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Journal 7: Challenges & Strategies

 

Comparison of Experiences:

In form, this project is similar to many research papers I’ve written in the past.  The process of finding a topic, looking for credible sources, citing, writing, and the organization of the paper all seems very familiar.

The idea of integrating our personal life with academic work is pretty new and interesting.  Writing and researching more into a personal major makes you invest a little more into a project.  Investment in the form of time (if you get really caught up in all the articles and journals about your field of study) and investment of yourself (who you become later in life and what you choose to pursue is a reflection of you <— these are all only my opinions and how I view things, and may not apply to how anyone else experiences things).

 

Challenges:

When it comes down to content and the actual experience of writing the paper, this has to be the most difficult and worst experience I’ve ever had.  The project itself isn’t bad, it’s all the circumstances that relate to the project that have made completing the assignment difficult.  In the beginning of the assignment when I was in the process of formulating a research question based on my majors and career path, I was okay.  Not overjoyed, but not overwhelmed at the idea of conducting research based on my major.  In fact, it was really interesting and a little exciting.   I was genuinely happy with my major decision and content with the class and the assignment.

 

Throughout the process of working on the assignment, a whole stream of doubts erupted in my mind about the choices I’ve made regarding classes I’m taking for my major.  I was no longer passionate about studying something and that was tough to deal with.  That, combined with the general stress and workload that piles up right before a major vacation in the school year was pretty overwhelming.  I needed the time to sort out my thoughts in order to be in a healthy mental state, but there wasn’t time to do that, work on assignments, and sleep all at the same time.  Stress is always a huge battle to fight and I am not the best at dealing with it.

 

Generally, knowing how to progress in a paper and organizing the flow of it isn’t too much of a challenge, but there are a lot more components of a paper than I am used to working with.  Determining where the research is going can be confusing, especially since I coupled two majors together into a research project that deals with an extremely open ended question.

Timing has also been hard to deal with.  I am the type of person who needs to sit down and devote time and energy into something.  Having things spaced out or working on too many assignments at once scatters my brain until I can’t think or function because I don’t know where to start thinking.  Or, I am thinking about so much, I can’t distinguish on thought from the other.  The timeline of the research project feels short, but entirely unreasonable.  Before the project was assigned, I struck a very delicate balance between all my classes and getting closer to Spring Break, there were literally not enough hours of the day for me to work with.

 

Strategies:

Take a break.  I missed class on Tuesday because I hadn’t made any progress on the project and was so sleep deprived, I couldn’t function.  Not attending class is definitely not a great course of action to take, but sometimes it is the only thing you can do for yourself.  I was overwhelmed and needed the time to reset everything.  And, it was helpful.  Hopefully, it’s not something I ever have to experience and initiate again, but reallocating my time in the way that best benefitted me is going to short term not-great effects (missing class), but in the long term creates more productivity (surviving the rest of the week).

Organize and Create a Plan of Action.  I am neither a big picture person or a very detailed oriented person.  I am both.  And unless I’ve addressed the goal and steps to reach a goal and all the components involved, I will go in circles and accomplish nothing.  A lot of what I was doing for this project in the midst of life events, was meet the deadlines.  But that was it.  Only the deadlines part.  The content of my paper didn’t actually reflect progress and growth.  I was attempting to do the bare minimum and push the rest off until “later”, something I realized I will never have.  Quality over quantity.

 

Doing Things Differently

In the future, I would actually process the rubric and project assignments.  Convert the guidelines into something that is meaningful to me so that I am clear minded about all the components.  It’s hard for me to sit down and focus on something like that, but when I am able to, it’s actually far more helpful.  If something is beneficial to you, it’s never a waste of time.

 

Key Terms and Class Readings

I am always reminding myself of the 3 major aspects of writing: author, message, and audience.  What am I trying to say?  Where is this idea or sentences headed?  How does it play a role in the whole of the project?  Asking myself these questions throughout keeps me focused and helps eliminate unneeded info, where I shouldn’t concentrate one, and conserves time and energy.  

“This is Water” has the biggest impact on me and being aware of my surroundings (in this case the project) keeps the focus where it needs to be while addressing some concerns along the way.

Since my topic is so broad, “Everything is Remix” relates a lot to the paper.  I am taking what I know and am interested in and compiling it in a different, then sending that message out again.