Week 2: Extra Credit Reading Diary

For my extra credit reading, I read through the Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney. This unit appealed to me because I took a Native American history course during my sophomore year, and I realized that I enjoyed learning about Native American literature and stories.

There were two stories that caught my attention: The First Fire and The Moon and the Thunders

The First Fire was about the first time fire was sent down to the Earth through thunder striking the bottom of a sycamore tree. The animals all over Earth wanted to retrieve the fire so that everyone could enjoy it's warmth and light. Therefore, several animals attempted to climb into the base of the sycamore tree and bring back fire, but failed. It was interesting to read how the animals attempted to catch the fire, yet suffered from sever consequences that are still visible in those animals today. For example, the raven flew too close to the fire that its feathers turned black. The screech owl clashed with a blast of hot smoke that his eyes became red. The hooting own and the horned owl couldn't conquer the soot from the fire, and it left white rings around their eyes. I liked how this myth explained the physical characteristics of each animal through their attempts to obtain fire. In the end, the water spider was able to retrieve fire by spinning a web, and carrying a lump of coal on its back. From there on, there was fire on Earth.

The Moon and the Thunders interest me because it explained how the moon and sun interacted with one another. I love hearing every culture's stories about the moon and sun. The moon and sun are powerful forces that symbolize life, wisdom, beauty, and time. In this story, the sun was a young woman who lived in the east while her brother was the moon who lived in the west. During the nighttime, a man would court the sun, but the woman would never see his face. So one night, she grabbed ash and rubbed in on the man's face so that she could identify who her secret lover was. When nighttime came, she realizes that the moon had dark spots on its face. The moon was so embarrassed that his sister found out that he was her lover, that he vowed to always be on the opposite side of the sun. That;s why the sun and the moon alternate between daytime and nighttime.

The sun and the moon. Source.

Week 2: Famous Last Words

What a week it has been! My classes are slowly picking up the pace, but I'm always ready for the challenge. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to find the balance between friends, family, school, and work, but so far it's been pretty great! It only took me seven semesters to master time management.

 Something that's bitter sweet that occurred this week was the announcement that my boss made that the pharmacy was cutting back hours for the technicians. I'm down to working just 16 hours a week rather than the 25 hours that I have been working for months. Although my paychecks will be smaller, I'm really happy that I'll have an extra day to myself. It gives me the opportunity to catch up on homework and get ahead in my classes.

Tomorrow is February! You know what that means? I'll finally find out if I'm rejected, wait-listed, or accepted to medical school. I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and I can't take it anymore! I have had my patience tested before, but this is a whole new level. I've been thinking about what my reaction would be for each decision. If I'm rejected, I know I'll be sad the entire day. I know for a fact my friends would cheer me up. They know that I worked really hard for this moment. I'm sure it would be hard to accept, but I'll pick myself up. If I'm wait-listed, I'd be content because at least I still have a chance! If I'm accepted...Oh  man if I were to be accepted... It would truly be the best day of my life. I don't even know I would be able to contain my happiness. But I guess I'll just have to find out.

The dream. Source.

Week 2 Tech Tip: Cheezburger

For this week's tech tip, I decided to make a motivational meme with Cheezburger. It was very easy to use. You just choose a picture, then type in the caption. You can even center the caption to the left or right side, top and bottom. I decided to join the bandwagon and make a cat meme. I notice that the growth mindset pictures had a lot of cat memes, so I decided to make one that was motivating. Below is my masterpiece:

Japanese Proverb. Source

 

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One of my favorite Japanese proverbs is Fall seven times. Get up eight. It's a nice reminder to never give up on your goals. There will be several moments in life where I will fall, but I better get back up after. So hopefully this little kitty made its way on top of that couch!

Week 2: H.E.A.R.T. Challenge - Meme

For this week's H.E.AR.T. challenge, I decided to look over the memes for the health and happiness portion of the learning challenges. My favorite one is the one below:

Let go the things you can't change. Source.

This cartoon stood out to me because I believe this is one of the challenges that I truly struggle with. I constantly try to change the things that can't be changed. The most insane part is that I KNOW that I can't change it, yet I still try to which results in my unhappiness and extreme stress. From here on out, I'm going to start to let go of the unchangeable. One of my new year's resolution is to focus on my own happiness, and letting go of the past should contribute greatly to my happiness.

Week 2: Growth Mindset - Memes

This week I decided to browse through the growth mindset memes, and I found one that I really liked! It's shown below:

Big change begins with small steps. Source.

The caption of the meme related to what my lab partner and I were discussing during our capstone lab. We were sharing tough lab experiences in the past, such as my struggle through molecular and physiology lab last semester (I survived)! As we chatted about our challenges in each lab, we realized that we were currently taking our last microbiology lab. Ever. As freshman, we looked at capstone as the hardest class on our degree list, and it terrified us. How will we survive that class? Can I even do it? But here we are today, preparing enrichment cultures for lactic acid bacteria with ease.

"Nicole, we're in capstone. We're actually doing it!" My friend exclaimed. It might sound dumb, but it was such a huge realization. We have conquered every lab for our degree, from organic chemistry lab to physics lab to fundamentals of mbio lab to cell bio lab and now capstone. The challenges that we thought we could never accomplish were actually achieved. Now we just have to do it again one more time. I've realized that in the end, it's the continuous small efforts that will make the biggest change.

Week 2 Storytelling: Beauty Fades

He is so beautiful! I must talk to him thought Echo as she saw Narcissus, the son of the most beautiful nymph, for the first time. His chiseled jawline and masculine structure caught her attention like a moth drawn to a flame. Echo silently followed Narcissus into the forest. She was too timid to approach him since Juno took away her speaking abilities. With Juno's curse, Echo was unable to start a conversation, and she can only repeat the last few words that were spoken.

Suddenly, Narcissus heard a rustle in the bushes and found Echo hiding behind the tree. Overwhelmed by his look, she jumped into Narcissus' arms and tried to hold him. Disgusted by Echo's immediate affection, Narcissus pushed Echo away and ran for his life.

"Ugh she was disgusting! How dare she tried to touch me!" shouted Narcissus angrily. "If only one day I could find someone to love that is worthy of my beauty." He shook his head with disgust and continued on with his journey.

After a long walk, Narcissus was feeling parched. Luckily, he found a cool, gentle stream underneath an orchid. Ah! The gods have saved me with their sweet nectar! thought Narcissus as he approached the stream. Upon taking a sip of the water, he noticed a gorgeous man staring back at him. Narcissus became absolutely infatuated with his reflection.

"Whoa...I look good. I mean I look really good." Narcissus began admiring his body and facial features with all sorts of poses.

"Hello, sir. Don't you look mighty fine today," whispered Narcissus as he winked at his own reflection. For the rest of afternoon, Narcissus cooed flirty comments to his reflection.

"Look at my cheekbones! Absolute perfection. And my hair! It's to die for! Aren't you a pretty little thing? What's a handsome man like you doing in a place like this? Oh stop it you! I can be lost in your eyes for days. You mean these biceps? Oh it's all natural. I'm the real deal."

Walking aimlessly in the woods, the rejected Echo was wiping the tears from her eyes when she heard Narcissus talking. Her curiosity won the best of her so she climbed the nearby orchid to eavesdrop on the conversation. To her surprise, it was Narcissus talking to the water! Echo watched Narcissus tease himself over and over again. Echo let out a disappointed sigh and thought I never knew that a beautiful man could have such an ugly soul.

Narcissus gazing at his reflection. Source.

Author's Note: I decided to write about Narcissus's story from Ovid's Metamorphoses by Tony Kline. In the original story, he rejects Echo because she continued to repeat everything that he said due to Juno's curse. Narcissus became frustrated that he would never find someone to love. He sees his reflection in a pool of water and falls in love with himself. However, Narcissus becomes so tormented with the fact that he could never be with the love of his life so he destroyed himself and became a flower. Echo watched everything but stood idly in silence.
I decided to put a modern twist in the story with some dialogue. It was interesting for me to write the story. I also decided to give Echo an epiphany that love is more than just a pretty face. 

Bibliography: Ovid's Metamorphoses English Translation by Tony Kline.

Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: Ovid's Metamorphoses

The second reading of Ovid's Metamorphoses by Tony Kline was more interesting. The story began with Juno and Jupiter debating on who enjoys lovemaking more between the man or the woman. Jupiter changed the sex of a snake from a man to a woman to finalize the debate. It was settled that the woman enjoyed having sex more than the man (interesting..). The story that stuck with me the most was the story of Narcissus.

Narcissus

Narcissus is a son of a beautiful nymph. He was born as a beautiful child that everyone fell in love with. The prophet Teiresias predicted that Narcissus would be able to live a long life as long as "he does not discover himself." In other words, Narcissus seeing his own reflection would be his downfall. One day when Narcissus was escaping Echo, a woman who was in love with him, he saw his won reflection in a fountain. He immediately fell in love with himself. In fact, he was so in love with himself that he tried kissing his reflection and reaching for his reflection's neck. Narcissus becomes frustrated that he couldn't come in contact with the love of his life so he cried and began destroying himself. In the end, he transformed into a flower.

Narcissus staring into his own reflection. Source.

Week 2 Reading Diary Ovid'sMetamorphoses

I read the first part of Ovid's Metamorphoses Books 1-4 as translated by Tony Kline. It began with a huge flood that destroyed Earth, leaving only 2 survivors named Deucalion and Pyrrha. The most interesting parts of the stories were all of Jupiter's (Zeus) love affairs and how his wife Juno reacted to them. Seriously though Jupiter would sleep with every girl that he found attractive. According to the first portion that I've read, he raped lo, Callisto, and Semele.

Lo

Lo is the daughter of Inachus, the river god. She is also a priestess for Juno. Jupiter sees Lo and ended up raping her. In order to keep Lo to himself and hide her from his wife, Juno, he transforms Lo into a heifer (or a cow). To shorten the story, Lo, as a cow, finds her father Inachus and tries to communicate to him her grief and suffering. The guard that was standing watch named Argus pulled Lo away from her father, and sent her away. Eventually she returns to human form.

Callisto

 Calllisto is a nymph that follows Diana, the goddess of hunt. Jupiter sees Callisto hunting in woods. To deceive her, Jupiter made himself look like Diana and talks to Callisto, but before she knew it, he rapes her. Juno finds out and turns Callisto into a bear.

Castillo as a Bear by Virgil Solis. Source.

Semele

Jupiter as another love affair with Semele, the daughter of Cadmus. Semele is also pregnant with Jupiter's baby. Juno is outraged and develops her plot for revenge. Juno befriends Semele, and tells her that Jupiter should prove his almighty power and divinity to Semele. Semele then demands Jupiter to prove his glory, although he begged her to not make this wish. Jupiter shows off his mighty storms and lightning strikes which ends up killing Semele. An odd part of the story is that the baby, Bacchus, is still developing in Semele's womb. He is torn away from the womb and sewn into his father's thigh to complete his development.