Reflections on Week 1
I’ve certainly written plenty about my first week of classes at FAU. Throughout my summaries, I’ve mentioned a little about my feelings and approach.
Put succinctly, I feel a lot of apprehension at this moment. The number one culprit is the 30-minute presentation due on September 7. Giving a five-minute speech is a chore. Trying to get past 20 will require a ton of preparation. The topic is one that I know a little about. From both points of view, I’ll analyze the issue of media bias. Taking into account the required length, I’m trying to organize it into a number of smaller speeches. To begin, I’ll find some conservative whacko sites that present the case for liberal media bias. Basically, I could ramble on for a while, spouting conservative talking points. But I’ll preface it by saying, “those on the right claim…”. Then I’ll spend the remainder talking about why the media favors conservatives. Actually, my premise will be that they favor the almighty dollar. That six major corporations own the media is a compelling argument that there is neither a liberal nor conservative bias, but only a bias towards green.
My news reporting class is the second cause for concern. Once I get through early September, politics class will be a breeze. The only other assignment for the term is due in late November. There are three major stories to be written over the course of fall term. For each topic, I need three sources. That’ll be nine interviews spread out over three months. Once I get some concrete ideas, I can better elaborate on my plans.
Literature and Mass Communication don’t worry me. There will be a good amount of work, but it’s entirely doable.
I view this term as one of my biggest challenges in life. Up to this point, I’ve been able to breeze through school. Rarely have I had to spend hours a night on homework. It will take every ounce of effort to succeed in these courses. I’ll know more accurately where I stand come the end of September. I’m still gauging where I stand in relation to the other students. It’s always a worry that most people are smarter than I.
This term is also a benchmark for me. It’ll let me know whether or not I have chosen the correct path. As long as I get a “B” or better, I will be satisfied.
My early plan is to spend Mondays and Wednesdays working extensively. I try to clear weekends off for football, although there will be times where that is impossible. On both Mondays and Wednesday, I have a solitary one-hour course at PBCC. That gives me the better part of those afternoons and evenings to focus on assignments. Friday should be another day. I’ll get on a schedule where I’m up by at least 9:00 every morning. I’m speculating that 2-4 solid hours of homework a day will be enough to succeed. I’ll have to reassess if that’s adequate as time goes by.
Also, I wrote about some more personal things earlier this afternoon. After looking at all the work I have to do, my time will be limited to begin with. I hope to have some successes with the opposite sex, but that’s not my biggest concern.
For now, my goal is to enjoy a relaxing weekend. My Mom’s going out of town on Friday, so I’ll have the house to myself. I’ll definitely catch up on some reading, but that won’t take too much time. I’ll cultivate a rough outline for my presentation beginning tomorrow. I want to have a very solid plan in place by Monday.
My main goal is to make school as enjoyable as possible. That means writing stories on issues that interest me. I actually look forward to Tuesdays from 4:00-7:00 when I meet with fellow followers of politics. It’s simply not worth the work unless you get something rewarding from the effort. There are certainly times where the assignment will be no fun, but it should be enjoyable at least sometime.
I’ve written as much as could be done for this week on school. Look for Reflections on Week 2 same time next week.
-Taylor
Put succinctly, I feel a lot of apprehension at this moment. The number one culprit is the 30-minute presentation due on September 7. Giving a five-minute speech is a chore. Trying to get past 20 will require a ton of preparation. The topic is one that I know a little about. From both points of view, I’ll analyze the issue of media bias. Taking into account the required length, I’m trying to organize it into a number of smaller speeches. To begin, I’ll find some conservative whacko sites that present the case for liberal media bias. Basically, I could ramble on for a while, spouting conservative talking points. But I’ll preface it by saying, “those on the right claim…”. Then I’ll spend the remainder talking about why the media favors conservatives. Actually, my premise will be that they favor the almighty dollar. That six major corporations own the media is a compelling argument that there is neither a liberal nor conservative bias, but only a bias towards green.
My news reporting class is the second cause for concern. Once I get through early September, politics class will be a breeze. The only other assignment for the term is due in late November. There are three major stories to be written over the course of fall term. For each topic, I need three sources. That’ll be nine interviews spread out over three months. Once I get some concrete ideas, I can better elaborate on my plans.
Literature and Mass Communication don’t worry me. There will be a good amount of work, but it’s entirely doable.
I view this term as one of my biggest challenges in life. Up to this point, I’ve been able to breeze through school. Rarely have I had to spend hours a night on homework. It will take every ounce of effort to succeed in these courses. I’ll know more accurately where I stand come the end of September. I’m still gauging where I stand in relation to the other students. It’s always a worry that most people are smarter than I.
This term is also a benchmark for me. It’ll let me know whether or not I have chosen the correct path. As long as I get a “B” or better, I will be satisfied.
My early plan is to spend Mondays and Wednesdays working extensively. I try to clear weekends off for football, although there will be times where that is impossible. On both Mondays and Wednesday, I have a solitary one-hour course at PBCC. That gives me the better part of those afternoons and evenings to focus on assignments. Friday should be another day. I’ll get on a schedule where I’m up by at least 9:00 every morning. I’m speculating that 2-4 solid hours of homework a day will be enough to succeed. I’ll have to reassess if that’s adequate as time goes by.
Also, I wrote about some more personal things earlier this afternoon. After looking at all the work I have to do, my time will be limited to begin with. I hope to have some successes with the opposite sex, but that’s not my biggest concern.
For now, my goal is to enjoy a relaxing weekend. My Mom’s going out of town on Friday, so I’ll have the house to myself. I’ll definitely catch up on some reading, but that won’t take too much time. I’ll cultivate a rough outline for my presentation beginning tomorrow. I want to have a very solid plan in place by Monday.
My main goal is to make school as enjoyable as possible. That means writing stories on issues that interest me. I actually look forward to Tuesdays from 4:00-7:00 when I meet with fellow followers of politics. It’s simply not worth the work unless you get something rewarding from the effort. There are certainly times where the assignment will be no fun, but it should be enjoyable at least sometime.
I’ve written as much as could be done for this week on school. Look for Reflections on Week 2 same time next week.
-Taylor
1 Comments:
Good luck with your school work. Don't worry--there's not too many people out there than can claim to be "smarter than Taylor."
I think vowing to enjoy your semester is a good plan. I vow that also. But I know that's going to get difficult as I move along and get more and more HW and shit to do.
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