{"id":28683,"date":"2022-09-02T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T22:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28683"},"modified":"2022-09-02T15:00:39","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T22:00:39","slug":"turn-those-shoulds-into-coulds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/turn-those-shoulds-into-coulds\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Those “Shoulds” into ‘Coulds”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou should eat your vegetables.\u201d I have been told that more times than I can count. At least 500 words worth, I\u2019m sure. I can still hear the voices of my mom, grandma and aunt in my head, telling me to make better dietary choices. I knew I should eat my vegetables, but they were gross. The dark greens and browns were not appetizing and the mushy texture did not help either. I didn\u2019t know enough at the time to offer commentary on my mother\u2019s cooking skills; not sure that I would, anyway. Thankfully, the Food Network<\/i> and a slightly more refined pallet have grown my appreciation and enjoyment of the foundational level of the food pyramid. \u00a0 <\/span>I found that I could eat my vegetables. In other words, more exposure and new techniques turned those \u201cshoulds\u201d into \u201ccoulds\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I have a few \u201cshoulds\u201d in my approach to writing and research that need to be turned into \u201ccoulds\u201d. That\u2019s what I heard as Dr. Jason Clark referred to our writing as \u201cadequate\u201d for our current tasks, yet it will improve if we are willing. This reminds me of eating my vegetables. I often feel that I should read and write more, and I look forward to improving these skills, even when I\u2019m not enjoying the process.<\/p>\n

Early in my academic career, I was given the axiom that no one reads the entire book. I was perplexed by that, even while I labored through the required reading. I found myself thinking, \u201cthe author put so much time into writing and I may miss vital information.\u201d However, my experience is that most writing is not as poetic as my sentimentalities. I\u2019m much better off gleaning ideas from the book so that I can metabolize the information quickly. While this pertinent axiom was impressed upon me, I was never taught the proper technique to fully embrace it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Note taking falls into this same category. My current approach is to write in the margins of the book or a piece of paper folded and hidden in the depths of the book to be discovered like buried treasure. Admittedly, I have to rely on my ability to recall when and where I had read a certain idea that has suddenly become necessary ingredient to the perfect argument. Sometimes I find it, and other times the treasure alludes me.<\/p>\n

I have a love-hate relationship with essay writing. It is difficult for me to get started and determine the correct voice to use (academic or conversational). Once everything comes together and my idea is clear, I enjoy creating something new, even experiencing a sense of pride.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I know I should do better, as this will prepare me to be productive in my life-long vocation of synthesizing ideas in ways that can offer something of sustenance to others. I will be more productive, if I embrace a new way of approaching my work. It won\u2019t be easy, but it will be like those vegetables, it will be better, and I\u2019ll enjoy them more, once I get started.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cYou should eat your vegetables.\u201d I have been told that more times than I can count. At least 500 words worth, I\u2019m sure. I can still hear the voices of my mom, grandma and aunt in my head, telling me to make better dietary choices. I knew I should eat my vegetables, but they were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28684,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28683\/revisions\/28684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}