Today at USAO I Learned That..

You never know just how good you are at something until you try. Coming back to school after being out for so long (11 years), I thought I knew what my strengths and weaknesses were. I figured I would be an average writer, a somewhat impatient listener, a horrible procrastinator and bad at art (up to this point I wasn't very good at drawing, painting and etc.).

It turns out that I'm a decent writer. I need to refine my technique and grammar some. Also to establish better ways of coming up with fresh ideas to write about. Once I start writing about a given topic or response, I find that it's easy for me. The hardest part is just starting the first sentence and getting that all important momentum going.

I'm a great note taker. I've found, however, that listening to a lecture where notes aren't needed is much more difficult than I first imagined it would be. If I'm particularly interested in the material than I'm an avid listener, but it's not very often that this is the case. I knew ahead of time that this would be a weakness, though I didn't realize how much of one. It needs to be improved if I'm to continue to excel in my various classes.

Procrastination affects a lot of us to varying degrees. High school in particular, was a bad decision after another in this regard. If the assignment could be put off at all, it was. Likewise for any project or presentation. I found in college, however, that I'm more responsible and often get my assignments done on time or early if possible. It's important to maintain this work ethic and continue improving in this area. So far, I'm proud of myself for not being nearly as bad at procrastinating as I was when I was younger.

Art has been the best pleasant surprise for me this Summer. There were 3 pieces total that myself and my classmates made in ceramics. Of those, 2 I believe to be very good and better than the average piece for my skill level going into this class. One was a seashell I made using the process of "coil structure," and the other was a likeness of the I.M. Pei glass pyramid at the Louvre in France using "solid slab structure." This class was a lot of fun and I was encouraged to go to the next level in sculpture, which I fully intend to do, schedule permitting.

I have other examples, but these are what stood out to me the most this semester. There are some areas to improve on, overall though, I'm proud of what I have accomplished and learned thus far. So my message to others is not to assume. You never know how good or bad you are at something until you try. You may surprise yourself.