kganihanova's blog

For our final presentation, Jordan and I created a virtual scrapbook of the class. We highlighted the best parts of the past. What we found was that the best parts of the experience are not neccesarily the funnest part of the class. I feel the presentation went well, I was worried that our presentation would not go well and wouldn't go over well but not to fear. I liked seeing my classmate's faces as they say themselves in pictures and in quotes. All in all, the presentations went well with each flowing into the other. We ended on an indefinite note but that's okay because we will hopefully continue to see each other next semester and perhaps continue our classroom discussions outside of the classroom.

Academic writing and class go hand in hand. Class very often determines if one can write well academically because prepatory schools very often teach classical writing versus urban schools who teach more practice oriented writing e.g. technical writing. Prepatory schools are often private thus they require the family to have money and/or privelege to get into private school. Public schools have a limited budget and thus must pour money into other things versus what's really needed like writing or academics or textbooks. In that respect, academic writing is classed according to what kind of school you could afford to attend.

My thanksgiving had its high and low points. High point: Seeing my family and calling my grandmama. Low point: the parental nagging. One point of contention was with my father, who thinks that being a student, all I should do is do my class work. He wonderfully suggested that I quit my job just for finals and studied the rest of the semester. I tried to convince him that I really didn't work that much and that I could handle it but he insisted that work does not mesh with student life. I deduced that with his savings, he could take off and focus on his research versus myself who needs to work in order to fund my life. Is the role of a student solely in the classroom or is it outside as well? Or is it a "stage of life" kind of thing?

Academic writing is difficult for me, no doubt, but this kind of paper was a little better. I enjoy interviewing immensely due to the interpersonal part of it and that definitely made this paper easier to plan and write. It's not my favorite form of writing  but this paper was a lot more fun than the entirely essay based essays from earlier in the semester. At this point, it's still a work in progress but I'm confident yet nervous about where this paper is going. I know I'm going to have do this kind of writing more often so I'm treating this as a practice run for my future papers for biology. Biology papers are organized in a specific way and that's how I'm structuring this paper.

I noted that as I was interviewing, I felt I kind of "got in the person's life" and I could imagine what their daily life was like. Am I the only one or did anyone else feel this sort of connection to their interviewee?

I didn't post this until late because I chose to reflect on the workshop and its usage by putting the interview process in motion and seeing where I saw the insights I gained from the workshop in the interviews. A question that remained- as I culled it via interview- was "Why are people so quick to bring up examples of money as indicators of inequality?" A person can be money poor and yet be rich in love. I realize it is really corny to say this but cold piles of cash do not love you the same way a  mother or father or lover do. Why do people measure class in wealth when really the situation varies and some with less money may have more love then those who possess a lot of money. I found it to be riveting to listen to those who attended in the 80's talk about their experiences. It made me realize how valuable elderly people's stories are to society. Invent all the ipads and iphones you want, nothing replaces experience and the hands on joy of doing something for yourself. I loved moving around to places we felt comfortable, I'm a very kinesthic learner and that really connected me to the topic. As my friends know, I never stop moving and that I got to do that in a workshop was awesome!  I added an interview question- "Where do you feel most comfortable and why?" just for that activity and I loved the reasons why- they ranged from a simple "Its warm" to an intricate " I love the ambiance and vitality of it." I wrapped up my last interview 20 minutes ago and it was rather engaging to interview people and hear what they had to say.

We all receive emails about those with wealth donating money and starting charities. Call me a cynic but how many of these actions are motivated by guilt? The wealthy have more money than those below the poverty line obviously and our human empathy makes us want to help. However, to what extent? We all take pride in our possesions and as Adam Sandler's character in Just Go With It said, " Rich people don't stay rich by giving it all away." Again I ask how much of the charity in the world is motivated by guilt?

As a class, I feel we've made much progress towards getting comfortable with each other and really discussing matters of class and education. It is no longer uncomfortable to talk around each other. I also learned how to analyze non fiction writings for interpretations that could not be taken shallowly. My writing style got much more formal coming from a very casual writing style stemming from my freelancing. This visit to Parkway should be fun because  it'd be different if it were the beginning of the semester but now, we know each other well enough to really get something out of this visit.