Angela's Humanities Story

Part I

Hawley, Jack. Bhagavad Gita - a Walkthrough for Westerners. New World Library, 2011.

• I read this book as a requirement for Asian Humanities 320. This text is about the great warrior Arjuna and his good friend Krishna who will guide Arjuna to find his dharma. The text was interesting to begin with. Towards the middle to the end of the first part, it was honestly pretty boring to me. Although that part of the text came off as boring, the story of Arjuna and Krishna was very interesting to me. What made it so interesting was the things that I was learning while reading the text and what the ending was going to be like. I encountered some meaningful sentences and verses, which made me reflect on my life where I can learn from these sentences and verses to make my life better. I'm always trying to find ways on how to improve my life, my personality, how to get along with others, and being able to have compassion for others. So going back to the story of Arjuna and Krishna, I was glued to the second part. It was actually hard for me to stop reading the text during this part. Overall, I'm really happy that Professor Moore chose this text as a requirement for this class because if it wasn't a requirement, I would have never come across this text. 

Ignatavicius, Donna D., and Chris Winkelman. Clinical Companion for Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-Centered Collaborative Care. Elsevier Health Science, 2016.

Medical-Surgical Nursing 8th Edition

• Medical-Surgical Nursing or what my nursing professor would call it, "The Iggy Book" because of the author's last name, which looks difficult to pronounce. This textbook was a requirement for all four of the nursing semesters during nursing school. This textbook is about 2.25 inches thick with every medical diagnosis in it and it guarantee will make you cry (if you're in nursing school). There are so many emotions that I had when I was reading this text. Thinking back to when I had to read this text, I would read it not just once, but sometimes twice or three times in order to understand what (tf) I was reading and having to comprehend what I just read. Some days if I'm lucky and my brain is working, I'll only have to read it once. But thinking about when I had to read and learn about the diagnosis, its signs and symptoms, and the nursing interventions, as well as reading, re-reading, and re-reading it again until I understood the materials for exams, my heart aches. But I learned most of the adult medical diagnosis and its nursing interventions from this text, which really helped me be prepare to care for adult patients. (But my goal is to be a labor and delivery nurse one day.)

Part II

The theme that I worked on for the group project was What is the Role of Religion? What I like best about the project was the repetition of the materials learned. Through that I am able to remember the information that was being taught. I believe this class provided information that's useful for my career because I encounter many different kinds of culture. In the beginning of the project, I was putting in a lot of time. The first week, I remembered putting in six hours into the project. However, as time goes on and depending on which week it was, the hours were less than six. Here is the project that I worked really hard on.

Part III

Hori Ichiro - Glazed Stoneware
Japanese, born 1952
 Located at the Crocker Art Museum

When I decided to take this class, I didn't have much expectations of it. I was just hoping that this class wasn't going to be hard and that I would be able to gain some insight about Asian Humanities. My goal coming into this class was to take this class so that I can be a step closer to applying to a RN to BSN program. I hope that I completed the goal of passing this class. Reading The Bhagavad Gita and attending Crocker Art Museum was the most interesting thing about this class. The picture to the left is a glazed stoneware from Japan called Hori Ichiro. The picture doesn't do it justice, but it was a beautiful stoneware that was glistening hues of light purple, pink, and white. For The Bhagavad Gita, I really like some of the sentences and verses from this text. I will share one sentence below that I really liked and underline in my book.

Know that you can achieve this by first uniting your heart with God and only then pursuing worldly things. (Hawley, 22)

I learned so many aspects of different religions in this class and how each religion came about and how it is practice. Coming into this class, I didn't know much about each religion, but I enjoyed learning about it. 

Works Cited

Hawley, Jack. Bhagavad Gita - a Walkthrough for Westerners. New World Library, 2011.

The Bhagavad Gita: Timeless Lessons

The Bhagavad Gita by Jack Hawley

The Bhagavad Gita: A Walkthrough for Westerners by Jack Hawley is part of Indian’s most sacred literature Mahabharata. The Bhagavad Gita is a story about the great warrior Arjuna who is struggling to follow his dharma and he does not want to go into battle with his cousins – The Kauravas, uncles, and teachers over land. On the battle field, Arjuna seeks advice from his dear friend Krishna. Through the guidance, advices, and knowledge provided by Krishna, Arjuna is able to find his atma, and integrate the newfound knowledge and spiritual beliefs in which enable him to come to the realization that going into war is part of his dharma. Arjuna put all his worries aside and devotes everything to god. As a warrior he must fight against evildoers.

Krishna reveals his god form to Arjuna

In the Bhagavad Gita, there were some meaningful sentences and verses that made me reflect on life. Essentially, it provided timeless lessons one can take from this story. In the beginning of the story, Krishna is advising Arjuna to seek his atma and that the atma is eternal. Throughout the story, I learned that one would need to follow the path of right action of duty in order to have a a better rebirth on your next life cycle. Therefore, the lesson is that one should always do the right thing.

"It is far better to do your own dharma, even if you do it imperfectly, than to try to master the work of another." (Bresnan 161-162) This quote really speaks to me because everyone has their own path in life. Everyone's path is created only for them, and that is what makes it beautiful. When someone tries to do what others are doing, it no longer holds meaning.

Lord Krishna

The Bhagavad Gita is the story of Arjuna's uncertainty of going into battle with his family. Once in a while, we have uncertainties in life, and may even be faced with difficult situations. This story is an eye-opener that will help you find hope that good things will come your way; therefore, you should put all your worries aside. Knowing that your intentions are good, you will be faced with good karma. Whether if you believe in god or not, this story will lead you to the path of knowledge.