Livia's First Year Seminar

In Maurice Asheley’s Ted talk, “Working backwards to solve a problem” he spoke about retrograde analysis and how master chess players can see moves in a game before they even happen. He said something along the lines that “It pays to look forward and back.” This applies to both chess and planning ahead for your degree. I will have to plan ahead to accomplish my goals. Two examples of this are planning your core (areas A-F) and prerequisites. For example, I will have to take psychology 1101 in order to begin a psychology minor. An example of a personal goal although weird for me is to never hit a juul. I am in the arts focus area and am a music major in the BA program with a focus on voice. The words that I picked from the extensive list that I would consider my core values are compassion, independence, loyalty, honesty, and genuineness. I also read the article, “Creating and Living by your own values” by Chris Guillebeau. One main takeaway from the article for me is that only you can

This week in Fye we watched the film that followed the young Cuban American Elian Gonzalez.  In earlier weeks we discussed this little boy. We accessed this documentary through Kanopy. The film showed how Elian and his family were treated after he was found. The documentary follows the story of how the American Government, Fidel Castro, and the people of both countries responsed to Elian being found in United States water. While watching the film I thought it was really sad how Elian was forced to parade in front of the press at odd hours during both day and night. I think that this situation would not be healthy for any kid and put young Elian in a compromising situation. Ultimately, Elian’s father got custody of him and took him home to spend the rest of their lives in Cuba. As a result of this, Elian remained loyal to Castro who had grown fond of him. Many Americans then questioned whether or not the American government made the right decision. Allowing the child to go home eventu

This week in fye we were asked to finish reading Crucet’s novel, “Make your home among Strangers.” This novel follows the story of a young Cuban American, Lizet and her journey of navigating through college and her ties back at home. Many of the struggles that Lizet encounter in the novel have to do with her background and heritage. Her mother’s attachment to a young Cuban boy who was having issues of custody and residency causes her to feel resentment towards this situation. I looked online at the common reads tab and the issue and themes tab. The theme that I focused on the most was the subject of first-generation college students which was addressed in the book. I think it is fantastic that the university places a book like this in front of students who might feel uncomfortable or out of place at first in college. I personally think that first generation college students are very inspirational. The other thing we were asked to do this week was to attend the authors seminar. The sem

This week we were instructed to watch the film, “Instructions not Included.” No one warned me not to watch this late at night. As a result, I ended up crying until one thirty in the morning Sunday night….thank you Doctora. All jokes aside, I actually really enjoyed the film. The story follows the relationship of a dad and daughter who were brought together unexpectedly. The child, Maggie’s mother left her at her Father, Valentin’s door. Once Valentin realized that the mother had taken off in a taxi he begins to consider the pros and cons of the situation. In an effort to avoid the responsibilities of parenthood, Valentine attempts to return Maggie to her mother in the United States. Valentin falls in love with this magnetic little girl. Throughout the movie, several people question the quality of Valentin’s parenting style. It isn’t until the end of the film that we realized that Maggie is terminally ill. Other than being a tear jerker, this movie is also a thoughtful reflection of