I didn't really learn anything about myself. I might take the test over again to see if I get a different result. Yea, I didn't learn anything about myself. I already knew I was good with animals and reading, and which i derive more enjoyment from.
I would also make a terrible counselor.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Blog HW 4 --> Happiness at Work
Why is it that people cant find happiness at work? Some people pursue their career for the money, hoping to have a better life, or one for their kids. Others do it because of what society tells them and their fear of judgment and poverty. Or because of what Stephanie Rosenbloom mentions in the reading, "hedonic adaption" (the phenomenon in which people become used to good or bad changes to maintain their level of happiness). If people could pursue what they love, maybe they could be happier at work.
If entertainment teaches us anything it's that money rules the world. Like Wu-Tang says, "cash rules everything around me", which is true. People are conditioned to think that happiness can only be achieved through material items and financial gain. So, people pursue a job as a lawyer, hating majoring in law, because in the end they'll be able to afford that big house in the hills. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, but will that big house really make them happy when they have to grudgingly go to a job they hate everyday to maintain that house?
Some people choose a profession they don't enjoy because of fear and what society (friends, teachers, family) tell them. So many times you hear about a kid who wants to be an artist or a musician being told by someone "oh, don't do that, you wont make any money! It's to competitive!". J.K. Rowling like many other kids was told the same thing. In her Harvard speech she mentions that her parents viewed her "over active imagination as an amusing personal quirk that will never pay the mortgage". Rowling though, took a chance other people are too scared to, she pursued what she thought she'd love. While at first she failed, in the end she became a wildly author.
People have trouble finding happiness at work because of their fear to do what they love. A fear of poverty and judgment from the people in their life causes them to go for what will make others happy or bring in the biggest buck. I was told so many times not to go for a career throughout the years. The classic, "oh, there's no jobs" or "there's too much math in that! Don't do that!". Recently I've decided to ignore peoples negative inputs and do what I think I'll enjoy the most, despite the amount of science in my major. Hopefully, I'll be like J.K. Rowling of veterinarian and becomes wildly successful. If people try to do what they love, they can be happy at work.
If entertainment teaches us anything it's that money rules the world. Like Wu-Tang says, "cash rules everything around me", which is true. People are conditioned to think that happiness can only be achieved through material items and financial gain. So, people pursue a job as a lawyer, hating majoring in law, because in the end they'll be able to afford that big house in the hills. Not saying there's anything wrong with that, but will that big house really make them happy when they have to grudgingly go to a job they hate everyday to maintain that house?
Some people choose a profession they don't enjoy because of fear and what society (friends, teachers, family) tell them. So many times you hear about a kid who wants to be an artist or a musician being told by someone "oh, don't do that, you wont make any money! It's to competitive!". J.K. Rowling like many other kids was told the same thing. In her Harvard speech she mentions that her parents viewed her "over active imagination as an amusing personal quirk that will never pay the mortgage". Rowling though, took a chance other people are too scared to, she pursued what she thought she'd love. While at first she failed, in the end she became a wildly author.
People have trouble finding happiness at work because of their fear to do what they love. A fear of poverty and judgment from the people in their life causes them to go for what will make others happy or bring in the biggest buck. I was told so many times not to go for a career throughout the years. The classic, "oh, there's no jobs" or "there's too much math in that! Don't do that!". Recently I've decided to ignore peoples negative inputs and do what I think I'll enjoy the most, despite the amount of science in my major. Hopefully, I'll be like J.K. Rowling of veterinarian and becomes wildly successful. If people try to do what they love, they can be happy at work.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Written Assignment #1 -> Becoming a Happier Student
If I change my schedule I could be a happier student. I struggle with time management to an extreme. Being so sloppy with my time causes me anxiety and negativity in my personal life. If I can perhaps change my life and improve my scheduling skills then I can become a happier student and all around happier person. Putting my priorities in order and managing my time can improve my life.
My time management skills have always caused me extreme anxiety. Being a huge procrastinator I put everything for school to the last minute. I started working pretty young and I think that’s when my priorities started to skew. I had to juggle school, work, and friends, and it became obvious to me which was the most important. So I concentrated on work and friends because of the immediate gratification that came with these things. Sometime, I just didn’t do my school work at all because I felt I had no time. This of course peaked my anxiety, but I always found other things to blame then my lack of schedule.
My dramatic decrease in GPA and being so anxious all the time and stressed caused problems in my personal life. I was more on edge and angry all the time, I felt like everything was working against me, even though most of it was my own fault. I was getting into more fights and sleeping more too. All of these different problems caused me to feel like I was drowning. I was living my life the way most students were described too in “the drowning model” described in our reading. I was pushing everything to the last minute and it was causing other negative things to happen around me. This was all happening because of my lack of time management skills. A problem that seemed so insignificant had branched into a bunch of other problems. It went on like this until I was at my breaking point and had to basically scratch my way out, for a brief sense of relief, to merely start the cycle all over again.
Since high school I find myself falling into the same habits though. I constantly feel overwhelmed and like there’s never enough time. I feel burdened with responsibility, and I notice I still don’t know how to properly manage everything I have going on. While I have been trying to use my anxiety as a drive to get things done, I need to simply change my style. I need to sit down and try to set time aside and plan out my day. This way, instead of trying to find ways to use my anxiety to my advantage, I could perhaps be free of it.
Recently I had a job interview coming up and I had every intention of taking the job despite how much stress I already find myself under. I was doing what Dan Gilbert refers to as “miswanting”, I thought that if I got a second job I’d feel less pressure and be able to relax more. So I sat down and decided to weigh out the pros and cons of the job and try to put my priorities (school, my first job, sleep!), in order. Turns out taking the other job would not only severely cut my time for school work, but it would in the long run, cost me more to work there! I do everything at the last minute now, constantly freaking out, and that’s with one job. So in the long run, with my priorities in a better order, the job would not benefit in making me happier.
So if I could only work on my time management and priority issues, I can become a happier student and all around individual. I’ll have way less anxiety and less negativity in my personal life. Maybe I won’t yell at my boyfriend so much for things he has absolutely no control over if I’m not so stressed! I think not going for that job was a step in the right direction for my time management and priority skills. Now, I need to try to set a better schedule and follow it.
My time management skills have always caused me extreme anxiety. Being a huge procrastinator I put everything for school to the last minute. I started working pretty young and I think that’s when my priorities started to skew. I had to juggle school, work, and friends, and it became obvious to me which was the most important. So I concentrated on work and friends because of the immediate gratification that came with these things. Sometime, I just didn’t do my school work at all because I felt I had no time. This of course peaked my anxiety, but I always found other things to blame then my lack of schedule.
My dramatic decrease in GPA and being so anxious all the time and stressed caused problems in my personal life. I was more on edge and angry all the time, I felt like everything was working against me, even though most of it was my own fault. I was getting into more fights and sleeping more too. All of these different problems caused me to feel like I was drowning. I was living my life the way most students were described too in “the drowning model” described in our reading. I was pushing everything to the last minute and it was causing other negative things to happen around me. This was all happening because of my lack of time management skills. A problem that seemed so insignificant had branched into a bunch of other problems. It went on like this until I was at my breaking point and had to basically scratch my way out, for a brief sense of relief, to merely start the cycle all over again.
Since high school I find myself falling into the same habits though. I constantly feel overwhelmed and like there’s never enough time. I feel burdened with responsibility, and I notice I still don’t know how to properly manage everything I have going on. While I have been trying to use my anxiety as a drive to get things done, I need to simply change my style. I need to sit down and try to set time aside and plan out my day. This way, instead of trying to find ways to use my anxiety to my advantage, I could perhaps be free of it.
Recently I had a job interview coming up and I had every intention of taking the job despite how much stress I already find myself under. I was doing what Dan Gilbert refers to as “miswanting”, I thought that if I got a second job I’d feel less pressure and be able to relax more. So I sat down and decided to weigh out the pros and cons of the job and try to put my priorities (school, my first job, sleep!), in order. Turns out taking the other job would not only severely cut my time for school work, but it would in the long run, cost me more to work there! I do everything at the last minute now, constantly freaking out, and that’s with one job. So in the long run, with my priorities in a better order, the job would not benefit in making me happier.
So if I could only work on my time management and priority issues, I can become a happier student and all around individual. I’ll have way less anxiety and less negativity in my personal life. Maybe I won’t yell at my boyfriend so much for things he has absolutely no control over if I’m not so stressed! I think not going for that job was a step in the right direction for my time management and priority skills. Now, I need to try to set a better schedule and follow it.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
blog three homework two..
Weekly Theme: Happiness in education
Mark Van Dorsen said, "our best chance for happiness is education." In the article "Happiness in education" by Mark Van Dorsen and the video "Do Schools kill creativity" by Ken Robinson, this and how educators can stifle happiness is discussed in detail. They discuss the drowning model and love-making model, and flow. Also, the different ways for teachers to make learning better and more enjoyable for students. They speak about "rat racing" and how hardships bring happiness, and how schools kill creativity. All of these different opinions I think are true. Through what is described in the video and article, and what I've experienced myself, I believe its true.
The drowning model and the love-making model are models for how we go about achieving things, made real by Mark Van Dorsen. The drowning model says the desire to free ourselves of pain can be a strong motivator and that, once freed, we can easily mistake our relief for happiness. I believe that this ties in to the whole "rat race" state of mine, and that through our childhood educations we are made to believe this is the only way to do things. I, like many other students were conditioned to do things this way. I forced my way drudgingly through my school work in hopes that once it was done, I'd be free. When I finally graduated I threw myself into working full time in the city. I was one of those people who 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, was squeezing myself into the four train like a sardine. Miserably I worked my hardest to be done with it well so I'd be noticed and so that I could go home and enjoy my leisure time. Despite doing my work well, I still was never able to enjoy myself out of work. The thing was though, that I hadn't hated school, I had hated the way the work was being presented to me. So, I assumed going straight to work was the most logical option.
Through the love-making model, Van Dorsen suggests we look at all the hours we spend working for our goal as wonderful, or even "foreplay". Rather then for us to hate what were doing and just work for that end goal, to enjoy everything were doing along the way. Of course if we view things this way we'd all be happier, but I think its all very true. When I enjoy a class, or doing work for it, or working, I actually enjoy my leisure time more too. Also doing things through the love-making method its easier to fall into what Mihaly Csikszentmihaly calls "flow". Csikszentmihaly says flow is a state in which we feel we are one with the experience. She also says that having a clear sense of purpose is necessary in order to achieve flow. So through flow the love-making method becomes more substantial. Through achieving flow we can enjoy the things we have to do to get us to our goal. Thus making us happier all around, and making our time spent not working more enjoyable.
Children are molded to believe one way of doing things. In school we are taught to just work hard to do better wether we like it or not. Schools do brian wash you with the "rat race" mentality (the thought that emotions get in the way of success and should be second to your achievements). Therefor I agree with both Mark Van Dorsen and Kevin Robinson. Education is our best chance for happiness and through the love-making method, I believe we can achieve it. But because of the way we are conditioned as children to perceive learning and our creativity is decreased, we are stopped from allowing ourselves happiness. So yes, I agree with all the above stated and if education was taught differently, and more looked into the psychologist of happiness, everyone can one day be happy.
Mark Van Dorsen said, "our best chance for happiness is education." In the article "Happiness in education" by Mark Van Dorsen and the video "Do Schools kill creativity" by Ken Robinson, this and how educators can stifle happiness is discussed in detail. They discuss the drowning model and love-making model, and flow. Also, the different ways for teachers to make learning better and more enjoyable for students. They speak about "rat racing" and how hardships bring happiness, and how schools kill creativity. All of these different opinions I think are true. Through what is described in the video and article, and what I've experienced myself, I believe its true.
The drowning model and the love-making model are models for how we go about achieving things, made real by Mark Van Dorsen. The drowning model says the desire to free ourselves of pain can be a strong motivator and that, once freed, we can easily mistake our relief for happiness. I believe that this ties in to the whole "rat race" state of mine, and that through our childhood educations we are made to believe this is the only way to do things. I, like many other students were conditioned to do things this way. I forced my way drudgingly through my school work in hopes that once it was done, I'd be free. When I finally graduated I threw myself into working full time in the city. I was one of those people who 9 to 5, Monday through Friday, was squeezing myself into the four train like a sardine. Miserably I worked my hardest to be done with it well so I'd be noticed and so that I could go home and enjoy my leisure time. Despite doing my work well, I still was never able to enjoy myself out of work. The thing was though, that I hadn't hated school, I had hated the way the work was being presented to me. So, I assumed going straight to work was the most logical option.
Through the love-making model, Van Dorsen suggests we look at all the hours we spend working for our goal as wonderful, or even "foreplay". Rather then for us to hate what were doing and just work for that end goal, to enjoy everything were doing along the way. Of course if we view things this way we'd all be happier, but I think its all very true. When I enjoy a class, or doing work for it, or working, I actually enjoy my leisure time more too. Also doing things through the love-making method its easier to fall into what Mihaly Csikszentmihaly calls "flow". Csikszentmihaly says flow is a state in which we feel we are one with the experience. She also says that having a clear sense of purpose is necessary in order to achieve flow. So through flow the love-making method becomes more substantial. Through achieving flow we can enjoy the things we have to do to get us to our goal. Thus making us happier all around, and making our time spent not working more enjoyable.
Children are molded to believe one way of doing things. In school we are taught to just work hard to do better wether we like it or not. Schools do brian wash you with the "rat race" mentality (the thought that emotions get in the way of success and should be second to your achievements). Therefor I agree with both Mark Van Dorsen and Kevin Robinson. Education is our best chance for happiness and through the love-making method, I believe we can achieve it. But because of the way we are conditioned as children to perceive learning and our creativity is decreased, we are stopped from allowing ourselves happiness. So yes, I agree with all the above stated and if education was taught differently, and more looked into the psychologist of happiness, everyone can one day be happy.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
blog two one.. =]
Dan Gilbert is a psychologist who specifically studies happiness. He's come up with the impact bias (the gap between what we predict and what we ultimately experience) and the difference between synthetic happiness and natural happiness. I agree with both of his views because of my own personal experiences.
Like almost any girl, or anybody, I can relate the impact bias to my own relationships. I can honestly say that I have made many bad decisions based on what I thought I felt. Thinking, "Oh, I'll be better with this boy because he can make me laugh more.", or something along those lines. All to find out in the end that the one who made me laugh more only did because of his immaturity and I'd had the boy who would really get me. The thing that I had really been looking for. In my simulation of how future events would play out I miscalculated, something Dan Gilbert calls, miswanting.
In my current relationship I also doubted myself about my standings. Everything hadn't played out the way I had planned or expected. Even when I was happy, I didn't think it was right because it wasn't what I'd expected. I had thought that with my decision I was going to be naturally happy and since it was a different kind of happiness, I thought it wasn't as valuable or significant. But the happiness that grew on me, that I did feel (synthetic happiness) was just as good, just as important. I was happier then I could have been if it had worked out the way I planned. It just took me sometime to realize that synthetic happiness, the happiness I felt, was just as awesome as if it had been natural.
Dan Gilbert was right in his views in my opinion. Due to the impact bias I think people make a lot of wrong choices without even realizing. They think their future is going to have so much more of an impact on them then it will, because we all adapt. Also, a lot of people don't realize synthetic happiness is just as real and meaningful. They think if things don't work out the way they want they wont be able to find happiness. Hopefully in the future more people will know Dan Gilberts' teachings. Then the impact bias might not happen as often and people can be happy with what they have.
Like almost any girl, or anybody, I can relate the impact bias to my own relationships. I can honestly say that I have made many bad decisions based on what I thought I felt. Thinking, "Oh, I'll be better with this boy because he can make me laugh more.", or something along those lines. All to find out in the end that the one who made me laugh more only did because of his immaturity and I'd had the boy who would really get me. The thing that I had really been looking for. In my simulation of how future events would play out I miscalculated, something Dan Gilbert calls, miswanting.
In my current relationship I also doubted myself about my standings. Everything hadn't played out the way I had planned or expected. Even when I was happy, I didn't think it was right because it wasn't what I'd expected. I had thought that with my decision I was going to be naturally happy and since it was a different kind of happiness, I thought it wasn't as valuable or significant. But the happiness that grew on me, that I did feel (synthetic happiness) was just as good, just as important. I was happier then I could have been if it had worked out the way I planned. It just took me sometime to realize that synthetic happiness, the happiness I felt, was just as awesome as if it had been natural.
Dan Gilbert was right in his views in my opinion. Due to the impact bias I think people make a lot of wrong choices without even realizing. They think their future is going to have so much more of an impact on them then it will, because we all adapt. Also, a lot of people don't realize synthetic happiness is just as real and meaningful. They think if things don't work out the way they want they wont be able to find happiness. Hopefully in the future more people will know Dan Gilberts' teachings. Then the impact bias might not happen as often and people can be happy with what they have.
Monday, September 20, 2010
blog one . =]
So this is my first blog for ENG 101. My names Gabi, I'm 21, & I live in the Bronx. I’m currently enrolled in LaGuardia to pursue veterinary technology. Once I'm done with the program though I plan on continuing school so I can get my PhD. I plan on going into either veterinary sciences or zoology. I've been leaning more toward zoology lately only because it seems way more interesting, & like it could involve a fair amount of travel. I've loved pets my whole life & I actually have 2 ferrets & a cat. My ferrets are names Twiggy & Lorraine, & my cats name is Merlin, because I am a nerd. I'm also really into music, reading, & movies. I have a very eclectic taste in movies & music. Some of its a little weird & my friends know that whenever there’s a random movie they need to know the name of they call me. I'm a big fan of cult classics, & I will quote movies at the most awkward times. I listen to anything that has a beat & my music library can go anywhere from Masta Ace to Mates of State & then to Slayer. I also love books, for my sixteenth birthday I actually got 16 books! I prefer historical fiction like Forever by Cormack McCarthy, but I've also read my fair share of classics. I read Madame Bovary last year just for fun, & wasn’t really happy, but I felt really accomplished when I was done. Another interest of mine is astrology. I'm a Scorpio & I'll be 22 on October 26th. I can also do birth charts & I used to do tarot cards but I've recently tried to pull myself away from most of that. I also do all of the cooking in my house because I love trying new recipes. But I also just prefer my cooking. So that's just a little bit about me & I'm happiest when I'm cuddled in my bed with a cup of tea, my fuzzy socks, & a good movie.
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