Unit 1

Growing up, there was one specific word that just stuck with me,Till this day it still does. I honestly use this word very frequently, which later on as I explain the meaning behind this word isn’t such a good thing. The word I am speaking about is “hueva”. You might be asking yourself, what does this word mean? Give it some thought. Sure it may sound like the spanish word “huevo” which stands for eggs in english, I can assure you it isn’t that. If you look up the word on google you’ll see it stands for “roe”. In the hispanic  community we use this word whenever someone is feeling lethargic.

Tracing back  the time I first encountered this word was actually a very  enticing moment . It was  a very dull day, perfect for what I had been doing. I remember playing my playstation 3, not a care in the world. When all  of a sudden I hear my name cry out loud, “BRIANNN” I pay no mind just focused in my own little world. My mom ended up coming into my room upset at the fact that I ignored her the first few times. She had asked me to do chores, I of course was too lazy to do anything and just wanted to be cooped up in my bed and ended up doing chores which only lead to more. For some reason after completing my chores I was energetic and motivated, I remember telling my mom how we still needed to go to the supermarket to go buy for tonight’s dinner. To my surprise she had forgotten about it and replied with the words, “ay tengo hueva”. I was dumbfounded by the words my mother muttered, not knowing what she said exactly, thinking it was a Spanish curse word.

I looked at her confused and asked her what exactly she said, the first thing that came into mind was “did she just say a curse word” and wondering if what she had said was intentional or not. My mother proceeds to say it again thinking I would get it the second time but I couldn’t  put it together. I looked around wondering if there were any eggs near because I thought that’s what she was talking about. After much thinking I finally understood what she meant. I was even more shocked to learn that she was too lazy to go out. I asked her where she learned that word or where it came from, funny enough she didn’t know and just told me she learned it from her parents back in Mexico. Later on that day, my father came home from work and I proceeded to ask if he had “hueva” to go to work. He laughed and bluntly said “always ahaha”. After that day whenever I was loafing around my father would say “ven para que se te quite la hueva” (come so you can remove that laziness), and we’d go around the park or just walk around our neighborhood to get my head up.   

I remember being all happy because the word itself sounded funny so I was excited to use the word. Sometime in middle school I remember hearing that word again in my class by one of my friends and was surprised he had known it too. I asked him where he heard about that word and he replied saying “ahaha my father says that word a lot”. At this point I came to the conclusion that there is probably a very large amount of people out there that know what “hueva” means and it excites me knowing there are always people out there who go and say “tengo hueva”, I find that very amusing. It isn’t so bad having “hueva” from time to time, everyone in this world can get lethargic, but having “hueva” too many times isn’t a good habit. As I am typing this I ask you the reader if you’ve recently felt like you had “hueva”. 

I find myself using “hueva”more frequently than before which I come to realize isn’t so good. Every Time I need to do something or am asked to go somewhere I reply with “tengo hueva”. I’ve been noticing that I am becoming more and more antisocial and just very lazy in general, passing time by playing games or just being on my phone which is very unhealthy for my mental and physical health. I began noticing this change in me when I started my second year in college. The workload overwhelmed me and so I began to erase things from my “schudule” which included things like, going to the gym, and hanging out with friends. Every week just became a boring cycle, class, homework, and work. I was just very “huevon” (an unenthusiastic person). Getting online for class, doing homework if there was any and if there wasn’t then just be cooped up in my room because there wasn’t enough time to hangout with my friends, and whenever there was time it was just spent on school/homework. Being an engineering major really has pushed me a lot by focusing a lot in school which is a good thing, but has also led me to develop bad habits which I am in the process of fixing.

Nonetheless, it is amazing that there are words in each community that take a word and change its meaning or just have a word that means a lot to that community. I am part of many communities; it was honestly difficult picking a specific word to write about. I was sitting in my chair and muttered the words, “agh tengo mucha hueva” (I am feeling lazy). I realized what I had said and thought, yeah that’s the perfect word to write about, and that’s how I ended choosing the word “hueva”.  I was very curious as to where the word originated from and why many people in Mexico started to use this word more instead of others like “flojera” which also had the same meaning.

Unit 2

Crime in New York City

To many tourists, New York City may look like a friendly and welcoming city to travel to, with a wide variety of attractions to come and visit. Still, those who live here every day know that the city has a significant problem. Day after day, New York City has been flooded with crime, and it’s only getting significantly worse. I usually don’t find myself looking things up. However, I have been finding myself looking up incidents going around all over New York City, especially around my neighborhood. It is absurd how much crime has gone over the last year, and nothing is being done to fix it. What could be the problem? Why is everyone talking about bail reform?. I am not trying to make this an article solely on just crime in the city but more like a wake-up call to those who still don’t know how bad crime is getting in the city.

With that being said, Crime in New York City is at an all-time high with no signs of slowing down. With the recent mass shooting in Brooklyn that took place recently, many people are beginning to open their eyes. Mayor Eric Adams promises a safer city, but many people still fear being targeted. In an article by CNN, they interviewed new yorkers on how they feel about the increase in crime, many with common responses like “What will happen to me if I take the train? Or if I walk on the wrong street? Or when I take a ride on my bike?” “ It’s a horrible way to live,” (Dana Aber) said. She isn’t wrong; I ask myself the same question whenever I come out of work, which is usually around 11 pm. 

According to statistics released by the New York Police department, “The city has recorded a 42.7% increase in major crimes this year through April 24 compared to the same period in 2021″. Many began blaming New York’s new bail reform legislation. The 2019 reform law allowed most nonviolent felonies ineligible for bail while allowing judges to set bail for violent ones. Later in 2020, lawmakers rolled bail reform back by making more than a dozen charges eligible for bail. Just recently, New York State rolled back criminal justice reforms. In short, nothing really changed besides making it harder for gun-related offenses not to be set for bail. Although all this talk on the bail law, it was never about preventing crime. It was more than that.

Mayor Eric Adams proposed more policing in more areas at night and in subways. Many argue that more policing isn’t the answer, and they have a point. More policing can alienate and even have an adverse effect on communities of color, meaning more people of color can be racially profiled. Mayor Eric Adams has been receiving a lot of backlashes for his proposals regarding fighting crime. When he proposed to remove all the homeless from the streets and subways, many argued that it wasn’t going to solve anything but create another problem.

Overall, it’s essential to be informed of what is going around in your city; in this case, the more people are aware of the situation, the more people will get together to speak on the issue. It is absurd how someone can commit a crime and still be able to walk free after a few weeks. Something must be done to make sure we keep people who are a danger off the street. New Yorkers are hurting, they are fed up, and they want to be able to walk through their neighborhood without constantly looking over their shoulder all the time. 

Article Source: New York: Residents grapple with fear and anxiety, as the NYPD struggles to rein in crime – CNN

Article Source: Major crime in NYC rising as Eric Adams looks to save city (nypost.com)

Article Source: Crime rates keeping workers out of NYC offices not COVID, study shows | Fox News

Article Source: It’s Time to Take a Clearer Look at Bail Reform – The Appeal

Article Source: How New York State Just Rolled Back Criminal Justice Reforms – New York Focus (nysfocus.com)

Reflection

One could argue that this class wasn’t challenging, but it was to me. Writing was never something I enjoyed, and I am more of a math person, so this class was challenging. I’d often find myself staring at my wall, computer, or phone, trying to get an idea. I would waste hours thinking of something, and nothing would come up. Honestly, that’s how I got so behind on assignments. I don’t blame anyone but myself. On top of that, my classes became harder, so I focused more on those and had completely forgotten about the assignments I needed to do for this class. The class was interesting, and I appreciated how the professor wanted us to write about things we were comfortable with. 

Every day I felt guilty because I knew it could’ve been done if I had just spent the day coming up with ideas to write. Unit 2 was the beginning of my downfall. At first, I was confused, but later I realized that I needed to write something I found myself googling. I don’t find myself looking up things that “interested” me, and I recently found myself looking up crime in the city, so that’s what I ended up writing about. It took a very long time to finish it because I was confused about putting what I had in mind into “paper.” 

My favorite unit was Unit 1, and I put everything I had into it. Although I encountered the same problem with Unit 2, I kept asking myself, “what the hell do I write” but unlike Unit 2, I figured it out faster, and I do think I executed it well. I had fun writing about a specific word I use, and looking back, that word still sticks with me heavily. I kept pushing myself back, using that word as an excuse, telling myself that I had time, but time didn’t wait. Time never waits for anyone, and I knew that already. I should’ve known better. The next thing I knew, I was behind 6,7,8 assignments. I gave myself more work than needed, and it could’ve been all avoided if I had just focused. I still remember the day when I finally realized I had screwed up. It wasn’t long ago; as a matter a fact, it was just a week ago, looking at the floor on my way from work wondering why I didn’t just put my mind to it. I was going to give up and start over; I was going to drop this class, but someone very important to me kept pushing me to never give up, and now here I am. 

Writing isn’t something someone should be stressing a lot about. In fact, it’s something someone should be passionate about. My impression of writing has changed. This was the first time I felt so stupid and clueless, it’s tough, but once you get what exactly you want to write, you just don’t stop as ideas flow through your head. Thats how I felt after realizing what I needed to do for Unit 2  and for Unit 1

 As I am writing this reflection, I come to realize that it’s more of a reflection of my wrongdoings instead of what I learned. I will say that I did learn a lot. I would be lying if I said I didn’t learn anything. Writing isn’t only about putting fancy words and making it look pretty and long but also a way to express yourself and learn as you write. You have to be happy with what you write, confidence grows from what you write. It’s not just about deadlines but about you.  Thank You for the class it sure was a rollercoaster of emotions for me.

I thought about writing that reminds me of a situation from my and my sister’s childhood. I can start by saying that I have learned to identify in writing and reading a constant journey into the past. When I dare to write for pleasure or duty, I always go back to moments that have built me on the path of life.

I have been a very active and graphic person, I mean, I like to be in movement, and I have always wanted to draw. Still, I had not dared to express myself through writing and reading, and I think that is something that my older sister always wanted to instill in me. When I think of writing and reading for pleasure, I think of her. My sister has been a reference for letters and the meaning of words. This course, makes me want to thank her for the times we visited libraries or bookstores and spent the afternoon there. She often tried to influence me into the habit of reading and writing.

Sometimes I thought that reading or writing any thoughts were boring matters. In high school, I had a couple of problems when it came to writing papers and pre-reading them. I felt it was an unnecessary routine. However, I always looked for help to solve that belief. In school, I learned that writing was critical in order to communicate my knowledge and learning academically.

Despite having been an outstanding student, I feel that this issue of writing and reading was still complicated for me. Now I have created a stronger bond with paper because it has helped me self-satisfy with my knowledge. Today I can count the number of books I have read. I found a list of many comics and fiction books that remind me that I enjoyed reading a lot.

It has been a challenge for me to learn how important it is for educational advancement to have a taste for reading and writing. Suddenly, in a new experience with this course, I am faced with a new challenge. I am fortunate to declare that I have managed to understand how important it is to understand the texts and the messages they want to communicate to me so that I can also achieve feedback from my classmates, my teachers or the world.

For example, I believe that one of the activities in this course, I was able to recognize and share the importance of culture in society and how important its history is, when in the text ”El Fogón” I mention that: ”To “prender el fogón” in my community means to share. It also means learning because the food acquires a very particular and delicious flavor. Thanks to that, some people who know how to do it well have dedicated themselves to working cooking for other people from a stove. It turns out to be very fortunate for the people who learn to cook with this tool.” Here, I have managed to share with my colleagues a way of communicating in another part of the world. I think that doing it through writing has been the best opportunity.

I think it is straightforward to focus attention on printed paper or some text accompanied by images, and thanks to this course, with which I learned techniques to structure a reader and ways to write it depending on the genre or audience to which it is addressed; I could show much more about the knowledge that I had accumulated and had not occurred to me how to express it.

Initially, I thought it would be challenging to be creative when sharing information. But with some tips that I read in texts and suggestions from the teacher, I understood that it is enough to have a clear idea that I want to convey and the type of people to whom I am going to direct the information to create the way to do it. For this reason, doing the activity with the magazine filled me with emotion and pride.

I was able to be creative, link my taste for graphics, comics, and now writing, and invite my colleagues to practice sports activities and represent my knowledge with a phrase accompanied by a motivating photograph: “With adventure comes great responsibility.” This was a challenge fulfilled because I could not think of a better way to share a lifestyle, to young people like me: ”There are so many versions of this sport that it is one of the healthiest ways to keep us alive. Responsible cycling is a life option, and with this sport, we make a significant contribution to society and the planet for a better life.”

I believe that I was able to achieve a precious transformation in the process of this course because I went from knowing that practicing writing and reading was helpful to understanding that it is imperative to understand the content that is shared with us or that I seek for my interest towards things, in order to understand my objectives.

Writing has a factor that I learned with this course, and that is that with it, I can examine and analyze clearly my thoughts and ideas about some topics. And from writing, I can make and transform it into any content to share with other people the information I want to convey.

Precisely, the activity of the artist statement allows me to understand as something more personal, the exercise of writing. This activity, in particular, made me think how valuable the people who have the habit of keeping a written diary or using a medium such as a blog to express their thoughts or ideas are.

I believe that those who dare to write for pleasure have great talent, but those who can take on the challenge of recognizing the reasons why they write and for whom they write are true artists. Thanks to the artist’s statement, I learned the importance of sharing to receive feedback as well: ”Sharing information with other young people also makes me feel willing to receive comments, opinions, and input”.

Finally, to assume writing as a challenge and as a respectable and valuable activity is to understand that socially we are full of codes and languages that allow us to understand each other. In history, writing has been our great reference to continue learning and motivates us to investigate and share more.

UNIT 1

Being part of the coding community is very difficult. I first started coding when I entered High school. Going into this program I was very nervous because there was a lot of different things to take in. when I first got into the course my teacher was explaining everything that we needed to know about the course such as how to set up the computer different vocabulary and phrases, and things that you shouldn’t do. As we were learning how to code our teacher gave us an important word that we needed to memorize and how to use. The word that he taught us was function. To a person that does not take coding they might think that the word function meant an activity or purpose natural to or intended for a person or thing, which is the dictionary definition for function. But in coding this word means something else. A function is a unit of code that is often defined by its role within a greater structure. when my teacher first said this word and definition I was extremely confused, and I knew that it was going to take some time to learn. He then went on to explain that functions contain a unit of code that works on various inputs, such as variables and procedures concrete results involving changes to variable values or actual operations. The first time I used this word was difficult, here is how it went.

when my teacher gave us our first assignment we had to use functions. Since I did not understand anything he meant I was messing up a lot. I was writing the word function out while I was typing my code thinking that it was going to make something magically happen on my computer screen. I then called my teacher over and he explained to me that functions are instructions that are used to create an out put from an input. I still wasn’t sure at this point so he gave me an example. He told me that there were many different types of functions such as built in functions, user defined functions, syntax of a function, and how to call on a function.

The first example he gave me was with a built in function. He showed me that there are some functions that you can automatically call to such as puts(), gets(), printf(), and scan(). he told me that these are all standard types of functions. These functions allow you to use basic properties of strings and numbers in your rules. next up he taught me about the user defined functions. He said these are functions that we create by ourselves. He told me that I needed a function name. A function name can be anything you want it to be however it has to be easy to remember and serve a purpose. next up was the argument list in creating my own function, which were variable names that went with something called data types. next he taught me about a C statement which I picked up pretty quick.

After he was done showing me everything I needed to know, it was my time to put what I learned into good use. When he left I got to coding. while I was coding everything was running smoothly I was using each function to its potential and my code was successful. I accomplished something that I didn’t think that I could accomplish, i was so happy. The word function has definitely changed for me. I went from the regular definition that I knew to the coding one which became so simple for me after a few tries.

As I was going on with coding for a couple of weeks it was time for our first test. I was nervous because i didn’t think that i was fully prepared for it. When the teacher handed out the test I noticed that the test was on vocabulary and function coding. I was telling myself that I was going to do fine because I had gotten good at doing functions. We were running out of time for our test and I was on the last question, it was a question telling us to create a code that made us use each of the types of functions we learned. I was determined that I could answer the question because I had been practicing for a long time. so I got to coding and finished my test. A week later we got our test back and got 100 percent on my test I was so Happy.

As I learned more and more about functions it became a very special word to me and the community that I am in. The reason why this word is important to me is because as I learned it more I became more confident as a student and my ability to do good on tasks that are presented to me. I also spoke with some of my peers that were in the same community and they agreed, also It was easier to speak to them about the work that we had to submit. I wouldn’t say using this word correctly indicated membership in the community because everyone understands how much goes into understanding the word so we all try to help each other out. I think that everyone should get into coding and try to learn some stuff about it because it is pretty cool, everyone in the community tries to help each other and the word function can be used by anyone outside the community trying to learn. This word does change depending on who I speak to, if I approach a student that is into coding i am most likely using the code definition of function. But when i use this word outside of the coding community i will be having conversation about an activity that i am trying to do. overall the coding community is a great community and the word function will always be special to me.

UNIT 2

What is global warming and how is it effecting earth? Global warming is when the climate changes in temperatures and weather patterns. The shifts in weather patterns and temperature are common however, since the 1800s human activities have been the main cause of climate change. You might be asking yourself how are we as humans contributing to climate change. There are many ways that we contribute to weather change such as the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas which produces heat, because these things produce heat earth is getting warmer. someone once asked me why is the earth getting warmer a problem? I found it crazy that they asked me this but I went on to tell them that the warmer the world gets the more problems it creates for us and animals. I came across some New York Times articles that go into further explanation of why global warming is not safe and why we should be doing everything in our power to try limit unnatural climate changes. The articles that I came across are “five takeaways from the U.N report on limiting global warming”, ” who’s most responsible for global warming”, and the final article that I came across was ” Scientist predicted widespread extinction by global warming” All these articles helped me understand global warming better so lets walk through each of them.

The first article ” Five takeaways from the U.N report on limiting global warming” helped me understand why this topic is so important. The opening of this article states that “nations are not doing enough to prevent global warming from increasing to dangerous levels within the lifetimes of most people on earth today”, according to new report by the international panel on climate change, a group of researchers conveyed by the United nations. They go on to explain that limiting the devastation won’t be easy, however it is possible. One of the topics of this article that really stood out to me was when they spoke about how much trouble we are heading towards if we do not take action quickly. As I was reading this there were some interesting facts about the increasing temperature. They stated that ” Nations current pledges to curb greenhouse-gas  emissions most likely will not stop global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, within the next few decades.” Even through they started trying to limit global warming it is still spreading fast, 2.7 degrees may not seem like a lot but think about that number increasing every few decades, eventually that number will add up. Going forward I read that there are multiple ways that we can limit global warming without spending a lot of money, even though I think the government should spend money to protect our planet. Some ways we can limit global warming are more recycling and more white collar work going remote and virtual, Better public transit and more walk able urban areas have benefits for air pollution and overall well being according to Joyashree Roy who is an economist at the Asian Institute of Technology.  Based on the ways Joyashree explained there is no excuse why we can’t help limit global warming, it does not cause a lot of money its literally just doing the right thing.

The second article I came across was ” Who’s Most Responsible for Global Warming” This was my favorite article because I wanted to know what places in the world barely attempt to limit global warming and my findings were shocking. The article stated that todays highly industrialized economies the United States and Europe got a big head start on burning fossil fuels. The United Stated pumped more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than any other nation between 1850 and 2014. The European Union, including Britain, was the second largest source of fossil fuel emissions over that period. The United States did not surprise me as I was reading this data. what surprised me most was the last place that they brought up. The last place they brought up was China. The article stated that China is the biggest emitter of today by a mile. In 2014, China released 10.3 billion metric tons of  carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and industry, The United States burned more than 5.2 billion metric tons that year. Which means that China managed to double that number. Although China does most of the damage today, the United States still caused the most damage overall. In 2014 the average American was responsible for more than twice as much carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. Imagine how much people would help the world if this statistic was cut in half. I did some further research and found out that the United States was responsible for twenty-seven percent of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions. That much carbon pollution over the course of 150 –  160 years is sill with us today and is still determining our future.

The final article that I read about was ” Scientist Predict Widespread Extinction by Global Warming” I think this is the most important topic yet since it is concerning the well being of animals. A group of international scientist that analyze research around the world, have concluded that a warming climate will rival habitat destruction in prompting widespread  extinctions in the century. By the year 2050, scientist say that if the current global warming trend continues 15 to 37 percent of the 1,103 species they studied will be doomed. Even though the scientist did not predict the extinction of species worldwide the sample they had showed that climate change could be disastrous. Researchers used predictions of increased temperature ranging from mild to extreme and applied three different methods for predicting extinction, all based on the relationship of species disappearance to the loss of a livable habitat. They also considered two different possibilities for gauging how well the different species would be able to disperse as temperatures at home became uncomfortable. Scientist attribute to emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases  in the burning of fossil fuels presents a ” very serious risk to huge number of species and at least ranks alongside habitat destruction” as a threat. This just goes to show that not only can contributing to global warming hurt us, but it hurts the living conditions of animals in their natural habitat. We should not only think of ourselves when it comes to this topic but we should think about the earth and animals.

In conclusion Global Warming is a topic that everyone should take serious and try to limit. Do not contribute to the destruction of the planet. There are many ways that we can help limit global warming such as driving less, recycling more, lesser burning of fossil fuels, and one of the most important ones planting more trees instead of trying to destroy them. Help save our environment.

REFLECTION

This semester was by far my favorite semester in City Tech. I came into this class not expecting what I was getting myself into. At first I thought that I was going to be horrible writer. Based on my previous English classes, I went into English two with a mindset that I wasn’t going to be a great writer. I used to struggle with vocabulary, finding ideas, procrastinating while trying to write, and even finding motivation to write in the first place, But with professor Edelson’s help I was able to overcome all the task that were weighing me down. I am definitely not the same that I was at the beginning of the semester. I am very proud of what I was able to achieve as a writer. I would even say this course helped me Grow as a person. Whit this being said I would like to reflect on the work that I have done this semester.

My first ever serious writing piece in this class was my unit one piece. The purpose of the unit one assignment was to create a portrait of a word. This assignment allowed us to think of community that we were in, and what word in that community that really stuck out to us. This was my first step to becoming a better writer. At first I was thinking to myself, I was never in a community. what does professor mean by community? I kept thinking about this topic for a few days, then it came to me. I was part of a coding community. Before I get into my writing about the coding community I would just like to say that this was my first step to becoming a more advanced writer. The assignment that professor gave us allowed us to think deeply about the things we were part of in life. It made us think about how we can teach others about our community. My brainstorming abilities definitely increased after unit one. The community that I chose was the coding community. With this assignment I realized that community does not just have to be like all other communities such as cultures. It can literally be anything. As I was reading over my unit one assignment I felt that I did a decent job explaining what the coding community was and how anyone can join it. I also feel like I did a good job explaining the word that was important to me. That word was “function”. However there were definitely some things that I could have done better, and professor Edelson helped me find them. After she read my work she pointed out multiple thing I could have done to give my essay life. She told me that she wanted me to embrace using capital letters the way I would embrace using precise keystrokes when coding. She told me that it makes a big difference to processors if we can clearly tell when a sentence is beginning or ending, or know that the “I” isn’t just a stray mark on the page, but indicates something about your humanity and standing tall. she gave me more advice saying that I should use advanced vocabulary so it can add life and vibrancy to my language and essay. I really appreciate Professor Edelson for giving me these tips. Going back and reading my unit one essay I realized that she was completely correct. When I was writing this piece I noticed that when I was writing the letter “I” it was almost always lowercase. So when professor told me that I should always make my “I” stand tall, I never messed it up ever again. Actually don’t quote me on that I might have, just kidding. After this assignment I went into my unit two project with the mindset that this was going to be my best writing ever.

Our unit two project is finally here. I was very excited to do this project because I wanted to see how much i have grown as a writer. This project was about finding our own beat. What exactly does finding your own beat mean? Finding your own beat is being able to find a specific subject where you can showcase your unique experience and knowledge. The reason why I think this was our most challenging assignment was because you had to go into complete detail about your topic and find research articles about our topics. I wasn’t going to let the pressure of this assignment hold me down. The topic that I chose was global warming. This topic was very important to me because humans are contributing to global warming instead of trying to end it. when I went into this project there was a lot of emotion. I was happy, angry, sad, confused, but having all these emotions helped me as a writer because I am able to help people feel what I am feeling through my writing. Professor Edelson even realized the emotion that I was putting into my writing. I took her advice and started using words that could enhance my writing. Going back and reading my project it was way better than my first one. No feeling is better than the feeling of improvement.

As I stated previously this class really helped me grow as a person. Going back and reading each assignment I completed helped me realize that I can do anything I put my mind to. I went into this course not being confident to having all the confidence in the world. Even my reading became better. Professor was able to help us out with our reading by providing difficult text that you had to think about. My favorite text that read in this course was “Learning my Name” by Mohamed Hassan. This text was very inspirational. I would also like to thank my classmates for the feedback that they gave me on my writing pieces. Having another perspective on my writing helped me out a lot. This was my favorite semester and I just want to say thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!