Looking back…
I am many things. I am a daughter and a sister. I am a girlfriend and a friend. I am a student and an employee. Most importantly, I am a Christian; a child of God. I attended a Christian School up until graduation and have been involved in my church for as long as I can remember. What I believe and have experienced throughout my life has shaped my worldview and how I think and write. I love learning about the body and how things work, which is why I have made it my goal to become a radiation therapist. I believe that my faith in God and my love for other people will help me to help others who are suffering from cancer.
By exploring the different units in the class, I have learned that there are many things that are a part of who we are. I have learned that there are many factors involved in having one’s own identity. Identity is more than where we live and who we know. According to the cultural assumptions in the introduction to the Identity unit, Culture shapes every identity and personal choices create how others think of a person (5-13). In the identity unit, we had to question the assumptions that were listed in the introduction. I found that the assumptions were all basically true but there is way more than those assumptions that are a part of one’s identity. The identity unit taught me to look into a person and their identity and find possible reasons of why that individual acts or lives a certain way. I learned to look past stereotypes and preconceived judgments to look into a person and see who they really are.
Communities are a part of every person’s life. Before the community unit, I did not really think of everything as a community. Communities are all around us. I had never before thought of a gym, or a school as a community. After completing the Community unit I now see many things as a community. Before the community unit I had never realized how important a community is in our lives. Communities give people a place to fit in and support other members. A community can be a church, neighborhood, place of work, or basically anything else where a group of people with similar beliefs and hobbies are able to relate and spend time together. This class has given me a new view of what it means to be a part of a community. Communities are in our lives to gives us a structure. Communities are an important part of life.
The readings from the final unit on Tradition reminded me that traditions are constantly changing. Each generation has their own twist on an old tradition. Not only have the traditions changed, but they way in which things were traditionally done are also changing regularly. This unit pointed out some of the changed traditions and the how the way things were traditionally done have been changed. In the essay Let Me Find My Own Husband by Sarita James, James’ parents wanted her to marry a young man whom they approved of. James at first did not like the man that her parents approved of. Since James’ parents choosing a match was tradition, James finally decided to allow her parents to match her up with the approved of man. James began to feel excited about her future with this man until he went to India. Before leaving, the suitable man had promised to come back and marry Sarita James. In the end, the suitable man broke James’ heart (379-384). After being let down, James decided that when the right man comes along, whether he is considered suitable by her parents or not, she would just see what would happen. James was no longer tied to the tradition of her parents choosing a match for her. This essay was a great example of a tradition being changed. The tradition unit was a good look into the changing world and reminded me that things in life are always changing.
The assignments throughout the class allowed me to learn from and interpret the readings and think deeper into them. The discussion boards throughout the quarter were a good way to communicate and share ideas with class mates. The discussion boards were very helpful in all of the units because being able to read other people’s posts opened new views on many of the topics. Reading other posts allowed me to see something that I could not find myself in the readings. The discussion boards made me think analytically and helped me grow in my abilities to analyze movies and readings. The papers and the timed write made me think deeper and come up with quality work that showed my knowledge of the units. The “paper talks” were very helpful because they allowed classmates to help each other and point out parts of each other’s papers that we might not have seen. The “paper talk” discussion boards helped us to write quality papers with the help of fellow classmates. Without the discussion boards I probably would not have done as well on my papers. The unit homework helped me to better understand the assigned writings.
All of the units have taught me that the world is full of different cultures and different types of people. The class overall has helped me to celebrate the different cultures and colorful communities that make up our world. The diverse people that form the various communities all have something special that makes them who they are. I learned in this class that there are many things that make a person who they are. Taking this class has taught me to look at the world and see the distinctions of cultural traditions, communities, and identities.
The pieces of work that I have chosen for my portfolio are pieces that I worked really hard on during the class. My example for well done critical thinking was a discussion board post from the Identity unit. This discussion board was about living in tribes. I chose my blog post, Family Tradition for Dinner, for my revision piece. For the awareness of audience and voice piece I have chosen the Tradition Unit Discussion Board 2 which was about the changing trends in our culture. For the final piece to show my Writer’s Choice, I have chosen The Contents of My Purse from my blog. These pieces have all taken some time and effort in this class.
Now that you know a little more about who I am and how this class has helped me grow, I hope that you will take time to read and enjoy my work. The pieces I have listed earlier will be posted further down. Thank you for taking the time to read my work.
-Amanda Joy VandenBosch
No comments:
Post a Comment