, like most classes, but for everyone to read! For my first shot, I really liked how my Storytelling post turned out. I was so incredibly nervous about how I would go about the writing stories aspect of this class! But when I sat down to write the story off of the Nursery Rhyme I chose, it just sort of flowed. I had trouble with the ending, but even that came WAY easier than I was expecting! This week I did a very straightforward narrative in first person, next week, however, I would really like to try a new style and switch it up, maybe I will do one in third person.
I think one thing I struggled with this week was just planning out the time I would work on my assignments this week because I have never had an online class before. I found myself just working on them when I found time instead of planning out the time I would set aside to work on them. One thing that makes this hard is my Human Anatomy course takes up so much of my time that I am finding it difficult to set aside specific time to work on this class. It will take more effort on my part to really look at my schedule each week and block out time to do my weekly assignments!
I am most excited this week that Soonerthon Exec has started and I am able to begin working on my favorite event of the year! We have had our first Spring Exec meeting and I am so ready to get started, although I am also already nervous about time! I dont have a lot to do just yet, because we do not have a full exec yet, but I know in just a week or two we will be off and running!
Photo of my Soonerthon Exec Committee with our total
I am an avid Pinterest-er (if that is a word), although most of my Pinterest perusing happens on my iPhone app and not the browser option. However, as I progress through college, I have used the browser to pass time with Pinterest more and more.
Okay so I just discovered this SUPER COOL tool called the "Pinterest browser button" which puts a button next to the search bar on my safari and all I have to do is click that and it allows me to pin the website I am on to one of my boards! How freaking cool is that?
Screenshot of my Pinterest browser button
Taken August 2015
So after I downloaded and installed the button, which was super duper easy by the way, I started playing around with it. Now, one of my favorite boards on my Pinterest is my Food board, because who doesn't love to eat delicious food?! So I started googling recipes I was interested in instead of just searching Pinterest. When you click the button, it comes up with all of the pictures from the website that you can choose for your pin:
Screenshot taken August 2015
Then it pops up with another window with your personal Pinterest Boards and all you have to do is click the one you want it on!
Screenshot taken August 2015
And once you do that, you're done! It's on your Pinterest Board!
I love love love this option for pinning, as I can search more than just what is already on Pinterest, I can add my own websites that I find!
Here are some links to pins that I have saved with my new button:
When I hear the word "curation," the only thing that comes to mind is when I've heard of the job of being an Art Curator in TV and movies. I wouldn't think the word could apply to me and to my slightly-obsessives organizational skills. Curation in everyday life is simply searching, selecting, and organizing things in a thoughtful manner. The thoughtful manner is what caught my eye when I read that; how can I organize my life in a more thoughtful way?
I am a hyper-organized person, my Attention Deficit Disorder basically requires it, and one look at my planner and you would agree with me. My safari browser on my mac is also super organized, as I have a bookmark for everything I need, including the website I order tshirts off of!! In my mind, organization is key in order for me to get organized and get things done; if I don't write it down, I will not remember to do it. Bookmarks are my best friend, although the way safari does them is not my favorite.
I used Pinterest on a daily basis, like probably a little too much I have like 2,200 pins saved. I love to browse through things and save them to boards, thinking that I will at some point cook that recipe or buy those shoes, although it never seems to quite work out like that. But I have never used Pinterest for a class and that idea sort of intrigues me. The nature of this class being about stories and myths from so many cultures draws me towards Pinterest to use it to find new resources and save them in an organized way! Although I do wish that one had the ability to organize boards into over-arching folders. That way I could have a "Mythology and Folklore" folder and several different boards within that folder.
I am beyond exciting to research the idea of curation, especially the 'sharing' aspect of it, and I can't wait to apply this to not only this class but all of my classes!
This semester I am taking my most difficult and challenging course in my college career, Human Anatomy. Now don't get me wrong, I have had courses that have kicked my butt and ones that have taught me more than I could've ever thought, but Human Anatomy is just a whole other animal. This class alone meets for a total of 9 hours each week (even though it's only a 5 credit hour course) and has 16 optional hours each week outside of that. The main challenge I face in this course is the sheer magnitude of information I must know for each assignment, quiz, practical, and exam. The thought of tackling this class often brings anxious thoughts and feelings, but maybe a change in my thinking can help my motivation and my success in this class.
When i watched a video over the concept of Growth mindset way of learning, I immediately identified with the words Carol Dweck was speaking. My parents have always told me that I am intelligent, I learned to read at the age of 4 and never had much trouble in Elementary, Middle, or High School, and to me it was about just getting the grade I needed on the test. I hated doing that I considered "busy work" in high school if I had already mastered the concept; it wasn't about learning, it was about what I already knew and how to use that to get the grade on that next test.
As I got to college, that mindset began to change as I just didn't know
enough anymore to pass the tests without studying. I learned to love learning
and figuring out new things. Carol Dweck defines Growth Mindset as “... people believe that their most
basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and
talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a
resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” (source: The
Glossary of Education Reform) This is where
I believe I am heading, but I still have a long way to go in
changing my way of thinking.
This is where Human Anatomy comes in: with such a hard course, I really believe the only way for me to stay motivated and actually learn all of that material is to have a growth mindset. To believe that I can learn this and I can develop the study skills, even with I have small failures. I love to learn and I love everything that comes along with learning about the human body, now to work on my resilience and my confidence when I fail.
The first storybook that caught my attention was titled Tragically Ever After and that title alone intrigued me beyond belief. I am always up for a "fairy tale gone wrong" and I love the way the author gave a realistic spin on the all too often too perfect fairy tale stories. The topics that the author chose to write about, Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella, were very familiar to me from throughout my childhood, although the spin the author put on them in even just the introduction made me want to read about the all too familiar princesses again! The author has a very unique style that is exhibited in the introduction, they speak directly to you about what you are about to read and almost dares you to continue on. I loved the creativity shown in revamping classic fairytales and making me want to revisit those stories!
The next storybook that made me want to click and read more was titled Live On, University Legends. Admittedly, I will probably click on anything that involves the University of Oklahoma and this was no exception. The introduction to this storybook is fascinating, it begins with an Indian spirit chief explaining who he is and how his people came to Norman, Oklahoma. The author ties in the buildings of the University of Oklahoma and the spirits who are supposed to live there. The introduction definitely made me want to read more and more. I love how the author ties in something that the entire class has in common, the University, and uses vivid language to make you want to read more. The only downfall is some of the text is hard to read since it is dark text on a dark background.
The third storybook that stopped my eyes and made me want more was titled Flipped Scripts: History, written by the Vanquished. I immediately wanted to read this storybook, as the quote "History is written by the victors" was attributed to Walter Benjamin, although most think that Winston Churchill said this. The idea that the victor of the battle gets to rewrite history has always fascinated me and I could not wait to read more about this. The introduction takes an interesting turn as you learn that the stories are going to be told in the format of a talk show by Puff the Magic Dragon and the Dude. I love the idea of taking three villains from Greek Mythology and flipping the script and getting their stories! I think that is so important because often in Greek Mythology the villains only became that way because of hard life circumstances. This storybook was definitely fascinating and one of my favorites!
As I have begun browsing through the UnTextbook for this course, a few units have captured my eye and my curiosity! American Indian Tales I have always been curious about the American Indian Culture as Oklahoma is so rich in it and so many of my friends, including my boyfriend, have their heritage there. The tales that I have heard a little bit of in American Indian Folklore have always been so different from what I consider "traditional mythology," like Greek and Roman mythology and it makes me want to explore it further.
Robin Hood The tales of Robin Hood seem to be so ingrained in the American culture, yet I only know the children's adaptations, such as the movie "Robin Hood" by Disney, and not the actual story or where it came from. I am very interested to see how the actual folk tale plays out and how it compares to the modern adaptations we have today.
Egyptian Myth This one is considered one of the classic myths in my mind and yet I have never really researched the stories of this culture. They seem to be so starkly different from other types of mythology and I am very excited to learn about it.
Ovid I am a big lover of Greek mythology, stemming from my love of the "Percy Jackson Series" by Rick Riordan since childhood, and so the Ovid Unit brings fascination to my mind. I am very excited to learn more about these stories!
One of my goals in this course is to just go wherever the stories take me. I do not know a lot about mythology, so I would really love to learn more about different mythology and folklore from cultures all around the world!
My name is Ann-Marie Stowe and I am a junior here at the University of Oklahoma. I was born in Davenport, Iowa but I grew up only 45 minutes from Norman in Edmond, Oklahoma. I am the youngest of six kids in my family and was born a whopping 18 years after my oldest sister! My family are huge dog lovers, we have five! although the youngest Rosie is my favorite, and we love to foster dogs and puppies through the Edmond Animal Shelter and the Oklahoma Central Humane Society. I am a pretty big family person, it's one of the main reasons that I chose to stay close to home during my college years.
Photo of our youngest dog Rosie (July 2015)
I am currently studying Biology at OU with a Pre-Physician's Assistant tract. I am on the Executive Committee for CAC Soonerthon for my second year. If you want me to talk your ear off, just ask me about anything related to Soonerthon! Working each year for the kids of the Children's Miracle Network Hospital in OKC is the best part of my year! This year I am trying to raise over $5,000 so please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I don't pull my hair out from stress!
Here is the video from last year's total reveal:
If you have any questions about Soonerthon, please contact me or you can visit my page to learn what it is all about: Ann-Marie Stowe and Soonerthon
I also can talk about football for days, as it is my favorite sport to watch. Football season is the best time of the year, but its hard not being able to watch it with my dad now that I am in college.
Photo of me and my dad (May 2015)
Traveling is one of my biggest passions: in the last four years, I have had the opportunity to travel to London, Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Sydney, Melbourne, and Cairns! Foreign places intrigue me and being able to see these places around the world has shaped my thoughts and how I see the world. I am sort of a history nerd, so being able to see places with such a deep and rich history fascinates me. I have been able to see and learn about buildings and structures that were erected long before our country was even discovered! My favorite places were definitely Madrid and all of Australia! I think I liked them so much because they have a very laid-back culture, while still being large cities. I really love the idea of living in a city, but being from a suburb I cannot stand traffic or the sort of impersonal, fast paced attitudes; Madrid and Sydney had the big city vibe, but it didn't seem like everyone was in a rush to get someplace! People loved to stop and talk to me on the street and the culture was very inviting in both places!
Photo of me at the Love Lock Bride in
Paris, France (August 2013)
What drew me to this course was, in fact, me being sort of a history nerd; I love the concepts of myths and folk stories and the role they can play in culture. My favorite is Greek mythology, mostly from growing up reading the "Percy Jackson Series" by Rick Riordan. I hope this had helped y'all get to know me a little bit!
OVER the water, and over the sea, And over the water to Charley; Charley loves good ale and wine, And Charley loves good brandy, And Charley loves a pretty girl, As sweet as sugar-candy.
Over the water, and over the sea, And over the water to Charley; I'll have none of your nasty beef, Nor I'll have none of your barley; But I'll have some of your very best flour, To make a white cake for my Charley.
As school is about to begin, I am beginning to feel the stress as the morning approaches. One thing my mom taught me is to think of a favorite place when the stress begins to press down on me. So as this night is quickly ending and the beginning of the school is quickly approaching, I bring to my mind the image of a hammock on a sandy beach with a bright blue sky and a dark blue sea.
Beachfront view of a hammock in the Virgin Islands
Source: Flickr
When my mind is racing and thoughts are flying around, thoughts of this serene place where I have had so many amazing memories calms me down. Being able to go to the beach, any beach whether it be on a lake, a river, or an ocean, has always been my favorite place and has always been my place to calm down and relax. Places like South Padre Island, TX and Orange Beach, AL have always made me feel at peace and at home. One of my most memorable experiences in my college career has been being able visit the beaches of Barcelona, Spain. I hope to someday to be able to experience these places on a regular basis.
