Week 11: Famous Last Words

This week has been another rollercoaster. It seems like every week I expect the week to be better than the last, but it just keeps getting worse... What gives! Hopefully it all ends soon. I can only hope.
This week I have done two different readings. I thought the readings went really well, and I like both of them. I best remember the stories about Buddha’s life. It was very interesting to hear about the mythology of how Buddha came to gain ultimate knowledge and how he refused to go to Nirvana because he wanted to tell the people of his wisdom and to follow him.

I think my best writing for this week was my storytelling post. I really enjoyed retelling the story of Buddha’s life even though it may not have been the best ending for Buddha. I thought this was really excellent to read the life of Buddha and be able to retell this in my own words! I have also encountered some really cool projects from other people this week.

My other classes this week are going pretty good. I am down to 9 hours now of course work, but it feels like a huge course load. I am excited though because this course, my online course is almost over. There have been no apparent connections between my coursework this week and my other other classes. It is funny because almost every semester I usually feel a connection with my other classes. Good news this week though, I have officially enrolled in my last semester here at the University of Oklahoma. I will be graduating in May and moving onto a PhD program!

Looks like everything is going to turn out just fine!

University of Oklahoma (Image Source) 

Famous Last Words Week 10

I have not done a Famous Last Words post for quite some time now, but when I took Mythology and Folklore I did them all the time. This week was pretty stressful for me. I am finishing up some work outside of coursework. Last week I presented at the Plains Anthropological Conference and I was give Honorable Mention in the 1st annual poster competition. This was a big deal to me as I received some recognition for my time spent on the poster and the research I have been doing. 

My reading this week was the movie by Brooks on the Mahabharata. I was particularly interested in doing this reading or movie, because while I really did enjoy the PDE: Mahabharata I wanted to get a better grasp and understanding of the story. The movie made a huge difference in my understanding of the Mahabharata! I was disappointed in my reading strategy however. For the last couple of weeks I have been cutting it very close to the course work deadline. I have only missed the deadline for work twice, this was last week. I was pretty mad at myself, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The great thing about this class is that when it is over, you can finish early, get your A for the work you put in, and move on to worrying about other classes. 

My best writing for class this week was my writing for my storybook project. I am developing the story of the Ramayana from Karma’s point of view. I added a whole bunch of bells and whistles and I think I am going to end up being very happy with the work I produce. Overall, classes this semester are going well. My half semester course is over and outside of class there are a few things I am stressing about, but I just keep reminding myself that it will all be okay. 

I am applying to a couple graduate schools right now for PhD programs in Anthropology. I have met quite a few great professors from various conferences, and I am now ready to be on my way to graduate school. Six-Isa more years of school and then I might be in the classroom teaching your children... or maybe everything will be online by then and I won’t have to leave my house! Food for thought. 

Reconstructed Cahokia Mounds in SE, USA (Image Source) 

Famous Last Words: Week 9

This week I was unable to complete the readings for Week 9. :(

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Exhibition

This was the first week that I was not able to do the readings, but I was able to do the storytelling post and the storybook project post. So I am pretty bummed about being unable to do the readings. I am excited about the future readings for this class. My best writing this week came from by Storybook Project. You can find that storybook project here. I think this project is all coming together really well and I hope everyone else like is too. I think I have finally nailed down my writing strategy for this storybook project. This weeks assignment showed me that I really do have the ability to write better than I ever thought I could. I added a soundcloud video this week to my storybook. I think this is going to add a little bit of flare I have been looking for into my storybook. I noticed other students peoples storybooks incorporated music and this is what gave me the inspiration to do so. 

This week marks the end of my 8-week course. It was my anthropology capstone course. i am really glad that it is finally over and it is going to give me a lot more free time to work on my other classes for the second half of this semester. 

Last weekend I presented my research at the Plains Anthropology Conference in Iowa City, IA. I was given an honorable mention in the Student Poster competition. Also if you have time, everyone should check out the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art new exhibitions that have recently opened up - Immortales and the Surls Exhibition. 

Famous Last Words: Week 2

This week was fantastic! I worked ahead for this course an I wrapped up Week 3! It feels good to stay ahead of classes like this!

I finished reading the second week of Ramayana: Public Domain Version. The readings went really well. At first, I was having trouble understand the readings, after the first week I changed from reading them myself to listening to the while following along. This greatly increased my reading comprehension and made the stories so much better. I really love how the whole story line stitches together. I also found the reading to be enjoyable independantly. I think my favorite reading this week the episodes were Hauman, the monkey god, goes to Lanka to save Sita. I found these episodes to be very descriptive and stimulating conceptually. To go along with this I think my best writing this week came from Week 3: Storytelling as I retold the story how Hauman saving Sita. When I first started writing it took me a couple tries to really nail down a good story line, but I think I made it work well!

73rd Plains Anthropology Conference

Outside of this class, my other courses are going pretty good. I am taking my capstone course this semester and in the Anthropology department it is an 8-week, half semester, course. This is pretty unusual for a capstone course and requires fast paced learning and research. My 15 page paper is due in less than 6 weeks now... AHHHH! That is so scary to write down. In other news I was accepted to present my research at the 2015 Plains Anthropology Conference! I am very excited for the upcoming opportunity!
I hope everyone elses semester is going really well!

Famous Last Words: Week 1

Monday marks the beginning of a new semester, my last Fall semester in my undergraduate career. It is a little bittersweet as I begin my senior year. There are of course things I wish I had done differently... tried a little harder here, had a little more fun there. In the end I am okay with the decisions I have made and the path I am headed down. I feel pretty lucky at this point in time. I am confident about my career decision and I have a plan for the future. I know there are a lot of young people who don’t have a clue where they are going, and that is a frightening prospect. 

This semester is going to be very interesting. It is one of the first semesters in my academic life that I was able to almost fully choose my coursework. I am taking classes I will enjoy instead of force fed general education required courses. Of course, I am very excited for Indian Epics. As an anthropologist I get infatuated with cultures and being able to dive into one in such a way as this course allows is really exciting. In addition to Indian Epics I am also enrolled in a Women Gender Studies course called LGBTQ Movements. I am excited to start this course and I am super ecstatic that the University offers a course like this. I am also taking two anthropology courses including the Anthropology Capstone course and Archaeology of North America. I am both excited and nervous for these courses, but we will see how this course-load progresses throughout the semester.

Since this is the first week of this course I have not yet had time to really delve into any reading. However, I am excited about what I have seen so far. We discussed growth mindset and its benefits and even though I was skeptical about weather this type of learning system would work in our current education system I was very excited about the idea. This week I was also able to look back at previous semester’s students storybook projects. I was not only very impressed with what I saw, but I was also deeply inspired by their work. I am excited to get started on the storybook project for this new semester.

Im looking forward to getting to know new people, new places, new things this semester.

Farewell India - The Taj Mahal