Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Blog Reflection


At the beginning of the semester this blog seemed to me like another assignment that would consume my free time.  Even naming my blog was a decision that I never thought would be so accurate until now.  Writing this blog has really been exactly as its name describes it, A Moving Journey.
Of all the features that stand out, I have to say that variety is definitely what I like the most of my blog.  It covers such diverse topics that anyone could find something of their interest to read.  From an Introduction of Myself, to movie reflections, to comments on different readings, this blog has managed to exploit every corner of my mind helping to develop my creativity and critical thinking abilities.  I really liked the fact that it wasn’t stuck or centered in a specific topic because that would have make a repetitive and probably boring blog.  I believe that not only mine, but all of the blogs created during this class portray the true diversity that makes up the student pool of our university.
Of all the blog posts I have to say that my favorite one is the Dear Cynthia letter.  To me it is the post that truly shows how much fun I had, not only writing this blog, but during the whole class in general.  Journey in Literature has been a new kind of experience of my college years and I tried to sketch it in a letter to my professor.  It shows the gratitude that I feel towards her care and dedication, not only to our class, but also to our learning experience.
Even though I really want this semester to be over, it is really bitter to state that this is the end of our moving journey.  The class may have come to an end, but I am really looking forward to keep on writing in this blog so that new experiences could be kept in this special place on the web.  I want to finalize this post saying thank you to my professor Cynthia Pitmann, to my fellow classmates, and a special one to my readers.  Thank you for taking the time of my making my blog a true MOVING JOURNEY. Hope to write for all of you soon!

p.s.  Here's an inspirational quote to all of you!


Letter To Cynthia Pittmann


Dear Cynthia,
            I have to begin this letter by saying THANK YOU!  This semester has been a really hectic one.  Taking two advanced science courses has taken away most of my spare time to do the stuff I like.  The stress level has reached really high and if it wasn’t thanks to you I believe I would not have made it through.  Your class and your ideas have given me the opportunity to reach a side of me I usually do not pay attention to.  Out of all my classes and professors, yours was the one that I always looked forward to come to because it really helped me liberate my stress.  For example, the First Thoughts Journal, where we had to write for 10 whole minutes the first thoughts that came to our mind, was the most liberating activity that I had ever done in any class.  How you encouraged us to be ourselves and let go of so many rules that constantly enclose us was like that perfect pill to cure our stress.
            Like if my classes were not enough work for me, I had to deal this semester with my application to different dental schools.  The whole application process has been the most stressful thing I had done, since the very beginning of it.  As I talked about in the IntroductionTo Myself post I am a very stressful person, so this whole process has really got to my nerves!  Writing a personal statement, looking for recommendation letters, working with my transcripts, in fact EVERYTHING has been a really hard work.  Thankfully I finished it and already submitted it.  Now all I have to do is wait for the decisions, fingers crossed! Hopefully I will be part of a Dental School Class 2018!


            I would like to finish this letter exactly the way I started it: saying THANK YOU!  Your class not only has been a liberating stress activity for me, but it has also helped me grow academically.   Thanks to the group discussions and presentations that we had all over the semester I have lose a little of my fear of speaking out loud in front of others and letting others know my ideas and points of view.  Thanks to your class I have also gain many new friends that I hope I keep on seeing. 
            What’s left to say is that I wish to you the very best of Christmases as well as an amazing New Year!  Here goes one of my favorite Christmas songs so you can hear it and I hope that it helps you through the end of the semester, like it does to me!


Helping Behavior


James Hayes Shofner "Jim" Cooper (born June 19, 1954) is the U.S. Representative for Tennessee's 5th congressional distric (based in Nashville), serving since 2003.  He is a member of the Democratic Party and the Blue Dog Coalition and he previously represented Tennessee's 4th congressional district from 1983 to 1995.


In his book Down on the Island, Jim Cooper talks about Puerto Rican culture through the eyes of a continental American professor teaching students in the Colegio de Mayagüez.   In his chapter Helping he references a specific phenomenon of the Puerto Rican culture that continues to be a debated topic everywhere.  Cooper brings up his concern that cheating was done in Puerto Rico in an open and public way, more than he had ever seen.  He states the difference of how cheating is seen in the States and how it is thought of here on the island.  He brings up the whole situation that since early stages of the development, teachers are encouraging their students to help each other, making it seem like a good and valid action.  He also points that the whole system “approves” of the cheating behavior since the behavioral model that is seen between students is a cooperative one rather than a competitive one.  The whole helping others idea (even though not the whole idea of it) is spread through the Puerto Rican culture impacting the preparation with which students got to college and it reflected in the teaching and learning of the English language on the island. 
            Reading this essay by Jim Cooper made me want to situate myself and my opinion among the many streams that the present debate unfolds.  It is true that Puerto Ricans exhibit a cooperative behavior most of the time, but it doesn’t mean that it shows up only on the academic aspect.  I don’t believe that we Puerto Ricans cooperate academically more than other cultures for no reason.  It is something that comes from the way the whole system is build up.  For example, most of the teaching done in our schools just focuses on specific tests that are coming up and not really on the learning experience.  I personally do not believe that tests (including standardized ones) reflect the true enrichment that a student is having academically, because it forces the learning process.  Students are pushed to memorize large quantities of material and the true learning process is lost; that is when cheating comes up. Even though I do not sponsor cheating on tests, I do believe that cooperative teaching and learning is the correct path to go through.  This means that the learning process (which is not the moment of taking a test) should be based on students helping other students for ideas to be transmitted in clearer and more familiar ways.  In contrast to the cooperative model, there’s the competitive model of behavior.  I prefer the cooperative model because I’ve never been a person who likes competition; in fact, I do not believe that there even exists a positive kind of competition.  Even though it is a fact that competition can bring out the best of someone, it is also true that it can bring out the worst.  Sadly, the organization of the educational process of our nation forces each one of us to become part of the competition in order to achieve what we want.  Only those who excel in standardized tests are the ones who get the opportunity to prove themselves good at something; only those who get the chance to relate to powerful people are the ones who get the chance to become what they want.  It is at this time that we are forced to become part of a competition that ends in no positive results at all.
            While it is true that the cooperative model is not correct in all aspects of our life, it is also true that the competitive model can also represent a threat to our integrity. Being in a competition towards a specific goal can make us blind and lead ourselves to step on others no matter how bad it could hurt them.  It is at this time that, no matter how good we could become due to competition, our basic human values become destroyed and therefore competition has destroyed ourselves.  That is the reason why we should maintain in a neutral position, where it is possible to maintain a balance between these two extremes.  We should be able to take competition as a way of trying to emulate the positive things those around us have, becoming better ourselves, but not to a level where we compete just for the destruction of the other competitors.  As a perfect balance we should practice a competition where the rules that guide the whole game are compassion and comprehension; that way a cooperative aura will come by naturally, establishing the perfect harmony in between them and the combination that better works for us humans. 
Jim Cooper focuses this whole debate in the English teaching in Puerto Rico.  Why Puerto Ricans know or do not know English has always been a sensitive topic because of the diversity of opinions.  I found a really curious site where different English teachers in Puerto Rico talk about their professional experiences in the island: Teaching English in Puerto Rico.  It is possible to see that not all teachers have had bad experiences and those who have had difficulties do not make reference to the "Helping/Cheating" behavior.  This may be a good link to read and take the time to reflect, as part of the education system, about the reality in which we are included and wether Jim Cooper made an objective characterization of the Puerto Rican students and the system.