ILS1ARTA
Week 1:
- section 1:
Today was the introduction to the first class of the new semester. I was quite looking forward to seeing the new students, especially the Vietnamese ones. During the class, I only took notes on a few important keywords for the assessments because the other information was already on the slides, and I always check the slides and information before starting the assessments. This semester I have fewer days to go to school, but I think that means I’ll have more assignments, so I’ll manage my time more effectively to complete them. Additionally, because I recently moved, I have more things to do like cooking, cleaning, laundry, and shopping. Last semester I lived with my uncle’s family, so those things didn’t take up much of my time, but this semester will be different.
- Section 2
I studied the CARR model of reflection today. I chose it because I wanted to try something new, and I already knew about gibbs. I will be writing several reflections on what I plan to study independently this semester. I think writing reflections helps me look back at my improvements and shortcomings throughout the learning process.
Week 2:
- Section 1:
I volunteered to give the presentation first. I’m trying to improve my presentation skills and avoid nervousness. But there were only two people in the class listening to my presentation, and I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay calm if there are more people there. Next was the task of writing annotations. I watched a video about the costume making process for a movie, and I usually write pretty general annotations, focusing on the main points when I first see it. Then, I was shown examples of reflective journals, and I had to do them from week 1 to week 7. I felt like there was so much to do, and I started to feel tired.
- Section 2:
I’ve been taking MBTI tests at regular intervals (usually after a semester or a school year) since I first learned about them (when I was in high school). Most of the tests have shown me to be INFJ, but sometimes I’ve gotten INTJ or ENFJ. This time I got ENFJ. I asked Bhavik about his MBTI in section 1, but he wouldn’t tell me. I started guessing he was ESTJ based on my intuition, but Janice guessed he was ENTJ. Bhavik said he pretty much agreed with my guess, but he wasn’t sure the survey would agree. Also, next week there will be 7 new students, and one of them is Vietnamese, but Bhavik doesn’t remember if they’re male or female. I’m guessing male because Bhavik said their major is engineering.
Week 3:
- Section 1:
Today, the class just has me and Bhavik, the other two were absent due to some health issues or something. I arrived at school in terrible weather, overcast and drizzling a little. I started carrying my suitcase because my shoulder kept giving me SOS signals; it hurt so much. I didn’t sleep last night and went to school as usual today, partly because I had so much work to do. Bhavik kept calling me hardworking, which comforted me :)))
- Section 2 :
We had an interesting conversation about each other’s backgrounds before studying art. For me, I had absolutely no artistic background; I was the only one in my family who studied art. I found it quite challenging, but I also enjoyed it, like becoming completely independent. If I hadn’t had the opportunity to study abroad and pursue my passion, I would have studied something I thought would be lucrative in Vietnam. While waiting for my visa, I applied to the Vietnam Aviation Academy to study Logistics because Vietnam is a strong importer and exporter of goods. After a week of studying, I received my visa and had the opportunity to study art as I wished. Furthermore, studying art in Vietnam is quite difficult because architecture universities require professional drawing skills and passing a drawing test. This is quite challenging for Vietnamese students because drawing isn’t taught in the high school curriculum and has to be learned outside of school, resulting in a large amount of knowledge and insufficient time. Yizhen, a student from Hong Kong, had a similar experience to mine when she studied art in Hong Kong.
Week 4:
Happy Lunar New Year! This week I celebrated Lunar New Year with Janice Yizhen and Ezell at Yizhen’s house. Yizhen’s house feels like a convenience store; she has so much. On the other hand, this week I’ve felt my workload increasing. I’ve stayed up several nights but still couldn’t finish everything. I’m still practicing my drawing and Photoshop skills, and each practice session takes up a lot of my time. This is causing me to postpone other things.
Week 5:
This week, I felt my time management wasn’t very good, as I was running out of energy. Adding to that, I was trying to complete as many tasks as possible. I felt completely drained. This week’s classes revolved around my PDP, and I was very worried because it wasn’t very good, even though it was just the first draft. I received feedback that it wasn’t bad and that I was doing well, which relieved me a little, but I hope I can do better. I’m trying to avoid excessive stress or burnout, because I have so much more to do.
Week 6:
This week still revolves around my PDP and evaluation. I’m truly obsessed with writing; I’ve had to write so much, and simultaneously, I’ve had to do a lot of research for other modules. But I’ve managed to control my work-life a bit better thanks to booking a meeting with Bhavik. I want to improve it because it helps me maintain my health and mental stability for this heavy workload.
Week7:
This week is the deadline of Assessment A, I feel really relieved because 60% of the module is submitted. However, I also feel so worried because I still have many works to do in this semester. Everything really went in the rushing mode today, I had to make sure that everything was okay before I submit them, I was worried that I kept breaking my finger “crack crack”. I usually make this when I am worried or nervous. I did not sleep really well these days. I kept staying up whole night to do the work, then I put myself into exhausted mode like burnout. This causes that I will not be able to do anything in the next few days. My vietnamese friend was worried about my health more than I did, I actually thought that I maintain an unhealthy lifestyle.
Week8:
This week we prepare for the presentation for the following weeks. We discussed the importance of communication. I think communication is very important in both normal life and academic life because communication is how people share ideas or comments with each other. But communication is not easy for me, I have a little bit of social anxiety even though it is better now. I still get a kind of panic attack when I do presentations. I am really scared of people all looking at me. I hope my presentation skills will be improved more after this semester, because sometimes I think I should not avoid my weakness, I should improve it.
Week 9:
I did a presentation this week and it was really bad because I totally forgot about it until I checked on my to-do list. Then I just got 3 hours left to prepare for the presentation. Next time, I will improve it because I have more time and the next presentation is about my journey. It will be easier to do than this presentation. I hope I will do well so that I can get a higher grade in Assessment B. Because in Assessment A, I do not get a high grade as I expect. I should be more hard working on the presentation skills for my academic journey and future life in my career.
Phuong Vi Nguyen 