Time Strategies

Time Strategies

For this class, I intend to break up my schedule to do 3 hours on Sunday, accomplishing Readings A and B and then the story. Then, on Monday, I plan to do 1 hour of blog comments. Then, tentatively scheduled for Friday but, in all actuality, I will tackle it the first day I have time, I will spend 2 hours to do the project and project feedback. I decided to remain flexible for the final day of the week but to still schedule it for Friday because I am in multiple clubs and my weekly schedule varies greatly Monday through Thursday. However, scheduling in time Friday should make certain that I am able to get through everything in the Indian Epics class.

I read articles from Professor Gibbs's list and selected "How Checklists Train Your Brain to be More Productive and Goal-Oriented" by Lauren Marchese and "How to Beat Procrastination" by Caroline Webb. Both articles suggested that it is better to break large items in a checklist up into much smaller items. I don't think this advice is applicable to most of my tasks while at college as the tasks involve readings or assignments, but I do think this idea of breaking tasks into smaller tasks will really help with any projects I have within the semester and after college. One piece of advice I'd like to follow is trying to reward myself by completing items on a task list. I could maybe do this by downloading an app that shows percent completion for my weekly tasks or by using an Excel spreadsheet that shows a percent completion bar to help make my brain understand I am getting somewhere. 

I think that the biggest issue is that professors can randomly determine when homework is due, so it is very hard to plan more than a week in advance at any given time. Also, some homework assignments can be completed in thirty minutes while others can take up to 4 hours. This will be hard to plan for and understand just how much work I have left to do, but I think I can accomplish good time management if I consistently try to implement better time management strategies throughout the semester.

Image from NeedPix.com depicting a to-do list on engineering paper.

Week 1 Technology Review

Week 1 Technology Review

Before this class started on Monday, I had never blogged before. However, after this week blogging and all that comes with it seems fairly easy. Professor Gibbs has done a good job of explaining how to access and use all features of the blog, and I have not struggled with anything yet. 

I have only taken one other online course, and it was video focused. Therefore, I expect this class to be a very new experience for me. It will be interesting to develop better blogging skills and get used to communicating online. Luckily, I am familiar with almost all of the technology tools we will be using this semester, but learning better image editing would be helpful.

The Blogger logo from Wikimedia. Blogger will be the
 primary software by me this semester.

Assignments Overview

Week 1 Assignments Overview

In the first week, my favorite assignment to do was write about my favorite place. However, I was also intrigued by the storybooks assignment as that was my first glimpse of what I will be doing in this Indian Epics class in the near future. I also really liked that Professor Gibbs made an effort to relate my favorite place post into the class in her comment on my Favorite Place blog post. I have never done a class where all of the responsibility as far as time management and grading has been on me, and I think that it makes me take the class more seriously and work harder as I do not want to abuse the system that is set in place. 

After reading the extra credit options, I think the extra credit option that caught my eye the most was the Wikipedia trails assignment. I have already gone to Wikipedia during reports for other classes and ended up reading about completely unrelated information after clicking from Wikipedia page to Wikipedia page.

The logo for Wikipedia 

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset

Before this lesson, I had never heard of Carol Dweck or the growth mindset. However, I unknowingly grew up practicing many of the things Carol Dweck has taught. In wrestling, I was taught that a blow-out win is the worst thing that can happen to you during the regular season because the blow-out win doesn't prepare you for the postseason. However, losses were nothing to be ashamed of. They were learning experiences, chances for growth. And these experiences were personally valued much more than blow-out victories, though the blow-out victories were more fun. With the mindset that a loss wasn't a failure, but a learning chance, I was able to progress more. 

While the growth mindset aided me in wrestling throughout my career, I also have been using it in college. Currently, going into my senior year, I have a 4.0 GPA and, though I am happy I've been able to sustain it, don't believe that one should graduate with a 4.0 in college. That just means I wasn't challenging myself enough. That's why I've been enrolling in graduate-level courses as an undergrad - I want to see if I can sustain a 4.0 even through the most difficult of challenges. This semester I'm enrolled in Dynamics of Structures, which is regarded by many as the hardest class in civil engineering at OU. I hope to apply the growth mindset to this semester so that I can continue to grow. I also know nothing about Indian Epics, and I will carry the growth mindset through this class to learn as much as I can learn.

I believe that growth mindset is very invaluable, and was interested to see that it is something that is actually being researched. However, I do think that kids should also be told to strive for As in classes, but really emphasize that they are not important. De-incentivizing As may lead some kids to try less. However, as I am not a teacher, I do not know how I would achieve this balance of striving for excellence and maintaining the growth mindset.

Meme created by Professor Laura Gibbs. Chosen because most
people don't consider failure as a path to success.

Introduction to Marshall

To start things off, I am Marshall Rasmussen and I am a senior here at the University of Oklahoma studying civil engineering. I come from rural southwestern Iowa, and I have really enjoyed my time in Oklahoma. My favorite thing about Oklahoma has been football. I have been to every home football game since I've gotten to OU, and haven't missed watching any of the away games. I didn't grow up an OU fan, but I got on board at a great time - when Baker Mayfield was playing.

Okay, back to my major. I'm extremely interested in civil engineering. Civil engineering is man's way of engineering the natural world for human use. Whether it be engineering the water, engineering the earth, or minimizing weather impacts, civil engineers do it. I am most interested in how vibrations affect structures, which is surprisingly complex and involves differential equations, knowledge of materials' behaviors, and structural analysis. I hope to someday engineer bridges to be earthquake-resistant using the knowledge I have gained through school. Currently, I am lined up to start working with an engineering company I've interned with for the past two summers after graduation where I will obtain a master's degree while working, and I may return to school to obtain a Ph.D. if I decide that I am more interested in research than applied engineering.

Another hobby of mine is playing with my puppy, a 7-month-old labrador retriever named Niko. Niko is especially energetic and is known for doing anything he can to get your attention - including picking up shoes and staring at you as if he is threatening to shred them. Over the past summer, I would play with Niko for about 2 hours every night, and then he would still try to coerce me into playing more tug-of-war by holding a shoe and staring at me or any other means he found necessary (and he was always successful).

Niko as a puppy in early spring in Iowa.
Shortly after this picture was taken, Niko
attempted to eat the phone taking the picture.
(Image taken by me)

Niko chilling in the living room at 6 months old.
(Image taken by me)

Another hobby of mine is playing soccer. Since high school, I have continued to play in summer leagues, intramurals, and tournaments in Norman and Iowa. I play anywhere on defense as I am used to a more physical playstyle (accredited to wrestling for many years of my life).

I also love to adventure. Whether it is hiking, kayaking, or rock climbing, I enjoy it. I've gone whitewater kayaking many times and have successfully done up to Class III rapids. While I enjoy whitewater kayaking, I also enjoy a relaxing float down rivers or across lakes, especially on calm days with glassy water. My personal favorite place I have ever kayaked is Split Rock Creek State Park in southeastern South Dakota. Split Rock Creek is a creek that gently winds its way through agriculture lands in Minnesota and South Dakota before being channeled through tall cliffs of billion-year-old quartzite in southeastern South Dakota. While being funneled through these cliffs, the creek becomes very swift and contains many rapids.

Storybook Favorites

Storybook Favorites

Storybook 1: Race for the Prize

Race for the Prize is a blog relating the world wars to Indian myths. While searching through storybooks, this storybook caught my eye as I am fascinated in history, and I am especially fascinated with wartime history as these times are some of the most influential times in history as they have sparked revolutions in governance, culture, and more. While the title of the storybook did not clearly depict the topic of the storybook, the introduction did a phenomenal job of describing what the storybook is about and intrigued me. I really enjoyed that the author did a good job of merging World War II and Indian mythology into one story in the introduction, and I hope to tie my story together with Indian mythology as well as this author did. The author had a nice, simple layout that helped lead the audience to the story instead of being distracted by images, which I also enjoyed. However, as the story progresses through other pages, I do wish the author had included more images to aid the stories. I did like that the author did a good job of establishing a setting for each story, and will attempt to do the same when I make my storybook.

Nuclear weapons testing from WWII showing the power of weapons.
Image taken from Wikipedia

Storybook 2: Environment in Indian Epics

Environment in Indian Epics is a blog relating environmental instability of modern days to the environmental instability in Indian mythology. This storybook caught my eye as I am a civil engineering student, and civil engineers are repeatedly told about water crises throughout the world which are directly caused by human consumption. The title captures the attention of anyone who is interested in the environment, and the introduction garners more interest in the storybook. Once again, the author brilliantly paralleled modern-day phenomena with stories from Indian mythology, and I like that the ideas they are paralleling are not as fictitious as they are factual. However, I am not a fan of the center-aligned text in the introduction as it makes it harder to read through the text quickly. I will left-align all stories in my storybook. I also like how easily navigable this storybook is, and would like a page at the beginning to choose the story as well as a header that constantly allows for switching stories.

Storybook 3: Lord Rama: The Greatest OU Football Player

This storybook details the adventures of characters from Indian mythology as football players for the OU football team, and this story caught my eye because I am a huge fan of OU football and wouldn't miss a game for anything. This was actually the first story to catch my eye because I was not aware that there'd be so much freedom with these storybooks. However, the title on the actual storybook page was not great as it does not show anything more than "Lord Rama". The introduction wasn't quite as attention-grabbing as other videos. While reading the story, I wish the images were between paragraphs instead of at the end of the pages. However, I do like the simplicity of the page.

BWCA Wilderness - My Favorite Place

Boundary Waters

Image of a trail at BWCA. Trails like this are commonly

used to gain access to the lakes. Image courtesy of 

Wikimedia Commons 

Personal photo of the sunset over the calm waters of Lake 

Agnes from my campsite.

     The BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area) Wilderness (also known as Boundary Waters, BWCA, and more) is located in northeastern Minnesota and is in the Superior National Forest. The area is very scenic, and activities at BWCA include canoeing, hiking, fishing, and visiting archaeological sites of Native American origins. I have been to the Boundary Waters twice, and have made lifelong memories each time. However, the trip is difficult. To access lakes, portages, or hikes with canoes and gear over trails, are common and frequently exceed half of a mile. However, the hikes are worth it to see the sunsets over the calm, clear waters of the lakes within the BWCA region. One can expect to paddle upwards of 20 miles during a trip to the Boundary Waters and can expect to hike upwards of 2 miles while carrying gear and canoes.