Foothill Honors Program strengths and weaknesses

I think that there are several strengths and several weaknesses to the Foothill Honors program. I will start with the strengths: the Honors program is widely recognized and offers many excellent opportunities to students who are members. This can come in the form of a more certain college application process, professors who are more dedicated to the subject material, and other educational opportunities that may entail attending meetings and meeting new people. Also, the honors students are very dedicated to their coursework, and as such taking honors classes is much more intriguing because of the increased level of participation. Now for the downsides: I don’t think that the institution is very well organized. I always see last minute emails and frantic hurrying around for college applications to be reformatted and submitted. I know that this is not always Foothill’s fault, but it seems ridiculous to me when an email gets sent out at 11 am telling honors students last minute that an UCLA representative will be dropping by from 11 30 am until 12 30 pm, and that this is the only chance for them to ask questions. Another issue with the honors program: unclear guidelines. The honors program was laid out to me briefly for 5 minutes before I was accepted, and since my admission I haven’t learned much more about what I need to do to graduate. I hear that the requirements to graduate the program, as well as the requirements for transfer applicants to UC’s, has changed within the past year, and I would like to be informed and stay up to date on this kind of information since it will be pertinent to me this coming fall! I wish there was a website with up-to-date information pertaining to a variety of subjects that Honors students may be interested in (if there is a website, I’ve never heard of it!)

Steve Jobs Graduation Speech

I thought that Steve Jobs’s speech was definitely an interesting read. I think that his first part about connecting the dots directly applies to most every ambitious student. Personally, I do not always know where I am headed or why I am going there, but sometimes I just follow my gut intuition because that’s what feels good and right. I think that it’s very hard for adolescents to stray off the “beaten path” and to instead pave their own. Being individualistic and pursuing your own interests is definitely something that is easier said than done. Due to our ever changing society, there is no set “plug-and-chug” formula for financial and personal success, and this I believe is something that bothers a lot of younger students. They may feel lost because they haven’t discovered their purpose yet. Steve Jobs hits it right on the head of the nail when he says, “you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something.” Steve Jobs admits that he dropped in on courses that he legitimately thought would have no practical impact on his life, and yet years later these courses allowed him to make a major technological innovation that has had a significant affect on computers. With this in mind, I think it’s important to be outgoing; do not limit yourself to what you are comfortable with!

non-procrastination weaknesses

I think that some of my other weaknesses would largely be related to stress. I get really stressed out when working on any kind of project because I always take everything so seriously. I always have to apply myself until I am spread too thin. There are rarely projects that I can simply “half-ass” in order to complete them up to satisfaction of the teacher. Rather, most projects I end up spending most of my time perfecting the product until I finally feel comfortable presenting it. Although this could be a potentially good trait, I think that it’s limiting in the sense that I could be accomplishing other tasks instead of perfecting the one that I’ve been working on already.
Another learning related issue would have to be my organization. I am fairly organized throughout the quarter, but when grades come out I have been known to dump my school work in the corner of a closet. For the past few years I have regretted this, and I think that a possible solution would be to upload some of my most favorite scholarly projects onto an eportfollio so that they can be saved timelessly, without damage to the original copy (ripped / missing pages etc). I think that this would be a great way to reflect on my past achievements.

paul graham procrastination

http://paulgraham.com/procrastination.html
I really liked this article because it introduced the idea that a procrastinator could actually accomplish something more important when trying to put off tasks. The example of the absent minded professor clarified this concept. I had never before thought I would come across an efficient procrastinator. Arguably, these individuals are putting off trivial tasks that cannot be ultimately avoided; when they can be objectively completed they will take more time than they might have taken if they were completed earlier. However, this is the opportunity cost of pursuing much grander tasks that are also arguably more important. Because, as the author cites, large tasks often involve a time block as well as the right mood, these tasks have finite time frames in which they can be completed. With this in mind, I think that it’s much more important to accomplish the large tasks when the body is feeling capable, and to save the trivial stuff for later when you feel like procrastinating by doing something less important. Also, I’ve never thought about the concept that when you interrupt somebody from a large task, they lose not just the time spent running the errand, but also the time they could have spent working on their project (so the effects are seen 2x).
After reading the article I think I would organize type A, B, and C procrastinator’s differently. Type C procrastinators, those who do things that are more important, are the most efficient. Meanwhile, type A is the second best, because at least those people are relaxing instead of working on trivial tasks. Group B is the worst, because those people waste their time doing tasks that are unimportant, and they could either be relaxing or accomplishing something worth their while!

cal poly procrastination

CalPoly Paper
I think this essay had a lot of valid points. To begin with, I found myself possessing two of the characteristics that are correlated with procrastination. This helps me isolate my problem area’s and focus on them next time I am faced with a task (my characteristics that make me victim to procrastination are my stubbornness and coping with pressures). I also identified why I often procrastinate. I singled out the reason: time-consuming. I am never fearful that the project will be too difficult, that I am not smart enough to complete it, or that other’s will laugh at my mistakes. My only reason for procrastination is thinking in my head that the project is going to take a lot of time, and as a result I begin to feel overwhelmed. This is usually the point which I decide that procrastinating would ease stress levels and I could have more enjoyment pursuing something else. I think another small problem with me is that when doing large projects, I do attempt to perfect my work. This means that I am often dissatisfied with the “finished” product, which eventually goes through a series of extensive revisions before being submitted. This means a lot of extra time spent on a product that is only marginally better than its predacessor. This may not be worth it, and I may want to reconsider the amount of time spent revising.
On a side note, I tried out the exercise involving listing the reasons why I am procrastinating a particular project, and was almost immediately overwhelmed by all of the reasons I had! I never knew I had so many excuses to put off a project until I wrote them down and made myself conscious of them. I think this is again a great way to realize that my reasons for procrastinating are trivial and can always be overcome with a little bit of determination and perseverance.
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.html

structured procrastination

I think that this article was very interesting. It seems to make sense as well, which kind of scares me! Basically, I read the article and learned that by objectively completing tasks that are lower on the priority list, a procrastinator can put off the monumental tasks until they are replaced by even greater tasks. At this point, the once monumental tasks have now moved lower down on the priority list, and as a result procrastinators won’t feel so bad about accomplishing these objectives. Although it seems kind of confusing, I think this idea has a lot of good potential in a procrastinator’s life. I know that I procrastinate at times, and have noticed myself taking care of lesser tasks as a way to distract myself from what’s really important. By consciously pursuing a similar way of procrastinating bigger tasks, I do think it’s possible to make my life more efficient. As somebody who is always stressed out by large projects, I will definitely be trying this out within the next few weeks to see if it makes me more efficient or at least less stress full!
http://www.structuredprocrastination.com/light.php

The Journey

In my life, I am currently on a journey towards completing my education. This journey is, although a life long process, a big part of an adolescent’s life. I have received the call, I know exactly what it is I would like to achieve. I would like to educate myself in a variety of fields such that I am prepared for life’s challenges. The allies are my friends and family who support me through my quest, even when I’m feeling unmotivated. The aspect I would like to draw my focus towards is the ogre’s that make my journey challenging. I think that my enemies would be the bureaucratic institutions to which I am applying, because they make the application process so much more tedious and difficult to complete without being stressed out. Also, ogres also come in the form of difficult classes that pile up assignment after assignment with no legitimate purpose or goal in sight. They could also be teachers or employers that add additional stress when I am already at my limit. Another big ogre is Time, because it is always acting as a pressure to speed up my studies. Furthermore, although friends and family can be allies that support me in times of need, they can also be ogres because they have expectations of me as a student and as a result this places additional stress upon my life. These factors definitely make simple tasks much more strenuous as well difficult to overcome. I am definitely immersed in the road of trials right now, because currently I am enduring the “hardships” of various classes as well as beginning applications. These are the challenges, ogres, which I must overcome before continuing on my path to a higher education. In the process of facing these ogres, I rely more heavily upon my allies and myself. This “Road of Trials” began in High School and will continue to pose challenges to my journey up to the point of College graduation

Digital Story Telling

I would like to preface by saying that I do not think I was successful in finding the correct website as per class criterion. However, I did do some research as to what digital story telling is, and I could see how it definitely relates to e-Portfolio’s. Basically, creators of these portfolio’s could use them to document their progress as they move closer towards their goal or objective. It’s an idea that I have been fond of since the beginning (and probably before, but simply unaware) of this class. I think that it’s important to catalogue and document all your personal experiences, because memory itself is not sufficient in recalling all the beautiful experiences life has to offer. With the aid of technology, it is possible to put an idea or experience into a digital medium. This could come in the form of a text, audio clip, video segment, or graphic representation. If I was a student, I could post up major various assignments that I have completed during my stay at various educational institutions (each assignment would be comprehensive and contain rough drafts and a final copy). If I was an athlete, I could document my progress towards a regional qualifier, posting video’s and results from various meets. The possibilities are endless, because it is all dependant on the content that the user is inputting. The basic aspect is simple though, digital storytelling is a way for people to create cultural artifacts in a new and unique way that also has an eminent purpose within our life time. This can come in the form of self reflection and documentation for others.

Google Docs/Apps

I think the applications offered by Google sound promising. Before watching the video, I will admit that I was biased towards Google because I have used their programs in the past and they are all extremely easy to use, very organized, and have lots of potential. After watching the video, I definitely can say that I would have used Google Docs in the past had it been available. It would make editing drafts of documents much much easier. I think that this application would be useful in a lot of scholarly applications, as well as publishing companies. Basically, any field that involves an update of written text could benefit from Google Docs because it would aid in the organization and syndication of material. As a whole, I think utilizing a variety of the Google Apps would make the organization of an e-portfolio a lot easier. However, my personal interpretation of these programs is that they themselves are not a medium for creating an e-portfolio, but they are rather just a means to organizing various documents and information into one source. I would consider them to be excellent organizational tools, and they are definitely worth considering when creating an e-portfolio or embarking on any kind of project worth documenting for that matter. I definitely do not undervalue the service that Google is providing, but would it be too much to ask for them to compile all of these applications into one program called Google e-portfolio? It may be different using this set of tools in practice, but when I first looked at Dr. Barrett’s diagram of how one could use the variety of applications it looked to be extremely crowded and visually distracting/confusing. There wasn’t a linear process; there were no common “steps to success” or “plug and chug” formula.