Final Exam Reflection Essay

The transition between high school and college, leaving home and moving to a new environment, and learning to cope without parents has been an interesting experience. There has been no serious damage for the most part, and the hardest part of this semester was living without my hometown best friends at my side. I have a great relationship with my family, but I have enjoyed the distance. There are temptations around every corner, and the responsibility of choosing the right decisions has come into play often. The freedom is quite enjoyable, but I can see how easy it is for students to wander off the path and get sucked into mistakes. Back home, I grew up with the same faces and those faces had similar mindsets and goals. If I needed help, there were people I could talk to who knew my life inside and out. Here, I have learned to appreciate the differences that students have to offer and the variety of ideas they possess. Overall, the college lifestyle and my First Year Experience (FYE) classroom has provided me with a better understanding of the diversity of the students at Georgia Southern University.

Before engaging in my FYE class, I had no idea the type of lessons we, as a group of freshman, would learn. I assumed this was a course that taught students how to transition between high school and college and the ways to go about being a freshman i.e. what courses to take for your major and mostly academic advice. In the syllabus for FYE, there is a Student Learning Outcomes section which contains goals this course sets to achieve. The first being skills needed to find academic sources and outside context that aids students in supporting arguments whether it be through research or everyday knowledge. The second outcome is engaging in campus resources and pursuing opportunities to better engage in career goals. This particular outcome, as we learned in class, challenged me to ponder if being a Biology major will lead to success. Choosing a career to pursue at ages 18 and 19 is very intimidating. As previously discussed in my Degree Engagement blog entry, “The [University] catalog finds requirements for particular degrees and has a walk through for each component of college… It guided me through internship options and courses to take that are considered pre-requisites for the broad Marine Biology career” (charvmoore.blogspot.com). In this particular week’s blog, the FYE class was assigned to explore career resources provided directly from Georgia Southern. Fellow classmate Livia Lovett, in her Campus & Community Engagement blog entry stated, “As you work hard and pursue your passions it is so important for students to have a connection to their campus and the community surrounding them” (livialovettblog.blogspot.com). While this week did not have my most enjoyable topic, it benefited me personally because I learned where to go to if I have questions about my major. 

The final outcome on the Student Learning Outcomes section of the syllabus is my favorite and overall topic I took the most away from: diversity and inclusion. During this prolonged week’s topic, the class was assigned to read Make Your Home Among Strangers by Jennine Capo Crucet. This novel was not entirely my favorite, but I appreciated learning about Hispanic culture and the struggles faced by minorities living in America. In my Diversity and Inclusion: Which Way Home discussion blog entry I wrote that “We do not get the choice to be brought into this world, and we cannot choose the lifestyle we are born into” (charvmoore.blogspot.com). Therefore, we should all act with love and acceptance because we’re all human.

Image credit: https://www.jetmag.com/life/moment-of-clarity-life/value-acceptance/ 

After the completion of reading, the author, Crucet, was set to speak at Georgia Southern to the freshman student body. I was beyond excited to hear about Crucet’s process and motivation in writing this novel, but the events to follow her speech were blown out of proportion.

Image from blog: Week 9: Diversity & Inclusion IV (charvmoore.blogspot.com)

On the night Crucet spoke to the school, her books were burned and tweets were exchanged that were actions by students revolting against Crucet. During her speech, white privilege came up as a hot topic and was conveyed to students in an aggressive tone which Crucet likely did not mean. As stated from my Week 9: Diversity & Inclusion IV blog, “Doctora made the point that her being Latina was one of the reasons she came off as aggressive. Crucet even has addressed in the past that her temper often gets misunderstood, and during her speech at GSU she had to grasp the podium to keep from using hand signals that could be mistaken as aggressive” (charvmoore.blogspot.com).

Left image credit-   

https://aldianews.com/articles/culture/social/flip-side-jennine-capo-crucets-book-burning/56590 

Right image credit- make-your-home-among-strangers.jpg 

In the days to follow, word of Crucet’s speech and the future actions made by some of the student body, made its way around the school and right into the FYE classroom. As written in my Make Your Home Among Strangers blog entry, “Instead of talking about her book, which is what I, and the majority of students, were expecting, she spoke on race and growing up a Latina woman in the United States. Many students were outraged as she made comments on white privilege, too” (charvmoore.blogspot.com). I stayed mostly quiet in class because I felt Crucet’s speech was aggressive towards me, being a white female. I’d like to think I am accepting and open to culture and different mindsets, but I was scared to show that side because of the intimidation. I am fully aware of white privilege and that it is prominent in this country, but Crucet’s generalization of white people made me feel that my voice would come across as snarky and privileged. However, it did open my mind to the fact that there are people out there who have so much hate inside them and have little patience i.e. the students who burned Crucet’s book. As fellow peer Enysa Moore claimed, “Crucet came on a little strongly, but she was giving personal accounts of her life. No matter what she said, the students should not have done something so petty such as burning her book. They definitely should not have threatened her life!” (Week 8: Make Your Home Among Strangers. ebm4fye.blogspot.com). These actions of hate were unnecessary and detrimental to Georgia Southern as a whole, and I believe this conversation was important to talk about in FYE. 

Image credit- ebm4fye.blogspot.com 

FYE class has especially been enjoyable because of the professor who taught it. Not only is she accepting and caring, she has a diverse background as well and is a bilingual Spanish professor. I took Spanish in high school and have always wanted to be able to speak it fluently. Along with all the lessons this class taught me, the one I can confidently take away is that I am motivated to take college Spanish classes and pursue my goal of speaking Spanish. 

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!

Degree Engagement

This week's topic focused around degrees and majors at Georgia Southern University (GSU).  Students around the nation who look to enter their collegiate years know that declaring a major early on is crucial, so they can get ahead on classes.  However, it is common for students to change their majors as time goes on. At Georgia Southern, there are many resources for students to navigate such as courses to take and what careers can come out of a certain degree.

Image Credit- https://www.fool.com/careers/2018/10/12/good-news-you-might-not-need-that-college-degree-a.aspx

   In class Monday, we looked at program maps for certain degrees.  Similarly, the University catalog has answers and resources for many questions students have about their degree pathway.  The catalog finds requirements for particular degrees and it has a walk through for each component of college. My degree is in Biology, and I hope to go on to become a Marine Biologist when I am older.  GSU does not have a particular marine focus in their general Biology degree, so I checked out the Major and Career Exploration Center on Georgia Southern's website to explore options to get a marine career after college.  It guided me through internship options and courses to take that are considered pre-requisites for the broad Marine Biology career.

Link to the Major and Career Exploration Center- students.georgiasouthern.edu/mace/

   Next, in class, we circled characteristics that are valuable to us.  The traits are what we represent and what we think will benefit our future selves.  Some traits I circled were honesty, love, family, exploration, compassion, and cooperation.  These traits I believe describe me and will be beneficial to keep up if I hope to gain respectable employment someday.

Image Credit- © 2019 Winkfield ST MARY'S C of E SCHOOL. School website 

 On Wednesday, we discussed the values we circled on the worksheet from Monday.  My peers talked about plans and ideas for how they will carry themselves in their college years.  We discussed bumps in the road and how our values must come into play to lead us to success. As college students, we have more of a responsibility to carry ourselves maturely and find ways to deal with "adult" incidents.  Halfway through class, we gathered into groups of three or four and discussed the values that are important to us (the ones we dealt with on the worksheet). My group had very different characteristics. Bry-Anna put "love" and "independence."  She said that she came from a rough family background where she grew up having to depend on herself over her parents. She also stated how challenges in her life have made her an independent individual in the best ways. On the other hand, JD put "family" and "honesty" as values that he deems important.  His family is his rock and have taught him lessons that will stick with him his entire life. JD related more to me with values like honesty and compassion, but it was interestingly fun to hear different perspectives.

Image Credit- https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/blog/our-refreshed-global-inclusion-diversity-strategy/

   The best part of class Wednesday was when Doctora made the point that humans don't like change, yet it is inevitable.  When a bump in the road occurs, one has to keep going and choose important values to focus on. “Listen to people who you trust... and who know you," stated Doctora.

Week 9: Diversity & Inclusion IV

My anticipation for class on Monday was high.  What were my peers going to think of Crucet’s speech and the students’ burning copies of her book?  Would my teacher have a riveting opinion? Would there be any brawls among peers? The events on October 9th, as discussed in last week’s blog, were the topic of discussion in class Monday.  To begin with, the entire class filled out a questionnaire that asks students to anonymously report how they felt about Jennine Crucet’s speech. I am not shy to say that her talk made me uncomfortable.  Off the bat, her public speaking was not ideal which drew my attention further from her. What drew me back in was her condescending tone and unflattering jokes which included one about a school shooting.  Her authoritative presence made me feel even more threatened because of her status as a professor and successful author.

Left image credit: https://abcnews.go.com/US/author-jennine-cap-crucet-responds-white-college-students/story?id=66214623

Right image credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7563827/Authors-speech-cancelled-Georgia-students-burn-book.html 

The class discussion began with the notion that her tone was condescending.  Doctora made the point that her being Latina was one of the reasons she came off as aggresive.  Crucet even has addressed in the past that her temper often gets misunderstood, and during her speech at GSU she had to grasp the podium to keep from using hand signals that could be mistaken as aggressive.  She did not succeed overall, as her tone was blown out of proportion and controversial among GSU students. 

The infamous gun joke was also a hot topic.  During her speech, Crucet heard whispering in the audience and jokingly projected her thoughts that there may be a shooter in the crowd ready to open fire.  This was beyond uncomfortable and unnecessary.

In Wednesday’s FYE class, the discussion of last week's events continued but included a lesson on white privilege and defining it.  The most memorable and mind blowing part of class was when Doctora defined white privilege as going out and not having to ponder your skin tone. She used an example of gender to parallel the comparison.  She asked the males if they ever had to worry about walking to their car at night. None of them were phased. She then asked the females, and most girls looked around and nodded. White privilege is not having to think about the fact that you're white. It is an unfortunate reality that there is even a privilege level of race, as each individual should be equal no matter their skin tone and only judged on the basis of their actions.

Make Your Home Among Strangers

Class on Monday began with a brief quiz over the assigned book, Make Your Home Among Strangers.  Following the quiz, an article was passed out called, “Against All Odds: GSU professor recounts journey to America”.  The article tells of a man named Gaspar Leiva who left Cuba in 1993 with his two sons in order to live a more prosperous life in America.  Leiva spent a year building a boat that could transport them to the U.S. They successfully made it out of Cuba, and they began a life in America. As the title states, Leiva became a professor at Georgia Southern University.

We then watched an ABC News episode about a child named Elian Gonzalez.  He was brought from Cuba with his mother, who died on the journey. This reminds me of Ariel Hernandez from Make Your Home Among Strangers who was a character based off Elian.  After watching the documentary Elian, I learned more about the life and controversy of Elian Gonzalez.  He was on a boat on the way to American, and the boat was wrecked. He lived in Miami with his mom’s side cousins, but his father in Cuba demanded for him to be returned because his mom, who stole her son to go to the U.S., died.  Fidel Castro got involved which caused media to be involved. The Cubans in Miami at the time were against Cuba because of the communist policies. The families in the U.S. had a taste of the freedom America offered, and they wished for their families back in Cuba to have the luxury of freedom.

Image credit: https://bwcentral.org/2016/03/castros-cuba-military-interventions-part-2-the-consequences-of-communism-in-cuba/ 

This whole week was centered around immigration and race.  I typed the above paragraphs before the infamous incidents that occurred on Wednesday, October 9.  My original plan for this blog was to discuss Make Your Home Among Strangers and Cuban immigration; however, the night of October 9th changed my plan.  On this evening, the author of Make Your Home Among Strangers, Jennine Capo Crucet spoke to FYE classes in the GSU Performing Arts Center.  I, myself, was not in the main auditorium where she spoke but instead was in the screening room.  I am so thankful I was not in the same room as she was. Instead of talking about her book, which is what I, and the majority of students, was expecting, she spoke on race and growing up a Latina woman in the United States.  Many students were outraged as she made comments on white privilege, too. The student body of GSU is predominately white, and the comments made were personally attacking white people. Since her visit, controversy has surrounded the event and made national news.  Following the event, students at one of the freshman dorms, Eagle Village, burned copies of Make Your Home Among Strangers.

Link to article on Georgia Southern students burning copies of MYHAS: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2019/10/10/race-latinx-author-georgia-southern-university-burning-book/3933292002/

The events of this past week have saddened me.  As an individual who appreciates a variety of cultures, I feel both Crucet and the GSU students who attacked her on Twitter and committed the book burning are at fault.  Crucet should have stuck to expectations and talked about her book process. I am glad she spoke on white privilege, as I believe it is a legit issue, but the way she conveyed her ideals were unnecessarily aggressive.  Similarly, students should not have abused their 1st Amendment rights. Book burning is a serious offense that was not appropriate for the situation. With her authority, I wish she had tried to bring together the ethnicities that surround college campuses. It is embarrassing to be a student who was not involved in any of the events, yet I am being stereotyped for being a white individual that attends Georgia Southern. The media has caught the news from GSU and it makes me as a student look horrible.