Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Course Projects and Time Management (or Lack Thereof)

I think the most stressful thing any student can do is to go through and read every project that is to be completed for a class in detail. Of course it's beneficial to get a grasp of what's to be expected, but it can also be extremely terrifying. It's actually more scary than any Hollywood horror movie, any student can confirm this. I was forced to subject myself to this form of cruel and unusual torture and these are some of the thoughts racing through my mind as my fight-or-flight reaction kicked in.
Kelley, Ciara. "It's Almost Finals Week and This is an Accurate Representation of My Life." 12/06/2015 via twitter.com.
  • Upon reviewing the rubrics, I can safely say that I am wholly unprepared to take control of the reins on these projects. Reading through everything made me realize how little I know about types of writing that don't revolve around book reports or a traditional prompt. I thrive on structure and guidelines and I don't know how I will complete these projects without them. This will be one hell of an adventure that's for sure.
  • Honestly, despite my obvious hesitation, I am actually really excited to be able to write about a topic that I am genuinely interested in and actually take part in the conversation I'll be writing about. I could talk for hours about any aspect of psychology, so I am beyond excited to be able to have complete freedom in choosing my topic and which conversation I want to follow and talk about and how I choose to do so. I think these projects are going to be really eye-opening to the "real" world and I think it'll be a lot of work, but definitely worth it. 
  • Just by looking through the guidelines for all the major projects I know for a fact that I will need to go through and create personal deadlines for myself in order to stay on top of such a massive and individualized project. I also need to go through and make a guideline for each media format and major project to keep for myself and make sure that I'm staying on track and including the necessary elements. I definitely can't procrastinate and I need to make this class a priority. Actually my roommate, during finals week, had this great idea and planned out her entire day by the hour to make sure she stayed on task and didn't slack off. I need a system like hers for this class.
  • My past English teachers have prepared me by really focusing on research and how to use research to help shape my arguments. Also, my senior English teacher was a major freak about developing voice and I couldn't thank her enough for helping to make me feel comfortable with my writing.
  • I don't have any specific questions that popped into my head while reading over the assignment sheets, it's more like I'm walking through a misty haze of confusion. I understand the main points of each project; now I just need to solidify the little details. I'm sure that will happen the more we talk in class and I grasp a deeper understanding of the class dynamic.
Update: After reading Nicki Escalante and Jianna LoCricchio's post about their thoughts on the course projects made me feel a little better. I'm not the only one who's freaking out at least a little bit, which I'm starting to think now is normal. I feel like reading these posts completed the five stages of grief for me. I have finally come to terms and accepted the fact that I'm going to have to complete these assignments one way or another and that it might not actually be impossible. So thank you, Nicki and Julianna for helping me through these hard times. 

3 comments:

  1. Marisa once again, I admire your way of writing. I was really looking forward to what you had to say on the course projects-I hope that doesn't sound too creepy. But I am also very excited to do research on psychology and finding new controversies that have to do with recent findings. It's nice to know that I now have someone I can look to for some help. Your post is fun and intriguing and very relatable! Good job!

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  2. I really like how you have gone about writing this post. Even though it is rather informal and bullet-pointed, you still manage to come across as professional and reasonable (something that I admittedly wish I had a better grasp on). I think the only thing I would suggest is to have smaller, more concise paragraphs, but even then I don't really think that's an actual concern!

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  3. I admire how you're still excited about your topic even though you're worried about the genres you have to cover it in. Your formatting was nice to look at and informal but still came across as professional which is a balance I struggle with myself so I'm impressed at how well you pulled it off.

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