User:Ushanka

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I'm going to use this for my History Journal updates from now on, because I got kind of sick of the Tibetan timestamps on the Dzongkha one.Ushanka 02:52, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Friday, April 13, 9:30 PM

Owen just called saying the meeting is cancelled. Crap. Ushanka 04:29, 14 April 2007 (UTC)


Thursday, April 12, 4:15 PM

I haven't really touched my project for the last week or so. I did some minor alterations to my speech over spring break, but it was all grammatical stuff--I'm quite satisfied with the facts and analyses I make. I did, however, give some thought today to what I've learned and how I've grown.

I consider myself a leader. In this project, however, I've done very little leading. The only leadershippy things I've done involved writing part of the Space Race skit and giving my opinions when they were asked for. I've had lots of ideas that I kept silent. I want to send people e-mails, giving them deadlines to finish their speeches. I want to see the compiled powerpoints that Owen assembled. I want to add more stuff to the environmentalism skit because right now it makes no sense.

It's certainly for the best that I'm learning to shut myself up. I'm looking into engineering schools for college, so group research and projects will be absolutely crucial. In the competitive college environment, there will be plenty of other natural leaders. If I disagree with them and try to change things, we won't get along and the project will stall.

As for this project specifically: I'm beginning to worry about the end result. I'm afraid I missed something in that huge packet of guidelines and we'll be missing something or my presentation will be subpar or any number of other fears that seem perfectly valid right now. I fear that no matter how hard I try, something will go wrong and I'll get a C. That would be terrible. I'd better stop thinking about it before I panic myself into oblivion. Byyyye! Ushanka 23:08, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh, one last thing. We're meeting at Gaelen's house again on Saturday, to put finishing touches on our project. It will be at nine in the morning, which makes me terribly sad.


Sunday, March 25, 11:00 PM

The meeting was good. I don't really know what to say. We met from 12:30 until 2:30, explaining each of our research bits to everyone else. I found some more stuff for my own presentation regarding microelectronics, which is one of my passions yaaaaaay, and education reform, which affects everyone. I still suck at making Powerpoints, but I think this one will be way better than my political cartoons powerpoint. I also need to figure out a good visual aide. Microchips are good, but I need more. Ushanka 04:19, 26 March 2007 (UTC)


Thursday, March 22, 11:40 PM

Good morning. Having a cold means my sleep schedule has been completely destroyed. Today, during 2nd period, I discovered that Gabby will most likely not be returning to school, and is out of our group. It's sad, but pragmatically I don't see how this is bad for us. It means we have more time to discuss our own personal topics in detail, and show our clear understanding.

That still leaves the issue of who is growing and maturing. I think I have, because it's now far easier to stop myself from bursting out with ideas or criticism, but who taught me that skill? Me. Have I tought anyone else any skills? I can't think of any. I'll get to work on that now that my powerpoint is mostly done. 72.134.44.224 06:39, 23 March 2007 (UTC)


Wednesday, March 21, 3:50 PM

I just finished my powerpoint speech. I think it's awesome and inspirational. Tonight I'll get pictures and things to make it look fancy. We're going to meet again this Saturday to share our powerpoints and compile the slides into one big slideshow. By "we" I mean "Me, Shannon, Gaelen and Owen." It has come to my attention that Gabby has not been in school recently. I will find out more tomorrow, when I ask the others if they have obtained any more information. 72.134.44.224 22:56, 21 March 2007 (UTC)


Saturday, March 10, 6:03 PM

Meeting is now over. It ran from 3:00 to 5:30 and was a very enlightening experience. I tried my absolute hardest not to speak up unless it was explaining my research or asking clarification on other people's research. While we were filming our skits, we convinced Shannon to write and direct. She's awfully talented, and I'm amazed she doesn't speak up more often. If we prod her a bit more, maybe she will. Right now, we have two good leaders in our group: Owen (Yaaay progress!) and Gaelen (That's not progress at all!). I don't quite know what to think of that situation.

My research is going extremely well, as is Gaelen's and Shannon's. Gabby says she's been overwhelmed with work, but I'm sure she'll catch up soon. Owen's work focuses on how competitive spirit has affected China, but not really the United States. He may have to take it in a completely different direction; I don't really know.

So, we also filmed three skits to go with our powerpoint presentations. Shannon wrote two and Gaelen wrote the other. The Creative Filmmaker inside me died a little bit, but I didn't try to direct the thing. Honestly, it wasn't bad. The end product was just fine and I didn't have to take charge. That's a good lesson for me. Even if I don't take charge, things will be fine. 72.134.44.224 02:08, 11 March 2007 (UTC)


Saturday, March 10, 12:38 PM

I'm still looking at the NASA resources, which are a great example of history being different for everyone. It's baffling, really. The history book, most of the other Space Race pages I've read, the encyclopedia entries I've perused--they've all said that the Soviet Union was more advanced than the United States or that Sputnik's launch showed the U.S. its technological shortcomings. However, NASA--which should be considered the preeminent source of history on the American Space Program--says that the United States was extremely advanced. Plans and rockets had been designed and built in the early 40s, over a decade before the Soviets launced their first satellite. But no one in the U.S. did anything with their stuff until after the Soviets had announced their space program. Why? Without a rival, there's no competitive spirit. Teehee. This ties in so well with everything else we're covering. Yaaaaaaaaay. 72.134.44.224 20:46, 10 March 2007 (UTC)


Thursday, March 8, 7:26 PM

Brief update. Now that I'm done super-studying for the 17-18-19 test, I can go back to studying for our competitive-nature project. NASA has some good resources. I wanted to find some from the Russian perspective, but (surprise!) everything I've found so far has been in Russian. I'll keep hunting.

We're all going to meet on Saturday 10th at Gaelen's house. No, I will not share my ideas. Instead, I will listen to and help with other people's ideas. I'm learning how to not lead.

In reference to my previous post about origami, I have one that is absolutely perfect for this project, but it involves glue, which is usually taboo for us origami purists. I'm emotionally torn. Ushanka 03:33, 9 March 2007 (UTC)


Friday, February 23, 10:05 PM

We met during period two today. Owen was absent, which was good for him because I was prepared to yell at him for not organizing a meeting. We started talking about strengths and weaknesses. I really want all of us to teach another person in the group one of our own personal special skills, like, I don't know, dancing or knitting or horticulture. Then I decided that the next time I speak up in one of those group meetings, I will hit myself. I am just going to go with the flow and stop leading. I am going to FOLLOW. It will be tough, and I will end up bruised and bloodied. But in the end I will have the ability to shut up. Maybe it will help me in class. You will stop hearing me pipe up without raising my hand. Won't that be grand?

We are going to meet at Gaelen's house on a week from Saturday, to discuss our findings and other parts of the project. This is our first time meeting outside of school, except for some e-mail correspondences which don't exactly count. I wonder if Gaelen's family will mind if I bring heavy gauntlets for myself. 72.134.44.224 06:08, 24 February 2007 (UTC)