Semester 2 Reflections Part Deux

My generation is entering a new world of fast-paced, constantly changing situations. We are different from generations past because of new, different technology and developments. This is both a wonderful and hindering thing. On the one hand, we have discovered and are utilizing digital ways of communicating and staying connected to everything in our lives. On the other hand, we are becoming less and less able to communicate face to face. The biggest challenge of my generation will be to learn to communicate both verbally and digitally, without allowing the isolated digital conversations to dominate our lives.

This brings me to the contribution of my generation. We are going to be tasked with creating new methods of communication that will blend the two types together seamlessly. We are also going to be responsible for cleaning our planet up and keeping it around for a while. Through our heightened communication skills, we can bring everyone together to keep Earth healthy.

I am not a highly motivated person, so what I’m typing here sounds daunting. However, many of my classmates are, and that is admirable. I would love to be more motivated, I just don’t really know how to get that way. However, by realizing what challenges I face as a young adult in the new decade, I feel as though motivating myself will be easier than ever

Semester 2 Reflections

Let me start off with a mistake I made this year: underestimating the difficulty of certain projects, and, to get more specific, the difficulty of my Media Saves the Beach project. Not only did it take a grand total of 22 hours to complete, it was exponentially more difficult than I had imagined. Getting the drawings finished was only half the battle—making them look good was what would win me the war. Unfortunately, I was gunned down by lack of sleep and overall apathy toward the project near the end. This led to an undesirable grade on the project. However, such an experience taught me to look at long-term projects differently, and start them earlier to avoid an MSB recap.

So, naturally, I found the MSB project to be the most valuable to my education. After that project I really buckled down on future projects and was able to create higher quality work. I was able to turn my failure into success! But it really highlighted my fault, which revolves around structure. When I have specific standards to meet, I can do very well and usually surpass those standards (I think…). But, in the case of MSB, where the standards weren’t clearly defined, I floundered. My one true weakness in terms of project-based learning is lack of structure, and from my understanding it seems to be a lot of peoples’ true weakness as well.

Writing Reflection

My writing has definitely improved over the year, and a surprising amount at that. Take, for example, my American icons piece. That was an example of typical, “10^th grader who is now an 11^th grader but still writes like a 10^th grader” writing. It was good, but not great. Over the year, we did a few more writing projects, had a bit more time to grow and learned some writing tips. We learned what to do when it came to sentence structure (concerts, not pancakes) and verbs (avoid “–ing”s), and I then took these tips and incorporated them into later writing pieces. Then Ampersand came along and it was my time to shine.

Through all the drafts I did, my Ampersand article changed drastically from one thing to another. It started as base-level 11^th grader stuff, but because we had to focus so much on perfecting the article, I pushed myself and made it into an incredibly polished, professional piece of work.

In the future, I plan to build even more upon these basic writing tips and tricks. I’ve learned the joys of drafting and what it does for my writing. Before now, I BSed drafts just to get a grade for having them. But, because the standards were so high this semester, I’ve learned (through Ampersand) to always starts with a base and work up. Reading books like The Grapes of Wrath has also gone a long way in showing me how clean, professional writing looks.Using the combined methods of following the plethora of writing tips I’ve received this year and drafting my work several times, I can assure that my writing next year is polished like a diamond in an engagement ring store.

Historical Reflections

This country has had many influential people at its head, as well as plenty of hardworking humanitarians and inspirational speakers working to better its body. However, there’s only one historical person that we studied who I’d want to have with me during those rough college years, and that person is Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as my counselor. His great leadership skills and willingness to take risk would definitely put me at an advantage when picking classes and generally just planning my college life.

The way he puts everything bluntly is great for someone like me, who can’t deal with subtlety and likes everything to be clear as day. For example, he might tell me that “it is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. (Looking Forward, chapter 2, p. 51)” That isn’t subtle in any way shape or form; he is literally telling his readers to try something, even if you think you will fail. This is great advice for a person who often dismisses a task as too difficult if there’s even a slight chance of failure.

And just thinking about what he did for America in her time of need riddles me with jealousy. I want to be led into recovery and greatness by FDR’s hand. With his words of wisdom on fear (from his First Inaugural Address) and liberal methods of correction, he could lead me in the right direction and get me on the path to success. On a side note, he could easily soothe me with his eloquence and thoughtful words whenever I’m stressed about an essay or project in a class.

But on top of all this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt just seems like a great guy. He seems like the type to encourage me at all times and never let me give up on myself, like he did when America was deeply depressed. With uplifting and funny quotes like, “If we can boondoggle ourselves out of this depression, that word is going to be enshrined in the hearts of the American people for years to come”, how could I not be immediately charmed by his demeanor and personality?

Yes, FDR is truly the perfect candidate for a college-level class advisor and counselor. He’s an incredibly hardworking and motivated person, which I am not, meaning that he can get me in shape so to speak. Having him around would certainly make college a meaningful experience I would never forget.

Literary Reflections

There are plenty of novels with great characters in them, but when it comes to picking just one there’s no question. The one literary character I would take with me would have to be Jay Gatsby. He would make a great companion because he is rich enough to provide me with a comfortable lifestyle while trying to work my way through an overpriced four-year college. Heck, he could just pay for my entire college education. And as for Gatsby as a roommate? No question. He throws the best parties, meaning every day could be Chico State, no matter where I go. So not only am I basically getting a free education by keeping company with him, I can take a break from the drudgery whenever I want.

Gatsby is also the ultimate charmer, with “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it”. In other words, there would be no problem having Gatsby make friends with my professors in order to keep in good standing and ensure good grades on papers. Because of this, I would easily graduate and quickly be on my way to a high-paying job, where I might one day have enough money to properly repay Gatsby for all of his help.

Through his immense wealth and great people skills, college would be a breeze with Gatsby around. Now I just have to devise a plan to keep his bootlegger friends out of my dorm…

Post Trial Reflection

1. The prosecution held that SB1070 was unconstitutional because it violated the rights of all people. They brought John Adams and James Madison to the stand to testify in favor of that belief, as they both had parts in writing the Constitution. They both testified to the (apparent) fact that this bill is unconstitutional and presented the 4th, 6th and 14th amendments (among others) as evidence. Most of the explanations were simply based on the wording of the amendments.

2. The defense held that SB1070 was not unconstitutional because it didn't promote racial profiling or violate the history of American immigration. The defense called Russell Pearce, the author of SB1070; Jan Brewer, the Arizona governor; and Kenneth Collins, a police office gunned down in 1988 by two immigrants. I portrayed Russell Pearce, and his main argument was that SB1070 simply asked Arizonians to be able to identify themselves at all times. Kenneth Collins was obviously biased, yet presented good views on immigrant and citizen safety. I couldn't hear much of Jan Brewer's testimony, to be honest.

3. The most significant piece of evidence, in my eyes, was the Constitution itself. It allowed the prosecution and defense to accurately dispute what SB1070 really said/meant. The second more important piece of evidence, then, would be SB1070. As the entire case revolved around it, explaining its every word was very important to both sides' case.

4. The most significant argument was that illegal immigrants have no rights in America. This brought up a lot of controversy and even required the prosecution to take a harder look at everything already presented in the case. Eventually, they were able to prove that notion wrong by using specific wording from the amendments to the US Constitution.

5. I don't agree with the jury. I was representing the defense, so it may seem like a bias, but I truly believe Arizona is not in violation of any federal laws. I personally think the verdict should have gone the other way, but the jury has the final say.

I think I deserve a 50/50 because I was well prepared for my time on the witness stand. I presented a strong case and made plenty of good points. On a side note, I spoke loudly and the judge never once asked me to speak up. I believe that I did very well in preparation and in speaking. However, I could have done better in a few areas. For one, I could have read and summarized the entire bill, seeing as how I was playing the role of author of SB1070. Another thing I could have done is helped the lawyers out more by providing very specific evidence, like quotes, instead of just linking them to the full source. All in all, though, I think I performed very well, and so did everyone else involved.

Blog Assignment #16: WWII Letters

1. My character is an Italian immigrant in New York. Over 4,000,000 Italians immigrated to the U.S.A., yet I know almost nothing about it. It will be interesting to write from the perspective of an Italian immigrant.

2. http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Ha-La/Italian-Americans.html http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEitaly.htm

3. The tone will be somewhat negative, as Italians were mistreated in America quite a bit. My character will be writing to his family in Italy, who is trying to decide if they should follow in his footsteps. Included in the letter will be the fact that most Italian-Americans are fighting in support of America against Mussolini.