Journey to self-discovery
Okay, so not really, but I did come to one conclusion about myself this evening. not really shocking....and probably something that i should've/most people realized about myself long ago.
So, since coming here, I've been working pretty hard at what I think is keeping a really good lab notebook. That includes doing all of the things that I've been taught at Midd make a good lab notebook. Introduction that includes info about the procedure, test subject, etc, explanation of controls, and hypotheses and the like. then the actual lab notes with procedure, and then results and discussion. I know for a fact that no one is writing introductions, so they all look at me like i'm crazy. i also know that introductions are not expected of us by our professors. so why would i spend several hours each night doing these things? it's how i'm challenging myself. i did it in high school by doing 50 million extra-curriculars and i'm doing it now by doing my lab notebook to perfection (ha, like that would ever happen). basically, i can't not be challenged, so when i find myself in a situation where i'm not being challenged, i find the only possible way to challenge myself. i set high goals and standards for myself....standards that other people aren't setting for me. obviously, at midd, i don't need to challenge myself because school is plenty and more, but here isn't midd by any stretch of the imagination. as i stated earlier, there are no expectations here whatsoever. we aren't expected to have prepared anything, we aren't expected to write much in our lab notebooks, we aren't expected to read anything. nothing. no expectations whatsoever. so where's the challenge? bottom line: there isn't one. hence, i make expectations for myself, and i'm sticking to them.
so, in short, i finally came to the realization that i can't function without a challenge, so i make them for myself. i suppose we can analyze this in all aspects of my life, but i prefer to keep it to the scholarly activities.
oh, and one thing that i'm really starting to appreciate about midd. so many people here are talking about how intense the course is, and how they feel like their hands are not being held at all. my opinion (and i don't think it's just the fact that i've learned all of this stuff before-it's a general observation about teaching style and how the class is run and such), complete opposite. so, thank you, midd, for challenging me and for forcing me to be able to work through problems on my own with my own brain. i can't wait to start being able to actually do it in a setting outside of midd! something to look forward to, at least!
So, since coming here, I've been working pretty hard at what I think is keeping a really good lab notebook. That includes doing all of the things that I've been taught at Midd make a good lab notebook. Introduction that includes info about the procedure, test subject, etc, explanation of controls, and hypotheses and the like. then the actual lab notes with procedure, and then results and discussion. I know for a fact that no one is writing introductions, so they all look at me like i'm crazy. i also know that introductions are not expected of us by our professors. so why would i spend several hours each night doing these things? it's how i'm challenging myself. i did it in high school by doing 50 million extra-curriculars and i'm doing it now by doing my lab notebook to perfection (ha, like that would ever happen). basically, i can't not be challenged, so when i find myself in a situation where i'm not being challenged, i find the only possible way to challenge myself. i set high goals and standards for myself....standards that other people aren't setting for me. obviously, at midd, i don't need to challenge myself because school is plenty and more, but here isn't midd by any stretch of the imagination. as i stated earlier, there are no expectations here whatsoever. we aren't expected to have prepared anything, we aren't expected to write much in our lab notebooks, we aren't expected to read anything. nothing. no expectations whatsoever. so where's the challenge? bottom line: there isn't one. hence, i make expectations for myself, and i'm sticking to them.
so, in short, i finally came to the realization that i can't function without a challenge, so i make them for myself. i suppose we can analyze this in all aspects of my life, but i prefer to keep it to the scholarly activities.
oh, and one thing that i'm really starting to appreciate about midd. so many people here are talking about how intense the course is, and how they feel like their hands are not being held at all. my opinion (and i don't think it's just the fact that i've learned all of this stuff before-it's a general observation about teaching style and how the class is run and such), complete opposite. so, thank you, midd, for challenging me and for forcing me to be able to work through problems on my own with my own brain. i can't wait to start being able to actually do it in a setting outside of midd! something to look forward to, at least!