Brighter Future

In order to make progress and get what you want, you have to push towards those goals by putting in action and planning.

After reading my entire blog, I am pleased to see the things I've done to work towards my goals and the accomplishments I've made. When I read about the certain things I asked and did, I began to think to myself saying that I would not have done this if it wasn't for this class. I am a person that usually only do certain things just to get by and anything I felt was most important towards my degree. By doing the different exercises given in Sher's "Wishcraft" I have learned to be more determined about getting the best out of my education. I've made things that seem so small a big part in my life and I've learned to go get what I want in a more aggressive way. After meeting up with certain academic advisers, I began to look at my future in a more positive way. I began to start thinking about what I want to do after my undergraduate years and what I need to do in order to make that happen. "Leadership for Change" class has helped me to start planning ahead and think about the small and big for my life-time goals.

I interviewed quite a few people who were aspiring teachers, teachers presently as well as retired teachers. Hosting all of these interviews was the first time I have done this. The interviews helped me to realize what I am actually getting myself into as far as becoming a high-school teacher and what the work will be like during undergrad as well as after. The three things that I liked most about about "Leadership for Change" was the Barbara Sher's "Wishcraft" book, the documentary entitled "The Secret" and the "Black List" Documentary. When I think back on this class these were the three things that stuck with me and stood out the most. The three things that I least liked about the class was, well there is only two things that I can think of which is the Komives book and the buddy system. I really enjoyed this class and I believe that by taking away Komives and the buddy system, we would be able to still accomplish what has to be and have been accomplished throughout the semester. I don't really feel as if this class needs any improvements because I feel as if everything was given in a even proportion. Overall I'm happy with my progress throughout this semester and I am looking forward in continuing my next steps planned out on my planning wall. I can't wait to the day that I can look back and see that I have accomplished my goals that I physically wrote out as my life-time goal.

STAYING ON TRACK

The steps I chose for this year to take in furthering my career in becoming a high school teacher was take the basic skills test and pass it, register for content area test, enroll in requirede education courses, speak with advisor about classes and graduation timing and last study and complete every homework assignment for classes to raise g.p.a. As of now I have completed every major step that I have scheduled out that is most important in getting my degree. As of now all I'm waiting for is to see my grades for the semester and continue to study for courses that I have finals in. I have committed to study throughout everyday with mini activities and hobbies in between, that way I wouldn't be cramming alot of information in my brain and not be stressed.

I met with another friend who is majoring in the same major as myself. I decided to choose her because she will be done this year and I wanted to match my accomplishment and future classes and tasks with those that she took. I told her about everything that I gave myself to complete for this semester. She congratulated me on finishing my goals for the year. She asked me about my studying for the english courses and the gpa for my major courses. I replied saying that I was right at a 3.0 for my major courses. She continued to stress the fact that a 3.0 is required at uic for teaching of english major students. She gave me certain points and excellent teachers she had in furthering her years of attaining higher than a 3.0 in her english class. She gave me advice of what she did to keep her 3.0 and higher and what she is facing meanwhile. She encouraged me and reassured me that I am well qualified and able to pass every course at uic with a b or better. She gave me her contact information and let me know that I can contact her at any time and date.

Being that I stated I completed the last steps I scheduled for this year as well as the first couple of steps for 2010, the only thing that was left for me to plan for was to study study study. I decided instead of actually studying with hobbies in between that I would just continue to study harder than ever. Keeping in mind that a 2.5 is required after this semester in order to apply for candidacy in February. I figured that by studying having a 2.5 or higher is waiting on me in the future. I also commit to registering for English 222 course, in hopes of helping other students who may need help with english papers. By registering for English 222, I can get a head start feel of how it would be with a real student one on one in helping a UIC student. I commit to having more than 15 credit hours for the spring semester, in which I feel that I am able to achieve and complete.

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

My Plans for this week was to finish my zoo report and to meet with an advisor about applying for candidacy in the spring semester. The zoo report consisted of me attending a zoo and observing the behaviors of apes/monkeys. I seen different type of monkeys. The zoo report consists of three pages about what I observed at the zoo. I thus far finished 2 and a half pages of the zoo report. The report is due thursday so I decided that I would fully complete the zoo report by Tuesday, if not Monday.

The second thing I did was meet with an advisor this past Tuesday. It wasn't a scheduled appointment so I met with an advisor who I've never met (I usually like to stick with the same advisor each time, but since I planned it I pushed myself to do it). I asked her about the whole applying for candidacy for student teaching and she responded that I was moving in the right direction with other positive responses. One thing she said that hit me that kind of made me nervous was that I would have to have a 2.5 G.P.A. to apply for candidacy. Im currently not at a 2.5, but after this semester I'm quite sure that not having a 2.5 would not be a factor for me. I began to ask her what steps I should take and what it would be like if I don't have a 2.5 by the spring. She responded that not having a 2.5 in the spring would cause me to get an extra semester added to my college experience because there are only certain times where you can apply for candidacy. I became a little worried and this thought became heavy on my mind throughout the week.

With the thought of not having a 2.5 by the spring on my mind, I looked forward to a buddy meeting. I was unable to get in touch with my original buddy that I chose, so I chose someone else who would tell me what I needed to hear as well as encouragement. I told her about my plans for the upcoming week and what I planned on doing. I also told her what I planned to be in the near future and what progress I made. I mention the meeting with my advisor and what was said to me about the 2.5 and candidacy and I let her know that I became a little worried. She told me that I was able to do it, and that I need to start seeing what is most important in my life (as far as goals) and start working towards those goals. Although she is not apart of my class, she agreed to speak to me every week and even dedicate a day to study with me. She reassured me that good grades comes with hard work and studying, all of which is easy. She stated that, "If you have good grades, then your G.P.A. will move, your work will show in how much your g.p.a moves." I was happy to have this buddy meeting because it helped me to realize that I still have more tests and papers to ace to keep up my good grades.

Success Come With Hard Work

The one thing I chose to blog about on that was on my planning wall was studying and passing every test and papers with an "A" and settling for a "B. Yes studying and preparing for tests and papers are easy tasks to fulfill but I feel that studying and prep. aration are great keys in accomplishing a goal. My major is teaching of English, which consists of lots of reading, writing and quizzes. When it comes to studying and preparations for tests and paper, I am one who tends to procrastinate and wait until the last minute. I decided on this past week that I would take at least 2 hours out the day and study or prepare for any upcoming papers or tests, even if they are 3 weeks from now. Sounds simple, but I feel as if I'm a very extroverted person and putting my work and schooling before anything everyday was a big accomplishment to me. I study normally about 3 times a week, but studying everyday was hard. Although studying and preparing for upcoming quizzes and finals everyday was a little challenging, I learned to push away from things that can actually be a stumbling block in my journey in becoming a teacher. The next step for me to take upon completing the basic skill test to become a certified teacher is complete the content area test. I took time out to look up the upcoming dates to take the content area test and made preparations to take the content area test (ENGLISH-only) on February 13, 2010.

I experienced the "Let Them Be Mad" resistance on this past week. I am expected to work hard and do everything in a certain manner, whether its my boss 0r family. I am always expected to do everything perfect and strive for the best, because of that reason I tend to stress alot about different things. When I stress I like to talk about what is bothering me. I often keep things to myself due to survival fear. Talking things out usually ends up with someone fussing with not much support. I usually like to make everyone happy or please everyone. To get around the survival fear, I ended up finding someone who gives support and express my feelings. I also put away or stop doing certain things that wasn't necessary, in order to relieve some stress. I learned that I can't make everyone happy and that my happiness is the most important. Putting my happiness first helped me to overcome certain fears.