Madeline's Blog

 I thought that the blog postings weren't that difficult and helped me get some writing in every other week. I liked when we were able to pick what we wanted to write about, and it made it more enjoyable and much easier for me. One thing that I found useful is by doing these writing assignments every week rather it be a blog or a perusall article, it helped me by practicing writing every week so that it was easier for me to complete the writing portion of the assignments.  However, I do think that some of the writing assignments didn't have much meaning to them and they were only there in place so that we did have a writing assignment every week. Like I said before, I really did enjoy some of the writing assignments for some of the blog entries and I wish that we could have done more of those. For example, I really liked the one where there were one hundred topics to choose from and we could find one that interests us and write about it. 

 Another of the course objectives that was included in this course from the syllabus is "Students will be able to manage sophisticated writing and research projects, planning, documenting, completing, and assessing work on time and within the constraints of the project." What I interpreted from this course objective is that students would be able to complete a research project with correct steps and learning how to complete that research project. I feel like I practiced this objective in high school when we had bigger assignments to complete so it was not new to me.  I have seen myself using these techniques while creating some of the projects that were assigned in this class like the instructions protocol, context analysis, and the pamphlet assignment we had this week. Since these assignments do require more planning and critical thinking, it is useful to come up with a plan on how you will complete this assignment so that you do it correctly. Practicing these skills again i

One of the course objectives for this course is to "Effectively communicate analysis, knowledge, understanding, expression and/or conclusions." Prior to taking this course, I would interpret this in the form of a paper. I originally thought that we would learn these skills and practice these skills by writing different kinds of papers throughout the course, but I was very wrong. Throughout the course I have seen myself using these techniques in ways other than papers which has helped show me that I will need these skills when I graduate and enter my field.  For example, I have analyzed many different classmates work through the discussion board and effectively communicated what I thought about their work to them. I used my analyzing skills when reading their work and taking it apart to understand what they are trying to communicate to their readers. Another place that I saw these skills being practiced was the perusall articles. Here, I learned how to communicate with others

 How I Went from Very Shy to Less Shy In my hometown, I was very dependent on the people around me. I grew up in a very small town, so I never really had interactions with new people. I had the same kids in my class from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade, granted a few people come and go. I could not go anywhere on my own and I did not like to talk to new people. I think that I struggled with social anxiety at this point in my life because of how dependent I was on everyone around me and how I did not like to do anything or go anywhere on my own.  When I moved to Fargo for my first year of college at NDSU, I was so nervous. I did not like the idea of moving in with three other girls that I have never met before. I made myself sick the day of move in just because I was so anxious. My roommates were so kind and made me feel at home right away and I was so thankful for that. I was also very nervous to go to class because I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, and I did not like

 Book Shopping - Buy These Books I have always enjoyed reading and I would love to share some of my favorite books! When I was younger, I enjoyed reading mystery and thriller books, but now I also enjoy reading romance books. You have probably heard of the author Colleen Hoover, she went viral this year on Tik Tok with some of her most well known books. She is one of my favorite authors and I am very excited to share some of my favorite books written by her. The very first book I read of hers, and is one of my all time favorites, is "It Ends With Us". This book is an emotial rollercoaster of emotions as the main character struggles with love and what she deserves. Hoover just finished a second book to this book and was just released a couple days ago and I am looking forward to reading it! Another one of Colleen Hoover's books that went viral this year was "Verity". This book is more of a thriller and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it

 After trying to sit still and focus on a busy classroom, it was difficult for me to sit still and actually focus because of everything that was going on around me. So, I wanted to try it again, but this time in a much calmer environment. I sat in my room in my apartment which was nice and quiet. I listened to the wind coming through my window, I felt the cold air hit my skin which give me goosebumps. I smelt the yummy candle I had lit in my room, which gave me warm and whole feelings. I closed my eyes during this because it helped me focus better, so I did not "see" anything during this experience.  Trying this again in a different setting was so much better than in the classroom. I was able to sit so much longer and pay attention to more things. I thought that this exercise was very calming and helped me reset. It is very easy to get caught up in things when you are a full-time student, and working like I am. It is very easy to miss a lot of experiences because we are so wo