Artifact 5 – Module 5

In module 5 we identified self-enhancement strategies and other ways to enhance certain situations. It made me think of the saying “dress for the position you want, not the one you have” because most of my responses were about dressing appropriately to present yourself. These scenarios are ones that almost every person will experience at some point in life and taking the time to consider what I can say and do to be better was helpful for future events. I won’t panic or worry about what I should say or do because I have a helpful template that I can reference. I learned a way to self-reflect by stating what it is I would expect of others. I made an interview checklist to reference for an upcoming interview at work. it helped me prepare the night before and the morning of and alleviated a lot of stress that I would have felt otherwise on top of the actual interview part. I felt more confident going into work that day because I knew I had prepared well.

Artifact 4 – Module 7

In module 7 we took an attitude and behavior survey and then discussed how the inconsistencies we found and cognitive dissonance. It required me to face the conflicting feelings I have on certain topics and I learned that I am not yet very good at resolving these feelings of dissonance. I personally spoke of my habit of not eating well and being healthy. The image I chose reflected my feelings experienced while eating poorly knowing that what I am doing is wrong and making me feel bad about myself, but I’m not doing anything to stop it. In this picture, the lamb chops are Chick-Fil-A and the lamb in the thought bubble is my high cholesterol and weight.

Artifact 3 – Module 8

For this assignment we had to select adjectives that we thought described an ethic or racial group. It’s purpose was to consider stereotypes and how they play a role in the social construct of life. It made me reflect upon my own stereotypes of people and identify if I had any negative ones. I learned that I can be quick to judge based off of stereotypes already established against certain groups. Since I am German, I made a German word cloud with words that I think describe German people. I tried to be objective and not just load it up with good things simply because I am German.

Artifact 2 – Module 10

This artifact assignment had us violate a social norm. I chose to have a conversation with others in the restroom. It was funny in hindsight because I knew what I was doing, while the others had no idea I was intentionally trying to violate the norm. In the moment is felt weird to do, but overall was an interesting assignment that took me out of my comfort zone. I learned that it depends on the person and how they feel about it. Just because I feel a certain way about this exercise, doesn’t mean everyone will, so coming into it feeling weird is just me, and I’m projecting my uncomfortableness onto others. I chose this image because I couldn’t actually take a picture in the bathroom with others, that would have been inappropriate and I’d have probably gotten fired from work! It shows the difference between the women and their levels of social norms in the bathrooms.

Artifact 1 – Module 14 

This artifact was my favorite because it made me happy! It was about happiness and while my scale wasn’t as high as I would have thought, I found my happiness rising as I sought an image that defines happiness to me. I learned that the smallest of things can affect my happiness and that depending on the mood I am in, my results for this scale could come out differently each time. If I’m already happy, I’ll likely have more optimist answers thus giving me a higher score and vise versa. I chose this image because I love cats, they make me happy and I love nature. Therefore, cat + nature = HAPPY! I also really liked that the writing on the photo is exactly right for me! I am a homebody, but I love nature and doing new things. I LOVE food and I LOVE cats!