My first semester at Boise State is over!!!!
Well, almost over. I still have one week left in two of my classes, but then I can officially say I've got the first semester under my belt!
Over the semester, I've learned that I love professors who respect my creative flow, hate being talked over, and I'm going to be a strong English teacher one day. One of my most favorite professors and examples of what a great English instructor looks like, Jan Roser, taught my English 101 class. Today, I want to reflect on that class and share my experiences with the course.
My concept of critical reading has changed
Before class, I felt like there wasn't much to critical reading other than looking at a piece from an objective point of view rather than with bias or emotion. However, I've learned that my previous thoughts on it couldn't have been further from the truth! One thing I personally enjoy doing is trying to look at the pieces I read through a particular lense or with a theme in mind. For example, one of the articles I read for class was "Could an Ex-Con Become an Attorney? I Intended to Find Out" by Reginald Dwayne Betts. The article was hard for me to get through because it made me particularly emotional to read about how our society simply tosses people by the wayside when they've made a mistake. My compassion was ignited and I learned so much from his experience. I by no means approached the article objectively. I felt so much throughout the entirety of reading and critically reviewing it. What I learned most of all was that I was still capable of taking away significant facts from a reading and analyzing the writer's abilities and strategies while simultaneously engaging in the emotion it evoked. (I'll share the article HERE for those of you who may be interested. It was really good!)
My writing process has changed
I can't lie, I tend to avoid technical writing if I can. Sometimes the point I'm trying to convey gets lost somewhere at the crossroads of my voice and technical demands. That's something I've really tried to work on and be conscious of this semester. With the aforementioned article written by Reginald Dwayne Betts, I had to write a rhetorical analysis. This was an assignment I'd found more challenging. I didn't want to just analyze the author's rhetoric. I wanted to spend time talking about my frustration with the American justice system and the people who run this country. Keeping it together and trying to figure out how to direct my energy was challenging. I found the best way for me to navigate that would be to take notes as I read about his writing style. What words did he use? What points was he trying to make and what strategies did he use to convey it? Once I'd compiled a list of these facts, it was a lot easier for me to write.
Other classes impacted my experience with this class
It seems as though all of my classes lined up with each other in terms of themes week by week. All of my classes at one point tackled racism and injustice in social injustice in America. By the end of the two weeks that subject had been explored, I'd reached my limit. I was frustrated with things that were well beyond my control, concerned for my loved ones, and terrified of what the future held for our society. It most definitely did not help that I'd recently started watching The Handmaid's Tale! To recover, I spent my free time trying to find sources of entertainment that would be less stressful, cuddled my cat, and thought up different ways I could level the playing field in my future classroom and make certain my students were all safe and empowered. That was the most change I'd be able to make. I'd determined all I could do was emulate Professor Roser in the way that she understood that all of her students came from different backgrounds and would be performing at different levels. By providing assignments that were general enough we could all engage in them from wherever we were, but refined enough that we could progress in our abilities was the perfect model of classroom management.
External influences impacted how I handled class and what I learned
I spent a lot of time outside of class embarking on a health journey. I'd received less-than-acceptable medical care for most of my life simply due to living in areas that didn't have a strong medical team. My psychiatrist and midwife have proven to be two of the greatest people in my life, but that didn't mean chaos didn't happen to land me in their offices. My challenges came two-fold; First, I found that I was at a new low with my depression. I couldn't focus on anything! There was no article, no book, no movie, no youtube video that could capture my attention for more than ten seconds at a time. My brain was becoming an empty abyss. There was no engagement happening, and I was honestly scared. The thought of losing my cognitive function for any amount of time was enough motivation to finally see a psychiatrist and try antidepressants. They made a huge positive impact in my quality of life, and I am forever grateful. However, there were some troubles in getting all of my medications to cooperate, and after a week or so of being extremely sick, we discovered that I'd been misdiagnosed (and therefore mistreated) with Lupus when I really had Hashimoto's. My entire team of medical providers was astounded by the entire ordeal, and I can't lie...I was pretty upset.
As happy as I was to get all of that corrected and get back to handling my responsibilities, I had fallen out of my groove. It was difficult for me to find the energy and motivation again to produce quality work in school when I was still so mentally and emotionally exhausted (physically I wasn't doing too hot, either). I tried to make myself work, but all I'd end up doing was staring at the screen until I was frustrated. It took a lot of podcasts, rest, and patience with myself for me to finally gain back some gusto for my schoolwork. I did it though!
The health issues paired with housing issues I'd had previously (I was living with my family that had no internet because the school didn't have any place open for me yet), not having my husband around the whole time, and generally finding my way back into the swing of school all made for a fairly tumultuous semester. Overall though, it was extremely doable!
What I learned in boating school is
Some of the things we read, of course, didn't inspire me. You can't expect to be excited over every single assignment in any class. However, the ones I learned the most from were Perry Klass' "Learning the Language" and Sherman Alexie's "The Joy of Reading and Writing: Superman and Me". Both of these stories provided opportunities for me to reflect on my own journey, not just with literature, but with education as well. I really got a lot out of reconsidering what kinds of habits I was picking up along my way to the classroom and bookshelf. What have I been learning and picking up that would benefit me as a future educator? What experiences were strengthening me as a writer? Why were those my ambitions in the first place? These readings were introduced to me at the same times and both addressed the different dimensions of my goals. The timing of these required readings were simply spot on and I could not have been more excited about them.
My take away
English 101 is an essential class to take for anyone looking to be a professional in any regard. I was reminded time and time again of why I'm at school by this class. When we wrote an essay about our writing backgrounds, I remembered why I loved writing so much and rededicated myself to the craft. When we had to write a haiku, I reconnected with my natural surroundings. Every single assignment had a purpose and they all served me in so many more ways beyond what was intended.
If you haven't taken English 101 yet, do it! If you had a bad experience with it, I strongly encourage you to retake it with a different professor. My professor was absolutely outstanding! Never underestimate the treasures that you can find in the classroom. Especially, the English class!
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