Last Word…

While I am still  working on the ePortfolio, I noticed that the final blog post was already due. Although many of you might not be able to this post, I wish you all success in the future. I’m so grateful for being part of Dr. Lucenko’s class this year because I especially liked the process of peer review (It was always the first thing that I wanted to get to after class). Through reading and revising the writings of nearly my peers, not only did I learn about you through topics that carry personal significant, but  I also felt the inner struggles which were non-perceivable by your appearance. The intimacy through which I connected with fellow peers through writing was a rather exciting and rewarding experience, even though I wish that I had talked and discuss more with them outside class. Nonetheless, I truly appreciate the opportunity to have learned about people purely through writing, and I really like the feeling of entering the thoughts and coming up with the mental pictures of another person.

Here, I also thank those who have given me suggestions and comments on my writing. Prior to taking this, I have always been more concerned with my grammar than anything else. Through the feedbacks from multiple aspects, I found that even the revision of grammar might be different depending on who the reader is. I value the questions and suggestions that were offered to me through my peers, allowing me to see things from their aspects and helping me to see where I should work on more when I write.

I hope that as I continue to write in the future, I will be able to use the skill sets that I learned in this class.

 

Final Goodbye

As with every semester, this Spring session flew by. Although every 8:30am class felt like it would go on forever, it is suddenly May, and we are suddenly finished with everything and submitting our final projects.

I reflected about this class a lot in my ePortfolio, however, it is hard to put into words exactly how I felt about it. Aside from working, volunteering, and dealing with my own life at home, this class was a huge workload. But I do not mean that in a negative fashion; this class was a nice release from everything else I had to do. Even being home and caring for my sick mother, this class was a nice break from the real world I was experiencing; a way to put myself into my stories and my writings. The constant essays and blog posts allowed me to save some of my sanity and enhance my writing – so much so now to the point where I feel I can write any personal statement, any essay. I’m actually going to miss writing freely and having to go back to strict lab reports – writing where I once found comfort, with such strict, impersonal rules. I used to get angry with such open topics, with few guidelines. Five pages on my opinion of education? What type of education? Formal, street, medical, practical!? But suddenly I realized that it was better to have less rules, to read what everyone else thought of when they first thought of education, like that game where someone says something and you say the first thing that comes to mind.

Working on the digital story was hard, since I wanted to stray from my typical topic of EMS. However, I realized through this class how much EMS means to me, in more ways than one. Instead of trying to sound like a hot shot and write about my super exciting calls, I decided to write about the family aspect. “A Typical Day” was about what we do behind the scenes, and how we bond. I attempted to incorporate some humor into the video, since I usually am a very serious person who doesn’t even catch onto any jokes. I was mostly happy with the outcome, but as the project progressed, I realized so much more that I could do with it. I was surprised by the creativity I felt, all the possibilities I imagined. I generally am not a creative person either, and that joined with my serious demeanor, I felt that I would be so limited. Although I felt somewhat embarrassed of my project after seeing some of the cleaner projects, I showed it to my friends and family, and they were impressed with it. And if my EMS family liked it, then I am truly happy with it.

Overall it was a great semester, one filled with exploring myself and my writing. I am truly happy I took this class.

CC: Jessie Jacobson – Goodbye

 

A Class I Will Not Forget

I cannot believe that classes are already over. It feels like just yesterday when we just walked into our classroom in the third floor of Humanities (one that I feel we rarely went to in retrospect). I remember sitting down not really knowing what else to expect aside from drafting a personal statement. I listened in a bit apprehensive learning about the blog requirements, short essays, a new e-portfolio, and the digital story. Just to walk into the next week of class to a completely different class. Although uneasy at first, I decided to stick with my idea of taking this class and pushed through. Something I cannot be more grateful for. The Personal Essay did not stray far from my original expectations I had going in. I was interested in initially taking the course to try and get more professional feedback on a personal statement I had drafted last year and due to a recommendation from a old professor who I took WRT 302 with in the fall. But, I got so much more out of it instead.

The class taught me to push myself into places that I am a lot less comfortable with. To write about topics I have really never put too much thought into. This was especially the case in terms of our first short essay which had to do with the truth versus lying. I never put much thought into how my mother and a lot of teachers that taught me while I was younger used lies to try and teach a lesson easier. I never truly thought about how my ideas of education. I never truly thought I could write to the extent that I did about many different ideas this course has touched on.  Even the style of repetition I was using in my writing just now is indicative of a style I had picked up for one of my longer writing assignments in the course. One essay that I frankly had such a fun time writing.

While writing for the class, I enjoyed how the blog posts went from very formal posts to looser ones in terms of their structure. The posts became relatable as classmates can rant about stress about an assignment or school in general. It ultimately became work that you did not mind doing at all. Rather than focusing on how intelligent ideas are coming across, we focused more on the depth of our ideas and relating our own ideas to one another in our comments. By being able to read someone else’s blog post I was always able to take at least one or two about the assignments being posted or the readings.

At the moment, I am currently working on my E-portfolio for the class before the major bulk of studying and distractions towards other finals hinders my progress for whatever is left of this class. I feel I want to give it an honest effort and in order to do that I am working this weekend to try to complete the majority of the work necessary for it. I really enjoyed making my portfolio freshmen year for WRT 102 and kept some of it updated with the times as the years passed. While re-reading some of my essays, it stuck out how much I transitioned between nervous in my writing to more confident. To see how my style changed was a tad bit difficult to see as each week I tried to find some inspiration and emulate my writing style based on the texts that were assigned for our reading assignments. All in all though from this class it was apparent how flexible I became and less rubric-oriented I was.

I guess the last thing I can start to wrap up this pretty long post with is my digital story. About a week ago at this time I was still panicking about the script for my digital story. Dramatically comparing it to a losing battle of a tug-of war. To extend on it I basically just had a very rough sketch in terms of what I wanted to do. I had the idea of my dog and my father, but really had no idea how I can link the two. I did not even notice until after I had the finished product, how well the audio in my film helped transition the two ideas I had. This helped me approach the project a lot more calmly  After many hours since then, now I can confidently say I enjoy watching it as emotional as it can make me as I relive some of the dark periods of my life in the past year or so. Another example of how this class has made me go far beyond (HA) my own comfort zones. I would have never made a video reflecting on that period of my life if it was not for this class. I am honestly still surprised I shared it.

Honestly these feelings of nostalgia at the very end can extend even further to the first time I walked onto campus my freshmen year as I am graduating this semester. Once again I have surprised myself, I managed to make it all the way once again even when I did not think I would. This class and WRT 302 in my Fall semester really made me wish I had pursued more writing classes in college as I feel they offer such a unique perspective to the sit down and memorize or do this style of a majority of the courses I have taken in my time at Stony Brook.

So yeah, that is that. My last blog post for the class. Cannot really explain how weird it feels for it to all be over. I still am coming up with so many ideas that I want to write about, but I guess I will show those off in my e-portfolio :P. I want to wish everyone good luck with finals and the rest of their projects going on. I also want to give a very big thank you to everyone being supportive whether it be in the digital story comments, blog post comments, or peer revisions, all of your ideas have helped me become a more confident writer and student. For all of those I have met, I am looking forward to seeing or hearing of your future successes and good luck with everything else in the future :). Okay! Now I promise I am done writing. Thank you for everything everyone !!

One Last Hello

Hey everybody,

Thanks so much for such an amazing year. I know I did not really get to know any of you from speaking to you too frequently, but you guys revealed yourselves through your writing. After reading such wonderful blog posts, amazing essays, and watching amazingly creative digital stories, it is easy to say that you all are great human beings with big hearts. Writing this last blog post is making me so sad, I wish we had more time! But alas, all good things must come to an end.

I wish you all the best of luck in whatever you do and Professor Lucenko, thank you, for everything.

With love and support,

Nia Fountain

That’s all, folks!

After taking a year long break from writing (other than lab reports, which are way different from personal, creative, or analytical writing), I was not very confident in my ability to write. I didn’t think I was very good at it anymore, and it made me unmotivated to start again. I was initially apprehensive to register for the course, but in the back of my head I knew the significance of writing. I knew that it is an important skill that I should never give up on.

The first day of class was a bit intimidating. An essay due every week in addition to the mounds of work from other classes seemed impossible to keep up with. In the beginning, it was more difficult than I thought it would be to write about myself. In WRT 102, our papers focused on analysis of literature and research on different topics. I thought that writing about my own experiences would be easy since my ideas would just come from within and there is not any research or critical thinking involved. I discovered that I was able to describe my experiences but I couldn’t effectively portray their significance and my feelings toward them. My stubbornness and tendency to conceal my emotions and feelings is what I suspect contributed to this. I often have a hard time opening up to others, and knowing that my peers would have access to my writing made it even more difficult.

Peer review proved to be very rewarding and helpful. I thought that my writing was terrible and was initially embarrassed to let others read my work, but you were all so constructive and so helpful, and because of you all I have been able to become a better and more comfortable writer!

I think that the digital story project was the perfect end to the semester. Since the beginning of the semester, we’ve been writing about ourselves but based on different prompts and we have gotten to know each other so well through these essays! But with the digital story, the options were endless. We were able to choose any topic we wanted to discuss. There was so much variety in the topics chosen and the videos and presentation were all great! I thought of the project as one last revelation of each person before the course was over, because so many passions and interests were presented! I also think that making a video presentation was very important and relevant to a class that focuses on writing, because it was a way to bring our writing to life. The scripts we wrote were vocalized in our videos and we chose the imagery we wanted our readers/listeners to see.

I can honestly and confidently say that this is one of the best and most rewarding classes I’ve taken at Stony Brook. Everyone has been so supportive of each other – our class dynamic was great! I leave this class with great memories and a more confident attitude towards writing! And of course…HUGE thank you to Professor Lucenko for her awesome advice, genuine care for her students, and tireless and continuous work and effort to make me a better writer!

Congratulations to those graduating! Have an amazing summer everyone! 😀

To improve myself, not prove myself

I honestly have a lot of appreciation for this class. When I dropped out of my political science course at the beginning of the semester, I was looking for another course to fill in the extra time. Remembering my friends recommendations for the personal statement writing class, I looked through the available courses on Solar. I stumbled upon professor Lucenko’s class and remembered the class I had with her my freshman year. I was reluctant to wake up so early when it was no requirement for me to take, but seeing professor Lucenko’s name really convinced me to enroll in the course.

At first, I was quite overwhelmed by the amount of work in the class. With two essays to catch up on, and another due the next week, I began to wonder whether it was the right semester to take the class. Within a very short time I realized how valuable it was. Around my third essay, when I began to seamlessly write through my essay, I realized how far my writing had already come. I looked back on my days of blank Word documents and frantic anxiety, and was amazed to see it become a thing of the past. The frequent writing had allowed me to see writing as a natural process, I was able to think of writing less as an assignment and more as a very expressive activity.

I began to see how the class wasn’t about another SBC requirement, or another opportunity to look good on an application, but rather an opportunity to simply improve myself in the long run. The aspect of peer review allowed me to look at other students’ writing, and taking that same review process to review my own papers. The class was very rewarding, and the amount of time professor Lucenko takes to talk to students and comment on our work has really improved my confidence and ability to write. I leave the class with bittersweet feelings. I know I will keep in touch with Professor Lucenko asking for the same guidance and advice I was given for two semesters.

You all have been so supportive and great with reviewing my work, and I hope I was able to give constructive reviews as well. We all have done very well, and the storytelling projects were a great way to end the semester. Good luck to everyone in their future endeavors!

FIN

All the digital stories were great and I am not just saying that to sound nice. They were all personal, and through that, they were all authentic. It was ironic to learn about each other at the end of the semester. All the presentation showed a segment of our life that is near and dear to us. Everyone got to take the art of storytelling to the next level by adding audio and visual; bringing their story to life.

I really like my presentation because it went better than planned. I had the last act, so I had to give a nice conclusion before the curtains. I gave my introductory speech that connected all the digital stories together and the underlying principle of a movie conveying how a movie really delivers emotion with the story; and my digital story was about my love for movies. I believe I made a good digital story because everyone seemed to enjoy it when I looked back and fives were mostly written on my peer rubrics. I hope I was able to let everyone consciously acknowledge that they love movies. In addition, it was really fun to make and present.

And once the curtains dropped, the show was over. This class was really enjoyable and my writing did improve. There were multiple different activities to write in this class in addition to the several exchanges of feedback and this really helped sharpen my writing. I am now much more confident in my writing as it could easily flow without hesitation. This class was also positive and uplifting; it was great to go on a journey with this class. The personal essay was so much more than the personal statement, it was about self-reflecting, analyzing our pasts and trying to find the meaning behind it. If any of you would be interested, one journey that I have followed and really enjoyed was that of Hamish Patterson, better known as the illusion. You can follow his incredible journey six years in the making: the illusion

tower of the sun by taro okamoto

 

Dance

The Paul Taylor event was a nice way to convey the art of storytelling. I always appreciated dancers and the way they utilize their bodies to perform acts. Specifically, bboy, I have always found that amazing. One thing that I personally found amazing was the art of advancing and retreating. My dad is a retired karate player and ever since I was a young kid, from time to time he would try to teach me. It would always end up being a short lesson with him disappointed in me and moving on. He always said that my entire body needs to generate the punch. I always believed I was doing it correctly, but this dance class helped me learn. After engaging in the dance class I now know how to involve the entire body. When She told us to expand, it was if a quick burst of energy exploded and our entire body was used to demonstrate this explosion.

However, the expansion was coordinated. It wasn’t just flail, it was graceful; dancers learn how to utilize their movement by controlling their energy to precisely perform their act. Writing is very similar, we have something inside us and need to express it. However, we do not just shout out some random thoughts, we gracefully deliver it on paper to really express our ideas to the audience or reader. And with so many dance categories, there are so many writing genres. And with so many dance styles, there are so many writing styles. Dance and writing go hand in because they both require a creative individual to truly unlock the art form. That is why both art forms continue to evolve as well; creative individuals keep on pushing the boundaries using what they are giving whether it is a stage or a pen and paper.

Unfortunately I had to leave class early because I had a test on the complete other side of campus, but it was still a great experience for the first half I was there.

And now, the end is near

Writing has become not so daunting anymore. I used to sit and think about what I would write about; at least now I can write a sentence without pausing to think. I used to be a man of few words, but now I just let my words flows out of my brain without second thought. I always had a problem of writing under the limit because I felt any excessive writing would be unnecessary. However, I make my essay meet the page limit now by clarifying everything to the reader. I delve into my writing and leave no stone unturned.

This class been great in self-reflecting what I have done so far and what is in store in the future. Writing out my self-reflection lets you see yourself in a different way. I look back at my first blog post entitled “I write to rewrite.” That was so true, and I left out it would take hours to compose something so simple because I wasn’t confident in writing. There is also a lot of personal thought put into my writing that makes it distinguishable because this self-reflection class has allowed me to develop my character.

Another wonderful skill, and most likely the important, was actual recognition of the audience. I always wrote a little because I could pick up the pieces of the puzzle and make out what my main idea was. However, after receiving almost the same feedback week after week, I understood that my audience might not always understand what I am writing. My analysis became more developed with a much clearer focus.

Now I think about the future; will my writing lose its momentum? Or will it age like fine wine? I believe if I continue to write, experience will only make my writing better. Thank you.

 

Vocation/Work

You talk the talk, but do you walk the walk. Mark Rose argues that intelligence isn’t defined by a degree that claims what you are capable of. His mother was just a waitress, but so much more. From her job, her brain could memories so much more and she became so much more efficient. Also, without going to a psychology or sociology class, she could analyze her environment and could see and read people. He also speaks about his uncle who worked his way up in GM motors and the tasks of that job. There are certain tools one could only gain from working. I certainly agree that schooling does not define your skill level. Degrees only show that you know some material, but no experience. It is a shame however that so many job are requiring a degree now especially when it cost so much now. Especially with the internet and all the content being shared today, people could learn so much on their own. Just because someone scores well on a test does not mean they will do good in the actual work force, and vice versa.

Miah Arnold works with children during their final days, leaving a lasting impression. In this job, she too gains a skill that could only be gained from experience. She works with children who usually lose their battle to cancer, and Arnold gains strength by moving onto to the next child, which some might find too hard to do and quit. She kept working with children who only experienced a short part of life. She begins to question why she does this and what is the meaning of all of this. She comes up with many answers, but they don’t seem to truly answer her question. In the end, she comes up with the inconclusion that there is some purpose to doing this.

Resources:

Arnold, Miah, “You Owe Me.”

Rose, Mike, “Blue Color Brilliance.”