Ryan McElyea's Growth Mindset

Clear differences between a fixed mindset and growth mindset.

 Source: Growth Hackers

I have never heard of Carol Dweck before until this class but I seemed to completely agree with the videos posted on the website. For myself, I have always continued to strive for always wanting to improve. Of course it is disappointing when you put a lot of time and effort into something and it is not perceived the way that you imagined it would. I will be graduating this May with a degree in engineering and I realize that I will need to constantly have the capability to learn. The world around us is constantly changing and if I am not able to adapt then I feel like I would fail. I think it is also important being able to make connections among different topics or areas of expertise to continue improving your knowledge. A lot of what I have learned about being able to adapt and grow have been gained through my Engineering Leadership class, Engineering Professional Development class, and through my two internships. I am interested in learning more about the growth mindset and the mind itself. I am actually also enrolled in a psychology class this semester so I am looking forward to that as well. I feel as if I already have a lot of the skills required to continuously grow and be successful but they can always be improved. I plan on being proactive this semester to continue growth on my mindset.

Time Strategies for Ryan McElyea

Steps for Effective Time Management. Source: Wanderlust Worker

Time management is something that I believe needs to be solidified to be successful. I am also in an Engineering Leadership and Management course this semester and essentially the key to being able to manage others is to be able to manage yourself first. Some of the articles we have read in the class so far regard managing your energy since you cannot extend the hours in the day. This is done by focusing on tasks for 90-120 minutes and then taking a short break instead of having distractions while working. This method can save up to 25% of wasted time. One thing that usually gets me focused is having a reward or something for when I finish a task. For example, once I finish my homework I can play this video game or something similar. The article that I enjoyed was "How to Beat Procrastination" by the Harvard Business Review found here. This semester is my last semester and I am already starting to feel the "senioritis" kick in. I believe it is just going to be important for me to be on top of all my tasks with everything else going on such as my capstone project and job search.

Ryan McElyea's Reading Options

Crossing the River. Pahari Paintings.

Source: Pinterest

I am planning to read the Public Domain Edition of Ramayana in week 2. The main deciding factors were that I wanted some of the old language style present to get kind of an idea of the actual stories as they were meant to be read. I also did like that there was the online PDF version of this where I could read it in the comfort of my home. In addition, there is the audio version from Laura Gibbs’ Soundcloud links that is incredibly helpful to hear you pronunciate some of the words that I would completely butcher. I chose the image that I did because I felt like I have seen it somewhere on the internet before and a simple “Indian Art” search on Pinterest showed it about 20 images down in the list. The image just seems almost what I expect from the culture and it is interesting to look at and kind of observe what is going on.

My background about both epic literature and Indian culture is very limited. The only background in epic literature would be The Odyssey from Homer. This is a book that we studied quite a bit in high school English class and it was definitely something that I did enjoy. I have never taken a specific course in mythology but I do know some of the Greek and Roman mythology and some of it kind of ties into astronomy, which is what I have an interest in. At my apartment, here in Norman, I live with three Asians so I would say we have somewhat of an Asian home but by no means would I say it is a traditional heritage living space. I have never been to India but I remember always being fascinated by the Taj Mahal and it seemed like I always did my project in high school on that topic. I just love the beauty of the structure itself and kind of the story behind it. Images make it almost look fake because of how pristine it appears.

Ryan McElyea's Storybook Favorites

Hanuman slab at the Swing Pavilion in the Veerabhadra Temple

By Premnath Thirumalaisamy. Source: Flickr

Temple of Doom

The first story that I chose was titled Temple of Doom and I originally clicked on it because it sounded like an Indiana Jones type of story. The story is a click through Indian epic adventure that seemed to have a somewhat slow start until the end of the first section. The story seemed to introduce the characters and everything but it seemed almost as it was missing some information in regards to the story itself. Another thing that was somewhat strange but interesting to me is the name of the sections. For example, one of the sections is “Out of the Frying Pan,” and it was surprising to see that type of title on an Indian epic for me. I feel like this story also had a decent inclusion of some of the background history of Indian culture.

Tales of Temples

I feel like I got click-baited once again by a title for a story that seemed like it would be action-packed but it was pretty much the polar opposite. This tale went more through the history and culture of the India temples that seem to be an important part of Indian culture. The specific temples mentioned throughout the tale had references to Hindu, which seems like a huge allusion to the Indian culture, as we know it. So even though it was not the action-packed adventure that I was looking for, it offered a great deal of historical reference that seemed to keep me interested.

Campfire Animal Tales

This story really caught my attention with the theme and the images that were used throughout. The story talks about camping, which is something that I love doing and spending time outdoors. Another interesting thing that the story talks about is “Indian Palm Squirrels” and it’s just kind of funny because the University of Oklahoma has so many squirrels as well and it actually even has a reference to it in the tale. 

Ryan McElyea's Introduction

This is a picture of my puppy, Oakley. Taken by myself.

Hello, my name is Ryan McElyea. I am currently a senior, aerospace engineering student. I am hopefully graduating this May! I have had two internships over the last two summers. My first internship was in Windsor Locks, Connecticut where I worked for United Technologies Aerospace Systems. The second internship was this previous summer in Wichita, Kansas for Textron Aviation. Both of them were great experiences and made me realize that aerospace engineering was truly a good choice for me. I am extremely hopeful that I will be able to start a full-time job somewhere this summer. I have a puppy named Oakley. He is a German Shepherd and Border Collie mix. He is currently just over a year old. He is terrified of everything (so much for German Shepherds being protective), but he is extremely sweet. A little bit about myself and what I like to do. I am an Eagle Scout and love to do anything outdoors. I mostly enjoy hiking, camping, and backpacking. I enjoy going paint-balling and snowboard but I rarely do either of those two. I play video games on my computer and sometimes of my Wii-U. I enjoy almost any type of music except country to be honest, which is somewhat weird since I am from Oklahoma. My favorite type of food is Mexican food. I could honestly eat it every day. My very first job was at a Mexican restaurant and I could eat the food every shift that I worked and never get tired of it. My favorite TV shows are House of Cards, The 100, Orphan Black, and Orange is the New Black. I was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma and have lived within the state my entire life with the exception of my internships. One fun fact, even though it is not so fun, is that I have never seen the ocean. I am extremely looking forward to this course!

Week 1 Story - The Hardest Time of My Life

An Image of a Struggling Student Her Campus

A was the grade,

that I wanted in the course,

B was Billy,

the kid that never showed up to the lectures,

C was the Class,

that always happened on every day of the week,

D was the Dean,

that made sure that the course was impossible to pass,

E was the Effort,

that I always put into the class to do my best,

F was the Failure,

that I would not be able to accept,

G was the Grades,

that would determine the outcome of the letter score,

H was the Holiday,

in the middle of the semester,

I was the Impact,

that this grade would have on my life,

J was the Jokester,

that sat in the back of the classroom,

K was the Kids,

that cried after the first exam,

L was the Letter,

that I needed to be an A,

M was the Music,

that I listened to while I studied,

N was the Nights,

that I did not get any sleep at all,

O was the Obsession,

that was driving me to do my best,

P was the Parties,

that I had to skip to not fall behind,

Q was the Quiet,

that I needed to hear while I tested,

R was the Retest,

that could make the difference in my grade,

S was the Studying,

that drove me crazy all year long,

T was the Test,

that I managed to do the best in the class on,

U was the Uneasiness,

that I experienced throughout the whole semester,

V was the Vision,

that I had to be the best,

W was the Wisdom,

that I obtained from the semester long course,

X was the Xylitol,

that kept me going on the long nights,

Y was the Yield,

that the end of the semester held,

Z was the Zero,

that I got on the final exam,

And that was how I failed 1st grade.

Author's Note. The original story goes through the alphabet where every sentence starts with the next letter in the alphabet all the way from a to z. I took the idea of the story formatting and turned it into a story about a specific topic. The topic was a class that was taken in school.

Bibliography. "A was an archer" from The Nursery Rhyme Book by Andrew Lang. Web Source.

My Favorite Place: Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. Photo by Dane Penland

Source: WarbirdsNews

One of my favorite places to visit is the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. This specific facility, that is shown in the image, is in Chantilly, VA. This location is about 30 minutes west of Washington D.C., so there are also many more activities and things to see in the surrounding area. I am an aerospace engineering major and love anything that has to do with aviation or space. This museum has hundreds of air and spacecraft within its 760,000 square foot building. There are a lot of famous aircraft that are stored here. One of the most popular attractions is the Discovery Space Shuttle. There is also the SR-71 Blackbird, the Concord Supersonic Passenger Jet, and the new F-35 Lightning. The facility has some of the most historical aircraft and shows the transitions into modern aviation. There is also an IMAX movie theater as well that plays brand new movies.