This one speaks for itself.
Laughter is a blessing. It's wonderful to have things which completely take your mind off the chaos and stress that you may be in the midst off. It's simple things like reading a funny post, watching a video of a dog blowing bubbles with his/her nose, or even a lecturer making you laugh in the middle of class that can shift the atmosphere in an instant.
If you look up the word 'brave' in its definition is the word 'courage'. In some definitions it is explained as the ability to fight against fear, in others it's to face something without 'showing any fear'. Not it states 'show' and not 'not having' any fear. In my opinion, to make a conscious effort to face anything is brave, and that usually always involves some element of fear in the fear - bravery spectrum. I don't believe that feeling afraid makes anyone any less brave. According to Ekman and Friesen (1971), there are 6 universal emotions (see reference at the bottom of the page). Fear is one of them. We all experience fear, yet people still degrade each other for experiencing this emotion. It's normal and a necessary emotion to have. Allow people to experience and express it so that they can accept what they are feeling without shame.
This relates to the clique saying of "don't believe everything you see/hear". Now that we have the basics of statistics down from Year 1, things are now getting more complex and we are being encouraged to question statistical evidence that is being reported. Everyone sees mathematical evidence as objective, but should we really take a p < .001 and just believe that the result is strongly significant? This quote perfectly sums up a key message that we are being taught. It's the whole idea of critical thinking and keeping an open mind. In a way, sometimes scientific evidence should somewhat be treated like subjective assumptions where the process of acquiring the outcomes are challenged and deeply analysed. Again, it's that whole idea of critical thinking and always keeping an open mind. I've really enjoyed building on this aspect of academics, and I think that engaging in this type of skill in these different contexts helps you to keep and open mind in areas outside of academics to. It's quite eye-opening!
This kind of relates to one of the quotes I had in the last of these posts. It feels me with delight when a lecturer tells us that they have enjoyed teaching us or you can see the enthusiasm that they have for the material that they are delivering. Obviously, there are still going to be rough patches, but I now find myself (generally) loving what I'm learning, actually wanting to go to my lectures, and having a genuine interest in the material that is being presented (even those which I had zero motivation to explore when I had first encountered them before uni). It's amazing how much difference it makes to your experience of education when you are being taught by people who have a real zest for what they do. It's really touching.
Reference:
Ekman, P. & Friesen, W. V. (1971). Constants Across Cultures in the Face and Emotion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 17(2) , 124-129
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