Week 1

I was born and raised in a suburban area called Rochester Hills within walking distance of my high school in a nice neighborhood that always felt pretty safe. Downtown Rochester, which is full of local businesses and restaurants, is definitely my favorite part of town. In particular, there is a family owned coffee shop called the Dessert Oasis where I have spent countless hours sitting with friends, drinking fabulous coffee, eating cheesecake, and listening to local musicians. When I want to get out of the house for an evening, Dessert Oasis is usually my first choice, though I'm often just as happy drinking tea and reading with one of my two cats in my lap.

            I haven't figured out what I want to do with my future. Early on in high school, I thought that I wanted to pursue something related to art or music or theater. However, my Sophomore year I discovered my school's robotics team and was somehow convinced to join despite considering science and technology completely out of my intellectual league and outside my realm of interests. Both of these assumptions were quickly proven wrong, and in short order I was dedicating almost all of my time and energy into robotics. I dropped theater and piano lessons so that I had the time to be the team captain my Senior year. While the robotics team didn't persuade me to become an engineer, I wanted to continue pursuing science and technology while combining it with the artistic pursuit that I did not drop during my time on the team – drawing. I've always loved to draw, and over the past year or so I've become very passionate about digital drawing and painting. Somehow, I want to cross my love of art with my love of science and technology. Ultimately, I'm passionate about creating interesting things with other creative, interesting people.

            As far as worries for the future, I'm mostly afraid of not finding a career that combines my interests. But I try not to worry about it too much. As long as I work hard, keep an open mind, and explore subjects and activities that interest me, I can't help but feel like I'll end up somewhere interesting after my four years at Allegheny. :)

            I learned a lot during my first semester. I discovered that I absolutely love Swing Dancing. I've gathered some experience as a barista at Grounds for Change, and learned that making coffee is almost as fun as drinking it. At a more academic level, my experiences in my FS last semester showed me that while I've developed very good formal writing skills, my public speaking skills leave a lot to be desired. While I may know the information I'm trying to express, explaining it to an audience is difficult for me. I sound very formal and forced. My writing tends to be very formal as well, and I think that finding my voice in writing will help me figure out how to find my voice while speaking. Though in the end, it may be that I simply need to keep practicing until public speaking becomes more second nature to me.

            As a student I work best in a friendly, relaxed environment that encourages discussion and the exchange of ideas about the topic at hand. With this in mind, the facilitator teaching style (according to Grasha's 5 Teaching Styles) appeals to me the most. I prefer for teachers to lead students in the right direction while still allowing them to discover things for themselves. It allows for independence and the proposition of interesting, unique ideas without fear of getting completely off topic or missing something important. In Peter McLaren's book “Schooling as Ritual Performance,” he describes one of a teacher's roles as being a liminal servant. “Liminal” means the transitional stage of something, so I took this to mean that a teacher's role is to serve students at a transitional stage of the learning process. A teacher's role is to do what they can to make sure students get the most out of their learning experience, often by making personal one-on-one connections and making classes more applicable to real life. In my opinion, learning is a team effort between students and teachers. Teachers need to be there, be supportive, and lead students in the right direction, but it is just as important that students be interested and engaged in the topic at hand. If both sides are fully involved in the process, then the learning experience can be much deeper and more rewarding.

            I'm not quite sure how to conclude my first blog entry, except to say that I'm looking forward to this next semester. I know that my writing can seem a little rigid and formal, but hopefully by the end of the semester, I'll be able to incorporate my own voice and style into my writing. With this in mind, onward to the next semester. Allons-y!!