Literacy and Technology

https://youtu.be/ssWXEm7TLBE For the most part, I enjoyed working on this project. I think I took somewhat of a different approach to thinking about this project when it was assigned, which, as a result, impacted how my final video turned out. Way back when the video was assigned, instead of finding a poem I enjoyed or knew I wanted to work with, I thought about what I would enjoy filming. I just transferred schools, and while my best friend from high school goes here, I was really worried about making other friends. But her friend group instantly took me in, and now, even though it's only been two months, I've never had such a close group of friends. So, when this project was assigned, I knew I wanted to film them and to create something that represented all the fun we have together. Knowing this, I started looking for a poem that would fit what I wanted to film. I probably spent a good week looking for a poem that I liked about friendship. I liked A Time to Talk becau...

This was my first time reading The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. As for my first impressions, it was a difficult book to get through. The writing wasn't difficult, but I found that reading the book altered my mood. It's a sad book, and I guess I wasn't expecting to be so effected by reading it. Having heard it was a sad book before I read it, but not knowing anything else, I was surprised by the normalcy of Esther's life in the first couple of chapters. There are hints that she's unhappy but they can be interpreted as just everyday, "normal" moments of unhappiness. But things quickly escalate. At the start of the second half on the novel, Esther makes her first suicide attempt. It was difficult to read, but maybe not for the reasons I expected. It was off-putting how nonchalant Esther was at attempting to take her own life. This is one of the many points in the novel that made me realize that depression can alter not only how you feel but how you act. This is ...

Dr. Bullard's convocation lecture was a lot to take in. The evidence to back up the fact that people of color and people of lower socio-economic status are systematically affected by environmental problems (both within our control and out of our control) is astounding. Dr. Bullard showed us slide after slide that displayed how people in the poverty belt are more likely to have inadequate access to necessities like clean air and water, are more likely to suffer from specific diseases/health issues, and are more likely to have a lower life expectancy. While his talk was fantastic at identifying various environmental problems that affect marginalized groups, I wish he had spoke more about how we can become advocates and how we can enact change. It's an overwhelming problem. It's a problem that has history and involves corporations and the government targeting specific groups. How do you rectify all that history and ensure that it doesn't continue to happen?