A foreign Language

Learning a new language is not a simple task. 

In High school I hated going to Spanish class every other day. It was the only thing I dreaded so much before. So now, taking yet another language and on top of that German, I didn't know if it would have been better for me to drop the class, change it, or take another language. Truth is, I really didn't want to fail the class. During this week I went and talked to my German professor, A. Geibel. Her office hours are Mondays 10-11. Of course we haven't even had class on a Monday yet so I had no idea what to do. Professor Geibel though she would make any accommodation for students to be able to see her, so I saw her on Wednesday at 12 instead. 

I asked her about her way of teaching German to her students. She explained how teachers use to give verbs to their students and tell them how to change the steams of the verbs and change the endings. Professor Geibel how ever did not like this approach at all. Instead she wanted her students to delve right in and understand the different conjugations of the verbs on our own. She feels that making us memorize the different conjugations of verbs will not help us in  the long run of understanding the language. 

In addition I asked her about how we will be tested or quizzed on for our vocabulary and how much I should be studying to understand and memorize everything. Professor Geibel explained that my class won't be tested on till the end of the semester. She also added on that I should be going over little by little each day. She told me that going over the words each day would help me be familiar with them and help me understand more when she is talking in German. 

She told me if I ever had questions on something to feel free and email her at geibela1@southernct.edu. Or check her office at Eagleman Hall at D 147, but I would need to make an appointment. 

It's Just the Beginning

A little baby step to becoming a self supportive individual, and that step is going to college. For some college isn't the place to be, others maybe have they skipped it and even gotten a job right after high school, but for me college is something I had to do to be able to achieve what I want to do with my life.

As I contemplate the aspects and weigh the goods and bads about college, I can't help but to think what college really is to me and so many others. The answer came faster than I thought it would, college is yet another stepping stone put in place that people either pick or don't pick to do. In all honesty, I envy the people who don't have to follow the norm or the mainstream aspects of America and do things in their own way; those are true self motivated people who are strong in so many ways.

College again is something I have to do, because I want to become an art teacher and inspire those who aren't very interested in art to find something special about themselves. I know I don't have to be a teacher to inspire others but I thought long and hard about how to inspire people. In the end I found out the best way was to start some where young, where people can still grow and mature.

This same idea about catching people at a young age reminded me what my college experience is actually helping me out right with now. My classes i'm taking now and the experiences I am learning with them are being taught to me at an age where I understand them and can actually grow and mature even more with them. This is what college I feel is going to teach me the most, a more broader way to understand, to learn and to grow.

In the end, I can set goals for myself to see how others are helping me grow so I can do just the same later on in life when I finally become an art teacher and have students of my own.

Some Little things about myself first..

Five little words to describe Me.


Morals.

I've constructed my life around morals I set when I was younger. Some are simple like be nice to others, don't hit people, say thank you, wash your hands before eating. Others are put yourself in others shoes, feel what they feel because you may never know what they are going through. Help people no matter what, even if you hate their guts because a person is a person and should be treated with respect.
People might have their own morals but for me, my morals are who I am and who I have grown up to be. Just the word moral can say so much about myself.





Strength.


Psychically I like to work out, run, jog, climb, bike ride, and swim, or anything where I don't have to sit still. But when I say strength is a word that says something about me, I mean the psychical aspect but I am also talking about the mental aspect too. I am a very determined individual and it takes a lot to bring me down or to push me around. I would like to say strength and endurance is one thing I take great pride in.










Caring.



Most people are caring. Just as well so am I. I like to go above and beyond to help my friends or someone I know that I could do something beneficial. Caring isn't just wanting to do something for others but actually doing it and wanting to. Caring is part of my morals to follow. I will and always will go out of my way for anyone, weather I feel like it or not. Everyone needs some help at one point or a shoulder to lean on. I put myself out there to be the hand that's pulling you up when you didn't notice it before. I like to be that smile that brightens up everyone's day. As I put it for so many people, "Try to help someone every day or get them to smile because if you get someone to be happy then maybe that person will try and brighten up another's day and you'll create this cycle of smiles in your life."





Devotion.



My passion, my oppression, my creation. My art work is what my whole life is devoted to. I want to become an art teacher. Not just any art teacher that goes through the day annoyed with kids you don't care about what art is becoming any more. I am devoted to becoming an art teacher that will help others be inspired to create something of their own. When you think about art, you are creating something out of nothing, out of a simple piece of paper or a stone and make it into something wonderful. Through the rest of my life I want to continue to show people that they can be good at art or anything they choose, they just have to find their inspiration inside of themselves.

The final word to describe myself, is actually pretty hard to think about. Which is weird since how can you only put a few words to describe yourself when a person is made up of so many different qualities and traits, it's impossible to number them. So, I guess my last word is just that, weird. I say i'm weird because i'm not following any trends or the norm of anyone. I pick who I am and that for many people is 'weird'. I read my life away, I can watch hours of anime and read manga. I eat sushi almost everyday and all of that is perfectly fine with me because that's who I am and maybe that is what weird is. But no matter what label I have or  words I pick to describe myself in the end I am only Tori and that is perfectly acceptable for me.