7I Liquid Zone

Southern’s Finest Sculpture:

Southern has many sculptures around campus, but there’s one that always catches my eye. It’s called the H2O Liquid Zone and is located by Morill Hall and Engleman. It was created by Mikyoung Kim and was dedicated to Engleman Hall in 2006. I walk by it everyday on my way to class, I like this sculpture a lot because it stands out and has a lot of neat shapes within it. One of my favorite parts about it is the water on the bottom of it; once it gets really cold the water freezes leaving a design on the platform! If you haven’t seen it or any of the other sculptures I would definitely take a walk around campus to see some!

6V What it Means to be Persistent

Persistence: the quality that allows someone to continue doing something or trying to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people.

In class this week we talked about what its takes to be a gritty person. To be a gritty person you need to stick with things over the long term until you master them, which relates to being persistent. To be persistent you need to work hard at what you want and not procrastinate or give up.

Other Vocab Terms:

Denotation: refers to literal or explicit meaning of a word

·      The literal dictionary definition of a word

Connotation: refers to the cultural meaning that becomes attached to the word

6A Keep on Fighting

December of 2011 was a very challenging time for my family and I. During this time my grandma was diagnosed with cancer, I’m very close with my grandma and hearing that she had bladder cancer completely broke my heart. At the time my grandma was living in Florida so it was hard not being able to physically be by her side while she was going through this. She started getting chemo and radiation treatment, during this she had an awful reaction to the chemo treatment, she had collapsed outside of her doctors office from lack of blood. She was then hospitalized for about three weeks, that’s when my family decided we needed to be there to support her. We ended up going to Florida soon after she was being hospitalized.

I got to Florida and went right to the hospital, I remember walking into her room and seeing her with bruises all over her body from IV’s and when she had fell. It was so hard for me to see someone I cared for so much in that much pain. What I love most about my grandma is her sense of humor she always says the funniest things and never fails to make me laugh. As we were in the hospital we were all pretty overwhelmed and upset but my grandma who was very ill was the one that got us to all laugh and enjoy our time with her. She would make jokes how she liked being in the hospital because she didn’t have to get up, they made her food and brought it to her and she didn’t have to do work around the house. She stayed positive throughout the whole process, which is why I look up to her so much. A few days after my family and I were about to come home she was able to leave the hospital. This made us all relieved and happy that she was starting to get better.

After many chemo/ radiation treatments and a surgery operation I am happy to say my grandma is a survivor and cancer free! The experience my grandma went through with cancer showed me that anything can happen in life and when you’re faced with difficult situations you can’t give up you have to fight no matter how hard it is. I had to stay very persistent while my grandma was ill. It was very hard to support her when I was so far away and even when I was there in Florida with her it was hard to stay positive knowing of all the things that could possibly have happened.

6I Fitness Center

SCSU Fitness Center

At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to get a gym member ship here but I’m glad I did, it was $60 to join for the semester. I love working out after class or during homework to take little breaks. My friend and I normally go at least three times a week just for an hour and we even created a schedule of what we will be working on! I like going because it’s very convenient and there’s never that many people there at once where you can’t work on what you want to. They offer a lot of classes I’m interested in zumba and yoga! I know a few people that went to theses classes and said they were a lot of fun!

Some things they offer:

• Group exercise classes
• Cardiovascular equipment
• Weight training machines
• Stretching/abs area and equipment
• Free coaching systems

Hours:

• Monday- Thursday: 7am-10pm
• Friday- 7am- 8pm
• Saturday- 9:30am- 4:30pm
• Sunday- 2pm- 7pm

6B Don't Give Up

This week one of the topics we talked about was what it takes to be a gritty person. Being gritty is about being motivated; it’s a very good trait to have. Angela Duckworth’s definition of grit is sticking with things over the very long term until you master them. Angela also says “the gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina." Meaning some one who is gritty will put all the effort they can into something. In order to be a gritty person you also need to have persistence, which is another word we talked about this week. You need persistence so that eventually you complete what you have been working towards. The topic of being a gritty person ties in to a lot of other things we have talked about previously this year.

We talked about fixed mindset and growth mindset a few weeks ago. Having a growth mindset means that you believe that your most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Having a growth mindset means you are open minded and your willing to learn to better yourself. This all relates to being a gritty person because as I said before being a gritty person means you want to accomplish things and you will work hard to do so even if its difficult. You need a growth mindset in order to be a gritty person.

One of the other articles we talked about previously was “Work Hard or Work Smart” This article said how you should work both smart and hard and that you should always create a plan before you start the day that way you get everything done. “Work harder than you thought possible. You have way more in you than you can imagine.” I took this quote from the article I like it because I do believe that people think they aren’t as smart as they really are but if you really try you can be. I think this article also ties into being a gritty person because by creating a schedule your staying on top of things and working hard which are all things you need to be a gritty person.