Field Report #1
Article: Are Cities Making Animals Smarter
For the Oral Presentation we had to find an article that we could present to the class. When looking for an article I wanted to find something that is interesting for me so I wouldn’t be bored while reading or presenting it. Since i’m an animal behavior major I wanted something animal related. When I found this article I thought it was interesting because normally we don’t hear about animals in the cities. The article was about fishing cats and how they are adapting to the cities because they are being run out of their home habitat from war. They started taking fish out of their ponds for food. By doing this they had to jump onto a series of roofs and fences just to get into the enclosed area. The fishing cats also found out that they can hunt better at night because there is less people outside. I found all of this interesting because it shows that the animals are learning and adapting to what they see around them. They have to sit and watch then be able to recall the information.
For the oral presentation I just made sure to include all of the big topics. I wanted to get across the main idea of the article without giving every piece of information. I was nervous because I’m not the best at reporting out some things that I read. My main focus was making sure to look up and not just stare or read right from my paper and to really announce my words so people could understand me.Having notes and knowing what the article was made it really easy to just talk and not have to keep looking at my note card. Also i’m really happy i picked something I was interested in. It made me more engaged and I actually enjoyed talking about it. I thought the report went well and I was glad I didn’t do as bad as i thought.
Field Note #2
I went to SASC one day for help with MAT 180 which is Pre-Calc. I had homework due in a couple days but didnt know how to solve some of the problems. When I walked into SASC it felt like a place that you didn’t have to worry about asking dumb questions or who would judge. It was an opening place just to work. Sitting down with my tutor i’m always nervous around because I don’t know how to say exactly what I need help with. I showed them what homework I was working on. This week we were learning complex quadratic equations. They looked over the homework and then we started. They had me first try to figure it out and where to start so they could see how I was doing it. If i was doing something wrong they would stop me and then help me see what formula or method to use that would better help me solve the problem. After that we just went through all the step to make sure I knew what methods were right and how to solve certain problems. Once i got the hang of it I would do some on my own to make sure I fully understood how to do it. Once I left i felt like I better understood what I was learning and how to do my problems. Going into class I had a better understanding what I was doing and was able to answer questions that my teacher was asking.
Field Notes #3
For a student I admire I did my RA Nick. Ever since the first day he is just someone I have looked up to. He cares a lot about his work and does what he can to do his best. He is also super friendly and is always here to help. Normally he is out around campus studying or in his room. Nick is a math major here and really likes the department. He likes his professors and since his department is small he has gotten to know most of them very well. I really looked up to that because animal behavior isn’t a big major and I want to be able to have those close relationships with my professors as well. All of these are reason that I look up to Nick, he has just been that upperclassman that I can go to for help or advice and I know he would tell me the truth. He has been successful by doing his work and making sure its his best work. Although everyone has bad days and sometimes things don’t always work out the way we plan his mindset is just moving forward and not dwelling on the bad stuff. This is something I will carry with me so I can remember to keep moving forward.
Field Notes #4
One thing JD Martinez does it watch all of his hitting videos over and over again. This reminded me of the writing process we do in english or more in tutoring. We go over sentence structure and ideas over and over just watching what we are doing. We go over our paper multiple times to make sure it is the best we can have it. JD does that with his swing to make sure nothing changes and its the best it can be. Another thing was JD had a coach to tell him that he needed to change something. When I came into college I had that high school mindset that I had to change. With the help of my English professors and tutors I was able to start understanding the changes that had to be made. JD finally knew he had to make a change after watching people on ESPN and realizing his swing wasn’t the same. I realized this with my papers when Eric would show me a paper with nicely set up paragraphs and I realized mine looked nothing like that. That’s when I realized I needed to change and adapt to what was right. JD was also very dedicated to fixing what was wrong. He worked at it and just kept working till he finally had it right. That is what we are doing in English. We keep working to get better and even though everything may not turn out the same in the beginning its the process that we are improving is what counts.
