In Monday’s class, Doctora put on a film called The Motorcycle Diaries.  This non-fiction movie is about young Che Guevara traveling around South America with his pal, Alberto.  Both men, educated in medicine, travel and are exposed to the harsh treatment of people living in poverty yet working long hours to provide for themselves. It was a heartfelt movie and I had no idea this was a true story about one of the most notorious figures of revolution- Che Guevara.

Class on Wednesday began with a quiz on The Motorcycle Diaries. The questions asked about certain scenes and themes.  I talked about the scene where Che told an older man he had a tumor. Che was honest because his compassion outshined the greed Alberto had. Alberto lied to the man so that him and Fuser could be on good terms with the man and stay the night at his house. Che appears to be a lovable character.  The themes in the film included class, compassion, oppression, politics, etc. Throughout their travels, Alberto and Che saw people living in poverty because they had lost their lands and lives to people with money and authority. This touched Che, and he is shown to have compassion for these people. In one scene, a mine company is abusing its workers and he calls out that the people are thirsty, yet the company man aggressively told him to get lost.

Che started supporting communism for better treatment towards people like the miners.  In class, we went into more detail about his life. Che’s mindset became violent as he sided more with communism. He oversaw over 2000 executions and was called the “butcher of la cabana”. He began to wipe out those who disagreed with his ideals. He was captured in Bolivia and executed in 1967 by the U.S. CIA.  

The rest of the class time included looking into the legacy Guevara left behind.  We contemplated the question, “Is Che a hero or a villain?” I personally believe he is a villain because no leader should kill their people because they disagree. Diversity is special and making everything the same is impossible.  However, he is a hero of youth.

Hear me out, young Guevara was a handsome honey...

Image credit: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjpz8CzsvzlAhXxQ98KHQRJAgQQjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FChe_Guevara&psig=AOvVaw2XNJAwp0zugBbOkQ3yoMk7&ust=1574463139927312 

Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara

Evaluating Information & Academic Research

   As I walked into FYE class on Monday, my fellow peer, Emma Williams, was reading aloud an anonymous report from a student living in the Honors LLC who had an incorrect class registration date.  Honors students at Georgia Southern University have first priority when registering for classes. Their date is set earlier than the normal student body. However, this particular student had a later date than the rest of the honors students due to a miscommunication with their advisor.  This sparked conversation amongst my peers, as the stress of class registration filled the FYE classroom. Personally, I had no issues with registration and I got all the classes I needed. The only downside was waking up at 5:40 in the morning! 

   This week's topic was evaluating information and research methods such as how to write a research paper using evidence that accurately supports a topic.  For homework due in Wednesday's class, we were assigned to research articles that answered a powerful question we deciphered. My question I made was, “What are the consequences of marine life ingesting plastic into their gastrointestinal tract?”  This question is powerful because it is broad enough to provoke elaborate conversation. Obviously, death is a large consequence, however, I found out through my articles that there can be body deformations and organ dysfunction as well. The two articles I chose were both related to marine biology.  My scholarly article was from a University's marine institute which had research and data on my topic. The sources were reliable because they were from credible professors. My second article was simply a website that stated marine facts. I cannot quite tell how reliable the authors of it were. 

Google Images

  In Wednesdays class, our peer assistant, Taylor, led the class.  We began by passing out a worksheet called the CRAAP test. Yep, you heard it right.   It stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. Currency is how up-to-date a source is.  Relevancy is how important the source is to be used as evidence. Authority and accuracy determine how credible sources are.  Finally, purpose is simply the overall meaning of the article’s source like how it supports a topic. The CRAAP test is used when reviewing sources to determine their legitimacy.  We then used this test to dissect our articles part by part. According to the CRAAP test, my first scholarly article was more legitimate than my second article which just came from a website that anyone could have uploaded.

   It's very important to learn how to write research papers and how to incorporate accurate sources to support your topic.  I know other FYE classes have to write research papers, and I'm beyond thankful that our particular class does not have to.  I am already busy enough with biological research papers, but I cannot disregard how helpful this week has been with learning how to use and find sources.

Preparing for Registration & Meaningful Inquiry

During Monday’s class, Erin Martin, a director in the Honors college, came in and discussed course registration for Spring 2020. She reviewed on information that our major advisors told us during our meetings including how to navigate the registration site.

When actually registering at 6am Nov 4, the following steps should be taken:

   Click Register (WINGS) on mygeorgiasouthern

   From there, click Student, registration, add/drop classes

   Enter your RAN given to you at your advisor meeting

   Type in CRNs (5 digit number by the course)

   And click submit changes!

Image credit- https://jmudailyduke.com/2015/01/21/class-registration/

The process seemed quite stressful until Erin showed us the process a little better.

On Wednesday, class began with a quiz on "The Art of Powerful Questions" which was an article that discussed how questions should be re-worded in order to provoke conversation and lead to more questions being asked. On a handout given to myself and my peers, there was a question, "What kind of POWERFUL question could a student in FYE ask about this semester?" I wrote that a good powerful question should ask "why" and I answered the handout question with the response, "A good powerful question I could ask is '"Why is it important to learn about diversity as a college freshman?"' Doctora read my question aloud to the class and stated it was very thought provoking.

Image credit- https://www.helpscout.com/blog/diversity-inclusion-2019/

The next part of class involved reading anonymous powerful questions made by my peers. My peer's scenario was that he/she had to change their major because of their advisor messing up and making the student behind in their courses and he/she asked, "What possibilities are available to improve the personal connection between advisors and students?" What makes this question powerful is that it provokes discussion. Also, one can decipher more questions with this one question. While I do not have the answer, I believe there are ways to ask others if your specific advisor is not of much aid. There are a variety of resources at Georgia Southern!