Reflections

Coming to class the first day of college, I have to admit I was extremely intimidated at what this new chapter of my life would bring.  How my classes would work; the people I would meet; and how I would handle life on my own were all questions that lay ahead.  I am a very controlling individual, and having to anticipate the unknown was intimidating. However, from the first time I sat down in my WRD 110 class I was fascinated and found myself genuinely intrigued.  Going through the syllabus, I realized that this was unlike any other classes I had ever taken.  I had always been passionate about writing and the world around me, and I quickly discovered this class was the perfect outlet for this academic interest. I was able to speak openly about my beliefs and opinions and apply my love for writing in a practical manner.  Having my own blog that I was actually excited to write for was a much better alternative than the endless papers of formality in my previous English courses. Being able to express and debate my views on certain subjects was even more beneficial, given that I am naturally a very vocal and opinionated person. 

            Having the ability to read the various articles and videos also allowed me to think of the world in a different manner.  I was able to see how people across all circumstances viewed their society; ranging from something as trivial as nude photos to the death penalty. Not only that, but I was able to deliberate the subjects with the class on a deeper level than meets the eye, and hear my classmates views in turn. In my opinion, being someone who is truly knowledgeable is found in the ability to see varying opinions, philosophies, and understandings of the world around them and respect these ideals.  This class allowed me to truly be able to accomplish this.

            On the first day of class, I remember a few assignments really standing out to me. The idea of giving a public speech and making a documentary that would account for nearly all of my grade terrified me.  I had given speeches in the past and they had almost always ended in me running out of breath or feeling as if I was about to faint. Nevertheless, I ended up actually being very proud of myself in this class and conquering a huge fear that had always intimidated me. The final project itself has been an ongoing roller-coaster.  Being able to produce something that entails hours and hours of work over a semester is something I had never yet experienced. To be honest, I was slightly fearful because I am a huge control freak and perfectionist. Giving up some control and having my grade rest on collaborated efforts was definitely my biggest struggle. I found myself initially getting into some fights on how I wanted the project to look, and I realized through it all that I couldn’t always have everything my way. That’s truly what I am most proud of about this documentary; the fact that it came from a group of people’s efforts, ideas, and opinions and not just my own. As confident as I am with our documentary, an aspect I would have changed was being able to get more interviews and varied footage to incorporate within the film. I was mostly responsible for getting the group to work and organizing all of the ideas, scripting, coordinating, and helping in the process of filming. I initially created a color-coordinated binder with corresponding dates and jobs for people within the group. I brainstormed and went to Keenland to help film. I also went through all of the footage and picked out which footage was useable and would work well in the documentary, and the order everything should fall in. I scripted a lot of the documentary and created a theme for the overall product, and always coordinated team meetings. However, this ties in to what was frustrating for me about the project itself. After doing a lot of the work for scripting, framing, filming, organizing, and having all of these ideas it was hard to give up control of the project and let the other members of the group go through and change things for the final product. I have to admit that I was annoyed but now I realize that it’s actually a good thing to let others have input, and sometimes put aside what you want and come together as a team.  That is one very important lesson I personally took from this class. 

            In conclusion, I really have enjoyed this course and found it to be my favorite class of my first semester here at UK. It allowed me to be able to think about the world around me in a more critical light and learn more about the campus and community of Keenland. My overall spectrum of communication improved from this class as opposed to my previous courses as well, because I didn’t write formal essays, but was able to improve on my public speaking, group member skills, and even produce a successful documentary.  I couldn’t ask for a better instructor, and felt that you were both passionate and knowledgeable about the course material, and as an added bonus had the ability to add humor into everything. I wouldn’t have changed anything, and I loved this class because we were all so different, yet came together as one in discussion and collaboration.  It was very laid back, yet still allowed me to fulfill my passionate love for reading and writing and acquire other important skills in the process. Overall, this course has really been an amazing experience and prepared me for years to come. I will always remember this course as one that has positively influenced my first college semester.