Week 2 Story: The Man Learns Humility

"So you really think the statue doesn't prove anything? Even if the statue was created by a man, it still shows the truth of men being stronger than lions" says the man.

"No," said the lion, "the only thing it proves is your ignorance. I am sure that if we fought right now, that we would see that lions are stronger than men."

"Well, then we will have to fight so that I may prove that men are stronger than lions" retorted the man. He pounces on the lion, knocking him backwards towards the statue. Taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, the lion responds with a roar, and with a swift swipe of his paw, gashes the chest of the man, leaving him standing there in shock.

Lion roaring under the moon

Source: GoodFreePhotos

The lion chuckles and says, "Now do you see the true strength of a lion?" as he starts to circle the man, pacing slowly and thoughtfully. The man looks at the lion, realizing that alone, he has not a chance of defeating such a beast. But he is unsure how to gain the advantage.

The man begins to slowly retreat, and the lion mockingly asks, "Does this mean you know you've lost this war?" The lion begins sprinting, and leaps towards the man, paws outstretched, each claw visible in the dim moonlight. The man moves at the last moment, causing the lion to crash into the statue that was behind him, which falls over and shatters into multiple pieces. The man seizes on this opportunity, grabbing one of the larger pieces as a form of self-defense.

He finally responds to the lion, "No, I've only just begun the fight." The lion, now furious from being tricked, and sore from hitting the statue at full speed, sprints towards the man once again, eager to finish him off and silence him. His paws outstretched again, this time he does make contact, gashing the man's face as he tries to avoid the attack. But the man also manages to gash the lion's stomach as he lands right beside him. The lion cries out in pain, shocked that the man was able to wound him. Seizing this opportunity, the man raises the fragment as if to deliver a finishing blow to the lion. As he starts to throw the weapon onto the lion, the lion swipes at the man's hands, knocking the fragment away and knocking the man to the ground in one swift motion.

He pins the man down and says, "This is how the statue should have looked. Even your intelligence couldn't save you from me." Just as he is about to kill the man, he stops. He looks down, realizing he is no better than the man if he does so. After a few seconds of thought, the lion releases the man, and runs off into the night to tell his pride what he has learned. The man slowly gets up, shaken by the events, and begins the slow walk home, wearing the signs of the struggle on his body, and in his mind.

"I have failed," said the man, "for I let pride get in my way and render me a fool."

Author's Note: Aesop's story about the Lion and the Statue ended rather abruptly, as we do not see what the final result is as to who is stronger, men or lions. It simply ended with the man saying the statue proved man was stronger. This is one way I could see the fight playing out and ending if they decided to figure it out for themselves.

Bibliography: The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894)

Reading Notes: Myth-Folklore Anthology

The Lion and the Statue (The Fables of Aseop by Joseph Jacobs, 1894)
While short, the story still has a very strong lesson portrayed. It reminds me of the saying, "history is written by the victor" as to which representation we believe to be true. It very may well be that the lion is stronger than man in this story, but the man is too blinded by the statue that he makes the claim that man as stronger.

The Hare That Was Not Afraid to Die (Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock, 1920)
Many times when people say they would give their own life for someone or something, it turns out that this is not completely true. Buddha is a well-known religious figure, known for the religion Buddhism, and we see that influence today with the Buddhist monks. In this story, Buddha is the hare, and when the other three animals, the jackal, otter, and monkey, are able to find food to offer to a divine being (albeit through stealing the food), and the hare is unable to find anything but grass, they decide that giving up their own body is worthwhile if it improves the life of one beggar. Instead of resorting to stealing food that they can use to care for a beggar, the hare believed it was more noble to give his own flesh instead. I feel like this story closely matches what I have heard about Buddhism in the past.

Buddhist Shrine in Thailand

Source: MaxPixel

Reading Options

I was thoroughly shocked at how many options there are as far as the readings are concerned. Not only are they plentiful, but they are also very interesting and seem like they will be fun to read each week. It was hard to narrow it down to 3 units, so I cheated and used 4 since two of them are so closely linked.

Aesop's Fables (English)
In elementary school, I always heard about Aesop's Fables, and I'm sure I've heard some of them, even if I don't remember it. Because of this, I feel like it will be fun to read them more closely and be able to analyze them differently.

Russian Folktales
I actually took Russian for my foreign language here at OU. The professor would talk about life in the former Soviet Union at times, so these stories seem more interesting because of the amount of background information I have about Russia. I knew almost immediately I wanted to read these once I saw them listed in the UnTextbook.

Homer's Iliad and Homer's Odyssey
We read bits and pieces of these two stories during high school English classes. I was interested in them, but didn't decide to read them then. I am excited to see what they have in store for me this semester.

Photo from Homer's Odyssey

Source: Flickr

Time Strategies

Right off the bat, I can say I did not follow my schedule this week due to the first week being somewhat hectic as far as figuring out what all I need to do. Starting this coming week, however, I plan to do my best in following my schedule, as it will help force me to be more productive and not procrastinate as much. One of the great things about my schedule this semester is that I have Fridays off from class. I love it because it means I can have a day to relax after a week of classes if all of my work is done, or I can use it to catch up on assignments that I have not yet completed. I may use it these first few weeks as a way to try and stay ahead of the schedule in this class, but I have not decided yet if that is how I want to spend the day.

I have always heard people say that creating small goals helps make accomplishing large goals easier, but I have never attempted it before. After reading the article on The Psychology of Checklists, I may try and do it this time around, as it should make this year less stressful than in previous years. I also read about Realistic Study Plans, because no matter how hard we try not to, everyone struggles with studying at the time we say we will. I liked how it made sure to mention that everyone requires a different schedule and amount of time studying instead of using cookie-cutter advice. I'm a big procrastinator typically and have been in the past, so I will do my best to work on these skills and improving them. I do well at time management when I am away from all of my things at home, such as at work, but I get distracted too easily when I have all my things around me.

One week down!

Source: PublicDomainPictures

New Uses of Technology

Compared to my previous online classes, this one uses much more technology as far as being computer-based. Others use Canvas for almost everything, which this class uses blogs off of Canvas instead of discussion posts within Canvas. It makes for a much more interesting dynamic, and one that I am starting to appreciate. I am also excited to get into the image editing/graphics creation side. I bought a huge package of editing software on a whim a few months ago, but have never worked with the photo editor part, so I may finally have an excuse to use it and figure it all out.

Me in 3 months

Source: KnowYourMeme

Assignments Overview: What to Expect

I'll be honest, seeing the storybooks worried me a little bit. I have never considered myself to be a great writer, let alone creatively. But after reading about all of the different assignments, as well as seeing the HUGE amount of extra credit available, I feel like I'm not as concerned with it, and can relax instead of stressing over the assignments. The readings are also something I'm interested in checking out, as the stories are part of the reason this class was intriguing to me.

I really appreciate how the class is structured, but is also so free flowing at the same time. I never thought I would have a class where there was so much flexibility. With only one more semester to go before graduating, that is such a welcome surprise and a relief.

What I'm doing after a fun first week

Source: Pixabay

Growth Mindset

While I had never heard of Carol Dweck, her message was similar to what I have heard many times from professors. We should always look to improve ourselves, and not be happy with where we currently are, as when we do that, we stop growing and becoming better and more competent individuals. I know that I struggled to do this when I was younger, as I fell into the trap of simply doing what I needed to get by in high school, where I could do very little and still get a good grade in my classes. However, since I started college, I've worked on improving myself more and more, which has led me go from barely passing some of my classes to making the Dean's honor roll two of the past three semesters. Taking the time to discover how I learn best has paid huge dividends.

I did find the article by Alfie Kohn, What We Miss by Focusing on Kids' Attitudes, an interesting topic, because it leans a little on the way I feel about classes at times. Instead of making classes interesting and giving students something to be excited about, they seem more interested in making sure we hit our testing goals so we can have our federal funding. One of the biggest travesties in our education system, in my opinion, is that we judge kids based on where a test says they should be, not in how much they improve. A student who was already above grade level and tests 1 grade higher after  a year gets more praise than the student who started well below grade level and, through hard work and many hours of studying, reaches grade level at the end of the year. As the article says, when we only tell kids to change their mindset and that'll lead to success, it makes it seem like the system is absolute, when it really can, and likely should, change.

One of my goals for this semester is to continue to improve my GPA and reach that 3.2 mark, as well as learn as much as I can in all of my classes. After my first semester of college, I would not have believed anyone that I could get my GPA back to that level. I have also been working on improving my sleep patterns. I started as the stereotypical student, staying up until 2 AM and sleeping forever, but I've begun to learn that I feel like I perform better if I go to bed earlier (when possible) and waking up earlier. I don't have that feeling of wasting my day, even if I'm awake the exact same amount of time. It's even gotten to the point where I look at a clock and am amazed I'm done with all my goals at 11 AM! That's one of my favorite feelings instead of worrying all day about if I can get it done.

As I go through this semester, and the rest of my life, I definitely want to try and keep a growth mindset to become the most successful and best person I can be. I feel fortunate to have begun on that track while I am in school instead of once I graduate, as it's much easier to learn and change when you are young than when you've been in one mindset for years.

The true path to success.

Source: TheLeaderInMeBlog