Back to Work

Coming back from break can be hard. Everyday during break I had a hard time actually convincing myself to do homework. The past two days I've been doing homework like crazy and I'm not ready to go back to classes tomorrow. I'm excited that there are only three weeks of semester left but I need to get back into the swing of things. A week of relaxing completely got me off my game, time to come back to reality!

The Trouble with Portfolios

Like all of you, I'm sure, I had the brilliant idea to work on my English portfolio over the break.

Needless to say, I have not accomplished all that I wanted to. I partially blame the three other projects I have had to do over the break, but with this break has also come an extreme lack of motivation to do anything.

I've tried to work on everything, when I'm not working that is. I just don't seem to have any motivation to do anything.

I've decided that I am revising my research and personal essays. I feel that those two essays will best represent the progress I have made throughout the semester. I'm not a very personal person to begin with, so write about my life or using life experience was a real change for me. 

My only worry is that my research essay will not turn out the way I want it to. I chose a challenging topic and I fear that will not be able to successfully support the point I am trying to make. Luckily, I have another two weeks with lots of people to help me. In the end, I think everything will turn out alright.

That Fairly Brilliant Thought (is not so brilliant after all)

Like many of us, I had the fairly brilliant thought of what to accomplish over Thanksgiving Break: Work on my Portfolio.

I know that my Personal, Research, and Re-Genre Essay are all begging to be edited, to become better, to not suck as much. But I'm sorry to tell them that I don't know where to start.

 My Personal Essay was so long ago I've forgotten what was wrong with it. There is, no doubt, many things wrong, but I don't know how to go back and edit an essay I wrote as a different person than I am now.

My Research Essay was written not as long ago, and I feel much more confident in it. I know the deeper criticism, and I know the easy fixes. But for the more in depth criticism I was given, I don't know how to start. I was given good criticism- I know that doing what people suggested would improve the essay, but I don't think I can. People suggested to go more in depth on certain aspects of my essay, but there isn't much more to delve into.

The Re-Genre Essay was a surprising success. I wasn't necessarily worried when presenting to the class, but I didn't think it would be good. I thought my imitating of my dad was ridiculous, and I was pretty sure you could hear some jingling in the background that was distracting. Apparently all my inner insecurities about this essay were for naught- it was decent. Got good reviews. And while I sincerely appreciate the good feedback, I don't know how to make it better. This Radio Essay was a first draft, I have to improve upon it. But with the good feedback I got, I don't know where to go, and I'm hesitant to change anything.

I'm someone who likes-no-needs to have a plan in order to move in with their life. As long as I know what I have to do and when I'm going to do it, I can watch Castle now, right?

Needless to say, I'm going to be very happy when I talk to Dr. Ballenger and discuss all these issues and make a plan.

Revising and Re-Evaluating

     I originally thought that the Re-Genre project would be a breeze for me. I had always been interested in radio and the power of words and music, and could think of no better situation with which to get my feet wet and test the waters.
     I thought that creating my radio essay would be extremely easy, seeing as I had a personal essay full of perfect content and the proper production software. It wouldn't just be easy, it would be fun!
It most definitely was fun - because I had proper content, I was really able to focus on the production aspect. I knew I needed to cut back on my content to give the audience time to think, but I chalked that up to it being a draft.
    I expected all of your comments about the pace of the radio essay, and plan to address that in my final draft. What I didn't expect were the comments about the music and it's application in a radio essay. I was a bit dismayed to find that some of you thought that the music added artistic and production value, and that others thought it took away from what I was saying - and not only that- that it actually diminished the importance of what I had to say.
     Although I can see both sides of the argument, as a musician, I am inclined to think that music enhances the message. Walk into any non-denominational Christian church and I will guarantee that the pastor will have some sort of music playing behind the final part of his message, to set the mood. I went into my radio essay with the same approach. I thought that the almost poetry-slam mood would enhance the content of my essay and bring it to life. Apparently, not everyone felt the same.
     Though I will most likely include music in my final draft, I will do so a bit reluctantly. I respect all of you as my classmates, and hold your criticism in high regard. If anything, this project is teaching me how and when to accept criticism and how to use it to revise your work. I just wish I knew how to discern better which criticism I will accept.

Portfolio

I started work on my portfolio and realized this semester has gone so fast. It is crazy to think that we are almost done with our first semester of college. Part of me feels like we just started, like I was just moving in to the dorms and meeting everyone yesterday. Another part feels like I have been here so long. Like these people have been in my life for an astonishingly long time. 

Thus, I have begun work on my portfolio since time often seems to speed up when a large project is due. I have found it really interesting to look back at my old papers. I can see the transformation that I have made as a student and as a writer.

I think it is interesting to note that we have all only been here for a few months but I have, as I am sure so many of you have, experienced such a transition in myself. As Ballenger says, I have had a bit of a learning plateau in a lot of areas of my life in the past few months. But, in a way, it has been a great experience thus far. I am looking forward to the rest of college.

Sorry for the mildly ramble tone to this post. Forgive me for my break laziness.

Finally Getting it all Together

While the draft I turned in on Blackboard of my podcast was not the best, I am proud of it (mostly because I figured out some of the editing). I was terrified that I would be chosen to present to the class. The last thing I want to do is listen to my own voice playing in front of an entire class. I can handle public speaking no problem but having to listen to my podcast with everyone really scares me. I would rather just turn it in and forget about it. While doing my re-genre project, I started to think about the cover letter we will write for our portfolio and I had a moment where I actually think I did learn something. One doesn't go to and English class expecting to learn much; we all know how to write. But I can see what Dr. B is trying to teach us and how he wants us to view academic writing differently. I also started working on my cover letter once I had that epiphany. I am glad I have something real to write about for that instead of having to make something up.

I feel like I have had so much to do these past few weeks and it is finally slowing down a bit and I can get on top of it all. My plan is to work on all of my essays over the break so I can hopefully come back and have my portfolio relatively done. I have every intention of making the most out of this break and getting a lot of my work done... hopefully I can actually stick with it!

The Value of the Re-Genre Project/Ted-X

Somehow I was fortunate enough to be able to do a Ted-X talk for my Re-Genre project. This works pretty well for me because I applied to speak at Ted X in January. Although I'm not sure if I will be selected yet, I feel very grateful that I had the opportunity to try to take a practice shot at it. I watched several videos on how to give a ted-x speech and I feel that I will take skills out of this project that improve my speaking skills either way. I've learned about different inflection/ ways to project your voice intentionally to add emotion to your speech. I was always naturally good at it, but I learned how to take it to the next level. Furthermore, I've always struggled with hand motions. I've often had a habit of "throwing my hands" like a rapper, where almost every word I am speaking with my hands. (I am of course Italian, it isn't my fault, it's in my culture) However, after watching some of these videos I learned how to use your hands at impactful moments so as to help use body language emphasize your point. Body language makes up somewhere between 80-93% of communication. That means words are only a lousy 7%. People decide what they think of you from how you present yourself, how you make them feel. It is often said that an audience will not remember what you said, but rather, the way you make them feel.
The Ted-X talks also do an incredible job of utilizing all 3 types of appeal (Ethos, Pathos, Logos)
The most impressive part of this though is that Ted-X is a master of focusing on the Pathos. it has taught me how to shape my Ethos and Logos in a manner that best appeals to someones Pathos. Again, the Pathos is the most important because a speech is really about how people feel afterwards. One must use their Ethos to build credibility and Logos to deliver a powerful message. The Ted-X guides teach you how to use the boring parts of Logos, like statistics, and make sense of them in a way that not only makes it easy to understand, but also easy to visualize and internalize. The Greeks felt that the ability to be a good speaker was one of the greatest God-Given abilities one could be given. If you look at who society values most highly today, this seems to have remained true through the years. However, Ted-X and the other top speakers of the world know that the ability to be a talented public speaker comes from practice, just like an instrument, you must be honed and constantly considering your every movement and projection.

Editing :(

I have to be honest, editing is my least favorite part of any project. I'm glad I presented before the break, because the feedback I received was very valuable, and will make editing easier. I am one of those people that has so much confidence in my creations, that I tend to not take criticism well, even when it's helpful and well-put. Luckily, I definitely see how I can make my project better by being mindful of what you all said.

So, thanks to everyone who gave me good advice today. I may or may not work on it over break. We shall see!

Re-Genre Project

   Yas! The semester is coming to it's end which means that we all have hundreds of assignments and projects due and we just keep saying to ourselves, "I'll get it done during the break." I feel like this is one of those projects. I feel like the amount of time that I had to work on was so little which just lets to me beleiving that I probably did a terrible work and ruin the message that I wanted to send through my infographic. Hopefully, I will get to work more in detail with in during the break and achieve my final draft while hopefully I'll enjoy much more than this one.

Secret

Guys, I'm about to let you all in on a little secret.

I am absolutely terrified to present my poetry slam today.
I had to video tape my performance (making it easier for Dr. Ballenger to review) and I feel that making this video will take away from the message, away from the effect I was going for.

I am afraid that my poem will make no sense, that the video will look horrible, and that I will horribly embarrassed in the process. However, that is one of the defining characteristics of the genre I am working in. It's full of vulnerability and there really isn't a way to escape that.

Also, I hate watching myself on video tape. If I don't have to sit through it, then it might be better.

Well, enough worrying. It will be over soon enough.

Counting Down the Weeks

Getting closer and closer to the end of semester and I just can't believe how fast it all went! Maybe this is just because this is my first semester in college and I really enjoyed my classes but I feel like this has gone so fast, in high school semesters went so slowly! And in a lot of ways a semester didn't matter in high school because you took mostly the same classes the next semester so may that has a hand in it but I'm so excited for next semester. Just thinking about the semesters to come is exciting but knowing the amount of credits I have to take constantly so I can graduate early is overwhelming sometimes. However, I need to take things one day at a time and I think that's something important to keep in mind, don't think too far in the future focus on now and work your way into the future.

Repurposing Essay

I'm really excited at how my video turned out! I'm not completely satisfied but it's a draft and I think it's pretty good for what it is. My only concern is that I have some blank places (visually) that while I was editing I had an idea to fill them, but since it was late I couldn't get what I wanted so they are still blank. Also I'm not completely sure I'm satisfied with the ending because it may seem slightly cliched but I had people watch it and they said it was fine. However, I'm happy with how it turned out otherwise, I feel like I worked with what I had pretty well. I just hope it's not disappointing when I see it today after the euphoria of finishing has worn off!

The Ongoing Struggle

I've finished the first draft of my radio essay, and I think I'm happy with it.

My radio essay is on my research paper, as I discussed in a previous blogpost. In a nutshell, I'm discussing how I've lived in the Netherlands for the past eight years, now I live in America and not only is the transition between cultures hard, it leaves me asking the question, "Where do I call home? Where can I say I am from?"

Through my research paper I decided that it is ok to have a national identity comprised of both cultures, however this personal struggle of national identity is ongoing. I don't know where I belong--the Netherlands, or America? When people ask me "Where are you from?" it's not as simple as "Oh I'm from Nampa," or, "Oh, I'm from Colorado." I have actually been asked this enough to have it memorized: "I'm American, but I've lived the past eight years overseas in the Netherlands. Why Boise? My grandparents live here, and I have residency in Idaho. Boise is my 'home' in the States."

Personally, I find that my personal national identity is made up of both American culture and European culture, and that is ok. But as I write this radio essay, I feel like it deserves a solid, concrete ending saying "Yes! I am American!" or "Yes! I am European!" that I cannot give it.

Time for a Break

Although the title of my blog my hint that I am more than ready for Thanksgiving break (as I am sure many of you are feeling at this point too) I also meant for my re-genre project. This week has been incredibly busy for me, three quizzes and two tests. And of course, I have been having trouble concentrating because of the thought that almost down to the hour in three days I will be boarding an airplane. But along with my studying, I have also had this project, which has been fun to create. I used it as a break from my others studies. Whenever I felt like I was getting nothing done or found myself on Instagram again, I would start to work on this project. It was much more fun than my other classes and gave me a chance to use my more creative side. This also gave my brain a (small) break. I also believe that not working on my project all at once helped to make it more appealing for my audience because as I got new ideas for it, I would incorpoate them into the project. Although I would not say that I am one hundred percent satisfied with it quite yet, I think it is a very good start and I am happy with how the first "draft" came out. But with that being said, these three days need to hurry up, so we can all go on (real) break!

Finishing Touches

I am finally getting to the point where I am quite satisfied with the outcome of my website. Of course, its not perfect, but I think it is a good website (considering it was the first website I have ever created). Using the research I found on "how to make a good website" I tried to make my website as easy to read as possible, interesting, informative and fun. I have sent the link to my website to some members of my family and they all say they like it. However, they could just be saying this because they are family and want to be nice haha. My uncle is a professor at Northern Arizona University and he is a guide for explorations in the Grand Canyon and on the Colorado River. My grandma gave me the idea to ask my uncle about his experience on the Colorado River since he goes on rafting expeditions on a regular basis. During Thanksgiving break I will talk to my uncle about his first hand experience of the decreased water levels. I could possibly put my talk with him as an interview on my website. I have also added some of my own personal pictures onto my website to show my experience with the Colorado River. My pictures don't really support my claim but I think they are fun and they make the website more personalized. Viewers want to feel a personal connection to the actual website creator. I am going to finish up some more little fixes on my website and get ready to turn it in and present it on Wednesday.

My issues with this project

I spent the weekend debating elitism in education; especially the presence of institutional barriers that prevent impoverished individuals or minorities from accessing education. Thus, I have been contemplating these ideas a lot the past few days.

I arrived home Monday afternoon and was discussing the re-genre project with my roommates. I learned that numerous other classes are requiring something similar. Several of my friends are working on videos, prezis, etc. As we sat there we began to discuss how difficult it was for all of us to work with this technology that we had no understanding us. It then occurred to me that I had experienced this elitism in education at BSU.

Most of the re-genre projects require some sort of sophisticated, expensive technology. Many of them require things like printing or recording equipment that is hard to come by. I am not indicting Ballenger but the university itself. We create this expectation of a certain level of accessibility that may not necessarily be a part of several people's lives. I personally have access to the resources I need for this project but we cannot assume that all are like ourselves. By doing so, we have created a sense of elitism in education that has made education exclusionary.

Just something to consider.

The Struggle for Balance

For the past four days I have been working relentlessly on the script for my poetry slam.
I've twisted my concept to fit so many different angles, trying to capture this idea that I have. I thought I had one today, but that was before talking to Dr. Ballenger.

What is most ironic in this situation is the fact that the poetry slam leaves the narrator vulnerable, something that I am wholly against. I hate being vulnerable, being open to rejection or judgement. In an effort to skirt around this I tried to use sarcasm and bitterness to skirt around my true feelings for the subject. After having Dr. Ballenger read my draft, I realized that there wasn't a way for me to skirt around the vulnerability aspect of this assignment.

I have tried to find a good balance between research and personal feelings/experience and have tried extremely hard to write my poem in such a way as to not offend anyone. If anything, I would like you all to know that I am very conscious of what a touchy subject and I have done my best to not be offending.

Since class time today I have re-written my script, again. I feel that this version not only contains the research I want to present, but does a better job at illustrating my emotions towards the issue. There is some symbolism in my poem that I hope people will understand.

And despite the fact that I think I will have to end up revising it again, I am hopeful that this version will portray exactly what I want.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what you guys think.

Formatting

 I have enjoyed this re-genre project.  It helps that my project requires me to look through old family vacation photos, but I have also enjoyed learning about everyone else’s re-genres. I think the radio essays and the poetry slam will be especially interesting.  I love podcasts myself and find them very interesting so I’m excited to see what my classmates will come up with.  With my project I am now deciding how exactly I should format my photo essay.  The photo essay Braving Ebola that I discussed in class is currently my favorite format.  I liked how it was in a slideshow format with a white background and minimal distractions.  I think I will probably try to set mine up like that.  But I’m still playing around with a few other ideas so we’ll see what I end up with.

Poetry Slams? Yes, yes it does.

Maybe I am just over thinking this, but this script is much harder to write than I originally thought it would be.
I suppose that is because I am trying to find a good balance between statistics and feminist attitude. I am not one of those "man-hating" feminists, and I don't want my project to portray that either. However, as I read what I have written, I feel that all people would take away is the bitter sarcasm in it. I don't want people to just write this off as some 'speech' by just another feminist. I would like people to simply think about how religion might be influencing this issue.

I feel like this is a really big deal that no one seems to know or even consider. It absolutely blows my mind that the general population has not been introduced to this idea. Who would have thought that the gender we consider God to be could be having a profound affect on our thoughts towards feminism and gender equality? And to me, it makes perfect sense, but maybe I'm the only one who sees this connection as significant.

I want to portray just how significant this idea is while not overloading on the attitude.

And besides all of this, the Christmas music on the radio is rather distracting.

When I originally started to think about what to do for me re-genre assignment, I was a little nervous. I didn't know what previous assignment to do and what genre to pick. I finally decided on my personal essay and to do a podcast. Once I started working on my script for the podcast, it came so easily! I was quite surprised how quickly my ideas flowed. I'm approaching the podcast as if I was just talking to a group of people, like any other conversation I might have about the topic to my friends. I think that the podcast genre is much less formal than the regular writing I originally did and that made it easier to write. I'm actually excited about doing this project (probably because I feel like it's easy). My plan is to finish my portfolio during Thanksgiving break so that when I come back I have at least one less thing to worry about.

Okay, I'm sticking to my idea this time!

 So I started this project with a vision in my head of how my research paper would translate into a video. I was all ready to find the proper footage, and put it together and add narration. I knew I could do it, and I was actually prepared. Then, I saw the PowerPoints about the infographic, and I knew that was the genre for me!

After class on Monday, my mind was whirling with all of the new ideas and the new plan of action. I figure I can do a video, which I know from personal experience would take a long time, and make something that's, eh, passable.  Or I can do the infographic in a new format (an idea courtesy of my engineer's brain) that will be much more effective, because I already have a good image that will show what I'm trying to get across. The old, "a pictures worth a thousand words", definitely applies in my case.

I'm excited for my new project! I just hope I can execute the picture I have in my head. If I can do that, I'll be golden!

My Website

I have started to create my website and have actually become quite pleased with my progress. I thought creating a website would be more difficult than it actually was. However, even though it is easy to make a website, doesn't mean that you have created a good website. I want my website to be easy to maneuver through and actually fun to read. I have decided that I am going to add in a survey on my website to keep the website interactive and keep my viewers engaged. I am trying to cut down some of the information on my website so its not too wordy. Obviously, if a website gets too wordy you get overwhelmed and bored with the site. Plus, although the purpose to my website is to inform readers about the crisis of the Colorado River, it is mostly to gain followers for the cause. I want to get the problem noticed. I want everyone to want to join in conserving water. After reviewing my website mock up today I have decided that I want to add in somewhere on my website the actual water levels of the Colorado River. I could probably update the water levels weekly or monthly. I could attach a link to my website that actually brings viewers to another website that updates the water levels at a more frequent rate. I don't want to do this though because I want all of my information on my website. I don't want to make viewers click on many different links and leave my site to go to another website. It is fun to add in different features to my website that I think the viewers will enjoy and appreciate. I have kept the color pallet natural and stayed away from abrasive colors. My background is a faded picture of the Colorado River. Then I have light gray text boxes and white text. All of my headers are a light yellow. I have started adding more pictures to my website and explained the importance of them.

Now what?

I was really worried about my Re-Genre Project (like most of us, I'd imagine).

All I had was a personal essay which was too personal, and a Research Essay that had researchable qualities but was mostly personal.

As much as I want to talk about Third Culture Kids and their struggle in finding a country they belong to, the only audience I can present to that would find this topic immensely interesting would be other Third Culture Kids.

Even my mother was having trouble with how to re-do an essay into a new genre which didn't have much information that you all would be interested in.

Finally, I talked to Dr. Ballenger and he made me realize that I had to attempt this project as if Im delivering it to an audience made up entirely of Third Culture Kids.

Once that was out of the way, the question remained: How do I re-do my research essay about what makes up one's personal national identity into a new form? What form would it be?

Dr. Ballenger informed me that the most obvious form my essay could take would be a radio essay.

Ok.

Now what do I write about?

"Your story."

Ok.

Now what do I write about?

I have so many stories related to me being a Third Culture Kid. Do I talk about when we moved to the NL? Do I talk about living in the NL? Do I talk about moving back to the States? How the transition between Europe and America was? Take directly from my research essay and how I struggled with being both European and American?

I have the beginning of the essay- starting with explaining the situation and when we got the call to move overseas, but I don't have anything after that.

What do I write about?

What experience do I have that is interesting to listen to, moving, and still connected to my research essay?

Re-Genre Project

       For this Re-genre project I have decided to go with an infographic, since my research paper is about the side effects of beauty pageants in young and grown-up participants. It seems like a great way to quickly inform the audience about what might be found appealing to the reader in short pieces of information with a wide range of statistics. I am actually excited about it, I never been too good when it comes to thinking about a really creative or unique way of how to come up with designing a concept for projects like this, but I think that teaming up with others and letting them present your idea about how you are planning to come up with this and letting them share their own, helped me get on a path of what I wanted to add or include on it, maybe even have an idea of how to get it started, etc. I already know what I want to include in my infographic due and thanks to the help of the small groups from last week, however, since we have a limited amount of this to do this project I feel like I may not achieve the outcome that I really am looking forward to.

Re-Genre

I have chosen to create a brochure for my project because I am using my research paper on gluten, and a brochure is a great way to inform a large audience very quickly. I also feel that I have the right information to make my brochure visually appealing but also informative. But it was interesting to see all the other ideas that people came up with their projects. I have never been the most creative person, so I liked listening to others ideas and what they plan to do for their project. I also thought it was very cool how some people want to include their own personal talents into theirs. For example Luke is going to do a podcast for his project, and when we were talking in small groups last week, he said that he wanted to be able to play music in his. This was because not only did he think it would add to his piece, but he loves to play music. Since we have a limited amount of time to do this project, some of the final projects may not be very "final" but I still think it will be very interesting to see the variety of things that everyone will come up.

Re-Genre to Re-Nightmare?

So I've gotten it into my head that I am going to do a poetry slam.

Don't ask me where the idea came from. If I had to guess, it probably came from the part of my brain that is a little out-of-touch with reality. I only know the tiniest bit about poetry slams, and I really have no desire to preform my assignment in front of the class. However, every time I try to start a different genre my brain shuts down and refuses to cooperate.

So, a poetry slam it is.

I am a bit nervous to start this project, but I hope to have quite a bit of fun with it as well. Maybe I would be less anxious if I could just pause time and dedicate myself to this project.
But don't we all wish we could do that?

So, I am going to watch a bunch of poetry slams, write a passionate and angry poem, revise, trash it, write one again, and repeat the process until I think I can maybe, kind of do this thing. I look forward to sharing with all of you, and I cannot wait to see other projects as well. I think we are all going to have a bit of fun with this new assignment.

Re-genre

I have to admit that I am a bit terrified of this project. I am doing a video and I have actually never used a video software. In fact, I literally just downloaded a video editing software. I am quite worried that it will be an absolute mess.

However, one of the parts of my project I needed was a video of a debate. I got these by starting to take videos of practice rounds. It was incredibly interesting. I have never watched myself debate so that was a very self-actualizing experience for me. Further, it was very interesting to watch myself interact with my teammates between speeches and before the start of the round.

I would encourage you to record yourself doing something. Anything. I learned a lot about myself doing so and I imagine most people would. The way we perceive our actions is quite different from the actual actions we take.

Re-genre project

I’m a little tentative to start the re-genre project. It’ll be the first time I've truly used Photoshop in over a year, so I’m worried my skills are a bit out of practice. Though at the same time, I’m happy that I get to try again.

For so long in High school the only design experience I had was putting together text and pictures to create a newspaper layout. Even though I loved doing it, it had started to get a little tedious. It was simple and not a lot of design strategy went into it. I miss putting in the effort to make something look interesting, finding colors that work well together, and choosing the perfect font.

It’s a little strange that the first opportunity to do something like this would be for an English class.
As I was researching an infographic in class on Wednesday words like juxtaposition and typography came up and it reminded me of my freshman graphic design class. I had forgotten how much I liked designing things, and this project will hopefully bring back the motivation to start designing again.

I've never done an infographic before though, so it will be a new experience for me. I don’t even know where to start, but hopefully the ideas will come to be easily like they have done in the past.

Communication-it's what we need to be successful

As I spoke with professor Ballenger at our last conference, something came up that seems to be the great force driving this class to its greatest potential--communication. Ballenger stated that, never before, had he seen so many of us going up to professors and important people to ask for help in our research papers, personal essays, and other scholarly things. This, I must agree, has been what has made this class so special.

I never realized how important this really was until I decided to ask around about my research topic. Being an athletic training major with a research topic of concussions, I had many people to speak to, I just hadn't taken the time to actually talk to them. In one of my huge lecture classes, I have a professor named Dr. Koob. She is an amazing teacher and, honestly, a bit of a unapproachable god in my eyes. I finally pushed past the fear of saying something stupid in front of her (again) and asked her about concussions. Immediately, her face lit up and she went on about how that was exactly the type of thing we were talking about in the next unit and that it was even in the book. That moment when I finally stepped up to talk to her is when I truly realized the importance of communication. I can now talk to her about grades and I also know she is there for me if I need help improving my essay or info-graphic. This moment when I realized how important communication is, has helped me approach so many people and ask the questions I need to ask to put me in the right position to drive my future and make me the best person and athletic trainer I can be.

Personal Essay Photos

I'm hoping to re-genre my personal essay. My personal essay was about traveling and the impact it has on me. Specifically, the impact seeing the Normandy D-Day beaches had on me. My plan is to dramatize that essay using a photographic essay. I have lots of photos from my trip there. I'm hoping to display some of my photos next to old photos of the beaches. Maybe displayed next to photos on the actual day of the invasion and photos of the aftermath of the invasion. I plan on including a few quotes from maybe my actual essay but also a variety of other quotes.  I'm going to try and find quotes from the days leading up to D-Day and the days right after, maybe some Churchill and Eisenhower quotes.   We'll see how this goes. I love photography so I'm excited to work with some older photos. But, most importantly, I will try my best to be respectful of this topic and all it means. Visiting the beaches impacted me deeply and I want to highlight that while giving honor where it is due. Hopefully I can compile a photographic essay that accomplishes these goals. I'm excited to get to work. 

What I'm Thinking

     Though this is not directly related to the re-genre project, I feel the need to blog about my thoughts recently. Though they may be relevant only to me, I feel as though many other students may be going through the same thought process that I am.
     Perhaps it's the intellectual environment of a college campus, or perhaps it's simply the current stage of life I'm in, but recently I've been struggling to find meaning and a greater purpose in my existence. I've been thinking about the way that I live and what I believe, and how they change the world around me. I wonder - if I don't know myself and what I stand for, how can I possibly have a positive impact on the world around me? Why am I here? Why am I a computer scientist? How important is my faith to me? Do I think in a way that is conducive to my faith? Is my faith curtailing my intellectual development or exploration? Am I preparing myself to lead a life that matters? These are the questions that I'm currently seeking the answers to.
     A college education is definitely not essential to change the world. Countless professionals and leaders have made huge positive contributions to society without a degree. However, I feel that at this stage in my life, I'm meant to be here at Boise State, learning, honing leadership skills, making friends, etc. I've learned as much outside the classroom as I have inside, chiefly by interacting with my peers and my professors. It's amazing how much one can learn through simple conversations, if you pay close enough attention.
     Why do I post about such things? Well, I've noticed how the process of academic inquiry and critical thinking are essential when seeking the answers to these questions. Though I haven't found what I seek yet, I've been able to focus my questions and introspection by using the aforementioned techniques.
     I also just watched a thought-provoking and inspirational documentary on a San Diego legend, Slomo, a man who had it all and gave it up to rollerskate down the Pacific Beach Boardwalk every day. The link can be found here, and I highly reccommend you take the 15 minutes to watch it:

http://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000002796999/slomo.html

Slomo's inherited motto, "do what you want to", gave me a new outlook on the possible answers to my questions. Perhaps I am here, learning and honing my skills, simply to do what I want to do. Perhaps a life of significance can only be measured by oneself, not by others? Maybe the ultimate acheivement is to be able to lie on one's deathbed, look back on life, and be satisfied and happy with how you spent your time?
     I hope this post isn't too long - it definitely strayed into the territory of my personal essay. I think I may explore some of these thoughts with my radio essay re-genre.

Re-Genre Project

I have been trying to come up with some ideas for my website. I thought that I would pick a layout that I liked and just put my information wherever I thought it would look good. However, when Dr. Ballenger had us research our media genre I learned that there was much more behind the scenes thought into creating a website. Even if I want to make my website cute and glitzy I realized that having a busy website is the exact opposite of what viewers want. A website needs to be simple, clean, and easy to read. I also learned through my research that the content needs to be short and concise but also needs to hook your reader within ten seconds. This made me rethink how much information I would be able to put into my website. Nobody is going to want to read all of the facts I want to display. So, I will need to choose the most important facts that will have the biggest impact. My website needs to be functional and correct. I can't have any misspellings! I also need to remember who my audience is. I am making this website for the viewers not me. I need to try to make my website original. I have to come up with some clever things that will make my website stand out from everybody else's website. The website has to be fun and engaging. The most important aspect to making a good website is having a purpose. I can't get distracted with saying too much stuff on my website. I have to SOFT!

Stoked to Re-Genre

I have been waiting this entire semester to have an assignment that is more than just a paper. I love using Photoshop and Adobe Elements to create cool things. My mom is a graphic designer, and my dad is a scientist, and I inherited both sides. I am going into Material Science, but there's that part of me that would love to just major in art. Doing projects like this are essential for me to unleash my creativity. I am so excited for my project, especially since I already have a vision. I'm looking forward all the more to Thanksgiving break because that's when I will have access to the programs I need to complete my vision. I have a feeling I might run into problems once I get started, but for now I am extremely hopeful and stoked to see what I will create!

Re-Genre

This re-genre project sounds like a challenge to me. Part of me is really excited for what is coming up, but at the same time I feel like it is going to take a lot of time and patience, which is something that I really don't have, to succeed in it. I am still not so sure as to what media I wanted to use for my project maybe, a sort of photographic essay or a slide show not, so sure yet there are so many ways I can go with on this one. I have decided, however, to do it based on my personal essay which is why it may come as a challenge in some point. It would be fun though, getting out of the usual type of thing that we do in english class and focus into something else while still keeping up wiith what you are meant to do in an english class.

This week I totally scrapped my research paper and started over, approaching it a new way. Along with way, I found that free writing and talking to the author can really help. I took an article and copied it into word then read it while keeping my fingers at the ready to type a response or an idea or a solution or question or…well, you get the idea—I was on a roll. Never before did I realize the potential for these articles to be, not only regurgitated, but also manipulated. It is like having a conversation within the text, there just isn't a response. Going through this article and responding to it before I took it apart really gave me a reason to read it and a direction to go when it came to placing the facts in the paper. I am so thankful this has finally clicked and I am actually excited to research now! Let the conversing begin!

Re-Genre Value

I have to say that, although it's early, I think this may turn out to be one of the most valuable assignments that we do. This is because it has application to more than just writing. One of the flaws of many general education classes is their lack of interconnectivity among other courses. English is JUST about writing, Biology ONLY about science etc. Teaching this way is fundamentally flawed and lacks real world application. In the real world we often have to combine multiple different knowledge bases and skill sets in order to produce the kinds of works that employers search for.
Right now my topic and the way I plan to re-genre it is of particular interest to me. As many of you know I've been working on the militarization of law enforcement. Basically, this is the policy of old military equipment being given to police units across the nation. This ultimately creates a lot of otherization and is not conducive to the goals of the justice system, in particular serve and protect. While an essay can articulate the links that exist here and begin to make someone understand, they ultimately fail to capture the big picture alone.
That's why it's important to repurpose this essay into a powerpoint presentation with a speech. The powerpoint allows an audience to see the full image of destruction that militarization creates which one can also couple with statistics and stories in a speech to create a powerful multi appeal presentation.
Actually, as I type this I am about to go work on an application to speak at Ted-X. Ted-X has a huge emphasis on the ability to combine these skills to articulate some point. This assignment comes at just the right time to get some practice in for this.

Re-Genre

I am excited to start this re-genre project. It is nice to do something in an English class that isn't just the traditional essay. I am going to use my research essay for my project. My research essay was about the crisis of the Colorado River Basin drying up. The Colorado River provides water for human consumption for all people in the South West region of the United States. The purpose of my project is definitely supposed to inform people but it is also to persuade people. I want to inform people about the crisis of the Colorado River drying up. They need to know what would happen to the region and the people/animals living in it if the man water source that they depend on dried up. Most people don't even know what is happening to the river. A lot of people probably don't even know exactly where the Colorado River runs or what lakes are connected to it. So, I want to inform people on this topic. However, I also want to persuade people to make a change. They need to learn to conserve water and save the river. I want to persuade people to realize that their efforts could make a difference in the survival of the river, whether it be big or small, anything could help.
         The media I wanted to use for my project is to make a website. I think a website would be a perfect way to inform people about what is going on and persuade them to make a difference. There could be a mix of pictures and important information. I think it would be fun to make a website! I've never made a website before so if anyone has any ideas for doing this or any precautions let me know!

Re-Genre Assignment

Although this assignment sounds very interesting and will be a nice break from writing essays, I think mine will be very relevant and useful. I wrote my research essay on the diseases and disorders that go along with gluten, and also the why "gluten free" has become the new fad and how a gluten free diet is not as beneficial for those without some type of sensitivity to gluten, as the current media is portraying it to be. Because this is such a new and current topic, I believe that creating a brochure with some easy to read facts and information could be very helpful. Since most will not do the necessary research about gluten before they choose to change their diet. But since a brochure is short and visually appealing, many would be much more inclined to read about the topic. This way they can be educated on the topic and be able to make informed decisions.
And even though most of you reading this are not considering changing your diet to gluten free (although there could be some because it is growing in popularity so quickly), it is still important to know about since it is growing so quickly, and is changing the type of food choices they have avialable at the grocery store and at restaurants. And although I was never considering changing my own diet to gluten free, I have known so many people with celiac disease, or gluten sensitivities, or just gluten free and I was so curious about all of this. So I am glad I choose this as my topic for the essay because I feel like I know so much about the topic now. And if anyone reading this is interested too, you can read my brochure just in case you do not want to read twelve pages on gluten.

Blog Assignments

Are there anymore blog assignments that are based off of readings? I just want to make sure that I'm not missing anything because the syllabus just says to be announced. On that same note are there more readings we need to do? Thanks for the help I just wanted to double check I wasn't forgetting anything.

Holidays are Coming

I cannot wait to go home for Thanksgiving! It'll be a great break but from what I've heard it might not be as relaxing as I'm hoping for. I've heard people say that there are a lot of things due when we come back but I haven't look that far ahead in my schedules yet because I'm afraid of losing my peaceful break. I love the holidays because it's just a wonderful homey feeling even when your not home. 

However, it will bother me immensely if people start singing Christmas carols now. I'm sorry but they can get annoying when they're just sung in December starting at this point would just cause me to have a psychotic break. Don't get me wrong I love Christmas but I just don't enjoy the music very much. But at least it'll fun to have holidays on the brain for a while.   

Observation

I was driving back to BSU from Nampa today (yes, yes I live in Nampa, I know, the horror) and I was contemplating about how good things have been this week. I have been on top of my homework, I have had some fun plans, etc., etc.
And then I got home and decided I really needed some soup because it was absolutely freezing (yes, yes I have lived in Idaho my entire life and I hate the winter the exact same amount every year). I can't open this can of Campbell's and I just really really want it. Long story, short, I sliced a large piece out of my finger. And jeez. It hurt.
So I am sitting there awhile later with a bandage and I think the best way to make myself feel better is to get some chocolate. I go to grab my chocolate that I just bought and I notice I accidentally bought the chocolate with almonds. I hate almonds.

While this isn't the most tragic of events, the evening didn't go as planned which got me thinking. Do you ever feel like the second you realize things are going well they start to go horrible? That always seems to happen to me.

However, as I sat there without soup or chocolate I realized that there were some juice boxes in my fridge. I think that's a wonderful metaphor. Even when things feel like they're going horrible there is always something good going on.

Halloween 1960 something

The importance of the personal

What a pleasure to meet with all of you in conference this week.  With very few exceptions, you all put in a good effort on your research essay drafts, and many of you experimented with new approaches that were inspired by our discussions so far this semester. When pressed, many of you said that what was different about these research essays was that they were more "personal," and this is something I'd like to look at a little more closely.

For many of you, "more personal" meant that you did two things you don't usually do in academic writing:  use the first person and include personal experience and observation.  Both moves, of course, are quite common in popular writing, especially creative nonfiction, but less common in academic writing.  We talked in the beginning of the semester about "rules of evidence," and how these change depending on the level of expertise of a writer's audience.  Popular writing has pretty loose rules--information can come from a range of sources, including personal experience--and formal academic writing has stricter rules--often evidence must come from "authoritative" sources or experimental data. (By the way, you might be surprised that some academic writing does use the first person, but that's another story).

So depending on what you're writing and for whom, you will make the rhetorical decision about whether to say "I" or use relevant personal experience.  This semester, we're writing for a general audience.

But there are other reasons to "get personal" that will help you as an academic writer.

First, all writing is personal.  Even the most formal academic prose uses language that can never be "objective" because language itself is always socially constructed--shaped by temporary (and often contested) agreements about what a word means.  But on a less theoretical level, writing is personal because it always reflects your particular interests, the way you think, the questions you ask, the things you emphasize, and so on.  So consider that nearly everything you, even if it doesn't use "I," is personal.  This foray into personal writing also reinforces an idea that we've discussed this semester:  that everything we write is "narrated" by us--we are the guiding hand, leading readers through our thinking, the information we think is important to understand, and so on.  Finally, when we do experiment with borrowing a few techniques of storytelling in our informational and persuasive writing, we access a kind of thinking--narrative thinking--that focuses our attention on things we tend to ignore in thesis-driven, hierarchical logic: context.  Narrative thinking (and inquiry) suggests that the way we can understand things is to look closely at who an idea exists in the world we live in, a complex and interesting place.  Some academic disciplines  (business, nursing, anthropolgy, etc.) make this a research focus through things like case study and ethnography.

What I hope you see is that this experiment with the personal isn't just an "creative" Englishy thing but a relevant writing and intellectual practice, one that should help you as a student as you move forward.