Mirrored Reflection

Hello my newfound friends, and a short goodbye until we meet again. My name is Candie and this is my second year back in school since 1989. Wow, I know what some of you are thinking, “She is older than my grandfather’s buck skin rubber”, am I allowed too say that? Oops, I just did! Nonetheless, I work fulltime as a surgical assistant and the skills that I have endured along the way will help fulfill my future passion of becoming a nurse. I am currently engaged, as I have mentioned a dozen and “one” times during this course work. Together we have 3 girls; they are 8, 10 and 17. Now which one do you think gives us the hardest time? Hmmmm. Yep, you guessed it, ALL OF THEM. As for my educational goals, I have one more year of prerequisites before I am able to apply for the nursing program and I am sooooo excited! I realize not everything goes according to plan, but it’s my time to shine.J

When I first started back in college my biggest concern was actually taking English again. Why, I am not sure, but I think maybe because I wasn’t that good at it in high school. That would have meant that you would actually have to apply yourself to it right? Plus, my confidence level was low on the “Richter scale” clearly before taking this class. Through English 101D I have really found that I love to write, more on the humorous side, yet still making sure of getting my point across. This diversity class has been a genuine eye opener for my family and me. As I started going through each theme, starting with identity then community and lastly tradition, I first used my family as a sounding board. After that, they became examples, when I caught or corrected them for making judgmental statements that were out of my new comfort zone. Why did I say “my” comfort zone you ask, well I based what they did or said on my new intelligence level of understanding what each of these topics illustrate.

After I had signed up for English 101D I reviewed the syllabus a second time and really got excited about the topics we were about to explore. One would think that Identity, community and tradition are commonly recognized topics that you already know everything about. Well, they are to an extent. What you see on the surface is just the top of the skin and underneath there are many different layers.

The first layer is the judgmental layer; this pertains not only to identity, but also to community and tradition. By this I mean that people’s identities are judged by what they wear, how they talk, what their manners are and maybe even their intelligence levels. As for communities, you step outside the boundaries by judging how their community is made up and if you are good enough to belong. Lastly tradition, these are judged on a daily basis as well. There are many different cultures as well as religions, languages and so on. Is one way to celebrate Thanksgiving better than another? NO, but who am I to judge. The second layer would be acceptance, each of these topics encounter a sense of belonging within certain guidelines. Whose guidelines are they to base this off of? Yours, mine, our neighbors, city counsel, yes all, because all of these people form a society. There are many more layers but I can go on for hours because these layers go so deep.

So as you can see, English 101D has reflected upon my critical thinking skills, creative writing skills, summary and analysis comprehension as well as being able to realize there are more angles to a story then just one and I should evaluate each side before coming to a conclusion. I have learned not to sweat the small stuff and look at the bigger picture. I wasn’t that great of a paper writer coming into this class, as I am a little more confident about producing a decent paper now. However, I know that I tend to wonder off of the subject that I am writing about. I think this is because I get in a certain mind set and I’m off to another land. If I could use my critically thinking skills to look at the facts that pertain just to the topic at hand, give it a backbone and end with a solid conclusion I would make when heck of a writer. I do know this, but in all honesty, I like to listen, listen to what people have to say, share their experiences and learn from them all. There are all types of authors but not all of them are writers.

For the last major critiquing assignment from our own point of view, good and bad or just okay, we’re to choose 4 individual writing styles that meant something to us.

- Critical Thinking: Discussion Board #1 Masks (Under the Mask)
- Revision/Reseeing: Paper #2 (Community: “Like a Rock”)
- Awareness of Audience and Voice: Blog “Community” assignment
- Writer’s Choice: Paper #1 (Who are You Wearing)

Just to highlight on my choices, I chose my brainstorming discussion board assignment “Under the Mask”. This gave me free reigns to allow all of the mumbo jumbo feelings, thoughts and deep analysis’ to gush out for some critical thinking skills I didn’t realize I had...

As for my revision/re-seeing paper, (Community: “Like a Rock”), I was weak in not only my thesis but with concrete support and analysis to back it up. I tend to sway of the path quite a bit and I wanted to try to get back on the straight and narrow by revising this piece the best that I can. This is a talent that some have more of than others. I am in the “others” category.

For audience and voice category I feel this to be my most powerful message I try to express. My topic is being a cancer survivor with a strong community. Being a cancer survivor myself, this was a short blurb on my blog, but one with a statement for all to think about if you have to deal with someone close in your “community” that has cancer. “All of my strengths are their weaknesses and their weaknesses are my strengths”.

Last but not least “Writer’s Choice”, this was a highlighted story on identity; which is a real eye opener for all of us in the world today on how much we judge one another to how we form someone’s identity. I had a lot of in-depth feelings that I let out on this piece. Some may view them right, and some may view them wrong but at least they are “my feelings”.

I hope that I have been able to intrigue your curiosity thus far in hopes that you are chomping at the bit to read on. This quarter has come to an end fast, at least it was at a pace that I was able to look deeply into the true meaning of identity, community and tradition. I can see people’s identities without judging, I can feel the tightness of their communities and I will be open minded and accepting of new traditions. Thank you and enjoy!


Sincerely,
Candie Sisk