Thoughts on blogs

I just wrote a blog about my thoughts on the writing process. While I’m at it, I figured I could do the same for the blog project. Confession: I didn’t appreciate the blogs until the last few weeks of class. I really wish I had made time to read other people’s blogs more consistently throughout the year instead of just whenever I had a spare moment. It’s really interesting reading other’s last few post from the past two weeks and getting their thoughts on the different presentations, their own paper, and the writing process. Especially in the seminar-style class, we have to understand the different perspectives of our peers for a fuller understanding of what we read and discuss in class. The blogs are a great way to do that.

Some things that could have made the overall blog project go smother: I really liked the few times we were given a couple of prompts to choose to write on. It gave the blogs more direction and purpose, instead of regurgitating a rambly summery of the reading. Also, I wish we had discussed what we wrote in our blogs together as a class. That way, the blogs don’t seem like a separate individual assignment but becomes part of an ongoing discussion of everything we are learning. (This might be more effective with prompts to respond to for blogs to maintain coherency in discussion.)

Also, I'm really annoyed that each of my posts thinks it's ok to switch font halfway through -_-

Thoughts about the writing process

Commence rant: I really, really, really hate presenting. A lot. It’s close to the top of my list of skills that I need to develop. End mini rant.

Other than my discomfort in presenting to a class, I really enjoyed the process we went through to write our papers. I like that I was broken down into so many parts because it forced me to slow down. I couldn’t just write this paper in two days with a third day for revisions like all the other papers I was writing in the midst of this process. I was able to break it down and allow ideas to develop instead of trying to put them all together at one time. Ok, even the part I disliked the most was still helpful by making me evaluate the main points and flow of what I had actually written. Another reason I really liked the way we approached this paper is it invited me to be more involved in the writing. By reading and hearing about other people’s papers, and having them read and evaluate mine (regardless of whether it was the initial abstract, the draft, or the presentation), it was no longer just a paper. Instead, it caused me to ask why it matters to us. What is the value of what each of us is writing and how can it apply to us?

"Point of View"

So I found this saved on my computer from a few weeks ago and realized I never posted it… oops.

Some of my fellow University Scholar friends and I sometimes joke that our major is a glorified undecided program. When I tell people that my concentrations are Classics and Literature with a little Philosophy thrown into the mix, they never fail to ask – “So what do you plan to do with that?” I usually wish I had an answer to give them with definite post-undergrad plans. But this article makes an important point on why I love the University Scholars program and the “useless” classes I choose to take. Four years is pretty short, and I don’t want to spend that time filling my head with facts and information – I have the rest of my life to do that. Instead, I want to learn how to THINK. I want to be able to take everything I learn and determine why it matters. How does what I learn apply to how I live my life or the world around me? I could choose from any number of majors or concentrations, and the most important aspect of any of the classes I take will be what I choose to do with it outside of the classroom. Coles summed it up nicely when he said “[his student] challenged us to prove that what we think intellectually can be connected to our daily deeds.”