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The epigraph is a thought provoking quote from Octavia Butler’s, Bloodchild, that has a deep meaning behind it. The quote is of a conversation between two characters with one of them being in a more powerful position. The one in the lesser position is attempting to gain the trust of the more powerful character. This got me thinking about how I am put into similar situations quite often in my own life. It is required of me to weigh the risks with the rewards to make decisions about the people I decide to trust. In the real world, the social structure requires us to evaluate these certain situations almost on a day-to-day basis. This could be trusting my group for a class project; or perhaps gaining the trust of a boss to get him to rely on me. The unfortunate fact is, trust is not something that is handed out freely, nor should it be. Yet, in order to succeed in today’s world, it is nearly impossible to do it alone. I believe it is important to learn ways to be able to rely on, be relied upon, and be a good judge of the degree of trust that should be given to others. Mastering this technique can lead to an easier life.

Trust is a complex bond between two or more reliable people. In order for the relationship to be successful, the trust must be reciprocated by all parties. Since going to college, I have formed many of these relationships with my professors. In order to do so, I have selected to take certain classes with professors that I concluded based on the research I could do, that they were all good and fair teachers. It is expected that teachers put in a great deal of time and energy into teaching each class; it is hard to be dedicated to class when the professor doesn’t care. The extensive information given to us through the syllabus shows that you care about your students. Everything I could want or need in reference to the class is within access. You even go above and beyond, for example, including sections in the syllabus about mental health and food security. You making my life easier makes me want to work harder and with more purpose. This specific type of trusting relationship is usually validated by the commitment to the class by both the professor and the student. This is why picking out the right school and teachers is so important. I trusted my school to provide me with the best education available; which is the reason I am okay with paying them so much money. Another trusting relationship formed in college is with your classmates. In class, when we were put into groups and told to discuss a certain topic, it made it possible for me to get first impressions of my classmates. These first impressions have aided me in deciding who are the most trustworthy people in the class to ask for assistance which is incredibly important to my success. For instance, in a group project, everyone in the group relies on each other to put in the work. If one person does not do their part, the rest of the group suffers. I must trust that they are going to do the right thing. If I can’t trust them to do that, then I must rely on the fear of getting a bad grade or not being picked for another group project usually gets everyone to do their work. 

Another place trust is important in is the workplace. I personally have worked in two different places. My first job was in a greenhouse. I was young and inexperienced. For instance, I was not always the most reliable person to be on time. Yet, I was still a dedicated, hard working employee. However, due to the little things, like being late, my boss had begun to trust me less. As a consequence it would be harder to get days off, I started to be given tasks that others didn’t want to do, and it made my job much harder. Eventually, I quit this job. I had realized that the lack of trust between my boss and I made it harder for both of us. My bosses lack of trust in me meant that he had to keep a closer eye on me. Oppositely, the lack of trust led to a harder job for me; it was a lose-lose situation. It made me realize how important it was for an employer to trust an employee. This not only benefited the employer, but it benefited the employee as well which I had experienced in my second job. My second job at a pizza place called Pesci’s Pizza. For this job I was older and more determined to impress my boss. I was on time everyday, I always did my work ensuring both quality and quantity, and I tried to have a good attitude about it. Soon my boss began to trust me with more and more responsibilities, and I trusted my boss more and more. He started giving me authority over others, along with other perks such as: making it easier to take off, easier to move my shifts around, and getting nice holiday bonuses. I always trusted him to pay me on time, give me fair hours, and other things that made it more fun and easy to work there. As seen in my first job, the lack of trust leads to a more difficult time for everyone; whether it’s my boss having to keep an extra eye on me, or not being able to give me tasks that require more trust. As seen in my second job, the trust between me and my boss led to a more enjoyable work experience. Both me and my boss are rewarded for the trust we have for each other. This relates back to class in many ways. I believe if I was to form a trusting relationship with my professors, it would be a lot easier to obtain the necessary help required to do well in the class. From my personal experience, having a good relationship with your teacher leads to me being more successful in the class which is why it’s so important to trust them. Even though these relationships are with someone with more power than myself, we can both benefit from the relationship.

Trust is one of the most important qualities in a person. There are endless benefits to be had from a relationship built around trust. Whether it is a boss, a professor, a significant other, or simply a friend or family member. Both parties will profit from the reliance on another. Of course there is a risk taken when forming such a relationship, which is why I must be careful in choosing the degree of trust put in a person.

As I have read the epigraph several times, it has me thinking about the several ways that I have taken risks as a student, as well as how I have received many rewards for taking these risks. As well, it has also helped me create many goals for myself both academically and personally. Some of those goals include writing much more maturely, thinking and writing, both intentionally and analytically.  Some more of my goals also include becoming comfortable with people who are strangers to me being able to read and comment on my work once it is published and achieve some of the goals that are very common among college students.

One way that I interpreted the epigraph is that one must take risks, especially during the significant transition period between being a teenager and an adult. I was able to come to this conclusion from part of the epigraph stating, “… if these are adult things, accept the risk.” This epigraph is being presented to the class as a way to help set the tone for the course, as well as get me thinking about how I must view the partnerships I have as something that can have amazing results. However, if I want the results from the partnership, I must be willing to take several risks. To me, the epigraph means that as I grow up, I have to take on more responsibilities to be considered an adult; however, as I take on those responsibilities, it comes with the risks of me not being prepared or mature enough to handle those responsibilities. However, as we discussed in class, one can not be fully considered an adult by the United States government, due to the laws and policies in place, which have placed somewhat of a strict chronological lineage of when we are fully considered an adult. The lineage was put clearly in front of us in class on the twenty-seventh when we were discussing the different responsibilities one gains as one gets older. The expected responsibilities then give us goals to pursue for us to receive these responsibilities, such as being able to vote at the age of 18. The lineage also has me wanting to set goals to have a job and begin paying off medical school debt by the time I am 30. 

Having a strict chronological lineage put in place by the government also affects my personal lineage of goals that I create for myself as I assume more responsibilities. I feel that this is mainly due to how I was raised. I was raised in a dual-cultural household. My cultures are Puerto Rican and Portuguese, which play a massive part in my belief system, as well as play into my thinking, morals, and goals. From the age of five, I had the goal of being the first in my family to go to college, as well as pursue education beyond college. I feel that is because, from that young age, it was always put on me that I will be the first one to do what my parents couldn’t and didn’t need to do.

When one views the epigraph from an academic perspective, it makes one think critically about how they take risks by putting trust in the institution they are attending. This point was brought up by Shaw when she stated that one takes risks by attending college when they don’t even know that the future job they will have will also require a college education. I feel that this point was brought up in class since society expects us to go to college since many jobs on the job market do need a college education; however, not every career requires a college education. As well as putting trust into college institutions, students put faith into their professors to teach them the material, even in a class size upwards of 100 students. This point was brought up by Dr. McCoy when the class was talking about how some professors use their ability to control grades to pressure students to complete tasks that can be quite daunting. This part of the syllabus also has me thinking about how a professor is expected to split up their time when it comes to their job. Including this in the outline of the course, is a risk in itself since it can not only seem like a lot for the professor, but it can seem incredibly daunting for the student, which causes them not to ask for help on something, in fear that it is bothering the professor.

Due to the different perspectives I have been able to apply to the epigraph, it has allowed me to think critically about what I want to achieve and gain from this course. One of my goals for this class is to be able to write much more maturely, as well as be able to express some emotions in my writing. I feel that this course would help me with that since the syllabus states that “…get to thinkING about structure and why you are making those choices,…making things more complex and unique.” This quote was more directed towards when I am doing my essay rewrites; however, I feel that I can think about the structure and why I am structuring my essay how I am from the very beginning. I also believe that because we will be putting our work out into the public, it will help me think much more intentionally and analytically, which is something I want to achieve. 

Another of my goals is to be able to become comfortable with sharing my work publically. Some may say this a bit ridiculous since, on social media, many share their lives on there. This situation then poses the question of what is so different from writing and sharing your experience. To me, people choose what they put on social media and only want to highlight certain parts of their lives, whereas, in writing, you can become vulnerable without realizing it. Also, for me, I am risking putting my work out in public and having many people feel and believe that my essay is subpar. However, I think that I must become more comfortable in this aspect since I aspire to be a doctor, and I would like to publish research. This could propose a risk in the future however, since my past writings and past beliefs, which could have changed, could be used against me to debate my current views and negate the research I performed.

Some of the goals I hope to achieve in college, in general, are pretty common ones, which I believe most college students wish to achieve. Some of these goals include making the president’s list, becoming much more independent, and being able to pursue what you want to do after college. I feel that these are goals for most college students, since it is expected of them in today’s age and time. To many, college is a rite of passage of being a child who is dependent on their family, to becoming an adult who can support themselves, and eventually their own families in the future. However, there is a risk since society expects this from college students, since it puts more pressure on them, especially since they are already under a large amount of pressure on students to do well in all of their courses, from their professors, families, friends, and themselves. 

One must also think of those who didn’t pursue college or don’t want to go to college. I think of that population since they are then viewed by society as lazy, not put together, or that they can’t contribute anything to the community. To that, I say it is ridiculous that our society can disregard those people just because they didn’t do what is expected of them. I believe it is absurd since some people have their plans that don’t involve college, want to save up money for college so that they don’t have debt when they graduate, or they already have a job that they feel secure in that doesn’t require a college degree. I feel personally that those who don’t attend university can be as or more successful than those who did go to college. 

The epigraph made me think about my goals, responsibilities, and the risks one must take to achieve those goals. I feel that it is only fair that this epigraph should be shared with many since it helps put everything in perspective as one takes on more responsibilities.

Mackenzie Jefferson

Goal-Setting Rewrite

An epigraph is a short quote that suggests a theme. This course’s epigraph is from Blood Child by Octavia Butler. “If we’re not animals if these are adult things except the risk Gatoi in dealing with a partner”. When first reading this epigraph, I had no idea what this meant. There was little context. Now, with conversations in class and the material readings, I have a firmer grasp on what this epigraph is expressing. It addresses failure. The most frightening point in any college student’s career. College students learning that it is okay to fail. It is a gamble that will help with growth. It is revealing that it is a risk to trust. You are risking comfortability and safety. But risk leads to development. Our class discussed growth. Having a goal will help make the learning process easier. In college, you experience a lot of change. Without goals, many feel lost or directionless. Some may consider these growing pains. These discomforts include becoming self-confident, experiencing loneliness and needing to learn. Goal setting is the key to having a successful college experience.

This epigraph speaks about the value of setting goals. For instance, when handling writing this paper it was directionless. I relied heavily on sprouts of energy. I waited to write this because I was afraid of the work that would entail. I would rather fail at something that I don’t work hard at. I can recognize the experience of failure. So, I avoid the hurt of the whole situation entirely. Which isn’t the point of growth. You can’t avoid things and still expect to mature. I mean you can, but it’ll be a slow change. My goal for this class is to have a better sense of self and to set boundaries. I want to feel confident in my decisions and not backpedal.

A boundary that I need to set for myself is prioritizing schoolwork rather than socializing. This dilemma I’m facing is something that is like how Gan is feeling throughout the story. In Blood Child, the main motif revolves around eggs. In this society, sterile eggs are for human pleasure. For example, getting drunk and living a longer life. These eggs are advocated by the Tilc for the Terrans to use. Nevertheless, the eggs are also used for the Terran’s demise. The Terrans get sick and die when they are fertile. Despite this fact, the Eggs are still promoted by their society. I associated this dichotomy to the problem we face in college. In campus culture socializing is promoted. The school offers a plethora of clubs and even Greek life. This helps foster strong a campus community. Not to mention making lifelong friends for students. Socializing seems advantageous for the students and is highly promoted by SUNY Geneseo. However, when done in excessive amounts socialization was my demise. Having a social life is fun but it ended up hurting me in the long run. It’s a distraction from another core value high achievement. I decided to focus on my social life mercies my studies. Socialization is a trap like the egg’s in Blood child.

In class, we also discussed whether Geneseo students are adults or kids. When you’re 18 you’re living on a cusp between being an adult and a kid. Blood Child is a coming of age story. Gan prefaced his story with “my last night of childhood began with a visit home.” Stating that there is a distinct difference between childhood and adulthood. In Bloodchild Gan is faced with difficult adversity. It wasn’t until he experienced this was he an adult. This is similar to my belief on adulthood. There are some experiences one must go through in order to be an adult. That’s why I think most students here are just kids. In a sense, college is a coming of age story. We are challenged mentally in many aspects. It’s rare for young people to have a strong sense of self and awareness that many adults have. This process is hard at any age.

In class, we talked about whether someone has a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. Having is a growth mindset is thinking that things can change. Having a fixed mindset is believing that things cannot be changed. Students should want to have a growth mindset because then you can be learning. Most people have fixed mindsets. They believe that is people were to change it would be in fixed stages. That is why people think there is a difference between a child and an adult. They think that development comes in stages. A fixed mindset is the thought that if you turn 25 that’s when you become in a real adult or when you’re 16 that’s when you leave childhood. Life doesn’t come in stages set packs easy to digest stages it’s all curve. You learn things little by little you change slightly. And then when you take a step back you realize you’re a completely different person than you were maybe 5 years ago. This is because in a sense everybody is growing whether they realize it or not. Everybody’s changing nothing is set in stone. so, it would be counter-intuitive to believe that there is a difference between a kid and an adult. Plus, to think that some kids are we wiser than the adults in power

In conclusion, the epigraph is more than it’s literal meaning. The meaning of the course epigraph is that you need to trust. Trust is a risk that requires you to have faith yourself and the other. In college, you need to trust the institution and yourself. Both parties need to feel safe while stepping out of their comfort zone. This will allow growth in the school climate and the student body. This helps prepare them for the real world.

Partnership exists everywhere- whether it be a partner for group work, your relationship as a student with an educator, or your relationships with your boss and coworkers. What comes from the various partnerships in life? As Gan says to T’Gatoi in Bloodchild, “There is risk…in dealing with a partner.” Though there is risk to dealing with partners, I feel there are also many rewards. When dealing with partners of any type, you are offered a look into their mind and their own points of view. As a result, you may learn something from a perspective you’ve never encountered before. As stated by Professor Beth McCoy in her syllabus, I will be witnessing many different perspectives of administrators from Geneseo and the SUNY system. Engaging in these partnerships will help me to fully understand all that goes into this partnership between myself and this college and the partnerships between all the people that make this college run.

The first partnership I made in this course was the partnership between Professor McCoy and myself. At first, I didn’t see my relationship with Professor McCoy as a partnership, but after some class discussion I had realized that it is a partnership of a different form in which I have never thought about with my professors. Professor McCoy does things very differently than any professor I have had so far. For example, during class, we always sit in a circle which gives me the feeling that we are all working together instead of separately, which is how lecture-style classrooms make me feel. Professor McCoy also knows each of us by name and made it a point to make sure she knew our names as close to the start of classes as possible. This shows me a huge sense of partnership because in most of my classes they would only potentially get to learn my name if I was constantly at office hours- the setting of the classroom didn’t allow the professors to truly know anyone. Given the small class size, and the fact that Professor McCoy knows everyone’s name, I am more engaged in this partnership as well. For instance, if I am not going to be in class, Professor McCoy would notice- so I would email her in advance- whereas in my previous classes, the professors would have no idea if I showed up or not. When doing small group work, Professor McCoy engages with each small group individually which strengthens that partnership even more because even during class time, she ensures every student is heard. Given the nature of this course and partnership itself, I think that this course will be constantly focused around what we both are going to need to give to engage in this partnership most successfully. If I am not in class to partake in my portion of the partnership, then there truly is not a partnership to be had. I feel as though the small class size makes it easier for it to feel more like a partnership, but I also want to challenge myself to see aspects of partnership in all my courses this semester.

The partnership with Professor McCoy is not the only partnership I’ve embarked on the since first day I came to this course. The other partnership that I was engaged in right from the start was with the other students. On the first day when Professor McCoy was learning our names, she also had volunteers go around and say everyone’s names and continued to do this every class period until we knew each other’s names. This sparked the partnership between all of us as students because knowing each other’s names, at least for myself, led to me being more able to engage with them in discussion and see things from their perspective, which I feel  is one of the rewards of this partnership. Knowing everyone’s name also made small group work easier, because if I went into a small group not knowing anything about anyone, I would not be as likely to engage or debate their reasoning. Though knowing everyone’s name makes it easier and more rewarding in this partnership, I feel as though there may be more risks with this partnership than that with Professor McCoy, especially because, as stated in the syllabus, there will be a collaborative essay where, “In small groups…[I] will spend four class periods crafting a collaborative essay based on our heating plant tour…”. Given that the group I am in will have class time to complete the essay alleviates some of the risk, but not all. There is always the risk that a partner in the group will not complete their portion of the work. One of my goals is to not be the partner that risks a poor grade for everyone else. Another goal of mine would be to potentially help another partner if they are stuck so they do not become the risk as well.  Though the collaborative essay may be the only graded portion of this partnership, every day in class, this partnership becomes more and more active as l learn through the other students and see things from their perspectives.

              There is one type of partnership that I will never know the true inner workings of, but it is still notable. This is the partnership between Professor McCoy and the administrators of SUNY Geneseo. Though I will not understand Professor McCoy’s partnership with administration, I can relate it to some experiences I have had in different jobs and how different roles work together for one common goal. Professor McCoy has a partnership with all the administrators in some level, but there are some that she may have a closer partnership to or ones that are so important that she is bringing them into partnership with myself and the other students. Professor McCoy states in the syllabus that various administrators will be coming into class to discuss “…how various forms of consent inform their work.” Such administrators include: robbie routenberg, the Chief Diversity Officer, Dr. Joe Cope, the Interim Associate Provost for Student Success, Dr. Sasha Eloi-Evans, the Director of Multicultural Programs and Services, and Seth Gilbertson, the Associate Counsel for SUNY’s Office of University Council. Professor McCoy takes two weeks of her instructional time to have administrators come in and discuss how consent influences their work, and this shows that it is very important that I am able to engage in partnerships with not only all administration but these administrators especially, but also that consent is a very important part of the partnerships I will be engaging in. This raises the question for me of how far am I going to get into these partnerships within this semester and also how far into the partnerships will I get into by the time I graduate, since without even realizing it I have been engaged in these partnerships from the day I applied to Geneseo? What administrators will I have the best partnership with? This whole semester I would like to think about how many partnerships I have within this college and how much each one influenced or will influence my career at Geneseo.

              I have never seen my relationships with educators or administration or anyone of authority over me as a partnership. Throughout this semester, I would like to challenge that portion of my thinking because a partnership can mean very different things and work in many ways. I engage in partnerships every day, and I have never thought to notice them in that way. Some of the partnerships I engage in that I don’t currently see as partnerships may have been or will be the best partnerships of my life. Just from the beginning of this class my partnership with Professor McCoy and the other students in my course has changed how I think about everything that goes into running this college and partnerships in general, and I want to be able to watch these partnerships grow and evolve throughout the semester while also forming partnerships with new people.   

            Risk is defined as the “possibility of loss or injury” and, at some point, everyone will face a risk in their lives. These possibilities of peril may present themselves in different guises. It may be a physical risk, like undertaking a dangerous task, or an emotional risk, like getting attached to a certain people. The most often discussed emotional risk is a relationship. By that same token, relationships are frequently seen as romantic endeavors. But one type of relationship not usually regarded is the academic partnership, particularly between college students and the faculty, staff, and other administrators of the institution. Octavia Butler’s short story “Bloodchild” broaches several forms of risk and summarily explains the inherent risk of a relationship through the protagonist, Gan. In dialogue that is also our course epigraph, Gan tells T’Gatoi, “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” Each phrase from these two sentences carries meaning for all relationships, but particularly an academic partnership. Thus, the course epigraph will be separated into segments and analyzed in context with the course syllabus and other materials; at the same time, each segment of the epigraph will also allow me to explore the different goals that I have for this class.  

            Gan’s first sentence is a conditional ultimatum, “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk.” Of particular importance now is the phrase, “If we’re not your animals.” While this may seem extraneous—simply a part of the story—to a college writing course, as it appeared to me at first, it can be applied to that very institution. Being a college student in the U.S., or simply in the age range of a traditional college student, is peculiar because many are legal adults but must still endure limitations that may not be present in other countries, and a class discussion recently highlighted this exact contradiction. The concept of adulthood will be discussed later, but the limbo that traditionally aged college students inhabit can sometimes make them feel as though they are animals, penned in, all the same, and with little ability to may their own choices. This captive state is similar to how Terrans are kept on the Preserve in “Bloodchild”, and also harkens to Cathy Birkenstein and Gerald Graff’s book They Say/ I Say. In the introduction, the authors bring up a frequently received concern that using the templates that populate the book stifles creativity, boxing students in. While Birkenstein and Graff argue that it is quite the opposite for the templates, that they increase creativity, the same cannot always be said of the colleges and universities students attend. That is why it is extremely interesting that the SUNY Geneseo mission statement, as proffered at the beginning of the syllabus, includes a section for “Inclusivity” that seeks “respect for the unique talents and contributions of each individual.” The focus on individualism indicates the college’s desire to combat the sense of sameness students can feel in any campus, regardless of size. This sameness, in turn, can lead to parallels between students and animals. 

On a similar note, the importance Geneseo supposedly places on individuality can almost be called into question in the wake of homework and class discussions wherein other institutions’ mission statements were read and the class found that each of them echoed very similar sentiments. Personally, this brought up a bevy of questions regarding the requirements, particularly for a SUNY school, that mission and diversity statements must meet. These are questions I hope to answer when Associate Counsel Seth Gilbertson visits. The assignment also sparked an interest in how academic partnerships differ based on institutions. Examples include Biola University, whose theological focus implies that the partnership will be different than a secular public school like Geneseo, and St. John’s College, whose miniscule total enrollment of 371 promises a radically different educational experience than a campus like University at Buffalo which boasts a total of 31, 503 students. All of these differences have encouraged me to learn more about how distinct academic institutions breed particular academic partnerships and the comparisons and contrasts between each.       

            The next conditional phrase in the epigraph is “if these are adult things,” and this applies more directly to the experience of a college student. The discussion of adulthood, or lack thereof, on a college campus is impacted literally by the age of the students, many of whom are between 18 and 21, but also metaphorically. Most, but not all, traditionally aged college students are living away from home and making significant life choices for the first time. Cognizant of that, institutions sometimes implement the in loco parentis principle, wherein they act as parental figures. Phillip Lee investigated the history of in loco parentis, which was a major doctrine used by colleges to have a hand in students’ private lives (p. 66) until the 1960s, regardless of their consent. This practice fell out of use due to several court cases, heralded by Dixon v. Alabama (1961), and despite nearly sixty years between that ruling and today, it can sometimes feel like in loco parentis is very much still alive in higher education institutions. For example, Barnard College in New York City requires guests to be signed in and continually escorted by their host when they visit residence halls. This imposition is similar to parents monitoring who their children can have visit, a process that seems strange and out of place when, as a previous paragraph explained, most people in college are legal adults. 

Given experiences like the aforementioned, it is particularly noteworthy that there are several visits scheduled on the syllabus by prominent figures in SUNY Geneseo to discuss their work in the lens of “forms of consent”.  Such language begs the question of how in loco parentis is, or is not, implemented on campus and in each individual’s respective positions. To elaborate, in loco parentis is the act of one body behaving parentally towards another; with parental behavior being marked by decision-making for others without their consent, because society does not yet deem those people fit to make their own decision. If a college is using in loco parentis to craft its rules and other programs, then it is likely not according proper consent to its students. Thus, I am excited at the multiple opportunities that we are provided with throughout this class to talk candidly with high level administrators about how consent informs the decisions they make on a daily basis that impact the college. In conjunction with these opportunities, one of my goals for this semester is to explore the depth of the relationship that these administrators have with the consent that they afford to the student body.   

            The final phrase of the first sentence and much of the next have to deal with risk. Gan tells T’Gatoi, “accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” This gets to the heart of the matter, the inherent risk of an academic partnership. Students are putting trust in an institution to teach them and fulfill the role of higher education, a faith that is both sentimental and in the form of tuition. Meanwhile, institutions rely on students to uphold certain standards, of grades and livelihood. On both sides, these hopes may not be fulfilled and even the exact opposite can happen. Yet, both continue to place at least some faith in the other. This brings about several questions. How do institutions evaluate risks and attempt to mitigate them? What detriment to the student population does this incur? Risk was displayed in a recent event reported in Business Insider, wherein a student maintained a Twitter account parodying the SUNY Geneseo official account. The school noticed this, evaluated the risk of misinformation, and ultimately asked Twitter to take down the account. This demonstrates the risks of academic partnership and also brings forth possible issues that can arise. This inspires me to learn more about the plans for risk mitigation that institutions must undergo and why they might not have plans to mitigate some risks. This comes in the wake of a blackout that left half of Geneseo’s campus without power or hot water and, at an open forum, the administrator in charge of facilities admitted that the campus did not have a plan of action if Geneseo’s aged equipment failed as it did that night. Thus, one more goal I have for this semester is to discover as much as I can regarding how administrators evaluate risk and react to its possibility.   

            While risk is inevitable, different beings react differently to potential peril. In an academic partnership, both sides must face the risks to get a reward, and Octavia Butler’s short story “Bloodchild” echoes this. The novella includes our course epigraph—”If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner”—which relates to the state of the traditional college student, both as an animal and in the limbo of adulthood, and to the inherent, unavoidable risks of having a partner. The epigraph sparks many questions about the academic partnership that higher education institutions enter into with their students. All the while, these question shave morphed into goals that I seek to have at least something akin to answers for by the end of the semester. I want to learn more about different partnerships that arise based on each academic institution, including going more in depth on the requirements that a SUNY school must meet. I’m curious about how forms of consent inform Geneseo’s administrators and how in loco parentis has evolved on this particular campus as well as in the broader sense. Finally, I want to get a better understanding of how the campus evaluates risks. Hopefully, I will move closer to some resolutions by the end of the semester and these answers can help me as I forge my own academic partnership with Geneseo.  

  On my first day of class in INTD 105 my Professor Dr. Beth McCoy asked the class for our thoughts on the course epigraph in the class syllabus. The epigraph was a small excerpt from the book, “Blood Child” by Octavia Butler, and is stated here: “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” During class due to the quote’s ambiguous nature several interpretations arose, however I believe this quote could be used to characterize a mutual unspoken agreement between students and our teaching institution.

            I believe this agreement leads to a partnership built upon trust and accountability from each party, and if observed it’ll lead to a successful learning process. First of all, us students need to be able to trust in ourselves, as well as the learning process that has been laid out for us by our professor. We’ll be expected to push the envelope in terms of our current abilities. These heighted standards are shown in Dr. McCoy’s syllabus for INTD 105 where it is listed under Values“Learning: embracing high expectations for intellectual inquiry, scholarly achievement, and personal growth”. I believe that if us students are unable to have faith in ourselves and the process, we won’t be able to grow as learners. I think this situation can best be represented by a quote from Henry Ford, “whether you think you can or you can’t, either way you’re right.”  This is why I feel trust is important for student success.

Secondly, students must remain accountable, “if we are adults”, we are expected to act as adults would which means taking responsibility for our actions and inactions. Along our academic journey we will inevitably stumble at one point or another, whether it be missed classes or a failed exam. However, the real test of whether or not we are achieving accountability comes from the actions that we take after we stumble.  We can take a mental inventory of what happened, why it happened, and how it happened, then use that information to better ourselves in the future and prevent it from happening again.  On the other hand, we could choose the unaccountable reaction, which is taken by many students, which would be to forget about it and simply hope that it doesn’t happen again, because the thought of it makes us uncomfortable. The key distinction in the mind sets listed above can be demonstrated in Dr. McCoy’s syllabus where she writes in the Goal Setting Rewrite section “feedback does not constitute a list of things to “fix.” Rather, feedback offers you the opportunity to slow down, think, and unpack so that readers (none of whom can get inside your head) can follow you responsibly”. I believe this quote states the importance of the ability to learn from mistakes, rather than just doing the minimum to fix them, which is a part of being accountable. Being accountable also means that we won’t cheat, because in doing so we’d be circumventing the learning process that has been laid out for us by our instructor and thus preventing ourselves from growing. This is shown in the Course Syllabus under the section Academic Integrity and Plagiarism where it states “Milne Library offers frequent workshops to help students understand how to paraphrase, quote, and cite outside sources properly. These sessions are meant to educate about the importance of using original ideas and language, and how to incorporate paraphrases and quotes into writing”. This quote gives information about classes that teach how properly cite information to avoid plagiarism, thus stressing the importance of academic honesty.  Further more students must remember that to be accountable we must respect ourselves and those around us. That means giving our full attention to a lecture and not allow ourselves to get distracted with phones or side conversations. If we do allow ourselves to do these things, we’d be disrespecting ourselves by not getting the most out of our education and those around us by becoming a distraction to their education. This claim is supported by the participation grading listed in the syllabus which states “E. Absent frequently and thus unable to contribute. May be present but is watching sports/shopping/checking social media.” This grading procedure places an emphasis on keeping students engaged and therefore keeping them accountable for their own education. This is my opinion of what’s necessary of us student in order to ensure the partnership with our intuition is a beneficial one.

            For the learning process to work, trust and accountably is also required from our teaching institution. Our teaching intuition is required to trust in its student and our abilities to meet our responsibilities. If an institution’s trust is misplaced in a student that doesn’t live up to their expectations, then they would potentially be giving that student the spot that another, more deserving, student could utilize to a higher potential. This scarcity of resources is also expressed in the course syllabus when Dr. McCoy talks about Office Hours “The office gets extraordinarily busy; it is not unusual for students to show up unannounced and find six or seven people in front of them. If you make an appointment, I can reserve a slot for you.” Our teaching institution also needs to be held accountable to provide its students with the tools and information they need to be successful. I believe this means that they should be able to provide adequately sized rooms for classes to be held as well as areas for students to study. In addition, they must make clear what they expect from their students as well as what their students can expect from them. This means making information like how grading is done as well as assignment due dates readily available to students. The importance of making information and expectations known to student was proven when Dr. McCoy stated in class that the reason her syllabus is so long was because each section of it has a story behind it. This shows the importance of information in keeping both us students and our teaching intuition accountable. I believe this is what’s need from the teaching intuition in order for the learning process to run smoothly.        

     I believe this proves that good academic partnerships are built upon mutual trust and accountability. In addition, as I was writing I began to think how I played a role in this proposed relationship as a student. This led me to my goal for this course which is to learn to be more trusting and confident in my thoughts and abilities as well as to becoming more honest and reflective with my short comings.

What risks do we take on a daily basis? On our first day of INTD 105 with Beth McCoy we discussed risks and how it relates to our course epigraph:”If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is a risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner” Octavia Butler in “Bloodchild”. This got me thinking about the risk I take on a daily basis in my day to day life and in college everyday. The only thing that came to mind was horseback riding. Risk is something that comes with the sport. Your partner is a 1200-1500 lbs animal that doesn’t speak the same language as you. Anything could happen and it could change your life. A horse is its own being and has its own mind and choices. Some people say that horseback riding is easy, but this is not the case. Riding has many benefits and can teach you a lot about compassion and the caring of another living thing. But how does this relate to the epigraph? With riding and being an equestrian you take risks everytime you decide to get on a horse, be around a horse, or work with a horse. It’s scary, yes, but the outcomes when you complete a perfect dressage course, which is kind of like a dance you perform with your horse and the arena is labeled with letters and you make patterns with the letters or clear every jump in the jump off, which is when the fastest jumpers usually 5-15 do the same jumping course but as fast as they can. The feeling is incredible, but the best thing is the bond with a horse. Everyday in college I take a risk to go to classes that I could end up failing or doing poorly in. These classes would then be a waste of money and I could have just not taken them. College is all about risks and stepping out of your comfort zone because most of the time your friends from high school aren’t with you anymore. You have to let yourself go and meet new people and make new friends. 

In “Bloodchild”, T’Gatoi sends Gan out to slaughter an animal from the family “farm” that is half his size, now he’s never done this before but he has to. He took the risk to slaughter the animal so he could save a life and get eggs for T’Gatoi and the T’Khotgif Teh citizen. Gan killed an achti,which was a local Terran animal and could help the man. He took the gun from the hidden spot and went out to kill the animal for T’Gatoi and the man. He was helping his family and helped save a life until the correct people from his clan came to claim him and help him properly. Gan took the risk of using a banned weapon and an animal from the family “farm” to help what he believed in, even though he had never done it before. The risks out weighted the benefits in this case and it was for the better. This relates to the epigraph because of a few things, he had to be an adult and kill the Terran achti for the man and follow the order from T’Gatoi who could kill him if she really wanted to. In college, we have to think about when we meet a new person and what if they don’t like you? Your mind tries to get the better of you and talk you down from meeting someone new. But you just have to ignore that and go head first into meeting new people and make a network here at Geneseo. 

The amount of times I have been riding a horse and everything is going good, one second can change that; and sometimes you don’t even see it coming. This past fall when I was riding at the college stables, Leg Up stables, I was on Rio. We were just cantering along and practicing transitions from the canter down to a trot, I was going around a corner and BAM…I was on the ground. I later learned that Rio is very famous at the barn for throwing people off if he doesn’t like what you’re doing. I had my reins too tight and was pulling on his mouth. And he simply just got me off by crow hopping. Crow hopping is when the horse will put their head and neck down, and basically throw their back to a side or straight up and you will end up on the ground. I landed on my back and couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. Now in Bloddchild what could have happened if Gan wasn’t mentally prepared to kill the animal? He could have hesitated when he wanted to kill it and the animal could have tried to kill him first. Risks happen on a daily basis where Gan lives with the Terran. Since they also have the hidden gun, which were outlawed to keep people safe, the family could be shown to the “government” that they have on their planet and who knows what they would do. T’Gatoi and having the eggs are a risk, because since the mom doesn’t take hers usually she ages at a rate we would call normal but they call it fast. The eggs keep you younger for longer, but since the mom doesn’t eat hers, she is always tired and pale. The eggs are keeping her alive and she only ate when T’Gatoi forced her. She then was sedated by T’Gaoi and went to sleep until the next day. But why would she want to not take the eggs? 

“Bloodchild” and riding horses and college have increible risks and both have your life on the line. One wrong move or judgment or action could cost you your life. Risks are just a part of life no matter what planet you are on or who your government is. No matter what happens to someone who needs an animal to be killed to survive or a horse that is having a bad day, it could change you and their life forever. Everyday in college you need to take risks in classes and make the day better than the last. The author, Butler, is very good at showing and describing the risks in her book and it always gets you thinking and trying to predict what will happen in the future and is like an ongoing cliffhanger from page to page. In my life, riding is always the biggest cliffhanger, you have to be constantly thinking about what you are going to do next and what the outcome could be. Horses and people think differently and we don’t know what they are thinking and they don’t know what we are thinking, but we can get them to understand what we are going to do with the correct guidance. It always depends on the situation and you will be always taking risks, either on an alien planet, riding a horse, or going to college. Risks are a part of everyday life, we can’t run and shouldn’t run away from them. We should embrace them and go head first with them.

Why do we put ourselves in positions of risk? Let’s take driving for instance. The Association for Safe International Road Travel estimates that 1.25 million people die and 20-50 million people are injured/disabled by road crashes each year. That’s 0.5% of the entire population. 2.2% of all deaths are caused by road crashes. Yet almost every day, people drive to work, class, or wherever they need to go. In theory, we should all stay indoors eating nothing but vitamins and minerals. But no one does. We all take risks every day. The ability to take risks is the freedom that we enjoy. That freedom allows us to grow and develop as humans. In short, without risk-taking, we cannot become better at anything.  

So what happens without risk? Octavia Butler describes this situation in their novel, Bloodchild and Other Stories. In that work, Gatoi is a creature that uses humans to reproduce. Gatoi finds Gan, the main character, holding a gun. Gatoi then attempts to take the gun from Gan. Gan replies “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” I think this fully encapsulates what gives us our humanity. By removing individual liberties, people can no longer grow. Gatoi does just that. By then reducing Gan to an animal, they can feel much less remorse when they use him for reproduction.

Earlier in the novel, Gatoi presents Gan and his family with an egg that causes a type of intoxication. When Gan’s mother, Lien, refuses to have some, Gatoi tries to coax her. Gatoi starts by saying “Lien, I would like you to have what’s left of Gan’s egg… You should take more.” The drunken stupor caused by the egg prevents Gan’s family from taking risks. Ergo, it takes away the ability for Gan’s family to resist. This lack of resistance has led to the current situation, where Terrans (humans) are used by Tlic (the kind of creature Gatoi is).   

Gan recounts a story about his late father. He tells us that his father often drank the eggs and lived to be very old. Gan recalls that his father “had lived more than twice as long as he should have. And toward the end of his life, when he should have been slowing down, he had married my mother and fathered four children.” Gan’s father was the perfect animal for the Tlic. He lived longer than he should because of the eggs, and then made more people to use. Farmers use antibiotics to get the most out of their animals. The Tlic uses the eggs to get the most out of the Terrans. Both the antibiotics and the eggs lower risk, which lowers freedom, which lowers the opportunity to grow. 

But why is taking risks important? Most of us want to live long lives. Most of us want to be healthy. Most of us want to wake up every time we go to sleep. Logically, we should strive to minimize our risk. Let’s go back to driving again. As previously mentioned roadway accidents cause 2.2% of all deaths in a given year. People look at that number and try to minimize the inherent risk of driving. People now wear seatbelts, cars are required to have airbags, there are certain height restrictions associated with sitting in the front, etc. No one says stop driving. 

Every great thing that has ever happened involved a lot of risks. From the brave patriots who defended this land in 1777 to Robert Smalls who stole a Confederate ship to Marie Curie who won the Nobel Prize in physics. These three examples also demonstrate a very important idea, that the growth achieved through risk is not only personal but societal as well. Freedom creates the opportunity to take risks. Risks create the opportunity to grow. 

This naturally begs a few questions: does this risk need to occur, do I feel comfortable with this risk, and is there a way to lower this risk. Everyone, conscious or not, askes themselves this question each day from crossing the street to an academic partnership. The freedom to answer these questions is what allows growth. In this class, my goal is to answer all these questions. Firstly, an academic partnership is crucial to the advancement of every field, so the risk needs to be taken. This is seen in the Human Genome Project. Researchers from different agencies, colleges, and even countries worked together. Even with 20 unique universities working on it, the whole project took around 10 years. There is no way one person could have completed this. In this class, I hope to become more comfortable with the idea of an academic partnership. The most important goal of this class is to learn ways of lowering this risk. This is shown throughout the syllabus. The syllabus states “Additionally, students will reflect upon the risks and rewards of academic partnership, including (but not limited to) various forms of consent and sustainability.” Even in our short time, we have taken a pretty deep dive into the academic partnership we have with SUNY Geneseo

But how will the class teach the skills required? One of the best ways to learn is by listening to multiple ideas. We have also have begun to discuss the risks of both academic and non-academic partnerships in class. Not only will the class discussion center around risk-taking and academic partnership, but the class will also be meeting with multiple professionals such as Robbie Routenburg, Dr. Joe Cope, and Dr. Sasha Eloi-Evans. Multiple perspectives can increase the chance that the ideas will resonate. 

As a research student and graduate school hopeful, I know that I will be in many positions that rely on academic partnerships. I hope that through the multiple lenses that will be demonstrated in this class I will increase my knowledge base on how to communicate effectively in an academic setting. I hope to become more comfortable with sharing my ideas and suggestions with others. I am looking forward to learning more about taking smarter risks regarding academic partnerships.

Bryan D.Gonzalez

INTD 105

Octavia Butler states “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” I interpreted this quote as I am not socially inferior to you I understand the risk of working alongside a partner. The responsibility that comes from becoming an adult comes with risks. However, these responsibilities might come with many risks but there are rewards with working with a partner. 

When Octavia Butler states “There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner”. It makes me think of many relationships that one might form with people because all relationships come with risk. For instance, when you begin a friendship with someone, the basis to that friendship is trust and getting to know them over time so that you can trust them with what might share or how you might act. Then when one enters a romantic relationship with another the basis of a romantic relationship is trust, but at times both individuals fear the idea of weakened trust. This damages a friendship or relationship severely. Trust in this romantic relationship is the risk because once your secrets are voluntarily exposed to a close companion there is a form of trust that has to be solidified with you and the other person before those secrets are brought into the light. However, the reward in this relationship is the matter that you have a partner in which you can enjoy and confide because exposing yourself to another form deeper and meaningful relationships.

 Another type of partnership that brings many risks are partnerships involving a classmate or academic peer because when collaboration is part of a project grade are really dependent if your peer carries their own weight. Your peers in an academic or professional setting are difficult to trust and the risks that come with an academic peer are that in most cases you don’t know them. A professor or manager can place you with a group of strangers for a project and then you are expected to work with them. Also, fear is a concept you can include since we are talking about risk-taking and working with a partner you don’t necessarily know is an intimidating task. In such a situation, having to work with a new person is risky because it is vital to your success academically or professionally because your partner may contribute to your success or inhibit it. 

For the other half of the quote “If we’re not your animal” Octavia Butler, makes me think of a student’s younger academic career in high school. By teachers tending to remind students to turn in assignments whereas, in college, professors don’t because students are looked as adults that are responsible for producing their own work. Plus, this type of responsibility is important to understand that students must carry such skills with themselves into adulthood and throughout their individual careers because one won’t always have a teacher or a more experienced person to remind one to return or do work. Essentially teachers held students hand through most of their lower education academic careers, by giving students small responsibility.

However, a difference between high school and college is the hierarchy in high school. This hierarchy in highschool, ingrained this thought in students that teacher is the superior in-class settings because they know more and they are teaching students the material.  However in college this far from the case because you could form relationships with your professors and collaborate with thoughts by bouncing off each others’ thoughts. This new status is what most college students struggle to understand because the lower education system has really deep-seated this hierarchy in the classroom inhibiting them in the college to form relationships with their professors.

Following “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk.” on a personal level this quote made me realize how I have matured in setting certain goals because as a kid entering adulthood. The goals that I set for myself as an adult versus a child allowed me to be realistic/truthful with myself and kept me on the task of improving the skills I wanted to work on. For instance, I know I get distracted in class and sometimes I lose focus so I set a goal to go to office hours when my professor offers them. Also, another goal that I set is, I want to be able to have an intellectual conversation with people that are more practiced in their field, hoping to learn something valuable through those conversations and interactions. The risk in these goals is the fact that imma have to retire my shy, quiet self and talk to my professors and other experienced people. Despite that risk, there is a huge reward of learning and developing a stronger connection and valuable relationship with my professor.

In conclusion, the way I interpret our epigraph is that every relationship has a risk and when reaching adulthood there are new responsibilities that require you to be in a partnership, whether in a professional, academic or personal. Meaning relationships cost risk.

Madeline Hare

            When confronted with the course epigraph, I was confused on the message that I was supposed to extract from it. Upon further reflection, I believe that I have decided what it means to me. The course epigraph reads: “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner” from Octavia Butler’s “Bloodchild”.  To me, this is a message that in partnership, there are risks and rewards involved. The risk in the partnership is making sure there is balance between what each partner gives and takes from the other. The risk here is the if one party does not, it is no longer a partnership, but yet becomes a parasitic relationship or a dictatorship.

            One discussion of this in the class brought forward the idea that we, as college students, are essentially in a partnership with the institution we chose to attend. In exchange for our money, we are expected to be housed (if we so chose), fed, educated, and returned home as scholars with degrees to help us gain our dream jobs, right? That would make the students dependent on the institution, which some could view as an inferior position. Relating this back to the epigraph, if one side of the partnership is unequal that would cause an imbalance. In this case, students are dependent on the institution to provide for them, giving the school a significant amount of power over the students. Another risk recognized in class is that this path is not always the way things could play out upon graduating from college. There is always the possibility to get a job that never required a higher education, causing the degree one obtained to be useless. This is a risk, especially considering the fact that many students these days struggle to pay for their education. In this example, the risk could be wasting time and money. 

            But what are other partnerships we partake in within our college community? Another example could be the relationship between professor and student. To the eye it can seems as though that is a parasitic relationship, the student taking the information with nothing in return to the professor, but that is not what the true partnership is. You are able to find the equal exchange in this partnership. The professor provides the students with information and study resources, and in return the students supply the professor with discussion that has the opportunity to expand wisdom for the professor by providing viewpoints they have never recognized themselves. Yet, everyone knows someone that has had a “bad professor”, and that is exactly the risk here. I know I personally have and have taught an entire semester of chemistry to myself. This is another example of an unequal partnership, that it may not work. In this case, the professor had the power over the student, making it resemble a dictatorship as the professor could be the cause of the student’s failure. 

            One last example of academic partnership I’d like to touch on is the partnership between peers. This is one of the most common, and arguably one of the most important relationships formed on a college campus. There are also many different natures of this relationship, such as classmates, roommates, and friends. When classmates, we expect each other to do the work to be able to contribute to and collaborate with the class. When this expectation is not met, it can stall the learning process for other students, as they are not able to contribute as they should. This becomes parasitic, as these students can begin to take the stances of classmates and treat them as their own.  The partnership with roommates is a lot different when it comes to how personal the relationship can be. When living with someone, most likely there will be agreements about what is and is not allowed to happen with the room. When these agreements are broken, the betrayal becomes a lot more personal, as it is the place that you live. The risk here is no longer feeling comfortable in the living space, and/or ruining the relationship with your roommate. This may not seem like an academic partnership but being in an environment where you are not comfortable alongside someone you are not comfortable can severely hinder performance in school. 

            Personally, I know that my biggest risk when coming to college is the partnership between my peers and I, as I like to spend my free time socializing. With that there is a different kind of risk, rejection. It can be extremely hard for people in a new setting to put themselves out there and meet new people due to the fear of rejection and judgement. Another risk that I touched on earlier that I personally worry about is eventually entering a career that I never needed a degree for. I am worried about this because I will have wasted time, money, and effort that I could have put towards other opportunities. The time and effort are important as I could have used those to develop and advance within my career earlier, and we all know that saving money is a huge dictation in just about everybody’s life in this day and age. My goal from here on out is to be aware of the relationships in my life and make sure they are equal in terms of giving and receiving to each partner. 

            To conclude, my understanding of the epigraph is that the risk in partnerships is the potential imbalance of power. To fix this, make sure that each party included in the partnership is giving and receiving at the same pace to create a balance. This epigraph applies to many partnerships within the campus community, and is now a very important thing for me to be aware of.