Jesika's Blog

The Turtle and the Geese (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The Turtle and the Geese Thi s story was about how two geese were trying to help a turtle to get somewhere since it couldn't fly. The turtle had to bite onto a stick that way the geese could carry him to their destination, and all the turtle had to do was keep his mouth shut. However, while in the air, the turtle heard some people talking about him and the geese, so he decided to respond to their comments. Thus, leading to the death of the turtle because he didn't keep his mouth shut. I like the lesson in this story because the turtle was not thinking things through before speaking. I also didn't understand why the turtles wanted him to keep his mouth shut because he didn't grasp the underlying meaning. Because he wasn't thinking things through, he ultimately suffered the consequence.  The Foolish, Timid Rabbit I also found this story interesting because of the lesson found within the story. This was ...

Krishna and Rukmini on a Chariot Driven by Ganesha (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) I'm excited to explore the different types of reading options that are available to us. One of the options that I'm interested in is the Amar Chitra Katha comic books, specifically the one about Krishna and Rukmini . Growing up I remember hearing about the love stories of Krishna and Radha from my mom, but I never really heard about Rukmini. I'm also intrigued by the anthology version of the Mahabharata . I think it would be really interesting to listen to the various authors and the styles they tell the story. Another reading I'm fascinated by is called Sita, Promila, Shakuntala by Sunity Devee. I like how the author was a women's rights activist, so I'm definitely interested in looking into her work. There are ton of other great reading options, but these are just some that stood out to me.

I know that managing your time is really important, but I have to admit I'm not the best at that. Sometimes, procrastination gets the best of me. The two articles I read on time management were How to Beat Procrastination and 3 Steps to Recapturing Time . Both of these articles were quite insightful. One of the tips from the second article I will definitely use will be saying no. I want to start prioritizing better, which means I might have to say no to certain things here and there. My biggest challenge this semester will be trying to complete my assignments ahead of time. I quite struggle with this and usually wait till the last minute to do an assignment. This semester I want to change that and try to get ahead, which will make my life so much easier. I find that keeping a planner helps me a lot and seeing what I need to get done. Planning things out is a great way of getting things done in a timely manner. (Time Management Clock from Pixabay )

For this class, I'm quite impressed with all the different types of tools and software we will be using. In most my previous online classes, we did not use many of these tools, so I think it will be fun to utilize the various tools for an assignment. Some of these tools are not new to me like bookmarking, image editing, or Google Docs because I have used them before in previous classes or assignments. However, I am new to blogging so it will be interesting to use these different tools for my blog and learning how they can help me. I'm still learning how to blog, so hopefully I get better at it! (Laptop. Source: Pixabay )

My first of impression of this class was how different the structure was from any other courses I have taken in college. I like how this class gives students creative freedom, and the assignments are interesting. Before this class, I have never blogged, so this is definitely a cool way to do the assignments and expressing myself. Also, out of all the assignment I'm most intrigued by the storytelling. I think it will be fun creating a story my way and seeing what I come up with. Another thing I'm excited for is all the different extra credit opportunities. The extra credit assignments that grabbed my attention are the growth mindset and HEART. I was quite interested in it after learning about Carol Dweck and the concept of growth mindset. Overall, I think this class will be a fun and exciting.  (Created by Jonathan Rolande; source Flickr )

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or much about the growth mindset concept until I watched her videos on it. I found it very interesting and definitely will look more into it. For me, I do struggle at times when I didn’t know how to solve a problem or was faced with a difficult challenge, but I always push myself and attempt the problem. My academics are important to me, so I always try to get good grades but sometimes that doesn’t happen, which does make me feel like I failed at times. One thing I have learned while in college is that grades are not everything. I attempt to push past the fact I didn’t get the grade I wanted to and look on ways I can improve and do better next time. One of my personal goals has always been to work hard and stay focused. In college, I’ve found various ways that help me in balancing all different things in my life. So, having a growth mindset is very beneficial in many ways. (Quote by Roger Clemens retrieved from Flickr )

Hello everyone, my name is Jesika Patel and I’m a senior at the University of Oklahoma. My major is Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry, and I’m also Pre-Dentistry. My goal is to get into dental school and become a dentist. I actually just took the DAT (Dental Admission Test) a couple of days before school started, which was stressful. Sadly, I spent most of my summer studying for the test, but it wasn’t too bad. I also was volunteering at a dental clinic in the city, which was fun and a good way to get some experience. I was going to apply this following cycle, but decided to take a gap year instead to gain some more experience and to make my application better. A little background about me is that I was born in Tampa, Florida and my family moved quite a lot before coming to Oklahoma, which is where we lived the longest. Although, my parents moved to Georgia my freshman year of college because they wanted to live closer to my other family me...