Online Education Review

This was my first online class, and I enjoyed it! It was nice to be able to work on the class when it was best for me! It was a challenge to stay on top of things, and there were a lot of times I forgot about stuff. If I did not have D2L reminding when things were due, I would have completely forgot about assignments. Remembering was my only struggle, mostly because I am terrible at scheduling things, and if I do not see it, I will forget. A normal class, I am reminded of stuff every time I am in class, where as in this class I always forgot until D2L reminded me. I personally will not take another online course if I do not have to, only because I am not organized enough to constantly remember. If I was more organized, most of my classes would be online!

(Image from Prophix)

General Education Review

I personally hate that Gen. Ed. classes are specified already. Now, I have never taken a Gen. Ed. class that I haven't somewhat enjoyed; however,  I also put all of them at the bottom of my priority list because I am trying to get into PT school and science GPA is everything. I love the idea of Gen. Ed. classes, I just wish we could pick any one we wanted. I do not like how we have to have an upper and lower division and a western, artistic form, and non western. I would love for a university to allow me to just pick any class I wanted that was not already required for my major. I would of take an intro business class, or an intro engineering class if I could have. Both of those areas are of somewhat interest to me, and I would have loved just a bit more info (just because) about either of those areas. I also would of taken more psychology classes as well. I was only required two psych classes, and I wanted to take more because, not only does psych fascinate me, it would also benefit me as a PT. I feel Gen. Ed. classes are a great idea, but they need more freedom. The only ones that should be required are Government, Comp I and II, and History. It is stupid for a student that is a business major to have to take a science with a lab to graduate. It is also stupid for an english major to have to take pre calc to graduate. The student should be allowed to pick what Gen. Ed. and elective classes he or she takes.

(Image from Meme Generator)

College Writing Review

My major is Health and Exercise Science, which means my course load is really heavy on the science side of thing. Because of my mostly science courses, I never really focused on writing. My College writing has been a huge struggle to say the least. If I have to write a paper that (Besides a lab report) that is more than three pages, I am struggling. Thankfully though I have friends that excel in writing, and they are always checking and rechecking my work. The writing center is something I am always taking advantage of as well. I know writing is very important in life, and I wish I was better at it. Maybe towards the end of college, when my semesters are not as busy, I can improve my writing skills. The feedback this class offered was very beneficial and did help to improve my writing skills, so I am thankful for that for sure. I would be lying if I said I enjoyed writing blog post, it was definitely a pain for me. Expressing my thoughts by writing is not for me. I would rather draw, read, or talk to express myself. I know I am the minority on that, but what can I do?

(Image from ClipArtPanda)

Extra Reading Diary: Grimm (Crane) Fairy Tales

The Three Spinsters was such a great story. When I was reading this story from the Grimm (Crane) Unit, I thought I had the ending figured out. The girl promised to allow them to attend her wedding if they spun for her. I just knew the girl would forget or change her mind and than the women seek revenge. That is usually what happens: girl promises, girl backs out, girl gets cursed or some crap like that; however, this story was just a good story. The girl needed help and the three ladies helped her with only a very small request. Both parties held up their end, and the girl even got the blessing of never having to spin again! It was a very fun story to read, and the happy ending was what made it so much fun!

(Image from Wikimedia)

Storytelling Week 14: War's Effects

I looked out my window to peer into the night, hoping to calm myself. I was covered in sweat and my heart was still pounding on the inner walls of my chest. I swung my feet around and sat on the edge of the bed, taking deep breaths to try and slow my heart rate down. The war never allows me sleep anymore. The flashbacks constantly keep me awake. I pray that the war will end soon, for the sake of the others still having to fight. The flashback that woke me up tonight was the time I was captured by the enemy. I have never seen someone enjoy torturing another human so much, until I met my torturer. He did not seem human most of the time. When I would look in his eyes, it felt like I was looking into a black hole. He had no soul at all. The only facial feature that he was his terrible smile. His smile always sent chills down my spine. The physical abuse I endured is something no one should ever experience, and I do mean no one. I do not care how wicked they are, this man crossed the line even the most wicked people would not dare to. He knew every aspect of the human body, and knew how to inflict the most pain possible, while keeping me conscious and alive. He started with the toes and fingers; first ripping of the nails, than cutting the bones in half, and finally removing the whole thing. After that he worked through my chest and stomach, slashing away at all the muscle and perforating my intestines. The pain was so intense that my body grew numb to it all, but some how he knew I was and would pause so I could gain feeling again. I do not know how he kept me alive and conscious the whole time. I just wanted to die, but every time I lost too much blood, he would bring in more pints to keep me attentive. What monster keeps storage of blood to be able to torture someone longer? I just do not understand the monstrosity of that man, nor can imagine how black his soul must have been.

I do not know how I survived nor how they found me. I didn’t know where I was, but I did know I was deep underground. The last thing I remember was the walls shaking and followed by a huge explosive light. I lost consciousness, and woke up apparently weeks later in a hospital. The first words I heard after months of silence was, “you are safe now, you are safe.”I kept those words in the front of my mind at all times. They are the only thing that calms me down. “You are safe now, you are safe.” With one last deep breath, I laid back down to sleep again.

(Image from TripAdvisor)

Author’s Notes: I adopted this story from the Dante’s Inferno unit. Dante describes vivid scenes of torture and despair. I wanted to try to translate that into a more modern and practical time. My character suffers form post traumatic stress from the war he fought in. He witnessed monstrous things like Dante did. The only differences is Dante’s was in a dream and saw what was happening, my character had to live through it and it still continues to haunt him. My goal was to make everything more practical so it is easier to relate and sympathize with my character. Dante’s Inferno is very dark, but for some it is really hard to relate to and be impacted.

Reading Diary B: Grimm Fairytales (LibriVox)

The story that I enjoyed the most from the latter half of the Grimm (LibriVox) unit was The QueenBee story. I have never heard that story before, and it really caught my attention really quick. I liked how the smaller brother was so kind hearted and that it paid of for him in the end.  I also like to hear the stories when the nice ones win. The younger brother apparently could not offer a lot to the group; however, because he was so kind, others were willing to help him out. We never really know how being loving and kind will pay off or even if it will, but I truly believe that kind hearted people win in the end. Present time, that doesn’t always seem like that is true, but I think it still is. Sometimes it just takes a longer time to reap the reward. The younger brother received his reward pretty quick, and his kindness definitely paid off as well. He got to be freaking king with a beautiful wife. I’d say he won compared to his brothers. Even though his brothers got wives too, they only got wives and not kingship.

(Image from GeoCaching)