Choices

When entering college in 2008 I did not have a good understanding on my choices and how all choices have consequences.  I did not know what I wanted to major in or what I was interested in, and instead of using my resources to narrow it down I just thought eventually, with time, I would figure it out.  It took me 3 years of school, 2 major changes, and a transfer to another school to finally know what I wanted to pursue as my major.   Time and money are just town things that I am now facing and not so desirable consequence, but I also met a lot of people and really transformed my life in those years at my other school. 

In 2009, after a year of college, I realized that all my dreams and desires could only be fulfilled in the way God had planned.  I found that my gifts and talents can be used in the medical field for nursing and possible missionary work down the road.  Nursing is a demanding program but I know that is what I have been called to do.  The choices I make every day; studying, sleeping, eating right, taking personal time, will defiantly make a difference in the future of how my life is carried out.  I want to use my life to serve others, and the medical field is only one facet of that.  I hope that I make choices everyday that leave a positive mark on more people than just me. 

Emperor's Club

1. Mr. Hundert quotes Aristophanes, “Youth ages, immaturity is outgrown, ignorance can be educated, drunkenness sobered, but stupid last forever.”  When reflecting on this movie Mr. Hundert seems correct that stupid (Mr. Bell) never out grows stupidity that he had when he was at the boys school.  I interpret this quote by it saying some things can be corrected or changed but stupid or ignorance cannot be.  I am wondering if Mr. Bell would ever grow out of his stupidness now that he has boys of his own, and his son heard him in the bathroom. 

2.  Mr. Hundert has never experienced anyone who was not obedient to his authority, as Sedgewick Bell does.  Mr Hundert has probably never had students that were not striving to learn and succeed academically.  He also wants to “shape” Sedgewick only to find later that all the effort and hope he put into him did not amount to anything of value to Mr. Hundert.

3. Mr. Hundert describes Sedgewick as hypnotic because he gets the other boys to misbehave and do whatever he is doing.  The other boys are good students and would normally follow the rules, but with Sedgewick they do not even consider the consequences.   Sedgewick even gets the whole class to slam their books and startle Mr. Hundert.  He is the leader of most jokes, pranks, and mischief, and with little effort, gets the other students to accompany him.

4. When Mr. Hundert calculates the final marks for the Mr. Julius Caesar Contest he faces an ethical dilemma; to allow Sedgewick into the contest by increasing his final score to more than he earned, or do not let him in the contest.  Mr. Hundert had put hope into Sedgewick and for the first time Sedgewick was studying in school and doing well.  Mr Hundert wanted to see Sedgewick succeed but he also faced the ethical dilemma of changing the final scores of the quizzes to get him into the contest.  Sedgewick was doing good work, but did not earn enough points to beat out Martin in the contest but Mr. Hundert gave Sedgewick the spot anyways.

5. Mr. Hundert is also faced with another dilemma at the contest when he suspects Sedgewick is cheating.  He informs the Headmaster but he tells him to ignore it because Sedgewicks father, the State Senator, is a large beneficiary to the school.  Mr. Hundert does not understand why he did it because he knew Sedgewick new all the information.  When he confronts Sedgewick about his behavior at the contest Sedgewick does not seem to think it was wrong with cheating. 

6. Twenty five years later Mr. Hundert participates as host, in the rematch of the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.  Mr. Hundert is now retired but still decides to come because he still holds onto some hope for Sedgewick.  After he finds nothing has changed for Sedgewick he realized that he was wrong the whole time and tells Martin that he cheated him out of his spot 25 years prior.  His hope was squashed for Sedgewick but renewed when Mr. Hundert has Martins son as a student again. 

7.  I think this film resolves the tension that living a good and examined life is more important that being successful at any cost.  Sedgewick both times cheats when he was in school and in the rematch.  When the bathroom incident happens and he tells Mr. Hundert that living a life without virtue does not matter his son walks out of the bathroom stall hearing the whole thing.  He was probably trying to teach his son morals and ethics, but they really learn these things from actions.  His son is disappointed when his father’s real colors shine through.  The conclusion of the movie also shows that Martin was ok even though he did not get into the Mr. Julius Caesar Contest when Mr. Hundert cheats him. 

8. Mr. Hundert returns to teaching after he participates in the rematch of the Mr. Julius Caesar contest.   He finds that what he was preaching to Sedgewick is what he really should be doing.  He finds a refreshing hope in going back to teaching and finds that Martins son is now one of his students.  You can see that Mr. Hundert is very happy to have Martins son as one of his students so he may have the chance to right his own wrong.  Martins son reads the plaque that is above the door smoothly when Martin stuttered at the beginning of the film; a new hope for Mr. Hundert.

9. Mr. Hundert used the problem-posing aspect from the Banking Concept of Education by making seem relevant and important for them to learn.  The film also shows him taking them down to see the Mr. Julius Caesar wall during class and conversing with the students by asking questions and listening to their point of view.  He has the students wear togas when they were to the point of talking about Julius Caesar, not as just a fun game but the importance of the toga in that era that they were studying. 

10. They study of the classics with Mr. Hundert helped enable the young ment to become better versions of themselves as adolescents and then adults by showing the importance history has on the present time.  He was a challenging teacher, but one who also gave students a feeling of success when they did well in the class.  They had to learn many things but was such a good teacher that he gained respect from most the students but they also liked him.  They saw his dedication in teaching and saw how he changed their lives so maybe they would do the same in their lives as he did for theirs

Early experience in education

An early experience that has dramatically affected my education would by my second grade year of school.  I remember that our class always had the most homework out of all the 2^nd graders and I was always behind.  Looking back, my teacher expected a lot out of us.  He said it was supposed to teach us responsibility and discipline, but I was discouraged.  I would cry every morning to my mom that I did not want to go to school, told her I wanted to quit (haha I was only 7) and that I was not smart enough to be in school.  After my second grade year the teacher I had went to another school to teach 5^th graders; most likely a good move for him.   Second grade took quite some time to recover from and to start thinking school was fun again.  My third grade teacher was such a blessing and had a passion for kids and teaching.  She was an older lady who was the most sought after 3^rd grade teacher.  I guess the school probably thought we all needed a recovery year, so they gave us the “good” teacher. 

I think that there will always be those teachers that are not the most fun, or are stuck in their old ways, but there is hope.  I eventually learned that my learning education will only be what I make it and can’t be determined on the teachers I get.  The teachers/professors can make a profound impact on my experience but it’s up to me to dwell on those experiences or move on.  

Banking Concept

1. Narration sickness, as Friere describes, is where the teacher just talks to fill the students mind with information and knowledge.  The objective for the teacher is “to “fill” the students with the contents of their narration-contents which are detached from reality, disconnected from the totality that engendered them and could give them significance.” (from pg 63)

2. Narration sickness mirrors No Child Left Behind Act in the way that students will be on track for the teachers lesson plans and then like Mrs. Harris said in class, they stop everything and teach you what you need to know for the next 2-3 days before the standardize testing.  The standardize test are there to see what students across the board “know” by simply having fill in the bubble answers.   I have never really thought a lot about these tests besides the fact that I had to take them.   I don’t think there is really another way to have a standardize test besides the way they are doing it but do they really tell a lot about the students creative thinking?  I don’t think so. 

3. College Physiology Professor at Minnesota State University.  Took the class my Junior year, spring semester and also re-took the class immediately after in the summer semester.  She had to teach around 200 students the in depth details of physiology in three classes a week for a whole semester.   She taught the same class every semester and had the same notes and power-points that were reused.   She was the expert in the field of physiology and us students were just babies who didn’t know a thing (a, b, and i  pg 64)  The only thing we did for the whole semester was go to class listen to her lecture for 50 min and then have 4 ridiculously difficult test.  I really think she made the test so detailed and confusing for her own enjoyment because she was so bored with the class.  It was the kind of test were a. b. c. d. were all one choice and then the next few choices were a. & b. or a. & c.  So if you knew one of them and weren’t sure on the other you were sure to get it wrong (h. 64). 

The first time I took the class I got a C, and I thought that was good but needed an A to get into the nursing program.  I did get it the second time around, but I felt like a physiology robot.  I can say that I don’t think I acquired any useful knowledge in the class; just filled my physiology file up to spit back out on her test.  In relation to the banking concept, I would say my professor fills every one of the attitudes and practices on page 64, a-j.  a. We were never interactive with the professor.  She was the teacher and we were the students that were being taught.  B. She knew everything and we knew nothing about physiology. D. She always lectured  and we always were quiet and listened, never able to ask questions in class because she had to cover so much information in class.  There are so many more examples but it was evident that this professor chose the banking concept for her teaching style. 

4.  One instructor that stood out to me as an excellent teacher was my freshman long jump coach at Minnesota State University.  Although he was my track coach he also helped me with my other classes, time management skills and most notably algebra.  His main concern was how I was doing, in my personal health and physical health.  He understood that I would not have a good practice or perform well if I was behind in school or very stressed with a class.  Some days I would come into practice and he would just know that I was super stressed out with homework, so he would tell me we would reschedule practice because school was my priority.  Almost every week we would set up an appointment for him to help me with my algebra because I had a teacher that was using the banking concept, and that was not working for me.  My coach would sit down with me and we would figure it out together and most the time try to relate it to track (even though it rarely made sense).  He put some joy into school work that I hated to do. 

He also talked with me about my time management.  If I need x amount of hours to study and x amount of hours to practice, where am I going to fit in my social time.   He drilled it into me that the only way to do well in a sport and my academics was to have time management and also have some fun.  To my surprise I did very well as a freshman in the long and triple jump, made the dean’s list, actually learned from those classes, was excited about learning and had a very fun memorable year. 

5.  The Athenians would embrace the concept of “liberated or problem-posing education.”  They were critical thinkers and did not put boundaries on their education.  They were explorers, not seeking to learn what someone else already had found out.  In my nursing class on the USF campus we take time to learn how to do objectives of nursing, that relating to the banking concept, but we also take a great amount of time to put those things we learned into practice.   We are very interactive in the classroom and dialog with the professors and other students every day.  In the two classes I have now we have group projects, and work with partners every day to practice skills.  After the lab we always have a “write up” that requires us to critically think.  I believe this style of teaching is essential for the nursing program because when you get into the field that is what you will be doing every day.  No one patient is going to be the same, and you will have to be able to efficiently communicate with them to perform a complete assessment.  

Civil Rights

Passive resistance is performing nonviolent acts against laws or policies in demands of change.  When passive resistance is used there are normally socio-political goals and acts such as protests, economic or political noncooperation, mass demonstrations, and boycotts.  Passive resistance has been used efficiently throughout history, and has made major changes to America as we know it today. 

Mahatma Gandhi used passive resistance to gain freedom from the British.  He is said to have inspired the civil rights movement.

Martin Luther King Jr. used nonviolent acts to gain civil rights in America.  He was the leader of the African American civil rights movement.

Alabama, 1963.

After being hit from behind and knocked down by a water hose, a woman is picked up and RESCUED by a fellow demonstrator.

These people knew the people opposed to the civil rights movement were using voilence against them, and they still proceeded in their fight for freedom.  This women was knocked over by a water hose.  If it strips the bark off a tree that just goes to tell us how powerful it was, and must have hurt the people who were sprayed.   When I first saw this picture I noticed this women was in heals and a man had picked her up.  All the people fighting for civil rights must have had a great loyalty for one another because they were all fighting for the same thing.  Almost seems like they were an unofficial non violent army.  

Alabama, 1958.

From the pulpit of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, King addresses a rapt audience on the need for PEACEFUL protest.

I think this picture is cool because it shows how Martin Luther King talked with the protesters.  Shows how he is up on a pulpit,and the people are respectful and all paying close attention to what he is saying.  I'm sure this is just one snap shot of the many meetings like this they had. 

I do believe there is discrimination in our community today.  Unfortunately, like we talked about in class, it is part of human nature.  I believe things like racism and gender discrimination has such deep roots from the past that it is not an easy thing to change.  I think that many people will agree that discrimination is "wrong" but still act in ways that oppose their thinking.  Even doing the outline to the major paper 2 I was looking at age discrimination in the work place and found myself agreeing that it might not be profitable to hire older people, or might be more cost efficient to hire someone young.  I was like, shoot... I'm agreeing with age discriminating... Although I think there will never be a complete end to discrimination in the America there is always room for improvement.  

3 ways to incorporate ethos and logos into my next essay on discrimination in the workplace.  I can use ethos by stating a few of the many laws there are relating to work discrimination.  logos can also be used to stay the consequences for discrimination in the work place, and how it would just loose the business or company money and time if they were prosecuted.  Ethos- I could re-state historical events like the civil rights act and how almost all agree now that racial discrimination wasn't ok then, why would work discrimination be any different.  

This I Believe

Sculpture walk

Sculpture Walk

Kersten Hanson

Sculpture: Zion by Grant Standard

1. Deep Rugged Dark Guarded Lonely

2. I like that it is formed in layers like we have different layers of intimacy.  We reveal different levels to different people.  The first, like the outer layer of the sculpture might represent our outer appearance.  Then the inner layers are more of the things that we keep inside that only people that know us would know.  For example, our personalities, dreams, and fears. 

3.  I did not like how it represented the humanity and the complexity of humans in such a dark way.  The color of the metal was dark.   It made me feel like the human being was in bondage by the look of the shields around the sculpture.  I also did not like how it was composed with so many holes, it made me feel incomplete. 

4. No I would not purchase this sculpture.  To me it made me feel dark, eerie, and uncomfortable.   I thought of Harry Potter or some type of sorcery when I saw it.   

5. I believe this sculpture represents the different detentions of the human being.  It was metal and appeared to have shields that might have represented to rigidness of human beings.  It might also symbolize that you need to break through those barriers before you can get to another level. 

6. This sculpture is almost uniform from every side you look at it.  It is a spherical shape with inter spheres in the middle.  I thought that material used was very dull, and the lighting would not have changed its presentation.  There were small grooves worked into the surface of sculpture that caught some like and made it look more rustic. 

7.  The style of the sculpture is primarily rounded in its spherical shape, and abstract for what it’s trying to represent.   It has a lot of angles in the cuts in the edges of the sphere and is very multi dimensional.  The surface of each sphere is very rough with the shields in some places being smooth. 

Sculpture: Robert the Bruce by Benjamin Victor

1. Strength Bravery,  Warrior, Honor, Sorrow

2. I like this sculpture because of the detail and what it represents.  I know a little bit about the history of Robert the Bruce and I think it portrays his image and bravery to the highest degree.   I think it also greatly reflects the artist and his artistic abilities.  I like how I feel engaged with his feelings or how it makes me think how I would feel if I were in there with him.  I also liked how it showed the intensity and emotions in his facial expression.   I was surprised how detailed you could get with that type of metal. 

3.  There is almost nothing I disliked about this sculpture, besides the shoelace noose tied around his neck!  The only thing I would do differently is change the level he was being displayed at.  I wish I could have been more level with the sculpture. 

4.  I would display this sculpture if I had an appropriate place to put it.  I think it shows great artistic skill and I would like to support an artist that has that ability.  I also like what this sculpture represents; to me it is bravery and leadership and seeing it displayed might encourage me to act in a similar way. 

5. The subject matter is Robert the Bruce getting ready to lead his men in to battle.  He is fully suited in his armor and looking back at his men, a warrior ready for battle.  It was windy when I was viewing this sculpture so the way the horses cloth or armor was flowing in the wind was perfectly represented. 

6. I would say this sculpture had the strongest frontal presentation but also from other angles.  Benjamin Victor did such an outstanding job all the way around so it is only fully appreciated if viewed from all sides.  I think the natural lighting brings out the detail especially in small rings in the chain-mail suit he is wearing.  It was interesting  to hear that he actually put each individual chain link together for the sculpture, makes me appreciated it even more. 

7.  This piece was extremely detailed, I could go on and on about the amount of detail on the whole thing.  It looked very realistic and represented a real life scene.    I feel like this sculpture, if it were larger could come to life.  I’m not the biggest art appreciator but this is one of the best sculptures I have even seen. 

Sculpture: Katrina by Osamede Obazee

1. Agony, hopelessness, distress, grief, pain

2. I like the color of the metal that the artist used, I also like that he made it completely out of scrap metal.  I liked how it has so much to look at and the emotions the artist are trying to evoke are obvious.  I also like how it is a sculpture of a past real event, makes it relatable to what someone might have felt like during the hurricane. 

3.  I personally did not like how visible the women’s breasts were.  I think the sculpture could have had the same effect without the demeaning the women.  I saw no point in it other than the artist trying to get across how cold it was.  It also showed metal in a different patter of where her underwear might be.  I found that more respectable because the wind was blowing her skirt, the bust I found offensive. 

4. I would not purchase this sculpture.  I think the artist did a phenomenal job representing many aspects of this woman with the scrap metal and the balance of the sculpture but I would never buy it because I think it is demeaning to the women. 

5. The subject matter is probably representing the anguish this women is feeling during the hurricane.  It has so many dimensions to it that I thing the sculpture could be representing all the people effect by the hurricane.  The things they lost, physical injuries, death, and the pain they had to endure. 

6.  This sculpture has a strong side presentation.  To see how the women is falling to the side but also being balanced by the umbrella is most appreciated from the side.  It also has so much detail on it that can be observed from every angle.  I viewed this sculpture when it was very windy out so I think that the outdoor overcast and wind made it easier to put a real life setting around the sculpture. 

7.  This work is realistic but also has an abstract component to it.  The umbrella that the women is holding is clearly destroyed but she is still holding on to it.  I could be that she was holding on to the last thing she had.  I also saw that you could see her rib bones and see into her chest cavity.  She was still alive but it could represent how the storm was eventually killing her. 

*I have never felt emotionally sad while looking at a sculpture or piece of art, but this one made me remember and relate to the people that had to suffer through that hurricane.