Lessons From Freshman Year

While reading through my classmate’s blog posts, I came across Theresa Richmond’s post titled “Unpacking Freshman Year.” She discussed the challenges she faced while at Geneseo and how she has learned from them. Her post influenced me to reflect on my first year of college as it is ending. I realize that in the short time I have been here, I have learned so much about myself, my learning techniques, and growing up.

Continue reading “Lessons From Freshman Year”

Collaborative Writing

Earlier in the semester in Dr. McCoy’s class, we looked at different Geneseo documents provided to students and were going to have to work on a collaborative writing assignment eventually. I hadn’t realized how significant these documents and this assignment were until recently, as I was reflecting on the year. The collaborative writing assignment in Dr. McCoy’s class has allowed those of us in class, to learn and work together. Geneseo’s Globe (Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Education) addresses leadership and collaboration. More specifically saying: “To engage others in developing collaborative solutions; to experiment, take risks and learn from mistakes; to enable, encourage, and recognize contributions to collaborative efforts by all group members; to manage and share work fairly and respectfully; to envision, promote, consider, and respond to diverse viewpoints.” The Globe statement is significant for Geneseo student because they will develop practical skills that are applicable throughout our future and promotes students to engage with one another and make mistakes and learn from them. Continue reading “Collaborative Writing”

A New Skill

My friend Becca had encouraged my suitemate and I to sign up for this free paint night in the union because it claimed it would “de-stress.” I had so much fun with my friends painting and I had forgotten what it felt like. The instructor was kind and clearly knowledgable, and the makeshift art class was doing sunsets. She said no one had to follow her instruction so I immediately painted what I wanted, so I painted sunflowers and I was the only one to go “against the grain.” When I was younger, in Elementary I used to receive art scholarships to a performance camp on Long Island named Usdan for my drawing and painting skills. One day when I was younger someone in my family told me that me doing art was useless because artists don’t make money till they’re dead. She claimed it was better to be a doctor or a lawyer, that is where the money was. I was only ten and that was enough for me to stop drawing immediately and focus on other things I was interested in, things I would believe would make me more money in my lifetime.
She made me believe that art in society was so useless and I only recently rediscovered my love for art last summer. I have come to realize my family member was wrong, art and creativity does have a place in my educational journey and I can see that now from it’s place in GLOBE. There is a place that asserts the goal of “creativity and creative thinking.” I realized that without creativity, a great deal of inventions or movements we revere today would not be here. Without those who “go against the grain” or the status quo, society would be worse off. Without artists like Monet and Renoir who rebelled against the traditional painting techniques of the “masters” we would not have many Impressionist masterpieces. Without early literary rebels such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf with modernism and their new “stream of consciousness” technique that became classic novels I studied in AP Literature. Without the visions of Martin Luther King and Susan B. Anthony. Without the bravery to break the traditional mold where would society be? 
Creativity and academic greatness can mix to create a better tomorrow. Creativity and education seem to be in a partnership together as well, one that surely has a permanent place in the classroom. 

A Look Back

It’s difficult to find time to go back and look at other students’ blog posts and get an idea of what they’ve been writing about. This semester, I’ve been mainly focused on my own posts. The other day in class, Beth encouraged the class to look 3 pages back on the Critical Writers Blog to see what we have missed. In doing this, I got to see what my peers were writing about and how they connected it to the risks and rewards of an academic partnership. Continue reading “A Look Back”

G.R.E.A.T. Day

For G.R.E.A.T. day I attended the Key Note speaker who was Mrs. Barbara Kellerman. She is a very talented woman who has 19 of her own books pertaining to the topic of leadership. She discussed how she believes that leadership positions should be treated as an occupation rather than a vocation. She believes that every leader before they come into a position of power must complete three steps: education, training and development. An occupation such as a doctor or a lawyer requires years of training before they can enter their field. She then questioned why leadership positions were so different. Without making this too political, the current leader of our country entered the office with no previous knowledge of how any type of government works. This lack of experience becomes obvious in some of his policies and just in the overarching way that he presents himself and speaks to others.

Both her speech and her life work can be related back to what we talked about in our INTD course. The course is titled “Risks and Rewards of Academic Partnership”. And with every partnership there are leaders and followers, even if we don’t know it. With our current class project, we are all working together in a partnership and a few students have designated themselves as the leaders. These students did not do this with a declaration of words, but with their actions. Other students that are not the “leaders” did not do this on purpose rather just not knowing what to say or felt out of place. I am one of the students who doesn’t know what to say.

Outside of the classroom, I have always been a leader. I was a captain of most of my sports teams in high school, I am the oldest of three, and even in the classroom topics that I’m comfortable with I become a leader. This project has hidden that leadership quality that know that I possess. Personally, I think that it’s because this topic is out of my comfort zone. In my past blog posts, I wrote about how I thought I was gaining confidence, I was speaking up more about the ideas and not how we could write them. I don’t have trouble with coming up with ideas as much as I do with formulating them into words. So, when it came to the revisions part of the process my confidence dropped about fifteen levels. In my previous blog posts, I mentioned my lack of “training” and that I might as well be useless when it comes to the mechanics of revising. This lack of training has set me back in the revision process of papers and caused me not to speak up as much as I did when we originally started.

I found Kellermans speech to be very interesting and very relevant. One thing that stood out to me however In Kellermans eyes, I would not be a viable option for a leader because of the lack training that I have received. However, she does mention that it doesn’t take much to be a good leader. She said during her speech that all you have to be is “good”. By “good” I infer that she meant good at heart and have good intentions for the greater public. This made me realize that by following her recommended the steps of education, training and development, I too could become as confident as some people in my class in their writing abilities. Although I recognize that it takes hard work to become a leader and it is in fact a process, I also believe that it is possible for me.

Down with the Corpocracy!

This past thursday, I was startled by the presence of Walmart on Geneseo’s campus. Swarming around the lobby of our beloved union, Walmart’s sweet (and underpaid) employees received the brunt of my anti-corporate leanings. “Would you like a warm cookie?” they asked me. Not today! Why was a corporate entity allowed space for advertising and recruiting within the College? The values of Walmart and fellow corporations are not only antithetical to those of the College, but destructive to the Academy as a whole. Continue reading “Down with the Corpocracy!”

Role of the College Union

During a recent trip to MacVittie College Union, I noticed a posted statement that I had previously ignored. The Role of the College Union clarifies the union’s meaning and goals. (I can’t find this statement online, nor will WordPress allow me to insert a photo of it.)  As a “community center,” the union is an “integral part of the educational mission of the college.” The union’s goal, then, “is the development of persons as well as intellects.” Upon discovering this posting, I started to think about the role community plays in realizing the College’s educational goals. Rather than being confined to Geneseo’s academic halls, the spirit of education is manifested throughout the college campus and surrounding community. Continue reading “Role of the College Union”

A New Culture

I recently wrote a blog post about how there was a “culture shock” when I arrived upstate and I wanted to further unpack the differences I have experienced.
The environment itself is very different from what I have grown up knowing. Geneseo is a village, and it is barely a town and it has a very “small town” feel. The speed limit seems extremely slow, and there is barely anything around that is open past four or five at night. Main street is very quaint and it does not take more than ten minutes to walk all of it. I know it sounds as if I am bashing Geneseo but I do enjoy it, but to explain the difference is to explain the rural environment here and the suburban/town feel of my home in Long Island. Around my town it is very commercial, I do not mean I have a highway in my backyard, but almost any chain or place you can imagine is around me. Not to mention, New York City is only half an hour to forty-five minutes from me. This especially juxtaposes the idea of Rochester as a “city” to many Long Islanders because honestly, all of us do not consider Rochester to be a city. It is all very different Rochester is very independent rather than commercial and it simply seems small so to Long Islanders it’s like a town, and in fact it‘s similar to a town called Mineola. I also was not aware that there is more to upstate than just calling it upstate. I always assumed everyone above the Long Island/New York City area was upstate. That is definitely not the local sentiment. I have learned that there is western New York (where we attend college), central, upstate and northern New York.
Next, the food seems to be a little different. Downstate treasures iconic foods such as pizza and bagels, there is also a great variety of ethic food that is just amazing because of the great diversity of New York City and the Boroughs have to offer. A lot of Long Islanders have expressed their disappointment in the lackluster pizza as well as the bagels. I once had a conversation with my suite mate when she claimed bagels were supposed to be “chewy” rather than the great bread consistency they are on Long Island. I also tend to miss a lot of food from my favorite local places like Chinese, Spanish and Indian.. Etc.
I have also noticed besides certain areas, upstate has an especial lack of diversity. Not to be political either, but there tends to be an abundance of republicans and guns. Back home, I would never see guns in a Walmart or see so many people who enjoy hunting. Many Long Islanders joke that upstate is like the south, just way colder.
I think Geneseo’s GLOBE recognizes that Geneseo is a community with many people of diverse backgrounds and differences. There are many differences between all of us, even me who lives in the same New York state has experienced an opposite upbringing. One of GLOBE’s goals is to work effectively in a “pluralistic society.” This also reminds me of GLOBE’s goal of global awareness and engagement that recognizes there are many different individuals in our community but that is not a negative aspect, but how we may all foster cooperation through partnerships and understandings. This also reminds me of the Tlic and Terran relationship in “Bloodchild.” They are both very diverse to each other and they cooperate peacefully. They use their differences to each other‘s advantage and see their diverse backgrounds as a positive in the partnership rather than a hindrance.

Word Count

Typically, professors require a minimum number of words on papers or assignments for students to reach. Specific word counts are given because these teachers and professors believe the amount required is manageable. Many students dread reaching the number of words that are necessary to submit the paper. Although, minimum word requirements are essential to creating a better writer.

Even though word requirements can be a pain, they encourage students to answer the prompt more broadly and introduce more textual evidence. Minimum word counts promote students to fully unpack their thoughts into the assignment. Word requirements can act as a reminder that there needs to be more explanation or evidence in their argument.

On one hand, many argue that word requirements can cause students to become wordy and create run-on sentences, and on the other hand some argue that the number of words stops students from not fully explaining their argument. Word maximums are also a useful device to stop students from the same problem of unnecessary words and run-on sentences. Minimum word counts can also prevent students from procrastinating until the last night.

In our INTD class, Beth put a 1400 minimum word count on our essay about Octavia Butler’s short story Bloodchild. At first, I found this frustrating because as always, I procrastinated on the first draft. Trying to reach the word count when the paper is due in a couple hours seems impossible. I feel that word counts can be a wake-up call from professors to students, to show them that their argument needs to be supported and explained in detail. Minimum word requirements can allow professors to stop students from procrastinating as well.

Raising Awareness

In Natalie’s most recent blog post titled “Another Birthday” she discusses the events that occurred at Geneseo’s Relay for Life. Along with my sorority, I attended the event as well. Similarly, I went in with an outlook just like Natalie. I didn’t see how sitting in a gym for twelve hours is an effective way of raising money to find a cure for cancer. Dreading the long hours and crowded room to come I went in with a negative attitude. But twelve hours later I walked out of the gym with an entirely new perspective on the traditional event. I reflected on what had happened in the gym and it hit me that yes sitting on the floor of the gym is not raising money in itself, but, it is raising a community. We, the dedicated students of Geneseo, came together for a cause. We sat there together. We watched montages of lost loved ones, survivors and fighters. We listened to individuals talk about their experience with cancer and the effect it has had on their life.  “WE” being the keyword in each sentence. As a student body we dedicated our time to be there and WE made a difference. Raising money for the cause is extremely important but what I didn’t understand was the factor of raising awareness.  The time we spent in the gym was to truly show us the effects of cancer, and educate us on what we can do to help. The entire event motivated me to do my part as well as cherish life as it comes.

Geneseo’s Mission Statement goes beyond the factor of grades. Yes a “rigorous curriculum” is an important aspect of a proper educational institution but there is much more to a well rounded student. Community involvement is something greatly valued at our school, and it is portrayed in Relay for Life. We came together as a community, we raised about $160,000. You can leave the school with straight A’s but the feeling of accomplishment when helping in an event such as this can not be attained by a GPA.