For the Film-Based Assignment, which was based off of the movie John Q., I did not collaborate with anyone else while writing my paper. This approach will be the primary route I take since I like having the time to write down my thoughts before they can be changed by someone else’s input. The hardest thing for me while composing this paper was trying to figure out the ‘route’ I was going to take on this assignment. Once I figured out what I wanted to write about, I struggled trying to find the best way to express my feelings on the specific topic I chose. The thing that helped me the most to get me over this hump was making a pros and cons list of my opinions based off of John Q’s actions.
I started working on this paper during class on Monday and kept working on it at a client’s house until today (Wednesday). This approach worked well because I got started in class, so my basic thoughts were written down. Then on Tuesday I was able to change up some things after I had the night to sleep on it. Having the chance to be out of my own environment to write this paper, both in the classroom and the house I am at was beneficial because I was able to easily avoid many distractions I have at home. The reason I chose to write about how I supported John’s actions was because of my twin sister. She has a disease that requires her to get IV fluids every 3-4 weeks, doctor appointments every 4 weeks and sometimes surgery is in between those appointments. If my sister didn’t have the benefit of having great health insurance since my father is in the Navy, she would have to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars every year (and this has been going on since we have been 16). If we didn’t have this insurance I don’t know what I would have done to get the help that my sister would need. I am happy with my current steps that I have for my writing process. The only thing that I would like to add is that recently my boyfriend has been trying to get me to talk about my assignments more. When I end up speaking about them, I am able to get more ideas out there and I am starting to find this a little useful.
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The film John Q. was about a lower class family whose child gets very sick and will need a heart transplant. At the very beginning, the first thing that caught my attention was when Mike (the son) and John were saying goodbye to each other when he was being dropped off to school, he said “No goodbye, you know I don’t like goodbyes. See you later.” Whenever I hear something like that I feel something bad happens.
Unfortunately, this family isn’t covered by insurance so the hospital isn’t willing to help care for Mike. You can feel the thoughts flood your mind while your heart strings are being pulled when John is trying to figure out his insurance when he says “My son is dying and I’m broke. If I don’t qualify for Medicare, WHO THE HELL DOES?” But that doesn’t stop John Q. from fighting for his son’s life, like any loving father would do. He might not have gone about it the right way by bringing a gun into the ER and taking ‘hostages’ but his mindset was that “I AM NOT GOING TO BURY MY SON! MY SON IS GOING TO BURY ME!” After all of his efforts it paid off. A woman died in a car accident and her blood type matched Michaels and they were able to do the transplant. Because of everything John did for his son, fighting against the corrupt insurance system and not giving up, Mike can now live a long, normal, happy life which is what every parent wants for their child. For my academic mindset project, I did not have anyone work with me on it. Honestly, I think this was a good approach because this is more of a personal paper since it is based off of my opinions and thoughts on these different readings and videos. The most difficult part of writing this assignment would be condensing my thoughts because I had a lot to say I guess. I had to spend a lot of time editing this paper, a lot of time…
I started working on this Monday after class since it got my mind moving. This was good for me since I had a few days to really take my time on my work. I ended up writing the paper at a client’s house that I pet sit for and this worked out quite well since it is a different environment. I wrote about the topic I chose for two reasons: one that was part of the assignment and two I wanted to add some personal things to it. Like how I felt during SAT prep. I do feel like my writing process is improving but hopefully I will continue to grow throughout this course and maybe I will develop new ideas/thoughts to add to the Academic Mindset Writing. After I read the section in the text, "Teaching Adolescents to Become Learners [...] (Chicago University)", I found that the mindset that fit into my life the best was number three, I can succeed at this (Self-efficacy). I say this because I guess after thinking about it, I have only ever really gravitated towards things in life that I am good at. Like working with animals for example. But, in my academic career, the mindset that is the most important for me to help achieve my academic success is the growth mindset. I really do feel like that if I put all of my effort into my work, I can improve in this course and others that are down the road. Sometimes all you need is that little push, or have someone explain something to you in a way that you understand and I think that is what I was given. I must say, that since I started this course I have been able to see some changes in the way I think and do things. Remember, “If you don’t succeed once, try, try again”.
In the readings, “Teachers, Parents Often Misuse Growth Mindset Research, Carol Dweck Says” and “The perils of “Growth Mindset” education: Why we’re trying to fix our kids when we should be fixing the system”, Dweck and Kohn both believe that the mind is a powerful thing. I can certainly agree with them. They focus on the two mindsets, growth and fixed, that individuals use during their day to day lives, whether it’s for their work or academic careers. A fixed mindset is when a person feels like they have limited potential in certain areas. A growth mindset is when someone feels like there is always room for improvements. Let’s say someone might think that they can never paint since they are terrible at it but at the same time have done nothing to improve this skill, what would this be an example of? This is a fixed mindset. The individual has essentially accepted that fact that they can’t paint and won’t do anything to improve on it. I believe that if you are someone who leans towards the growth mindset, it says a lot about yourself. I think this because many people do not really think they need to fix on things in their life but if you can see your weakness and improve on them, you are a strong person and are going to get far in life.
While composing my Hiraeth I did not have any help. I found that asking for help, even if I needed it, would not get me very far. I feel this way because I am the one with the experiences and memories and no one can help me describe my feelings about the place I choose to write about. Maybe I could have asked someone if they had any pointers, but at this stage I just really wanted to get my main points down.
This assignment had some difficulties for me. I would say that the first piece of this writing was the hardest for me, which was deciding what to write about. This was a struggle for me because I have a few places that have affected me in some way which in turn they now have a special place in my heart. Luckily, as soon as this assignment was mentioned I started thinking what to write about right away. To make choosing my topic easier, after coming up with my top three or four, I wrote out a list of each place with pros and cons so I can see which one had the most influence on my life. I started working on this project (first draft) last Sunday and worked on it every day until the due date. This approach worked well for me because I was able to edit my work enough to the point where I felt like my message was clear. Where I wrote my first draft was probably a slight problem. I was in my basement which can be a distraction having a couch and TV down here. For my next assignment I will have to choose another location that is much quieter, maybe the office. At the end of the day, I chose this topic because France taught me a lot about myself and how I want to live my life. Being there allowed me to see things in a different perspective because I was away from the materialistic life and was forced to open my eyes and actually take a look at my surroundings. Just for that experience in itself, I will always be forever grateful. So now that my first draft is written, I can take a look at my process and see if I need to change things that I do. Walking around helped, I will definitely keep doing that. I need to find a new location to write in, the basement is not working out so well. I really liked how I took my time to write, instead of getting it done in one sitting. Doing that allowed me to catch more mistakes and come up with other ways to clearly explain things. I mentioned in a previous blog that I can take a deep breath if I am feeling overwhelmed and start over and I am going to keep this in mind for the future because it was very helpful. It took me three tries to fully compose my first draft. Also, reading everything out loud was a great trick, I caught many errors doing this. Finally, the last step I added was to look at pictures from France that I had and then closed my eyes to remember what it was like to be there which in the end, helped me tell my story. March 1, 2013 was the start of a new adventure. That was the day I moved to Hamburg, Germany to start my new job. The lifestyle was different, for one I have never lived in a city and hearing a new language was a lot to get used to. Maybe a little overwhelming at times you could say. But after a month I found the place where I can call home and to this day I still wish I was there.
I chose to live in a small town called Reinbek, which is on the outskirt of being in Hamburg. I chose this place so I was just far enough away from being in the city and have the luxury of a forested area in my backyard. Adjusting to the lifestyle took some time, like taking the public transport to get to work, the selection of produce in the markets, even how pets are treated took me back a bit (I am not complaining though, I loved how they were welcomed everywhere)! The two years that I was there was certainly rough to say the least but now that I am home, I find myself missing it every day. I do not know how to explain it, but I felt completely safe there. Maybe having a sense of freedom is a good way to explain it. I feel like their government is far better than our own, where they are not watched, foods are natural so you are not forced to eat chemicals, want to go to the store? No problem, you can walk, cycle or take the bus. Here, at least at my home I have to get into my car to go everywhere and it drives me bonkers. Now, I just feel and am hoping someday I can go back to living the slower paced, enjoy every moment kind of life. I just miss it. They say your home is where you lay your head at night. But have you ever caught yourself thinking of a place or home that you can no longer go back to and you miss it dearly? This is feeling is known as a hiraeth. Personally, I know this sensation all too well.
Ever since I returned to the United States I have found myself feeling a bit lost at times. I often catch myself daydreaming about what my life used to be like back over in Europe. For starters let’s talk about how much I miss taking road trips. Over here it is pretty much all of the same, not much changes between states and everyone speaks English. But, over there it is completely different. As soon as you cross the border a lot changes, from the languages on the signs/on the radio, to the selection of food, even the road ways, it is like entering a new world, so to speak. If I had to narrow it done even further, my home in France and my apartment in Germany are two places that I tend to think about and miss often but for very different reasons. I miss the simplistic country life I had in France, the nature was stunning and it was just easy. It gives me a feeling I cannot describe but it just makes me happy, almost like being at peace I guess you can say. Germany made me feel like I was actually living and that is something I miss very much, I still worked the 9-5 job but I never really felt as overwhelmed as I have working here. In the piece written by Carolyn Chute, she talks about how easy it is for her to get distracted from typing due to her daily rituals/routine and for her it is a struggle to get into "writer's mode". And on the other hand, Drake Baer wrote an article giving tips that Hemmingway used in order to be productive. Everyone works in different ways and the same goes for writing and that is clearly seen in these two readings. You would think that an author writes their pieces with ease, but that is not necessarily the case. Everyone gets distracted and what sets someone out from others is how they deal with the interruptions and work through them.
Personally, it is hard for me to sit down and take the time out to quiet my mind so I can focus, that is probably one of my biggest distractions. After a long day of work the last thing I want to do is more work, obviously. So working through the feeling of "I don't want to" always seems to be a battle. Another big distraction of mine would probably be my emotions. I have never been a confident writer and because of that I let my thoughts get the best of me which in turn can greatly delay the writing process. My twin and I have talked about improving my writing skills over the years. She has tried to tutor me, bought books on grammar and such but I have never really seen much improvement in my skills. But, needless to say I personally feel like I cannot become a better writer and it is something I accepted a long time ago unfortunately. Knowing that I tend to easily get distracted, it would actually be pretty useful to come up with some ways to work past them. One would probably be to walk around to get the creative ideas flowing. Others would be to stretch, sit at a table and not on the couch. If I start to feel overwhelmed I can take a breather and start over. I could also read everything out loud (sometimes it is easier to process things when I talk to myself) and avoid caffeinated drinks, it tends to make my mind wonder. If I can implement those into my routine I can see where maybe that could be the start for improvements. In the reading "Why I Write", three individuals give insight on where their passion for writing comes from. Joan Didion is one of the authors and what she had to say really made sense to me. At the end of the day her style is simple, she gets to the point and I like that. She says she writes “to find out what she is thinking, what she is looking at, what she sees and what it means. What she wants and fears”. Writing allows her to see things in a different perspective that sometimes everyone needs. She also said something that I liked, “stories start with a bunch of questions and answering those questions is what makes the story”. I think that is an interesting way to look at writing and possibly a new approach that’s worth trying, it is really making me think.
Why do I write? That is something I never thought about before. But if I am being honest, I try my best to avoid it. This is the first time I have written anything since high school and I am only composing this post because it is required. I am someone who does not write in my free time, I do not even own a journal. I guess it stems from the fact that I have never felt confident in my work. Remember those days back in high school when peers edited your papers? That always made me feel uncomfortable. Thinking about it, for me, not writing makes sense. I am a quiet and private person, in my daily life I struggle to open up to people and share my opinions. I like to keep things to myself. So putting my thoughts down on paper is hard for me to do needless to say. |