If there is one word to describe myself on the first day of school, on August 12, 2019, it would be unprepared. Coming into this class as a student who doesn't really like to do school work, I chose this word because I did not expect everything that has transpired this semester from having my own blog to interviewing for my grade to writing daily journals everyday. The thing that really caught me off guard that first day was that you gave us an option if we wanted to have our class taught normally or open source style and you walked out for a few minutes. I'm honestly very happy we all agreed on the open source learning choice because it was a way out of the old, traditional, stale and bland English class and this style is a energizing type of class full of intelligent minds. Unprepared we were, but prepared we are now.
Two things I didn't expect from this style of class that was going to be taught was that we had daily journal entries and a blog that people had access to. I have really like writing in my journal because I love to express myself through writing because you don't need to speak to be understood. Writing in my journal was like gateway of creativity flowing through my mind and onto a piece of paper. I usually had so many ideas going through my mind when writing but I don't think I was getting people to understand what I was writing but I feel more understood now. As for the blog however, was something I wasn't ready for. As you said in the beginning, it would be easy to put off posting sometime but if it becomes a habit, you're going to be digging yourself a very deep hole as the semester went on. I sometimes went days without posting because i fell victim to procrastination and poor effort due to past school habits but this class has shown me that those bad habits will eat you alive. As the semester was coming to an end, I was trying to catch up on my blog posts but I was too far behind. Something that I should have known was going to happen we memorizing poems but what I didn't expect was that we would have to post a video of ourselves reciting these poems on our blogs which I felt weird about and i decided to not do that. Unprepared we were, prepared we are now.
I think the most stressful time during this semester where I thought about giving up was at the beginning, because I didn't really like this way of learning due to it being different and I dug a big hole for myself to the point where I asked myself, "should I even try anymore?" and gladly, I decided to pick myself up and push on to the end. I think the point where I picked myself up was right after progress reports went out and I thought this could be where I turn everything around, with the help of some friends, I was able to get back on track. I was able to start getting myself back to speed and I was able to keep up until the we had to create out own resume as if we were applying to a job which prepared me for the future. Something that I learned from this encounter and challenge is that it is better to take it head on instead of not doing anything. I live by a quote that had stuck for me for so lo g which is, "I would rather die as a hero than live as a coward." I honestly don't remember where I heard this but it instilled a fire and craving of wanting to get where I want to get at all costs which has shaped me. Unprepared we were, prepared we are now.
I've made a lot of routines to help me continue to do great in this class. Something I do to help me is that I ask a lot of questions to make sure I know what I am doing. Being curious is a blessing but a curse at the same time because being curious could get very annoying very quick but gets you places whether it's in the classroom or in the real world. I love asking questions because the more I know, the better chance I have in understanding. Being curious helped me make up assignments, start learning new vocabulary, understand the poems, essays, and stories we've read and made me a better writer. Asking for help is also something I've gotten better at because before, (even now) I hated asking for help and I just wanted to do everything on my own but as I've grown as a student in our classroom environment, I noticed that we are all in this and everyone needs help, even if they think they don't. Overall, there are more things that I have done to better myself as a student and a person in general. Unprepared we were, prepared we are now.
I feel that I am a different learner compared to the learner I was at the start of the year. I have completely changed my writing, got rid of all my bad habits, and now I have a fire lit under me that is giving me that craving of success in this course. I have been exposed to so many different ideas of learning from the stories, essays, and poems we've read. One of the most inspiring works we've read was of "On Self-Reliance" by Ralph Waldo Emerson, it is very astonishing that something what was written in 1841, about 205 years ago, applies to life today in 2019. So many of his ideas gave me a reason to start putting in more effort and I feel grateful to be able to read his essay. In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Ne te quaesiveris extra." Unprepared we aren't, prepared we are more than ever.
Fin.
