arrival to Loras--two more years* until graduation
*Reflection written in early-2017
I could spend an entire essay discussing the impact active learning and reflective thinking had on me at NICC. But my current collegiate learning would not be complete without my experiences at Loras College. My growth as a passionate, versatile student, in fact, continued to climb as I entered the second half of my undergraduate career. When I was a child, my parents enrolled me in remedial English and math classes. Every year in elementary school, all the remedial students visited Loras College to eat pizza. Although I never fully understood the real reason behind our visits to Loras, I concluded later on that my elementary teachers probably wanted to show us remedial students that we were capable of succeeding in life as long as we refused to give up, that we could go to college if we put in the work. I believed in the sentiment so much I spent most of my life afterwards wanting to attend Loras and earn my BA in whatever field I’d love by the time I graduated high school. But I knew the journey to college graduation would be challenging.
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One of the hardest classes I took at Loras was History of U.S. Sexuality. It was also one of the first classes I took at Loras. The class required me to read technical, historical documents and essays regarding America’s evolving view of sexuality. Besides writing papers about such documents and essays, I completed a major project using Microsoft Publisher, a program I never used before. The teacher assigned the class to use Publisher to create a pamphlet discussing a key concept in the realm of human sexuality. After I chose to talk about famed sex researcher Dr. Ruth Westheimer, I learned on my own how to maneuver Publisher’s applications, namely, how to insert textboxes, images, and citations. On my own I actively learned through trial and error how to organize and my information while staying true to the form of my Publisher document, a mock-newspaper. I never created a mock-newspaper before, having been used to writing essays in standard formatting. Active learning, coupled with reflective thinking, forced me to learn and review Publisher while I was completing the same project I was still ill-prepared for. By spending many hours outside class working on the writing assignment, by using creativity and ingenuity, and by embedding historical and cultural facts about Dr. Ruth and her open-minded view on human sexuality in the project, I further understood the importance of independent work and its role of active learning and reflective thinking. At the end, my teacher gave me an A for the assignment, a grade that reminded me that active learning and reflective thinking are not bound by the classroom.
One of the classes I feared the most was Democracy and Global Diversity (DEMOC), a required class established to help students learn the value and limitations of democracy. Before enrolling in the course, I thought that I would fail the course, not understanding the live-action role playing games central to the class. I read the assigned readings but rarely participated in class, even though I wanted to contribute. Recognizing how reflective I was, my DEMOC instructor insisted that I owe it to myself to share my opinions to the class more often. His advice changed the way I view reflective thinking. Besides keeping my ideas, I developed a deeper interest in sharing them. I understood then that not everyone would cherish, like, or even respect my ideas. But sharing my ideas gave me an ample number of opportunities to express myself. For my first major project for DEMOC, I needed to use active learning to accomplish a three-step process to complete my role-playing goal, to perform an original play. Having never written a play before, I felt apprehensive yet excited. To complete the play, I had to research Greek playwriting, outline potential narrative to talk about (namely, to link to classroom activities and deeper themes regarding democracy, religion, and the arts), and solicit classmates to perform in the production. Upon reflection, I understood that the best way to gain the interest of my classmates involved my writing a play that corresponds and conflicts with their beliefs. In other words, I guaranteed the class that whatever I write will be affirm what their role-playing characters believe in. As such, I spoke to people in the class about the play, and right before the end of the game, I wrote a comedy and performed it alongside two of my classmates. The play incorporated the two classmates’ beliefs, the importance of protecting rights for Athenian females and philosophers. I accomplished my goal, and my success eventually earned me extra credit and praise from my teacher. Active learning and reflective thinking helped to lead me to success. The class showed me the importance of connecting with my peers, demonstrating what I have learned, and improving my public speaking skills.
***
***
One of the hardest classes I took at Loras was History of U.S. Sexuality. It was also one of the first classes I took at Loras. The class required me to read technical, historical documents and essays regarding America’s evolving view of sexuality. Besides writing papers about such documents and essays, I completed a major project using Microsoft Publisher, a program I never used before. The teacher assigned the class to use Publisher to create a pamphlet discussing a key concept in the realm of human sexuality. After I chose to talk about famed sex researcher Dr. Ruth Westheimer, I learned on my own how to maneuver Publisher’s applications, namely, how to insert textboxes, images, and citations. On my own I actively learned through trial and error how to organize and my information while staying true to the form of my Publisher document, a mock-newspaper. I never created a mock-newspaper before, having been used to writing essays in standard formatting. Active learning, coupled with reflective thinking, forced me to learn and review Publisher while I was completing the same project I was still ill-prepared for. By spending many hours outside class working on the writing assignment, by using creativity and ingenuity, and by embedding historical and cultural facts about Dr. Ruth and her open-minded view on human sexuality in the project, I further understood the importance of independent work and its role of active learning and reflective thinking. At the end, my teacher gave me an A for the assignment, a grade that reminded me that active learning and reflective thinking are not bound by the classroom.
One of the classes I feared the most was Democracy and Global Diversity (DEMOC), a required class established to help students learn the value and limitations of democracy. Before enrolling in the course, I thought that I would fail the course, not understanding the live-action role playing games central to the class. I read the assigned readings but rarely participated in class, even though I wanted to contribute. Recognizing how reflective I was, my DEMOC instructor insisted that I owe it to myself to share my opinions to the class more often. His advice changed the way I view reflective thinking. Besides keeping my ideas, I developed a deeper interest in sharing them. I understood then that not everyone would cherish, like, or even respect my ideas. But sharing my ideas gave me an ample number of opportunities to express myself. For my first major project for DEMOC, I needed to use active learning to accomplish a three-step process to complete my role-playing goal, to perform an original play. Having never written a play before, I felt apprehensive yet excited. To complete the play, I had to research Greek playwriting, outline potential narrative to talk about (namely, to link to classroom activities and deeper themes regarding democracy, religion, and the arts), and solicit classmates to perform in the production. Upon reflection, I understood that the best way to gain the interest of my classmates involved my writing a play that corresponds and conflicts with their beliefs. In other words, I guaranteed the class that whatever I write will be affirm what their role-playing characters believe in. As such, I spoke to people in the class about the play, and right before the end of the game, I wrote a comedy and performed it alongside two of my classmates. The play incorporated the two classmates’ beliefs, the importance of protecting rights for Athenian females and philosophers. I accomplished my goal, and my success eventually earned me extra credit and praise from my teacher. Active learning and reflective thinking helped to lead me to success. The class showed me the importance of connecting with my peers, demonstrating what I have learned, and improving my public speaking skills.
***
dr.rutheditorial.pdf | |
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daphne_praxagoras___socrates_jacob_butlett.pdf | |
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