Academic Goals

Last month, during an Academic Leadership period, we were given the assignment of coming up with ways to improve the way we studied and learned. The mission was to create and strategically produce goals that would specifically adjust our ways of study in order to improve such aspects of our academic life. Consequently, of course, we got the reccomendation of putting these goals into practice and applying them to our studies and try to achieve a better level of learning. As a conclusion, we had to analyze how the goals worked. 

 My goals were the following: create a calendar or a to-do list, begin studying with peers, and avoid any uneccessary activities before doing homework. Truthfully, I had some ups-and-downs during this experience. I did create a to-do list almost every day on my phone, which included all the homework, tests and assessments given that day. Later at home I wouldn't have the possibility of forgetting anything to turn in or study for. This proved effective, as I have noticed that I still do not having missing asssignments. The next goal included studying and doing homework with my classmates, and, unfortunately, I didn't practice this much. The only opportunities I did get were the weekly study-sessions with the soccer team, which actually did help when I took a Geometry test. Finally, I set myself the challenge of not aimlessly doing anything else that wasn't homework or studies as soon as I got home. I must admit I tried doing this some days, but I frequently got carried away from soccer games and videogames, which concluded in doing such academic activities in the evening, with absolutely no wantings. 

From now on, I'll definately try to apply what I set as goals into a more effective manner. I hope that they will continue to assist me as I develop as a high-school student. 

You briefly met with a college recruiter last week, and you reviewed a number of questions to ask about colleges. This must have gotten you thinking about your future, so tell us about it: Without any strict requirements, write about your expectations, goals, fears, concerns, questions that you have concerning your future in college. Additionally, now that you know that recruiters want to hear about you and your intellectual interests and pursuits, how do you think being an aware Academic Leader will give you an advantage when applying to the college of your choice? 

Last week, during a class of Academic Leadership, we had the thankful opportunity to meet an actual college recruiter who came directly from the United States and gave us a fifty-minute speech on the school she works for, Baldwin-Wallace University in Ohio. As it must have occured to many of my peers, her discussion did get me thinking about my own academic future.

I've never actually decided where I wanted to go study after my graduation. All that I have understood about my future is that if I cannot become a football player, I at least want to stay in that area but as a journalist. I'd love that job as it unifies two of my passions: soccer and writing. I also think I'd have a great advantage if I do get to follow this dream career, as I am a polyglot, speaking English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese all satisfactorily. Unfortunately, the only problem of this is that I'd have to choose a language in which to specialize in, and that isn't always an easy task. Recently, though, I have been  thinking about writing in Spanish, as it is my favorite language to write in, and one of the most fluent I can write in. All this would mean an eventual shift to Spain. I sincerely would like this, even though all the negative remarks my peers give me about how "you have to go to the States or England". To that I say NO. I'll go where ever I feel will make me succeed in life, and I believe a university in Spain will do, as all I want to do is write about sports. My only fears about this would where to stay. In Europe, there aren't many schools that offer dorms, so that would be a complication. For now, though, I don't want to think about these matters so much, because in four years it can all change, I can change.

I think being an Academic Leader is something important when applying to a college. This can also depend, though. It can be difficult to demonstrate your skills as an Academic Leader in simply one sit-down interview with a recruiter. Even though with this complication, it is still important to become an Academic Leader for several reasons; for example, you will be ready to guide yourself and peers to success. An academic leader is able to organize his life as a college student to make it productive and successful.

The Meaning of Academic Leadership.

"In our first two weeks, you have read two articles, seen several videos and been engaged in several discussions related to the concept of academic leadership. At this point, and in your own words, what does the concept mean to you? What subjects or interests do you have a sophisticated, intellectual understanding of that you may want to turn into a major academic project in this class? How do people sometimes abuse academic knowledge to manipulate others? How would you feel if someone used your work to manipulate others (as Jared Diamond claims Mitt Romney has)? How can creating academically sophisticated, intellectual leaders help prevent such people from taking advantage of others the way they do? How can this create a stronger democratic society?

The meaning of Academic Leadership can be interpreted in multiple ways, as I have learned this week. The most important meaning, in my opinion, is that Academic Leadership means the responsibility of a student or teacher to succeed independently both academically and socially, resulting in becoming a more complete person. The creation of these kinds of "leaders" is vital for healthy and growing communities present in all institutions such as schools or work places. Thanks to these people, these communities can be clean of negative contributors that take advantage of others. An example of this taking advantage is the Jared Diamond-Mitt Romney conflict. In this situation, Romney used the studies of Diamond in such a way that would favor the politicians ideals. Diamond wrote  a book (Guns Germs and Steel) about how a nation achieves wealth and others dont, so Mr. Romney uses his own idea to contradict the studies. He says that, "as written in the book, a nations wealth depends on the physical features." The twist is that Diamond did not mean this in his book As guessed, Romney's strategy lacks academic leadership. This clearly shows the importance of creating true academic leaders. The formation of these kinds of people is necessary for a striving world community. Leaders like this are socially aware and prevent negative situations like the one Mitt Romney created. This will create a strong democratic society since healthy leaders will always know how to treat the people and their own ideas. 

Diamonds novel

A subject that I have a strong intellectual interest to are sports, especially football, or soccer. One of the most complex yet interesting components of the game are the fans, and how they choose their team and how they treat rivals. During my own experience, I have seen how people can be influenced immensely by their team, whether it is a strong one or a less-winning team. Their attitudes towards peers of rival teams at school or work environments amazingly vary. For example, if ones team is having a winning period, the big fans are proud and constantly boast the victories of the own team and losses of the rivals. Does this make them a good leader, even for the future? Will it influence them in the future? I would really appreciate the study of this all, to understand how it works, not only for soccer, but other sports teams.