Motivation. Option 2

--Original published at Zach Nawrocki's Blog

There are multiple reasons that I chose to come to Elizabethtown College originally. One reason being that it is only about an hour away from where I live so if I need to come home for some reason whether that be an emergency, or I just want to go home for some reason I can. The main reason I came to Elizabethtown though is because it is a small school which allows for personal interaction with teachers and really getting to know the teachers where as at a big school you don’t get that type of personal interaction and you don’t feel as important.

One of the main things that I do to motivate myself is plan what grades I want to get for that semester and work hard to accomplish that goal. Another thing that I do to motivate myself is that if I do not do as good as what I wanted to do on an assignment or test I put it behind me because I can’t change the past, but I work even harder the next time to improve my grade and keep moving forward. This is the main type of motivation that I use because then if I do better it keeps me motivated to keep working that hard to keep my grades up.

One way to maintain my motivation to succeed until graduation is to keep planning goals for the grades that I want and to work hard to get those goals met. I also need to keep reminding myself of why I am working this hard to graduate and to remind myself I want to go for my master’s degree in biotechnology and possible my PhD., however that will not be possible if I don’t stay motivated and keep working hard to achieve my goals.

Spring Break Bonus First Impression Prompts – Chapter 10 – Motivation

Here are the prompts for the bonus post for this week. It comes from Chapter 10. Whichever post you use, make sure to use the tag “Motivation.” The first impression post is due at 2pm on Wednesday, 3/6, and the refinement post is due Sunday, 3/10, at noon. These posts will be treated like any other blog posts; they are NOT extra credit. If you’re behind on posts, however, this is a great chance to catch up.

Option 1

America is currently facing an obesity epidemic that some experts have labeled the biggest public health threat we have today. We have all heard the recommendations to eat healthier and get regular exercise. Some people, however, are taking the message of healthy eating too far. A new mental health disorder called orthorexia nervosa has been proposed, in which eating healthy food becomes an obsession. One set of proposed criteria are available here. Look over the criteria and comment on whether or not you think this is a good way to define the boundary between eating healthy and having a mental disorder.

Option 2

Motivation is not a stable force, but often waxes and wanes. Throughout your time at Elizabethtown College, your motivation for school will undoubtedly be higher at some times and lower at others. I want you to discuss why you chose to come to Elizabethtown College originally and what you do to motivate yourself to do well in your classes currently. I also want you to plan an intervention for yourself for how you can maintain motivation to succeed until graduation.

I look forward to seeing what you write!

Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

Thanksgiving Bonus First Impression

--Original published at Marlee's Psych 105 Blog

Bratman describes Orthorexia as:

Obsessive focus on “healthy” eating, as defined by a dietary theory or set of beliefs whose specific details may vary; marked by exaggerated emotional distress in relationship to food choices perceived as unhealthy; weight loss may ensue, but this is conceptualized as an aspect of ideal health rather than as the primary goal (Bratman)

Personally I think that healthy eating and exercising regularly is a good lifestyle choice. I’ve been working out and participating in sports for years and I’ve noticed that when I don’t go to the gym for a few days my body begins to ache and I am tired throughout the day. I also believe that eating healthy is very important, but I’m not saying that you can’t splurge every once in a while. Everything within moderation.

On the other hand, Orthorexia is a very extreme case of healthy eating. making smart choices when it comes to eating is important, but if you have a mental breakdown over eating dairy or gluten is a bit extreme. This disorder can effect body image, nutrition intake, behavior, and impair social abilities. People with this certain eating disorder often struggle with how they look because they are constantly trying to reach the ideal healthy appearance. This however is very hard to do because they are constantly attempting “cleanses” to purify their bodies. This normally includes fasting for a certain amount of days. Because of these fasts, malnutrition is a commonly occurring issue among those struggling with Orthorexia. Some with Orthorexia can also experience extreme mood swings and even a decrease in social ability.

To conclude, Orthorexia is an extreme attempt at achieving a healthier lifestyle, but in order to truly live a healthy life, you need to listen to your bodies needs. This includes eating well balanced meals and not sacrificing your mental well being for your ideal body.

Bonus Impression: Motivation

--Original published at Tyler's Ideas

I chose to come to Elizabethtown for many different reasons. Most of those reasons do not hold true today and because of that I am transferring. To begin, one of the biggest reasons I chose Elizabethtown is because of sports. I committed to play lacrosse the summer going into my senior year and around November I also committed to play field hockey. That was absolutely not the only reason I chose E-town but that was a big factor. Once I got here I realized that I do not want to play lacrosse anymore, for many different reasons. I absolutely loved the field hockey team, but lacrosse was not the right fit for me. Another reason I chose E-town was because of their five-year special education master’s program. At the time of my commitment, I had decided that I wanted to do special education. Later in the year I came to the realization that special education was not the track for me and became undecided at that point. Another reason I thought that Elizabethtown was for me, was the size. My oldest brother went to a school with similar size and I thought it was the perfect place for me. After starting here at E-town in the fall, I soon came to realize that I had made a mistake in my extremely narrowed college process and believe it was best for me to begin looking other places. Although transferring has caused some stress, I also believe that it has fueled my motivation to do well in my classes. Because other schools are now looking at my grades they need to be the best they can be. At my next school, my motivation to succeed is going to have to come from myself. A way I know I can stay motivated to do well is to think about how I would let my parents down if I did not. For my entire life there has been an emphasis on doing well in school and I must continue that through college. Many different factors will play a part in maintaining motivation until graduation. Sometimes I may lose all motivation, but I know I just have to tell myself to keep going and that the work will be over soon. Overall, although I may struggle with motivation sometimes, I always end up getting everything done.

Thanksgiving First Impression

--Original published at jennacampanellipsych

Elizabethtown college was not my first choice, but for some reason I felt drawn to it. Also it is great for my major- education. A lot of my motivation comes back to my major and my future. Whenever I do not feel like studying or doing homework, I think about being a teacher after I graduate and it gives me so much motivation. All of this hard work will not be for nothing, I am working toward my degree so I can do what I love for the rest of my life. Another motivation is knowing my parents are paying for this education, so I need to do well at Elizabethtown. It is very hard sometimes to stay motivated, but usually when I think of these things I feel more motivated and energized. To stay motivated while doing specific assignments, I usually tell myself if I finish a certain amount I can take a break like use my phone or eat something.

An intervention for myself to maintain motivation is rewarding myself for getting a good grade by doing something I like to do. But most of my motivation has to be from myself, from the reasons I stated before. I have to keep a positive attitude and try not to get down on myself. This is a problem I have now, I am hard on myself and stress myself out very much, but then I still procrastinate. After reminding myself of my goals and why I am doing this work, I usually get motivated again.

First Impression Prompt: Thanksgiving Break

--Original published at Taylor'sEtownCollegeBlog

Option 2: I originally chose to come to Elizabethtown because of the people. Everyone on this campus was warm and kind when I arrived and I ultimately felt like I fit in. I also chose this school because it had a very good program for my major. Being an Occupational Therapy major, there were not many colleges that offered a 5 year masters program. On top of the fact that they offered a 5 year masters program, they are one the best in the state. They have one of the highest board passage rates of the schools that I was looking at and that also helped me to decide on Elizabethtown.

Throughout my education, I have not had a hard time motivating myself to complete my work, however, being act college there has been a slight challenge now that I do not have anyone telling me to do my homework. I have motivated myself to do my work by giving myself goals. These goals include getting a paper done by a certain time during the day so the rest of the day I can relax. Other ways I motivate myself is by saying once you get your work done, you can watch Netflix or go to a club meeting or hang out with friends. These tactics seem to work the best for me because I overall enjoy spending time with others and that is a treat for me. I also have been motivated by my roommate because when she knows I am not feeling motivated or I am stressed, she leaves me little sticky notes with words of encouragement and positivity.

These are the ways that I have motivated myself to stay on top of my work and why I have chosen to come to Elizabethtown to study.

~Taylor

Thanksgiving Break Bonus First Impression Prompts – Motivation

Hand writing on a notebook

Here are the prompts for the bonus post for this week. It comes from Chapter 10. Whichever post you use, make sure to use the tag “Motivation.” The first impression post is due at 12:30pm on Friday, 10/23, and the refinement post is due Sunday at noon. These posts will be treated like any other blog posts; they are NOT extra credit. If you’re behind on posts, however, this is a great chance to catch up.

Option 1

Option 2

I look forward to seeing what you write!

Header image: CC by Flickr user Caitlinator

Chapter 10 First Impression

--Original published at CatherinesCollegeBlog

I chose the fifth option for this chapter’s impression post. Elizabethtown College had pretty much everything I was looking for in a school. I wanted to continue playing soccer, be a member of an orchestra, and study business along with other interesting classes. I also wanted to belong to a small school that was not too far away from home. I attended a pretty small high school where the teachers knew most of the students, even if they never actually had them for a class. I wanted to find a college that valued relationships between faculty and students, where I was not going to be just another number. Elizabethtown College checked all these boxes, so I knew it was the place for me. What motivates me more than anything else is the opinion of others to be honest. Whether it’s with soccer or classes, I am always worried about how my playing will be judged by teammates and coaches and how my assignments will be judged by professors and classmates. Essentially, my main motivator is whether or not others will be proud of what I bring to the table. This keeps me motivated in my classes currently because I will not turn in an assignment if I am not proud of how it reflects on my character and in turn if I know others will not be proud or impressed by it. I specifically remember a professor last year telling me about a student who turned in an assignment to him that was of very poor quality. The submission did not follow any guidelines that had been previously specified and it was clear the student did not care. The professor told me he showed a few of the other professors what the student had turned in, and that student’s reputation was negatively impacted for the rest of his college career just like that. This stuck with me, as I did not want to repeat the mistake this student had made. Instead, I want to be the student whose reputation is supported by the good quality work I turn in. Another factor that motivates me to do well in class is my family. My parents have worked very hard to ensure I have this opportunity to make my own life better, and I do not want to waste this chance. My success in classes will let them know their hard work was worth it. If I had to plan an intervention for myself in order to be reminded of why it’s so important to work for my own success, I would start with those I care about most. Simply seeing all of the people I care about, whether it’s friends, family members, teachers, teammates, or coaches, would remind me who I am doing all of this for. My main motivator is to make all of these people proud in everything I do. If I was able to see them and talk to them all at once, I think I would regain more than enough motivation to begin once again working towards success. Also knowing that all of those people truly want me to succeed would give me the motivation to fulfill the potential they see in me.

Chapter 10 impression

--Original published at Loretta Gabrielle

I picked Elizabethtown College because it had social work, which was the major which I desired in the start of my academic career. Now I have added business which solidifies my reasoning to pick Elizabethtown college. Most colleges will not let you major in two intensive tracks where Etown didn’t really make the decision, I did. Currently, I feel my motivation slipping away. I think it has to do with how hard I have been working the entire summer. Additionally, in comparison to my other class, I have to put more work here to see less of a result. I need psychology and statistic (my two summer courses) in order to move on and stay on track with my academic career. Part of my envision for that is getting straight A’s (no A-) for my summer classes so I can graduate with the highest honors. This is normally always my motivation for every class, how I can get an A. My expectations are currently met halfway and I must continue if I want my desired outcome. This idea has continued so much so I have nightmares about getting an A-. I find that I have heightened motivation after coffee and after I receive positive reinforcement which is normally reflected in my grade and or during a normal class setting. In order to continue my work ethic and get over this hump along with the following which will continue until graduation, I understand the importance of balance. I know balance is something I struggle with as I take on a lot of responsibility in order to fill each part of my life: academic, financial, sleep, and social. I have very little social but continuously out academics and financial necessities ahead. I know something I enjoy doing is traveling and if I don’t have something to look forward to (a trip) I will burn out. I also know the only way for me to succeed is by taking breaks and attending to each part of my life. I have been working for roughly 10 weeks straight and my body is finally catching up to the constant working. As much as I wish motivation was a stable force, I hope to find it in the little things which happen throughout the week and parts of the weekend. I also think motivation comes in waves and there is always a second wave. I feel as though I may be at the end of mine soon and I am waiting for the second wave. For now, I proofread and work ahead so the lacking part of my motivation at the moment doesn’t show in my work. How I plan to cause an intervention: plan a trip for thanksgiving (thailand) and look for the small moments in my day: morning coffee, lunch, dismissal, finishing homework early, going to sleep before 11, and being able to hang out with my parents. My smaller interventions will change but my larger ones of traveling will remain the same as it gives me a point to look forward to to when I can relax. I recognize that my problem now is that I haven’t given myself a set point to when I can relax in an extended period of time which is what I hope to work on.

Chapter 10 First Impression Prompts – Motivation & Emotion

Hand writing on a notebook

Here are the prompts for this chapter:

If you use any of these three prompts, please use the tag “Emotion.”

Option 1:

We all want to enjoy life and seek ways to make ourselves happy. Indeed, we spend much of our lives chasing the goal of happiness. But how good are we at actually finding it? Dan Gilbert discusses the ways in which we sabotage our own happiness in his TED talk. Watch the video, share your reactions, comment on the speaker’s credibility, discuss how reasonable you find its message to be, and discuss ways in which you can incorporate more synthetic happiness into your life.

Option 2:

A large portion of communication is non-verbal, including a lot of clues about people’s emotional states. Effective communication involves being able to read others’ emotions and take them into consideration. People express a lot of emotions through their faces. How well do are you able to read these emotional expressions? Take this test to find out. Discuss whether or not your score reflects how well you thought you would do, how credible you find the test, which emotions were the easiest and hardest to tell apart, and how you could use this information in your daily life.

Option 3:

Many works of art inspire a variety of emotions in people, often quite different from what the artist intended. Music in particular tends to hold very strong emotional resonance with people, but that doesn’t mean people are receiving what the artist is sending. A classic example is the song Every Breath You Take by the Police (lyrics available here). This song came out in 1983 and was instantly a hit. Many people called it a classic love ballad and it was played repeatedly at weddings, but what they didn’t realize is the band wrote the song about a fanatical stalker. What was meant to be a haunting song about the lengths stalkers go was instead immortalized as a beautiful expression of devotion. For your post I want you to think about a song you are familiar with that on the surface seems to be above love, but when you look closer at it maybe isn’t such a great example of healthy relationships. Post a link to the lyrics and music video (or some other way for us to hear the song), and explain what is problematic with the messages in the song.

If you use either of the following prompts, please use the tag “Motivation.”

Option 4

Option 5

I look forward to seeing what you write!