Epics of India

So this week was a little bit busy for me, thus why most of my assignments were done Sunday night.... Mostly, this week has been a series of new ideas and changes of plans for me.  In my capstone, a particular goal we had been heading towards was changed. I think ultimately it will be for the better, but it still feels a little bit sad to see some progress lost so quickly. We realized there were better alternatives that let us better focus on the science behind what we are doing, rather than dividing our effort towards several things. On the bright side, our test stand for the rocket nozzles is almost completed, with only a small amount of work remaining. Here's an image of what our stand is going to look like when it's all together: On that same note of change, it seems that every organization I'm involved in is gearing up for elections already, and it's a lot to deal with as we try to find the best officers for next year. It feels especially strange sinc...

In my own life, I apply growth mindset best in a hands on setting. The more I make mistakes while physically doing something, the faster I learn. This can most easily be seen when I'm working in the machine shop learning a new tool, or how to work with a different material. Any time that I can physically put my hands on something and just work with it until I know it, I learn better from my mistakes. As far as school goes, this is pretty difficult to do with my math heavy coursework. I can't just reach out and pick up an equation in the same way I do with a bar of metal. Instead, I try to imagine the situations where equations can be applied to physical objects that I understand, such as support beams and machinery. ( link )

I picked an article that talks about how students sleep. What I learned is that we aren't nearly as deprived of sleep on average as people think. And generally speaking, students are getting an adequate amount of sleep. That is, until we get stressed. I'd like to explore more on how night owls maintain sleep, because the more I know about my own situation, the better I'll be able to manage my own sleep schedule. On a normal night, I go to bed around 2 or 3 A.M. and wake up around 9:30- 10:00. So I'm still getting around 7 hours of sleep. I plan on looking into this a little more tonight before I go to bed, to see what going to bed later means, and what effects it can have. ( link )

So I installed the Canvas app at the beginning of the semester to see how well it works, and it's been pretty convenient for checking up on assignment due dates and discussions in certain classes. The only complaint I have about it is that if I am typing a discussion post for a class on the app, my keyboard will close at random. This may only be because I am on a fossilized android phone, but it is still an inconvenience. Overall, I think the app has been pretty useful.

The first article I read on feedback is " How to Craft Constructive Feedback. " The purpose of this article, which is actually a transcription of  an infographic, is to give some steps for giving useful feedback to others. The first step is to know when a person is actually looking for feedback, and when they are just expressing themselves. This can be tough to do and requires you to listen intently to what is being expressed and the way in which the person asks for criticism. If they want a full critique, you follow three steps for each feature you want to critique. First, you Observe  the feature in question, then Describe  what that feature does in detail, before going on to your own Suggestions.   Honestly, this may seem like some pretty basic stuff, but it is very easy to forget when you are looking over other people's work which may be done in a style completely different from what you would have done. My second choice of article is " Criticizing...

This week, I decided I would look deeper into the role of animals in Indian mythology. I started with looking at Vishnu again, as he has a total of 4 animal incarnations. He is incarnated as a fish, turtle, boar, and man-lion. Of these, I enjoyed reading the tales of his fish form, Matsya , and his turtle form, Kurma , the most.   In the tale of Matsya from the Mahabharata, some guy is doing some rituals along a river and a little fish asks for his protection. He protects the fish for quite some time and it grows enormous, then saves him from a storm on the ocean. It's pretty neat, and I'm excited to read the full story when we get there instead of just this little summary. This is the first story I've thought about using as a core concept. The story of Kurma is also a really cool story to read. Some gods get cursed, and need the nectar of immortality to survive. Vishnu becomes Kurma, a giant sea turtle, and puts a mountain on his back and swims into the cosmic...

King Sakara sat atop his throne, surveying the lofty view of his kingdom. At the top of the palace, one could see the horizon curve and the land give way to the sky, yet the edges of Sakara's domain were further still. Sitting now in quiet contemplation, he had a pleasant view of the sun setting over his lands. While the last rays of light were fading, Sakara wished for them to stay, and keep his kingdom shining so beautifully. Suddenly the king sat upright, a smile on his face. The light would always shine on his kingdom if only the whole earth were his.  Calling his many sons together, King Sakara set forth a plan to complete the ritual of aswamedha. Sakara would then become the true king of all the lands. Hearing this, the gods grew fearful of one man ruling all of earth, no matter his purpose.  When the ritual commenced, the great god Indra descended from heaven and stole the sacrificial horse. He descended deep into the underworld and released the beast. Outr...

This portion of the Ramayana has less in the way of side stories, but the one that stood out to me was that of Maricha, assuming the form of a golden deer. Ravan is told of the beauty of Sita, Rama's wife, by his sister, Soorpanaka. She tells him how perfect she is so that he may go get her, thus opening up the door for her to woo Rama, whom she has fallen madly in love with. Ravana broods for a large amount of time and messes with a bunch of natural phenomenon like the seasons and the sun and moon in his tantrum. Finally, his sister comes back and convinces him that Sita already belongs to him  and he just needs to go get her. Ravanna persuades his uncle, Mareecha, to lure Rama away from Sita so that he may abduct her. Mareecha turns himself into a golden deer, and gets Sita's attention. She begs Rama to catch it for her. He runs off after it, but eventually realizes that it is a trick. As he kills Mareecha, Mareecha calls for help from Lakshmana and Sita in Rama's vo...

I'm not sure what I was expecting from the Ramayana, but I was pleasantly surprised. The story itself follows Rama through the adventures of his life. Along the way there are stories within the main story as Vishvamitra tells Rama tales of the land. From the top, Rama's father, Dasharatha, could not have children so he performed a weird ritual and got some rice that he then fed to his wives, and they bore him 4 sons. Rama was the first born, and is an incarnation of Vishnu. At some point in his life, presumably once he's grown to be a man, Vishvamitra appears to his father, and requests Rama accompany him as protection on some mission to perform a ritual to make the world a better place. Rama's brother, Lakshmana also comes along. The group sets out and gets to a desert, which Vishvamitra says was created by Thataka, who then shows up. Since she hates all living things, she attacks them, and Rama kills her. They keep going, and Vishvamitra tells ano...