CARLY McCAWLEY'S EPORTFOLIO
First Semester Reflection
During my first semester, I have had many learning experiences. Two of the most significant are my World 101 assignment and first structural kinesiology exam. My World 101 assignment was the first writing assignment I have had to complete so far into my college career. The assignment was about globalization and what it means to us as it pertains to a certain topic. I had chosen to discuss the international pharmaceutical industry. I consider that assignment to be significant to my learning experience because the reality of being in college really set in. I learned that I am prepared to be successful in college. I just need to apply myself. My other learning experience was one of my first exams at college. I was going to be tested over all the content we covered in class regarding joints of the body and the corresponding ligaments, muscles, and bones. This exam was important to me because it set the mood for the rest of my semester. I was able to figure out an effective way to study so I did well on the exam and it gave me the confidence to be able to do well the rest of the semester.
I have learned a lot about myself throughout this semester. I’ve come to realize my strengths and weaknesses. I’m currently taking a calculus class which is a subject I have struggled with. I’ve also always struggled with asking for help. For those reasons and the fact that I want to do the best I can, I reached out for help so that I could be successful in the class. This has led me to believe that the ability to ask for help is a strength. On the other hand, I have not always prioritized correctly or kept pushing off assignments until the last minute. I’ll know about an upcoming exam and instead of studying I’ll distract myself by reading or being on my phone. I usually wait until the night before to study which causes me to not do as well on the exam as I potentially could. Overall, both my strengths and weaknesses make me who I am so I’ll just have to take them in stride and improve what I can.
Being aware of your own weaknesses could be your biggest strength.
-Gordon Hester
One of the biggest lessons I learned so far is that you should always take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes so that you don’t make them again. If I didn’t do well on an exam, I need to go to office hours and review everything I missed so that next time I don’t miss the same questions. This lesson also can be applied to the rest of my life. If something isn’t working, I need to take the initiative and do something about it to change it and make it so that it works for me. If there’s one piece of advice that I would give myself for next semester, it would be to stay calm and take everything in stride. There’s no point in stressing myself out if I can’t do anything about it. All in all, my experience at college so far has taught me many things and I know that I will learn so much more.
Global Learning Project
During our online nutrition class, IUPUI partnered with Newcastle University in the UK to conduct a global learning project. This project was designed so that we could communicate internationally in order to encourage international relationships. We held discussion groups to discuss the respective nutrition of ourselves and our countries. We compared and contrasted our nutritional health systems to see what they do in order to help with national health.
From this experience, I learned about a few differences between the nutrition of the US versus the UK. The US has larger portion sizes and more processed foods. The UK has stricter food regulations and a younger legal drinking age. Something I learned specifically from the partnership with Newcastle University is that the students there aren’t different from us. They shared the same reasons regarding what and why they choose to eat what they do. In general, I had a positive experience with this project and gained a better understanding of a foreign country.
