Indian Epics

Note: This story is now part of my Portfolio  website. This website will have the more current version. One day, there was a fateful encounter between Rama and Sita. In the garden Rama heard bells ringing as if someone was calling out to him. As he followed the sound his eyes met with the beautiful Sita. She was as beautiful as he heard she was. Rama being himself boldly said to Sita, "I have never seen someone so beautiful before.You have to be my wife." Sita said, "Excuse me? I have a good personality too. You want to marry me just because you think I'm cute? I do not think so, sir." Rama was taken aback at her response for women usually fall at his feet. Rama quickly replied back, "I will just have to get to know you then." Rama kissed her hand introduced himself as Rama, son of Dasharatha, and left. Sita was puzzled. She had never met a man who was as forward as Rama was, nor as handsome before. She was interested in getting to know him, bu

I n  Ramayana  by Public Domain Editions, I am focusing on Bharata, one of the sons of King Dasharatha. Bharata was appointed as the new king. Rama was actually appointed first to be king by King Dasharatha and his counsel. However, due to a boon that King Dasharatha owed Kaikeyi,  Bharata's mother, Bharata became the Yuvarajah, the crown prince. Not only did  Kaikeyi take away, Rama's right to rule, but she  also wanted  King Dasharath to banish Rama for fourteen years in the jungle.  King Dasharatha  was reluctant, but he kept his word.  What interested me about Bharata was his nobleness. When  King Dasharatha died, Bharata wept. However,  Kaikeyi told him to stop because it was a sign of weakness. You can tell how much Bharata looks up to Rama, because when Shatrughna tried to slay Manthara, he stopped him because he knew Rama would not forgive him.   Bharata said he would have slain his mother otherwise. The grief from Rama's banishment caused  King Dasharatha death.

In  Ramayana  by Public Domain Editions, I am focusing on the love story between Rama and Sita. Rama is the son of King Dasharatha. Rama also had the marks of Vishnu and is bound to be great. Sita is the daughter of a King Janaka. She is well known for being beautiful. One day, Rama and Sita were both in the garden. Before Rama even saw Sita's face, he heard the jingle of the bells of her feet and knew he would love her. When their eyes met, they fell in love. Rama even said that, "the queen of night is not so fair as Sita." Sita left and prayed to the goddess of Bhavani about Rama. K ing Janaka, Sita's father, decided to hold a competition. Whoever was able to string Shiva's bow would have Sita's hand in marriage. When Rama was able to have the opportunity  to string Shiva's bow, he snapped it with his strength. Therefore, Sita was his. Finally, Rama and Sita get married to each other.  (Picture of Rama Breaking the Bow of Shiva  PDE Ramayana )

(Picture a cute elephant  Meghan's Favorite Place Post ) I chose this picture because of how cute this elephant was. It looks like the elephant is smiling and happy. It makes me happy. I chose this video  Rama and the Ramayana .  because I have read a few stories about Rama and wanted to know more about him. I know we are supposed to read and write about Ramayana on week 3. First off, I have no knowledge of Indian epics until this class. For example, I did not know that Ramayana was about Rama. I thought Ramayana was another hero. Now I know that the Ramayana is an epic about Rama. This video gave more details about the journeys that Rama has gone through. For example, I did not know that Sita refused to be rescued by anyone than Rama when Sita was held captive by Ravana.  Event announcement: I am involved with Global Brigades. This summer, I plan on going to Panama with my group to provide sustainable health care. We are having a chipotle benefit night on February 5th f

I have never use Padlet before, but I most likely will in the future. I'm about to make a Padlet page just for my dog! I like how the Padlet page is set up. A title, text, and an image. I do like working in these shared spaces. It is easier to see other people's posts. (Image Information: personal photo of sad, neutered Rocky  from 2018.) (Image Information: personal photo of Rocky with a branch that is not a stick  from 2019.)

I love how this class is set up by learning from your mistakes. I have a friend who has been my chemistry lab partner for two years. She is very smart. However, she knows to learn from her mistakes. When we would mess up in lab, she would always says there is more to write about, because our discussion/conclusion portion is the main part of our lab. In that section, we are able to analyze our mistakes and learn from them. From then on, I was not worried about making mistake in chemistry lab. Every time one of us messed up we would just look at each other and say "there's more to write about" and continue on. When I don't get the "A" that I want, I feel as though I got rejected. I feel as though I am not good enough to receive a high mark. In Why Does Rejection Hurt so Much-and What to Do About It , it was fascinating to read how our brains are wired to respond to rejection. In a MRI machine, the same area that showed activity when there was physical pain a

I am thinking about doing a project over Rama. I read about him a few times, one of the stories being  A Diwali Story: Rama and Sita Defeat Ravana, the Demon King . The story was about Sita, Rama's wife being kidnapped by Ravana, and Rama coming to her rescue. I also read about Rama and the bad karma he received in  Karma for Kids . He was mean to Manthara when he was little, so she got him exiled. With these stories, I plan to write about the life of Rama such as the trials he has faced in his life. To do this I will start with this source,  Rama . Another idea I am interested in doing my project over is Ganesha. I briefly recall reading something about how an enemy chopped off Ganesha's head and then it was replaced by an elephant head. However, I also read that he was born with his elephant head. I would like to know more about Ganesha's origins. I read about Ganesha in a storybook called  Ganesha Loves His Food . The story was very comical and I enjoyed it very much

Note: This story is now part of my  Porfolio  website. This website will have the more current version. In a swamp you could hear the hungry whines of a young crocodile. "Dad, I am so hungry! I think I might die if I don't eat soon. We haven't eaten in 2 days," said the young crocodile. "I know son, but there are no animals left for us to eat," said the crocodile. "I am so hungry I might even try to eat the fruits off of the trees,",said the young crocodile. "Well let me know when you can climb up a tree," said the crocodile chuckling. "Better yet, how about you bring that monkey so we can eat him," said the young crocodile with his eyes gleaming and his stomach growling. "Son, the monkey is my friend. I don't eat my friends," said the crocodile. However, as the days went on the crocodile became hungrier and his son's whining became louder. "Fine, I will convince the monkey that this is like any

The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart , by Marie L. Shedlock grabbed my attention. This story is about a monkey who is supposed to be the reincarnation of Buddha and a crocodile. The crocodile's wife yearn to consume the monkey's heart. To fulfill his wife's desire, the crocodile starts his scheming. One day when the monkey is close to the water, the crocodile persuades the monkey to get on the crocodile's back to cross the water so the monkey can eat a prolific amount of wild fruits. When the crocodile started to go deeper in the water the monkey questioned him. The crocodile ended up confessing that he wanted the monkey's heart for his wife's consumption. The monkey used his brain to trick the crocodile in thinking that his heart was at the fig tree. Without the monkey's quick thinking he would have gotten eaten. After the monkey safely landed on the fig tree, he let the crocodile know he was fooled. The crocodile went away sad and in defeat. The croc

I chose to read the Public Domain Edition of Ramayana. One of the main reasons why I picked this version over Narayana's Ramayana was that the Public Domain Edition of Ramayana was free. Another reason why is because of the audio. I think it will help me stay on track with my reading. After reading one paragraph I may want to stop and do something else, but with the soundtrack I think I would be more inclined to keep reading. Another reason why is because of the illustrations. The pictures I have seen so far in this class were so beautiful and I would like to see more. I am interested in  Vasantasena, A Dancer and Her Most Precious Jewel . I love a story with romance. The picture of the comic book also intrigued me. There is a beautiful lady with two men staring at her. Also, this story is supposed to be comedic and I can always enjoy a good laugh. Another comic book I am interested in is    Ganesha: The Remover of All Obstacles . The reason why I was interested was, because I re

From  Realistic Study Plans   by Amanda Collins , I'm thinking about using  Template  to plan out my schedule. There is a printable college schedule  template that may be useful or I might go buy a cute little planner from Target. I noticed that at the beginning of the year, I make a schedule for the first month or so and gradually get lazy and eventually stop planning. I also tend to go off schedule a lot which disregards the purpose of scheduling. I hope to better with scheduling this semester by staying on track. I also need to give myself more time to study because just an hour is not enough as I have found out  from last semester. From  11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time   by Aine Caine, I have found that I mismanage my time. Being a pre-medicine major, there are a lot of amazing people. To make yourself stand out, medical schools expect you to do all kinds of things such as being involved with your community, shadowing a doctor, maintaining a high GPA, doing wel

As we keep moving forward with technology, I think the tools provided for this class with be helpful. Most of this technology seems to be overwhelming to me. However, I am familiar with google docs for I use it to keep track of my notes for school. This online environment is unlike anything I have taken before. I have only taken one online class before, and it was mostly just writing discussion posts on Canvas. However, I am open to use this new tools for technology. I hope to improve my technology skills by using Google Site or Twine for my future projects. Also, I think it would be fun to make memes so I will most likely use Cheezburger or other meme websites I stumble upon. (Picture of husky getting the attention she deserves  me.me )

This class is not anything like a class I have taken before. The structure of this class is flexible which is nice for someone who has a busy schedule. This class really gives you the grade you deserve. There is lots of extra credit available which I like. The extra credit assignment I'm interested in the most is the growth mindset. Although I have never blogged before, I am familiar with commenting on other people's posts. I'm really excited to be reading Indian epics. I enjoy learning about other cultures through different outlets. For example, I took African Repercussions where I studied Africa's history and influence through music. I'm not going to lie, I'm not the best at writing. However, with this class I hope to improve my writing skills and learn about the epics of India.   (Picture of a blogger  pixabay )

I have never heard of Carol Dweck before, but I do know now. Rather than growth mindset, I have heard about fixed mindset more. I have seen fixed mindset be associated with stubbornness and being closed minded. I like Dweck's explanation of the growth mindset. The ability to grow, think, and face challenges.  Dweck's TED Talk actually inspired me on how to handle a situation. Today, at the laboratory I was feeling discouraged because of my lack of knowledge of certain techniques. With my fixed mindset, I could have easily ran away from the difficulty by quitting. I could have just made excuses for myself by blaming it on not learning it that in depth in school. However, I believe that this is a challenge I need to face. On my own time, I need to find the time to master these laboratory techniques and be able to present them to my researcher.  I feel that I am a little closer to the growth mindset in the spectrum between the fixed and growth mindset. I don't like to fail

Hello, my name is Joanna Yoon. I am a student of the University of Oklahoma. I am a junior majoring in biology pre-medicine. I am also minoring in chemistry and Spanish. I chose biology pre-medicine as my major for my dream job, a neonatal doctor. When I was in high school, I volunteered for two years in the neonatal intensive care unit at Integris Hospital. It was then I realized that I wanted to do more for these babies. At a young age, these babies were already facing complications, and I wanted to be the doctor who made them healthy. Currently, I volunteer at Norman Regional Hospital and a free clinic called Manos Juntas. Along with volunteering, I work two jobs. I work at Charlestons in Norman on weekends as a server and a lab technician at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation on weekdays. To take a break from all this work, I have a dog. He is an Australian Shepherd whose name is Rocky after my favorite rapper A$AP Rocky. I got him last summer, and it’s been quite a jour

Karma for Kids One of the first stories that caught my eye was Karma for Kids . I have heard about karma before such as on TV or conversations with people. For example, the other day someone gave my friend counterfeit money and my friend told that person that "karma was going to get him" after he refused to give her real money.  The title, Karma for Kids depicts exactly what was going on in the storybook. There were these triplets, Pran, Ravi, and Supriya who were very mischievous. The children would fight and tease others. Vina, their mother, struggled with their rambunctious behavior. After Vina told the triplets stories of The Ramayana , they began to understand the concept of karma and their behavior improved. Ganesha Loves His Food The second story that caught my eye was  Ganesha Loves His Food . What caught my eye about this story was the title along with the design of the story. I am a food lover myself especially with sweets. The story mentions modak, Ganesha&

(Image Information: personal photo in the airport photo from August 2018.) During summer break in 2018, I went on a vacation with my friends to Mexico. (Picture of the beach of Puerto Vallarta  Flickr ) We stayed at a resort called Fiesta Americana. I've been to Mexico five times, but this was the first time I was able to speak Spanish. I think being able to speak Spanish and understand the conversations made going to Mexico more enjoyable. Not to mention the beautiful scenery. Behind the resort, there was a beach and luscious green vegetation. Puerto Vallarta is my favorite place because of the beautiful memories. I plan to return to Mexico with my friends and have more experiences.

Hello, This is my test post for my Indian Epics blog.