Indian Epics

I was very excited to get into this week's readings and although at first glance the amount of stories seemed overwhelming. Though, after getting into them, they were actually quite quick and interesting reads. I had a couple of favorites like Rama Wins Sita and Crossing the River, but I decided on another for my reading notes because I had an idea for the writing assignment about it.  Dasharatha's Sons In  Dasharatha's Sons, Dasharatha   and his wife commit a horse sacrifice in order to get the gods to bless them with a son. They do the sacrifice which entails letting a horse go on a certain night to wander for a year and then having it returned to be killed at a fire altar. There were also other animal sacrifices made for this ceremony. At the end of the ceremony, the gods accepted the sacrifice and promised King Dasharatha four sons in return.  Bibliography:   Indian Myth and Legend, Dasharatha's Sons by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).  source ...

This story is also on my portfolio if you would like to read it there:  The Selfish, Brazen Rabbit Once upon a time, there was a young man named Rabbit. He was the most handsome guy in all the land and knew it as well. He was the favorite of all the others students in town, and even his teachers favored him. He was also smart and a very talented in seemingly every sport. Everyone seemed to envy him and try to follow after him. If he bought a certain style of clothing, soon the entire school would have it. This constant fanfare began to go to his head though. As he got older, his ability to do no wrong made him mean in his soul. He began to toy with the younger students because he could. No matter what he did, he breezed through it. If he skipped an assignment, the teachers gave him an extension. If he was accused of bullying, he claimed to be misunderstood. Somehow life seemed to be perfect for Rabbit. By the time he was a senior, he was the most popular student with anyth...

(Beginning of Story, Pixabay,  Source ) I loved the Jatakas because they remind me of stories I was told growing up. I feel like most cultures have their variations of Jatakas where they use animals to teach life lessons. I appreciated learning this version and seeing what motifs transition from one edition to the next. These were my favorites: The Foolish, Timid Rabbit  by Ellen C. Babbitt: This was one of my favorites. I felt bad for the rabbit because I think that getting caught up in our own thought spirals and letting others get sucked in too is an easy trap to fall into. I also thought it was interesting that the rabbit was foolish because in a lot of western fables, the rabbit is a trickster and witty. This version of the rabbit is skittish and timid, which seems more like how I would interpret real rabbits. I also think the idea that people will blindly follow in a scary situation is still very relevant. There were multiple occasions last year where some loud no...

(Wall of books, Flickr,  Source ) For my reading options, I think I would be most interested in doing a little bit of everything. I am especially interested in the comic books because it is a type of writing that I have not really explored personally. I found several stories that piqued my interest, but here just a few: Tapati: Daughter of the Sun God  I love a good story about a strong female, and I assume being the daughter of a God means that Tapati will have a strong sense of will and storyline. How the Jackal Ate the Elephant  I also think that folktales are fascinating because often there are variations of the same stories throughout different cultures. This one sounds good and it reminds me of the saying "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Leader: 50 Insights from Mythology  This seems interesting to me because most stories passed down are passed down because of the life lessons you can learn from them and this book seems to outline ...

(Clocks, Max Pixel,  Source ) For this class, my time management strategy is going to be: work ahead often. I have realized that my original schedule is not going to work and I am going to only be able to work on this class on the weekends so I would like to be at least a couple weeks ahead at any given time. I plan on starting this, this weekend so that during the week I do not have to stress about completing things day to day. Overall for the semester, I have an extensive color coded planner that is going to be my life line to sanity.  I read the articles, and these are the ones I think are most helpful for my semester: The Myth of Too Busy by Tim Grahl The Psychology of Checklists by Lauren Marchese Realistic Study Plans by Amanda Collins I think they are super helpful in realizing that I can handle anything with the right tools, a optimistic outlook, and some well planned power naps.

Like I have said in previous posts, this is all pretty new to me. When I was younger I had a Tumblr, and was really into it for a while, I even taught myself how to code enough that I could design my layout and such. That was many years ago now and I have totally lost my beginner level coding skills, but I think even that small introduction will help. (Representation of what I am currently doing, Pexel Stock Photo,  Source ) I also follow a lot of bloggers online so I have some creative ideas from that, I just never realized how easy it was to get started blogging. I would really like to get the hang of how it all works and I love all the resources available because I think that blogging is something I would like to try out personally in the future. 

My first impression of the class is that it is as fun as you make it. I am planning on trying to work way ahead and finish as fast as possible, just because of how busy my semester is. The extra credit looks super helpful because of the wide range of things there are to do with. I have never created or ran a blog so I feel like the tech tips are going to be particularly useful. I am also excited for the project. After seeing previous students' projects, I think that will be a fun assignment because there is so much creativity involved. I have a tendency to come up with ideas bigger than I am able to pull off so hopefully I can create a cool storybook that is feasible as well. This class is definitely different than any other class that I have taken but I think this a set up that I will thrive in. (Here is a picture of my hamster Hercules since he was left out of my introduction post, personal photo)

I had never heard of the growth mindset, but I love the idea of it. I think that the way classes are traditionally set up is detrimental to most people, so having schools set up with the growth mindset would be amazing. I loved in Dweck's TedTalk that she spoke about how we don't give certain groups the opportunity to grow and like the school in Harlem, if we did with the right tools they would flourish. I believe the growth mindset will be helpful to me this semester because I am taking a lot of course work, and I have a bad tendency to just not do something at all if it means it will not be perfect. The growth mindset though would be to do my best and learn from it and move on. I think that I have inadvertently learned some growth mindsets from just being in college. High school was not hard for me so facing challenges in school was definitely an adjustment for me in college, but throughout the 4 years I have been here, I have learned that f...

(Arlo rocking a bun, personal photo) Hello! My name is Kennedie Milligan and I am a senior at the University of Oklahoma. I am a Communication major and a Women and Gender Studies minor. I am also pre-nursing. These three things may seem like a random grouping, but I have a lot of interests and am slightly indecisive, so this is what I have come up with. I was born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, but I went from 3 rd grade to high school in Broken Arrow and that is where my parents still live today. I have 3 brothers, and from my older brother I have 3 nieces. My entire family is pretty much in Oklahoma and has been my entire life. There is not a lot I am sure of in life, but I am sure that I need out of this state. I am graduating (hopefully) in December and then I am (even more hopefully) going to nursing school. I want to go to a accelerated program for my BSN out of state because I am afraid if I don’t leave now then I will never get out. I just decided to do nursing last Au...

When searching for storybooks I found interesting, the ones with titles related to stories I already knew seemed the most interesting. The first I opened was  Hogwarts: The Loyalty of Brothers . I appreciated how the story was linked to Harry Potter making it more interesting and relatable to modern times. The overall design of the storybook was also well done with pictures from the Harry Potter movies, as well as a well put together blog overall. The images did were very compelling and matched the part of the story being told. It seemed like a well thought out analogy. The story did seem to leave a lot open-ended since the introduction did not show much about what the story would be about, but it was cool that there was a sorting quiz which make the storybook more interactive.  (Photo used in Storybook Introduction  source ) The second storybook I read was  One Woman's Story and Quest for Happiness . This storybook was less put together display wise, but ...

 (Airplane in Sky, Source: Flickr ) There is nothing quite like the anticipation of getting on a plane. I know many people who hate flying and the risks that go with it, but for me, the excitement of getting to go to a new place or having just experienced a new city is worth any risk associated. While the whole process of getting to the airport, dropping off bags, going through security, and finding your gate may seem tedious to many, to me it is the beginning of a new adventure. (Image Information: personal photo out of plane window 2014) I have only been on about 14 flights for total of 4 trips in my whole life, but they easily hold some of my favorite memories. From making friends with the man in the next seat who was designing a more environmentally friendly plastic water bottle to befriending the cute kids whose mom definitely needed a break, airports are a unique opportunity to make fast friends without any expectations.  So while I have visited New York ...

This is my test post for my blog for MLLL 4993-996.