Week 14 Famous Last Words

Wow, I cannot believe that dead week is already here. Tomorrow is the beginning of our last week of class! It's bittersweet to be bringing a close to all the things that have played such a big part of my life, not only this semester, but also for the past four years!

This week in class, I read Italian Popular Tales! After studying abroad in Italy my freshman year (and being a life-long lover of all things Roman history), my ears always perk up at the opportunity to learn anything new about this ancient and complex culture. I particularly enjoyed these stories because they combined elements of familiarity with plots that were new and exciting! I think my favorite moment from the reading though was in the story where the ground opens up and leads to a mystery person that ends up being Pontius Pilate! I loved the element of suspense throughout the short story. Also, I thought that, like Dante's Inferno, the piece conveyed a lot about Italian changing culture over time.

While I did not do a storytelling this week, I did post my final story for my storybook. I found it a little more challenging than usual to write this story because the original stories were hard to mold to fit my writing goal. So, I challenged myself to think creatively to combine small elements of each of the source stories to fit in with my larger storybook story! I am proud of the result, and truly like the characters much better now without their not-so-nice attitudes!

Most of my other classes are also wrapping up for the semester. I finished one class last night, actually! Now, my main focus will be on completing my honors research paper and my capstone paper. My laptop and I are about to spend a lot of quality time together!

12 days until graduation!

Okay, I'm getting sentimental! I'll miss this place!
Image Information

Week 12 Famous Last Words

I cannot believe that we have almost reached the end of the semester!

This past week, I read nursery rhymes. As always, I was most fascinated with how the stories came to be, what they were based on, and how they continue to live on. It was really neat to see several of my favorite rhymes from childhood in a different context! However, this week I most enjoyed finally finishing up my first story and edits on my story book! After getting the chance to travel to Australia over spring break, I am even more excited to create new stories out of some of the many fascinating Aboriginal myths! While there, I even got to see some Aboriginal cave paintings. I am so happy to be able to use some personal photos of the art work to illustrate my storybook!

In my other classes, things continue to wrap up. In most of them, my focus has shifted from regular assignments and exams to the larger final projects and papers. So much writing and research can certainly be daunting, but I am confident that I have the skills to produce great papers that I can be proud of as I reflect on my undergraduate career.

Last week, I picked up my cap, gown, and honors stole and carved my name in the leadership table in the union for the last time. It is all getting very real! I cannot believe that four years have flown by so quickly. Now, as well as working hard, I need to take the time to cherish the experiences I have left as a sooner!

    Personal photo of my graduation attire

Week 11: Famous Last Words

I feel like this has been both the shortest and the longest week!

Because I have struggled with a bit of illness lately, I am playing a little bit of catch up in class at the moment. Especially during the season of exams and papers, getting behind by even a day can be overwhelming! However, this class is always calming in a way to me because of the set and clear schedule. It's truly a life-saver to an often frazzled brain!

This week, I got to read stories from the Welsh tradition. I have particularly enjoyed this course because, on top of expanding my reading and writing range, I have been able to learn more about parts of my own heritage! The stories about Pwyll and Rhiannon in particular led me to do more research. I was intrigued to see all of the many poems and songs about their relationship. However, I was surprised to see that Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon was not about the same Rhiannon! Their song, Angel, however, is!

I also really enjoyed challenging myself with the one pulse story writing style. I know that I have a tendency to write long sentences, but I did not anticipate what a challenge it would be to use short yet concise words! It significantly shortened my sentence length. While, in my opinion, my writing lost my unique voice in this style, I think that with more practice I could write both concisely and in my own voice! I hope I can try this style again soon!

Other classes are also wrapping up, so I am beginning all of my big final papers in the next week. Wish me luck! I was lucky to have time to spend away from work a bit this week as well though to celebrate my birthday on Wednesday. I felt very loved and had a great time going to dinner and seeing The Princess Bride at the new theatre in Norman!

     Personal photo of birthday flowers!

Week 7 Famous Last Words

It is so nice to get the chance to look back and think about the week that has passed before beginning the new one!

This week in class, I got the chance to read from both the African stories unit and the European stories unit. All of my reading focused on fairytales and folktales. I found it so interesting to compare and contrast the themes and lessons within the different cultures' stories. I am excited to read more folktales from other areas to see if the theme and moral similarities continue!

I was sad to not be able to complete a storytelling post this week, but I am excited to start writing for my storybook this week, especially as I prepare to fly to Australia later this week! I have especially enjoyed doing more research on aboriginal culture so that I can better understand and appreciate the source stories for my own storytelling in the future. 

Luckily, this past week brought a lot of peace to my concerns about other classes. I finally got my honors research arranged! I will be helping a professor research for his upcoming book on the history of Rome! Since I studied abroad there, I am hoping that some of my first-hand cultural experience will be of help in the research process. Now, I am ready to go to graduation gear up this week to order my cap, gown, and honors hood!

It's such a busy and important semester, but I am excited about tying up all the loose ends  and enjoying the weeks left here at OU!

The Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge -- I will see these in less than a week!
Image Information

Week 3 Famous Last Words

These first few weeks of school have certainly been rocky, but I am still excited for the semester to come! At the end of the first week of classes, my laptop crashed. Sadly, I lost everything on my laptop and was without a computer for over a week while it was away getting repaired. That was definitely a unique challenge! Then, last week, I was ill! Things haven’t fallen smoothly into place yet, but I have confidence that, going forward, things will get better!

This week, I read stories about Bible Women. I ended up doing both of my reading sections, although one was submitted as extra credit reading after being ill. I am so thankful for the flexibility to succeed in this course! Although I was familiar with many of the stories that I read, it was exciting to get to take a fresh look from an academic perspective. I love getting to analyze things in historical, social, and then modern perspectives, so this was the perfect reading selection to do that with! I definitely now want to go back through and read all of the accompanying Wikipedia articles about the featured women and the other characters in their story, as well.

Outside of this course, I am in a bit of a flurry. Unfortunately, my honors research arrangement fell through unexpectedly. So, now I am trying to find another person that would sponsor my research so that I can graduate with honors. I had previously arranged to have my summer internship and academic experience count as a base for my honor’s research thesis. However, the individual who agreed to sponsor it changed their mind. On the bright side, I am getting to use the growth mindset skills that I’ve learned to see all of this as an opportunity for personal growth and a lesson in interpersonal relations.

I’m also finishing up my law school applications in the coming week, so it is exciting to stay hopeful for that in the weeks ahead! I have deeply enjoyed my time at OU, but I am excited to see what new adventures await!

OU's Bizzell Library, where I have been spending much of my time for the past few weeks!