Mistakes

    One of the things that really through me when I first started classes was violin performance class. I don’t really like performing, at all. So when it was announced that Violin Lab was actually performance class, I eminently tried to figure out how I could get out of it, until I heard Dr. Thomason’s explanation of why we need that class. It turns out that performing in front of other people is something you need to practice. You never really stop being nerves; you just learn how to deal with it better. Practicing performing can not only help you deal with nerves but can also help you learn what you still need to work on, in your music. One of the reasons that I hate performing so much is that when you are up in front of other people is that I will mess up in random places that I thought I knew.

     Being able to make those mistakes without an actual audience is invaluable. It provides just enough pressure so you can see your weak spots and learn to control your nerves but in a way that doesn’t destroy your confidence. It is one of the reason sports teams do scrimmages. In a scrimmage you learn to work together, you get to learn your strengths and weaknesses, and you can make mistakes without negatively effecting the team. I am really good at defense I learned that when I was in basketball, but on the flip side of that I really just cannot score. No matter how many baskets I make in practice in scrimmages and games I choke. I don't know why but I do. I learned this by making dozens of mistakes. I would have loved to learn this when i wasn't in a game that mattered.

    when I learn to by making mistakes I remember better. The only reason i remember that 7x8=56 is because i got it wrong a lot. Making mistakes is what school is for, so we don't make mistakes when you get a job. The point of school is to make mistakes, so don't  get obsessed with that bad grade on a paper it just means you are still learning. If  you're not learning why are you in college?

Relationships

              There is a unique kind of bond that is formed when people come to gather with one goal. This happens more often that you would think. A lot of the time you don’t even know it has happen until you try to through some one new into the equation or for some reason some one is not there. I’m not sure there is a name for this relationship but then again I haven’t been around it as often as some people. I think my first introduction to this almost family like relationship was when I was on a YMCA volleyball team two semesters in a row. I knew everyone and cared about every one even if I didn't particularly like everyone on the team. Because of that it made playing more fun. I don’t know why but those relationships are one of the reasons I like volleyball so much.

               There is a phenomenon in the music world where once you have performed with someone you have a connection with that person. Small groups of performers or often admired for the massive amount of communication that goes on while they are preforming a peace, it is not an easy thing to communicate without words while thinking about twenty other things. While the more experience you have the easier it is to communicate with out words knowing the person you are talking to helps so much.  When you first meet someone no matter who it is, it’s a little awkward, try preforming with someone you’ve just met. Once you have rehearsed with someone you know them probably better that you would have just by talking to them. You know there strengths and weaknesses and you know how they communicate whether it is just with a nod or the move there whole body. There is a cello player in the orchestra who moves a lot especially during our quartet peace at first it was really confusing I couldn’t tell if what he was doing. If we had tried to preform it without a rehearsal I would have been very lost, it would have been terrible.

                The way I see it is that when you are writing or even just don’t you homework you are trying to make a connection to whoever it is that is reading you words. You half to give a little before you can get anything. And writing is learning how to make a connection with someone you might never meet. It is pretty awesome if you think about it.

Confidence

Ninety percent of the time I have confidence down pat. But that other ten percent tends to creep up on me and get me when I’m not ready. I don’t like to perform. I can practice as long as you want me to and I love to teach, but when I perform I have a terrible habit of psyching myself out simple things that I have never gotten wrong before suddenly become impossible. Confidence is as key in music as it is in sports like basket ball. When I was in basketball I did almost the same thing during a game I would miss shots that I never missed in practice. If you are not confident on the field the other player will notice and take advantage of it and in music if you are not confident you sound like you have no idea what you are doing. I use to not be very confident in my weighting; I was so worried about getting the paper “write” that my teacher said all of my papers were wishy washy.

In music you are though that even if you are scared to perform you pretend that you are the most confident player there. And in sports you learn to forget the around and just play like it is a scrimmage. I learned that when I’m waiting for me and me alone my papers turn out a thousand times better. So I pretend that there isn’t a teacher there to grade me.

           These tricks might not help you at all, but if you can find that thing that takes the fear away all of your failed attempts will be worth it. Being confident affects something deep inside of you. To be honest I’m not sure what it is but your hours of practice or the three rough drafts you wrote don’t go out the window. You can make that basket, play that tough measure, and you sound like you know what you know what you are talking about when you write. My roommate, Katelynn Crisp says that “If someone sounds like they know what they are talking about I be leave them because I have no reason not to.” a lot of people think that way. So do you sound like you know what you are talking about?

The College Transition ~ What Writers Can Learn From Athletes ~ Routine is Key! ~ Comp131

                Another thing that, I half way introduced, is that can really help you with more than just studying is having routine. When I go to practice I grab my instrument and music, find a practice room, get everything ready, tune, and then do my scales. I do this every time I practice. When I was on a competitive swim teem, after dry land exercises we would grab out stuff put our goggles on, and swim a 200 free warm up. Throughout my experience in sports and music I have found coach after coach after teacher rely on routine. As it turns out there is some science behind this whole routine thing.
               Normally it is called conditioning, but I originated with the pavlovs-dogs project. According to Kendra Cherry Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who came up with the idea of classical conditioning (psychology.about.com).That is what trainers use now a days to train animals for everything from simple house training to cercus stunts. In fact if you have ever house trained your dog or taught him to play fetch you can probably thank Pavlov. Pavlov went on to win the 1904 Nobel Prize for his work studying digestive processes, but he is most famous for the pavlovs-dogs experiment.

                There is a long back story to why Pavlovs did this experiment in the first place but the actual experiment was this.

                “The sound of a metronome was chosen to be the neutral stimulus. The dogs would first be exposed to the sound of the ticking metronome, and then the food was immediately presented. After several conditioning trials, Pavlov noted that the dogs began to salivate after hearing the metronome.” (psychology.about.com)

                So basically the reason routines are so important is that they can do half the work for you. If you have a routine for studying you brain being the genius it is will be ready to focus and study. This does work. I’ve tried practicing violin and skipping my scales and the result is usually an hour of staring out the window or thinking about all the things I have to do when I’m done.

              The biggest mistake people make with this idea is that your brain will kick into gear after doing your routine twice, but Pavlov trained his dogs for months before he got his results. I guarantee you that the reason everyone tells freshman that they need to make good study habits now is because it does take time. I’ve been playing violin for almost twelve years now and I only noticed that I had a routine a couple of years ago.

Works Cited

Cherry, Kendra. “Pavlov’s Dogs How Ivan Pavlov Discovered Classical Conditioning.” about.com. IAC/InterActiveCorp, n.d. Web. 12 Oct. 2012. <http://www.about.com/>.

The College Transition ~ What Writers Can Learn From Athletes ~ Finding Your Place ~ Comp131

                 Being able to focus is extremely important for musicians. When you’re preforming the nervousness’ takes care of that for you but day to day practice can be excruciating, and the same thing goes for athletes. You can’t play your best in a game if you can’t focus and get stronger during your practice. And when it comes to schooling being able to focus can mean better papers and less time you need studding.

                Athletes have there playing field and musicians have their practice rooms. Having a place to study can help as only as you only study there. If you have a place where you do nothing but study, going there is like flipping a switch in your head that helps you focus on studying. A lot of scientists are saying now a days that you should only use your bed for sleep, because of the same reason. Melinda Smith, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, Joanna Saisan, M.S.W., and Robert Segal, M.A. say that “Use your bed only for sleep ... That way, when you go to bed, your body gets a powerful cue: it’s time to nod off” (helpguide). When I’m in a practice room my brain knows that it’s time to work. So find a place to study and don’t do anything but study there.

                I don’t know if you noticed but the biggest part of having a place is NOT DOING ANYTHING ELTS THERE! One of the easiest way to make your place useless is to text or do other stuff in your pace.  To get yourself to focus, eliminate distractions. That means no cellphones or video games or anything else that distracts you. You don’t half to have a study place to do this, but if you do have a place make sure there are no distractions.

               If you’re like me your brain will do anything to keep you from focusing including making you remember things you really do need to do. My solution to this problem is to have a note pad and pencil with me at all times so I can write done all the things I need to do and the things I want to do so I don’t half to think about them while I’m practicing. Also I usually only have an hour at a time I can practice, so instead of looking at my watch (or phone) a thousand times I set an alarm for when I’m done. That not only saves time, but takes my mind off of where I need to be so I can focus on what I am doing

Works Cited

Smith, Melinda, M.A., et al. “How to Sleep Better.” helpguide. Robert and Jeanne Segal, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. <http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm>.

The College Transition ~ What Writers Can Learn From Athletes ~ Playmaker~ Comp131

                After a couple of seconds the ever wonderful internet gave me a definition for a playmaker, “An offensive player, as in basketball or hockey, who executes plays designed to put one or more teammates in a position to score” (Dictionalry.com).  

                There are a couple of things to note about this definition. First is that a playmaker not someone who just watches out for themselves. They make and act on destines to help the team score. They are not a ball hog, ore the show of. The team is first and they are second. When It comes to academics it’s like pouting learning before grades. While getting good grades is important, the real goal of and education is just that, to become educated.

The second thing I want to take not of is that they execute play. They are not locked away in some library coming up with strategies. They are in the game giving it there all. Making decisions and then acting on them, is another ting the current student can learn from. Just deciding you want an A isn’t enough. Getting an A takes study time and hard work. There is a Japanese Proverb that says “Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare” (http://veryrandom...) Action without strategy is chaos and vice versa. For success in any thing you do you cannot separate these two key elements.

This is especially important for righter. You cannot wright a well thought out coherent paper with out for thought, and you will never wright any ting if all you do is think. Your team is the people you are writing for. Your job as a play maker is to inspire them to make choices that will not just change but improve their lives, but you also half to take action yourself. If you wright about how smoking kills people, but you are a chain smoker, is any one going to lesson to what you half to say.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/playmaker

http://veryrandomstreams.blogspot.com/2010/06/100-great-quotes-about-motivation-and.html

The College Transition ~ What Writers Can Learn From Athletes ~ Goals~ Comp131

Goals are important any athlete can tell you that. Whether it’s long-term or short-term, goals help shape our actions and drive us to become better than we are now. They are especially important in swimming. Swimming, like running, is one of those unusual sports that while you competing alone; you participate as part of a team. Relays are the only real exception. Baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and most other spots it is essential to work as a team. You’re not allowed to volley the ball twice in a row someone else has to bump it. But in swimming if your dive is delayed or you mess up your turn there is no one there to save you. While how you do does affect your teems points, really it’s up to you how hard you want to work. That why goal setting is so important.

If you want you can goof of, your own sweet time with the work out, or even just skip practice. Yes you coach may yell at you but really the only one you have a substantial impact on is yourself. When I was on swim team I noticed there was a huge difference between the kids how wanted to be there and the ones who were forced to be there by their parent. Obviously the swimmers who were forced to come did as little work as possible. They didn’t what to be there so why try? But if you took a closer look at the other swimmers you would find yet another difference. While they all participated, for some reason, some of the kids would go above and beyond the requirements while others were satisfied with just doing what they were told. After talking to several people I realized that the difference was what goal they were focusing on.

Everybody seemed to have the same two goals. Get first place in the meet, and move up to a faster level. Sometimes there were more specific goals like; I want to get 27 seconds on my 50meeter free, but those were the two over all goals. When I talked to the swimmers who just did what they were told they were completely focus on either keeping up with the group they were in now or doing well in the meet. My conversations with the over achievers however, want a lot more like this. Yes I want to do well in the meet, but I really just want to move up a level. So it’s not just setting goals it’s which goals you’re aiming for.

            My last couple of months in swimming I had a friend who finally got tired of being on the same team. So he changed his goal from doing well in the meet to moving to the next team. Within two weeks he went form the middle of the pack to one of the more formidable members, and he continued to progress.   I had to leave not long later because I graduated, but I would be extremely surprised if he hasn’t moved up yet.

            Short-term goals are excellent to have because they can serve as mile markers on your journey to your long-term goals, they motivate you and give you a sense of accomplishment that everyone needs. But you’re trying to get to your long term goal. So maybe you should stop focusing solely on your project at work and start gunning for that promotion you really want. Yes, try to get an A on your paper but an A in the class is why you want to do well on that paper any way. Writers aim not just to have a well written paper but to inspire, inform, and entertain there audience. The big goal for beginners is to get published. So what have you been aiming for?

The College Transition ~ Does it Make Sense? ~ Comp131

            While I love to day dream, I am still a very practical person. When evaluating my surrounding some of the questions that tend to be most prominent in my mind are: What purpose is this supposed to serve? Does it accomplish its intent? What are it’s the flaws? And most importantly. Does it make sense? I am still in the process of adjusting to my new living arrangements here on campus, but I have found some things that, to me, just don’t make sense.

            Example 1 No. The first floor of my residence hall is class rooms, which is fine but it means every one living here either lives on the second or third floor. There are three stair cases in this building and one elevator. The staircases are on either end and one is kind of in the middle with the elevator on the other side of kind of in the middle. Which, for this U shaped building would be quite efficient… Would be. Two of the three staircases won’t open from the outside, and the other one and the elevator only open up to the inside of the first floor. So if you are covered in mud because it had been raining, which it has done a surprising amount lately, you still half to come in the building instead of being able to take you shoes of in the cement stair case. Or if you’re like me and just don’t want to be stared at by a bunch of students in class as you walk by, your just out of luck. To me the amount and placement of the stirs is wonderful but to halve half of them locked to the outside doesn’t make sense.

            Example 2 No. We have this beautiful court yard in the middle of our U shaped building. Most of the time it’s in the sun but in the morning and evenings its quite nice. They even have tables and benches to so you can sit and study/text or talk to your friends. They are even bright colors (I REALLY like colors). The problem is this is Texas and even in the evenings when the sun is not shining right on top of these benches it still could be 90 degrees, so why would you put metal benches out where they will bake in the sun and the heat most of the day. You don’t want to touch those tables 90 percent of the time nun the les sit on a bench, especially in shorts. I appreciate that they thought of that and it is an awesome idea but metal? It just doesn’t make sense to me.

The College Transition ~ Dorm Rooms ~ Comp131.02

            Like a lot of other college freshmen I am living on campus in the dorm rooms. Wow is it different. In more ways than I expected would. One of the more obvious changes is the amount of space. I used to have a large room back in San Antonio, in fact it was so large most of the time I didn’t use most of it. I had plenty of room to spread everything out, do some rather absurd art project, or even just lay in the middle of the floor. Here if feels like I’m living in a box. It’s not that bad really, but it’s going to take some time to. There’s my bed my desk my closet and a walk way. It is actually quite efficient. There is just enough room so you’re not cramped but there not any extra space.
 
           Another thing I’m getting use to is the lack of extra stuff, it wonderful and terrible at the same time. The lack of, distractions has greatly improved my attempts at studying, but once I’m done it feels like there is nothing to do. Not only is there not stuff to mess with but also there’s not nearly as much space to clean! It uses to take me an hour or more to clean my room, partly because I would always get distracted, now it takes ten minutes.
 
           Aside from that studying is different to. One I half to study, that’s new. And two there is someone else in my room. I'm one of those people who studies bets lying in bed or stretched out on the floor. Sitting at a desk, I just can’t manage to do for long periods of time. So I usually end up studying in my room. As I said before the lack or stuff has improved my ability to focus, but if my roommate is in there, it doesn’t matter what she is doing, I really just can’t focus. Something about having another person in the room with me obliterates my focus. It’s not a major problem now because we never seem to be there at the same time, but that might not be the case in the future, so I need to find somewhere else to study.
  
          One of the things I miss most about living at home is the food. I can’t randomly decide to make a sandwich or macaroni. Yes I have a refrigerator full of snacks, but it’s not a kitchen where I can make pretty much whatever I want whenever I want.
 
           There are other things to. One minute there will be a bunch of people just walking down the hall and then they're gone its rather spooky I know they just got to where they were going but still it gives me the creepy that I don't know where everyone is. I don't even know who most of the people on my floor not to mention the building. And there is always someone around, even if you don't know where they are at the moment. I can't stay up till three in the morning practicing because my violin is in the music building and I don't want to wake anyone up. Aside from school itself, the dorms are probably the biggest change for me.

The College Transition ~ What Writers Can Learn From Athletes ~The Mental Game ~ Comp131.02

             If you’ve ever been on a high school sports team or if you just like to watch SPN, you’ve probably heard the term mental game. Henry Ford said “If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing you're right.” That is the whole theory behind mental game. Confidence and positive attitude might be just what you need to win. Yes practice and training are big factors but if a player comes into a baseball game with the mindset that they are going to lose, all the training that player has done will be useless. Mind over matter, right?                 When you watched the little kids play T-ball at the YMCA you can really see the mental game in effect. The coaches go through a great deal of trouble to make sure that the kids are not only having fun but are confident. However there is always the chance that one kid had decided he/she can’t do it. No matter how hard he tries he won’t be able to catch the ball, though there’s not much of that in t-ball any way, and when he goes up to bat he will probably miss the ball once or twice before he gets mad and just hits the stand. There really is more to sports than just being athletic.
                The mental game however, can apply to more than just sports. Have you ever had a test or even a class where, from the start you knew you were going to fail? Maybe you got a better grade that you expected but you didn’t get nearly as good of a grade as you should have. You will never reach your full potential if you don’t think you can. Obviously there are some things you need to be realistic about, you never be able to jump twelve feet in the air, but academically speaking why not shut for that 4.0. You can do it and even if you can’t what’s the worst thing that can happen?
                Now the mental game is more than just a good attitude, it’s also the willingness to try. If you’re too far away, go ahead and try to slide into home. Like athletes still train for their sport you still need to study for you finals. Be willing to take chances, thy taking the weak side of an argument just to see if you can win. Nobody is going to remember that same old play. Just like your professor won’t notice your paper out of all the papers they half to grade, unless you are willing to try something new, get a little dirty, and take and any opportunity you can to stand out. Don’t aim for first base, shout for a home run and you just might get there.