Week 8

Thursday, October 8, 2020

It was test day so we joined the class and talked for a bit before starting the quiz. After the quiz, we went over the answers. After that we talked about Ned’s limitations but, I talked about that in the last journal. The new topic we talked about was Ned’s name. His last name is weeks which could show that Ned is afraid of being thought of as weak. His real first name is Alexander which he was not proud of and was not fully acknowledged until the end of the play. Alexander can be thought of as a name for a strong individual, because of Alexander the Great. After this, we discussed our own name means. There were eight questions dedicated to this topic on Kallion. The first question is, “Do you like your name? Have you always liked your name?” I have not always liked my name because the way I talk is different than everyone else. I have a lisp and since my name has an S in it, it makes it hard to say my name without it coming out strange sounding. Also, my name is spelled Skyler and I know a lot of people who spell is Skylar. My name is a common name it is just spelled differently which makes everyone spell my name wrong all the time. They still spell my name wrong but I like my name because my dad explained to me what it meant to him. According to him, my name means I am beautiful like the sky or something along those lines. My middle name is my favorite name. My middle name is Lajoya. People call my name “ghetto” or weird but I genuinely like it more than my first name. It means “lots of joy” so I love it. I am a joyful person so the name fits me well. My last name is Woody. I do not really like it because of all the jokes I have heard about it but when I get married I want to keep my last name. The second question is, “Does your name sound to you like the name of someone who shows leadership often and well? What does a leadership name need to sound like?” I do not think my name sounds like someone who shows leadership ofter and well, even though I do. In order for a name to sound like the name of a leader, it needs to sound powerful. I would not say it needs to invoke fear but, it needs to demand respect. The third question is, “Have you ever gone by a different name, maybe your middle name or a nickname? Did that different name affect your leadership, either how you saw yourself or how you know/imagined how others saw you?” I have a few nicknames. The first is of course Skyy since it is close to my name. Being called Skyy makes me feel like a burden is taken off of me. When people call me by my name it makes me feel serious and on high alert but, when they call me Skyy, I feel more relaxed and calm. I imagine this is how other people see me when they call me Skyy. The reason I put two y’s in Skyy is to be different so I will not just be Sky. Another nickname I have is Skillet. My brother and his family gave me this nickname ten years ago and they still call me Skillet. A few of my friends caught on so now they call me skillet. When I am called skillet I feel playful and outgoing since that name is a silly name. I think when people call me this, they see me for who I am because you have to be comfortable with me to call me Skillet. The next question is, “Do you enjoy telling people your name?” I feel like I would enjoy telling people my name if I did not have a lisp. Other than that I like telling people my name because they usually say my name is pretty or, this is one I have heard a lot, they want to name their daughter Skyler. The next question is, “What would you like people to think of when they hear your name?” I think people might see the sky when they hear my name. If they do then that is what my dad was trying to accomplish when he named me. They might think about peacefulness because that also can relate to the sky. On the other hand, they could think of turbulent or stormy because the sky can change at any time. The sixth question is, “Have you ever felt embarrassed, ashamed, or self-conscious about your name?” I am only ashamed of my name when other people spell it wrong. I think my name is good because it is different but, when people spell it Skylar it makes me think that I am weird because my name is spelled differently than what other people were used to. I am getting over that now because I know being different is good. The next question is, “What is the difference between your first name vs. your full name in terms of leadership?” Being on a first-name basis with someone is like they are your friend or you know them personally. Calling someone by their full name might either be a sign of respect or a sign of authority. You call your teachers by their last name, not their first name. If a person is a leader then they might prefer to be called by their full name or by their last name (Mr, Ms, Dr, etc). The last question is, “If it were customary for everyone to choose their own name once they turned eighteen, what name would you choose?” I like my name so might keep it the same or switch it to my middle name or change it to a Latin or a Greek Goddess’s name.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

This week we focused on Cyrus the Great in Book One of the Education of Cyrus. The before reading assignment is to, “Spend 30 minutes writing about the person in your life (someone you know personally) that you would say has shown the most and best leaders in the course of their life. How young were they when they first started showing leadership? In addition to describing the specific leadership behaviors that this person has shown, you may want to include information about their education and upbringing, their physical appearance and style of dress (insofar as you believe it influences their leadership), and anything else about them that may explain how they came to show leadership so well. Finally, in your sketch explain what areas of life you believe their leadership would be most effective” A person that has shown the most leadership in the course of their life, would be my sister in law. My brother died four years ago when I lived with him and his family. My sister took me in as her own child and has been helping to raise me since my brother died. She got her first degree while being pregnant with her first child. She then went back to school to get her doctorate while raising a kid and working a full-time job. She had her second kid about two years before my brother died so she has been raising her two kids by herself while working her full-time job. Throughout her whole life, she has continued to lead and do better for herself and others around her. My sister is 6'6 and she can be very intimidating. She uses her height to her advantage to make sure she is respected as the leader she is. She is a great mentor as well which is a quality of a good leader. She is patient to an extent but she wants things done right. She will get a little frustrated if she can see your full potential and she knows that you are not trying to reach your full potential. She will push you to do better, it might be aggravating but it pays off in the end. I do think she started being a leader at a young age because she had to deal with the fact that her dad was killed when she was a little girl. She had to step up then to help her mom get by in life. I did not have my mom in my life so she stepped up to show me certain things my dad could not show me. She made me the independent woman I am today. In class, we talked about passages that we thought stood out to us the most. I chose one of the key passages. I chose 1.1.2. I liked this one because it kind of described the current state of the government. The passage talks about how the sheep of a heard will obey and allow the keepers to profit off of them without any objection as if they would actually object. Then they go on to say humans are not like the herd because they will try to overthrow the government or refuse the government to benefit from their work. I agree with this because no matter what, someone is going to want to be in control and have more power than the last person did. Humans are greedy. They are only focused on themselves and what they can do to get more power/wealth.