Week 9.30.13

After watching the TED Talks video seminar by Sir Ken Robinson, I would choose to explore physical and occupational therapy if I had unlimited time and resources. Of course if I had unlimited time and resources, I would research many more occupations that are similar, but not as common. I don't know much about neurology, but I think if I had a class that focused specifically on it, I might be interested. For now though, I am mainly interested in physical and occupational therapy.  
     I believe that attitude has more influence than aptitude. An example of this could be in a work setting like a grocery store where I work. When I was still one of the newer employees, I was very enthusiastic and focused on my work. Even though I was still learning about my tasks and how to do them, I worked harder than most of the other, more experienced, employees which made my bosses appreciate me. If you are passionate about something, you don't have to be good at it. Passion is basically putting yourself into a job or activity, and spending time on something is how you can get better at it. This is why attitude is more influential attitude.
     I think that schools today should be centered around one subject instead of location of the student. I think that in schools, the problem is that the majority of students have no passion for most of what they're doing. Just like Robison said in the seminar, schools now are list fast food restaurants, focused on standards that are the same for every student. Maybe a student is very passionate about one subject, say science, but has no motivation to pay attention in any of his other classes. If he went to a school that focused mainly on science, he could take 2, 3 or even 4 science classes and then 1 of each of the other main subjects. This would allow him to focus on what he wants to do in life and where he wants to go. Specialized schools (similar to charter schools) should be much more prevalent in our society so that students could focus on their passions. 
     For me so far, HMP has improved my communication skills, and it has also taught me to be much more responsible. My communication has improved through email because I need to email my supervisor about HMP meetings/assignments frequently. It has mostly taught me responsibility because I must be very independent (without a teacher to meet with daily). I have to write my blog weekly, turn in my monthly assignments, and also turn in my hours of mentorship monthly to my counselor. Even though my supervisor usually emails to remind me when to turn things in, this is still very different than actually talking to her in a classroom. I've become much more responsible since starting HMP because of all these things.