Growth Mindset Challenge Week 2

This week I applied Growth Mindset to a variety of things that I have done. I can see this new mindset affecting a variety of aspects in my life. Three places I could see it having the greatest impact are school, and athletics.

Getting an education is the main focus of my life right now. I want to obtain a degree so that I can stand on my own feet and do something that I love. The path the I chose is that of a physician. I know that this path will be extremely difficult with many obstacles in the way. I have heard from friends that medical school is the most stressful experience they have had in their lives. I will try to apply growth mindset to this aspect of my life. Every time I encounter a challenge I will remind myself that it is pushing me to get better at what I want to do. Hopefully this mindset reduces any future stress that I will experience.

Another aspect of my life that I can apply growth mindset to is athletics. I have always been a pretty average athletic player. I could hold my ground in all sports because I am naturally fast. One of the toughest parts of sports for me is strength component. This year I have started to weightlift with one of my friends. I have always disliked weightlifting because I am bad at it. I find it very tough to continue going when I do not see results quickly. This week I tried to view each day as a challenge that would help me get stronger. This positive outlook has helped me stay motivated for the gym. I will try to persevere and make myself better throughout the school year.

Here is  an image with a good growth mindset quote.

Source

Reading Feedback Week 2

I chose to read the public version of the Ramayana because it is easier to access during my busy school week. Sometimes I may not have time or energy to drive to the library and prefer to study at home. I also prefer to read on a computer instead of a textbook. I am happy with this choice because it is convenient and I still get the major points of the story.

The part in the reading that made the biggest impression on me was the immense detail that is put into every sentence. You can tell that the author took their time as they wrote this book. The story is also very interesting and something I have been curious to read about for a while.

This weeks reading did come with a reading guide. The reading guide was extremely helpful because it gave me a general idea of what was going on before I read the story. This helped to keep me on track. The homework and reading for this class took me about an hour a day. I look forward to reading the rest of the Ramayana.

Here is a picture of the title page for the online version of the Ramayana:

Source

Technology Tip Week 2: Youtube Videos

This is an extremely useful tip. Now I can embed YouTube videos into my blogs. All you have to do is click the video icon on the tool bar and include the link to the video. Here is a youtube video from a guy named Ryan Higa. His videos are super funny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03_Tby_ICCw

Famous Last Words Week 2

This is the end of week 2 in this class. So far I have enjoyed reading about the Ramayana. I got all of the assigned reading done for this week by following the daily schedule. My favorite part of the reading so far is the extensive detail that is put into every sentence. This feature of the Ramayana helps me to get a good picture of what is going on in the story. I am looking forward to finishing this weeks reading because I want to see how the book ends. This week was left on a cliffhanger because Sita was just kidnapped by Ravana.

My best writing for this week had to be my storytelling post. A lot of my classes this year are purely science-based so I am always writing about different scientific concepts. This class allows me to be more creative in my writing and use my imagination. I thought that I created a cool new twist to the fight between Viradha and Rama. I enjoyed putting the story in the context of the modern day music industry.

One of my classmates this week has written about the story of when Rama strung Shiva’s bow to win Sita’s hand in marriage. I thought my classmate put an interesting twist on the story by making Sita have a more independent role in the story (spoiler alert). Instead of her being just the prize of the competition she was a contestant. She entered in disguise and won her own freedom to choose the man she would marry.

So far my other classes at the University of Oklahoma are going well. It is still early in the semester so there have not been many exams. This week I will expect it to get a lot busier because exams are approaching. Here is the link and source to the story I was talking about earlier.

Jacob Henry Story

Week 2 Review

My favorite video from this weeks announcement was the hamster video. I thought it was funny and creative!

Hamster Video

Topics

1.     Possible Topic: Love stories

One of the major parts of every story is love. As I am reading over the epics from Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana, I noticed that there are several love stories intertwined within the main plot of Rama and Ravana. The majority of these love stories involve Dasharatha’s favorite son Rama. Some of the possible love stories I could explore a little more are Rama and Sita, and Rama and Shurpanakha. I could also explore the minor love stories of Dasharatha and his sons. In each of these stories I could create several twists that would lead to alternate endings. For example, what if Shurpanakha actually persuaded Rama to go along with her and leave Sita?

2.     Possible Topic: Conflict between Rama and Ravana

A major element of the Ramayana is the conflict between Rama and Ravana. After reading through the part Ramayana I noticed several spots where the story could diverge. In the story Rama is a form of Vishnu who comes down to defeat Ravana because Ravana cannot be killed by a demon or god. What if this was not necessary? What if Rama’s loyal brother ended up defeating Ravana instead? When I read this book I am reminded of sidekicks that always play a major role in the story but do not get the credit of being the chosen one.

3.     Possible Topic: Rakshashas

Rakshashas have always been an extremely interesting topic for me. One of the major elements I have noticed is they always have certain conditions placed upon them.  One example is that Ravana cannot rape a woman, or that weapons cannot kill Viradha. I could do a series on Ravana on how he gathered each power such as not being able to be killed by a God. I think and interesting storybook idea would be to write about how each of these demons got cursed or were given powers. I have already written my first story about this topic. This is a topic I would enjoy doing because of the variety of options I would have.

4.     Possible Topic: Karma

Another topic I could do is Karma. This term is a component of Hinduism and Buddhism. According to Google, it means the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences. So basically it means what goes around comes around. I think this is an interesting topic because it is one I have heard about since I was a little kid. There are several instances in the Ramayana where Karma has occurred. One of these instances is when Dasharatha had to exile Rama.

Research: So far the majority of the research I have done for this assignment has been by reading the Ramayana. I also look at Wikipedia a lot to get the general idea of many topics. I have also read a couple storybooks from previous years to get an idea of what this will be about.

Storytelling Week 2: Viradha

            Tumburu was the greatest singer of his time. He displayed a lot of talent as he was growing up and many record labels started noticing him. Tumburu’s rise to success started when he released his mixtape called “The King of Songs.” After hearing this mixtape the owner of Kubera Sound, Kubera, called Tumburu and signed him to a contract. Tumburu now was one of the artists in Kubera Sound.

            Tumburu enjoyed a ton of success with the help of his new record label. They helped him produce good music that made them both very wealthy. Tumburu won several awards for his music at the VMA and MTV award shows.

            Rakshasa Money, Kubera Sound’s rival music company, was looking for ways to undermine Kubera Sound. The opportunity to do this appeared when Tumburu’s contract for Kubera Sound expired. This was a defining moment in Tumburu’s career. He could stay with the company that helped him from the start or he could go off and find his own way in the music world. Kubera was fine with either choice as long as Tumburu did not sign with Rakshasa Money. He was certain Tumburu would not sign with his rival organization as a sign of respect.

            Rakshasa Money offered Tumburu a contract that he could not refuse. Tumburu signed with Rakshasa Money without hesitation. This offer would make him extremely rich if he kept producing at high levels. Timburu created a new artist name to signify the change in his career. This name is Viradha. Kubera was furious by Viradha’s actions. They did not end their partnership on friendly terms.

            The music world quickly received word of Viradha’s decision. They were surprised but were still loyal fans of Viradha. Rakshasa Money was a completely different organization than Kubera Sound. They did not give Viradha creative freedom and produced music with Viradha that limited his potential. A lot of his biggest fans stopped listening to his music because he became too mainstream. His music did not have a message anymore. He went from talking about his humble beginnings and emotional experiences he has dealt with in his life to only talking about money. Viradha and his fans were both displeased with how things were turning out. As a result of his slump, Rakshasa Money enacted a clause in Viradha’s contract that took away the vast amount of money he was given. Viradha did not obtain enough sales for him to be earning this much money. Viradha was extremely unhappy with his life and made some bad choices leaving him with many financial problems. He was still working with Rakshasa Money but his music was not good enough to support his lifestyle. However he was forced to stay because he had no other source of income or anyone else that would sign him.

Meanwhile, Kubera Sound was looking for someone to replace Viradha. They stumbled upon an artist named Rama. He was not well known but Kubera had an eye for talent. He signed Rama and over the next few years he was just as successful as Viradha in his prime.

            Viradha decided that he would try to regain the partnership of Kubera Sound. Kubera said that he would never reconsider partnership with Viradha. He did mention that he had a business idea that would make both parties a lot of money. He wanted to create a concert for fans that featured both Viradha and Rama. Each of these artists would go back to back in a rap battle. Kubera knew this would be successful because of the drama that was surrounding this situation. He said he would give Viradha enough of the profit for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life if he agreed to this deal. The battle between Rama and Viradha was epic. Both artists put up a good fight but Rama came out victorious in the end.

            As promised, Kubera gave Viradha his fair cut of the profit. Kubera Sound and Rama enjoyed further success due to Rama defeating the once great Viradha. Timburu thanked Kubera Sound for at least giving him a chance to live a good life. Viradha stopped working for Rakshasa Money and retired from music. He also assumed his old artist name of Timburu again.

Author’s Note:

In the Public Domain Version of the Ramayana, there is a demon named Viradha. Rama and Lakshmana challenge him to a battle after he abducts Rama’a precious wife Sita. During this battle they realized that any weapon could not defeat this demon. They had to use hand-to-hand combat and throw the deom into a hole to defeat him. After defeating the demon, he reverted back into his normal form of Tumburu. He explained that he was cursed by Kubera to live in this demon form. This story had me questioning the reason that he had to live in such a terrible form I decided to create a story explaining this but with a twist. I made the story into a competition between two record labels. I tried to create parallels to the original story as much as I could. When Timburu was with Kubera Sound he was in his normal state. When Timburu was with Rakshasa Money he was a demon. After Rama defeated him in the rap battle he was freed from his financial struggles and allowed to live a normal life. His normal life is equivalent to Heaven in the real story. I incorporated my love of music into this story. Hope you like it!

Here is the link to the original story:

Viradha

Here is an image of Viradha:

Source

Title:Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition 

Sources used: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Year: 2014