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Author: Cindy A

Coffeehouse post 3

From reading those 2 readings, I can conclude that there were some things mentioned especially in the Alexandria Lockett reading that really made me realize was absolutely true and some things I learned that were helpful.

There is a part in the text written by Lockett where she says that by following a certain style or layout for a paper they think they will have an excellent paper. This really stuck out because, usually we do these papers because the instructor tells us to/it’s part of our grade therefore writing the paper to satisfy our instructor’s expectations on how the paper should be written. It’s not about satisfying them, it’s more about making sure we are able to know the components on how to write an actual research paper correctly, which eventually becomes a very big needed life skill to have in the future. Along with this though, there are many things we take for granted for example technology; we use it basically every single day and having this resource helps us out a lot when we want to learn something/get information. It’s not like years ago that we’d have to go to a library, use the Dewey decimal system to find a certain book on the shelves. I’ve also learned that Colleges/Universities/Educational Institutions have their own databases and or libraries that everyday people have access to. It’s almost like those who are privileged to have these resources are those who have money or certain circumstances that give them access to these resources while the rest don’t. Almost like being a part of a “hierarchy” or a “survival of the fittest” in terms of learning/retaining information.

In the Wikipedia page I learned that the word research came from the Middle french word recherche (defined as “to go about seeking”) but the term is obtained by the Old French term recerchier (re + cerchier; sercher defined as search). Usually words are derived from Latin or Greek words but this was my first time hearing French influence on an English word. It’s mind blowing to me how “research can be used in various ways other than history, and science. There’s purpose for it in art works as well, rather than the classic history method to learn from. Along with research though comes the danger of something being biased, an article not being done correctly and other components. Lastly however, I learned that there’s A LOT of money being given into research and development. It’s crazy to me how much money actually goes behind the scene to bring people information we are curious about or need to know.

Coffeehouse .2 Post

I have countless times where I have learned something and had a big “ah ha!” moment but I’d say the one that impacted me the most was when I sat next to someone in a waiting room of a hospital. This is not much of an educational experience but it was more like a life lesson. For some context: I have gone with my father, and my two brothers to the emergency room because my younger brother was having problems with his asthma. I always liked being in that waiting area, I don’t know why but I did; fast forward a little bit, a boy around my age sat down a chair away from me. I saw that he was shaking. At the time, it was cold so thought he was shivering because he was cold and didn’t think much of it until after awhile he kept shaking.

I felt like something was wrong. I figured I should talk to him, I thought maybe he was having a panic attack and needed to be calm. I am not a very social person, still not but, at the time I believed maybe he just needed to hear that he was okay, that everything will be okay. As soon as I built up courage to begin a conversation, he was called into the emergency room. I felt a great negative feeling come up, I believe, I felt guilt. I felt bad that I didn’t tell him he was going to be okay. I’m not saying it was my fault he was shaking but I felt like, although I may not know what he’s going through, maybe I could’ve distracted him temporarily from a conflict he was going through. I came to firmly realize that everyone goes through something on the daily. People have rough days but we can’t see that and should be mindful of others; I should realize that I’m not the only on on this earth, there are others. I know this is like an obvious thing to know but this really cut deep, and till this day he pops up into my head and I still hope/wish he is doing okay.