What my colleagues thought was the "most important" thing

Now, it is only human that everyone learns differently. There is always something new that someone can learn everyday. For this assignment, we were to pick two of our colleagues and talk about what they thought was the most important thing they learned from the course. So, the two individuals I chose to talk about were Amber Pate and Heather Cook.

Just like me, Amber believed that the course would be a typical English course stating, "I expected it to be learning how to [write] a paper and then to write a bunch of them". Additionally, she was just as shocked when she found out that the course was flipped. She stated that she "never been in a classroom setting where everything was flipped", as well as, "... it was easier for me to ask questions and stay on track with the classroom". Furthermore, Amber liked how we used Google and all its different features throughout the course. What Amber learned from this English course was that it "doesn't have to be reading a bunch of books to write papers" and that "it is easier to write a paper if you are truly interested in the topic".

Just like Amber, Heather enjoyed learning about the different tools Google had to offer saying that "it [makes] [it] so easy to collaborate with classmates and I like how it automatically saves your work". I agree with both Amber and Heather, Google and its several tools really did help a lot during this course. Furthermore, the most important thing Heather took from this course was that she "[has] this!". Heather describes that this was the first class she has taken "in almost 10 years", so when she came back to school to take classes she was nervous. Good for you, Heather! It's great that even after so many years, you strived to continue with your education.

Personally, this English class has been one of my favorites. From this class, I've learned how to better myself with my poor time management skills and I plan to apply it to further courses.

The "Most Important" thing

*Disclaimer! I know this is late. I know this probably won't count toward my grade. I just wanted to write it just to help my colleagues with their second blog posts.*

Alright, my first semester at a new college and my first class here is my least favorite subject, English. Great. 9:30am rolls around and I decided to sit in what my instructor described as the "C" row. Once again, great, just the encouragement I needed. My first impression of the class was that since it was an English course I would be writing essays upon essays, as well as analyzing pieces of work that I actually had no interest in. However, this English course, taught by Mr. Hamon, was...different. Mr. Hamon stated that "this is going to be a [flopped] course". Ok...what exactly does that entitle? Well, come to find out, the course is literally flipped, which means that all the research and readings are done outside the class, while all the work/homework is done inside the classroom. Alright, new things...new experiences. I was hesitant though to say the least because even though it seemed that simple, I felt like there would be some complications with myself with it being the first time I experienced this kind of atmosphere for a course, and there were. Instead of writing essays upon essays, we wrote simple blog posts, and then the three more "weighted" assignments were as followed: a group project, a Wikipedia assignment (something new to me), and a regular research paper. So, my first impression of the course was not completely true, shockingly. My complications to such a simple course was simply poor time management skills because along with going to class, I was also working. With this course however, it taught me how to improve myself with the poor time management. From here on, I will take what I learned from this course and apply it to my other courses in the future.

Disruptions with my Doc3

When creating my Doc3, I had some disruptions that hindered my ability to create/work hard on my Doc3. My main disruption, when creating my document, is work. The job I work at occupies a lot of my time because I typically work doubles, not that I choose to but my manager chooses to schedule me as a double. So, by the time I get home, I'd choose not to stay up even more just to work on my assignment. Besides my work schedule being a hindrance to my assignment, my own procrastination or poor time management skills have disrupted my time. I've been in quite a slump this whole semester with my core classes, and so, I choose to not work on the assignments on my days off. Days go by, and what seems like out of nowhere, the assignment is due and I am left scrambling to do my assignment. However, I strive to push myself and to at least get a B, so if that requires me to pull an all nighter to work on my assignments I will. So those have been my disruptions with my Doc3. Did you have any disruptions when working on the document? If so, what were they?

Colleagues and their posts

This week Hamon's ENGL 2111 class, we had the job of peer reviewing each other's Doc3 posts. Each classmate was assigned two individuals to evaluate, and the two that I got were Gutierrez and Frenz. First, Mr. Gutierrez's Doc3 informed me on who Sappho was and what she did throughout her lifetime. He opens his introduction stating, "Sappho a women well known for her poetry and the way she quickly engages us trying to search deep into her fragments to discover her true personality and life", right away this lets me know who Gutierrez will be talking about in his assignment. In his assignment, he structures different sections in which relate to Sappho, further describing who Sappho was. Those three sections were: The Life of Sappho, the Poetry (her work), and Sappho's Legacy, all in which go into great detail. With these three well detailed sections, I learned who Sappho was and how she had an impact during her time. Second, Ms. Frenz's Doc3 informed me on who Ovid was. Frenz starts off by stating that Ovid's full name was Publius Ovidius Naso, and that "he was expected to be a lawyer" but turned and started to be a poet. I also learned that "he was a member of "Roman knightly class"", which is basically now-and-days high class. From her assignment, I've learned who Ovid was and what happened throughout most of his life.

Beauty in my Favorite song

Beauty can be found anywhere on this planet. It can be found in movies, songs, nature, people, food, and anything else that the individual sees as beautiful; however, this does not apply to everything! On the other hand, I personally find a lot of songs to be beautiful, having a beautiful/emotional meaning. I do not have a "favorite" song; however, there is this one song that I'm addicted to, that just recently came out. That song is "Hello" by Adele off her new album 25. The story behind the song is that Adele was in a loving relationship that unfortunately ended with her breaking this guy's heart. Over the years Adele thinks constantly of this guy and regrets ever breaking it off. So, to try and amend the relationship, Adele calls this guy over and over apologizing for breaking his heart. I realize that this song is FAR from being something that you would think as beautiful...I mean, it's about a break up; however, the fact that Adele goes through the effort to try and amend the relationship and her vocals behind the words just does it for me, that's why I find it beautiful.

Topic for Doc3

The topic I will be addressing is the Yan state. The Yan state was a Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Its capital, Ji, is what is now known as Beijing. Yan's government is based off of a monarchy, meaning that there is a ruling king or queen, primarily king. The state was established in the 11th century BCE, in Western Zhou. After the fall of the Zhou king, Yan became one of the strongest Chinese states of its time, being the last to fall to Qin Shihuang during the Warring States period. The state fell before the declaration of the Qin Empire in 222 BCE. In 207 BCE, Yan experienced a brief period of independence before falling to Han. In the state, the currency that was used is quite odd. The state utilized knife money, spade money, as well as other ancient Chinese coinage like Ban Liang coins and Wu Zhu coins. Throughout Yan's history, there has been a record of 36 rulers.

Quran and the New Testament

It is known that the Bible (New Testament) and the Quran have many similarities, besides both being a holy book. Both share similar teachings, narratives, and poetry, as well as, they both teach the creation of the world by a single almighty God who commands humans to follow the morality set out for them. Moreover, both books share similar figures, such as Enoch, Imram, Ishmael, as well as similar narratives, such as Saul and Gideon, and Haman, Pharaoh, and Xerxes.

Furthermore, the Quran and the New Testament share a somewhat similar view of what heaven would be like. In the Bible, heaven is typically depicted as streets paved with gold, tranquility, etc. In the Quran, heaven is depicted as a "Garden graced with flowing streams". Even though this mostly relates to the Garden of Eden, in the Bible, it still describes that the Quran details of a heaven just like in the Bible/New Testament.

Even though these two books are from two different cultures, both share similarities but still have differences that separate them.  

Roles of Daodejing

Daodejing, a Chinese text, is a fundamental text that describes Taoism, as well as influenced many other school teachings like Legalism and Confucianism. Additionally, one of the topics it discusses, it explains the separate roles between male and female. The male role is represented by Yang which complements the female role. The female role is represented by Yin, which emphasizes the quiescent qualities of nature. Together, the two create Yin and Yang, which is a balance, or complementary, force.

Presidents to Confucius

The basic teachings of Confucanism is to have a focus on family and social harmony. In comparison to the presidential candidates, I personally believe that these teachings closely resemble Ben Carson.

Ben Carson, a retired nuerosurgeon that grew up in Detriot, declared his presidency on May 3, 2015. Ben Carson believes in the unity of the family. Additionally, to increase the protection of the family and the society, Carson believes that firearms should be better regulated in larger cities and places with higher crime rates, as well as the fact that he strongly believes in the Second Amendment. In accordance to health care, Carson believes that the Affordable Care Act is like slavery. Additionally, on same-sex marriage, Carson believes that it should not exist and that marriage should only be between a male and female; however, in a later interview, he corrected himself by saying that he was wrong for saying that and that he loves and cares for everyone, gay or straight. So overall, Ben Carson relates to the teachings of Confucius to an extent; however, I still feel that he is one of the good choices for presidency.

The Soul

The basic definition of a soul is that it is the immortal essence of a living being. Furthermore, the soul has been researched to have both a scientific and religious meaning. In religion, specifically Christianity, the soul is an essential part of the human body. The soul has sensations, thoughts, desires, beliefs, and perform intentional actions. Additionally, it is believed that each person's soul is to be judged by God when he/she dies. It is then that God decides whether he/she goes to Heaven or Hell. On the other hand, in science, the soul is thought to be a relationship between the mind or the body (these are two different views). The two fields that represent these relationships are neuroscience, which is the study of how the brain works, and physics, which in my opinion is literally the study of everything, haha. Overall, the nature of a soul is that it is the immortal essence of a living being.

The Changing Tides of Life

Life is full of many different experiences. Many can be good experiences; however, most can also be terrible, both have the capability to be life changing. One of the most impactful changes in my life, more or less a decision, was when I decided what I wanted to get my degree in.
In my first year of college, I was going to major in Biology, hopefully to be a Veterinarian; however, I took a class at West Georgia, my second semester, which made me rethink my choices on what I wanted to major in. In effect, transferring over here to Middle Georgia, I changed my major to something that I have always been good at ever since I was a toddler.
My new major is Information Technology and my concentration is between Gaming Development or Cyber Forensics. I've always loved gaming but I also like puzzles and challenges. Thankfully, the program here is generous enough to allow me to take classes in both sections just to see which one I would be more interested in.
This is only one change in my life, a good one I might add. I know that down the road life will throw curve balls at me to where I have to make a decision that could have a permanent effect on my life. Even though that frightens me a bit, I look forward to what the future holds for me.

The Tragedy that shook the nation

"Post about a tragedy in our shared experience", this is the topic I chose to write about. Quite possibly, this means write a tragedy in one of the readings that we experienced together as a class; however, I decided to think outside the classroom and decided to talk about a main tragedy that we as a NATION experienced together. That day, that tragic day, that shook our nation...9/11.
Nothing that I have personally experienced, after the fact, or will experience, will ever compare to what happened that day September 11, 2001. That day, there were a total of four terroristic attacks, all aimed towards our nation's prized buildings, buildings that helped our nation succeed and prosper. Our nation grew silent that day due to the attacks that took 2,977 of our brother's and sister's lives. We mourned over the dead, we cherished the living, and we despised the perpetrators. However, through all this, we grew as a nation. We became stronger. We stood united, and on that day, we vowed to never let something like this ever happen again.
To this day we hold strong, never forgetting what happened on that day fourteen years ago....

Tragedies

Tragedies are so terrible to encounter in life. Additionally, once encountered, most tragedies, whether it be mental or physical, are hard to overcome. Personally, I've encountered a mental tragedy to where I had to witness my parents divorce. After the divorce happened I felt that I had to choose, between the two, which parent I would more appeal to. The constant back and forth between each parent just took a mental toll on me; however, I stayed optimistic because I still got to see each parent. I didn't choose to see the cons about it. On the other hand, there were some pros to the divorce. Not only do I believe it made each parent happier, it allowed me and my siblings to enjoy every holiday twice! That meant double the Christmas presents, double the Thanksgiving meal, and what ever other holiday/birthday was celebrated. However, don't get me wrong, I would NEVER wish any of my peers to witness their parents go through a divorce, it's just terrible.

Heroes in modern societies

In modern societies we view the term "hero" differently then how it was viewed in ancient societies. In the past, the term "hero" referred to an individual who went a some journey and/or defeated a monster in order to save someone , like a damsel in distress. Many people viewed said individual as a role model, someone you would look up to and strive to be. When viewing the term today the role model part has kept up with the times; however, the whole defeating a monster and saving a town is not quite as prevalent as it use to be. Since the term has gained different meanings over time, mostly any individual can be termed as a "hero", for example, a parent, another family member, teacher, or even a neighbor. As I personally stated in another blog, my hero is my mother and that will never change. What is your view on the modern day hero? Also, who is your hero?

Heroes in ancient societies

Heroes in ancient societies, as viewed in different forms of literature (poems, novels, etc.), had different roles and were viewed differently as the kind of heroes today. The heroes in the past were the people who swooped in to save the day. Like the ones who defeat the huge intimidating foe like David vs Goliath. However, a classic hero that I always think of has to be Disney's Hercules. (SPOILER ALERT) In the movie, Hercules starts off as a scrawny little boy who can barely amount to anything. With him being a demigod, father being Zeus, you would expect him to be powerful and not scrawny; however, when he was little, his powers were stripped away by someone and so he has to live life as a mortal basically. Hercules strives to become powerful, so he can return to his father in a "proper" way, so in order to do this, Hercules trains under a satyr named Phil. Over time, Phil trains him to where Hercules is now not-so-scarwny (buff) and is fighting many monsters from the Underworld, which is ruled by Hades. Throughout all this, Hercules meets a girl named Meg. Long story short, Hades kidnaps her and (you know how the story goes) Hercules saves the damsel in distress, which in the process he regains his demigod-like powers. Finally after going through so many trials, Hercules can return to Mount Olympus where he can show his father his power. So, not only did he defeat many Underworld monsters, but he started off just as a scrawny little boy....like that's just awesome. I feel that Hercules is the epitome of an "old-fashioned" hero.

Peer review for Project 1

For our first project we were required to get another group to peer review our project, as well as peer review another group's project. The group that we, the group I was in, peer reviewed had a very interesting concept to their project. The characters involved were vast and creative, which added so much detail to their creation story. I don't want to ruin their project but I would like to say that their's is very humorous rather than something serious. However, when peer reviewing their project, I personally noticed some mess up that I addressed. Moreover, my other group members also addressed some things that they believed could've been changed as well. Nevertheless, I can't wait to see how their project turns out and I wish the best of luck!

My daily Hero

What is a hero? Sometimes when I picture a hero, I envision someone swooping in to save the day from the clutches of some random evil doer who is creating chaos in some unknown city; however, the vision of a hero can even be more simplistic then what the original hero is seen as. A hero can be anyone you look up to, someone who betters you as an individual. This can be a parent, another family member, a teacher, your neighbor, or anyone else you look to as a role model; however, for me, my daily role model would have to be my wonderful mother. Like most mother's are, my mom has always been there for me. She has been there for my ups and also my downs. Even though throughout her busy motherly duties, which is being a housewife and being a mother of five kids, she always finds the time to help me when I need it. She is such a wonderful individual with such grace, sometimes, and wisdom, which makes me strive to be like her. Who is your hero?

Eroticism

In today's society, erotic items, such as advertisements, are everywhere; however, most of the messages the erotic items give off are subliminal so only those who know exactly what to look for, and know what they mean,  can understand it to be erotic. On the other hand, just recently I learned that not all erotic items or messages are straight to the point sexual, which most people think it is. The term erotic means something that can bring about sexual feelings or desires, so in this case one could see a picture of a half naked man or woman and think it to be erotic. Additionally, eroticism and sex can be perceived as two different things when it comes to emotions. Personally, when I look at eroticism I believe that eroticism has more of an emotional connection than just sex. You can have sex just to have sex, but when it comes to eroticism between two individuals both need to be involved and have emotion behind what each individual is doing. However, that is just my opinion, what do you think??

Creation Stories

What exactly is a creation story? The meaning behind creation stories is that they provide an understanding of how everything was created; however, not all creation stories are the same. Behind each creation story there are different methods on how everything came to be. On the other hand, creation stories also tend to have similar properties to them. Some of the similar properties include: the superiority of the storyteller's people, omitting the role of a woman, and having the story begin in darkness and then the generation of light being part of the creation. Personally, I like the idea of having different creation stories because it gives the expression that people have full range on what he or she wants to believe in and that not just one story is more superior or more "right". However, there are those individuals who believe that their creation story is more superior because it "makes more sense", but in today's society everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. Honestly, all we have are our beliefs. Who actually knows what happened at the beginning of time, or what went on during the creation of mankind? All we have as references are the holy books, like the Bible and the Koran. However, once again, both have differences and similarities so which one is absolute? That is the beauty behind having a belief. You believe what you want to believe in, and if another person wants to condemn you for it, then ignore them. There's no point in forcing something that you believe in, onto another when the other individual obviously wants no part of it. Live by your standards, not everyone else's.

My "not so interesting" travels

Traveling the world has always been on my bucket list ever since I've been a kid. To visit the different wonders of the world and also expose myself to the different cultures each continent has to offer. However, the only traveling I have done so far, at my age, is when I go on family vacations, which is not quite that interesting. The places I've visited so far, along with my family, include: Orlando and Pensacola, Florida, Laurel, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

When you hear someone say that they are going to Orlando, Florida what is the one place that comes to mind?...of course! Why else would you visit Orlando and not go to Disney World! My family and I visited the many different attractions Disney World had to offer and we had a blast doing so. The next place that I have visited, which was pretty often I might add, was Pensacola, Florida. Pensacola is where my grandparents, on my dad's side, live and so we would stay at their place for at least a weekend. Along staying with them, we would also occasionally visit the beach there.
On the other hand, Laurel, Mississippi is where my grandparents, on my mom's side, use to live. So just like my other grandparents, we would also visit them as well.
However, out of all the places I have visited, my favorite has to be Tennessee, specifically Pigeon Forge. I absolutely love the mountains and that is exactly what Pigeon Forge has to offer.

So yeah, I tried to keep this relatively short and to the point but Orlando, Pensacola, Laurel, and Pigeon Forge are the only places I have traveled to so far. However, once I get older and have more money, I will travel the world and all it's different wonders.