Juxtaposing Ideas. Hopefully the video works for you guys!

Listening Skillz

    This week i listened to my friend talk about himself. I would ask him questions and he would respond. I noticed that he does not give a sincere response unless it is something he is passionate about. he would be much more willing to have a long converstaion or response to a question when i asked about something he liked. I waited and listened untill after he was finished answering my question before i began to think about a new one. i thought that it was more kind to actually listen to his response and pay attention instead of thinking of something else to say. Also from listening to his entire response i could easily base my next question off of what he had just said keeping passionate topics alive. i realized that you can have questiions prepared but you have to stray away from the prepared material once you start opening and interesting topic. It would be pointless to just start getting into a deep good conversation and then switching back to a question that you had prepared that could be very off topic. so it is very helpful to pay attention to what the person is saying and base your next question, prompt, or comment off of the material they were just telling you.
    I also found it very helpful to read body langauge throughout the converstion. it made it very easy to tell when he was passionate about a subject or topic because he would smile or his voice pitch would change. Also he would start talking faster or his eyes would light up. It was obvious to tell when he didnt feel very connected to a question because he would give vague emotionless responses. Listening and reading body language are very important in keeping a conversation alive. If you get into a groove and are talking about a passionate subject the converstion flows much more smoothly and is much more enjoyable.

Email Usage

    Before i came to college email usage was nonexistent for me. I did not use it or know of all the applications other people use to enhance its efficiency. Email is digital mail, instead of recieving a physical paper with a note or information inscribed on it you get that same infromation in a document form through the internet. Before i came to college i did not get very much information via email so i had much to learn about it through other users. I learned that there are email interfaces that allow you to have multiple accounts open through one program. Before i learned about that i figured everyone just had to go to their sponsered email address's website and login there to use it. Having an alternate program run your email can be very helpful and has many tools that regular website based email management does not. Another aspect of email that i have learned is very popular at u of i is email on your cell phone. It seems like everyone has a smart phone and is recieving mail instantly no matter where they are. I wish i had this feature on my phone because it would make me a much more efficient email user. Having lived at U of I for a couple months now i have come accustomed to checking email on a daily basis and have learned the easiest and most efficient methods to handle it by observing others habits.

Toulmin Model

picture from www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~digger/305/toulmin_model.htm
Claim: I will wake up on time for my classes
Grounds: If I dont wake up on time I will fail out of my classes
Warrant: Statistics have shown grades are exponentially better of those students that make it to class
Backing: Its common sense that if you do not learn the material then you cannot master it for tests and exams
Modality: I have never completely missed a class since being in college but i have been late from sleeping in to much about 3 times
Rebuttal: Maybe if the class is not completely necessary or I know we will not be doing anything important that day i will sleep in

Email to TA

Hello Falcon,
    I am a student from your chemistry discussion group FQ1 that meets at eleven on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With the upcoming exam this week I was wondering if you will be having extra office hours. I am currently busy during your regular office hours and it would be very helpful for me to meet with you and go over some concepts that I am having trouble with. I understand if you are busy this week and are unable to meet, but it would be equally as helpful to me if you could point me in the direction of another teaching assistant or professor that is available.

Thank you,
                  Wade Stone

Reaching Out!

    I never thought of trying to reach out. I have always been to intimidated to try and contact people that are famous or important to large companies. This week I reached out by sending an email to a popular band that played in Urbana recently and I am still awaiting their response.
    I sent an email to The Hood Internet. They are a popular band that started out small by remixing songs and putting them on the internet for free. They eventually blew up with popularity and started playing shows. I saw them two weeks ago at the Canopy Club in Urbana and they were amazing. Since I had some similarities with this band it made it easy to send them an email. I sent an email complimenting them on the show that I saw and asking a few technical questions about the equipment they used. I thought it would increase my chances of a response if I asked something interesting. I still havent heard back from them but reaching out was a lot easier than I had expected.
    Although I have not heard back from The Hood Internet it was still a noteworthy experience to reach out to someone. I think it was very easy for me because I had some similarities to talk about and bond over with my target. If I ever get a response ill be sure to fill you guys.

My Missing Basics

Reaction:
    I think that the Missing Basics speech was very accurate and I agree with it. I never realized the failures in modern day engineers untill Goldberg touched on them. Now that I have been enlightened about these common flaws I am very glad because I can work to eliminate them and be very successful.
    I can relate to the point Goldberg made that some people can be very briliant but at the same time they are not as valued as someone who knows who to interact and exspress their ideas. I knew kids going through high school that were exactly like that but I was never able to diagnose their flaws untill I watched this lecture.
    I also thought it was interesting how Goldberg talked about being a lifelong learner. One key aspect to being a great engineer is by asking good questions about things that you dont entirely grasp.

Improvements:
1.    This semester I want to work on my responsibilty skills. I try to remember everything that I need to do without a material assistant and that is obviously a poor method.
        - Tomorrow I am going to get a planner from the book store and start using it.
2.    In addition on what to work on my time management. I have no incentive to complete my task at hand untill directly before the deadline.
        - I am going give myself more time to get places and start working on projects before the due date.
 3.   Lastly I want to become better when working with a team. I like things done my way and need to be more accepting of others opinions. I need to learn to work with my peers and go the same direction as everyone else.
        - The iEFX lab is a great oppurtunity to strengthen my skills and I plan on trying my hardest to be a great asset to the team.