Category: Uncategorized

Mackenzie Jefferson

2/4/20

The course epigraph is “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 of what this epigraph is saying. It is revealing that it is a risk to trust. You are risking comfortability and safety. This 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. Some may consider these growing pains. These pains include becoming confident of yourself, experiencing loneliness and wanting to learn. This epigraph also addresses failure. The scariest thing to any college student. College students question whether it is okay to fail. It is a gamble that will help with growth.

This epigraph speaks about the value of setting goals. For instance, I am handing this paper in late it is disorganized and rushed. I can directly understand the experience of failure and being afraid to allow myself to not succeed. So, I avoid 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 slow and a more gradual slope. 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 to not backpedal.

A boundary that I need to set for myself is to prioritize school rather than socializing. I felt this dilemma I’m facing is something that is like how Gan is felt throughout the story. In Blood Child, the main motif in the story revolves around eggs. In this society, they use sterile eggs for human pleasure. For example, getting drunk and living a longer life. The eggs were heavily pushed by the Tilc. The eggs are used for the Terrans demise when it is fertile eggs. The Terrans get sick and die when they are fertile. Despite this fact, the Eggs are promoted by their society. I associated this dichotomy to the problem we face in America. In campus culture, socializing is promoted. We live in an extroverted world. If you think about it in the grand scheme of things we live in America and everybody wants to be an extrovert. The only way to get ahead is to have conversations. At least communicating with people you’re not going to be lonely. It’s kind of like the system we live in, so we pushed to believe that you need to be sociable. You need cannot be a hermit and you need to talk to people. That it will be your pleasure to do so but when done and excessive amounts socialization was my demise. This paper on time because I decided to focus on my social life mercies my studies

Also, in class, we discussed how students are kids or adults. It all depended on how you viewed college students. We are living in a weird Limbo whether we are children or if we are adults. I felt like this related again back to Blood Child because it was a coming of age story. In a sense college like a coming of age story. We are finding out what it means to be an adult. We have to face hardships and you have to be OK with that. in college, we have to be OK with being challenged. we have to be OK would be hurt and to be OK failing. that’s the only way that we can grow. we’re still kids because we haven’t reached OK yet. so when do you stop becoming a kid ? does it ever stop because being OK with the things that hurt or challenge you? It is so rare it’s almost unachievable at any age. so is there a distinct difference between a child and an adult ? or are we all living in a state of confusion and we use labels to differentiate between each other

I had the advantage of adding this part of class into this essay. 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 a 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 its literal meaning. It means that we need to trust and to have faith in ourselves. In our case to trust college or the institution that we live in. It’s fine to not feel safe it’s OK to get out of your comfort zone. Because you might be best in a bubble but if you let yourself grow there’s no knowing what you can achieve.

Sophie Brush

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 “Bloodchild”. This got me thinking about the risk I take on a daily basis in my day to day life. The only thing that came to mind was horseback riding. Risk is something that comes with the sport. Your partner is a 1200-1300 lbs animal that doesn’t even 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. Everyone says that horseback riding is easy, but it’s not. Our partner could kill us if we make a mistake or misread a sign. But how does this relate to the epigraph? With riding and being an equestrian you take risks everytime you decided 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 or clear every jump in the jump off, the feeling is incredible. But the best thing is the bond with a horse.

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 riding this is the same, but not really. We have to accept all the risks we take when dealing with a horse. No matter what the outcomes are always incredible and amazing. Since riding is one of the most difficult sports ever, the risks are so much higher when something goes wrong. It is very common for a horse to basically ignore your commands or literally throw you off. But it’s all with the risks like Gan took when killing the achti. You do what you do, given the circumstances you are under. 

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. 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 both 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. 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 or riding a horse. Risks are a part of everyday life, we can’t run and shouldn’t run away from them. 

Sarah Wicks

            Looking at the epigraph for the syllabus, it brought up many questions about adulthood and childhood and whether as college students we have reached adulthood or if we are still considered children. The epigraph is part of a class book called “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler, it goes “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.”. In class, we discussed how this quote can pertain to us as college students and someone brought up the fact that in college we are not quite adults and yet we are not considered children. We lay in a limbo of adulthood. College for many people is the first time that they are experiencing independence yet, we still are forced to maintain within a set of rules and guidelines that are imposed on us and many of us are still reliant on our parents for things such as money. We also discussed the fact that there are many stages of adulthood and we experience adulthood in stages. For example, you may start driving at sixteen however you cannot vote till you are eighteen and are not permitted to drink until you turn twenty-one.

            Another way to look at the epigraph is through the syllabus itself. For example, the quote discusses taking risks and, later in the semester there is a collaborative essay and through that, we are taking a risk in others in order to hold up the group, so all the work does not fall into the lap of one person.  This risk can also be seen in taking classes with a professor that you do not know, this is due to the fact that you do not know how hard the class may be and how difficult the teacher may grade you on work that you hand in. Within taking these risks you are exposing yourself to failure both as a group on the collaborative essay or as a student taking a class with a professor that may teach at a level that you are not ready to take.

            There are also risks in things like college, as discussed before many students fall in a limbo where many people do not consider college students as full adults even though through the eyes of the law we are considered as adults. This can be seen through the many privacy laws that are enacted when you become an adult. Laws like FERPA and HIPAA are two laws that help protect the privacy of students from parents. FERPA, for example, protects students from having their grades told to their families. This law was enacted in 1974 and is a way for students to gain greater independence from their parents. HIPPA is another law that grants students eighteen and older away to gain greater independence. This law is a way to assure that a person’s health records remain private. Without express consent from a person, hospitals and doctors may not disclose health records to any person. This is also protected with doctor-patient confidentiality. Through these law students are able to develop into adults. However, even though through the eyes of the law, students are full-fledged adults for many parents they still view their children as children.

            For many years colleges acted In Loco Parentis, this is Latin for “In place of parents” This was a way for colleges to have greater control of their students and was also a way for parents to be assured that their children are safe. In Loco Parentis took many forms. For example, curfews were often placed on young women attending colleges but, a curfew would not be placed on the male students. They may also expel female students for not acting “morally right” However through a series of law changes as well as the case of Dixon v. Alabama (1961) which landed in the Supreme Court has ended In Loco Parentis in colleges and universities.  

            Another way that parents may not see many college students as adults is the fact that many students are still dependent on their parents in one way or another. This could be financially by either paying their college tuition or cosigning a contract to take out a loan. This could also be seen in emotional support; many students still call their parents or visit them when they are able to. Through this dependence, many parents are unable to see their children as adults and still hold onto the idea of them not as the people that they are becoming but, rather as the people that they were. They may also not view them as adults because of the fact that many students have not finished the preset stages of adulthood. As stated before, there is a process of adulthood starting at sixteen and ending at twenty-one. At twenty one you are legally allowed to drink alcohol and is seen as the last phase of becoming an adult by many people as well as many scientists who state that your cerebral cortex or the part of your brain that makes rational decisions is not fully developed until the age of twenty-one.

            In conclusion, although many students may be seen as adults in many ways many are still considered children. Because of the fact that adulthood is seen by many to not have started until age twenty-one, there are also many laws that show that students that are in college are seen as adults and therefore should be treated with the same privacy and protection as an adult.

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 if 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. 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. When you enter a romantic relationship with someone, the basis 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 other 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 grades are really dependent if your peer carries their own weight. Your peers in an academic or professional setting are difficult to trust and take risks with because, you don’t always know them at all. A professor or manager can place you with a group of strangers for a project and then, you are expected to work with them without fear. 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 animals”, it makes me think of a students younger academic career in high school, teachers tend to remind you to turn in assignments where as, in college, professors don’t because you as an adult are responsible for your own work. Plus, this type of responsibility is important to understand that people must carry such skills with themselves into adulthood and throughout their career because you won’t always have someone to remind you to do things. Essentially teachers held students hand through most of their lower education academic career, by giving students small responsibility. In addition, there was also a hierarchy in high school. This hierarchy in high school, ingrained this thought in students that teacher are the superior in class setting 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.

When I first came to college I was excited to be on my own because the thrill of being responsible for myself was always exhilarated thought. However my enthusiasm quickly converted to anxiousness, by the sheer fact that I had to meet new people. My anxiety played into this fear of taking this risk because friendships I’ve entered usually ended on bad terms. Already having that thought in my head, hindered my ability to form meaningful connections because I didn’t want to ever risk being vulnerable to another person. Which was a huge set back, however through coming to terms with myself I found myself  taking the risk because I knew there would be a reward by other person to trust. 

“If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk.” another thing this quote made me realize how I have matured in setting certain goals because as a kid entering adulthood, The realization that I have to set more goals that push me to work toward the man I envision myself to be.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 task to improving the skills I wanted to work on. For instance I know 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. The risk in these goals is the fact that I’ma 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 to 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. In addition to having these responsibilities as an adult you become a better person because you set goals for yourself and are able to learn from peers. Although there are a lot of risks in working in partnership the rewards that can come from partnerships could be valuable lessons.

What is life without risk? Life is defined as “the sequence of physical and mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual.” Experience: to encounter or to undergo. This definition, then makes the opposite true-without undergoing some physical or mental obstacle, you aren’t really living. The mental experience that comes to mind is risk. There is an inherent risk in everything that we do. From getting out of bed to driving to work every day-and yet we do it anyway. Not because we are all thrill-seekers, but because we want what’s waiting on the other side of the risk. When our lives are filled with risk, we are experiencing, learning… living. A life without risk, is a life without growth.

This idea of risk and growth is no different when considering the ins-and-outs of academic partnership and the role that our professors play. In order to help us to fully grasp this multi-faceted concept, Dr.McCoy supplied us with the courses epigraph from Octavia Butler’s Bloodchild, “If we’re not your animals, if these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” This epigraph will not only set tone for the class but will guide us in our journey of risk and growth. The first point to consider about the epigraph is not the content itself, but the person who supplied it to us. The role of the professor or teacher is to guide the students to higher level of understanding. And while it may seem new for most of us to be handed a course epigraph, we’ve been handed one all our lives, when the teacher would outline their expectations for the year to the class. A specific memory that I can recall, concerned my band lessons throughout my high school career. During lessons, my band teacher: Mr.Rotello would lecture on how he expected that we practice outside of school and in return, he would supply us with techniques to support our musical growth. Our hard work in the end, facilitated and conducted by Mr.Rotello at our concerts would reflect the conjoined efforts of the students and himself.

That anecdote was not to recall my memories of band in high school, but rather to emphasize the role of Dr.McCoy and any professor we encounter from now on. By supplying the course epigraph, she in part outlined her expectations or intentions for the class. And at the end of this class, through her guidance we will have made obvious advancements in our writing and as human beings. Similar to Mr.Rotello revealing his expectations, and to quite literally conducting us to our peak performances. This expectation begins with what she expects her students to have completed daily like a specific reading, or described in even more detail in our class syllabus, under Community Inclusion when she includes, “We share responsibility for achieving these goals, to broaden understanding, heighten awareness, awaken empathy, and foster empowerment.” This message, along with essays and due dates was not put into the syllabus scare the students, but rather to create an element of transparency and allow the students to accept the terms of the contract of sorts.

Transparency is imperative to the academic partnership because students deserve to know what exactly is expected of them.

This level of transparency creates a realm of trust. At any point during add-drop week, after reading the syllabus we could have dropped the class if we felt the demand was too high. But we didn’t. Staying in this class is a risk. We all have our different reasons for taking this risk, but regardless of that fact, by not dropping this class we expect that the due dates stipulated will remain the same, while Dr.McCoy will expect that we submit our work on time. Yet she also includes certain caveats in the syllabus, like the one concerning our daily schedule, “Subject to change as class needs change” In academic partnership there will always be a give and pull in the relationship as in the nature of risk. We all inherently rely and trust each other. As a student will cease to exist without a teacher, and vice versa. However, it is without this risk that we gain nothing. Without risk, our ideas, our belief systems, our morals are not being challenged. And how are you supposed to grow when you are not faced with any level of adversity?

The epigraph serves as a marker for a transitional period in our lives as college students. This idea can be noted in the course epigraph, “if these are adult things, accept the risk” Even with days of class discussion revolving around the idea of establishing the time that adulthood begins, we have yet to conclude. I mean, the law tells us that 18-year old’s are considered adult offenders and can be prosecuted as such and yet we can’t rent cars – as our brains have not yet finished developing. How can it be that I can be prosecuted as an adult, but they also claim our brains have yet to fully develop. Possibly because there isn’t a pin-pointed age, or it happens at over a long period of time. This transitional period is important because as college students we begin taking actions into our own hands. Our teachers no longer serve as a middleman between us and our parents or act in loco parentis. The very idea of Dr.McCoy providing the FERPA act, “the 1974 Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects your right to educational privacy, including your right to choose if you want your writing to be shared outside of our class, or if you want anyone to know that you are taking a particular class at a particular institution.” Between the summer of high school and our freshman semester of college, we have shed the idea of parents being responsible for our education at all, that now lies solely with us.

We are all taking a risk by being in this class, but it is a risk that I am okay with. This is because I want to grow not only as a person, that through better understand the risk of academic partnership, I will grow as person and that I am able to better navigate different relationships in my life. I still find myself questioning what makes an adult, and maybe I’ll ponder that question for the rest of my life but I will ultimately never stop thinking.

Blood child states, “If we’re not your animals, these are adult things, accept the risk. There is risk, Gatoi, in dealing with a partner.” There is always risk. No matter what u do there will be consequences, for better or for worse. A risk involving the academic world, more so at a younger age may seem heightened. One may look at college institutions as a partnership. Students go to these institutions with the expectation that they will gain or improve on qualities that pertain to accomplishments in adulthood. Students are given expectations from their professors through a syllabus. The syllabus goes in depth on ways to take care of yourself, as well as taking accountability for the great work or lack thereof if found in compromising position. Topics include Mental Health, Academic Support Services, Library Research Help, Academic Integrity and Plagiarism, Computer and Technology Support, Food Security for SUNY Geneseo Students. It’s important that we realize the older you get you should accept the responsibility of events that go wrong. And although there is no way to stop the unexpected there are ways to prevent and deal with all situations. According to the syllabus there are many factors that might trigger an imbalance in a students mental health, “increased anxiety, shifts in mood, strained relationships, difficulties related to substance use, trouble concentrating, and lack of motivation”. In extreme cases an individual finding the strength to get up and take care of their mental health in moments where they feel their weakest, will be a challenge. However with every experience comes a risk. Academic Support Services is a guideline for students in need of support. A student may often find themselves in a situation where they don’t quite comprehend the work given to them in which they can use the service provided to them. The services go as far as breaking down lecture material for any misunderstanding one might bump into. Another resource used is the Library Research Help, having individuals that are more than qualified should make any setbacks on research more achievable. Being in an academic partnership means Academic Integrity and Plagiarism is an extreme offence. The intense academic support given should eliminate the need to plagiarize. With that being said it the risk of not acknowledging the seriousness of plagiarism are massive. In any instance where technology were to fail an individual the Computer and Technology Support would be there to assist in the time of need. If there’s a case in which the staff can not assist there is said to be “7,500 online tutorials for software, digital tools, web development, programming, and design through lynda.com training resources available.”

It is all a choice of whether or not the outcome will be a risk or reward. Although it’s easier said than done, there are many opportunities to flourish but there are also many opportunities to fail. It all depends on the work accounted for as well as the response to wrong doings. 

Parts of the story Bloodchild demonstrates an inference that a now dominating character will become a relient partnership. The way T’Gatoi is reliant on the warmth of the other characters and they all eat the eggs to stay at a certain age. Keeping in mind the lack of understanding and knowledge towards the whole story, it seems as though there will come a point in which T’Gatoi will have to let go of the influence hovering over Gan and his family. Gan states, “T’Gatoi lifted her head perhaps a meter of her body off the couch as though she was sitting up. She looked at my mother, her face lined and old looking, turned away” (Bloodchild,4). There is very little said in that passage but it seems as though there is some unsaid tension in the household as well as power being held by T’Gatoi. It is too soon to tell the time of relationship between the characters but based on the events taken so far there is a dynamic that is bound to change leading T’Gatoi to grow and accept the risk in partnership or neglect partnership and stay in a dominating non respectable position. 

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. However, notably, there is mention of  a great deal of risk involved, which could work both ways. It is my job to weigh the risks with the rewards to make decisions about the people I decide to trust. In the real world, I am constantly being but into this situation with the new people that I meet. This could be trusting my group for a class project; or perhaps gaining the trust of a boss to let him rely on my. The fact is that trust is not something that is handed out freely, nor should it be. Yet, I am constantly forced to trusting others in order to succeed. I believe is important to learn ways to be able to gain the trust of others, and be a good judge of the degree of trust that should be given to others. Mastering this technique will lead to an easier life.

Trust is a complex bond between two or more people reliable people. In order for trust to work it must be felt by all parties. Currently, I am constantly forming new relationships that warrant a certain degree of trust.. These varying levels of relationships have aided my transition into college. Simply relying on the school to look out for my well-being took trust. A more personal relationship would be with my professors. 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 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 are with your classmates. In class, when we were put into groups and told to discuss a certain topic, it was 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 there part, the rest of the group suffers. I must trust that they are going to do the right thing. If I can’t do that, then I 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 in the workplace; yet, I was still a good worker. However, I was not always the most reliable person to be on time. My boss had begun to trust me less as a consequence. It would be harder to get days off, I started to have to do the stuff 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. Onto 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. This relates back to class in a few 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 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, becoming comfortable with people who are complete 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 very important 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.” To me that 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 consider 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. This then gives us goals to pursue for us to receive these responsibilities, such as being able to vote at the age of 18. This also has me wanting to set goals to have a job and begin paying off medical school debt by the time I am 30.  

When one puts the epigraph in an academic perspective, it makes one think critically of 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 even require a college education. As well  as putting trust into college institutions, students put trust 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 also has me thinking about how a professor’s time is split up when it comes to their job, which is put in the syllabus, 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. However, not in

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 are 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.”  I also feel that due to the fact that 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 their, what is so different from writing and sharing your life. To me, people choose what they put on social media and only choose to highlight certain parts of their lives, where as in writing, you can become vulnerable without realizing it. Also for me, I am risking putting my work out in public and having many feel that is it subpar. However, I feel that I must become more comfortable in this aspect since I aspire to be a doctor, and I would like to publish research. 

Some of the goals I hope to achieve in college in general are pretty common ones, which I believe most college students hope 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 for many students, 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 society. To that I say it is ridiculous that society is able to disregard those people just because they didn’t do what was expected of them. I believe it is ridiculous since some people have their own 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. 

The epigraph made me think about my goals, responsibilities, and the risks one must take to achieve those goals.

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 is 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 Beth McCoy and myself. At first, I didn’t see my relationship with Professor Beth McCoy as a partnership, but after class discussions I had realized that it is a partnership of a different form in which I have never thought about with my professors. This gets me thinking about how this course may be different from any other course I have taken, given how engaged Professor Beth McCoy is with all the students and how it her relationship with the class has been referred to as a partnership. 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. I would like to explore what exactly Professor Beth McCoy does differently than any other professor to make it seem more like a partnership, even though it is already a partnership no matter what course I am taking. 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 Beth McCoy is not the only partnership I embarked on the first day I came to this course. The other partnership that I was engaged in right from the start was with the other students. I feel as though there may be more risks with that partnership, because we do have a collaborative essay that we will have to complete together. 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 Beth McCoy and the administrators of SUNY Geneseo. Though I will not understand Professor Beth 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 Beth 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 Beth McCoy states in the syllabus that I will be listening to four different administrators from various roles which engages myself and the other students into the partnership Professor Beth McCoy already has with them. Having four separate days that administrators are coming in shows how important it is that I can engage in the partnerships with administration. 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 works 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 first two weeks of this class my partnership with Professor Beth 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.