Introduction
As of now I’ve learned quite a bit from my first semester in college. I enjoyed being with my friends and doing things together. It was great knowing I could rely on them when I needed to, especially when I was stressed with class. I had a hard time sometimes feeling motivated to complete the work that I was assigned in my classes. Either way, I made sure to get them done, and on time. I think I excelled in participating and being involved on campus. Being in clubs, going to events, and having a remote job on campus definitely helped! For the next semester I will attempt to make more time for myself. As an extrovert with a low battery life sometimes I just need to say ‘no’. This is especially true considering I’m so involved on campus. I’m excited to accomplish new things for the next semester!
In the beginning of the course I preferred to complete the assignments on my own. As I worked independently however, I realized that sometimes I wanted help, even if it was just to ask a simple question. Later on I found people in the class whom I could work with, as they could with me. This recent assignment helped me work with people more, and collaborate better to accomplish our goal. It personally helped me be a better leader and showed me that I was good at working with new people. I was comfortable working alone, and it was a safe option because I knew I could rely on myself. I risked sharing my learning process with others, and so far its been a success!
Goal 1 (30 %)
Being open minded and unbiased.
Many times, when writing essays, I finish them thinking that it turned out great and am satisfied with my work. However, it can make a huge difference when you have someone else peer-edit it, and have them share their thoughts. When I took into consideration my classmates and Dr. DeSpain’s comments, I realized that my Digital Project #1 needed some extra work. In the images above you’ll see just how big a difference one of my paragraphs about the same topic was rewritten to show my open-mindedness for improvement.
Goal 2 (20 %)
Staying organized and setting expectations for myself and the team
The images above are examples of what my schedule looks like. The dates show that I am committed to staying on top of my assignments for all my classes, including CODES 121, and making sure to remind my classmates of them when needed. Since CODE-121 can be heavy on assignments, I especially try to make sure to organize all my homework for the class in my planner.
This is an image from the group chat I created for my team that we used to complete our Digital Project #3. I thought this was very beneficial for us to get to know each other better and an effective way for us to communicate to get the project done. For context, the image above was sent by me to clarify what was going to be said the next day for the presentation, and by whom. I was glad to take the role of helping guide my team whenever one of them had questions or was confused. I’m also thankful they were able to help me whenever I was lost and for each of them doing their part of the project.
Goal 3 (20 %)
Speaking to people that know about the problem.
On our field trip to Alton, our group visited the YWCA building where we met Administrative staff and volunteers. We heard a little bit more about YWCA’s missions and values related to the community. It was also great seeing Debora Pitts (on the left in pink) who is also a volunteer for NCNW after having her visit our research team.
Goal 4 (20 %)
Always be willing to learn something new and expand my learning.
I’ve never acted in, created, edited, and posted a video in my life. While trying to complete my Digital Project #2, I learned how to do all these things in one assignment. Although it was a little tough to figure it out at first, I managed to complete it and, for the most part, am happy with what I was able to produce. I can now say that I’m not a beginner when it comes to video editing, and am more confident about using the skills that I’ve learned from this project in the future.
Goal 5 (10 %)
Try to connect readings from other classes to my research.
Both of these images are just 2 examples of the discussion responses I wrote for CODE-121. Although these responses weren’t from the textbooks we have in class, I appreciated how the online articles related to our work, as well as providing me with extra information about our global community. It was not only eye opening to read these informative articles, but it was also interesting being able to read about how my peers felt about these topics too.