Post 3 - How to perform a peer review

Peer review? It is the first time that I listened to that word. Just like teacher Patricio taught us, it was a “Wow word” for the first moment I saw it. So I had to look for information, and I realize that a peer review is something that I know since I started the university.

In general, in the science it is completely important and necessary the investigation area. And when someone does one, there are several people (the “reviewers”) that evaluate the work of the investigation that you have done. They evaluate the quality, the creativity and the validity. Three aspects that I consider that are very important in a serious investigation.

How to perform a peer review? In the following part I will show you the steps that I believe are the most important to do it.

First of all you have to know the structure of that the journal is asking you to follow. Then do a “skim- read” while you are asking to yourself some questions that guide your job of reviewing. Also you have to see all the major flaws that you find in the reading. After you finish the first two steps, you should write the first two paragraphs; one with the research question addressed and the second the contribution of the work. Then, you should do another reading to the investigation, but this time you have to focus more on the details. And finally is time to structure your report.

So they are the principal steps, now is your time to do a peer review! Good luck! 

Post 1- A recommended lifestyle

Hello teacher Patricio and classmates, today I want to show and explain you a lifestyle that I started one year and a half ago, and that makes me feel very proud and happy with my soul and my body.

When I was in the school, two of my closest friends decided to became vegetarian. At first I found it ridiculous, because for me eating meat was the most normal thing in the world, but when I started to hear their arguments and looked information on internet, I realize the injustice that animals have to live every day.

The time passed and I didn´t speak more about the theme with my friends. But one day I noticed that two of my cousins were vegetarian, so I asked them about their lifestyle. They explained me everything and two days after, we were going to a vegan talk in the center of La Serena. In the talk I learnt for a nutritionist how to eat healthy without meat, what are the advantages and disadvantages of having a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, and the types of vegetarian that exist.

I want to show you the last point: There are at least 6 classifications of what a vegetarian eats.

The first one includes the people that don’t eat meat, except for the fish. The second one is the “ovo vegetarian”, this are the persons that don’t eat anything from the animal, except for the egg. The third one is the “lacteo vegetarian”, they don’t eat anything from the animal except from de milk. The fourth one (my category) is the “ovo-lacteo vegetarian” which is a mix between the first two categories. There is also the “strict vegetarian”, they don’t eat anything from the animal. And the last one is the “vegan”, they are like the gods of this lifestyle haha because they don’t eat and don’t wear anything that comes for an animal.  

Why I am vegetarian and not vegan? Because I believe all in this life is a process. I love my body and I want it to be ok, so I have to make this change in a gradual way. But I think that in some years I will be vegan.

I can’t lie… MEAT IS DELICIOUS! But my love for animals is bigger than that taste. And I have to say that the vegetarian and vegan menu taste even more delicious.

I am very happy with my vegetarian lifestyle, I am even stronger than I was a year ago, and my health is perfect. 

Post 2 - The introduction

The Psychiatric Hospitals have been a very important and conflictive theme to talk about in the psychology, because of the long history of negligence and malpractice that affect the patients that are hospitalize there, the bad conditions of them and the workers, and fundamentally the maltreatment and therapies that denigrate the nature of person that all the patients for right have.

Over this paper, we will compile information about what is a Psychriatic Hospital, the characteristics that have a person to stay there, the way that they organize everything and we will evaluate the better known cases of Psychiatric Hospitals that have violated the human rights with their abuses and experiments (“Deva Hospital”, “Whittingham Hospital”, “St.Marys Hospital”, “Philadelphia Hospital”, “Hellingly Hospital” and “Severalls Hospital”), and how this bad practices and therapies affect the persons and their mental stability, instead of help them in their sickness. And also, how the figure of Psychiatric Hospitals, according to the philosopher Michel Foucault, is related to the disciplinary power as a way to control the society.

This is a very important research, because is necessary that the society stop to think that what happens in a Psychiatric Hospital is a normal way to treat the persons that have mental illness. And in addition, we normally think that this is a phenomenon that happened in the past, but to the contrary to the beliefs, is something that is still happening, but we don´t realize. And finally to conclude we will check the contemporary cases of hospitals where the electroshock therapy is completely legal in nowadays. 

English Language Challenges

Hello miss and classmates, I have to say that I really enjoy this class, I am never going to forget our karaoke class haha, it was a really fun class.

I have fun making the blogs, because I think the themes were really funny and interesting. There were things that I really enjoy to share with you. And also doing this was a way to start knowing each other. We present ourselves doing this, and we share some information  like what we like to do or watch on the TV, what we want to do in the future, what we think about some stuff that are happening in our lives, etc.

I think that the aspects that I need to improve in my English are the pronunciation and the listening. My plans to improve all this is lie down on my bed in this vacation and watch a lot of series without subtitles on Netflix.

Outside the English class I don´t use a lot the English, I just use it when I listen to some songs that are in this language and then I sing them. Or sometimes when I am with my brother and we watch series that are in English, I am looking to my cellphone or making another thing, but I am also listening to the TV, so I try to understand without watching the subtitles.

Well classmates and miss, I hope that you also had fun in this class, I have to thank to all of you, because you were really nice to me and you make the class were pleasant to be. I send to you a lot of energy to continue in this journey! J And I hope we will see each other on the other semesters! 

Changes to my study programme

To be honest, I don´t know in a perfect way the study programme of psychology. I mean I know the name of the subjects, but they are some of them that I just know that, and I have no idea about what is the subject about.

What I have heard from the persons that are on the other years of the career, is that psychology has a lot of workload, because we have to read a lot in every subject. Actually since I started the career I have think that sometimes the teachers are exploiting us haha but is just a joke.

Also I have heard that the people of psychology talks a lot about a programme renovation, because they don´t like that all of the subjects are almost just theory, and we don´t have the opportunity to practice the necessary. They believe that we have to start practicing since the firsts years.

About the teaching methods, based on what I have live in this semester, I think they are okey. In some subjects I think they are boring, because some teachers are just doing monologues. But in other classes I really have fun (philosophy and anthropology I love you, I am your fan)

Finally, about the tecnologhy and the faculty, I don’t have an opinion, because I just have one class in FACSO, so I don´t spend a lot of time in the faculty.

Winter Holidays

I really like to travel a lot. I haven´t been in a lot of places yet, but I have a lot of plans about traveling in the next years. Actually I have a list of all the places that I have to visit at least once in my whole life.  

I think all the places that I have in my list, would be great to visit in the Winter. I really love Winter, so that is not a problem to me.

On this Winter vacations, it would be awesome if I go to the south of Chile. The only places I have been in the south are Concepción and Temuco, but I want to meet all the south.

The way I want to do it is backpacking! And would like to do this adventure with two of my best Friends. I have never do it before, but I don´t think that it would be difficult for me, because I am scout since I have 12 years old, and in all this years I have learned about camping stuff and how to survive in the nature.

Finally, I don´t have plans about  studying in the Winter vacations. Right now I just want to rest and travel, I don´t want to know anything about texts or books.

An ideal Winter vacation would be one week to rest; watch netflix and eat chocolate all day. One week to work (to save money to travel) and other week to travel.

My favorite TV show

The Walking Dead <3!

Despite of what a lot of people have said that is super overrated, one of my favorite series of all times is “The Walking Dead”. The series is based on the comic writing by Robert Kirkman. It started in 2010 and continues until today, with 8 seasons.  I started to watch it in 2012 with my brother and even today, in 2017, we are waiting for the next season.

The Walking Dead is about a post-apocalyptic world, were zombies have invaded our planet. The series tells the story of Rick Grimes and his effort to survive with his family and friends. The entire story happens in United States.

The characters are variable; I mean as the time passed by, a lot of them leave the group, die, or new characters appear and join the group. From the first season a few of them are still alive, and I have to confess this; I have cried a lot of times with my brother because of the death of some characters that we love and died surprisingly.

I have two favorite characters: Glenn Rhee and Daryl Dixon, I’m in love with those guys.  One of them (SPOILER ALERT!) died the last season. His death was the most painful in all the seasons I have watched, I was really surprised and until today I can’t get over it. (I don’t want to say the name in case that you want to see the series).

Maybe it is a bit masochistic, but I believe that was my favorite chapter. I think it is, because it was the one that made me feel a lot of emotions. We knew that somebody was going to die, because the final chapter of the season before the death finalizes telling us that. So we had to wait for months to know who was the chosen one, and that made that my soul hangs by a thread for a long time.

Finally, I like to watch this series, because it is something that I share with my brother a long time ago, and I love to spend time with him. And also that I’m engaged with the characters and I have to know what is going to happen to them.