Final Course Reflection

My topic has drastically changed throughout this process. I was able to use portions of my older papers and add them to the final project but having to drastically change the point of view. I feel like I began to really understand what I was trying to say and express through the final paper. I feel that my claim became stronger and I was able to really understand what I wanted to focus on talking about throughout the rest of my paper. I saw my claim coming together when I edited my paper the first time. I was able to identify it more clearly. I feel like I found very reliable resources that actually began pushing me more in depth throughout my paper. I actually found about five books through the love joy library on campus and ended up barely utilizing the resources. The ones that I chose to primarily use were in my own house. I was struggling on trying to find an opposing view point for my paper and I tried to look outside of the box to find a solution for it and I am actually very happy with how it turned out.  My final project will focus on the element of trying to motivate one to reach and find it within them to obtain their own American Dream. I feel that a lot of people become comfortable with where they are at in their lives and they being to stop pushing themselves to really fulfill their dreams. Yes, my focal points throughout all of my papers have drastically changed especially because of the type of papers that we had to write. This paper overall has probably been my most proud piece to turn in because I have been able to view this topic from all views and stand points. Thank you for assigning this project, even though it involved a lot of insight and hard work, I feel that the way you presented this information to us was very useful and enlightening.  

Final Course Reflection

In the beginning of my research, my thesis statement was vague and obvious: parents and teachers need to be involved with their student’s education. It was enough to write my topic selection essay, however it failed when I needed to write my exploratory essay. The thesis was to short and already known so it needed to be redefined. At the beginning of my exploratory essay I used this statement to help my paper get off to the right start. However, as the paper developed I explored the opposite views and other aspects which could hinder or help the education of students. By doing so, I explored the Erikson stages of development which show that there can be a negative and positive outcomes to every lesson learned in life. Another approach I took was to view the governmental side of education. This helped me to derive my new thesis statement by looking into the NCLB act (No Child Left Behind Act). The research I found on the NCLB act was that George W. Bush first put the act in to place in 2002 and was focused on highlighting the problem areas and correcting them with academic testing. More research showed that Obama wanted to redefine the act and focus more on early child development and after school programs which would give the cost put toward academic testing towards the other programs. After doing all of this research and seeing the different view-points and how many lives were affected by this act I came to the final thesis for my research paper.  My thesis would be that the NCLB act did not just a law that affected the lives of the students, but the lives of all who were affiliated with the students and wanted to help them pursue their academic careers. The three main peers affiliated with the students would be the parents, teachers, and government; leaving the Erikson stages of development and the NCLB act as the main sources of support. The counter argument would be that the law did have faults, such as, the billions of dollars but put towards academic spending. The rebuttal would be that Obama would revise the act putting it toward the early child development and after school programs. The first two papers helped me to come to this conclusion and without them I would still be stuck with a vague and obvious thesis statement resulting in a horribly boring research paper. 

The Experience

Now that the year is near the end. I wanna know how it was. This being my first year, it has been an interesting experience. Do you think high school prepared you well enough for college or did you feel it has not? Coming from a college prep high school, I feel that it has prepared me but I still had to learn how to cope with college life. What have you done to succeed? Join any sports, clubs, made a good social environment? College can be very hectic and everyone handles it in many ways. Do you feel first year was smooth and great stepping stone for life or has it been pretty bad that you wish you could do better? Now that this year is nearing end and have been hearing about peoples experiences, how have u taken it?

This past weekend was Easter and I am interested in what that means to everyone or how it has changed over the years. To me, Easter has always meant getting together with the family, having Easter egg hunts, and having a big dinner. The religious aspect of Easter has never been really recognized by my family. It has been a day to get together and enjoy each other's company and a eat a delicious ham. I know why we celebrate this holiday but I would like to know what it means to everyone else or if it means anything at all. As I have grown up, my family has gotten smaller. For the first time this year, we went out to eat instead of making a huge mess at my moms. I didn't like this because I like sticking with family traditions. However, we still got together, even if it was only five of us. I am jealous of those who have big families.

I don't know what to title this

     Over the course of this semester, we have written about the same topic in all three essays. Not that this isn't an interesting way to expand upon the same idea, but I find it to be a little repetitive and redundant. Personally, I am struggling with regurgitating information and giving this last paper a different feel than those before. I am inquiring as to how everyone is spicing things up with this last essay and being creative instead of throwing up information from the prior essays and being boring. I am also finding it difficult when using sources, as I have used nearly all of those that I can find that apply to the specifics of my topic. I really enjoy this class and I love writing, but I'm finding it to be challenging to focus on my topic as I've been researching it for months now.

Analytical Essay

For my analytical essay I have kept the same theme for all of my essays we have done this year.  I have based mine on athletes and how they recieve privileges from teachers and how sometimes they don't make the student work hard because they are pressured from other people to pass them.  I have found articles that say we should pay college athletes because of all the revenue they bring in to schools, and I have found articles that say it just opens doors for more problems in schools.  I personally think they shouldn't pay athletes because they are already receiving their education for free why should they get paid also.  I was wondering what other people thought on this issue.  This could help me with my essay also.

College: It's Not Easy

            Today I want to talk about how stressful college really is.  Most of the students at SIUE are young adults that are expected to be a full time student, get good grades, live away from home, hold down a job, work out, have a social life, and try not to forget about Friday’s exam.  It’s a struggle to say the least. 

            I don't think high school prepares individuals at all.  A student can take every advanced/accelerated/honors class available in their high school and still not even come close to being prepared for what actually happens at college.  Most high school classes are a joke.  For example, I did not read one book in my English class senior year and I still managed to pull off an "A" in the class.  In college, if you don’t read you won’t pass; it’s as simple as that.  Also, in high school I was able to take a test, preform poorly, write the question and answer 7 times each, and get ½ credit back for every question that I got wrong the first time.  If we were still unhappy with our grade, there were always a ton of extra credit opportunities so that we could get our grade up.  It’s not easy like that in college.  In most of my classes I have 3-4 tests worth 100 points each and a final that’s worth 200 and that’s it.  No extra credit, no homework, no corrections, nothing.  The professors that have classes with 100+ people in their lecture halls do not usually care if you pass or fail, they couldn't care less if you decide not to even show up for anything but the tests.  In high school if you have a low grade the teacher would come up to you, personally, and try to help you out.  I understand the whole “no child left behind” thing but seriously?  I think high schools should change their ways just a little bit so that students aren’t in shock for their freshman year of college.

            My high school teachers and parents have told me that college is going to be "the best time of my life" and that I'm "going to love every minute of it."  BULL.  They say "live it up because it goes by too fast."  This is hard work so time can go as fast as it wants to.  Yeah, sometimes it's fun and yeah, some times can be easy, but the majority of my day is spent in my room studying my butt off for exams; that's not fun.

            So what do you think?  Did your high school teachers prepare you?  What can high schools do to actually prepare students for college?  What are some things in your college experience that you would have liked to know were going to happen earlier?