Midterm Grades

Unfortunately I was unable to access my midterm grades this week. an issue came up with my financial aid package. Not a big deal, my mom has to come in and sign something for me, then it gets reinstated and everyone is happy. Only problem is that I cannot get my mom to sign this one little piece of paper, because she is in Hong Kong. It would seem reasonable to allow the financial aid to carry over another week, but there is no chance of that. So, when I went onto the website to check my grades, there are holds on them. same with the money I was planning to pay for my housing deposit with. All inaccessible to me. leaving me high and dry. I will report in on my grades when i can see them.

Saf-ART-i

The artwork that I chose this week is located in the Lyman Center on campus. This piece, created by Sarkis Hamalbashian, is on display to celebrate the inauguration of our new University President, Mary A. Papazian, Ph.D. to the position.  It is titled "Near East -- Encyclopedia of Armenia.” Created in 1997 and using an oil canvas medium it has come on display in the past few weeks here at school to mark the inauguration.

My personal opinion, it is very interesting. The painting has many subjects across the plane, and it draws the eye from the left where to colors are warm, to the lower right where the cooler colors prevail. I actually quite enjoyed the Asian influence in the style of painting and yet it still holds some traditional European styles as well. This blend shows the vast contrast of peoples and beliefs in the very volatile region between Asia and Europe. The painting to me represents the powder keg that Armenia has been in the past, and it goes into great depth to represent many aspects of the culture.

I believe that the meaning of the painting is perfectly stated in the title. It is simple yet it leaves much to the imagination and the set-up of the painting it is very similar to an old newspaper comic, furthering the storyline style of the painting.

"Artistic" Event

This week I had the pleasure of attending and participating in an artistic performance. On Tuesday, there was karaoke in Connecticut Hall. Me and four of my closest friends sung “A Moment like This” by Whitney Houston. We decided that this would be a great bonding experience and a good chance to highlight our skills as singers. The student council organized the karaoke and after participating, you were allowed to enter the raffle to win a prize that the people running the event would not disclose. I collected my conciliation prize of candy at the end of the event, and went on my merry way.

What Makes Cooper Relax?

This week I agree, I needed a little R&R. So due to the coming holiday, I decided to prepare myself for the High Holy Day: Halloween. Why is Halloween the greatest holiday? You get to dress up like a complete fool and people love it. Each year I decide to make a more ridiculous costume, and despite my body type, one that I should not flaunt, I find myself in revealing costumes, such as Streaker, Underwear Model, and for this year: I will be a Mexican Wrestler, or Luchador. This week I began to get my things organized for such a great costume. I knew quite a bit about Luchadors from my extensive hours in field research: watching the movie Nacho Libre. I assembled my costume, a form fitting golden mask with eye, nose and mouth holes, my speedo, which is unfortunately three sizes too small, though I will still wear it, and my cape, and authentic Nation of Mexico flag. Overall, a pretty great costume.

This may not seem to be something that is relaxing to many, but I love the feeling of accomplish a task. This becomes relaxing because I can set very easy tasks for myself, and achieve them, I can sit back and do nothing for the rest of the day. Confused? It is okay. If I sleep in, I feel guilty that I have wasted the day, I have always been an active person, and doping something mindless like watching TV all day makes me feel like I am wasting my life. When I accomplish even a few tiny tasks, it gives me the justification to sit back and vegetate myself for the day, thus I relax.

There will certainly be a few pictures available of my costume after Halloween. Until then, you will just have to wait in anticipation.

Cooper's Self Examination

It is getting to be that time in the semester, midterms. It is surprising to see how quickly the school year is going by, it does not seem that long ago that I did not know anybody in my class. Now these kids are regularity in my life, I seem to see them everywhere.  So far, I think I am achieving most of my goals that I set in the beginning of the year. I have gone to most all of my classes, one of the bigger goals I had set, because, when paying for each class, I do not intend to waste my money screwing around. I have kept up with homework, another obstacle of mine that I was worried about going into school, because in high school I rarely did homework. It definitely showed in my grades, and I truly believe that my high school grades did not reflect what I was capable of, and I hope to show that in college. Of course, I have missed homework, and definitely skimped out on some work, leaving much to be desired in the way of quality, but I have certainly begun to buckle down. I have now found a balance between socializing and working.

For the second half of the semester I plan to work early and smart, something that I have not done this past semester. This will certainly help me get a grip on homework, and I will be able to put my best foot forward when it comes to the quality of my work. What I will continue to do I question the class. It is not flawed, but I believe that the only way to seek a better solution is to find a problem. Few people are motivated to improve a situation that they like.

Campus Safari Gym

I cheated a little bit this week. Instead of going to the Fitness Center in the Student Center, I went to the Moore Field House weight room. I decided to start going to the gym here at school, and first, I did look at the Fitness Center as a viable option for my patronage. When I went into the room, the attendants were more than happy letting me look at what they had to offer. Unfortunately, I was disappointed at the meager amount of machines they had to offer. I looked around, and made my decision to keep my sixty dollars. That day I went to the Moore Field House. It is open for all students between 6:30 and 9 and offers twice the number of weight machines, and almost four times the number of free weights and barbells. The Moore Field House has much more to offer and I highly recommend it.

(Thats me.)

What Am I Doing?

I was tired of going to the gym and spending seventy percent of my time sitting on the machine pretending to get ready. It was not getting me any stronger, and I looked like every other putz out there in the gym. I was looking for something that would stand out, I wanted people to stop and watch my work out. That is when Corey asked if I wanted to work out with him.

I did something out of my comfort zone this week. I went to the gym. It has been at least 5 months since the last time I stepped into a gym. Let alone did the exercise that Corey and I did. Corey is an exercise science major in his senior year here at Southern, and he makes a mean workout. The reason it was outside of my comfort zone was that he introduced me to many new workouts that I had never seen, let alone done. We went through a rigorous series of leg exercises on Tuesday. He credits his skill to a combination of experiences through his life. Firstly, Corey’s high school strength and conditioning coach trained him on all the proper ways to work out. Out were the old “isolation” routines that focused on just one muscle group, he showed me technique, balance and flexibility that I never thought I could perform. Corey credits the other part of his talent at personalized training to his major. He is currently teaching classes every morning to freshman on exercise science here at southern. “It’s a perfect way to test out my skill; I love to train people that are willing to learn the proper way to strength train. Now stop being a bitch and get on that bar,” says Corey. His inspirational words helped me finish out my last two sets and limp back into Conn Hall, barely. His workout was just what I needed to get me in fighting shape, and take me right out of my comfort zone.

How To Be A CC

This week I looked into being a CC. It seems like a cool gig, free room and board and all you have to do is guard the door. However, after asking Chris Betances about the job, I learned there is a lot more work than one would think. Chris, a senior, has found the job demanding for both semesters he has done it. “It always seems like it’ll be easy, then you start to realize that some nights you barely get any sleep at all,” says Chris, “there is helping out with hall councils, managing problems on your floor, and keeping track of work. It is very easy to fall behind while being a CC.”

It is not all bad though. A CC gets free room and board for each semester they work. That adds up quickly, at $4500 per semester, a CC can cut their school bill in half each year. “It’s a nice deal, if you can manage the work.” Chris recommends the job highly and gave us a little insight on how to access the application. Under the residence life tab on Southernct.edu, the job opportunities tab. The application is not available, but I recommend checking in often, the jobs fill quickly.

Which mindset IS Best?

I quite enjoyed the Mindset book. I thought the argument was less about telling what needs to be done, and instead focusing on possible solutions that work in the situations. I believe this is the best way to present an argument if you want someone to change his or her thinking. It was clear that she was a staunch promoter of the growth mindset. What impressed me was the author never once said that the fixed mindset was inherently wrong. She constantly gave examples that gave true accounts of when the fixed mindset would not work as well. To me, she successfully steered the thinking that the fixed mindset was flawed. In Chapter 8, the final chart gave a perfect example of what I had thought of the two mindsets. The symbol of an obstacle was a brick wall. On Tuesday, when we were discussing the difference between the two mindsets, I thought of reaching a brick wall. The fixed mindset would say, “Okay, how can I avoid this situation next time?” While the growth mindset would say, “Okay, what do I need to arm myself with next time so this won’t stop me?” That was the epitome of the two mindsets to me. Both will find a solution, but the fixed mindset can find a far less stressful route. I like the argument and I quite like the author. Right as I was about to say this book is boring, she switched up the style that the information was presented. This not only kept me reading, but I gained a renewed interest in the topic.

I especially like the intro in the book, where her students demand that she writes the book. She seems like the kind of professor that encourages every student to push their boundaries, and I would like to have more people in my life like that.

A Disappointment

http://youtu.be/IHGac3dZ4aA

I think it was an ironic project for me because i did not use my time effectively at all and i definitely rushed the process in the end. This is in no way my best work, and I am a little disappointed in my project.

It was very easy to draw conclusions from my questions because they were very direct and i felt people were honest with me. I had trouble actually getting people to be videoed. Quite a few people that I interviewed refused based on their discomfort in front of a camera. I am terrible with movie making systems and i was struggling to even corral a movie to present. As for polished, mine looks like a rock, it is rough and hard to stay interested in. the balance of my speaking and interviewees is equal only because their answers were as long as my questions. it was hard to get anyone to expand on their answers, and the few videos i kept were the ones where the subjects stayed to finish the interview. Unfortunately there was not an alternative paper or assignment to show that I have the ability to present this information succinctly and not have it come out like crap.