Developing Time Strategies

Time management has always been a term circulating my life from when it was told to me as a little girl by my parents and until now told to myself in college. However, it is still not an art that I have mastered. Reading through the articles about time management, I found some advice useful and plan on applying it to my life. The article 3 Steps to Recapture Time simplified how to have time management and I believe it is a very good starting point. I want to begin my first 15 minutes with prayer and deciding on the 3-4 things I will divide my time on. I have done this about two years ago then stopped; however, looking back to last semester I now realize the drastic negative difference my time management was between the semesters I did have the first 15 minutes separated from the rest of the day and the semester I did not. My biggest time challenge is separating more than enough time to do a certain job, then it takes me that long period of time to complete that job. For example, even though this assignment is estimated to take 30 minutes, I allot 3 hours to do it in my schedule. So I get started with the work at the beginning of the 3 hours but then distract myself because I know I have 3 hours to get it done. However, what usually happens is I waste 2.5 hours doing whatever I should not be doing. I hope to improve on this during the semester. I believe to help me with this, I will start a checklist as the article The Psychology of Checklists suggests. I believe the physical act of cross off the things I need to get done will motivate me to not distract myself or allot too much time to do work.

(Image representing time management.)

Incorporating Technology in Assignments

I think it is a progressive idea that we learn about and use technology tools for class. It is inevitable that we will need to know how to use these tools for future careers and it is a brilliant idea that we are starting now. Most of the technology tools I have not used before. I have only used Canva for both work and personal use. I personally love the way it works. It is easy to use and provides many layouts that are already created so it helps the user's creative juices to begin flowing. During this semester, I want to develop website publishing skills. As an engineering student, it is possible that in my future that I create an interface for websites, and I believe it will be a good opportunity to begin by first recognizing how to publish a website. As this is my third online course, the interaction between students through commenting on each other's post is similar between the courses. However, this is the first time that external websites and tools will be used (with the opportunity of creating memes), so I look forward to using the outside tools and developing technological skills.

(Image representing technology in the workplace.)

Creativity in Assignments

I am most intrigued by the Storytelling core assignments in this class. After reading a couple storybooks from prior students, I think creating these stories provides me the opportunity to explore my creative side by creating my own story based off the assigned reading. Sadly, in many of my engineering courses I feel that the assignments were done with the intent of the approval of the professor rather than to actual learn and immerse myself with the content. With the Storytelling assignments in this class, there is no "one correct answer" in these stories. I have the opportunity to explore my creativity by diving into my own thoughts and opinions then share it with the class. While being creative in this way is new to me, I am excited to explore this new side. I think that this is my favorite aspect of the class - the fact that there is not a recipe to be a perfect student, rather, writing our own thoughts is sufficient.

(Image depicting creative writing.) 

Looking into the extra credit options, I am very interested in the HEART option. I really like the acronym of H.E.A.R.T. (health and happiness, empathy, attention, reading, time). This acronym can be applied to more than class but also personal life. At different points of my life, I have the tendency to focus on one of the five items and disregard the other four. However, I hope that by exploring the HEART extra credit assignments, I will learn how to balance all five items at once.

Refocusing Our Lives to Have a Growth Mindset

Yet...
I tend to overlook that three letter word. I brush it off and dismiss its meeting. I fall in the trap of forgetting about the big goals in life such as helping each other and happiness, but rather I exert so much energy just to get the grade letter "A." However, like what Carol Dweck said, the word "yet" provides hope for improvement while linking a positive future to the present. Personally, I know I need to refocus my life to have a growth mindset. I have started doing this at the end of last year (2019) because I realized that I was beating myself up for grades that did not really matter. I was not realizing the bigger picture. I was not letting myself make mistakes, which really hurt me in the long run. It is my learning goal for my last undergraduate semester to simply learn. I want to learn the material to actual know it and not just know it for a test and simply forget it hours after I take an exam. After having an introduction to growth mindset, I hope to learn more about it through this course and apply it to not just school but life as well. I want to refocus my life to continuously grow and learn rather than only doing what is needed. I want to flourish.

(A flower flourishing is the image I have when thinking about having a growth mindset.)

Introduction to Noelle Zhania Mortega Vargas

Hi Everyone!

I am Noelle Zhania Mortega Vargas. My name is a mouthful but I really love it! I am a Filipina-American, and I have two first names which is common in the Philippines. I go by Zhanie in this class because it is a nickname for my second first name, Zhania. I was born in the Philippines, then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A. when I was two-and-a-half-years-old. Then when I was about nine, I moved to Oklahoma. I think it is cool that depending on the location, I am called by a different name. In the Philippines and Michigan, I was called Zhanie at home and school, then when I moved to Oklahoma, I was called Noelle at school. Still in college I am called by most people as Noelle, but I have missed the name Zhanie and I am bringing it back!

(Image representing a blend of my two identities being a Filipina in America.)

This May, I intend to be graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering! I will be working for Samsung Austin Semiconductor starting in June and begin a new chapter of being a full-time working girl! It is my career goal to show the strength of a diverse, female engineer. As engineering is a male-dominated field, I want to prove the excellence and the unique qualities women engineers can bring to the occupation.

My overall life goal is to serve God and live out my Roman Catholic faith. I hope to continue giving back to the people in the Philippines. As I grow older, I want to give more and create more opportunities for the people there. There could be people with the same abilities and strengths as I do, but live in a very different circumstance where they cannot use these abilities and strengths to, for example, become a mechanical engineer. The main difference between our lives is that they are not presented with the same opportunities. It is my goal to be a part of creating these opportunities for the people in my home-country of the Philippines.

Thanks for reading a little about me! I am looking forward to meeting you all in this class!

|Zhanie|

Storybook Favorites

A storybook that intrigued me was The Chiranjivi. As I read through the Introduction, I realized how the layout of the page was very clear and appealing that it encouraged me to read more. For example, the author used the Power of Three. Horizontally across the page, there were three images. Respectively underneath the image, there was the name of the one in the image and a short description of who it was. Then lastly, underneath the description there was a boxed link that directed the reader straight to the story of the one in the image. The author used the Power of Three both vertically and horizontally. It was a very organized layout and it personally intrigued me to click on the links. I was taught the importance of the Power of Three before and is used when trying to relate a message to an audience, and I believe that the author used this tool very well. More so, this storybook continued to impress me because as I read the stories and the author notes. I realized the writer would describe the point that the original story was trying to relate, but then the author changed the story to relate his/her view instead.

A storybook that interested me just be its title was I've Got a Job for You. I believe a strong title will pull in readers. As I read through the Introduction, I automatically felt like I was part of the story. The storybook was written in second-person. The word "you" was all over the page. Even though it felt very upfront to me, it interested me because I felt like I was part of the act. I am suddenly involved. Most stories I read, I feet like I was an outsider who is simply gaining a new perspective from the opinion of the author. However, this storybook greatly differed. The opinion was my own and it seemed like I was a main character.

(Image describing the feeling of stories written in second-person.)

The third storybook I was very impressed by was Gossip Girl: Ayodhya. While I am not a big fan of the TV show Gossip Girl and have only watched a few episodes, I still love this storybook. It combines something that the author enjoys and integrates it in every story he/she writes. I believe this is truly brilliant. The information written is about the Indian epics that was read by the author. However, the author twisted the presentation of the stories' information and styled it to follow his/her favorite show. I believe this is a great way to integrate generations. Bringing in something that is very familiar to one's own generation, such as a TV show, to teach a lesson that was written decades ago is very artistic. I also believe the fact that one's favorite show is included in the work that is being done, as the author, writing the stories should be very fun. 

Discovering the Heart of the Philippines...My Favorite Place

Philippines. I am a first generation American born in the Philippines but raised in the U.S. This past Christmas Break, I went back to the Philippines for the first time in about 10 years. It was absolutely amazing - I got to see my lola (meaning "grandma" in English) for the first time in almost a decade! However, when I was in the Philippines, I realized how American I was. Then, when I returned back to the U.S. I realized how Filipino I am. I really did not notice how confusing that was for me, especially to my identity. I really do not feel like I classify in either category. Therefore, it ties into my blog name which is Tale of Two Nations because I hope this blog helps me discover a little bit more about my identity as a Filipina-American but also about the diversity of another culture which will help me grow to have a better embrace of diversity and inclusion.

My favorite thing about the Philippines is the heart of the Filipino. People there live a very simple life. They work hard just to afford the basics, then if there is a little extra they give it to their kapwa (meaning "fellow" in English) Filipino. As you can see in the image below, there is a community that is helping to move a family's house. They describe this community effort as "bayanihan." It reminds me that sometimes the things we do are for others. Sometimes it is bigger than us.

("Bayanihan Spirit" Photographed by Raniel Castañeda)