Bolg, a project that surprised me a lot...

I have two blogs in Chinese, but before we started wirting our blogs, I'm still worried about it because I'm not good at free writing in English and I really hate time limited when I'm writing something. As you saw, the first post about skyscraper which we wrote in the lab is a mess, even myself don't want to read it again when I finished. But according to my personality, once I decided to do something, I will push myself to try my best. I made a big change from creating my own blog style. I want to mark it as mine, maybe a little bit special, but that is the only way make me feel that this is my field which I should be responsible. Change the appearance is not the only thing I want, create my own writing style and develop the ability to say what I want to say are the most important points that I try to get. At the beginning, it's not easy to write in a free way because I don't have enough confidence to use the language well. With continuing of this course, the skills which I leart from our practicing help me to get into this project deeper. It's getting easier to do free writing and I wrote longer and longer than before ( Although sometimes longer doesn't mean better...). And I found that it's very interesting to read and leave comments for other classments ( I even get more ideas when I read other's blogs). Blog is a real good way to show a person in a different way, and also a new way to communicate with each other ( I love this part!) I know that the best way to do blog is to do it as early as possible so that you can get more chance to show your idears to more people and discuss, but due to the stressful research project I didn't do it on time...However, I tried to leave comments for your guys early at least~~~As Janor said, I think that keep renewing our blogs is a very good way to practice our English and keep touch with each other, and I hope I can do it for a long time ( although I can not promise...:P)

At last, I want to say thank you to Lili, Adrianne and all of you guys! Advanced two is the most impressible course that I have never experienced before! I leart a lot and have done many projects which I don't believe I can finish alone without your helps. I'll keep the memory in my mind forever!To be the one you want to be because life is too short to be little! Keep hard working and our dreams will come true!

Second part, what a pity……

For me, second part of this course is built by research project...Look back, I found that I almost spent all the time on research project. Discrimination and Engineering the impossible are the only two unit I leart a lot. In discrimination unit, I was shocked by the amazing video which is "Class Divided" that I have already worte a lot about. Engineering the impossible is an interesting unit which made me have a feeling that it seems like I went back to the beginning of this course and studied very hard on superskyscrapers unit. Of course, it's not very difficult as first time, but I still have trouble with technique part. At this time, team work made a big contribution of understanding. We shared our information and helped each other figure out the part we didn't understand very well, and finally worked out all the problems. Although we didn't get the investing, but at least we got a lot of valuable information and skills about how to convince people in an efficient way. That's enough for me. It's very pity that because of the pressure of doing my research paper, I missed three interesting units, that's also what I leart in this course--eventhough I tried to do a good job on an important project, I still need to be responsible for other things of rest of the class. I realized how important they are...

Wai~~~t! I'm not finishing yet~~~!

My Dear friends, please be patient~~~I'm not finishing my post!
I checked all of your blogs, that's amazing! But I don't have time to stamp my footprints yet.
Therefore, please check your blog during next three days and concentrate my blog also.
I have more thing to say~~~~~!

Exam anxiety: I experienced and my self-treatment

At first, I have to say the brochure like "Exam Anxiety" is very helpful for students! Please find and get them, read carefully, not only when you have this kind of problems but also enjoy them when you are relaxing or just take a look when you are waiting bus or on the metro. Because it can help you understand yourself better in order to deal with your problems with confidence in a professional way.

I think I became a sressful person since my childhood, so of course I experienced exam anxiety, a lot. My situation is more likely "a disposition for anxiety" which is mentioned in this brochure. I'm a typical perfectionism. I always try my best on all the thing I decide to do. "Try my best" sound better than "do things perfectly", but in my case, it's even worse than the latter. The reason is, my definition of "try my best" is no limit. Every time even I have tried very hard, I'm still not satisfied with my work because I believe if I didn't do such things like XXXXX, I can do it better. Cautiousness is good, but too much will put me in trouble. My worst period is in high school.

High chool is a hard time for lots of people, but for me, it's not only to use a word "hard" can be described. Young people who are in adolesceny face a lot of change at that time, not only phycial, but also psychological. When such a perfectism as me face a huge amount of work, for sure it will bring a lot of problems. I try to figure out all the problems by myself and desire to find perfectly solution for all of them, but it's almost impossible. In China, there are too many students in one class so that a teacher is unable to take care all the students and we don't have a special institusion such as Healthy Centre to provide useful brochures like this. Based on my personality and a series of completely consideration, I also don't want to talk with my parents and friends to find the right way of finding solution. Therefore, once I was extremely stressful and alway felt anxiety no matter on study or other aspects. It leads to physically pressure such as headache, backache and even epilation by creating lots of tension. Fortunately, I found my own way for relaxation, which is reading. I read and thought a lot during that time and became a deep thinker with liberality and an open mind. And then I walked out of the shadow, although it took me three years to get through.

Now when I'm reading this brovhure, I find all my experiences are included whether symptoms,causes or solutions. In addition, there is another interesting point I find is interesting in my case. When I ecperienced exam anxiety, I couldn't (sometimes even unable) do anything but thinking about the serious situation, but if I do not begin to do something, things are going worse. It's very hard to break through my own defensive line, but I found that the most effective way to reduce exam anxiety is that you have to stop thinking and begin to do something.

That is my experience, I hope it can help you guys a little bit.

Presentation: present what you can control

I'm almost the last one to do my presentation for research project. Some of us think that to be the last one will have a lot of pressure, but for me , I prefer to be the last one because I really learn a lot from people who did presentation before me.

After a long hard working, I finally finished my research paper. Because I really need a good relaxation, I choose to do the presentation later. Maybe all my stress were used up during the period of doing research paper, so I am not as stressful as I was worried before. Actually, I am very enjoy all the presentation that you guys have done, listening to your presentation gave me a lot of ideas about how to do my presentation. Hehe, thanks a lot!:)

When I was preparing my presentation, I found some magic change that surprised me a lot. It may be caused by I put my research paper away for a while so that I really calm down and rethink about my topic. I found a lot of weak points about my paper when I use it to organize the notes for my presentation. I am still not satisfied with my paper so that I decided to do some change for presentation. Firstly, when I wrote my paper, I focus on technique parts. It's very hard to explain a lot of terminology in a presentation which only can last half an hour, so I have to change my keystone to some interesting and easier to be accepted information. I chose an disorder which is a perfect example to explain my topic, eventhough it means that I have to do more research work...Secondly, how to make my powerpoint become more attractive and useful is also a difficult work. According to my topic, it seems that there are not so much intersting and pertinent pictures which I can use for presentation. Anyway, I tried my best to make powerpoint clear and intersting so that it can help you guys understand better. In short, I think my presentation is not too bad although my pronuncition is still a perplexing part that drop my points, I have done my best.

From you guy's presentation, I really learn a lot. How to control the time, how to organize the information and bulid a logic that lead to a smoothly presentation, how to do an interesting introduction, how to handle the question period and even how to do a beautiful powerpoint... I really aprreciate your helpful work! Thanks again my dear friends~~~!

A huge challenge, but I can handle...

Research project is the most challenging academic task I have never had, although my obstinacy make a big contribution to the challenging level, it's still a difficult project. As a survivor of this extremely stressful experience, I have many useful tips that I want to share with you guys...

At beginning of this project, I knew it's not an task that can be dealed with easily. I'm very interested in the way we doing the research paper. Every steps that we prepared for the paper including how to use library and how to find the articles is so intersting that I'm very active to participate in all the activities. But we Lili and Adranne show us the research paper that be done by others before, I'm dumbfounded. It seems like a very formal real assignment that is given to an university student. I wondered how it can be done so perfectly and completely.

Anyway, we have already started. Searching articles on database, finding books in the library, I did everything as the scheduel planned, but I felt perplexed. I didn't feel that I was getting into my topic. Of course, the part of the reason is my topic is a big one which is difficult to find the point I need focus on. When I was doing research in the library, I found that encyclopedia is very useful to narrow topic and give ideas. I was so exciting because I thought I found what is exactly I want to talk about: the relationship between stress and memory. I'm interested in both of the topics, but because memory topic is related with biology field which I'm not familiar with, I gave up memory topic, instead of it, I choose stress as my topic. Now I found that stress and memory have very close relationship that made me so excited that I didn't mention the details about how to exlpore this topic. I just began to search more information about the topic, it's no doubt that I found a lot articles about my toipc and it seems like I was getting the way on my paper.

I thought so at that time, it's not very difficult to read all the materials and to use notes to order the logic and then papers will come out naturally. But when things are really going on, sometimes they are not like what you think they should be. When I finally got starting to write my paper, the more I wrote, the more I felt confused. To my surprise, I found it's very hard to get into my topic without the clear explaination of memory and stress, if I want to explian it clearly,I have to do both topic toghter! But I still thought I could find a solution because it was too late to change topic, so I continued to write untill Tuseday evening, then, I really felt if I want to do a good job, I have to stop working, something wrong with the process. It's a serious situation.

For this reason, I decided to rebuild all my work so that I was abstent two whole days in the library. I know the dangerousness of doing this in university, but I want to give myself a chance to focus on the thing I'm interested in this time. I read a lot about stress and memory, although it has many technique parts that really drives me crazy, I told myself that it's not that hard, I can and have to handle it because it's my choice that I have responsbility. I found a big problem which lead to that I couldn't get into my topic is because too much technique parts I couldn't really understand without helping of rudiments. Therefore, I went to google and found many nonprofessional articles to help me get general idears and to be familiar with some important technique vocabularies. And then, it's much easier to understand journals. I turned off my mobilephone and not to check my E-mail so that I can do my job quietly. After two days hard working, I finally figure out my problem. I felt that I'm ready to go to school because I don't konw what I can say with teachers when I'm not really figure out my problem. (I'm really sorry to Lili and Adranne...) And then all the things are going to the right way eventhough I'm a little bit late that others...

When I talk with Lili and Adranne, I found it's really helpful when discussed with teachers, and I thought what they told me that when students have trouble with their tasks, it's better to ask help form teachers and professors, is right.They are experienced and much more professional that students, they understand what you are trying to do so that they can help you get an easy way of your task. It's saving time. Obviously, I'm not good at asking for help. That is because I have already used to the education model in China. In China, one class has too many students so that it is impossible to help every student in the class for a teacher. I'm trained to figure out own problems by myself from childhood, so I am not even realized that I need help. I do get a lot of knowledge when I deal with the problem alone, but it spent too much time which in fact is not necessary to spend on and it's not allowed to do this in university. Thanks to this extremely stressful experience, now I know what need to do when I face the similar situation next time.

In my case, reaserch project is not finishing yet. To give an interesting presentition on my topic is really hard. But I'm trying to do a good job. I hope that I can get a happy ending~~~

A SHOCK!

OH~GREAT SPIRIT, KEEP ME FROM EVER JUDGING A MAN UNTIL I'VE WALKED IN HIS MOCCASINS.

I have never saw a class like Mrs.Jane Elliott taught her students before. I am shocked! As same as Jane's students' thinking, I strongly recommend every school should have this program which can give the most impressive and important lesson about discrimination to students. Although the style of teaching seems a little bit unacceptable, it's absolutly necessary! (Even Jane Elliott herself said that:" Every time I do it I end up with a migraine headache. I absolutly hate this exercise. But the worst of it is that the exercise is as necessary today as it was in 1968.")

I understand the effects of discrimination on children very well because I was experienced during my childhood. I don't want to use such a strong word to my family, but I have to say that I was discriminated by my grademother for a very long time. The only reason that I was discriminated because I am a girl, the only female grandchildren in my family. When I was young, I don't understand why I can't get attention as same as my cousins. As a little kid, I desired the love from my grandmother, but no matter how hard I was trying, I still can not satisfied my grandmother as easy as my cousins. I was so confused and felt being hurt. I thought it's my problem, I'm not good encough to get my grandmother's attention eventhough in fact I did excellently. For a long time accumulating gradually, it became my behaviour. When I do anything I decided to do, I demand myself exactly. I want the thing to be done perfectly without missing any small detail or I'll going crazing about it. I need to be recognized a looooooot then believe that I really did a good job. It's impossible to do everything perpectly, so for a very long time I live with feeling shame and lacking of self-confidence. I was tried all days and diffidence and sometimes even avoid to join groups so that I can stay alone and doing things relaxing. I realized this problem when I was in Middle School, I know it's not good but I couldn't control myself to forget the experience in my childhood. I was anguish and finding the only way that can make me feel better is reading, so I spent a lot of time on reading and thinking in order to rebuild self-confidence and recover my trauma memory. During this period I think I am lucky, because I really learn a lot from reading, thinking and writing, not only know myself better, but also I understand the world and lots of other things from deep thinking. Finally, I found solution by myself and knew what I need, what I want and what is the most important thing I should concentrate on ...Then I really feel that I'm growing up, being stronger and able to control my life.

In my case, although I successfully treat my problem and get many surprise by discovering myself, it's still a very stressful and painful experience that a child should not suffer. When I saw this video, I was shocked. It's really the most efficient way to teach people understanding discrimination through experiencing it by themselves. Nobody has right to judge others untill you know the person very well and never discriminate other people because it will be the most stupid thing that you have done in your life.