Author: Madalynn Augello

Throughout the semester, this course had a specific epigraph that linked all assignments together. It is derived from Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild” and was very crucial to our course. It states, “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” It appeared in the short story after the protagonist, Gan, requested an equal partnership from his family friend T’Gatoi, instead of a relationship where T’Gatoi has power over him. This epigraph acted as a throughline and every essay was linked back to it. For example, our “Bloodchild” essay was about how Gan teaches college students about the risks and rewards of academic partnership. My facilities/heating plant essay also discussed how Facilities Services and “Bloodchild” contribute to academic partnership. By using an epigraph as a course throughline, we were able to stay focused and engaged throughout the semester. My initial understanding of the epigraph was quite simple: there is always risk in partnered work. As the semester continued, I was able to develop a more complicated understanding of what risks and rewards actually meant in academic partnership.

I had little expectations of this course in the beginning of the semester. I thought that it was silly to require all freshmen to take a writing course and that it would be an easy A. Afterall, I had been in AP English my junior and senior year of highschool. I thought I already knew everything the course would offer and that my writing skills were already college level. I had so many assumptions of college writing from my highschool that I believed I would receive minimal information from this course. As soon as the semester began I quickly learned that I did not already know everything about college writing. I learned so many different skills that will benefit my writing across all subjects. There were many things from this course that surprised me. I was in complete shock when I found out we would be writing in the first person. My high school teachers warned that we would never do so in college, and always made us remove it from our essays. Because of this change, I was able to properly express my true thoughts on the subject and write to the best of my ability. Similarly, I was also surprised when I was instructed to put a quote into my introduction paragraph. Again, this was discouraged at my highschool. We were taught the introduction should briefly summarize the paragraphs and have a thesis statement, but never have any additional information. Both of these changes encouraged me to become a better writer. While not every essay should use “I”, using a quotation in an introduction paragraph can help enhance the thesis statement. Even these writing techniques can be drawn back to the course epigraph. There are both risks and rewards of contradicting passed instructions to rewrite old ones. While initially this could be confusing, a stronger essay works as a greater reward. 

After this course, I could see a significant change in my writing. Even looking solely at my grades, my essay scores gradually went from an 83%, to a 90%, to a 100%. This is just one aspect that shows how my writing has improved. I have been more aware of wordiness in sentences, which makes my essays sound more concrete and professional. Although I sometimes still struggle with this problem, I am more aware of it and attempt to correct it when I can. I have also been working to add more direct evidence to my work, where applicable. This helps me completely develop my thesis statement and makes my writing easier for the reader to follow. I’ve noticed that adding quotes from “Bloodchild” and other articles allowed properly explain my arguments. Originally I disliked adding quotes because I felt like it was unnecessary and redundant, but now I see that it simply works to enhance my essay. After weighing the risks and rewards of adding quotes into essays, it is better to include them than to not. 

Throughout the entirety of the course, we had the opportunity to develop our own interpretation of the course epigraph. With multiple essays and class discussions, we strengthened our interpretation. We also were able to see several perspectives after speaking with some of Geneseo’s faculty. For example, robbie routenberg discussed the factors that consent plays in the risks and rewards of academic partnership. They explained that consent is sometimes given without always realizing or acknowledging it. For instance, we consented to attend all of the activities at our welcome week when we confirmed our stay. There are risks in doing this, as generalized consent could encourage generalized consent in all situations. This would be problematic, however in this case it was countered by the rewards. The seminars were consented to go to involved sexual abuse, drug, and alcohol awareness. This was very important for college students to hear, so it was a necessary risking for rewarding information. Robbie’s conversation allowed me to expand my thinking and interpretation of our course epigraph by giving me other contexts to work with.

Joe Cope also expanded my interpretation of the risks and rewards of academic partnership. Joe gave a specific example of a relevant situation that had multiple risks and rewards that are often overlooked. With our current remote learning situations, students were given less restrictive measures when converting courses to pass/fail. I originally thought there were low risks of converting a course grade to pass/fail. There were many more risks than I had anticipated. For example, some graduate schools might not accept those scores. Because of this, students who plan on attending graduate school would have to refrain from pass/fail grading. Another risk is the lack of material learned. The pass/fail system might cause some students to slack in their school work because they think it will not affect them. However, it could negatively alter their future years in college or in the workforce. If someone is taking a prerequisite and they do not learn the material, the next class would be overly difficult for them. While the obvious benefits are allowing a bad numerical grade to be removed and not be counted in your GPA, it is important to understand the risks before doing so. This allowed me to see risks and rewards in a different light. If I were to want a course to be converted to pass/fail I would have done so without weighing the risks and rewards. Joe’s conversation taught me that every situation has risks and rewards, and it is important to assess both aspects before making a decision.

Looking back on my previous work in this course, I see a substantial difference. While academic growth in any course is important, it is also necessary by the standards of GLOBE. GLOBE’s learning outcomes include critical thinking as a mandatory learning aspect that was put in place to assist us throughout our careers. The GLOBE website explains, “Geneseo prepares students for twenty-first century challenges through the development of intellectual and practical skills that transcend disciplinary boundaries and are applicable throughout their lives.” This course has helped improve my skills, especially critical thinking. My goals for this course were to “improve on my critical thinking and writing style”, as stated in my goal setting essay from January. As I complete my final essay, I think of my original goals. I have met my goals in ways that I did not know were possible. I was able to improve my critical thinking by digging deeper into tasks and by portraying more than surface level thinking. This will continue to help my writing, but also influences my thinking in nonacademic settings. Even only considering the course epigraph, my interpretation of the “Bloodchild” quote is extremely different than it was a few months ago. My writing style has changed drastically because of the direction Dr. McCoy led us in. In my goal setting essay I stated, “Our academic growth will skyrocket because of the risks we are encouraged to be taking this semester”. This has held true in every aspect of the course.

Integrative learning is a teaching method that promotes the unification of subjects and encourages students to engage in more realistic situations. According to The Association of American Colleges and Universities, “Integrative experiences often occur as learners address real-world problems, unscripted and sufficiently broad, to require multiple areas of knowledge and multiple modes of inquiry, offering multiple solutions and benefiting from multiple perspectives.” This type of learning is arguably different from the traditional setting, in which subjects would be taught separate from each other and offer no connection. Integrative learning allows students to utilize multiple viewpoints to further their understanding of the connections of Geneseo’s Facilities Services and Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild. By teaching in this setting, students are more likely to understand content because they are able to make real world connections and view scenarios from multiple positions. In this essay alone, students were encouraged to apply multiple viewpoints and resources to a single common theme. The Geneseo Facilities Services Department, along with the characters in Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, contribute to different levels of academic partnership, and using both sources can maximize our understanding of their impacts.   After analyzing the Facilities Service’s initiatives and comparing them to Bloodchild, I can more accurately see the true relationship of the Tlic and Terran.

Facilities Services contributes to academic partnership, like students and professors do. The Geneseo Facilities Service’s homepage included specific Geneseo Facility employees, who displayed positivity and optimism in their work. Rick Carnavis and Karen Rockwell showed motivation and positive attitudes towards their job. They spoke with integrity and offered advice to the viewers. The Facility Services Department at Geneseo offered many more services than I had known and it is clear that the department is there for the students and likes to watch them grow.  From custodians, to locksmiths, to groundskeepers,  all of the services are in place to benefit Geneseo students. The Geneseo Facilities Service homepage states, “…The Department of Facilities Services provides quality maintenance services that assure safe, reliable, aesthetically pleasing building and grounds.” Students feel comfortable and secure when they feel safe, and this is exactly what The Geneseo Facilities Services strives to do. Nobody wants to live on an unkept campus or take cold showers, and the students at Geneseo do not have to because of the facilities employees. In addition, This demonstrates the dedication the Department of Facilities Services has in ensuring student’s happiness and satisfaction. In doing so, Facilities Services is contributing to academic partnership. The relationship between students and employees in the department is mutualistic because both parties are benefitting. The students benefit from the dedication and hard work facilities services supplies them with. And the department benefits with their constantly increasing knowledge and the ability to meet new people. The employees in the video discussed their opportunities to learn and both showed a desire for growth. Rick Carnavis offers the advice of always accepting other’s offers to learn something new. The department receives interaction with students and an abundance of knowledge, and is rewarded in this way. 

Behind the college union stands the heating plant of Suny Geneseo. According to the heating plant website, the heating plant is responsible for numerous jobs that most of us overlook everyday, including hot water. Energy consumption and conservation and the operation of the central heating plant are also important tasks that the plant employees take on. The site states “The Heating Plant staff is on site twenty-four hours a day/seven days a week. The staff is composed of highly trained engineers that work behind the scenes to operate and maintain the utilities that support the auditorium, library, academic buildings, residence halls, dining halls and athletic facilities.” The staff work to ensure the campus’ heating and electricity is always running smoothly. The employees work all day everyday to provide essential services that most students overlook. The heating plant staff contributes to academic partnership by ensuring the basic needs to maintain almost every building on campus. Their continuous efforts positively affect the students, teachers, and other staff members and it is clear that the university would not be able to function without this department. The Geneseo Facilities Services video mentions the staff being rewarded with learning experiences and growth opportunities, and the heating plant staff is no exception. They are offered the chance to meet new people and grow their careers. They are rewarded by these opportunities and in exchange they provide safe and reliable services for the students. However, the services can sometimes go unnoticed. I personally walked by the heating plant building and smokestack everyday, but never even wondered its purpose. The heating plant staff works very hard to satisfy the student’s needs, but most people overlook these tasks. This contributes to academic partnership because the faculty is willing to risk working these jobs for students, like me, who did not even know what the purpose of their building is. The staff is concerned about safety, learning opportunities, and meeting new people, but are not bothered that they do not often get praise for their job. I feel that these employees are often overlooked, when the university would not be able to function without them.

The Geneseo Facilities Services homepage discusses many of their objectives that allowed me to analyze their purpose at Geneseo. It is quite obvious that Facilities Services is essential to the success of SUNY Geneseo’s students, faculty, and campus, and that the students and college would not thrive without it. This concept can also be applied to the characters of Bloodchild, a short story written by Octavia Butler. In the story, Gan and the other Terrans experience harsh treatments from the Tlic, specifically T’Gatoi. The Terrans are forced to carry the Tlic’s children and act as a host animals for them, and they have no say in this matter. This is a very dangerous and risky process and it is clear why the Gan does not want to participate. After researching The Geneseo Facilities Services, I look at the Tlic and Terran relationship slightly differently. Initially after completing the story, I saw the relationship as unfair and generally sided with the Terran, and while I still acknowledge the unequal use of power between the Tlic and Terran, I understand the full reason the Terran are being forced to carry the Tlic’s offspring. Neither species would be able to survive without the other. In the story there is a brief, but crucial, part discussing the history of the relationship of the Terran and Tlic. It explains that the Tlic gave the Terran protection and reservation, while they were escaping their dangerous homeland. T’Gatoi states, “And your ancestors, fleeing from their home-world, from their own kind who would have killed or enslaved them-they survived because of us. We saw them as people and gave them the Preserve when they tried to kill us as worms” (p. 25). Because of this, they escaped death and slavery. In return, it seems fair that the Terran help the Tlic survive by carrying their young as there is no other convenient way to do so. While it has the potential to be dangerous, it is better than the life they were living. The Terran would not be able to thrive without the Tlic, just as Geneseo would not be able to thrive without the Facilities Services. By analyzing Geneseo’s Facilities Services, I was able to think about ideas in Bloodchild that I would have originally glanced over.The Geneseo Facilities Services and the heating plant work together to offer a better understanding of Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild. Using integrative learning in this way benefits student’s writing qualities and overall academic development. Students are encouraged to slow down and make connections between several perspectives. In doing so, they are also adapting their intellectual skills which promotes academic growth into a confident learner. This pushes us to adapt our intellectual skills, an internal change the AAC&U deems necessary. By using this process, we were able to include some aspects and goals of integrative learning.

“Bloodchild”, a short story written by Octavia Butler, shows the reflective process of the protagonist, Gan, as he adjusts to hardships and inequalities in his environment. The lack of trust and abuse of power from those around him alter Gan’s thought process and cause him to analyze the reasons for the disruption of power. Similarly, Drew Harwell’s article, “Colleges are Turning Students’ Phones into Surveillance Machines, Tracking the Locations of Hundreds of Thousands”, was written to describe the inequalities between a college administration and their students. Both sources discuss a lack of trust and an issue with power, but ultimately teach college students about the risks and rewards of academic partnership by acknowledging that some activities are necessary, although not ideal.

In “Bloodchild”, issues with trust and power help Gan become more aware of larger issues. Gan grows up with the knowledge that he will have to carry a child for family friend T’Gatoi. T’Gatoi is a more powerful species than Gan and his family and Gan was given no option in this matter. In fact, he was born for the purpose of being T’Gatoi’s, as all Terrans must provide someone to carry the Tlic’s children because they offered Terrans land and protection years ago. Although this situation did not bother him initially, this all changed when Gan witnessed a birth gone wrong and heard stories from other experiences. He realized the dangers associated with giving birth and how unfair it was to expect him to deliver T’Gatoi’s children with so many risks involved. Eventually, he agrees to carry the children but offers conditions that make his relationship with T’Gatoi equal, because “there is risk in dealing with a partner”(Butler, 26) . Gan’s reflective process involved acknowledging the reasons for not wanting to bear T’Gatoi’s children, but ultimately allowing it because it was necessary for both parties. Gan’s people had agreed to surrender their bodies to help the Tlic reproduce and he knows that someone will have to complete this job. Although Gan initially did not consent to carrying children, he understands the rule was put in place to benefit both the Tlic and the Terrans.

 Drew Harwell’s article, “Colleges are Turning Students’ Phones into Surveillance Machines, Tracking the Locations of Hundreds of Thousands” discusses an incident that occured at Syracuse University, where students were being monitored from their cell phone in an effort to increase attendance in the classrooms. Most students were unhappy with this behavior and thought of it as lack of privacy. Like Gan in “Bloodchild”, the students saw a lack of trust and an abuse of power when it became mandatory to use the monitor app.  If the administration trusted the students, they would allow them to attend classes on their own time. In this scenario, the administration is using their power to benefit themselves. Tami Chievous, an athletic director at the university of Missouri, explains, “Students today have so many distractions…We have to make sure they’re doing the right thing”. The administration is clearly showing a lack of trust within the college and is enforcing their power onto the students. In addition, the students also were being forced to use this tracking app without their initial consent. If they decided not to download it they could lose credit by being counted as absent. This most likely was not made aware when they committed to their school. Like “Bloodchild” suggested, there are always risks when dealing with a partner. Administration faced a risk by requiring this app, but not without weighing the rewards.

By using Gan’s learning process, students have the potential to understand how trust and power relate to consent and how some actions that seem negative may actually be considered beneficial. Gan realizes that although he does not want to carry children, he must do so in order for the Tlic to repopulate and continue to protect them. Students can model this behavior. For example, the students in Harwell’s article deemed the tracking app to be a result of lack of trust and disliked it because they did not consent to being tracked. However, the app does bring in positive ideas. It can help people who suffer from mental health issues and also encourage students to attend class more regularly. The college would be more likely to help students who need it and ensure everyone is getting a quality education. There are many other scenarios where the people in power might set guidelines that are not ideal but very necessary. Homework, for example, is not enjoyable for most students but it is required because of the rewards of it. Every situation has varying degrees of risks and rewards, especially in academic partnership, and Gan can teach college students how to understand and analyze them.

            The character’s in “Bloodchild” are useful when recognizing the risks and rewards of academic partnership. By analyzing Gan’s reflective process of a hardship he faced, Gan offered advice to college students in multiple ways. His choices are ones that could be modeled by students to promote adequate conversations and decisions. 

“Colleges are Turning Students’ Phones into Surveillance Machines, Tracking the Locations of Hundreds of Thousands”, an article written by Drew Harwell was published to describe the injustices associated with institutions allowing the tracking of students through the use of their personal cell phones. While the institutions defend this by noting that monitoring increases attendance and allows for the detection of students who might have mental health issues, the overall concept of tracking students is unfair. This demonstrates the lack of trust the institution has with their students, and is a step backwards when allowing college students to behave like adults. Gan, the protagonist in the short story “Bloodchild”, by Octavia Butler, faces similar injustices to the college students. The relationships  and different levels of trust between the characters in the story and between the administrators and students in the article directly contribute to the risks and rewards associated with academic partnership.

Harwells’s article, “Colleges are Turning Students’ Phones into Surveillance Machines, Tracking the Locations of Hundreds of Thousands”, describes the injustices of forcing students to use the “SpotterEDU” app, which tracks students locations and automatically takes attendance in the student’s classes. The article explains that the app has multiple purposes, but is required for the student’s attendance which directly influences their grade. It notifies professors when a student misses class or comes in late. Most students believe this is an invasion of trust and privacy, and that the only side benefiting from the app is the school. The app is convenient for professors and administrators, but offers no gain for the students. This is happening on a college campus, where adults are tracking other adults. These actions could also potentially affect the student’s independence and freedom in the real world. If they feel they are being watched, less students will want to venture out and pursue their own interests. The relationship between the students and administration shows a lack of trust in the students. If they trusted them, they would allow them to attend classes on their own time. Tami Chievous, an athletic director at the university of Missouri, explains, “Students today have so many distractions…We have to make sure they’re doing the right thing” (Harwell). The administration is not treating them like adults and is enforcing their power onto the students. The lack of trust shown in the article can help in the discussion of the risks and rewards of academic partnership. This is also shown by the administrators not showing the full truth. Harwell states that students do not know what the bluetooth beacons that transmit signals from the app look like. They would not provide a photograph for the article so they could keep them hidden. This is another demonstration of the University’s lack of trust for their students.

Octavia Butler, author of “Bloodchild”, also indirectly discusses risks and rewards of academic partnership. Like Harwell’s article, the characters in “Bloodchild” also demonstrate fluctuating levels of trust. Gan is the youngest child, born with the purpose to serve T’Gatoi as a N’Tlic. T’Gatoi is an important and respected political figure who was always a family friend to Gan’s family. Gan grew up knowing and trusting T’Gatoi, and knew that one day he would have to carry her offspring. This all changed when he finally understood what this would entail. He witnessed a gruesome hatching of eggs and later was told a story about a birth gone even worse. These events drastically change how Gan looks at his future. He realizes he will be forced to go through an excruciating amount of pain and danger and there is nothing he can do about it. He was born into this life and he is now forced to give up his body for the Tlic’s benefit. The relationship he has with T’Gatoi was evaluated and he saw the lack of trust between them. Gan had originally put all of his trust in T’Gatoi but later realizes the power T’Gatoi has. He was not exposed to the realities of the birthing process and it was kept hidden from him. In addition, he realizes the unequal relationship between the Terran and the Tlic and eventually advocates for a change. He realized the injustices between the Terran and Tlic relationship, and had ultimatums for T’Gatoi. They were demands to make the relationship fair and equal. These demands were very reasonable and necessary.

Gan’s reflective process of learning described prior can easily be compared to that of college students. A lack of trust between students and administration in universities is sometimes relevant. Like Gan, students might feel that they are not given the full truth about their academics. For example, I have a class where it is unclear what percent of our grade our essays and exams account for. Scenarios like this can be a risk for students as they prepare for their classes and strive to achieve good grades. There  can also be a lack of trust issue when professors have strict attendance policies in place. It is understandable to enforce attendance, however occasionally it is impossible to attend class. Often, students will go to class when they are sick or are in a bad mental state because of attendance policies. Attending class while contagious puts a huge risk on the professors and other students, especially in an environment that we are currently in with the coronavirus. And while most Geneseo professors are lenient about attendance, there are still the occasional professors that will not allow missed classes or labs. Harwell’s article stands by the same theory, just to a higher level of extent. These inequalities should be fixed as Gan corrected them, by advocating for fair and equal relationships. This would benefit the administrators because students are more willing to listen to them if they are being treated fairly. It would also benefit students because they would not feel power over them, and might be more likely to address their issues.

Gan’s learning process is very similar to college students and they both are forced to develop certain levels of trust. The students Harwell’s article describes unhealthy trust levels between students and administration. These unhealthy relationships are ultimately negative for the students, but students can gain from Gan’s reflective processes. Realizing situations and relationships are unfair and advocating for a change is beneficial for both parties.