Put Your Thinking Hat On

 

Write a brief blog reflecting your own thought process and strategies and exploring how that might be different from others (or the same). How will it benefit you in reaching your readers? Or challenge you? If you are trying to reach readers from a specific culture, how might you alter the way you share your message?
After reviewing the six different ways of thinking I realized that I think in the more "American & British" way. I like to get right down to the point with what I am trying to describe. In addition I like to think outside of the box when I put my thinking cap on. Sometimes when a problem arises and all of the obvious solutions to the problem aren't working I know that I need to think of other ways to solve it. This requires me to be creative with my thinking in order to come up with good ideas. I also like to think outside of the box becasue I like new and different ideas of doing things. Sometimes this can make it harder for me becasue as my mom would say I can think too hard about the issue and how to solve it. However my thinking hat, I believe is a combination of positive, creative and objective. Being creative is something that I have always been. But I also feel that it is important to stay objective while being creative with my thinking becasue if i don't it is possible to not be completely honest with myself. Staying positive is something good to do becasue its gives me hope that I can solve the issue with success. I think that my thinking hat can differ from others because of the very fact that every person has their own ways of thinking and feeling. Generally the way I think poses as a very positive thing but sometimes I realize it can be a hassle. Because I am a easy yet complex thinker and like to do things right the first time, it can get it the way and make things harder for me, when really all I have to do is something small. When I am trying to reach out to people who are of a specific culture, I try and think or say things that I believe they would understand the best becasue it makes it easier for them understand what I am putting on the table. For example, say I am talking to a 10 year old boy. I am not going to speak in words that are too complex for him to understand, but I will put my mind where I think his might be.

The Brain is a Wonderful Organ!

 Honestly I believe that I am relatively well balanced between bothe the left and right brain. This exercise really taught me alot about myself. After doing this exercise I realized that I am well organized and think things out before I do them but also I like to act on the impulses and spontaneity that I have. That can sometimes come around and bite me in the butt. I know that I have many strengths but it was rather hard for me not think of the things that I struggle with too. Because this was a strengths based activity, it was a little harder to complete. After doing this exercise and making the chart of my personal left and right brain strengths, I noticed that I tend to be a little more right brained than left brained. Even though I have lots of strong points with organization, thoughts, perfection, and strategies; I found that I prefer to be more social, creative, and connected with emotions. I like to listen to others and see their insight on certain things as well as give my own personal feedback and thoughts too. My everyday life can get stressful which cause anxiety, and that is something that I struggle with consistently. But I know that If I put my strengths to work to rather than focusing on my defects I can overpower the things that I don't do well with the things that I do.

Really? Only 6 More Weeks...

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope that everyone had a good time off from school and were able to have some successful self care time. As for me, I was catching up on all of my assignments from when I was in the hospital. But I am back and ready to do this. So far in all of my classes it has been good. But with our field prep course the senior year internship process is becoming stressful. It has been really hard to find a place all on my own as I am not in Humboldt County. I know I can do it, but it is going to require a ton of effort, and I am willing to put that in becasue this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. So therefore, I want to be properly trained and good experience. To think that this semester only has 6 more weeks is scary! we only have a year left before we graduate with our BSWs. Is anyone else feeling a little overwhelmed this semester? I just feel like I have too much going on in conjunction with six online courses. I know that it is my decision, but I also have obligations. And plus its not like I'm going out and partying, I am pretty much just working and doing school. I barely have time for myself or to even hang out with friends. And when I do have time all I want to do is sleep, cause I am so exhausted. I just hope that I do as well as I did last semester, becasue online has really helped me a lot and I love it. I plan on doing my MSW right after my BSW, but I haven't decided if I want to try and come back to Arcata and do it in person, or if I want to do it online. I am just thinking that it might be easier to do with everything more readily available so far as resources. Any thoughts, I could use it?

What a Week...8

Wow, so week 8 sucked for me. I was doing really good and then all of a sudden I end up in the hospital due to my asthma and vocal chord dysfunction...not so pleasant. I was there from the end of week 7 all the way through the end of week 8. So that meant that I ended up way behind on all of my work! For some reason this was the only class that I didn't see that we had an assignment. So that is why I am just posting now, I finally found what was supposed to be done. So from now on if I don't know, might as well blog! I was just glad that last week was spring break so I had a chance to get all caught up on my assignments. It's amazing what missing one week can do!Well I'm all back and ready to do this :) I wanna thank my instructors and group partners for being so supportive. It really means a lot. Being in the hospital is something that nobody ever wants. I was just thinking about how fast this semester is going by. To think that spring break has already come and gone is crazy! I hope everyone's semester is going well.But on a good note I found out that one of my best friend who is like a sister to me, got engaged and she wants me in the wedding! So that is super exciting. This is the first time that I have been in a wedding and I am just ecstatic. I cant wait to start planning, this year and a half is going to go by fast. So much planning to do, but its going to one memorable wedding, I can tell you that much.

Chapter 4: Why I Write

As I was reading chapter 4 this week I found it very inspiring! On page 40 of the book Why We Write: the politics and practice of writing for social change, when Jim Downs is talking about the reason why he chooses to write it really caught my attention. He mentions that the writing he does is intimately tied up in his desire to teach and in his conviction that through teaching and writing he is actively engaged in the transformative process. He feel that he writes because he cannot imagine and other tool through which he might address the reverberant violence of the past on his life and on the lives of those he cares about. This to me was something that was truly and deeply coming from the heart. Although I am not one that likes to write for pleasure, stress relief or even to just jot thoughts down I still find it easier to express my thoughts on paper where I have time to actually get my point across and make an impact. I like the idea of having our blogs because it has allowed me to get used to using personal and professional reflection as a too for my life in all different aspects! I have noticed that I can use it as a place to put my thoughts out there for myself and others. And maybe, just maybe others may be able to use what I have said to their advantage in their lives and learn from it. I know I have certainly learned from reading our colleagues posts and blogs each week.