The JIL Journey is Coming to an End...

Olá blogueiro (portuguese this time)! Like I said in one of my previous posts, the semester is coming to an end. This means that the posts about my JIL (Journey in Literature) Class are coming to an end. However, this doesn’t mean that I will stop writing in my blog; it’ll just be about other stuff that isn’t necessarily related to my classes.

This blog is probably the most entertaining long term project I have ever done. I’m a guy of few words and I try to summarize everything I say and make it as simple as possible. The blog was a perfect place for me to express things without the pressure of having to write in a specific manner. I‘m personally against professors that enforce writing a certain way to their students, so it was refreshing to do this sort of creative writing (the journal being another great project).

Another great thing about the blog is the fact that I can customize it to reflect my personality. The current blog template is pretty simple because since it’s still a class project I like to keep it a bit more formal (I had the freedom to edit it, I just chose not to); I can edit my blog to reflect how I feel at the moment or to represent a certain stage of my life that I’m going through. Also, being able to post pictures or gifs in my posts gave me even more possibilities to reflect my personality and express myself. So many possibilities! I’m considering making a new blog. The new one would be a bit more personal and I would use it to analyze my internal journeys and use it as a sort of diary. The semester had its ups and downs but overall it was a great learning experience. As for my JIL class, it was really fun and dynamic. I got to work with a group of really fun people and experience different personalities; not to mention that the professor was really nice and open minded. Classes should be more like this one, you get the freedom to express yourself the way you want, but you still learn a great deal (probably even more since you’re doing something you enjoy).

Go Class!

Xin chào Blogger (Vietnamese)! So as you may know I’m currently taking the Journey in Literature Class. This class focuses on the journey aspect of reading (and life in general). We refine this concept in various ways, such as short writing exercises, a journal, blogs (this one), group projects and essays.

Not long ago we had to write an essay about the books we read in class (A Small Place & Holy Cow) and the movie we saw (A Room with a View); I would’ve posted the essay but it was like five pages long and I hate extremely long blog posts. The professor informed us a bit after we handed in the essay that she was going to pick 10 essays to be presented at a student conference. She picked three people from my group composed of five (Go Witty Jetsetters!), but one of them stepped down from that position. I initially didn’t get picked and I was glad that I didn’t have to speak in front of a small crowd, but then at the end I was informed that I was picked to be the moderator. I agreed to be the moderator but was having second thoughts.

The weekend before the conference I was reflecting and thinking long and hard whether I should be the moderator. I hate speaking English in front of a crowd (self-conscious about my pronunciation), a little less self-conscious around people I know (like my friends or my class). After giving it much thought I decided that it would be best if I resigned, not only because I get really nervous speaking in front of a crowd, but because I had a few exams and a lot of work due that week and the stress was not helping. The professor seemed a bit disappointed but she understood where I was coming from. She got a replacement from the class and everything was back on track (never really got off-track, but yeah).

The conference was at 1:00pm sharp and I had no other class that day. I set the alarm for like 10:00am that day since I have to get ready and then take the bus & train to get to the university. I woke up at around 11:30am… I tried my best to get ready and catch a bus by 12:00pm but the bus came at around 12:20pm, at that point I knew it was too late since the conference would’ve started way before I got there. Even though I didn’t go to the conference, I had confidence my classmates were going to do great (specially the 2 from my group since they have an awesome way with words). The next class after the conference the professor congratulated them on a job well done and they got a well-deserved round of applause.

I'll do my best to read you Daisy Miller!

Privet Bloggeram (Hello Blogger in Russian)! Today was a really loooong day! I had to go to the university (yes, on a SATURDAY) to finish an oral presentation for next Tuesday; it still isn’t finished… However, sometimes we need to make sacrifices for our studies, even if it means sacrificing your social life completely to keep your grades up.

Anyway I am currently in the process of reading “Daisy Miller” by Henry James. This book is about a wealthy, young, American girl from upstate New York, traveling around Europe with her mother and younger brother. Daisy is a free spirited person and her spontaneity and her ignorance capture the attention of Winterbourne, an American who has lived most of his life in Europe. Winterbourne meets Daisy and spends a good amount of time getting to know her, being drawn in by her personality and way of acting. Later on in the story we learn more about Daisy’s character and start getting to some conclusions.

I am trying my best to read the book by next Monday but it is harder than I thought. I have to admit that after reading like 20 pages I barely remember what I’ve already read. That is one of my bad habits, when I read something that doesn’t capture my attention at the beginning I just go blank, which forces me to re-read it later (double the effort). From what I have read (and actually understood so far), this book focuses a bit on the Americans who go abroad, giving a little bit of perspective from a native’s point of view. This links perfectly with an explanation that the professor had given us in class about how our actions and body language creates the first impressions and act as a message we transmit to everyone around us. If the same message is being constantly transmitted to the same people then a dreaded stereotype will be born. I will try to read and analyze the book as best I can. 

It's all worth it!

Blogger… do you copy? Over. Hope everything is okay over there. I was thinking about things that I should write about in my blog and I drew a complete blank. I started to think that my life is even more boring than I thought. Then it came to me, I haven’t written about probably the biggest influence in my life, the University of Puerto Rico (ok, maybe that stress rant I did a while back counts).

Ever since I started thinking about my future (seriously) and was considering where I wanted to study, I had the University of Puerto Rico as my top priority. I heard that only the best students got into the university and that the education was top notch. Another thing that probably influenced me wanting to go there was the fact that my mom studied there and she’s the greatest human being ever so yeah…

I was a straight A student all throughout my life in school (Academic Excellence every graduation) so I had high hopes that I was going to get accepted. The day I received the letter with the reply from the university I asked my mom to read it for me. She tricked me by making a disappointed face and I got so nervous and panicky since it was basically the only place I wanted to study. My mom then reveals with a big smile on her face that I got accepted and I just started jumping around. My whole family was proud of me (and still is).

When I started attending the university I immediately loved the ambience and the diversity of people. I was nervous at first because of the freshman hunt but thankfully I didn’t get caught. As for my classes they were pretty easy and mellow. My first year was pretty awesome, even though I was studying Computer Science (which I found out I didn’t like that much). The classes in the UPR are generally pretty hard and require a lot of effort but you learn a lot. There's nothing like that feeling of accomplishment when you ace a class.

Currently I’m really stressed out since I’m taking two major classes (Biology & Chemistry). However, there is something that won’t change and that is how privileged and proud I am of myself for studying in the UPR. I admit that sometimes I gloat that I’m in the UPR and sometimes I get a little feeling of superiority and even though I feel as though I shouldn’t feel that way, I convince myself that I am working (studying) my butt off for my future and that sometimes I deserve to give myself a little pat on the back.

Armando's Reccomendation: The Proposal

Hello Bloggers! It’s funny how you get inspired to write stuff at the late hours of the night (at least that happens to me often). This post is about one of my favorite movies of all time, The Proposal. This awesomely epic movie is starred by my favorite actress Sandra Bullock, you may know her from Miss Congeniality or a more recent movie, The Blind Side (breathtaking inspirational movie, based on a true story, which earned her the first Oscar). The movie is an extremely funny romantic-comedy but also has a good plot and message.

The movie is about Margaret Tate, a successful editor for a New York publisher. Margaret is Canadian and is facing deportation for an expired visa. To maintain her citizenship she decides to hatch a scheme to marry Andrew, her hardworking, aspiring writer, assistant. Andrew is skeptical but agrees to the plan if she gives him a promotion. An INS agent isn’t convinced of the marriage and decides to arrange a test of their marriage. Margaret has to tag along with Andrew to Alaska for his grandmothers birthday. Margaret meets his family and is immediately given a warm welcome, much to Margaret’s surprise since she grew up without a loving home. She experiences and sees a lot of things: a feud between Andrew and his Dad, she meets an ex-girlfriend of Andrew, but most importantly she starts realizing things about herself when she is starting to be treated like part of her family.

This movie is a good example of external and internal journeys and the relation between the two. Margaret experiences an external journey when she travels to Alaska and experiences a whole new culture, lifestyle and climate. At first she doesn’t adjust well to this abrupt change, but slowly she starts feeling more comfortable. She opens up her mind a little bit and follows the family’s recommendations to having a good time. Her internal journey is mostly about her realizing that the reason that she is so hard on Andrew is because he is a hard worker and an excellent assistant; this is the reason why she didn’t promote him, so he wouldn’t leave her. Her attitude and personality is also due to the fact that she grew up without a family and as she is being treated like a part of Andrew’s she starts opening up and lowering her emotional wall. They ultimately end up falling in love and marrying each other for all the right reasons (Aww ♥). I recommend this movie to everyone (and any movie with Sandra Bullock because she is the best actress EVER)!

The Journey Journal Experience

It’s been a long time since I came around, It’s been a long time since I’m back in town~ ♪ ♫ (Lady Gaga – You and I, nice song). Hope you’re alright fellow blogger. This semester is coming to an end and the professors are starting to wrap up their classes and are assigning the final projects. It’s stressful but It’ll all hopefully pay off when I get the grades at the end of the semester.

Anyway I didn’t make this post to talk about the end of class rush but rather to talk about one of the main projects in my Journey in Literature class, the Journey Journal. The purpose of this journal was to write entries on it about anything I was feeling like writing about, but using the Stream of Consciousness technique. The technique consists of writing anything that comes to mind directly, without any formal structure or the need to worry about spelling or being grammatically correct.

At first, I wrote in a very formal and logical manner. I thought about what I was going to write and how I was going to write it. It basically was explaining a situation and how I felt about it; I corrected my grammar mistakes and I made sure that it was logical and understandable. Towards the end of the journal I could see that I had loosened up more and I focused more on expressing my thoughts directly and not pay attention to the order of them. I wrote about things that I normally wouldn’t write about and I often felt relieved (although sometimes I got mad and expressed my feelings to someone). I got the hang of the Stream of Consciousness technique.

The journal made me realize that I have a lot of internal journeys going on. Writing about them helped me think things through and sometimes made making a decision way easier. I hate writing but I can say that the journal was a pretty interesting experience and a great way to let out some steam. I still prefer writing in the blog though.

Stressful Financial Journey

It's been a while bloggers! So for this week we were supposed to read "Holy Cow" by Sarah Macdonald. The book is about a young female reporter who travels to India and experiences different kinds of adventures that often seem hilarious from a readers point of view, but that are also serious. These adventures make for an unforgettable journey and make for a really fun reading experience. Unfortunately, I couldn't experience it...

Holy Cow was supposed to be ordered online since it wasn't available in the local bookstores and I was fine with it, since I've ordered a bunch of stuff online and have no trouble doing it. The problem is that I rely on my scholarship to purchase books and buy college stuff. My scholarship was supposed to arrive by the end of January and the first weeks of February; to this day it still hasn't arrived. After the payment didn't arrive on the first date I went several times to verify why (also they were charging me for all my classes, like I had no scholarship) and they told me to disregard the bills and that it was probably an error of the administration and while I was bummed out they told me that my payment was going to arrive the first week of March so I thought: "Ok, accidents happen... I won't have a long time to read the book, but if it's as interesting as it sounds then I'll be able to do it no problem." So I waited for the first week of March and everyone got another payment of the scholarships but I didn't... I was soooooo Mad! I went to my representative again to see why I didn't get it this time. My representative told me that the reason I didn't get my payment the first time or the second time was because the system eliminated a few letters from my address. I honestly think that it is a load of baloney. Computer systems don't randomly select a student and eliminate a few letters from his address... Maybe they did it because the university is short on funds or something...

I was told that they were going to fix it and that my scholarship was going to arrive... LATE APRIL! I almost started crying... I mean seriously, late April? I practically won't need it by then. That's my current situation, I feel completely helpless and fooled. I tried to look for the book online in websites where they offer free ebooks for college students (even though I dislike reading books if they're not physical/paper copies) and I couldn't find any copies... I probably won't be able to read the book and I feel so irresponsible... I like to do all my works and the fact that I won't be able to do this one because of the irresponsibility of the University Administration bums me out even more... Really can't do anything about it except look forward to the next readings and hope that the situation is resolved by then...

PS. I actually deposited money into my account to order a cheap copy of the book I saw online and then the offer was taken down... Just my luck... -_-