Reflecting Upon Last Quarter

As a part time student at Everett Community College, my path to achieving my Nursing Degree has been long and arduous. I find myself constantly on the brink of being overwhelmed and feeling the need to talk myself off the nearest rooftop. Other than that, I have learned very important time management skills in order to fulfill my academic tasks along with responsibilities of a career all ready in progress. I took away from this class, English 101D OL, a learned patience; one that will allow me to fully listen to another individual and investigate who they really are before passing any judgments. It’s an important skill because we are often forced to interact with many different people from diverse back rounds, different learned behaviors and a vast assortment of personal beliefs and ideologies. Utilizing the text “Remix: Reading and Composing Culture” we explored the themes of communities, identity, and tradition and how assumptions of these themes can keep these stereotypes alive. We were challenged in this class to explore these themes as well as challenge our own personal conceptions via selected readings, group discussions and film analysis.

The four pieces I have chosen will give a brief look into my class throughout the quarter. I have selected “Ending Poem” by Rosario Morales and Ariel Levins Morales to show my ability in critical thinking. This assignment was difficult because poetry is not one of my strengths. Despite that, I felt I did really well in this challenging assignment by dissecting the “voices” within the prose. For the redo assignment I chose the first timed writing assignment. This timed write was a little of a shock because it tested so many aspects of the class all at once and under a time restriction. I ended the first timed write with a question, which I am happy to now have the chance to answer. I have chosen my analysis of “Dude Looks like a Lady” and “To Tame a Wild Tongue” to show my audience and voice. I received a lot of compliments on my analysis and many classmates in my group seemed to have interesting reactions to my thesis. Lastly, for my author’s choice, I chose the last timed write. Looking back at my previous assignments, I reviewed my professor’s suggestions of how to improve my writing and analysis skill and applied it to this task. Based on the grade I received, as well as instructor comments on this assignment, I am most proud of this paper because it reflects my ability to absorb and learn from constructive feedback.

This class challenged me both as a student and as a citizen who deals with the central themes of identity and culture on a daily basis. I enjoyed the challenging course work and felt that I improved my writing and analysis skills. Also as my first online course, I learned new ways to communicate and collaborate with my peers. I hope this portfolio reflects some of my growth and that you enjoy reading it.