Final reflective Letter

Dear Antoine,

For every class, there should be different goals in which your professor should strive to guide his or her students towards. Throughout the quarter, your professor will hope to help you achieve these so-called “Student Learning Outcomes” until the time the class is completed. This can be proven in multiple ways, whether it’s the students’ participation in class, how much effort is placed in every assignment, and/or their overall grade. For my English class, I successfully achieved my Student Learning Outcome by continuously updating my blog with assignments that evidently proved my overall progression.

A thesis statement can arguably be the most difficult feat in essay writing, but the paper is not considered an essay without one. Its expected purpose is to help the reader acknowledge exactly what you intend to prove in your essay. From the given topic of the essay prompt, the thesis must not be too broad, but enough to write a certain amount of topic paragraphs required. At the same time it has to be a clear and reasonable statement that demonstrates your understanding of the topic. In my essay, “The Path to Educational Success,” I wrote a strong, yet broad thesis: “We have to always remember that there exists a huge divide of economic and educational inequality within society, and that there are many improvements needed to be made to our educational system that better align students’ passions with financial success.” Over the quarters, I have experimented on whether it’s best if I thought of a thesis first or after I have completed my body paragraphs. I finally realized that it was more efficient for me if I created a broad thesis sentence first and then alter it after completing my body paragraphs. That way, a stronger thesis statement could be formed from combining the ideas and topics from every paragraph. It may seem as though the thesis is clustered with too many ideas, but after reading the essay you can see that it correlates with everything well. 

The key to writing a good essay is to provide a variety of different sentence structures. It helps with sentence flow and paragraph cohesion. Throughout the quarter, it was not only important to complete the essay assignment, but to also underline different sentence structures. We didn’t spend much quality class time going over the different variations – appositives, adjective clauses, dependent clauses, etc – but it should already be something taught throughout high school. Compared to the first essay written for the class, I can pinpoint over 20 different types of sentences used in my most recent essay, “The Importance of History.” With the reminder to underline these sentences before turning in the assignment, it allows me to be aware of what needs to be implemented. Keeping that in mind as we progress through the quarter, each essay should substantially improve in quality.

Communication was never my strongest trait, but it steadily improved with every class I attended. Every week when we met up for class, it involved a lot of group activity. Instead of sitting through boring lectures, I felt like I learned a lot more through the sharing of ideas with other students. The only way for the student to learn or the group to pass, communication was the key. This was proven through my presentations - “The Path to Educational Success” and “Living in a Transnational World: Society’s Ideals” - where I worked together with my partners to synthesize our ideas into one successful presentation. As a group, we created Google presentation slides as visualization to be embedded onto our blogs. I was also able to get in front of class and teach a whole chapter to the class the way that my group thought would be learning productive. Sometimes learning doesn’t just come from listening, but also from teaching.

I’ve never considered myself as a good writer, but I was always open to challenging myself. I’ve gained an incredible amount of knowledge through attending classes and improved in both reading and writing. My professor was able to help me achieve my Student Learning Outcomes and I have the blog to prove it.

The Importance of History

                History is often overlooked when compared to other studied grade school subjects. It pales dramatically next to topics like writing, mathematics, and science, classes which hold a clear, immediate use.  It is so lowly regarded that when students are asked to list their favorite school subjects, history is mentioned at the bottom of the list. Memorizing old historical events, people, and dates - items that no longer seem relevant in today’s fast paced society - can be boring and tedious. History, however, is always implemented in children’s curriculums for very important reasons: so that we, as a society, can understand what makes up the fabric of our present lives, and most importantly, to learn from the mistakes of the past. We’re creating history every moment of every day, improving ourselves with each passing second. For a thriving future to exist, it’s essential to grasp the importance of history within society and ourselves. It is absolutely eerie how certain events have repeated themselves in definite historical patterns. The distinct abundance of paralleled events throughout time teaches us that it’s important to understand the past to create a better, more tolerant future.

People often joke, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Understanding the past will honor our ancestors’ sacrifices and bloodshed for the peaceful tomorrow many died for. Our generation, with new technology and a greater desire for peace, shouldn’t let their deaths be in vain. Unfortunately, we often fail to see the all too familiar signs and patterns. World War II occurred with similar beginnings as World War I. Germany tried to take over the world twice – once in 1914, and another time in 1939. The fall of the Persian, Greek, Roman, and British empires were eerily similar. The oil crisis has occurred four times. The world trade center was attacked twice. The economic crisis of 2008 flashed warning signs similar to the Great Depression’s beginnings in the 1930s. The list goes on and on; it is fascinating to see the number of wars, famines, failed empires and political systems, and scandals which have repeated themselves. It is truly a tragedy if we continue to let the mistakes of yesterday continue into the present.

Gerorge Satayana once famously said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It is essential to examine how different events intersect and how people behave in groups, as human beings tend to suffer similar follies and commit the same errors. Life is about making choices, whether good or bad, but it’s our responsibility to learn from these mistakes and improve society for the better. The events of Ellis Island, for example, act as a constant reminder to treat people with equality. Millions of immigrants were regarded as mere tools instead of human beings. Their sacrifices of blood, sweat, and tears should not be easily forgotten. Many immigrants spent their lives’ fortunes to attempt the long journey to America. Many died or were sent back due to the horrible, disease infested conditions immigrants were forced to bear on that island while waiting for citizenship. As a result, “the island’s history includes reports of three thousand suicides” (Gordon 433). Leaving everything behind with nowhere else to go, suicide was not an uncommon route to escape the harsh reality. Despite that lesson, even today, immigrants are still being treated with no respect. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), “the Department of Justice (DOJ) has proposed a rule that explicitly excludes immigration detention facilities from coverage under the Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA)” (Sexual). In 2007 alone, almost 200 detainees stated that they were sexually abused. Most of the incidents occurred during transfer to the airport for deportation, since detainees’ pleas no longer mattered once stripped of their human rights.  It is important to look upon our history, remember our ancestors as former immigrants, and treat people with love and decency. 

Living in a transnational world, we must realize that there are different cultures with sometimes radically different values, so people have differing and conflicting perspectives. Instead of treating each other differently depending on the pigment of their skin, gender, or where they came from, we should adapt to understanding human behavior through the study of cultures and realize the unique similarities people as a whole share. We must learn to understand each other through history so that we can avoid doing anything to harm them through our words and actions. In an article called “Slumdog Tourism” by Kennedy Odede, a tour group in Kibera, Africa went “into the home of a young woman giving birth. They stood and watched as she screamed. Eventually the group continued on its tour, cameras loaded with images of a woman in pain” (Odede 519). In the US, Americans as a society understand the concept of privacy and respecting boundaries. As soon as this tourist group stepped outside the borders of the US, their morals were thrown aside when placed in an unfamiliar environment. The history of slums differs from place to place, but it’s usually consisted of the very poor and the socially disadvantaged. It’s great that this group wanted to support the slums through charity from the tours, although they should have sympathized a little more to see Africans as human beings and not animals in a zoo. Peace results from empathy and understanding.

It’s also important to know where we have been in order to know where we are going. In my personal experience, I wouldn’t be where I am today if my parents did not journey by boat through the Pacific Ocean from Vietnam to America. They came here with nothing but the clothes on their backs, confused on the next step, yet happy to be on the land of the free. My family worked minimum wage jobs while beginning their education from the bottom. They were the oldest students in their classes; even though it took some time, the important thing was that they completed high school with only each other’s help. My family did not want me to be born into a world where I had to share their suffering. Growing up, they provided for me as I needed so that I wouldn’t have to go through their past hardships to gain happiness. They guided me from childhood to my adolescent years, telling me stories of the past, differentiating rights from wrongs, and correcting my choices in life to help benefit me and my future. Knowing this, I’m grateful for everything my family has gone through for me. It helps build character and my motivation to educational success. Everything I do is for them. You don’t know the meaning of living until you understand the roots of your history because the past helps you appreciate the present and gives it purpose. 

A Church Historian, William Lund, once said “we study the past to understand the present; we understand the present to guide the future.” This quote can be interpreted in many ways, but one important translation could be the understanding of your family’s history of genetic diseases. According to an article called “Genetics and Family History,” it states that “a complete and accurate family history is one of the most powerful tools available for recognizing genetic conditions” and that it “could lead health care professionals to recommend management that could prevent the symptoms of the condition from appearing” (Genetics). On my dad’s side of the family, half of my blood related aunts and uncles have been diagnosed with cancer, of the breast, lung, and heart varieties. Out of my father and his five siblings, three are still “healthy,” including himself. My uncle, who has lung cancer, probably accelerated its onset through bad health choices such as poor diet and smoking. The frightening lesson I’ve learned is that cancer can happen to those who were healthy to begin with. Acknowledging my family’s history of cancer, I have prepared myself by eating healthy and exercising daily. Everything nowadays has a chance of leading to cancer, so my personal health needs to be protected; the important thing is that I’m doing what I can to prevent any mishaps. With that in mind, I can look forward to leading a healthier future for myself. As for the rest of society, this is an important tool to living a longer, healthier life and being there for your loved ones. Nowadays there are records of people still surviving as the world’s longest living human beings. As a result of learning and studying our past, we have greatly advanced our medicinal field. History spans the breadth and width of our daily lives, touching parts we didn’t even know had a connection to it.

                It may not seem as though history is important, but we are making history every second that passes by. Your history will always follow you wherever you go, so it’s up to you to decide what kind of person you want future generations to see you as.  Over the centuries, there have been many catastrophic events marked with tragedy and horror. We try to remember history through monuments, literature, and teachings, so that we learn to not repeat our past mistakes. Still, not all history should be regarded as backward or a mistake. To avoid reinventing the wheel, we must always carefully document and keep records of our findings to continue to improve our technology and knowledge to pave the way to a better tomorrow. History is the utter and absolute astonishment in our world’s culture. We’ve come a long way from living in caves and hunting with spears. History opens the mind, our beliefs and perceptions, creating a gateway to a more promising generation.

Works Cited

“Genetics and Family History.” Genetics in Wisconsin Resources for Families & Professionals. 2012. 2013

                June 19. http://www.slh.wisc.edu/genetics/genetics-and-family-history.dot.

Gordon, Mary. “More Than Just A Shrine: Paying Homage to the Ghosts of Ellis Island.” Reading Culture.

                Eds. Diana George and John Timbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012. 431-435.

Odede, Kennedy. “Slumdog Tourism.” Reading Culture. Eds. Diana George and John Timbur. Boston:

                Pearson, 2012. 518-519.

“Punishments.” Braden & Tucci A Professional Law Corporation. 2013. 25 June 2013.

                http://wiki.caduilaw.com/index.php/Punishments

“Sexual Abuse in Immigration Detention.” ACLU American Civil Liberties Union. 2011 October 19. 2013

                June 19. http://www.aclu.org/sexual-abuse-immigration-detention.

                 

Living in a Transnational World: Society's Ideals

Video Response #6

The Path to Educational Success

Modern day education relies on the principle that "schooling is the key to success." Despite having this belief indoctrinated into them by many teachers and families, nearly half of all college students still drop out before completing their degree every year, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. School budget cuts, economic hardship, laziness, are all examples of the many reasons students lose motivation. This shocking statistic puts America behind most other poorer countries, including Japan, Slovakia, and Poland (Waldron). However, it is important to note that education still provides an important, safe route to gaining a better life. While some of the aforementioned dropouts leave school because they believe in their own capabilities and ability to succeed outside of formal education, many of those who "make it" in their young twenties in the startup era without the help of a degree, often possessed financial assistance or came from middle class and well to do families. For those from low-income households or bad neighborhoods, education, despite its challenges, can provide the best path to a middle-class wage. We have to always remember that there exists a huge divide of economic and educational inequality within society, and that there are many improvements needed to be made to our educational system that better align students’ passions with financial success.

            Every year there is an increasing number of students who drop out due to financial hardship, while others try to work side jobs while studying and competing with those from supportive families. According to a Harvard study done in 2011, one factor in high drop-out rates is the rising cost of a college education. The total amount of student loan debt held by Americans is over $1 trillion, and the cost of college has skyrocket since the 1980's (Waldron). In "Lessons from My Year as a Freshman" by Rebekah Nathan, she states that educational funding is decreasing due to the "pressing needs of health care, welfare and prisons. Between 1985 and 1995, states across the country slashed their direct appropriations to universities by almost 25 percent. By 2000" it was "half of the public university budget" (Nathan 133). In result, it leads to less financial aid and fewer chances for every student to be approved. At this point, balancing a job and going to school may be too tough for some. So students drop out, getting stuck working their minimum wage jobs for the rest of their lives. But why are students trying to attend college in the first place? In a large auditorium of college freshman, a motivational speaker asks "why are you here?" (Nathan 136). The speaker was no one famous, but she was good looking, entertaining, and knew how to captivate the students' attention. It was clear that her audience knew the importance of education and had passion. Two issues arose: many of them wanted to continue schooling, but the question of money always became an issue. The trade-off became more obvious when looking at a life time of crippling school loans and a higher unemployment rate. The second issue revolved around that of certain school subjects being higher-paying (medical versus art history). This problem leads to the most talented youth choosing security over developing talent. Education today needs to stress the importance of how it can change lives but at the same time tie to students' interests and motivations. More importantly, federal funding to universities and schools should never be compromised by other factors - each new generation represents the future of a country.

            Education should be more personalized and attentive, especially in lower-income neighborhoods where the importance of motivation is the key. With school funding being decreased every year, it's difficult to hire fully qualified teachers who would make an effort in helping their students excel academically. In a PBS documentary called "Precious Knowledge," one of the students at Tucson High School said that what the teachers were teaching "was so interesting. [He] could not stop thinking about it. [He] would go home with articles and [he] would start reading them over and over. [He] started getting A's and B's" (Palos). Even though the classes were based on critical thinking, the methods were fun and interesting. The teachers were funny and they made sure every student got the chance to express themselves in class.  It was their way of connecting with the students, and it worked. Sometimes when you're a young teenager, you need that push from either your parents or your teachers to get you through school. It's not until you realize for yourself your goals for the future that you can push yourself to the limit. One of the great, innovative programs today is “Teach for America”, a non-profit organization that recruits graduates from Ivy League and other top universities to teach for a couple of years at very low-income and low-performing schools. Their results so far have been really inspiring; more institutions like this need to be put in place to strengthen our nation’s education system. It’s a sad truth that the most intelligent and gifted students usually go on to more lucrative careers than teaching.

Most students on college campus today can tell you what career they have in mind for the future, but going through with it and putting the time and effort into it is a different story. In “Outliers”, Malcolm Gladwell uses three success stories - Bill Joy, the Beatles, and Bill Gates - to prove his formula to mastering something, which is about "ten thousand hours of hard practice" because "ten thousand hours is the magic number of greatness" (Gladwell 41). Gladwell believes that if you had not invested enough time to reach your goal, you can only go so far with it. To dedicate 10,000 hours though mathematically meant about 10 years of your life. Of course this does not mean that if you are not willing to practice 10,000 hours, then you won't succeed - the formula was meant for outliers. Those that practiced 8,000 hours or even as low as 4,000 hours still was able to land a job that they aimed for. This would translate to a certain amount of years in college, which in return would mean the possibility of earning your degree. It proves to society that you made the effort to study a certain amount of hours to get yourself where you want to be.

The most difficult thing about school is showing up to classes and dreading the hours of lectures. It's hard to learn when the teaching methods are dull. Whenever I got back from Chemistry lecture, I would go on YouTube to find videos of a Chemistry professor to reteach me the material. The professor's videos were organized and many examples were used. If I ever got confused, I could just rewind with a click of the mouse. I believe more classes should start being online with weekly videos implemented in place of showing up to school. Since school funding is decreasing every year, schools should stop trying to build more classrooms. Students will save money and time by not commuting and by watching videos from home. Those who are usually quiet in class will be able to ask questions from home comfortably through email. This in return would require a responsive teacher who can clarify their teachings through videos. It may be an imperfect idea as of now, but a few classes are already doing it - there just needs to be more.

Completing college is still the correct way to land a stable future, but it's not the only option. Sometimes school might not be for everyone. We all have different goals and our own ways of getting there. We are now in the generation of startups, and any idea that can improve or simplify society can one day be a million dollar idea. Every year, the co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, picks out "24 people under 20 who have agreed to drop out of school in exchange for a $100,000 grant and mentorship to start a tech company" (Miller). Hundreds of people apply, but only a few are approved in attempt to make a difference for the world. Even without Peter Thiel's help, many others are still driven to start their own tech companies every day. Ideas like a picture album app that allows others to only post comments called Instagram was sold to Facebook for one billion dollars. This is the time to bring your simple ideas to life to climb to the top.

          Whether it's finding a job you love to do, or a career that earns you a lot of money, you are still your own motivation. We live in a society where we always want more than what we need. It’s what drives everyone to success, but it’s important to do what makes you happy. In the end, it’s still you doing all the work to build a better future for yourself – to be content with where life has taken you.

Works Cited

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. Little Brown: New York, 2008.

Miller, Claire Cain. "Want Success in Silicon Valley? Drop Out of School." NYTimes.

2011. 2013 May 25. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/want-success-in-silicon-valley-drop-out-of-school/

Nathan, Rebekah. "Lessons from My Year as a Freshman." Reading Culture. Eds.

            Diana George and John Timbur. Boston: Pearson, 2012.

Palos, Ari Luis (Director). (2012). Precious Knowledge [Film]. Arizona. Tempe: Dos

            Vatos Productions.

Waldron, Travis. “Study:Nearly Half of America’s College Students Drop Out Before

Receiving A Degree.” ThinkProgress. 2012. 2013 May 25.

http://thinkprogress.org/education/2012/03/28/453632/half-college-students-drop-out/

Video Response #5

Gamers R Us

Gamers R Us

          USA Today reports that 54% of Americans play video games weekly, a strong indicator of the evolving gamer culture in the country. This number is helped by the rise of interest in online social games, bolstered by increasing technological advances in smartphones and computers. Frank N. Magid Associates reports that "gaming behaviors continue an upward trend with engagement levels up year-to-year. This is a testament to the profound way the industry has evolved. We are seeing more consumers play on mobile, tablet and social platforms, while gamers with Internet connected consoles now have more options for entertainment at their fingertips in addition to strong triple A titles" (USA Today). Within this video game culture exists multiple subcultures which can be categorized by game type and gamer classification: hardcore vs. casual. The core values and beliefs of hardcore gamers consist of escapism - the power and belief that you can play as anyone you want and be whomever you want, reflected through the gamer worship and cosplay of their favorite characters.

           The gamer culture is pervasive across America with more players everyday.  Titles such as Nintendo, Playstation, Mario, and Zelda, which are now common household names, have achieved cult status amongst its fans. Massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG), which are more widely participated in nowadays, have effectively made its place in the annals of the gamer culture. I've played in both worlds; the common thread being that they are both role playing games. MMO games allow you to connect with others all over the world. Hundreds of millions of players around the world play games like World of Warcraft, Starcraft, and League of Legends everyday and the number of subscribers continue to rise. These games are often presented as much more addictive due to the competitive aspect of it, as well as the lack of finality - you can never complete the game.

          With endless hours of gameplay, many popular stereotypes portrayed gamers as geeks and loners obsessed with gamer gear and figurines to try to achieve escapism from a world where they feel not as accepted. Outsiders often mistakenly label gamers, especially MMORPG ones, as anti-social, sociopathic, or socially awkward. This image is perpetuated through portrayals and idealizations in commercials and movies. Even Southpark dedicated an episode to stereotyping World of Warcraft, where Eric Cartman said "you can just hang outside in the sun all day tossing a ball around. Or you can sit at your computer and do something that matters." Despite their beliefs, this subculture has come alive like never before and continues to grow. Thanks to the internet and new technologies,  players can connect with each other from all over the world to play with each other and talk with each other, even through traditional consoles like Playstation and Xbox. Gamers of all types -successful IT workers, high schoolers, females, career people in their fifties - can participate actively in the gamer world. There is no formal handprint for what gamers look like, or what age they are; it's a unique distribution of people from all different parts of life. One thing they do share is their love for escapism and acceptance through role-playing games. 

          Gaming online once consumed my life, with countless hours of gameplay and continuous days spent with no sleep and lack of social contact. I played Final Fantasy XI online and Gunbound extensively in my highschool years. In fact, my first job interest was to be a video game tester, which at the time I had completed a course in programming as well. My life was games; when I wasn't online gaming, I played console games. I would avoid family gatherings and thought of excuses to not hang out with my friends. However, through online gaming, I met many people with the same interests as me, who were proud to be gamers.  I even developed a romantic relationship with someone in my guild after meeting her in-person. My strict parents and my overwhelming studies kept me indoors most of my teenage life.  Running into a female gamer while I was online was much simpler and made more sense.

          More than most other possible subcultures, the gamer one is very much a community, where people openly share their love for the game. Although competitive people often get together to form guilds, and help share tips and tricks online. The negative perception stems from the fact that many can play for hours and hours again without interacting with the "real world". The world they live in, however, provides plenty of social interaction. The only time when one is willing to escape the online world is at cosplaying events: Comicon or E3. People often eagerly dress up extravagantly as their favorite video game characters or they attend to collect figurines. Either way, its a place where they can meet many other people in the gamer sub-culture.

          Gamers take pride in the complexity of the games and in their skill level. It takes a lot - especially since most gamers are dedicated - to be the top and the best at something. But real-life Warcraft and League of Legends tournaments showcase the best there is out of the millions of players who understand strategy and understand every single tiny detail in a game. The level of detail placed into the creation of these games is unbelievable. Games have become more and more realistic, and a way for people to play out their fantasies in real life. Many people consider gaming to be nothing more than a time-waster or unhealthy hobby, but it's the same as literature, with more social interaction. People read a great book to escape life and to experience new worlds. Gamers, too, play to be enveloped in a different life, where the more complicated it is, the better.

            The gaming culture is becoming more well known, with some titles of the larger culture moving into mainstream media. Some games have been made into movies, such as Tomb Raider. Peter Jackson, who has directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, just signed a deal to produce a Halo movie. Many well-known movies are even being made into video games, such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and all the DC comic characters. Eventually, subcultures can even become part of mainstream culture once its ideas of escapism become more and more popular. The gamer culture is part of a larger visual and pop culture, embraced and escalated by a large number of supporters. It has immense influence over entertainment and society, nearly influential today on global scale.