Time Strategies

Source: Personal time management strategies by Mval

Before reading these two articles: Time Management Tips just for Creatives by Amanda Oliver and The Myth of too Busy by Tim Grahl, i plan to tell how busy am i with fifteen credit hours this semester, and also a job on the weekend. However, i change my mind, now i am proud of myself that i am a good time- organizer. Although i was rushed sometimes (rarely), i've never passed the due dates for my assignments.

I don't have any fixed schedule because i prefer improvisation. By this i mean i do whatever i like and of courses follow the priorities of what things need to be done first. For example, I spend time every day just to skim and check all of my courses to see if there are "urgent" things happen or maybe the homeworks that i've already forgot. Then, i do like to take a short quiz or short homework first and move to work on long and difficult assignments. I do plan ahead of time for those high value assignment. Whenever i feel overwhelming or boring, i allow time for a break, sometimes a very long break until i feel like these homework or project need to be done right away.

Even though i were stuck last semesters when the exam week approached and lots of things had to be done on time, i still believe that this time management strategy work the best for me. These two articles bring me some ideas that can help me improve my "strategy", may be i will work to reduce time spend on facebook first. ^.^

Technology: New cool thing for today.

"Learn something new every day"

This quote inspires me, and helps stay motivated and energized to learn new cool things. In Vietnam, schools and universities rarely offer online classes, just a few international universities have that. My university in Vietnam doesn't have any online courses. Therefore, students like me have never experienced online classes back then. There is no surprise, since not everyone can afford to buy a laptop. Of courses, internet connection is another problem. I remember five year ago, when i used LTE in the U.S, there no LTE in Vietnam. At that time, Vietnamese still used 2G, rarely 3G and it is super slow.  So, technology is a new cool thing for today. 

Although i've heard about those technology tools already (like website publishing, image editing and graphic creation), i actually never use them before. I do know blogging and bookmarking since now i takes online classes. Blogging is a new fun thing for me, while bookmarking is a great tool to keep track of those websites that i use for my paper's references.

Image editing and graphic creation are tools that i want to explore the most. I do editing image on my phone using editing app, but doesn't have chances to work with computer. Since my friend is photographer, i will have her help me with that.

Class Assignments: Just for fun

Those classes that i take this semester require a lot of reading. So i'm kind of overwhelming on a pool of reading assignments. However, i do like reading stories. Those stories, even a legendary stories or a folklore stories, are my intertraining channel. Not like any regular online classes that i have taken, this course trains me to do a BLOG, similar to what i used to do on Facebook, but kind of difficult in term of formal tweets (maybe because of language different). I am so inspired of the Growth Mindset after reading a little bit and i do inspire of every thing that motivates people.

Bonus: Just for fun. This is my sister- in- law. I took her this picture around two week ago in the 3D Art Gallery in Ho Chi Minh City. It's actually not inside the gallery, but we took this picture because of the quote in the wall outside. Her name Thy Phan. She is very friendly and a hearty person.

"I hope you always find a reason to smile"

Growth Mindset: "Non-stoppable"

Source: Picture from I allow myself to do things imperfectly, posted by Laura Gibbs on her blog "Growth Mindset and Feedback Cat"

I've never heard about Carol Wreck until now, but i know a little bit about growth mindset. Growth mindset was first expressed to me through those literature classes during school and those inspiration events back in Vietnam. In 2013, Nick Vujicic went to Vietnam and inspired lots of people to do things that they think they can't do. I believe he such a famous person that well-known for everyone about his brave and his resilience. I have read lots of his book including Life Without Limit and i know i can do things if i want. That is the thought i had in 2014, when i first came to America. I was depressed on this time because of language barrier, culture barrier and personal reasons. I can say that language is a big barrier that made me lose my confidence and gradually became shy to talk to other. It was a big shock because i can't hear, can't speak or can't talk for a long time and therefore i couldn't continuing my education. 

Thanks to the encouragement of the loved ones, i lifted my spirit back and started learning English. The first TOEFL test, i failed. The second TOEFL test, i failed. The third test, i knew if i fail, it would take me one more semester to get back to school. For the whole month, i never thought i would give up. I have always thought i could do it, and i did. When i held the third scoreboard test on hand, i knew i did even though the process was not easy.

Those first courses i took was so difficult. Even though i passed the test, my skills could not compare to those who born and lived here a long time. The result was my professors speak to fast for me to hear, my friend speak English with a Cambodia accent made me confused and a lot of things happen. Importantly, because of that those classes i took was too hard for me. But i wasn't give up, i rather found another ways to do that. I recorded my lecture by phone and repeatedly listened to this until i figured out what he said and took the notes. I asked my friends twice until i could understand. And it works fine for me although it take more time to do it. I understand that a foreign people reading a same book of course the process will be slower than a native reader. But there is nothing to stop me.

Introduction to the new pages of life

I am Kha Tran (my real name is Trần Mộng Kha) and i'm come from Vietnam . My friends at work take the initial "MK" as my name so that it can be easily pronounce. But i really refer by Kha Tran for official record at OU.
In 2014, i was a Senior at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, the number one Law school in the South side of Vietnam. I have interest in law but i wasn't able to finish my degree due to the immigration to the United States on Feb 2014. Now i am a Senior in Finance at OU and will graduate next summer.
There was a time when i was depressed, back when i first came to America. To be honest, i did not want to move, but i was forced. The five month period just around the house made me feel stuffy. My relatives were busy with their daily work. I didn't know how to drive a car back then, or even if i knew, there is still no car. Language and culture barriers made me feel anxious. Can't speak, can't hear and can't understand others gradually made me don't want to say a words.
Back to 2014, when i was 21, i was in a relationship with my so-called husband. We had a tough time together. When i insisted to go back to my country, my uncle said it is because of him. My uncle was not completely right. It was him, my husband, encouraged me to overcome the life with so much tears to get back to normal. It was him who showed me if i insisted on keeping that melancholia, it would take longer for us to be together again. It was because of his encouragement, i started to learn English. In August, i passed the TOEFL test, and officially entered school, ending this sadness. In 2018, i finished my associate degree at OCCC and continuing to complete the bachelor degree at OU.
I used to travel back to my country every summer and really have fun there. I just got back Vietnam four days ago, and still fell jet lag. The purpose of this trip is to prepare for our wedding. We signed all paper works but still wait for the ceremony at the end of this year. That why i called him a "so-called husband" 😊.
From now on, i keep moving on toward my dream.

Me and my husband in the pre-wedding album took on July 27th, 2018 in Da Lat, Viet Nam.

Photographer: Nhan Rau Nguyen

By the way, my husband named Trung Phan. We met together when we was in law school. He's now a legal specialist in a bank in Vietnam.

My storybooks favorites

I decided to choose randomly these three storybooks by choosing the first three stories from refreshing the assignment web page. I ended up really fascinating with my selections:
1. Tales of the Black Cat: Our folklore that handed down among generation said that black cat is the symbol of bad luck and evil. Therefore, as a kid, I feared the black cat. That is why it is grabbed my attention immediately. I can see vaguely in my mind that something horrible will happen with these teenagers when the story's just begun. In the legendary stories that I have been told, cats and foxes are the same at one point that they have nine lives, at least in Eastern culture. The story is horrible with sight of deaths, but it also evokes my curiosity to keep reading the story.
2. The Redemption Squad: I have never heard of this story before. This storybook is different to my knowledge about common legends. I enjoyed reading this story because its uniqueness aroused my curiosity. It constantly hooked my attention. The title reminds me about a movie, Suicide Squad, in which super villains like Ogre is being recruited for dangerous missions. In other part, the story surprises me that Lilith was the first woman in the earth, and Adam’s first wife, not Eve, and also the legendary behind Adam and Lilith.
3. Mermaids: The Eternal World of Water: This story’s plot is not like many other common legends that I have read about mermaids. The introduction intrigued me because of the beautiful and mysterious scenes. The story is not all about magical but filled with hatred and vengeance. When I was a kid, I've read a similar story to “The Little Mermaid”, the ending was a lot different and I cried after knowing at the mermaid turning into sea-foam. Those recently versions was changed so they have a happy ending ever after.

Mermaids

Picture from Mermaids: The Eternal World of Water

My favorite places

This is my Home, one of the reason why i would go back to Vietnam every time i have chance. The house is located in  Qui Nhon City, the central coast of Vietnam, directly under Binh Dinh Province. This place connects with me for 25 year then and therefore part of my soul. In this picture, these girls are my sisters. This picture was taken before we moved to the United States, in the Tet holiday season.

Notre Dame, Sai Gon, Vietnam

The picture above is Notre Dame located in the heart of Saigon, Vietnam, also my favorite place. This is the place that i lived when i studied away from home since 17 years old. Qui Nhon and Sai Gon  stands 652 kilometers apart.