For Monday 2-23

The start of the third experiment: Action. For this experiment I've decided to try to practice the of Karma Yoga, I want to be able to take more selfless actions in my everyday life, to practice "paying it forward" without the concern of reward but just simply from the heart. The second action I want to take is flow- the positive psychology concept that we need to be fully immersed, energized, and focused when taking a particular action.

Final Reflection

I gotta be honest, I love this class! It was very different from any writing class I've ever taken. It was fun! I loved the fact that we made the things that we wrote about. We actually got to experience them, which meant we were able to tell a true and honest story in our writings. I was excited to actually try something I've never done before and everything that we did in this class were all new things. I liked that I actually got to make something from scratch and turned in into something pretty cool. When I first signed up for the class, I really didn't know what to expect. It sounded interesting but I was nervous because I didn't know what I know what to expect besides writing papers. Turns out, it is actually really fun to "hack" into a community and observed them, make a cute little aid for a cute little dog, make my own first piece of art out of strings, or appreciating that we are all makers and that we just simply didn't recognized it before. I also think that Dr. Reitmeyer should continue to teach this class in the future. Its Exciting!

Yay for break! Happy Holidays!


https://www.google.com/search?

Final Reflection

This class way unlike any class I have ever taken. I have never been a huge writer. Writing was never really my thing. I like doing physical things with my hands. Making, manipulating, hacking anything that I could get my hands on. That is why this class was so interesting. When I realized I was going to have to take a writing class I was not too happy, but it was not something that I could change so I can to terms with its and started looking at what I could take. When I say this class I was intrigued. The thought that went through my head was that if I was going to have to write, it might as well be about something that I like doing in the first place. 

I have learned a lot from this class, both about making and about writing. I still would not call myself a great writer, but I would say that my writing has definitely improved. Most of what I have had to write in the past was essays on books, and research papers that very concrete, but this class was a lot different. It allowed for a lot of creativity, while still maintaining the structure necessary for school learning environment. 

My favorite part of this class was definitely the final make project. I this project we were told to make something. When I first say it I couldn't believe that making something was out final. So I kept in in the back of my head for the majority of the semester, and come time to decide what I was going to make, I had a pretty good idea. It was a little over ambitious, but wheres the fun and safe and easy. I end up completing a huge chunk of what I wanted to do and was very happy about it. This class encouraged me to think about my making process and to try to reflect on and improve it.

Making process

Making the model of Master Shake was pretty difficult. When creating a 3D model you are constantly changing views of the model, because the line you just drew might look correct in one view but then it will be going in the complete opposite direction you thought it was going. I started off by making the body which was the most complex part of the model. After the body was created I made the hands. Having to free draw the hands on a laptop mouse pad was extremely difficult. Finally I made Master Shakes straw. The next step was for me to start printing out the parts of Master Shake. The first day I tried to print the body the printer would not even lay down the melted plastic. All it did was create little coils and clumps of plastic it did this ten times. The second time we fixed the clumping problem, but then I found a flaw in my model. I made Master Shake hollow so it would take as much material and for some reason it made him without a lid. I found this problem when I was previewing the print and looking at all the layers I noticed it had no top. So then I went back and fixed the model. After fixing the model and finally getting the printer to work it was time to start printing the body. I set up the printer and started printing the body. Everything was going good up until around 85% when the model started to move around on the 3D printers tray. That’s when I had to cancel the print because it lost its position. I tried printing it multiple more times even in different sizes to see if that would change anything, but the model kept coming loose at different times. The only things I was able to successfully print where the hands.

The Last Hurrah

Let's see, how do I start this blog post? <-- Like that. Haha no. I suppose that I would start off by saying that I actually enjoyed learning under Prof. Reitmeyer. I should be focusing on the class, but technically, talking about the teacher is the best way to talk about the class itself.
There is a lot to say about Prof. Reitmeyer, but what I enjoyed most about her was her upbeat attitude and enthusiasm to teach. I believe it is stated in my blog about learning back at the beginning of the year that I did not like school, so having a teacher that is so excited for it has been... interesting to say the least. I find it comforting to know that I do not always need to be excited to learn, because the Prof. will most definitely express it for me, and a probably a few others as well. That wasn't a lot, but that is enough of the kumu (teacher). Smooth Transition.
Just like with the Prof., I enjoyed the class. Maker's Space has been very insightful to my knowledge on the making game, and also, surprisingly, quite inspirational in, well, making me make. Or rather want to make; everyone in the class knows I cannot actually make. With all of the projects we received in the class, I have been well trained in preparing for future makes. That is another thing; the projects that we were assigned, the amount that we had; there was not a lot of them. Wow I appreciated that. I know that I should not actually be grateful for the number because they were big projects that required a lot of time, but I am looking at the bigger picture. Thank goodness we did not have a lot of projects and even smaller assignments for the class. I guess that is all I have to say about the class. Last Smooth Transition for the semester.
Thank you, Prof., for a good and easy time.


Take it easy,

Keola Pascua

^^Look at me ending this thing like a letter. Where did that come from?

Last Week of School! ... For now

http://www.reactiongifs.us/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/cheering_minions.gif

Blog 13: Last Blog Post

This class over the past semester has been interesting to say the least. I remember coming to class and being super intimidated while also being annoyed by the fact that I had to take a writing class. I hated writing. Ever since high school I had been told that I was a failure at writing, and what's funny is that no one teacher could ever tell me why. They'd just write marks on my paper saying unclear and fix this while all the while it would seem like they favored other writing styles and papers over mine every time. The thing I hated about this was that no one could ever guide me. I never learned anything new about writing. I just wrote how I'd always written.
In Writing Analytically though, I feel like I've learned to like writing more and more and I've learned how to write in better ways. It seemed as though the textbook we had and the papers posted online, and all the classes full of discussions about writing really helped (at leastt I hope this is refelcted in my writing). I've learned to look at writing in a different light, and that when I'm writing I need to choose an angle that I prefer or else it can be not so fun to type something up.  It feels that I can finally look at a writing prompt and not think "Oh hey, this is gonna suck." I can actually think about what I'm going to do, sit down and type something out, come back to it, and get it done instead of dreading writing the entire way through.

Thanks for this Dr. Reitmeyer! Your class has been a pretty great one.

The Last Maker Blog

     When I first read that our last blog was supposed to be one that wrapped up what we have learned in the Maker class I had no clue what to write about. I have learned so much and have so many take away's from this class, how could I possibly include them all into a 500 word blog? But, I still have to write something, and therefore here is some, but most definitely not all, of the things I've learned and will take away for Dr. Reitmeyer's class.
     The first thing I learned in the Maker class is that everyone, yes everyone, is a maker. Whether it be an essay or space shuttle, we all make something because we all have the desire to make. It took me some time to actually believe this one but once I did, it was as if a whole world of possibility opened up to me.
     Another thing I learned in this class is that nobody does most anything perfect, or even near perfect, on the first try. Perfection takes practice and time, but this is no reason to give up. What's that old saying, if you fall off the horse, get up and back on the sattle again? I can't tell you how many "shitty first drafts" or awful proto-types I have made, but now I know that these things are just the process in which we someday receive a better version.
    The last thing I've learned through this class, or at least the last thing I'm going to talk about learning, is that everything can be, and is connected. Whether it be your writing class and your math class, or your speech class and your science class, everything connects. And, if everything connects, it's important to explore all aspects of life (different classes than just what you degree needs not like murder or something) so that you get a better understanding of life as a whole and become a much more rounded person.
    The last thing I would like to say in this blog is a big THANK YOU to Dr. Reitmeyer and all of her awesomeness and even more towards the awesomeness of her teachings.