Quotable Quotes from the Student Generations

Depressed, Who Me? Feelings of depression are common, but fleeting. I find myself getting depressed when I think about all of the work that I must do. I also get depressed when I realize how little time I have put aside for this huge task. The way I try to overcome this, is to think of this class and its homework, as an individual growth experience instead of just another class. This helps me to keep it in perspective. As I go through the hours spent on the computer, I get a feeling of satisfaction at having completed a successful link, and this overrides any feelings of depression that I may be having at that time. The feeling of satisfaction also gives me the inspiration that I need to continue through the long hours of work ahead.

Next, I read other students' lab reports. Back to homework ! I wanted to learn about my fellow surfers, and how they dealt with this class. It was awfully time consuming! I guess that would make me a WAVE HOG ! Oh, well ! I liked what Allison Asahina recommended, that I look at this class as an "individual growth experience." I also really enjoyed how]Diane Beauchemin fought stress. She would go to Manoa Gardens, and order a veggie taco salad and a 20 oz. Killians Red Ale. Wise words, I believe. I also enjoyed what Rayson Noguchi does. He would play his guitar. (I would do the same, but I don't think the people at CLIC would appreciate my "artistic expression !") He also had 2 rules to remember. The first was to "not sweat the small stuff." The second was to remember that "it is all small stuff ." Words I will remember whenever I get frustrated. And finally, Cheryl Remata, who takes the Zen form of coping. To "take a deep breath and envision all tension exiting with that breath." I really do believe that everyone is doing a great job, and I encourage you all to persevere. We all need ways to relieve ourselves from the tension of learning this new language. (If you haven't figured out, mine's is humor !) I hope we all don't go crazy in this class !

About Beverly Diaz in G1: -- I have two comments about her week 7 report. First, under "Feelings" she says, "I hope future generations reading this report will find it comforting to know that it is alright to feel baffled and apprehensive, since we've been through it too. " When I first read this, I felt a warm fuzzy. It's so nice to know that I am not alone. Reading this, I feel so close to her, and I feel like time and space have been traversed; she is here in the now for me because of the computer and I love that the computer allows us to bridge that gap. Secondly, she says, "Doesn't it feel so great to have access to all kinds of information at the tips of your fingers?" Yes it does! I found all kinds of stuff this week that really excited me like Lea Salonga's homepage, the Miss Saigon page, and The Ultimate Disney Link page. How sweet it is!

Lori mentioned in class last week how you can "cut the crap" by using the computer to communicate. The unnecessary information is left behind, and people are able to get to the point right away. I agree. We are also able to control our emotions. Too often human beings are caught up in their emotions when interacting with each other. What a waste of energy...I have the feeling that through the web we might be able to develop a clearer mode of communication. Isn't it great that the computer, an instrument created by humans, has become almost like a filtering device for our emotions. Thus we have helped ourselves to be more precise (and maybe thoughtful) in our communication with others. I am glad to see that human beings seem to actually be improving themselves after all.

Has anyone ever been reported missing after entering the internet, I wonder. I might be the first such case. ... Confused, disoriented and helpless I wander the hallways at UH like a lost soul. DOOMED! I see myself haunting the hallways outside the labs after I die, trying to get in. One thing which makes me hopeful is that others have gone through this before me, and have not only remained sane, but have managed to become if not experts, at least proficient enough to teach others. (I saw Nitsa at the lab helping other students) I must say Kevin Bogan's Information documents are life-savers. Thank you so much Kevin for all your help!!

... One thing these papers have in common is the apparent determination of the students to conquer their ignorance of it. Some take it in stride and a sense of humor, others take a more serious approach. The two generations differ mostly in that generation two had the ability to refer to generation one, while generation one was a stand alone. The students of generation two and three can benefit other generations, especially Kevin's papers. I am not sure which is better, though, to have had him there to help like generation one or to be able to pull up his papers to get information. This difference seems to have helped generation two tremendously.

The next report from G1 that I read was Kyle Fujii's. This guy sounded so depressed he mentioned that he felt hopeless and frustrated. He also said that he felt like he was getting nowhere and wanted to drop the class, but he could not drop this class because he needs it to graduate. Well, same here. I too felt like dropping this class but I also need it to graduate. I wanted to drop it, but something inside me felt like staying in this class. I guess the thought of having a homepage and having it viewed by many people made me want to stay. I also thought that I should stay with this because this was different. It's not like one of those regular boring classes where you sit in class and listen to the professor and go home and read the book. I think that style is getting kinda boring it's time that I try something different.

I noticed that the contents and style of Delia and Kyle's report were similar to mine. They both showed signs of frustration and hopelessness. I am glad that I read their reports, now I know that we (Genration 2) were not the only ones to have suffered through the first couple weeks of this class. As I read their other reports it seemed that they were not runnning into major problems anymore. Their writing style became more free as if they had confidence in the work that they were doing. Overall, reading their reports gave me an idea of how other students thought and felt about Psychology 409. It is very interesting when we show the same reactions.

Gina Domingo, G2

I am just wondering if the week report to come is not too hard to handle. I know that the first time in netscape was really a disaster for me. It was like a plague that came in to your life without prior noticed. Now I felt like I can breathe a little and smell the fresh air, but I still have pain though. I still feel pressured from all the work to do. I just realized that my brain is sore. I don't know if I am making myself clear here. It is embarrassing to publish my report in the world wide web when I don't even understand what I am trying to say.

Many students in G1 talked about confusion on the internet, and how the air gradually got clearer as time went by. A lot of students also give advice to future generations concerning this class. They advise such things as to keep at it and never give up, ask for help if you need to, and not to fret over things that you can't do. Many also advise taking notes as new things are learned, and not limiting yourself to one aspect of the internet such as only using one engine, staying in the same area of search, and so forth. One student even advised to take a break and eat ice cream when things get stressful. I think if I took this advice, I would weigh about 300 pounds by now!

After reading several reports it was evident that we, Generation Two (i.e. only one semester away), are relatively more productive and tech-advanced than them. Nitsa's survey found that, in terms of productivity, their reports were published on the WWW after the third or fourth week of classes whereas our generation's reports were there by the second week. Way to go class! Moreover, they explored the Internet via the "dully" Lynx pages (i.e. graphics, colors are not implemented on Lynx) for five or six weeks whereas we got to explore Netscape on our first week's task. Also, compared to their weekly tasks, our weekly tasks seem much more complex and structured then theirs. That is, each week we have to rate, discuss, report our experiences, emotions, etc. while learning the Internet and on top of that we also have these team reports. Do I hear myself complaining? Seriously, I just wonder what the syllabus for the generations to come will look like and, more importantly, what would be their reaction to our reports. I bet that by then we will be looked at as a cyber-stone-age Generation Two.

This week was negative-emotion free, and left me completely satisfied with the computer systems. I believe this score is attributable to being able to use the computer any way I chose; and encountering almost no frustration. Looking for ways to make my home page more than just pablum is something I have experience in (although you might not be able to tell, from my home page), and this makes all the difference in the world for me. It is the feeling of competency that positively correlates with my feeling of satisfaction. I feel this is the way with most people, and although I could be wrong, I have not seen any real evidence to the contrary.

What is going on?! When I first read about this class, I was so excited. I thought this was my one chance to learn something I always wanted...this was my one chance to finally get on the information highway. So far, I have been hopelessly lost. I am not even sure if what I am typing now would do anything on Netscape. Well, here goes!

It works! It finally worked! What should I do now?

I just wish I was I computer genius and could do anything on the computer, but then again, if I was Dr.James would probably figure out another way to get me all crazy. I wonder at times if he's only there to make me go crazy to figure out what I need in each file and report. I feel like I'm losing my mind here. Wow, whatever you do, this class is a lot of work for first experiences on the Internet. I wouldn't lie to you, please believe me! Dr.James please slow down because my brain is going into over load.

I'm afraid that I might need some therapy during this semester on the Internet because there's no end to the capability of the computer world, at lease I didn't find the end. Good luck if we're looking for the end and please don't tell me because it'll only make me go insane if you have a heart. I think the computer industry is making a killing on us the computer knowledge seekers. Is there ever going to be an end? Somehow I don't think so. Right, the wave of the future is only computers. At lease that's the saying all over the television.