NIE Task 2: Self-observation and analysis of creating a study plan

For our second NIE task we were asked to visualize an activity map for our study plan of Fall12 followed with some comments and info about ourselves and demonstrate it in our blogs. My first thought was to make a c-map but then I figured out that there will be A LOT of c-mapping next two years so I might as well try something more fun here.

So I came up with a colorful map which I constructed based on my weekly activity, which will be pretty the same for the whole Fall semester. Inside this weekly timeframe are activities that have certain schedule during the week. Outside the map are activities that happen spontaneously but on a regular basis and have a huge impact on my everyday life.

As you can see, central role in this activity map is given to the educational process. I took all compulsory (teal color) and all elective (blue) courses that were available this semester and also picked one free course of Italian (lime green) as a cherry on the top. Courses with fair coloring and dashed line around them are the ones yet to be started. I got 40 AP as a result and now feel excited and terrified at the same time 🙂

All other activities are now built around my studies and some of them were dramatically influenced by them. For example, “custom work” blocks are now fair and have dashed line around them cause I decided to pause this activity for fall semester and concentrate on my education. I will probably resume it when I get more confident about my ability to manage with my study load.

I certainly have less time for leisure and procrastination but it actually makes me happy. I am workaholic and don’t like getting all lazy and relaxed. If educational process will be something that keeps me concentrated and disciplined I am OK with dropping some time wasting activities. However, there is no way I will put aside some work related activities such as art competitions, managing photoshoots and drawing for fun.

There are also some semi-educational or semi-leisure activities, like Coursera classes or Spanish Language learning. They belong in both categories so I’ve placed them in between.

I hope the map was fun and easy to read. Stay tuned, as task 3 is coming up! 🙂