Let us reflect

My name is Nichole Woods, I am a wife and mother of three kids. It has been quite a few years since I attended Everett Community College, and it has always bothered me that I did not finish. However, it has always been my goal to someday return to college and finish what I started, so here I am.

I’ve never done online courses before, and I have to admit, it was very intimidating at first. In the beginning, this made me question my ability to be successful in my quest for continuing my education, but as soon as I got the hang of things I couldn’t get enough! This quarter has been very challenging, which has been good for me, the challenges only pushed me to want to learn even more. My confidence in myself has grown tremendously, and I‘ve learned to take constructive criticism as a learning tool instead of something negative. Although it has been hard work, and a big adjustment, I am determined now more than ever to obtain a college degree.

English 101D has been an eye opening experience. It has forced me to expand my thoughts on our diverse society, and the influences that challenge and affect our relationships with others. We focused this quarter on three units: identity, community, and the influences of popular culture on tradition. I have always thought of myself as an open minded person, but the readings, writings, discussions, and movie viewings have allowed me to “look further than the tip of my nose” on all of these subjects.

The unit on identity taught me that who I am, is more than just the identity I was born with. I learned that culture and personal choices also play a big role in shaping our identities, and how others perceive us. One assigned reading that I identified with was an essay by Emily White, “High School‘s Secret Life” (15), in it White writes about peer groups in high school and describes these groups as “tribes”. White also writes about conformity among the popular groups as, "a way of broadcasting that you are not a weirdo, you are speaking in the signs of the chosen one"(16). Having kids in high school myself, I was able to get a better perspective on the changes my kids are going through at this stage in their lives, and the pressures they are struggling with to fit in or belong.

In the community unit, I learned communities are much more than where we live. A community can be pretty much anything that people identify with, or have in common. We learned what draws people to them, as well as what holds a community together, like common beliefs and values. One assigned reading in this unit was David Brooks essay, "Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia" (184), in which Brooks writes about Americans and their tendency to move from place to place in search of the right community for themselves. Brooks states, "Millions of people every year leap out into the void, heading out to communities that don't exist….to places where everything is new" (189). This statement made me think about my childhood and how resentful I was at my parents for moving us around so much. It was not until my Freshman year of high school that my family finally settled in one place permanently. My parents were an interracial couple, and as I look back now, I realize my early childhood was during a time where interracial family’s were rare and not as accepted as they are today. I can see now that my parents were only seeking to find a community where their children could grow up feeling safe, comfortable, and accepted by others.

My favorite unit was on tradition, which actually tied in with identity and community because it is another way of learning about who we are, our connections to others, and the beliefs and values we pass on from one generation to the next. I really enjoyed the Tradition DB1 assignment; “Traditions: Embrace them or attack them?” One assigned reading was Garrison Keillor's humorous essay, "A Wobegon Holiday Dinner" (112). This essay was about a particular traditional Thanksgiving Keillor has with his family that doesn’t quite turn out as expected. Keillor states; "Life is good. Even when it is lousy, it is still good, and thank God for it" (116).’ I get what Keillor means by this statement, and can relate to it because even though family traditions don't always live up to the expectations we place on them, we need traditions because they bond and connect us to our families. Through the discussion boards and writing assignments, I learned so much more about the different roles traditions play in our lives, what makes them important to us, and how modern pop culture has challenged and changed some of our long-held traditions.

My portfolio will include, a collection of four works which reflect where I started, and how far I‘ve come over the course of this class. I feel the pieces I have chosen demonstrate my critical thinking skills, revision skills, my ability to illustrate my awareness of audience and voice, and lastly my “Writer’s Choice” selection that represents my writing abilities and accomplishments this quarter. Through my portfolio, I hope to show others that no matter how challenging English 101D is, with continued hard work, embracing constructive criticism, and participating in dialogue with your instructors and peers, you can grow and flourish in ways you never thought possible.


Works Cited

Brooks, David."Our Sprawling, Supersize Utopia." Remix Reading + Composing Culture. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009:184-92.
Print.

Keillor,Garrison.“A Wobegon Holiday Dinner.” Remix Reading + Composing Culture. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2009:112-18.
Print.

White,Emily. “High School’s Secret Life.” Remix Reading + Composing Culture. Second Edition. New York: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2009: 15-16.
Print.