One Day

During the week of Thanksgiving Break, we had only one class day. On that class day we reviewed what we had revised for that week for class, the project I revised for class was Project 2. I went through and added more content to my paper and tried to get the point across further as to why I believed as well as discovered that I could Belly dance. I was put into a group with other project 2 students and was asked to comment on their paper and score it. Unfortunately I have yet to do so for my last revision assignment, but I have every intention of doing so, still as well as e-mailing all my group members individually to let them know I have finally commented omn their paper. I have my work cut out for me, I believe I have at least four to five papers to read and comment on. Nevertheless, I have another revision due by tomorrow and I’m not quite sure what project to do. Each project I did, I never had the intention of going back to do anything on it, which is why I think this assignment is good because it forces us as students to find our own flaws in our work in order to better ourselves.

Project Week

This week in class we were supposed to pick a project we wanted to revise as we slowly put together our portfolio. So far we have written four project papers, two papers were a piggy back off of each other the others had two completely different topics. Our papers so far have been about an activity we chose that we could never see ourselves doing and why we could never see ourselves doing that, then the next paper was over how actually experiencing the activity went. Those were the piggy back papers, then we were assigned to write a paper pertaining to the profession we wish to go into. Then our last paper we were asked to write about was our perception on community, which is actually a continuance of our mid-semester writing prompt/ paper. The paper I chose to revise first was the forth paper about community. I felt that out of all the papers I did the most poorly on this one, because I feel I failed to properly convey ethos, logos and pathos. Though I felt my first draft had emotional appeal, I failed to be able to portray it in a way that others could see it too. I also failed to choose a specific audience but rather just starting spewing my knowledge of the topic, without a dined purpose. Even after I revised the paper I still feel as though I failed to do these things, however I did work on them the best I could. Wednesday we were instructed to make our work cited page first, and by Friday (although I wasn’t present) I was told that another project was to be chosen to be revised and that class on Fruesday wasn’t taking place. I’m not particularly sure which project to revise at this point which is unfortunate seeing as it is the night before it due, however I think it’s between project 2 and 3.

Responding to the Prompt

I thought Miss Pamela Gardner deserves a five for her paper. I thought it was really well written and did a good job of portraying the many reasons why one should or might want to travel. I found her paper to be particularly interesting because I understand where she is coming from, when she illustrated her desire to travel. Her thesis I found to be worded beautifully in the sense that it completely embodies why one should travel and what they have to gain. Among other things I really like her personal picture inserted into the paper, it gave a personal touch without swaying from the actual topic of the paper. I would also give this paper a five because the way in which she organized this paper, I thought was for the most part the most effective way to convey her point. I say this because she started off introducing how her traveling experience came about then she added in some of her preconceived notions, then explained that even if there were poor parts/ poor people that there were still things to be gained and new culture to observe. However though on the fourth page the third paragraph started talking about history of the Landless, even information on the background of a place is nice to know, I fail to see the real relevance it has to her main topic of traveling.

Shortest week ever

This week had to be the shortest week of class ever. We did have class, but on account of our teacher wanting us to each schedule an individual conference with her we only had one day of class. This week were supposed to work on our most current assignment which was the Project 4 evaluating and building from our mid semester writing assignment. Our mid semester writing assignment was about our personal perspective of how we viewed ourselves in our community, so to speak. Our community that I speak of would be Ball State. I actually really like this project, and though it is late in the evening I look forward to finishing this project. When I met with Ms. Neubauer she helped me better pin point what my paper was going to over, she said she found it intriguing that I never actually wanted to go the Ball State University. She also talked about how I could go into more depth on that topic to build on and from my mid semester writing. Even though that is not what I had to write about it, I thought it would be a good basis for such long paper, which is something that I have a lot of information on and can easily write about. She talked a lot about how I didn’t want to stay here geographically because I wanted to be further away, and how I wanted my community to unbound geographically.

Writing

This week on Monday we all brought in our rough draft for project three. We were each supposed to track down and research about an article pertaining to the profession we wish to pursue after/ during college. My profession in particular that I wish to pursue is sex therapy, and as I stated in my last blog I found it a little challenging to find an article about just the topic of sex therapy versus the documentation of the experiments conducted in this field. On Wednesday because I didn’t have any questions or revisions on my paper to be made, I was put into a group that was assigned to come up with tips on how to handle a timed writing, which we were due to have that Friday. Since I’ve taken a class where timed writing occurred often I felt as though I had good information to contribute to the group, however they all covered the gist of what I had to say. Our timed writing was on Friday, as I stated earlier, but I took my writing at a different place than the rest of the class because I am allotted time and a half. All in all I liked the prompt for the writing was good and I liked it

Fall Break

Although this blog will obviously not be about my fall break, I found it rather appropriate because this week was the week that fall break fell on. During this week in class we began our research on our Project 3 paper, also we were given back our last papers to go over and revise for our own self-improvement as writers. Our project is supposed to be in reference to our profession that we wish to/ and are gearing up to enter. My profession that I wish to enter has to do with psychology, however a specific field in psychology. I would like to become a sex therapist, and so I researched any and all things that had to do with sex therapy for my project using the school library online. I used to way that we were taught when we had our “field trip” to the library a week or so prior. This method of research was helpful, but I feel as though my results from my search were based more off of studies and experiments made in sex therapy, but not specifically about it. Which brings me to my concern: not knowing exactly what direction to go with my rough draft that is due tomorrow. Though I will most likely figure everything out and successfully finish my rough draft, as of now I don’t know to.

Sometimes Life is Just....

This week has been a hard week for me personally, academically, mentally and physically. Monday evening I began to get sick just as my roommate had the previous week before, and it lasted all of Tuesday and has lingered on since. It seems as though everyone is sick, and by no means am I trying to exaggerate this. It frustrates me because, mentally you’re beat down cause all you want to do is curl up and go to sleep but you know that in reality if you don’t make it to class you’re instantly behind what seems like eons. Not to rant and rave but the college system for being sick seemingly sucks. If you miss a certain number of days from a specific class (which unfortunately the number of days you’re allotted to be absent varies from class to class, another thing to keep track of and stress over) you fail, no ifs, ands, ors or buts. It’s even been said on the news that schools have an average of about 20% of students missing due to sickness or something close to that without actually looking up the facts. One sick day for me meant messing up my whole week. However though, I managed to make it to all my classes everyday. Getting back on track for what I’m supposed to be doing for this blog, on Monday Ms. Neubauer’s father-in-law came into class to talk about his experiences in Sierra Leone. I found his presentation to be very interesting, because it was a different view from the book as well as our own view on Sierra Leone as outsiders. Even though he isn’t a part of their culture it was intriguing to observe a first hand experience there in that country not from a native’s view. On Wednesday we had our Beah presentation which we were asked a very interesting question, which was to talk about a present we had been given that meant something special to us. I choose an umbrella and related it back my disability. On Friday we caught people who needed to be caught up and evaluated what we think our standing is in the class.

Interesting to Say the Least

For this week we had a paper due about our observations of an activity that we thought we could never see ourselves participating in. I choose Belly dancing, which has been a long time desire for me to learn. On Thursday we had our second class and I was thrilled because I was actually able to most of the choreography and with speed. Every time I go to that class I’m in aw of the things I never thought I could and yet there I was participating and actually having fun in the process. To say the least, I’m having a ton of fun pursing one of my dreams and I find it interesting the way my life seems to be coming together in a fashion that helps me learn more about me, my body and the person I am becoming. It is all exciting and sometimes scary. On another note in class on Monday we went to the library to learn about new and different ways to research by utilizing the library for all of its new resources as well as old. The person who was in charge of teaching us taught us how to use card cat and also how to narrow down searches to make it easier to find what we want in terms of research. All in all it was very interesting though, I don’t know if I’ll actually be using the library still (even with my new way to use it), but it’s nice to know and I look forward to my next belly dancing class and the hopes to perform soon.

This week

This week we did numerous things as usual. At the beginning of the week the teacher had us all change sides of the classroom in order to switch things up. Also the teacher herself changed her regular position in the classroom. We had an Ishmael Beah presentation of the book on Wednesday, where the presenters asked us to think of a time when we went into a situation with the best of intentions then the outcome wasn’t good. Then today, Friday, we took a “field trip” to the library and learned how to use the library for researching things in different ways. On Thursday my roommate/ best friend and I went to our first official belly dancing class where we learned the basics of hip movements and proper posture in order to not hurt our bodies’. I was very excited to be in the class and even more excited when the instructor said that she believed I’d be able to belly dance, adapting in my own way. The instructor of the class also gave us a brief presentation of what we were working towards as well as informing us of all the different benefits from learning to belly dance. Talking about all the muscles that we would learn to us and how if done properly can strengthen the back. It was all very intriguing and I look forward to going back.

A Lot Has Happened

This week in English class a lot has gone down so to speak. My partner and I presented our section of the novel A Long Way Gone, and gave the class to different excerpts from the novel to read, evaluate and answer to. Also on Monday we went to the Art Museum that is on campus (which I had absolutely no idea existed) and looked at three different pieces of artwork. What I found to be the most relatable piece based off of my knowledge of art was the painting of St. Lawrence. Also the last painting that we viewed during our visits was the red and blue painting, and at this particular time its name escapes me. At first when I looked at the painting I saw two different people but I had no idea what they were doing nor did I understand what the artist’s message might’ve been in making that painting. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the art museum and I actually wouldn’t mind visiting the art museum on my own time just to look. Today in class were taught how to make a cluster outline, which has to be one of my least favorite things to do. Even though I never enjoy outlining my ideas, this time wasn’t so bad because I actually want to learn more about the topic I’m writing about. All in all this week has been full of activities and I enjoyed it.

Ishmael Beah's Presentation

During this week we were required to go and see the presentation of Ishmael Beah on his novel: A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider. I found his presentation to be very enlightening by way of a lot of the things that he had to say which had a more meaning coming from his perspective. Even though the entire book was written from his perspective, seeing him in person brought a new element to the experience of his novel. I can’t speak for anyone else when I say this, but I assume for a lot of us students this made what we read in the book even more of a reality, because there he stood in our Emens auditorium talking about his experiences. Out of the various things I enjoyed about his presentation, I’d say his words of encouragement were inspirational. For instance when he spoke about school, he mentioned that no matter the reason in which we are at college currently, he wanted us to view our education as a way to help to help others less fortunate (no matter where our talents lie) as well as learning our place in the world which is tied in with what it takes to be human. Or at least that’s what I took from what he said, but everyone may have there our interpretation. There were many other saying and/or implications with what he said that I thoroughly enjoyed listening to and I really liked his presentation.

Possibly the right prompt: My view on the difference between High school and College

I think one of the biggest differences between high school and college is the freedoms that are now allotted to us as students. Before when it came to school we had to be in class and at school everyday all day, unless excused or stated otherwise or we would get in trouble with our teachers and/or our parents. Now that I’m in college I see that if I so choose not to go to class I don’t have to, it doesn’t mean I won’t however it just means the option is there and that’s a new freedom that was never given in high school. Also If I was to so choose not to go to class I would immediately get in trouble with my parents or a teacher, at college its kind of an every man for himself thing, so to speak or in my case every woman for herself. Even still this is just one of the many differences between college and high school, another being lifestyle. The way my lifestyle has changed since I have entered high school is that I no longer go home (to my dorm I mean) and have to answer to anyone, and If I elect I can be with my friends the majority of the days, that and my roommate is one of my best friends, so its always fun to chill together in our dorm. College is mainly about learning to fend for yourself as you get an education to go on to the next stage of life, and high school was…torture.

My View on some Class Discussions

A class discussion that took place this week that I found to be the most interesting was on Wednesday during the first group presentation. The presenters gave the class a prompt to think about how it would make us feel if the things that had happened to Ishmael Beah happened to us. To put it simply I took it as what would you do if you were in someone else’s shoes during a civil war. My reaction that I wrote about was that I would most likely cry out of fear and confusion due to not understanding why the events taking place where happening. It was also interesting to hear other people’s thoughts on their personal reaction to the situation if it were them. Another discussion that took place in class that I found to be intriguing was on Friday when the teacher asked the class to take a look a BallPoint and try and figure why the people who made this document decided to use the words that they did. This gave me a different perspective on how to interpret a piece of literature, which is to break it down and figure the underlying meaning of things. This class week has brought new information as well as an alternative way of thinking about various things, and I look forward to more introductions to an out-of-the-box thinking pattern.

My Goals by Joelle Monaghan

My goals for this course are fairly simple and most likely average, I plan to work hard and get good grades. Since I have already read to page 82 in the book A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah, I plan to be finished before the scheduled time according to the calendar for this class. Along with reading the book I plan, as well as hope, to work hard and efficiently with my partner when it comes time for our presentation of our section of the book. On that note I plan to work efficiently with any other partner I may have during the course of this semester. More of my goals are to learn how to become a better writer grammatically as well as comprehensively. Along with planning to become a better writer, I also hope to become a little better at discussing my work and my views on our assignments. Another goal of mine pertaining to my writing is, in the hopes of broadening my rather closed-minded but good way of writing. The thought behind saying what I did, is that I believe when I write it can be repetitive and I’d like to learn to add more variety in the way I write.