Post 8: English Language Challenges

My experience learning English at the university has both positive and negative aspects, since, on the one hand, I think that the professors I have had have been good at teaching, besides having good methods such as blogs, but, on the other hand, I have to admit that it has been very difficult for me to interact and, therefore, to participate in classes, mainly because I feel very embarrassed and anxious when speaking in English in front of my classmates and the professor. This makes me mentally blocked and I am not able to answer the questions properly, it is as if everything I know vanished for a moment.

So, according to what I commented above, the balance of my experience, in general, is quite neutral, especially if I consider that in the present context I have not felt that I learn the contents and this is something transversal, not only concerning English.

On the other hand, I think my biggest shortcoming in English is everything related to oral communication, that is, speaking and listening in English. I mean that I can perfectly understand the great part of questions that are presented to me in text, but I do not find it the same when listening or speaking it is the opposite, I understand almost nothing in listening and when speaking my pronunciation is quite bad and it is difficult for me to string sentences together at the moment, in this sense (speaking) I can improve when it is something prepared.

To improve this, the teacher has recommended I listen to more songs in English and watch series in English.

Finally, outside of class I hardly ever use English, and the very few times I do use it, it's only in some specific video game situations.

Post 7: Changes to my study programme

I have to be honest and admit that I am not knowledgeable enough to suggest changes in the curriculum of my career. Even up to now, I have found it to be a good curriculum. 

However, I think that the academic load becomes quite heavy from time to time. The academic load is a topic that interests me a lot because I feel it is interesting to analyze. For example, many times I have realized that socially it is given an inadequate value to the demands of a university career when in truth, it should not have to be so; the university should be a part of our lives, but not consume all our spaces, which is what has happened to me sometimes in what I have been studying. What I have just mentioned is just one of the many points that can be discussed when talking about academic load, while the duration of years of studies is just as debatable, I have even met people who would love their career to last one more year in exchange for not being so exploited. In my case, that proposal would make me study six years instead of six, but it would be a more relaxed six years. It is interesting because many hypotheses can be formulated, such as, for example, that it would be a favorable decision in terms of the complete change in the life of each student.

Sadly, I don't know the facilities of my faculty, so I can't comment on that or the technologies available. On the other hand, I suppose that the methods of study in the online modality have been favorable to me because, despite many issues, I have done well.

Post 6: Postgraduate Studies

I would like to do a postgraduate course in the future, but the truth is that I haven't search out anything about it. The decision I make will be based on the interests that I will develop in these remaining years of my career. 

Beyond the above, there are several reasons why I would like to take a postgraduate course. First of all, I have always heard that there are many psychologists, so having a postgraduate course is almost necessary if you do not want to run the risk of unemployment. Likewise, I believe that a postgraduate course would help me to specialize and focus much more in a certain area, which would allow me to be more capable and useful to my patients. On the other hand, I have also heard that the salary increases significantly by having a postgraduate course, which is always welcome because money is what keeps us going.

I would like to study the postgraduate course in Chile, although this is a thought of the moment and maybe it will change in the future. I prefer to do it right here in the country for comfort. The modality I would choose would be (as far as possible) absolutely face-to-face because the online study does not suit me at all. As I said, this decision is within what is possible, because I might have to choose a mixed modality due to my time or other variables.

As a last important idea, I would like to point out my idea of taking a postgraduate course once I finish paying for my first degree and do not fall into a double indebtedness.

Post 5: My future job

I would like to work as a psychologist, keeping a flexible job in which I do not have inconveniences due to misunderstandings or things beyond my control. I imagine my job as an instance in which I will enjoy despite the responsibility and stress that it may generate, having a comfortable place to serve my patients. 

In the beginning, of course, I would work for some entity or some specific boss, within the corresponding building, but if life allows me I would like to have my own practice after working for several years. In the same way, my work (at least as I imagine it) must necessarily be inside an office, so being outdoors is out of the question. 

I do not aspire to have a lot of travel within my job nor a very high salary, as I study psychology out of interest in the subject rather than thinking of earning a luxurious living for my degree. I think about helping people with their problems and accompanying them in the process of overcoming and/or understanding their complications. 

Also, I think it is important to note that I am interested in getting a graduate degree before I try to venture into some sort of freelancing. As I progress in my career I will decide what I can specialize in.

Post 4: What's like to study...?

I study psychology. I chose this career because it always caught my attention. The psyche has always captivated me because I am interested in knowing how people see the different issues of our existence. 

Sadly, I have studied the career in online mode, and it has been quite frustrating. At the moment, I am in my third semester, and I still can't feel like I am in the race despite all my efforts to achieve it. This causes serious uncertainty about the quality of my education because I feel that I have not learned anything, which in turn generates a lot of anxiety. 

This causes serious uncertainty about the quality of my education because I feel that I have not learned anything, which in turn generates a lot of anxiety. 

The career is quite interesting and every time I face a new subject I am surprised, but studying online has not been a good experience, perhaps this has been influenced by the pandemic context in which we are because everything gets worse; I mean that if I studied online but I could live normal, maybe I would not have all these negative feelings.

Studying this career online has become quite a burden for me and I know that many of my classmates must be going through similar situations. I look forward to being able to attend college and leave all that behind.

Post 3: Mental health problems related to a lockdown

 I think a general problem we have all faced in the pandemic is that we have felt deprived of the freedom we were used to. Personally, I have felt very stressed and have evidenced how the traits of my anxiety have become more present. Being locked up has taken away a lot of the things I used to do, like going to the stadium to watch "la U", playing soccer with my friends, or going quietly to my girlfriend's house.

In addition, studying in this context has become overwhelming. In the second half of 2020, I was diagnosed with depression and, although I got better at one point, I am currently feeling just as bad. Because of all this, I believe that the pandemic has come to teach us that there are a lot of issues that are assumed to be common when in truth they can be seen as a privilege.  At the moment, to cope better with the pandemic, I distract myself by playing video games and seeing my girlfriend when it is possible. 

Finally, my plan for when this is all over is to do a lot of things I enjoy, and one of the first will be going to the cinema. 

Los de Abajo in 2019, when it was possible to go to the stadium

Post 2: The best holidays ever

 I honestly have more than one vacation as a favorite, but I'll use one from about 2012 when I was 12 years old. My memory is very fuzzy, but I know we went down south. I don't remember where exactly. Along with my mother, father, and sister, we stayed at a sort of resort for a week. The place had its own business, small green spaces, swimming pool, and about five cabins, but only we were renting at the time so we were alone. Since there were no other people, it was just us in the pool, which was great because we could take advantage of it. That week more people only arrived when we were 1 or 2 days away from leaving. Another activity I did was to go fishing with my father to places near our cabin that made us have a characteristic memory of that vacation because, looking for where to fish, we came to an area of very high vegetation that didn't allow us to see much and we were about to fall down a ravine of several meters because we didn't know the area. All this that I have told makes those vacations one of my favorites.

example of the ravine we almost fell down

Post 1: A country you would like to visit

I like would to travel to Canada because it's the closest place to Chile where I can see northern lights. The other options are more distant destinations. About Canada, I have heard that the standard of living is very good, especially for issues such as excellent education of the population, a high level of security, or great access to quality health. Likewise, I know that it's one of the coldest countries in the world (even more so in places where it's possible to see northern lights), but that isn't a problem for me. If I travel to Canada, apart from seeing northern lights, I would like to go sledding, snowmobiling, or hiking in its snowy forests. On the other hand, my trip would be only for tourism purposes, neither to study nor to work there and I would prefer to stay in Chile to live because I wouldn't like to move away from everything I love, such as my friends, my family or not following my soccer team.

Post 6

I believe that the career of psychology is a difficult path because the study it entails becomes very heavy, besides in many cases what happened to me must happen: at the beginning, my parents were opposed to me studying this because they wanted me to choose a career where I would earn more money, they also said that my abilities were to study something much more complicated (as if psychology were easy) and sometimes these things can discourage the student. Fortunately, this did not happen to me. 

On the other hand, I think that this career is undervalued due to the little importance given to mental health in Chile today. A psychologist can be a great help in a person's life, can even be that much-needed salvation, the hand you hold when you need to get out of a hole and you don't know-how. 

Finally, as it also happens in other careers, the professional life is quite sacrificed for a psychologist because he or she is constantly internalizing problems, and many times it becomes impossible that these do not affect him or her, having to attend therapy. As one professor said last semester, "there are psychologists of psychologists". 

Post 5

 

The story behind the photo is quite profound. That day was when my parents came home with Tyson, my dog, which is the same one in the photo. Two weeks earlier my previous dog, Charlie, had passed away. 

My little sister felt overtaken by the arrival of a new pet as she was still grieving over Charlie's death. For my part, I took Tyson in without any problems. 

That day there was a mixture of emotions; a new puppy (Tyson arrived with barely 2 months of life) made it inevitable to remember Charlie and relive the pain of his departure, but at the same time he arrived as a small and tender light that illuminated our home with love and mischief (in fact, in the photo Tyson is lying on the grass of my patio, the same that later had to be replaced with synthetic grass because he made holes and destroyed it in the form of a game).

When we welcomed him, we immediately noticed that Tyson was quite good at sleeping and drinking water. Interestingly, he maintains those characteristics to this day, at a little over two years old.  

He is a very tender and affectionate German Shepherd. In my house, we all give him a lot of love and when visitors come they are usually surprised by his great size. One of his favorite visitors is my girlfriend. Tyson loves it when she comes home. He goes crazy when he sees her and starts jumping up and down to kiss her. Also, whenever she comes, we take him out for a walk, so he associates his visit with going out in the street.

This is Tyson today

Post 4

 Hi! In this free topic presentation, I will talk about Tom Clancy's R6, the video game. I chose this topic because I have always been linked to the world of consoles, so video games are something I always have in mind. Tom Clancy's R6 is a title available for PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. It is a first-person shooter that seeks the confrontation of two teams, each composed of five players. The teams rotate between attack and defense, being the "cops" and "terrorists" respectively. The game consists of an offline mode for training and other online modes, among which the multiplayer mode by ranks and the casual mode stand out. This last one is to have fun and to pass the time, while the games by rank become extremely competitive. Personally, I never play casual games because I like to play competitively, in fact, I have participated in tournaments and several amateur teams have wanted to have me among their players. I play on PlayStation.