Introduction
This year, as I’ve surely told before, I’ve been in my first year of Psychology. Before anything, I should say that this year has been a very good one anyway, though it’s been more difficult than what I’d thought, definitively. Before entering the University, I used to have many doubts, of course, added to the normal expectation anyone has in such a situation. At the beginning, I was even afraid because I wasn’t making friends as fast as I’d proposed myself, but I didn’t know that it wouldn’t be hard at all. In fact, I feel this year I’ve learnt to see the life in a different way, and I invite you to search for more.
Body
When the classes started, they didn’t seem to be as difficult as after they’d be, but if I’m specific, last semester Social History of Chile was the subject which makes me look that semester as a difficult one, because the other subjects weren’t really so demanding. In that subject, we were asked to review (or read) six-seven books per test! An incredible abuse. Thanks to God, I obtained an excellent average of 5.5 in History, and in the other subjects my academic performance wasn’t so different.
This second semester that I’m finishing has even meant to me (and my classmates) a greater challenge than before. On the one hand, I’ve had more “psychological” subjects (Learning, Personality and Psychological Processes), and all of them have inquired me new skills, new time organizations and new studying methods, so maybe I’m grown up: I’m more mature. I’ve realized –more this semester than the last one- that Psychology is a science which can make me feel completely satisfied with myself if I achieve my goals in the future: to progress in the Clinical (or Social) Psychology, apart from the Researches, and I feel the knowledge and attitudes I’m obtaining can really help me to get them.
Conclusion
In 2009, Psychology has been maybe the word I’ve thought the most, not only because that’s the career I’m studying, but because I’ve discovered that’s my vocation. In fact, I project my life, on the one hand, attending people, activity which supposes the creation and development of the best intervention strategies; on the other hand, as I’m also interested in researching and studying the human behavior, I plan to carry out several investigations for discovering more and more about what makes us “humans”, but always oriented to help people be better, overcome their traumas, etc. Perhaps those are very “humanistic” goals, but I don’t care. And the knowledge I’m obtaining are the structure in which I’m cementing my wishes and wills.
lunes, 23 de noviembre de 2009
viernes, 13 de noviembre de 2009
Next Elections
Presidential Elections is something that’s always been very interesting to me, and opposite to definitively most of young people who are as old as me, Politics it’s something which I’ve always been so much interested in. I’m eighteen years old, and last winter vacations I inscribed myself in the Election Register: I’ll vote in next elections.
I think that the election campaign is something very funny, though I don’t omit it’s used as a joke – I mean the candidates use it to make many promises (and it’s usually commented too), and to promote their selves, but more as a way to achieve the power than to listen genuinely people’s real needs. In spite of that, it can serve (I suppose) to think about what one expects from a President, what a better country can be like, etc.
In that same way, I think in this Elections 2009 there’s not a candidate which can convince me completely. Anyway, I’ve already decided who I’ll vote for: Marco Enriquez-Ominami. Why? Because he’s a young man, someone new in the politic, who although doesn’t have much experience, has good ideas a “new winds”, and for me, he’s someone who’s absolutely opposite to the stagnant and grown stale politic that’s hegemonic in our loved country nowadays, and he’s definitively closer than any other candidate to represent something like a “change”; and I really want a change (though I’ve liked President Bachelet’s government).
Finally, I’d like to add that though I like Politics and I love to talk about it, I won’t be a politician in the future: maybe I don’t have the needed skills, but I don’t care. Bye.
I think that the election campaign is something very funny, though I don’t omit it’s used as a joke – I mean the candidates use it to make many promises (and it’s usually commented too), and to promote their selves, but more as a way to achieve the power than to listen genuinely people’s real needs. In spite of that, it can serve (I suppose) to think about what one expects from a President, what a better country can be like, etc.
In that same way, I think in this Elections 2009 there’s not a candidate which can convince me completely. Anyway, I’ve already decided who I’ll vote for: Marco Enriquez-Ominami. Why? Because he’s a young man, someone new in the politic, who although doesn’t have much experience, has good ideas a “new winds”, and for me, he’s someone who’s absolutely opposite to the stagnant and grown stale politic that’s hegemonic in our loved country nowadays, and he’s definitively closer than any other candidate to represent something like a “change”; and I really want a change (though I’ve liked President Bachelet’s government).
Finally, I’d like to add that though I like Politics and I love to talk about it, I won’t be a politician in the future: maybe I don’t have the needed skills, but I don’t care. Bye.
sábado, 7 de noviembre de 2009
Relationships: Would you date a narcissist?
In this very interesting –and maybe innovator- article, taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/24/narcissists-love-partners, titled “Relationships: Would you date a narcissist?”, we can see how the typical prototype of the narcissist person is questioned, so defended and even promoted to the reader as an effective way for getting better mental health.
Of score, the author isn’t referring to the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which as himself explains, is the extreme when the person isn’t capable to make and mantain close relationships, because they use people just for achieving their own ambitions, lacking empathy and being very self-involved.
Instead, to be narcissist in a mild extent, in a “normal” way, is advisable at all; in fact, it’s “natural”: everyone loves himself. In that sense, according to a research of the University of Texas, narcissits people were found more extrovert and less likely to be depressed, being often pretty resilient, because they believe they can cope with whatever life throws at them: they feel important and capable.
I’ve already said to be narcissist in a normal way is natural and that’s right. In the same way, one usually tends to say and to believe that the other people are narcissist, and even though we recogmize we are a little narcissist, we think those features aren’t so evidents. As it appers in the article, that’s just one way of narcissism.
Against all odds, in this article it’s asserted the narcissism has plenty of advantadges in the relationships, if the person manages to improve his defect (let’s remember that to be narcissit is, above all, a psychic defensive mechanism that, in its precise measure, can be very functional): "If they can connect, stay in a relationship and be committed, they have a much better outcome”.
Of score, the author isn’t referring to the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), which as himself explains, is the extreme when the person isn’t capable to make and mantain close relationships, because they use people just for achieving their own ambitions, lacking empathy and being very self-involved.
Instead, to be narcissist in a mild extent, in a “normal” way, is advisable at all; in fact, it’s “natural”: everyone loves himself. In that sense, according to a research of the University of Texas, narcissits people were found more extrovert and less likely to be depressed, being often pretty resilient, because they believe they can cope with whatever life throws at them: they feel important and capable.
I’ve already said to be narcissist in a normal way is natural and that’s right. In the same way, one usually tends to say and to believe that the other people are narcissist, and even though we recogmize we are a little narcissist, we think those features aren’t so evidents. As it appers in the article, that’s just one way of narcissism.
Against all odds, in this article it’s asserted the narcissism has plenty of advantadges in the relationships, if the person manages to improve his defect (let’s remember that to be narcissit is, above all, a psychic defensive mechanism that, in its precise measure, can be very functional): "If they can connect, stay in a relationship and be committed, they have a much better outcome”.
jueves, 29 de octubre de 2009
Correcting a classmate's blog
Hello! Today we've been asked to correct a classmate's blog, which could be the last one he/she has written, or any other. In my case, I've corrected a blog taken from http://asirensoliloquy.blogspot.com/, written by my classmate Marcela Sáez in October 8, 2009.
She wrote:
Blog 4: A country I'd like to visit.
Hello everyone! How are you today? Are you OK? I hope so!
In today's blog I'm going to write about a country I'd like to visit. If you ask me, the country that I would love to visit is (would be) Korea.
Why? Well, I'm very interested interesting in Korean culture. Right now Now, I'm learning Korean because I really hope to travel there someday. I love Korean music, specially 'k-pop' or Korean pop, so the first thing I would do there it would be to go to a concert of one of my many favorite artists... that would be a dream come true.
Besides, I think Korean food it's really good. I've already eaten ate some of it here in Chile, but it would be great if I could eat it in its native country.
On the other hand, it would be really nice if I could talk Korean with a Korean person… to have a conversation, I hope an interesting one, in order to prove myself that I have really learned it. Can you imagine how it would be for me if a native Korean tells me that my Korean it's really good? That would be amazing!
I'd like to visit Korea one day. That would be the best experience in my life, forever ever.
Now, I will comment it:
I think that my classmate, Marcela, didn't really have many mistakes on writing this blog, and that's something very good, although she had some few errors anyway. On the other hand, the idea of the text is very well developed, it's so much easy to be understood.
In my point of view -and I can't omit that in this case I'm not completely sure-, the first mistake she did was to write "the country that I would love to visit is (would be) Korea" (I had to write "would be" between brackets; all the others corrections are crossed out). Here, she had repeated the modal verb "would" twice in the same sentence, and the most correct way to write it would have been to use "is", in simple present, instead writing "would" twice.
Her second mistake -and now I'm completely sure-, was to write "I'm very interesting in Korean culture", but the right way to express it, it had been to use past participle instead using present continuos, so she should have written: "I'm very interested in Korean culture".
Just in the following sentence, we can find the other mistake: she wrote "right now", when she should have written "now". Why? Because she wrote "Right now Now, I'm learning Korean", and "right now" means "in the moment", the right moment, and she wasn't learning that language at that moment: she was writing that blog. Instead, "now" is a word which includes a longer time.
After, in the next paragraph, she wrote "I've already ate", but the past participle of "to eat", isn't "ate", it's "eaten".
In the fifth paragraph, she wrote "if I could talk Korean with a Korean", but if I'm not wrong, she should have written "person" after repeating "Korean", because as that word was being written twice in the same sentence, and in the first case it was used as a noun and after as an adjective, perhaps it was necessary to state specifally that difference.
Finally, she wrote "That would be the best experience in my life, ever", but instead "ever" the correct word had been "forever", because she's meaning "for a limitless time".
That's all. Bye.
sábado, 17 de octubre de 2009
My Faculty
Hello everyone. This week, I must write about my faculty. So, what could I talk about it? First than all, I must clarify that I study the career of Psychology (as, if I’m not wrong, I wrote too some weeks ago) at the Social Sciences Faculty, located in
Currently, it’s been much commented by almost everyone in the Faculty – and surely in the campus at all- the Bicentenary Project. I recognize that I’m not very informed about this topic, but I’ve known that it includes the building of new infrastructure –even making a new building, which would be part of my Faculty, anyway- and the entrance of the double or almost the double of new students for my carrer –and probably in the other careers it will be decided the same action-. If I haven’t misunderstood it, next year 2010 it will enter a quantity of new students of Psychology corresponding to one and half my course, and maybe using the same rooms used by us –I wonder, in which space, because the rooms aren’t so large.
There’s something that I like very much of my Faculty: the computing rooms. Anyway, unfortunately sometimes they’re full and one has to wait for someone to vacate any computer, and most of that times you have to wait a long time. By other hand, it’s been bought some new pc’s, so that problem has been ordinarily resolved. That happens when there are classes in some of the rooms. However, as I’ve said, that’s something that is being resolved.
viernes, 9 de octubre de 2009
Greece: a country I'd like to visit
About the topic of today, I must really recognize that there are many countries I’d feel so much delighted to travel to (England, Egypt, Spain, etc.), but the country I’d love to visit is, definitively, Greece. I’ve always been very interested in visiting that country (and it’s a dream that I know I’ll ever carry out), mainly because I’ve always admired the Greek culture –the “classical” and “historical” one, which appears in the encyclopedias- , having the chance to contemplate the Acropolis, the Parthenon and many others monuments and vestiges of it. Also, its Mediterranean climate is very enjoyable, it’s so nice, and above all if you go to the Greek islands, you’ll realize of what I’m saying.
I’ve never met any Greek person, but according to some TV reports, newspapers, etc., they seem to be kind, relaxed and open-minded, so this is another reason why traveling there would be unforgettable at all.
If I were in Athens, surely as soon as I get to the hotel (or any place where I stay), I’d leave my suitcase in there, and I would go out to tour all the museums, historical places, even the Olympic Stadium too, that is, all over the city. And of course, after doing that I’d go to Olympia, for example, and other cities too, and when I have done all of that, maybe I also visit another country.
I’ve never met any Greek person, but according to some TV reports, newspapers, etc., they seem to be kind, relaxed and open-minded, so this is another reason why traveling there would be unforgettable at all.
If I were in Athens, surely as soon as I get to the hotel (or any place where I stay), I’d leave my suitcase in there, and I would go out to tour all the museums, historical places, even the Olympic Stadium too, that is, all over the city. And of course, after doing that I’d go to Olympia, for example, and other cities too, and when I have done all of that, maybe I also visit another country.
viernes, 25 de septiembre de 2009
"Gross National Happiness and Psychological Well-being", taken from http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com/surveyReports/psychological/psycho_abs.aspx
“Gross National Happiness” is a Bhutan Government plan that evaluates the country progress not considering the gross enhancement, supposing that earning more money will make people happier –in the whole sense of the word-, but according to the Psychological Well-being that people have in their lives. So, they propose to replace “Gross National Product” for “Gross National Happiness”, as a real, effective and representative way for making public policies, and making a better country.
To achieve this objective, they’ve made many researches in Bhutan people, assisted for Harvard and other universities researchers, obtaining results as the next ones I’ll comment:
- “Social support available when having problems”: This indicator evaluates the grade by which people, when have any kind of problematic situations -so they feel sad, worried and eager, and because of that they need a person near to help them-, they feel these person (or those people) are there. In this graph, most of those polled declared to feel social support available “some of the time” (57, 86%), meanwhile almost one third (30, 89%) of the sample said to feel it “most of the time (the happiest or even healthiest people, and just an 11, 25% of the polled ones answered “none of the time".
“Frustration”: This variable describes when people feel unable to reach the goal they’ve proposed their selves and for which they’ve made an effort. In this case, surprisingly a 40 % of the polled ones said they “never” felt frustrated (almost half of the sample), and just a 5% answered to feel frustrated “often”. On the other hand, most of people admitted to have feelings of frustration “sometimes” (56%).
To achieve this objective, they’ve made many researches in Bhutan people, assisted for Harvard and other universities researchers, obtaining results as the next ones I’ll comment:
- “Social support available when having problems”: This indicator evaluates the grade by which people, when have any kind of problematic situations -so they feel sad, worried and eager, and because of that they need a person near to help them-, they feel these person (or those people) are there. In this graph, most of those polled declared to feel social support available “some of the time” (57, 86%), meanwhile almost one third (30, 89%) of the sample said to feel it “most of the time (the happiest or even healthiest people, and just an 11, 25% of the polled ones answered “none of the time".
“Frustration”: This variable describes when people feel unable to reach the goal they’ve proposed their selves and for which they’ve made an effort. In this case, surprisingly a 40 % of the polled ones said they “never” felt frustrated (almost half of the sample), and just a 5% answered to feel frustrated “often”. On the other hand, most of people admitted to have feelings of frustration “sometimes” (56%).
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