Blog #7

At the beginning on this course, I was nervous. I had no idea what to expect coming into my first college class. The work load, the teaching style and the difficulty level were all things that worried me. English was not my strong subject throughout high school, which also added to my anxiety.

            Once classes started and I saw the course syllabus, I was still very concerned. I had never had such a small time period to write a paper in high school. Five papers in five weeks seemed like an overwhelming amount of work to do. I was scared that I would not be able to keep up and still do a good job on each paper. As the assignments came up one after another, I felt a lot more comfortable.

            After the first paper was finished, I realized it was not impossible after all. The way in which each paper had to be prepared made it much easier than I had anticipated. The requirement of a rough draft eliminated procrastination for the final paper. Without the draft there is no doubt that at least once I would have been cramming all of my thoughts at one o’clock in the morning the day it was do. By making a draft first, I was able to get my thoughts out earlier and have more time for corrections.

            Peer review corrections also helped me out a lot during this course. In the beginning, I was very skeptical of the idea. I usually do not like peer review because I do not like everyone reading my paper. Also, I feel bad reviewing other papers because I do not want to offend anyone and act as if I am better than them. I soon realized that peer review was actually extremely helpful for both me and my peers. I got a lot of useful feedback during every revising class and my classmates took my critique positively as well. Peer review day became one of the most vital days to me  because it was an important step to improvement my subpar writing skills from high school.

            I feel as though this class was run under very laid back circumstances. At the same time, I learned a lot. I never felt out of place or intimidated to ask questions. I never left the class feeling unprepared for the assignment I had to complete. I liked that there were always office hours so that I could get extra help if needed. Alyse made it a very informal and relaxing way to ask questions about the course. The assigned office hours were a great way to initiate later unplanned meeting times. Without the first meeting I would have been more apprehensive about going to  her office.

            Overall I found this course extremely helpful. I thought it was a great way to ease into the college way taking classes. I feel a lot more prepared and less anxious about having a full work load in the fall. I am happy to have had this course and I would definitely recommend it to future students.

Blog #6

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a toy goddess. She lived in Funtoysia and was named Gianna. This goddess was the ruler of all the toys in her kingdom.  She made toys, gave away toys, fixed toys, and anything else you could possible imagine. Although this is true today, it was not always the case.

When Gianna was a young, she did not have many toys at all. The toys that she did have were raggedy and not much fun. As a result she would treat them very poorly.

            “I don’t want these toys! They aren’t fun and they are too old,” Gianna would say everytime she was given a toy.

            Her mother did not have much money, so she could not get her better toys to play with. Her mother gave her anything she could find that could possibly entertain her daughter, but it nothing ever seemed to work. Then, one day her mother came home with the most beautiful toy Gianna had ever seen.

            “Oh my! Mother, where did you ever find this,” Gianna asked her mother with excitement, “I have never had something so special to play with!”

            “Well darling, I have been saving up to get you something this nice. I knew you would appreciate it. I think the woman at the store told me it is called a doll,” replied her mother.

            Gianna played with the doll all day long until she curled up in bed hold the doll in her arms for a good night’s rest. The next day, Gianna still played with the doll. She continued to play with it week after week. When her mother noticed how much she enjoyed the doll, she realized how important toys were to Gianna. She knew from then on it was worth every penny she had to save to give her daughter toys to play with.

            A few weeks later, Gianna’s mother came home from the market with another surprise.

            “Gianna,” she called as she walked in the door, “I have something for you! Come downstairs please.”

            Gianna raced down the steps with her doll in her hand, “What is it, Mama?”

            “Well, I know how much you have been enjoying your new toy so I thought I would buy you another one to play with.” Her mother took the toy from behind her back and handed it to Gianna. This time, she gave her daughter a box a building blocks.

            “What do I do with this? I don’t know how to play with this thing. I don’t think I want it.” Gianna seemed disappointed that it was not another doll. Her mother explained to her that blocks can make anything she ever imagined, and then Gianna was a little more excited. She ran upstairs and played with her doll and blocks for the next few weeks.

            As time went by, Gianna’s mother continued to buy her a few new toys instead of the many old toys she did not find interesting. After awhile, Gianna even saved her own money to buys every toy she ever wanted.

            After a few years, she had too many toys to keep track of. Gianna’s mother told her she had to get rid of some of her toys because they were taking up too much space. Gianna refused and insisted that they could talk to her and would tell her stories and thank her for playing with them every day. If she threw them away they would be very hurt and hate her forever.

            Gianna and her mother argued every day about the toys. Until one day, Gianna decided to move out. That is when she discovered Funtoysia. This was a place that she could have as many toys as she pleased and do whatever she wanted to do with them. The toys loved Gianna and it is said that all the toys that children mistreat and throw away somehow find their way to Funtoysia. Gianna looks over the toys and has never left Funtoysia since the day she moved out of her mother’s house.