Blog 3 - Goal Setting & Motivation

1.  Make a GPA goal for the Spring semester. What GPA would you like to earn?
- 4.0 GPA

2. Use the online GPA Calculator (at http://www.back2college.com/gpa.html) to figure out what grade you will need to get for each course in order to achieve this GPA. (There could be multiple combos - give me one.) List ALL of your courses - and corresponding grades you must earn to make that GPA
- All A's in my classes!!!

Next, read Dr. Phil's 10 Life Laws Article. Students in the past have really found this article to be thought provoking, I hope you will too. 

Now Blog These ?s:

3. For Each of the 10 Life Laws, write how this affects you, how can you relate it to your own personal life (could be academically, socially or something personal) your thoughts, etc.

 - Life Law #1 is very true. To succeed you must learn how to play the game. In this case, you need to learn how to play your teachers game. Once that is figured out then you should do all you can to beat the game! YOU CANNOT try to make the teacher play your game because, you are not the one with authority. The teacher is. However, you can learn how to play the teacher's game better than they can!

- Life Law #2 has a lot of sense behind it. If you think badly of every situation then bad things will come. As you play the victim then others will treat you as one. No one will treat you with any respect, but instead they will feel pity for you. There is a saying, "The body can achieve what the mind can perceive." That's really only a saying until you actually try it out!!! Once you start acting then you start seeing results.

- Life Law #3 has some sense. Depression in people is caused by a chemical addiction that is produce when you are sad, angry, or self punished. That's no way to live. The best thing to do is to look in the mirror and take an honest assessment. See your faults and instead of just punishing your self, change it! Change yourself for the better because, that's when the real rewards come. Change yourself to become stronger, and smarter instead of being depressed all the time.

- Life Law #4 as i said in number 3 you have to look at yourself in the mirror. Life Law #2 & #3 are connected because, you need to have a positive attitude to finally look at yourself in the mirror to make a serious no BS assessment. Once you know what's wrong then you can do what you need to do to change!!!

- Life Law #5 yeah... talk is definitely cheap except for rappers. SO unless you are a rapper then you should start thinking of doing something. Yes, pain is very motivational. In my case, my pain is from my broken pride because, of my poor showing in my first semester!!! I use my broken pride and try to rise myself up where I use to be and then beyond. However, you must get mentally ready because, to climb out of a hole, a big hole, you must be able to go through the uncomfortable even pain. As the U.S. Marines say, "Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body."

- Life Law #6 challenges your way life. Possibly what we perceive who we are. However, in a constant adventure to improve yourself. You must be able to be flexible with your way of life. Through time you will find out that this won't work so I should do this. Then again, something changes and you have to look at the situation in a different way to succeed in that environment. A person must be able to adapt to their surroundings!!! You shouldn't say what's wrong with life. It be best to analyze the situation and adapt accordingly!

- Life Law #7 is rather obvious. We all are the masters of our souls. It's our decisions that make who we are!! Managing our lives is essential. We must learn how to control emotions, fears, and how to be responsible. One best example is, Nelson Mandela. He was in jail for many years. Over 2 decades almost 3. He could have let his life crash into a ditch, but rather he read and kept pushing. His life management skills have taken to great heights to finally being President of South Africa and making a wonderful change in that country!

- Life Law #8 I call this playing chess. You gotta know what the best move is to control their actions. They treat you bossy and aggressively then you gotta think a few steps ahead to get the results you are looking for. If giving in doesn't give you those results then don't give in. It takes a lot of strength to be in control. However, it is not wise to be in so much control that you have become what you have despised.

- Life Law #9 is a big one for me. For years, I have had lots of hate and anger towards people for how they have affected me in life. However, once I've let go I realized that I only got myself to blame to have let them controlled me as they did. Never again, I will be controlled and affected so negatively like that! I've forgave them and got my power back! Once I did that I started to see improvements in my life. Thank God!

- Life Law #10 is very important. Goal setting is what everyone must do. Short term and long term goals are important to steer you through life. A long term goal could be that you wanna loose 50 pounds, but the short terms are 5 pounds a week. In a month, that's 20. In 2 months, that's 40, and in a half month that's finally 50. However if you are not specific on where you are heading then you will be stuck in neutral because, you haven't decided to put it in D and go!

Links Required:

1.  How Bad Do You Want It (Success) [Inspirational Video] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok8OHYQdDDI

2. 
- Invictus by William Ernest Henly http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/

- Leadership: The art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

-  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
Martin Luther King, Jr

Blog 2 - Education's Evolution

1. Your personal reaction to this video. (Does this make you view HPU any differently?)
- The video didn't offend me nor I disagree with him. I sincerely think that the universities today do not teach to inspire creativity, but teaches what previous people have achieved. So far at HPU it seems that this is true, but I don't know if I would have to wait 'till my later years. Maybe my first two years or so are to get me up to the level that I have to be to be creative in my last 2 or 1 years of college. Either way, a college degree is essential these days to get a job. So however you want to put it. You are going to need a college degree if you want to be payed more.

2. Discuss the importance of technology in today's educational system. Mention things like twitter, applications on your BB/iPod/Droid, internet, smart pen, kindle, podcasting, etc. and state how they are helpful in your education. 
-  Technology is so important because, the world has became accustomed to have information at their fingertips. We are able to look up maps, celebrities, WORLD news, type down notes faster than we can hand write notes, videos, etc. to further our education. However, technology like technology in the passed has to be used well so it can be effective. For example, a very primitive tool, the knife, can be use to make sculptures, and cook food. However, misusing this tool can loose you a finger, or maybe even a persons life. Extreme as it may seem it is not too far off. People today have committed suicide because, of cyber bullies, but more common misuses of technology is obsessive amounts of time on social networking sites. So my point is that technology is important and must be used well to be effective.

3. Somewhere in your blog entry, use the word "antiquated" and mention how the world of education is changing...
- Right now, as the video explained, higher learning is becoming obsolete because, the value of education is tumbling down due to technology. The internet makes it easy for us to obtain knowledge. So as the value of education dwindles the less we need higher learning institutions as it becomes antiquated. It is a shame really because, we see the government try to stop this. Just recently the government is trying to censor the internet. Which is why you see Google homepage image covered up by a black box. However, it won't go through because, in the first few hours 3,000,000 signed a petition against it. People would probably be clueless about this, but the internet, like usual, informed us. It's also a shame because, I'm going to spend 160,000 dollars.

 Link:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzi2RIt8_nk

1. What are the reasons you put off doing academic related tasks? Identify the reasons and explain.
- Well last semester I've had lots of personal issues in determining if I wanted to stay in college or not. I really want to serve in the military so in my head I thought to just enlist, but I went to college to respect my parents wishes. Because I went to college for wrong reasons I had the wrong motivation to do homework. However, now I've decided that I will stay and be an officer after college. Not for my parents, but for me!

2. There are several ways to overcome procrastination. How do you think you could overcome procrastination?
- In my expert opinion on procrastination, believe that you got to be mentally prepared to overcome unpleasant work. Procrastination is when you find something more pleasant to do rather than the unpleasant like homework. However, once you mentally prepare yourself that some of the homework will be unpleasant and just grind through it. Then you would see yourself working harder! I guess some people want to look at homework like it should be fun, but not work. Well, at least I did.

3. In the "Overcoming Procrastination" article it stated that 90% of students procrastinate and of these students, 25% are chronic procrastinators - who usually end up dropping out of college. Where do you fit in? Explain your answer.
- Well first off I think 100% of students procrastinates, but I am not a chronic procrastinator. I say that because, I put off work more for lack of motivation, or wrong type of motivation. It just didn't matter to me. Once I made college matter to me on my personal level then doing all this work became a lot easier.

4. The "Procrastination 101: Blame it on the Computer" article talked about how easy it is for college students to waste time on the computer. Do you believe you may be wasting too much time on the computer? If so, how could you try and minimize it?
- Yes I did last semester. This semester I have minimized my computer time. I have only certain times I get on Facebook. In the morning as I wake up and during at night when I am done with my academic work day such as homework, classes, etc. Also if anyone texts me I reply with, "I am busy my I text you later." That way I won't be distracted by my phone either. A trick that helps me focus is to put on headphones and play Dubstep. There is usually no words so it helps me zone out into my work. I play it loud enough so I can't hear my surroundings.

Procrastination Links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJygV0Epqc

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201109/procrastination-oops-where-did-the-day-go

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/science-and-sensibility/201006/procrastination-test-uncover-delay-patterns

10 Things to Succeed in College!

A.

1. Motivation
2. Resolution
3. Mental Stamina, college is long and mentally draining because, of the homework so you must be able to break down the homework. Don't look at a big picture and say, "I'm going to be destroyed!" Break down the homework and take everything one at a time.
4. Friends to enjoy college
5. Sense of pride in your work
6. Short term goals that are achievable.
7. Long term goal that the short term goals work up to.
8. Good relationship with the teachers.
9. Know that everything is not going to be fun and prepare yourself mentally for long hours of work.
10. Tell yourself don't quit everyday. Never quit.

B.

1. working habbits
2. better organization skills
3. better studying skills.
4. how to take notes
5. enjoy college a little bit more

C.

I had no reaction. I knew what I did and knew I wasn't going to be let go without a consequence.

D. My grade goal is an A!