In the Spring of 2016, I took Epic of India online and first discovered the concept of the "Growth Mindset". It was an intriguing idea about looking at learning in a more positive light and trying to combat that sense of discouragement that can go hand in hand with trying to learn something new.
During my four years here at OU, I have learned that I am an auditory learning; I thrive in open discussions or lectures because hearing the material makes it easier to absorb for me. On a less positive note, I also am a very determined student. While most professors love that I am dedicated and persistent in learning new things, it can backfire on me in tremendous ways. If I am unable to grasp a topic or task the first time around, I will continue to try. With each new attempt or effort I become more frustrated and disheartened and begin to put myself down for not being able to pick up the material faster or as fast as other students.
In reference to the H.E.A.R.T acronym, I need to spend these next two semester focusing on health and happiness. Senior year is a lot to take on between challenging courses, finding employment after graduation, and somehow fitting a social life in there so you don't go crazy. This semester my course load is dense with classes that are heavy on reading and research and will require a lot of my focus. They are all in regards to topics that I enjoy, but the schedules can be extremely daunting. I need to make sure I am internally praising myself when I do well on assignments or get a lot of studying done. If I end up struggling with an assignment or concept, I need to teach myself that it is alright to seek help and that does not make me a failure.
Keeping a happy and positive mindset will truly benefit my learning excursions for this fall and spring semester.
One of the blog tips that I found useful was to create a class email folder. This will better organize the thread of emails that I send and receive. Additionally, my email tends to get full between a multitude of different classes and work. Implementing a folder specifically for this class will keep me from overlooking or missing important emails about assignments or things I need to work on.
In the past, when I took Epics of India, I had a bad habit of opening the emails with out reading them. So this semester I really want to focus my efforts on getting as organized as I can, especially since I have a lot of professors this semester who like sending emails out regularly. By implementing this strategy, I hope it will keep me on track with the course.
For my first choice I picked Homer's Odyssey. I read the book a while back in high school so I am excited to revisit in on a new platform and see if my perspective and opinions about the stories have changed.
Odyssey
My second reading choice is Infancy Gospels that talk about the life of Jesus as he grows up. I am a Lutheran so I had to take Catechism to get confirmed but it has been a while since I studied the bible. Similar to my last choice, I look forward to reading these stories and seeing what changes in my analysis of the stories.
Child Jesus by Murillo
My third and final choice for readings will be Jewish Fairy Tales. I have never spent a lot of time studying the Jewish faith, so I look forward to broadening my religious horizons and learning more about the religion and its culture.
The first story book that really caught my eye was Mount Olympus Gossip. The title its self pulled me in because I love Greek and Roman Mythology. What kept me reading though was the tone of the story book. It might have been in my head, but the narration sounded very similar to the tone of the show Gossip Girl. The narrator has the inside scoop on all the secrets that go on between the gods and goddesses and the time has come for them to reveal all the dirt they have, very similar to the plot line of the show Gossip Girl. When I first started reading the story book, I had anticipated more dialogue from the main characters. I was moderately surprised when there was little to no quotes used in the stories but it grew on me. It kept the story feeling more secretive as if you and the narrator were in cahoots and the gods had no idea.
Mount Olympus
The next story I was excited to read was Ghost-Chasers. I will be the first to admit that I really love ghost stories and all things paranormal, so right off the bat, this storybook have my vote. While the language in the introduction was a little simple for my taste, I did like how the author divided up each story within the book with its own link, introduction and little picture. I gave me a quick glance at what the whole story book was gonna be like! I also really enjoyed how the introduction ended with back and forth dialogue between members of the Ghost-Chaser team. The fact that the entire storybook was told through dialogue and narration made it feel like I was watching a movie such as paranormal activity or the Exorcism. It made it all that much creepier and intense getting to hear it from the perspective of the character.
This third storybook caught my attention for reasons completely different than the other two. The character portrayal in The Heroes' Diaries was so compelling and deep. You got such a good sense of the character from the way they spoke and acted that you could really relate to them as normal people. The dialogue between Greg and Neville in the introduction was so well written and I like the format as quotations. It was easy to follow and I never lost track of who was speaking because the author did a great job of giving each character a very distinct voice. Each of the diaries of the different heroes had a different tone to it. It was so distinct and clear, you could almost see and hear the individual characters speaking directly to you!
On a small farm in the middle of the countryside resided a cock and a dog. While they were an unlikely pair, they became close during their years on the farm. However, the cock and the dog both had dreamed of seeing the world outside of the white picket fences that kept them at the farm.
“There is so much more outside of these gates that calls us to explore!” the cock declared.
Neither of the two friends had left the farm before so both the cock and dog were unaware of what dangers awaited them in the forest. Deep in the heart of the woods lived a sly fox known for his deception and cunning tongue. His greatest weapons were is suave ways and his knack for devious plots. He preyed upon animals just passing through the forest since the rest of the regular dwellers were aware of his reputation. The fox had no friends or allies because he could not be trusted by any of the animals in the woods.
Late one night, the cock and the dog set off for the forest without any anticipation of whom they might run into during their adventure. They agreed to be allies and watching out for one another. The cock would set up in the trees and alert the dog if he saw any impending danger. The dog was a good hunter and was able to provide meals for the cock and himself.
After a day full of exploring, the cock and dog found a tree that would be suitable shelter for the night. The cock was able to reside in the branches and the dog found a hole near the base which he took shelter in. When they laid down to sleep that night, they were unaware that they were being followed by the sly fox all day long. In the middle of the night, the fox began to creep towards the tree that housed the cock and the dog. The cock heard the rustling of leaves on the ground and woke up startled. The fox, realizing he had been discovered, took to his methods of persuasion and brown nosing to cover his tracks.
“Good evening sir!” he greeted the cock confidently. “I apologize for rousing you, but I was looking for a safe place to lay my head for the night. Could I bother you for some shelter just for this evening?”
The cock pondered this request and unexpectedly heard a soft growl from the bottom of the tree. He quickly understood that the dog had been awakened by this suspicious guest and he too and also did not trust the fox.
“Why of course, it is no trouble at all!” the cock said with a knowing grin. “Come around to the other side of the tree and you will find a hole you may sleep in.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” the fox said.
Without suspecting he had been tricked in his own game, the fox trotted around to the other side of the tree and was startled to find the dog there with his teeth barred. The dog chased the fox out of the forest and returned to the tree moments later to inform the cock they were safe again. They spent the rest of their night safe in the tree unaware that they had become heroes to the rest of the forest dwellers.
Author’s note: This story is about a dog and rooster who wanted to seek adventure outside the confines of their farm. Their curiosity was strong but they were naive about the dangers of the world beyond the white picket fence that surround them. By becoming allies, they were able to defend and protect one another as they journeyed throughout the forest. I adapted the original story to give more background information on how the fox was rejected by the rest of the forest animals because of his sneaky ways. I wanted to give more depth on how by being selfish he drove other forest dwellers away and was alone by consequence. This way, when the fox is introduced to the story, the reader has a preconception about his intentions. Instead of the dog actually attacking the fox, I changed it so he was chased out of the forest therefore making the cock and dog heroes. I made the title “The Forest” because the story somewhat reminded me of the musical Into The Woods. Innocent adventures hoping to satisfy their curiosity and they wind up in a life or death situation. Of course, like the musical and fable, this story has a happily ever after.
Bibliography: This story is inspired and adapted from the fable “The Dog, The Cock and The Fox”from the book The Æsop for Children written by Æsop and illustrations done by Milo Winter (1919).
I am Savannah Jung and I am a senior here at OU. I'm a PR major double minoring in Communication and Enterprise Studies. I took Epics of India online in the Spring and liked it so much I decided to enroll in the sister class, Mythology and Folklore.
My schedule is crazy to say the least. I'm in 18 hours this fall, a recent member of Lindsey + Asp, an active member of Alpha Chi Omega and will be joining PRSSA here in the fall. I work on campus as a Student Ambassador at the University Community office.
This summer I mostly just worked and took classes (oh the joys of adulting!) but on my days off, you could find me pool side. I love the water and would love to take a beach vacation sometime soon. My sister is 4 years older and works as a dancer in musicals at Disney World in Orlando Florida. I'll probably visit her and get some ocean time in (two birds one stone)
You could say I am obnoxiously close with my Greek Family. We are huge because I took twins and one of them did too. We finish each other sentences, have family dinners once a week and our Group Me is boarder line insane. I wouldn't trade any of those crazy girls for the world though!
Although being a senior is scary, I am beyond ready to graduate, move and start working. I would love to move back to Dallas but honestly I will go where ever a job is. My parents are ready for me to graduate too so they can sell the house and downsize to a condo probably somewhere in Florida (my family really seems to like that state). I'm excited for this class to get rolling! Reading has always been a hobby of mine so getting to do it for a class will be pretty great.
My favorite place now would be Seaside Florida. The last time I had a class similar to this one, I chose a favorite place that I had not been to but would like to visit. This time around I wanted to be sentimental and chose somewhere that had aspects of what I loved about St. Barthélemy but also had some personal ties to it.
My family always took a vacation to Seaside Florida once every year during the summer. We stopped going all together whenever my sister graduated college about 5 years ago. It was too much of a struggle between her new job and me starting classes in the fall to get everyone together to get away if even for just a week. The beach has always been a place of solitude for me. While many people like water sports or sand volleyball, my time at the beach is spent detoxing. I would wake up in the morning and run on the beach (running in sand is a fun challenge haha) and the rest of the day I would sit on the shore tanning and reading a good book.
I miss the relaxation for sure but most of all, Seaside is my favorite place because of the memories that are attached to it. My parents, my sister and I would go during the Fourth of July weekend and so we would sit in the big town square and listen to blue grass music play right before the firework display over the ocean. It was beautiful and getting to spend quality time with my family are some of the things that makes this place deeply rooted in my heart.
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