Time Strategies

Through reading the articles provided, namely 'Realistic Study Plans' and 'Why Time Management is Ruining Our Lives' I'm hoping to apply the concept of regular time evaluations more often - as it seems to be a stable way of allowing myself greater structure. The balancing of study hours and free hours is crucial, but also the ability to be realistic with time usage expectations is equally important. Further, the Sisyphus imagery of the latter essay is damning. We perpetually set lofty studying goals, then underperform and condemn ourselves as lazy, as a direct result from unrealistic expectations and subsequent pressure.  

I believe the schedule I've established for myself with aid from our Professor will work well, as it complements the free time I have from other classes, without cluttering my week. Balance between physical classes, online classes, and free time is crucial - as it is easy to forget about online classes and set oneself up for a stressful marathon of built up work. With the slated schedule my goal is to stay ahead of my online class assignments, to the point of this course never representing a stressor in my semester.

Photo Credit:

George Procrastinates | tumblr | Team Coco

Technology

The tools stated on the site, namely 'Twine', sound very interesting and helpful. I'm looking forward to trying my hand at them in proper context. Although I don't fully intend on using cat memes, the randomization ability of 'Cheezburger' is interesting to me and is something I'll explore further. For a class hinging upon use of technology it is reassuring knowing how many tools there are available to us.










Photo Credit:
NASA Progress Timeline | NASA

Assignments

Throughout this course I'm sure there will be various assignments that challenge me as they break from my typical coursework. However, none seem particularly wild- I'm quite excited for all of them. I haven't had much experience with sustained writing, so that will be a new challenge, but I enjoy writing. All of the extra credit opportunities seem like fun excursions from the typical structure of college courses. I'm specifically excited for the Famous Last Words structure, which seems like a good opportunity for introspection.













Photo Credit:
Generic Office | pexels

Growth Mindset

I hadn't previously heard of the 'Growth Mindset' formally. The principles held therein are something I personally adhere to, but I hadn't known of an official classification. I'd first begun thinking in this style when I swam competitively in high school; swimming is a very precise sport, where the angle of one's hand upon entry into the water can result in a win or loss. I had to use the concept of learning from mistakes rather than laboring over them in order to sustain my passion for the sport, and this mentality allowed me to constantly evolve in sport, without becoming demoralized or depressed following weaker performances.

I believe my biggest recurring issue with learning is insecurity; I consistently fail to ask questions when there is need, out of a fear for looking less intelligent than my classmates. This insecurity prevents me from being on sure footing in class, even when there is stability within reach. I do believe I'll do my best to study this way of thinking more consistently in an effort to convince myself to be more involved in class when necessary. I think it's interesting that Carol Dweck believes confidence in early schooling should likely be replaced with more rigor, but I do personally agree. Oftentimes confidence means stagnation, so the mentality of constantly being challenged is appealing as it would indicate constant evolution.





Photo Credit:
Sara Rucker | Pinterest

Introductions

Howdy all! My name is Ben Fillmore. I am a graduate student in the Economics department, with a film minor. I chose Economics because it does a fantastic job of preparing its students for the workforce in a variety of capacities; the manner of thinking required and solidified by Economics establishes students in the world of critical thought quite well. My current studies have transitioned into a Masters in Data Science, which is a natural progression from Economics as it applies the theories and principles learned therein to the real world in a very calculated way. I've enjoyed my time in Data Science as it really breaks down how we see the world into very manageable and quantifiable methods. Last semester I took a class titled - "Statistics for Decision Making" and I thoroughly enjoyed this course. It did an excellent job of exploring how to model the world and better understand its operations. I believe my biggest accomplishment of the semester was opening grad school strongly, while planning my wedding, which truly took some time. Consequently, over break I traveled to Austin (My Favorite Place) and married my best friend, which had been a long time coming. This trip serves as the perfect segue to talking about a few of my main interests, as I opened the trip by getting down south before my fiance, and spending some time with my groomsmen. This pseudo-bachelor party was spent primarily either in front of a television or a rock wall. Which leads to my next section, the bulk of which will be discussing my favorite books, movies, music, and hobbies - as all were present this bachelor week. 

Potentially my favorite long-form narrative television show is titled The Leftovers (HBO, 2014-2017). This show is built around the consequences of 2% of the world's population suddenly and mysteriously vanishing. The Leftovers follows protagonist Kevin Garvey and his struggle to find definition, clarity, and purpose in the years following the "Sudden Departure". It's a masterpiece of emotional turbulence, isolation, and grief; so it seemed only natural to marathon it in two days with my closest friends. We then turned to the task of a single day marathon of the Extended Edition of The Lord of The Rings (Peter Jackson, 2001-2003). This is a mission I've undertaken with my closest friends on a few occasions and never does it disappoint. We quickly followed this marathon with another; the rapid completion of season one of True Detective (HBO, 2014). These undertakings represent my favorite films, television shows, and books - as I'm now entering my 13th year of annual Lord of the Rings readings and I have yet to regret a single moment of it. However, as an individual who must be constantly busy for fear of silence, I'm also currently averaging 1.3 movies per day for the year 2020. My favorite movie I've seen recently was likely A Hidden Life (Terrence Malick, 2019). My top movies for 2019 in order are The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019), Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019), and A Hidden Life. As far as music goes, I tend to lean the Folk direction; primarily listening to Andrew Bird, Father John Misty, and Willie Watson - although recently I've leaned pretty heavily on James Blake. This time in Austin was quite ideal, as it afforded me the chance to do what I love with people I love. This transitions nicely into my more active hobbies - first of which is bouldering. I'm afraid I fell for the consumerist trap of watching the film Free Solo (Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, 2018) and falling in love with the sport of climbing. Although this film focuses more on big wall climbing, in which I've only dabbled, it is arguably the greatest sporting achievement to date. I believe if I had a free day, with which to do whatever I may choose, I'd go to Joshua Tree for bouldering.

Professionally, I aim to work in either marketing strategy or data science, as both apply economic theory and coding in a very hands on way, which interests me. My wife and I both strongly desire to live in Austin, and as such will likely be moving there within the next 4 years. We have a pet cat named Gus (Asparagus). I will make an effort to include Gus pictures in some capacity down the road. My wife admittedly doesn't do a ton of cooking, but we're currently work-shopping some crock-pot recipes for days when I'm in class extensively. I've been practicing cooking traditional Japanese recipes, and currently am enamored with the process of cooking Shoyu Ramen. I tend to spend altogether too much money on cookbooks and will likely need help down the road to end this purchasing habit. I believe this concludes my introductory post- I'm excited to speak with you all as the class progresses, godspeed.

Pictures:
(1) Boulder in Virginia State Park | flickr
(2) 'el capitan dares you' | djandym (flickr)
(3) gus | original

Storybook Favorites

In browsing the storybooks provided by students of previous semesters, I was excited by the level of commitment to craft; many of these entries showed an eager desire to, not modernize, but re-skin the stories in a more palpable and understandable way. I went through the list, choosing stories almost at random, factoring in posed content. Through this, I've found a few of my favorite.

First, I read and thoroughly enjoyed this project and its level of intimacy in breaking down the primary characters involved in the Battle for Lanka. Its format allowed the reader to truly understand the motivations of those involved, while still layering their intricacies in such a way as to show progression of thought. These characters come across as supremely self-aware, with a great sense of their purpose and fate.

Second, the character-study project of three female primary characters was particularly interesting, as oftentimes female characters in western literature, even when the protagonists, are somewhat one dimensional. This project did an excellent job exploring depth and versatility in each of the characters described, affording the reader, once again, the chance to spend time with each character and better understand motivation and complexity. Each of the described characters breaks from a typical western archetype in numerous ways, but each has her own distinct break.

Third, the study of the prominence and weight of food in these epics was peculiar, as it took what were seemingly insignificant exchanges or entries, and established them as watershed moments in each context. Food seems to be mentioned at critical moments, not as a break from the moment, but rather capitalizing the moment in a way not commonly seen in western writings. The gravity given to food, and the description of such, is an interesting addition and I felt this project did an excellent job expanding on said gravity.

Each of these projects had excellent design, both in terms of structure of writing and the layout of their blog posts. I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in both of these blogs and aim to pull from them in terms of image placement and color palette. Previously, as seen in the current state of my blog, I was a firm believer in minimalism; however, these entries have shown me that carefully cultivated themes and a cohesive page go a lot further than a standard entry.

Photo Usage:
Battle at Lanka, Ramayana, Udaipur - Sahibdin

Austin - My Favorite Place

One's favorite place should align with one's interests, goals, and needs; it should be more than a pretty location. For me, the only place I can confidently say fulfills all potential requirements, while still having many benefits yet undiscovered, is Austin. Austin, Texas remains my favorite city as it is more layered than any city in which I've spent time. It accommodates all perspectives, encourages all interests, and provides the opportunities required for said interests better than anywhere else.

Austin has a remarkable cycling infrastructure, which allows its residents to navigate the city itself, as well as safely exit the city for longer rides. To me, as a cyclist, this infrastructure is extremely important and is a city feature I greatly miss while in Oklahoma.

Finally, Austin provides a bustling urban center for those interested. Most importantly, Austin boasts an excellent community for young families, young professionals, and those interested in balancing work and life; with great riding, bouldering, and eating, Austin represents the perfect split between home and vacation without ever feeling artificial.


Image 1:
Austin Skyline - Kate Baucherel
Source: Here
Image 2:
Austin By Kayak - "sanwoz"
Source: Here
Image 3:
Austin Skyline from Fairmont Hotel - Katie Haugland Bowen
Source: Here

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