Reflection

The hardest thing for me to learn this semester was adjusting to specific paragraph requirements. Coming out of a program with the same teachers for two years that gave the same types of assignments I had trouble wrapping my head around a one paragraph response. When I managed to do that, however, my full pieces improved from b-ish to a. But that’s not the important part. I’ve noticed that the whole piece comes out clearer and with more purpose when every paragraph is thought about and revised separately. I always used to think writing was something to be done by what feels right where, and that worked some of the time… but limited my audience dramatically.
I hadn’t known much before about Australia. It was a distant island that had nothing to do with me. Now I can close my eyes and see the crocodile’s aborigines worshipped and the root vegetables being pulled from the soil. I hadn’t realized colonization caused so much pain to the natives of nearly every country affected, and Australia was my first glimpse at the truth of the situations.
Ah, Rwanda. It’s one thing to watch a movie and see that something horrible went on there. It’s another thing to watch a movie and know who was involved and what’s really going on. Its yet another to see a movie having invoked the mindset of the people involved and defended or refuted their position. That segment gave me not only an understanding of what really went on in that tiny African country, but what continues to go on across the whole continent; feelings of hatred, confusion, and entitlement, and inspired me to work towards a solution.
The blogs have given me an idea of what it’s like to have an opinion on a regular basis. Having to come up with a topic you can support, a topic of substance, and a topic a reader will enjoy is excellent prep if I ever want to be a writer. Seeing what other people think of my blogs helps me know if I’m on the right track, and occasionally inspires a new train of thought on the same subject.
Weekly articles turned me on to the real world of big boy news. It had always been so dry to read an article, and I blamed it on the people that wrote them. Now I know how to tackle an article so it will always make sense, and can judge its content accordingly. Reading the articles with notes and questions has already helped me care about current events, and is something that I will have whenever I need to know something.
Over all I've learned a lot this semester. I've enjoyed the class and look forward to next semester.