Time Strategies

A meme from https://diply.com/11651/16-procrastination-memes-to-relate-and-procrastinate-to

I simultaneously hate and love talking time management skills. That's because I'm really bad at it and I want to get better, but at the same time, I want to stay comfortable with how things are now.

The thing I've found that works best for me is writing down my list of tasks/goals for the day and keeping that list visible or close reach throughout the day. This worked extremely well for me during my internship, but I think it was easier because I was mostly sitting in the same place all day or at least I only had to worry about my job rather than work, classes, extracurriculars, socializing, AND taking care of myself. Tell me why I get so involved, again? It really is exhausting.

The first article I read was How to build a realistic study plan that you’ll actually stick to. Something it mentioned was writing out tasks and planning for how long they will take ahead of time, week-to-week. I probably need to start doing that, especially because I am in two online classes this semester.

I also read Four Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination. I really liked this one, because I personally suffer from anxiety and I felt like these questions were really good for someone like me to ask myself. They were 'What one thing can I do to get started?', 'What are my three biggest priorities today?','How can I make this easier?', and 'What will go wrong if I don't do this now?' These are all simple to ask and could make a big difference in whether or not I get up the energy to do something.

Technology

Technology meme, taken from https://makeameme.org/meme/technology-where

All these tools seem super helpful. There are a lot I've either never heard of or just never used, but there were some I am familiar with.

I have used both Wix and Tumblr. I used to be an avid tumblr scroller/poster. My reblogs mainly consisted of anything concerning my favorite bands, books, or tv shows at the time.

I also somewhat know how to use Canva and Twine! :)

Also, I never knew I could make folders for my Bookmarks and that is literally going to be so helpful for me. I tend to bookmark a LOT of things, so I can't wait to get those organized.

This class is so interesting. I have only had one other online class that used its own website, and this one is still wildly different. That class was very strict with notes and quizzes and essays and exams, and this one is... not. So I guess the only similarity between this one and any other class I've taken is the separate website.

Assignments

"I’m So Excited I Can’t Wait!!" from https://sayingimages.com/im-so-excited-meme/

This entire class definitely intrigues me. It's like nothing I've experienced in college, and I assume I won't ever again.

I am really excited for the storytelling part of the class especially, considering I'm a lover of all things fiction and writing. I am having some trouble imagining what my storybook will be about, but I have confidence I'll come up with something I'm really happy with.

I am also interested in the "Growth Mindset" and "HEART" extra credit assignments. I am always looking for new ways to explore forms of self care and growing my mind, so I am sure I will take advantage of those.

Introduction to Me

Hello!

My name is Jana Allen, I am a journalism junior here at the University of Oklahoma. Along with taking classes, I have worked at the OU Daily for two years this month and I am also involved in Chi Alpha Campus Ministries.

My hometown is Muskogee, Oklahoma—yes, I'm an Okie from Muskogee :-)

My dream for the future is to become a full-time investigative reporter, and my work at The Daily is definitely preparing me for that. I've been able to write several investigative style pieces, and I've got a couple things in the works right now. My work at The Daily is definitely the thing I'm most proud of during my time at OU, and I'm so thankful that I chose to attend a school with such a high-ranking college media outlet!

Now, I'll tell you guys some of my favorite things. First off, my favorite book is Pride and Prejudice and I love anything P&P related: fanfiction, all the movie/tv adaptations, silly web series on YouTube, funko pop's, etc. I recently decided to collect different editions of the book, and I've got three so far. I also love books in general, and since coming to college I haven't had tons of time to sit down and read a book. So, I have been avidly listening to audio books and I highly recommend it if you love fiction but don't have the time. I love anything with romance, sci-fi, or fantasy. I also love the Star Wars movies and just recently finished watching The Mandalorian. I recommend it to all Star Wars fans.

On a more personal level, I got engaged last October to my boyfriend of over 3.5 years and we are getting married this September. I am so so excited to move into this next chapter of my life. I always said I didn't want to get married while still in college, but in the last year we just really became ready to take that next step in our love story.

I might update this post as the semester goes on, but for now I've got to go! Thanks for reading.

My Storybook Favorites

Image Information: Diary Entries

   By: Sarah Beale

Taken from "A Dark Ever After"

I loved going through all the old storybooks and thinking of ideas of what I might like to do for mine. I have always loved writing, and originally wanted to be an author of fiction before I decided to pursue journalism, so this will be very fun for me.

Here are the three storybooks I chose to highlight on my blog:

#1: Tales of Mount Olympus High: A Storybook by Hayley Erwin

I really liked this one because I have always enjoyed Greek mythology, as well as retelling stories in modern times. It honestly reminded me of fan fiction, which I am admittedly a big fan of. I guess this entire concept of retelling these iconic stories is like fan fiction. Anyway, I thought the authors ways of altering the original Greek myths to fit in a high school setting were creative and cute. I think they could have added more detail sometimes, but all in all I thought it was good.

#2: A Dark Ever After

I chose this one initially because the title sounded so intriguing. It is a collection of "diary entries" of a few of the evil villains from the classic fairy tales we know. However, here there is not a happily-ever-after for those we are used to. I liked that the author changed each ending to something more grim than the usual telling of each story. I definitely think some of the diary entries could have been longer and more detailed, though. I liked the design of the Introduction a lot, with the photos of each diaries character. The black background and white text was also really cool. Since these were basically fairy-tales in reverse and all about evil, it made sense that the design was the invert of what we are used to seeing: white background with black text.

#3: The Untold Stories of Cleopatra VII

I clicked on this one because though I have always been intrigued by Cleopatra, I actually don't know that much about her life. I thought this storybook could possibly give me some insight in to some aspects of her life, though I knew not all of it would be accurate. I thought it was interesting how the author chose to tell the story through the perspective of the snake. I honestly don't even know if the snake killing her is true or not. I thought the design of this storybook was really good, though I wish the author had noticed that one some of the pages the first line of text blended into the background unless you zoomed in a lot. I liked that this one was still historic while having a creative twist to it.

My Favorite Places

Two of my favorite places that I've visited are California and New Orleans.

While I've been to California many times (stepbrother in the Navy), I recently took a trip sans-family with my roommate to visit our friend who was living in L.A. over the summer for an internship. It is a really special memory for me because it's the first time I took a trip without any "real" adults—we were the adults. We had so much fun sightseeing and eating yummy food. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the trip:

Here is me just below the Hollywood sign, taken by my friend. Summer '19

Left to right: Me, Jordan, and Caitlyn on Rodeo Drive. Summer '19

Me, Jordan, and Caitlyn near the Venice Canals. Summer '19

Here is a photo I took from online of what the Venice Canals actually look like. This was one of my favorite places to see because it was so interesting to have actual canals in Venice, CA, and I've always wanted to visit Venice, Italy. Source: https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=241469&picture=venice-california-canals

Me posing with Colin Firth's star on the walk of fame. Summer '19

Me posing on the boardwalk at Venice Beach. Summer '19

One of the views when we hiked Runyon Canyon, taken by me. Summer '19

Another of my favorite places is New Orleans. I visited the city as a child and then again a little over a year ago with my family and my now-fiance was able to tag along with us. It was a special trip for me because I had memories of the city as a child and was able to re-experience it as an adult. Here are a few of my favorite photos:

Here is a photo I took while walking down a random neighborhood street in New Orleans. Winter '18

A photo I took while strolling through one of New Orlean's famous cemetery's, Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. Winter '18

A photo taken by my mom of me and my now-fiance, Andy, inside a hotel. Winter '18

An artsy photo I took holding my beignet outside of Cafe Beignet. Winter '18

A photo I took outside the car window of some street art I really liked. Winter '18