Goals for The New Year

Well, I shouldn't say "goals", rather areas of improvement I could focus for myself, for my friends and for my family. Nobody's perfect, as we all have flaws and weaknesses, though being aware of how we can be better people and better learners, I'm all for it. I need to make one of these for my classrooms!

My class about happiness did have the most influential and worthwhile impact on me. I'm pretty bummed that I took this so late in my undergrad, but better late than never right? Looking at the pictures and responses by my peers, their words remind me of what really does matter in life.

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When I see words like honesty - gratitude - optimism - kindness - and selflessness, I always reflect if I am just that. I feel like I am, I know that I am, but sometimes we all could be better in ways we struggle with.

I believe instead of working on individual and monthly goals, it's more realistic to work on one goal as a whole. I don't know if that makes sense with anyone, but it did for me in some capacity.

My main focus for 2016 is to be a better person. I'm more than just a person, I am Christian, I am a student, I am an educator, volunteer, colleague, cousin, brother, son, etc, that a person just sums up who we each individually are. Now, what's the best way to work on this "becoming better person" image?

I see this as a manageable and realistic goal to work on throughout the new year! From class we talked about being grateful for what we have and do, maintaining and creating new social relationships and smiling & laughing more often. I usually think New Year's Resolutions are a fad as everyone hits the gym for the January 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th; but if you interpret this as an opportunity to improve yourself in some fashion, no one should bring you down because of that. I found this last picture on facebook, which I thought was pretty deep. I'll leave it here for you guys and all the best in 2016!

Ho ho ho!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! This time of year should be relaxing and enjoyable for everyone, so I hope you are all having a calm time off from school, work, or whatever your 9-5 day consists of. While at mass this morning, the priest very emphasized the meaning of Christmas and how it centers around unconditional love, not things and possessions. Yes, even though we give each other presents, we should not forget what the real meaning of Christmas is:

Love. Family. Friends. Joy. Etc.

Since today is such a joyous and memorable holiday, I think this is the perfect time to show you the pictures from my happiness class. We each took markers and wrote down words that either relate or associate with the idea of being happy. Take a look and see, and guess which one's are mine if you can spot 'em ;). What words come to mind for you?

I absolutely adored this activity because as a class, we unified together to bring forward happy thoughts and feelings for our professor and for one another. We all deserve to be happy and I am very blessed to have taken this class to justify those reasons why. It's one of those special moments where it's tough for me to put into words. 

Recap: CHRTC 103

I am so grateful that I took not one, but TWO CHRTC (Christian Theology at St. Joe's) classes this Fall Term. I don't know if you guys know, but my plan is to finish my B.Ed with my Certificate to teaching Catholic Education. I feel that it will help me with applications and jobs, plus I really do want to teach in a Catholic school district. I took CHRTC 250 back in 2014, I finished both CHRTC xxx (which is my 103 Happiness class) and CHRTC 100 this term, finishing with one last class next term! It's P-R-etty exciting, let me tell ya.

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If you're interested in that Catholic certificate, click here to find more information about it!

Okay, so CHRTC 103 is called Introduction to the Roads of Happiness. Ya, I see those eyerolls already, don't give me those. I remember I was late for this class on the very first day (yikes!) and it was a smaller class too, I think about 12 people in it? It is definitely a worthwhile and truthfully, one of the best/better classes I recommend to take at the University. Here are my top three favorite things about this course.

1. Okay, so the breakdown of the evaluation components is simple: 3 papers (which I did very well on, pat on the back for me is needed) and a participation/discussion mark. The three papers, I felt was more of a fair and authentic approach to appropriately assess our understanding about the course of happiness (which I will touch later on!). There was no final exam, instead it was a final paper (thank you thank you professor) which I felt was my strongest paper yet. *giving myself high-fives*

2. So my first favorite thing, if you haven't already guessed, is the assessment. It was pretty easy, as it should be for a 100-level course. My second favorite would have to be coming to lecture! Who knew that coming to lecture could be SO refreshing and helpful? (I did actually..). The style of the class was considered a "semi-flipped classroom" meaning we would have to do discussion forums before coming to lecture. That way we would be already somewhat familiar with the topics going to be addressed. The forum discussions were straightforward, reply to the question then reply to a classmate's post.

The lectures, didn't even feel like lectures, more "class discussions". Starting the second week people didn't even write things down (only if it was important for the papers). It was more of a "period where we shared our feelings and applications of the given content" kind of a class. Worked for me since I looooove to talk.

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3. My last thing I want to highlight is the CONTENT! (Aka what we learned). Is it possible to walk away from a class a better, happier person?! Because each lecture I felt that. It wasn't weird, but it was refreshing to feel, almost like therapy. 

Our textbook was amazing too, it's called The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky. I highly suggest you check this book out, it discusses myths about happiness and ways to cultivate happiness long-term, for example. It's a very quick read too, and who knew a book I would read for efferent purposes could also be used for aesthetic reasons. (That's my literacy vocabulary coming out... sorry).  

Not only we explored key terms such as happiness, gratitude and love, but also saw the other side of the mirror by analyzing negative words like acedia, lust, depression and sadness. Our amazing professor used eye-opening videos and photographs to deepen our understanding. It was honestly, an overall amazing class. Take it. 

Also, during the last class, each student took markers and wrote words that mean or relate to happiness. I won't post those pictures now, but I will soon. It's truly inspiring!