Week 2: Pygmalion's Struggle

The great king Pygmalion had achieved more than enough in his lifetime. Yet, there was always something missing in the king's life. The only thing he was missing, and the only thing that he wanted, was love. The thrill he got from his adventures was nothing compared to his desire for a companion.

Using his supreme sculpting skills, Pygmalion sought out to create the ideal woman. He isolated himself in his castle and began to create his masterpiece. Yet, after weeks of work, the final result was nowhere near his expectations for the perfect woman. So, he started over.

The king constantly looked for ways to improve his creation. He looked to perfect every single detail of the sculpture in the hopes that it would turn out better than the last. Yet, after more weeks of work, the sculpture was still not good enough.

Over and over, the king labored through every detail of his canvas, desperately trying to achieve his goal. However, months passed to no avail, and the king felt more alone each and everyday.

A year after his project began, he had made no progress. He sat alone, surrounded by a dozen unfinished sculptures with no end in sight.

"Why??" Pygmalion pleaded to the gods. "Why must you torture me like this? Why will you not allow me to find the one thing I have been looking for my entire life?"

Suddenly, a bright light emerged before him, forcing Pygmalion to turn away. When the light dimmed and the king looked back, the Queen Venus had appeared before him in a flowing, bright red dress. He stood in awe for a minute, but his dumbfounded glare returned to one of anger.

"So now you've arrived to save the day?" Pygmalion said sarcastically. "After I've pleaded for help for months? Why will you not help me in my pursuit of the woman of my dreams?"

Venus chuckled. "You have not learned a thing about love, have you?"

"What do you mean?" asked Pygmalion, taken aback by the goddess' response.

"Love is not about finding the perfect woman because there is no such thing. Love is about finding the perfect woman for you."

Author's Note

When I was writing this story, I wanted to throw a little twist in the story from the anthology website. As a result, I thought about what it would be like if Pygmalion struggled to create the perfect woman from the original story. I enjoyed writing from that perspective and exploring Pygmalion's struggle in his fight for love. I also wanted to incorporate elements from other stories that I read in the anthology. For example, I ended the story with my attempt at a moral, resembling those at the end of Aesop's Fables. This not only allowed me to end the story with a sort of ethical lesson, but also left the audience with a little cliffhanger so that they can imagine how the story might have ended themselves.

Bibliography.  "Pygmalion" from Metamorphoses by Ovid, translated by Tony Kline (2000). Web source.

A sculpture based on Jean Léon Gérôme depicting Pygmalion and his love, Galatea.

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Story: Metamorphosis

To be honest, while I did read all the stories, I already had my eyes out for one in particular going into this assignment. Because of my interest in Greek mythology, I actually went out of order and read the Metamorphosis story first. I had never read anything about Pygmalion, so I had to do a little research beforehand to learn about his character. I enjoyed how he developed as the story progressed, from someone desperate for the perfect companion to a man with the love of his life. I also thought the story was very descriptive in several aspects, such as the creation of the sculpture and how it comes to life.

A painting from French artist Jean-Baptiste Regnault depicting Pygmalion praying to Venus.

Week 2 Reading Overview

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Homer's Iliad

Week 4: Gospel of Mark

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Ancient Egypt

Week 6: Raja Rasalu

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9.

Week 7: The Monkey King

Week 9: South Africa

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Cherokee

Week 11: Hero Tales

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Aesop's Fables

Week 13: Alice in Wonderland

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Ashliman

Week 15: Dante's Inferno

I chose my reading units based on my previous high school studies. Even though my major is journalism, my favorite subject in high school was actually history. I've read a few of the readings that I chose, such as Aesop's Fables and Dante's Inferno. However, I haven't taken a history class since high school, and as I was going through all the choices, I realized that I forgot most of my knowledge on those subjects. I wanted to take this class to refine some of my knowledge in those areas, which affected many of my choices. I was also very excited when I saw the Cherokee reading as one of the options for the Native American units. My father's side of the family has Cherokee blood, but I never bothered to learn more about Cherokee history until now.

A painting of Dante by Gustave Doré. Very excited to dive into the story again.

Time Strategies

Until I got to OU, I can safely say I did not have good time management skills. I've always struggled a little to deal with my ADD, which has gotten better over the years. However, once I started college, my time management got better for one simple reason: I didn't have a choice. I had to adapt to balance everything I had on my plate. While I've gotten better in that regard, I still have some room to grow, so I was definitely interested to dive into some of the articles.
The first article I read was Thomas Oppong's "Eat the Frogs First Thing in the Morning (And Other Better Work Habits)". I was very interested by this article because I've been trying to be more productive with my days this semester, but I'm still looking for ways to be better at it. I actually really liked the whole frog analogy and realized that's something I never thought about doing. I also read Caroline Webb's "How to Beat Procrastination". I chose this article because I'm the classic procrastinator. Simple as that. This article was more about being motivated by how good it will feel when a specific goal is accomplished. It's a very interesting idea, and I might have to try it on my next assignment just to see if that helps me in any way.
To be honest, as a senior, I'm lucky enough to only have to take 12 hours, three of them coming through this online class. This allows me to focus more on my extracurricular activities, such as my broadcast programs and my role as an ambassador at Gaylord College. However, I think I've gotten better in the last year of staying on top of everything I've got going on and being efficient when I was doing my homework.

The first step in beating procrastination according to Webb? Believe that you can achieve your goal.

Technology in the Classroom

This online class is definitely different than those I've had in the past. I've never made a storybook or anything close to it and, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I haven't had a class with such an emphasis on blog posts. It's going to take a little getting used to, but I'm actually excited to see how my work turns out as the semester goes on. Doing all these posts will also improve my writing skills, which is something that will help me a lot after I graduate.

Since I'm starting my final year at OU, a flashback to retro night at Camp Crimson three years ago.

Assignments Overview

I think what I'm going to enjoy most from this class will definitely be the reading. Because of my interest in both the classical Greek/Roman and Biblical units, I'm excited to dive into some of those texts. I've also never really been a creative guy when it comes to this sort of storytelling (I focus a little more on telling stories about sports), but maybe going through readings from various mythologies will inspire me when I put together my storybook.
I also thought there were several extra credit assignments that were interesting. I've never actually done a Wikipedia Trail on purpose, so I might try that just to see where I end up. I've also made a habit recently of looking back on how my days or weeks go, so I might have to write a few Famous Last Words posts throughout the semester.
I've definitely never had a class like this in terms of the emphasis on the blogs. While I've had classes that demanded a lot of writing, it was usually in the form of research papers or exams. I think it's an interesting concept that allows for a lot of communication between classmates, especially for an online class like this, but it will be a challenge trying to stay on top of all the blog posts.

How fast I'm going to have to type to make all these blog posts...

Growth Mindset in the Real World

I had never heard of Carol Dweck or the idea of growth mindset before this assignment, but I've always enjoyed watching TEDTalks, so I was immediately interested by what she had to say. I definitely felt like I could relate growth mindset to my development in several aspects of my life. Academically, my parents set a high standard from the very start and, for the most part, I met that standard. However, once I got to college, I realized that I maintained that same standard for my grades despite an even bigger workload outside of my classes. I also related to the idea that kids should want to be challenged, should want to be smarter. When I played soccer in high school, I wanted to get better each and every practice, and that competitive side of me carried over into the classroom.
I think that since I've been at OU, I've definitely seen my learning style change. In high school, I used to study with friends all the time. In college, however, I realized that being in big groups ended up distracting me more than anything. I also think I've become more productive in how I go about completing my assignments. While in the past, I used to trudge through individual assignments one at a time, I've learned that if I work on one assignment for a little bit and then switch to another, I end up getting more done.
I'm definitely looking forward to learning more about growth mindset as the semester goes on because I think that it is designed to get students out of their comfort zone. Taking this class was definitely a little out of my comfort zone, so it'll be interesting to see how my mindset develops during the semester.

How I felt going through this assignment:

An Introduction to My Past, Present, and Future

My name is Sam Brown, and I am a senior at the University of Oklahoma from Plano, Texas. I'd consider myself fairly unique as one of the few French-American students on campus; my mother is from the central part of France, while my dad's hometown of Edmond is quite a bit closer. I was actually born in Paris, France, but when I was about four months old, my family moved to the Dallas area, where I spent all of my childhood. I have one brother named Thomas, who is 16. I also have a boxer named Suri and a cat named Penny Lane, both of which we adopted from shelters.
Sports have always been and will always be a part of my identity. I've played soccer since I was a kid and still play on the club team here at OU, but I also played everything from football to cross-country growing up. Not only did I love competing in sports, but I also loved watching and studying them. I was the kind of kid who would eat through season preview books memorizing stats and key names. As a result, my mom joked one time that I should be a sports broadcaster because it combined my three favorite things: sports, TV, and being the center of attention. Fast forward to now, and I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else.

A picture of me celebrating a goal with my teammates from my senior year of high school in Plano, TX.

I am a broadcast journalism major here at OU, and I love every bit of it. I'm extremely lucky to have so many opportunities at Gaylord College to go cover news and sports events. I've been covering the football team for about a year and a half now, which has allowed me to travel to some really cool places. I've been involved with all of our student-run television shows and even had a chance to start a radio show with a few friends of mine. My favorite part of being a journalism student, however, has to be one of our shows called Sooner Sports Pad. This show is the only one of its kind in the country, and it is broadcast live to millions of homes on Fox Sports Oklahoma. I've been involved with it since my freshman year, but I've been an analyst on the show since January. I love how high-energy the show is, and it's always a blast interacting with the athletes that come as guests on the set.

A picture of myself and two of my friends right before the start of Sooner Sports Pad.

Despite what it seems, I actually do have a life outside of Gaylord. Like I mentioned earlier, I've been a part of the club soccer team since I started college. I'm also a huge fan of movies, and me and my roommates go to the Warren at least once a month.

Storybook Favorites

Storybook 1: The Adventures of Merlin

As soon as the storybook loaded, the design immediately stood out to me. I really liked the background picture on the home page, and the background photo on each page is original and relevant to the actual story. Furthermore, the menu bar made it very easy to go from page to page. I already knew who Merlin was, but I did not know nearly as much about his historical relevance. I do feel like I learned more about him from this storybook, though. Every story was well written, and the author's note at the bottom of the page added some good insight on characters or historical context that I didn't understand.

A seaside shot in France from the storybook's Introduction post.

Storybook 2: Hades' Iliad

Just like the first storybook, the design of this one immediately caught my eye. While the first one was serene and represented the beauty of nature, this website was a total contrast of that. The background pictures are paintings from various European artists depicting scenes from classic Greek mythology. That immediately appealed to me because I've always been interested in Greek mythology. I was one of those kids who read every single Percy Jackson book. I think I might even have my storybook revolve around some aspect of Greek mythology. While the first storybook consisted of several individual tales, this one is a full story composed of several chapters, which I actually really liked. While there were some writing and grammar mistakes, I definitely enjoyed the story as a whole.

A picture depicting the engraving of the Greek King Menelaus from Chapter 2 of the storybook.

Storybook 3: Love and Loss in Vietnam

When it comes to the design, this storybook resembled the first one much more than the second one. The background pictures have very soothing colors and include several great shots from parts of Vietnam as well. To be honest, I chose this topic because I do not know much about Vietnamese culture and history. It hasn't really interested me in the past, but I thought this would be a chance to learn more about the culture. I quickly became interested in each of the plot of the story. The idea of sending someone from heaven down to Earth as punishment is really original, and I really liked how the author dedicated a chapter to the new life of each of the two torn lovers. The language was definitely informal, but it honestly played off really well. I'm definitely glad I chose this storybook because I learned much more about the country's culture and theology.

A shot of a Vietnamese beach found in the "Origins of Vietnam" story.

My Favorite Place - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

When I was asked to write about my favorite place, I immediately started thinking of my hometown of Dallas, Texas. After all, I have countless memories of hanging out with my friends, playing sports, and more. I also thought of my new home in Norman, Oklahoma, where I have had the best three years of my life so far. However, I realized that there is one place in particular where I would truly want to live every day: Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

While I have traveled to several different ski resorts in my childhood, Steamboat Springs will always hold a special place in my heart. I have been to Steamboat five times on vacation, and I have loved every trip more than the last. While I wasn't the best skier at first, I have always loved the thrill of it. My brother and I also like to bring lunch to the top of the mountain and just enjoy the view. It's hard to describe, but there is no doubt it's a sight to see.
My last trip to Steamboat was in January, and it hit me at that point that it might be my last vacation with my family for some time. I am going into my final year at OU, and it could be a while before I can to go to a trip like that depending on where I end up after graduation. If there is one thing I do know, though, it's that the vacation will not be my last time in Steamboat Springs.

A beautiful nighttime shot of Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

An action shot of me and my brother snowboarding behind me from our trip in January. Horns down forever and always!

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