Comp 023 Overview

Looking back during the course of the semester I realized how much I grew because of this course. I turned into a leader instead of an average Joe. By the end of our project I took a big step forward and took a lot of responsibility for many things, I revised the proposal and the group report for everyone, I made sure the council meeting went smoothly and stepped forward during it to answer most the questions and I also made sure everyone did there part. But I can honestly say that is the only thing I gained from this course. I thought a composition class should be about writing and growing your writing but instead it was this semester long project that I have been blogging about. I think the project is a great idea though but I believe it is more appropriate for an elective class or a business class. Business majors would have got more out of it then the students of a gen ed comp class.  I definitely need help enhancing my writing and I wish that this class were based around that, it would have been more valuable to me. 

            The class did have interesting aspects for instance the creative exercises that made me realize how creativity is in every mind. The class I think should be based creativity in writing aspects more in depth than what it was. I enjoyed writing the creativity paper and evaluating creative experts because I noticed how other people think and it gave me ideas.

I’m proud of the achievements made in this class and I hope they progress even more than what the groups already had done. All in all though I didn’t like this class too much in the big picture but I did gain and enjoy the essentials to paint the picture.

Meeting is in Session!

April 19th 2011, the day the Fairgrounds group gives the presentation at the Kutztown town council meeting.  All day today the nerves were shaking throughout the group, but we knew we had to take this head on. Amanda and I went to meet with the secretary of the council, Gina, to get everything hooked up. THANK GOD we did! The tech guys were figuring out for 2 hours how to show our power point onto the big screen, after 2 hours, 3 lap tops, 2 flash drives and 5 people we finally just made another power point on another laptop. These two hours I think was the biggest headache through the road we’ve been on but it also was helpful. Gina, like always, helped Amanda and I out a great deal giving us little tidbits and encouragement, it also helped we got to see where we are speaking and where we sat.

After the whole disaster we finally made it back to the library to start preparing our speeches, the group members met us there. Anxiety I noticed started to rise a great deal but for the most part I personally stayed calm. The most nerve wrecking for me was to say the numbers I had to, I thought I was going to stumble. I got my roommate with us so she could record while we presented, she did a great job (I hope)!  6:45, now its off to the showdown!

When we arrived no one was there but it gave the rest of the group to get comfortable with the environment. Around 7:15 the room started to get crowded, more than Amanda and I anticipated since Gina told us barely anyone comes. We both sat front and center on the council to be the head just incase anything would happen we could take over but it wasn’t a calm place for us. We kept overhearing the members talk about our presentation and lets just say it wasn’t very positive but Amanda and I kept it to ourselves instead of flustering the rest.

7:30 KNOCK KNOCK. Meeting in session. It over all went really well for the group but I think individual presenting  could have been a little better but what do you expect, it was all our first time in front of a big audience and plus the more hierarchy. I have yet to watch the video so I can’t really say anything to in depth. But after the group spoke, I asked for questions and of course there was many but I with an occasional help took on answering the questions. In the end the council has decided that they are unable to make this happen but we have their support and the council will be writing a letter of support to the Fairgrounds Association and also to Public Safety.

Job well done to the group!!! Hopefully we now get the grade we earned!

YAHOO! Class Canceled! ...sikeee.

                No class?! Great! More time to sleep! The college student LOVES to hear that their morning class is canceled but that time is also valuable time to get caught up with work. Exactly what my group had in mind, get together and punch out some more aspects for our project. There were some altercations about when we should meet up since a member commutes, another has an 8am, and the others just want to sleep but we determined meeting at 9:30 (normal time) would be best so we could leave earlier… then possibly hit the sheets again.

                9:30, room 106 in the library, the Fairgrounds group was present. On the agenda, research the permits need to be able to start the initial process and also write a thank you letter to Gina whom is currently helping us so diligently to get our voices heard.  The cost section was my portion in the proposal so it’s the portion I will be presenting in the meeting, giving me the back load of the exact costs including permits. I researched hours upon hours the costs but couldn’t go anywhere because I was so unsure with permits. NERVEWRECKING! Jackie though is the hero in this story; she came to the meeting with a list of permits needed. I give her props for researching and finding because it was so hard for me to do it, I also had help from my roommate and still couldn’t get anywhere and it took a lot less stress out from me.  We may not be able to still give the exact amount but we have the essentials to go along with it. Since Jackie came with the number one thing on our list we could go right to number two and write the thank you letter. The thank you letter turned out great and I can wait until she receives it, it’s always nice to put a smile on someone’s face!

                We ended our meeting by chatting a bit about our speeches before everyone gets started writing them. We figured out 2-3mins for each person and how not to overlap. From the standpoint we are at now, a week before we stand in front of the jury (its feels like) we each have to finish our speeches, figure out the video recorder, and then its show time! I’m getting nervous, and I think the whole group is to be let down but we did and still are putting our best effort into it. I’m proud.

Group Projects

The Fairground’s group is my first big group project I’ve ever had to do, yeah there was little projects here and there for a short amount of time but this is a semester long project. Before this project I was all for group projects because I thought they make things not as stressful but throughout this semester I changed minds about it. In groups there is the person who is group leaders and tries their best and beyond at everything, then there is the averages Joes whom do what they need to do to get through and the others whom don’t pull their own weight.  I feel like our group has all of the above but most of the group is putting in great effort to do their best at their work. I feel like in group projects, everyone should be on a high level because it’s everyone’s grade. The people that slack off though can usually get away with it because in groups we are usually graded as a group and they get the grade no matter what, even if I do nothing. I haven’t really cared about that much in the past because I try to help people get good grades but this project is a long and intense project. I believe in all group projects we should have an evaluation on the other members to give everyone the grade they deserve. I know I am mainly talking/ranting about this Fairgrounds project but it’s kind of a lesson and shows who I am. I’m very independent and would rather do anything by myself then with someone else because I have full control and full responsibility.  I hate having to hand in someone else’s work and say it’s mine because most the time I won’t approve or would have it changed a bit and that can either make my grader lower or higher, which ever it is I am still not happy with it because it is not my work. I guess in the future I now know to always pick to work alone than group if I have to chose.

Failure.

Failure. Many people tend to fear this word because the negative aspects that fallow the word; for instance being let down or not well enough. In the end failure isn’t the end; it’s a new beginning or a hump in the road.  Failure is only negative if you let it be, if you do nothing about it and let it get to you as failure. When you fall or trip over a toy, you don’t just sit there and never walk again, you get up and keep going through your day. Failure should be looked at just like falling but even better because when you pick up you grow strength.

For example with the Fairgrounds project we handed in parts of our proposal to get graded, we thought we did great but we got it back with no grade. Thankfully our professor let us do it again because we pretty much failed at understanding the requirements, we had everything to go along with the proposal but didn’t hand it in. We gave her all of our material and I got a 95%, yet 2 others in our group got a 100% and I’m not sure how that works out since it is a group project but whatever it turned out we didn’t fail. We didn’t give up when it came back to us as failing and we figured it was just another hurdle to jump; we hurdled over it and succeeded.

Basically when you fail, don’t give up, keep moving forward. It’s not about the failure; it’s about the strength you have to keep going with your head held high. Failure is just an obstacle in everyday life. Life isn’t meant to be easy, it would be boring if there was no obstacles.

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward." -Rocky Balboa

If you think you can, you can!

                The phrase “if you think you are, you can” was brought up in class a little while ago and for me this phrase defines parts of my life. I’ve been a dancer all my life and whenever I said “I can’t do it” my instructor would make me say “I can do it” a bunch of times to give me oomph. Before she started doing that to me I used to tend to give up on myself a lot if I couldn’t do it the first go around but after a bit of saying can’t  it helped me to stay positive. If I couldn’t spin right or get a part of a routine perfect I would sit back for a while instead of getting frustrated and picture myself doing whatever I had trouble with. I put myself in a positive position, thinking/visualizing myself doing it and after when I tried it again I did it perfectly. I can honestly say it always worked, never once let me down. It’s the same as exams, when people are saying they are going to fail, they are going to because they are putting that in their head. I always relay the message my instructor did to me and tell the students to say they are going to do well. The movie The Secret is based on this whole idea and staying positive will bring positive. It is a great movie/documentary that I fully believe in because it teaches you about creating your life in your thoughts.  Basically, put your mind into anything and you will be able to do it. Putting your mind in it gives you the will power to succeed and the optimistic view that it will happen.  Having the thought will take out all the negative barriers because you think you already have yourself their. Believe you can do anything and you will!

You Can If You Think You Can!

If you think you are beaten, you are,

If you think you dare not, you don't.

If you like to win, but you think you can't,

It is almost certain you won't.

If you think you'll lose, you're lost,

For out in the world we find,

Success begins with a fellow's will.

It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are,

You've got to think high to rise,

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man.

But soon or late the man who wins,

Is the man who thinks he can.

~ C. W. Longenecker ~