Tag Archives: perfection

A Raw Reflection on My College Experience

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The commonplace blog is a raw representation of how my learning has improved during this first semester. It showcases my weaknesses and strengths. I really enjoyed doing the reflections, because I realized what I could have done different in my papers. I hate not realizing it before, but I know how to make my papers better the next time. The one thing that is discussed most in my commonplace blog is my writing. After being in this class for one semester, I am more confident in my writing. I do not feel like I am an awful writer anymore. Even though some of my papers have not been amazing, knowing that I did my best is one of the greatest rewards. Besides my new found confidence in writing, the commonplace blog tells of my new found love for sociology. I did not know much about sociology, but I knew I had to take it. After taking it, I wish I could take it again next semester. Analyzing has become more of a strong suit for me. Analyzing is when someone does a detailed examination of something for discussion or interpretation. I used to hate to analyze, but after being in sociology and writing, it is not bad. It is interesting to look deeper into something to see how I would interpret it. The blog also shows how much I have grown as a writer. Even though I still struggle with redundancy, I am not as bad as I used to be. My writing has also improved by the use of transitions words. I know which transition word to put with each sentence. I also know how to transition from paragraph to paragraph better.

Furthermore, my commonplace blog reflects not only my academic learning, but it also showcases what concepts I have learned. As I said before, analyzing is the biggest concept captured in my blog. Analyzing can still be a struggle sometimes, but I am learning how to do it. My biggest problem with analyzing is knowing if I am actually understanding what I am reading or watching. It is not really the concept that trips me up, but the fear of not knowing if I am doing it right. The second concept captured in my commonplace blog, although not as detailed, is rhetoric. I did not know what rhetoric was until I came to college. When the unfamiliar concept was introduced to me, I panicked. Rhetoric is the art of using language effectively and persuasively which was unknown to me.

One thing that is missing from the blog is a more in depth discussion on rhetoric. Rhetoric was the biggest part of our writing experience this semester. However, I do not feel as though I discussed it thoroughly. I wish I would have had a more in depth discussion on how much I learned about rhetoric. Now that I understand what rhetoric means, it is not a bad concept.

The five final tags in the commonplace book are a true representation of my current understanding of what it means for me to be a college-educated person. The first two tags go hand-in-hand with insight. The first is “thorough.” This tag means asking questions to make sure that you understand what you are doing; being thorough in every part of the assignment; doing the research required; and making sure everything is organized correctly. The second tag related to insight is “depth.” This tag represents digging deeper into subjects through analysis and interpretation. Analyzing allows for more information, because of the in depth research on the topic. Interpretation allows for me to discover new ways to look at the topic. The next two tags express my emotion during my writing process. The tag “fear” is the emotion that troubles me the most. The fear of the unknown, meaning what did I receive on that paper or is the audience going to understand what I am trying to convey. The fear of failing because of the unknown, and the fear of inexperience on a concept I have never heard of before are also troubling. In the midst of “fear,” which leads into my fourth tag, I do receive some “confidence.” Throughout my last two years of high school, my teacher told me that I was not a very good writer which made my confidence level decline. After having a college professor tell me that I am a pretty decent writer, my confidence elevated. Confidence is something that I know I will continue to struggle with when it comes to writing. The peer reviews were nerve wrecking at first, but I have really grown to like them. Going to the conferences have helped the most, because there is no sugar coating on how my paper is. My final tag is “perfection.” This tag is a true representation of who I am. It represents my need to be perfect in everything I do which happens rarely. I will always make careless mistakes which might lead to fear, but that is the beauty of college. College is the place to grow and find out who I am as a person. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that I will continue to be perfectly imperfect.

 

 

PowToon

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Composing through sound and image versus composing the argument on paper was terrifying. I thought it would be really fun at first, but then started to work on it and was completely lost. I did not know how to work PowToon, and I had a heavy subject. I did not know how to make my topic, physician-assisted suicide, fun without taking away from the seriousness of the subject. I was very uncomfortable composing the sound track. I felt like I sounded like a man, and it was too choppy. It also sounded like I was talking too fast, but then at times was talking too slow. I was more comfortable when it came to composing the images, because I knew what I was trying to convey. At times, I would get frustrated, because it looked like my images were too childish. However, this project revealed my creative side. I tried to do images that would appeal to an easily bored audience. My favorite part from the soundtrack is in my closing paragraph, “Physician-assisted suicide is a killer (pun intended).” My favorite part of the visual track is the cat saying hallelujah and the picture asking if you are drunk. I love these because they bring joy. They also fit very well with my soundtrack. My least favorite image is probably the check mark agreeing with Byock on the cures. It goes with the point being made, but I wish I could have found a better picture.

I had no experience when is came to designing a visual presentation. The most enjoyable part was interpreting which pictures went best with what was being said. I loved finding the fun pictures. The hard part was making sure that each picture was timed with what was being said. One decision that I did not anticipate when doing this project was the use of emoji faces. I love emoji faces and feel like they make people happy. I did not think I would use them, because, again, I did not want my video to seem childish. After using them, I am really happy with my decision. It makes my video lively. My favorite design choice in the essay is the color scheme for the background. I knew I wanted it to be colorful in order to grasp the attention of my viewers, but did not want the video to be bombarded with too many colors. If the background would have been bombarded with colors, the viewer would not pay attention to the topic. I chose red, green, blue, and purple, and am very happy with that design style. My least favorite design choice would be the pictures. At the start of this project, the use of animated characters appealed to me. After playing around with the characters, I did not really like it. The video would have been more of a lecture which would not have made it fun. After deciding to use pictures, I was on the right track. I believe that they represent my subject best. I like the pictures, I just hope I did not use too many of them.

The advantages of already having a written version for this project were that I did not have to come up with another topic to discuss, and I understood the topic a whole lot more. When I did the written version, I knew what physician-assisted suicide was, but did not believe that I could have a discussion about it. After doing this project, I have a better understanding of physician-assisted suicide. The disadvantage was making a six-page paper into less than half a page. I had so much information in the formal paper, and it was a struggle condensing it. In which video website was best for me, I chose PowToon, because I never went to the website Alphabetic Essay. I am pretty sure Powtoon still would have been my favorite, because alphabetic essay sounds harder. Once I learned how to work PowToon, it was really fun. I prefer to use animated visual presentation, because it was a whole lot more fun than writing a paper. It gave me a new way to present a topic. It even made the subject more enjoyable. The advantage of composing for a different audience was not having to be so formal. When doing a project for a younger audience, you do not have to use words that are hard to understand. I used words that everybody should understand. The disadvantage was not knowing what was too childish for a younger audience. Even though most 18-24 year olds are immature, I still did not want to take away from their intelligence. The video needed to be entertaining but also serious. Even though working for a younger audience is easier, I actually prefer an older audience. An older audience will be truthful no matter what. Sometimes, younger people try to be too gentle. With an older audience, I try harder, because I know they will critique it more. An older audiences will honestly tell me how good or bad my project was.

Improving Voiceover

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I learned that it needs to be completely quiet when you are recording your voice. When there is noise going on in the background, it makes it very hard to understand what the person is saying. I learned that the medium needs to be consistent. If the person that I listened to wants to improve her video, she really needs to make sure that there is no noise in the background. There needs to be absolute silence. One way that I can improve my video is making sure that there is music to go with my voice and not just me talking. I also need to try to make it more lively and fun.

Mistakes

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One big mistake that I have been making in writing this semester is redundancy. I have a tendency to repeat myself a lot to make sure that my point is getting across. I have come to realize that this is not a good idea. I have learned that I can still get my point across without repeating myself two or three times. Being redundant has caused me to receive a lower grade in all of my papers. Even though there are more things that I still need to work on in my writing, redundancy is probably the biggest issue. I hope that by the end of this semester, I will learn how to stop being so redundant in my papers.