Cottey: April 2010

Looking over blogs, I realized that I've spent most my time posting my inner mood swings on the posts rather than informing all my dear PEO aunties what is actually going on at Cottey. While I know you all just love watching my mind slowly eat itself in my obsessive brainstorms about modern college life, this blog I thought might give you another perspective of Katie's outside world at Cottey College.

April 2010, Nevada Missouri: BEAUTIFUL! Wow, the trees are blossoming and the grass looks like an emerald blanket. We are digging out our shorts (what are those??) and flip flops for the 80 degree weather we have so desperately longed for. And what is the first thing we do? We ask the physical plant workers when the air conditioning will come back on. Oh, yes, Californian I am, and proud of it. We live comfortably in the warm 70 degree weather and then run to the first air conditioned Starbucks we can find. But Missouri far from California; I had almost forgotten about that humidity that fills your lungs as you walk to class. I am sitting here at my desk with the window open for the first time since August 17th 2009, I simply can't believe how nice the weather is. After arranging my room, I now have prime seating for homework and people watching outside my window. Seeing all the matching bricks with the green grass reminds me why I initially loved this school at C for yourself last year. Ahhhhh!

As for suite drama, Mandy has officially moved in and hasn't been seen by anyone since she did. People continue to badmouth and say how it was pointless to move in if she was never going to spend time in the suite. One might think that they would be pleased considering their dislike for her and how, now they don't have to see her. Maybe they have chosen another reason to complain; I just can't keep up. One girl in the suite decided to move out following Mandy's move in. Her space is now occupied by another in the suite. There. Most everyone is satisfied all at once; lets keep it that way for just one more month can we ladies?

One more month...well, more like 37 days, but finals week is not really school. Its lying around the suite, sleeping on your text books with intermittent exams. Thankfully my final exams are mostly papers and independent projects; score! Only three more years of filling in the blank tests and multiple choice bubbling. C, A, B, B, C, A, wait- why haven't I used D??? I realized something interesting about the school system in psychology. I read that Learning is defined by associating events with causes, both external and internal. Learning that lightening triggers thunder (external) and treating others nicely makes you friends (internal). I can't remember the last time I received a grade for 'learning' in school. Yes, I have learnt facts, but they were memorized. Memorization is practiced mainly in school. Memorizing dates, people, facts, diagrams, and test answers- oh I mean study guides. Most of the learning, for me, has occurred through dealing with teachers, and peers. I have also learnt a lot about myself. Well, not exactly. I have experimented with myself; sleeping habits, eating habits, etc. I will let everyone know when I am ready to form my conclusion about my experiments. We'll see how long that takes.

That plays around in my head the more I think about it. I wish that I could be graded not for my memorization of the animal kingdom, but for my evidence of learning. I can hardly think of how I could prove that I was learning from experience. One of the oldest sayings is 'practice makes perfect.' That alludes to learning because you replicate an action to achieve a desired result. Theoretically, if you study every night, then, you should pass the test. Hard work brings good results right? What is the alternate option if hard work does not harvest the outcomes we desire? A dog learns to sit if when, they sit on command they get a snack. What if they sat every time and seldom got a snack, what if when they sat they didn't get a snack and when they didn't they did get a snack? Wouldn't they be confused? Sometimes my suite mates and myself feel like that dog who sits every time and sometimes gets a snack. Here we are, trying to form good habits and the rewards aren't coming in response to what we do. The rewards seem random- if ever attained. Students study every night for Spanish and they wonder how they fail the test. Girls pour into text books all day and they are retaking biology classes they studied just as hard for. I just wish that life's rewards and consequences were more robotic. Good things should happen to good people and the rest can fight amongst themselves. What if the dog got hit sometimes and got a snack others? Would he just get up and walk away? Or would he keep sitting even though that meant he might just get kicked for doing what he was told?

Agh! Well there I go, spilling the workings of my mind for you all to see. I'll try again later this week to give you a general update of whats new, whats hot, whats not, and what the plans are for the remaining MONTH! Wooooo!