Positivity!

On Friday, Dr. Jan told us that while she read through the drafts of our novels she found that we are so negative towards our own work. She noticed whole paragraphs that we've highlighted and commented "I don't like this" or "Blehh". To address this behavior, we spent the morning discussing how proud we should be of our work along with having a "Yes and.." mentality. Meaning we should take on the challenges that life throws at us positively, while also extending them by digging deeper.  Jan wants us to be proud of every word that we type and seek ways that we can improve upon our skills.

We carried this positive attitude past our writing and into the classroom with a few affirmation activities. On Friday we played a game of speed complimenting, where the premise was to out-compliment our classmates. Two people spoke over one another, spewing out compliments - if you paused or ran out of compliments you're out. One pair complimented each other for 7 minutes straight. It sure was entertaining. However, the compliments were a tad superficial and disingenuous since it was based on quantity over quality. To compensate for that, the following day we went around the circle and genuinely complimented one another. The new and improved compliment game surely brought tears to many eyes - even mine. People remarked on qualities of mine that I hadn't taken much notice to.  I also really enjoyed expressing the appreciation that I have for my classmates. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by such kind, intelligent, thoughtful, and hilarious people.

In the midst of the 7 minute compliment showdown. 

We had our second peer review this week, with newly assigned partners. My partner, Keaston, had written a startling 39 pages while I only had 12. I'm not as far behind as it may seem, he's only farther ahead than most of us. The rest of my classmates have around 8-15 pages - writing a novel proves harder than it seems. I always get something good out of a  peer review session: I learned to be more deliberate about the actions of my characters and give the reader better insight into who they are.

Tonight VSA held a Talent Show. Performers presented songs, poems, and comedy sketches. My friends and I watched the show and were pleased by the song choices, awed by literary talent, and entertained by jokes. Although I didn't perform, I still enjoyed the show.One performer, Peter, played a song on his guitar, one that I love but hadn't listened to in ages. The second I arrived in my dorm room, I pulled it up on my phone and listened to it: The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin.

Pre- talent show picture.

On Saturday, we had a few hours of class, then  watched a movie - Isle of Dogs. The movie came out a few months ago and I hadn't gotten the chance to watch it. It takes place in a city where a disease plights the dog population, in response the governing powers mandate a decree that exiles all dogs to Trash Island.The film eerily resembles animosity to certain groups and political power used unjustly, as seen in today's world. I won't spoil the rest, but I strongly recommend it.

We watched a second movie that night, but instead of only my class it was all of VSA. We clambered through Vanderbilt's endless campus to reach a theater where we sat and watched The Sandlot. It was a rather foolish movie and we did enjoy making a ridicule of its archaic insults.

After our trip to the mall.

Sunday evening, after a visit to the mall, we had a TED Talk style presentation by researchers. I initially chose New Problems in Law, but after being told that no one signed up for History and the Human Race - I changed my selection. In the presentation, three individuals spoke to us on different topics. Rosemary Lieske spoke about her research with archaeology in Central America focusing on Spanish conquistadors and their interactions with indigenous communities. Kelsea Best spoke to us about her research on  the affect of environmental changes on migration patterns in Bangladesh. And Greg Smith spoke to us about his research in geology and the remains of animals to understand extinction patterns. From the presentations I got a better understanding of certain fields that I could delve into, along with understanding how it would be to conduct my own research in graduate school.