Tales from Previous Longhorns

I really enjoyed reading these accounts from previous students at UT. It is always nice to be able to gain some insight from those who have gone before you. Especially as a nervous freshman, upperclassman or alumni are a very useful tool. One of the things that stuck with me from the reading was the excerpt by Margaret Cousins. She put an emphasis on the importance of her professors at UT. She says, "I never saw any of my mentors again. But in the heat and struggle and exhiliration of forging a life, I found the heat that their names and faces, their words and precepts, their values and standards recurred to me consistently"(895). I have been very focused on meeting and acquiring relationships with other students here at UT. I had not even thought about creating relationships with my professors. After reading her story I realized the wealth of knowledge and wisdom many professors at Texas have. They can be a wonderful resource to any student here and we have much to learn from them. She also says that, "against formidable odds, they taught me how to think, and in ways they would not have deemed possible, they have illuminated my fortunate life" (895). She viewed her professors as one of the most important encounters she had at UT and she was able to learn a lot from them.

Another observation of a previous UT student caught my eye. Alan Bean said, "When I did begin to put out effort I did really well. That was a big eye-opener. Then I began to put out more effort and do more, and maybe that's the story of my life, because now I realize that you can do what you want" (925). He observed that by putting out effort in college, especially UT, you have the possibility to achieve great success. He noted that at the University of Texas "if you put out effort you could change your results very quickly" (925). He realized that you can change your situation and decide how well and where you want to go in life. That is a great lesson to learn. Nothing about where we came from needs to affect our future. The university of texas provides so many opportunities to its students, they want us to succeed. By putting in effort in college we have the opportunity to achieve great success. 

Readings for September 16

We have all heard the common excuse, "Well thats just the way I was raised" when referring to a differing belief or type of behavior. Covey defines this as psychic determinism, "your parents did it to you. Your upbringing, your childhood experience essentially laid out your personal tendencies and your character structure" (Covey 68). This is a part of three different social maps based on a stimulus/response theory. The other two social maps are genetic determinism and environmental determinism. Genetic determinism refers to the excuse that your grandparents did it to you, "It just goes through the generations and you inherited it" (Covey 68). Environmental determinism says that, "someone or something in your environment is responsible for you situation" (Covey 68). Covey puts down this theory, he claims that we have the ability to act based on our own self awareness without any other influences. Essentially, we have the freedom to choose. I know in my life I struggle with this. I tend to put a big emphasis on determinism in my life and therefore limit myself. Instead of assuming that I have independent will and the ability to act based on my own self awareness I let outside influences limit me.

Another subject that really struck close to home in the readings came from the excerpt of Covey's book, Principle Centered Leadership, in the Anthology. One important quote that stuck out to me was from John Henry, "One secret act of self-denial, one sacrifice of inclination to duty, is worth all the mere good thoughts, warm feelings, passionate prayers, in which idle men indulge themselves" (192). The act of self sacrifice is something that everyone struggles with. Why would I give up my precious time when I could be doing something fun to help tudor a friend? When do I have the time to help volunteer in the community? "It takes sacrifice to serve the needs of other people- the sacrifice of our own pride and prejudice, among other things" (194). In order to be a good leader, sacrifice and humility are required. I know in my life it is hard for me to take the time to sacrifice for others, but I have learned that the rewards acquired from doing so far surpass the small personal sacrifice you had to make.

Wide Open Spaces

After finishing the reading, I found the section about Table Cloth, the free-spirited steer, particularly interesting. I admire his determination to get freedom and to stay that way. Dobie refers to these "outlaws" as, "magnificent preserves of their freedom" (154). Table Cloth earned his freedom, after fifteen years no one had been able to bring him in. My favorite quote from this section is, "Among his kind he was rarer than cow-man out of debt, as outstanding as Bugger Red among riders of pitching horses. By God, he deserved to live among the cedars and canyons he loved so well" (153). It is a rare thing to find a steer that manages to obtain and keep freedom for so long. It is only natural for him to get to live among his natural habitat, where he belongs. In keeping with the theme of freedom, Mustangs are another animal that embraces its freedom. "No one who conceives him as only a potential servant to man can apprehend the mustang. The true conceiver must be a true lover of freedom- a person who yearns to extend freedom to all life" (168). Mustangs are beautiful, spirited and lively creatures. Dobie argues that after they have been tamed and their spirit broken, they are no longer beautiful. He portrays the taming of horses as a cruel and terrible practice. He says, "One out of every three mustangs captured in southwest Texas was expected to die before they were tamed. The process of breaking often broke the spirits of the other two" (168-169). Reading this section on mustangs reminded me of a cartoon movie I used to watch when I was little called Spirit. The main character is a wild horse and in the clip below he is captured and they try to "break his spirit."

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2mppbi9QX4

Sources(pictures):
http://mylifestylevisions.com/page/3/
http://www.freespiritart.com/horse-mustang.php
http://www.muralsforkids.com/product_info.php?products_id=1487

Animal Spirit Guides, Power Animals, and Totem Animals! Oh my!

After finishing the assigned reading for this week, I discovered that my preconceived notions about spirit animals were a little off base. I was surprised to learn that by discovering and learning about your spirit animal you can also learn more about yourself. As Ted Andrews put it, "As you begin to identify and recognize your animal totems, you will begin to understand your life more effectively," he also says, " You will find yourself filled with new inspiration, and you will find yourself more creative within your life. The more you understand your totem, the more you will understand yourself"(pg. 114). Previously, when I thought about totem animals, I thought they were just animals that you shared similar characteristics or qualities with. Now I realize that they are much more than that. A totem animal is actually, "any natural object, animal, or being to whose phenomena and energy you feel closely associated with during your life"(pg. 113). Your totem animal is something that you feel a strong connection to, something that connects you to nature and the human spirit. Another concept that I found intriguing was the fact that, "you don't necessarily choose your spirit animal- you and your animal choose each other" (pg. 121). The act of just being peaceful and meditating and letting your spirit animal come to you is not how I viewed the process. I am the kind of person who is always busy and on the go, so to think about slowing down and letting my spirit animal find me is a hard concept to grasp. However,  I now know from the reading that I cannot just pick whatever animal I think suits me best. I have to take time to get back to nature and allow my spirit animal to find me. Some advice that I hope will prove very helpful in helping me discover my animal is, "Meditation takes practice, but it's extremely rewarding. There are as many ways to meet your spirit animal guide as there are animals in the wild" (pg. 122). This was comforting to me because, as I stated earlier, meditation is not an easy thing for me. Finding my spirit animal may be harder than I though but I expect it to be a rewarding and enriching experience. Anything that brings me down out of the stress of the day and back to nature sounds like a good experience to me.

Time Management

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I started reading the assigned readings in Covey's book and the anthology with a closed mind. I assumed I had a good grasp on my time management and that I didn't need any help organizing my life. After I completed the readings, my perspective had changed. I realized that I was making many of the mistakes they addressed in the readings in my own life and that I did not have as good a grasp on my personal time management as I thought. For example, after reading the article about procrastination by Carl Pickhardt on pages 86-87 I realized that I was guilty of some serious procrastination. One of the points that he made that really stuck with me was, "Procrastination requires both delay and denial. Delay is the 'putting off until later' part; denial is the 'putting out of mind' part"(pg.86). Earlier today I had been thinking about all of the things I needed to get done and I remembered that I have a paper for a class that I am not too thrilled about writing. I decided to just forget about it for now or "put it out of my mind." I was guilty of trying to ignore the task until the last minute. After realizing that I was guilty of procrastination I decided to put into effect some of the ideas from the Design your own Anti-Procrastination Plan on pages 92-93 of the anthology. I decided that from now on I am going to implement the suggestion, "Start with the most unpleasant task---to get it over with---and work down until you get to the easier ones"(pg. 92). I decided that if I start with the task I am dreading the most I will definitely be less stressed than if I waited until the last minute to get it done. After all of this reading on procrastination I decided to do a little research on the affects of procrastination on college students. I found an article titled, "Procrastination in College Students is a Marker for Unhealthy Behaviors, study indicates," by David Glenn. A study performed by Fuschia M. Sirois, a psychologist at Carleton University, concluded that, "Such avoidant styles translate not only into late term papers but also to higher rates of smoking, drinking, and a tendency to postpone seeing a doctor for acute health problems." The point of the study was to show that procrastination can not only affect your school work, but your personal health as well (1). The principle of procrastination ties in with our readings in the Covey book as well. The third habit is all about putting "first things first" and prioritizing the important things in your life. Covey states that, "Effective management is putting first things first" (pg. 148) with Management referring to the discipline to carry things out. I know that I need to work on my self management, I tend to put what Covey calls "urgent" things first instead of the truly important. It is definitely more difficult to make myself write my paper than it is too get on Facebook or watch TV,  but I know now that it is important to start working to reverse my habit of procrastination and try understand what it means to put "first things first."

Notes:
1. Glenn, David. "Procrastination in College Students is Marker for Unhealthy Behaviors, Study Indicates." August 26, 2002.http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/writing/Resources/essays/procrastinate.html (accessed 9/4/2010).