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Portfolio & Reflection

Final Portfolio

I have had challenges in learning English and being able to read and write it with minimal areas. The first unit played a significant role in making this dream a success. I learned many things about grammar, including tenses and new alphabets. I must admit that I have become better in my reading and writing to this point. To perfect some of the things taught in the first unit, I took time to go through the notes and assignments. Practicing to perfect my reading was a daily dose for me. Some of the students who were practicing the language were a great motivation. We would try to rehearse together and advise each other on how to become better. Linking up with other international students even made the race a bit easier.

As a reader, I have learned English alphabets and the required pronunciation for various English words. There were tough times trying to learn a new language and starting from scratch with my peers finding it awkward. ‘I had to start with the basics such as the alphabet, which made me feel stupid.’ Some of the other problems included low self-esteem, poor vocabulary, and grammar issues in both reading and writing. All these factors had a considerable effect, especially since it was the beginning of learning new knowledge. With time, I found most of the topics and many aspects of the language quite interesting. The desire to prove other individuals in the class wrong also came as a driving force. I found it interesting to read grammar books consistently and newspapers, blogs, and English movies. I mainly found my change in perspective and acknowledging the voice needed in English as a significant step in helping deal with a direct translation. From what I have learned in the unit, I would use the knowledge to advise and help non-English speakers and other international students in their journey to become proficient English readers and writers. Guiding them on the need to read more English materials to boost their vocabulary and eliminate grammar mistakes will make me insist on the most. I would also use the knowledge in other units in college to become more proficient in descriptions and writing more fine papers that will give me good grades. It will also help boost confidence in public speaking as I will have more trust in what I know in the language.

The second unit looked at the various impacts education has on children’s curiosity. To revise the topic, I took time to analyze all of the articles and books used in the unit, including downloading and reading the full texts. I then looked at the notes, lectures, and discussions to ensure I could bring out the relation of the various sources with the unit’s contents.

I learned that many adults do not appreciate the curiosity in children and see it as a source of nuisance and naughty behavior. That is contrary to the fact that curiosity could lead to children accessing more knowledge and learning from their seniors and the environment. I further learned that education has a significant effect on the levels of curiosity. As a reader and a writer, I learned of interest as a step to explore and harnessing knowledge. ‘
therefore, when one is curious about something, they are motivated to explore and settle their curiosity”. I appreciated the role of curiosity in enhancing the need for research and innovation by using ideas and knowledge collected. As a scholar, I was particularly interested in learning that curiosity is historical and dates back to the age of philosophers and religious leaders. I was keen and got to know the different perspectives these groups had on curiosity and the research conducted due to curiosity. I understood that more curious children learned quicker from school experiences with children and explored most concepts making them outsmart the rest. As a scholar, I learned the need for curiosity to conduct research. I intend to use the knowledge to boost my curiosity to improve my exploration skills and feel more motivated to execute most college tasks that require investigation. I further learned of the problem most curriculums have that fails to support curiosity in children. I found it hard to understand why this would be so and saw the need for changes in most school curriculums to make children more curious and enhance research in the institutions. I would help advise and develop a curriculum that will allow children to be frank and ask questions to improve their learning experiences.

For the third unit recently studied, I look forward to looking into different education systems and find ways on how best they can be improved to acknowledge the need for curiosity in children. I will also seek to find some articles and opinions of different scholars on how the issue can be solved and whether education fully uses curiosity in education. Further, I strive to consult with fellow students and lecturers on the topic and find suggestions on the references to use in ensuring that I come up with a plan and have all the information needed as far as the issue is concerned. I found it interesting to explore the many school systems and how they fail to uphold curiosity. I was also impressed with discovering the tremendous role teachers are accorded in the whole exercise and the necessary steps they are to take.

This unit helped me understand the need to tackle children’s curiosity in the present for a better future. Measuring grades with performance in class is one aspect I learned has a significant impact on making the whole system fail to appreciate curiosity. I learned of the different advantages of children learning out of curiosity and the positive effect on their adulthood. School teachers should realize the enormous role they have to play in changing the education systems to encourage curiosity. ‘The main audience of the project is the different school teachers who happen to be the main stakeholders in the encouraging or shuttering of the curiosity of the different students.’ I will dig into various newspapers and articles that tackle the same to understand the issue better and evaluate any possible recommendations to tackle the issue. Some of the potential problems in the whole process include finding past newspapers and accessing most articles to get those containing information needed to develop a perfect workable plan.

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Discussions Portfolio & Reflection

Final Portfolio

In my unit 1 assignment I took constructive criticism from our professor that led to a more sufficient and improved essay. I decided to restructure my essay with different ideas i had to not only improve it but to also include as much perspective into my school career.

Unit 1

Like most people I hate being forced to do something I don’t want nor enjoy doing. I think everyone can agree that being forced to do something when you’re not genuinely interested in is dreadful. It becomes an obligation rather than a positive experience which can make finding the motivation for it hard. This was true for most of my time in school until senior year. Throughout my whole academic career I was never really interested in any classes. I felt as though school was a burden. That was until I had people to motivate me, like my parents and my teacher. Without these people to help me I most likely that I would not be where I am today. Instead, I would probably be working a regular minimum wage job and being home all day rather than trying to further my education. Going to college was something I never really planned and much less wanted to do. Just the thought of having to be in school for an extra four years when I didn’t really have to irritated me. I felt as though school was an obligation instead of an opportunity to gain knowledge and keep you on track to success. But when I got to my senior year everything changed. I had a teacher who understood and genuinely cared. Having a good teacher and my parents to encourage me opened up my eyes and made me realize that I did want to further my education.

My grades were always mediocre throughout middle school, and as high school came it got worse. It was like my whole educational career was a downwards spiral. Having no support from my teachers made it worse. Teachers never showed interest. It felt like if I wasn’t a straight A student with perfect attendance then I wasn’t worth the extra effort. It made it very difficult for me to find the motivation to do anything when the very people who were in charge of education couldn’t care less. Not only this but the teachers would also allow students to do anything they wanted. There was barely any learning and even less respect in the classroom. I felt like helpless, like the education system was failing me. No matter how much I tried I just could not find the motivation to actually care about school. It wasn’t until my senior year that everything changed. My senior year was when I got an amazing teacher for my trigonometry class. My trigonometry teacher always showed that he cared and would not let me get off without doing my very best. If there was an area that I was struggling he worked with me after school to make sure I got it. He made sure I showed up and was on time to all of my classes. It was refreshing to finally have a teacher that cared for my education and even just me as a person. This sparked the motivation for me to do better in school and continue educating myself.

It is important to have a great support system during your education career. Without one, it can become very easy to lose sight of the the purpose of education and give up due to lack of motivation. I, myself, was almost a victim to this, however having a great teacher and amazing parents by my side to motivate and support me made me realize I had the ability to be great the whole time. They gave me the motivation I lacked in order to finish out my high school career. My parents’ played the most important role in all of this by constantly telling me to do my work and being on my case about it. If they had not been there to motivate me I would not have gone to college. I would probably be home all day doing nothing or working at a minimum wage job with no career. People like me prove to others that it is crucial to seek guidance if you need it. Guidance can come from a friend, family member, school staff member, or whoever you’re comfortable talking to. Even the smallest amounts of encouragement can go a long way.

In school I came to a realization that not all methods of learning work for me. It is difficult when you’re in a class and a teacher just throws a worksheet in front of your face. I’ve experienced this on multiple occasions, which also played a part in my lack of interest in school. For me, reading from a textbook or being lectured doesn’t help me retain any information. I enjoy hands on work , and group work that’ll allow me to learn and share new ideas with my peers. It is important to find new ways to help you learn, this can help with an increase in interest in the material you’re learning. One thing that helped me tremendously was setting goals for myself. Setting goals for myself allowed me to accomplish things I never knew I could accomplish and helped me stay focused In school.

Without people to motivate me like my parents and my teacher I would not be sharing my educational narrative with you today. Having these people in my life really made me change for the better. Without my trigonometry teacher to make sure I was doing and actually understanding my work I would not be where I am now. Furthermore, without my parents constantly hassling me to get my work done and to always do my best I probably wouldn’t have continued on this path. With that being said, if you’re like me and are having trouble finding the motivation and will to continue in school, or even outside of school take this as a sign to try new ways to better yourself. For me it was seeking guidance, finding a new way to learn, and setting practical goals for myself along with a solid support system that allowed me to find the motivation to continue my education and go to college.

For my unit 2 assignment I barely changed anything. I felt like this was a really strong topic for me to talk about and help find evidence to provide a different point of view for readers
Unit 2

Research Question: Why was cannabis made illegal despite objections from the American Medical Association?

Why: The purchase, sale, consumption, and possession of cannabis was made illegal in the 1930s despite objections from the American Medical Association. The AMA was advocating for the drug’s benefits on and its medicinal use so why did it ever become illegal? Like many of our country’s laws at the time was making cannabis illegal rooted in racism, sexism, or classism? This is a topic that I’m genuinely interested in because there are far more harmful things like alcohol or cigarettes that aren’t illegal so what prompted our government to ban it?

Introduction:
Marijuana had been used in America dating back as early as the 1800s. Americans used it for seizures, stomach aches, vomiting, and for pain relief. The drug that can now put someone in jail for several years was once used in America as an over the counter pain relief medication. During this time Americans never even thought twice about the drug, and viewed it only as kind of medicine. However, all of that changed after the Mexican Revolution. In Mexico marijuana was a big part of their culture. Mexicans used it for spiritual and relaxing benefits. After the Mexican revolution there was a large influx of Mexican Immigrants into the United States. When they came into the United States Americans were introduced into a new way of consuming the drug and for different reasons. Instead of appreciating the culture or rather just letting them be, American politicians used it to further their own anti-immigration, xenophobic agenda. This decision fueled by hatred is something we are still reaping the consequences of to this day. Without the medicinal benefits of marijuana there have been countless people who have suffered unnecessarily, simply because they live in a country where everything is related back to the color of your skin. Not only has it caused unnecessary physical pain for people it has furthered racism and built it into our judicial system even more than it already was. By making marijuana illegal America stripped away a very vital piece of Mexican culture from Mexican immigrants. Today the criminalization of marijuana has been used as a way to lock up and even kill African Americans and other minorities. When an African American is caught with marijuana by the law, statistically they are punished harsher than any other race or ethnicity. America uses it as a way to put young black boys behind bars or in a casket. For this reason, many people have been fighting for the legalization of marijuana both recreationally and medicinally. And while it has been working slowly it is still something that is very controversial today.

Source 1:
Burnnet, Malik, and Amanda Reiman. “How Did Marijuana Become Illegal in the First Place?” Drug Policy Alliance, 8 Oct. 2014, drugpolicy.org/blog/how-did-marijuana-become-illegal-first-place.

This article written by Dr. Malik Burnnet and Amanda Reiman who work for The Drug Policy Alliance discusses the history of marijuana use in America while simultaneously explaining why it is was made illegal. The Drug Policy Alliance is a non-profit organization based out of New York City that works to fight for the end on the war on drugs. In this article Dr. Burnnet and Amanda Reiman explain how marijuana got into the states and why politicians were so against its consumption. The history on how and why it became illegal begins when the Mexican Revolution ended in the early 1900s. During this time there was a large wave of immigrants coming into the United States from Mexico. Like with most immigration they brung with them their culture, including the healing plant marijuana. Before people knew what the plant was they didn’t know they were actually consuming it themselves. Since the 1800s marijuana was used as an over the counter pain relieving medication in America. They weren’t aware that the plant they had been consuming for years was the same plant that they looked at so negatively simply because it was being used by Mexicans in their own culture. As a result, politicians made it their mission to criminalize marijuana, so that they can force Mexican immigrants to assimilate more into American culture. While politicians were shifting the public opinion to support their own agenda they were completely disregarding the opposition of the American Medical Association. In this article, Dr. Burnnet and Reiman were exploring the racial bias that prompted them to want to make marijuana, a significant part of Mexican culture illegal. They talk about how politicians used the Mexican’s consumption of marijuana as a way to make them seem “disruptive” and as trouble makers. This source helps me answer the question of why marijuana was made illegal in the first place. Evidence shows that it was not for the safety or wellbeing of the American people but it was actually because of the extreme racism and xenophobia that was in America at the time. Dr. Burnnet and Amanda Reiman claim that protests pushing for marijuana’s legality have been taking place since the 1970s due to the fact that the only reason it was ever made illegal was because of racism and xenophobia. By criminalizing marijuana Americans set back the clock on progression in solving racism in this country. Something that is still being fought to over come today.

Source 2:
Little, Becky. “Why the US Made Marijuana Illegal.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 4 Aug. 2017, www.history.com/news/why-the-u-s-made-marijuana-illegal.

This article written by Becky Little discusses the history of marijuana and its legality in the United States. Becky Little is a well known journalist from D.C. She has written articles for people like history.com, NPR, The Washington Post, The Smithsonian, and more. In this article she talks about marijuana’s benefits. She then proceeds to explain how the drug was largely used for its healing and pain relieving effects. However, when they saw Mexicans using it for spiritual and calming purposes they tried to demonize the drug, eventually making it classified as one of the most dangerous drugs on the list of federally controlled substances, meaning drugs that are illegal under federal law. Furthermore, Little also tells her theory about marijuana’s future in the United States. Her belief is that with continuing efforts on shaping society’s views on the drug it will eventually become legalized. I agree with Little. During the 1970s protesting for the legality of the drug became very popular. With more and more people using and advocating for the drug it helped shed light onto the real reason it became illegal in the first place. Since then states have one by one been legalizing the consumption of marijuana both medicinally and recreationally. Many people are viewing this as progress however it ties back to Becky Little’s claim that the legalization of marijuana has been becoming legalized because the consequences of being caught with marijuana was effecting more and more white Americans. I agree with this claim as well because when the recreational consumption of marijuana started gaining traction in the 1970s more and more white people were using it. This because known as hippie culture. When hippie culture became more and more popular people started to see the benefits of marijuana and didn’t want to see their people suffering the consequences that come as a result of the criminalization of the drug. With that being said, the legalization of marijuana was rooted from the same reasons it was made illegal in the first place, racism. Once white people saw their people facing the consequences that people of color were facing it made them realize that marijuana shouldn’t be illegal in the first place.

Source 3:
Tikkanen, Amy. “Why Is Marijuana Illegal in the U.S.?” Encyclopédia Britannica, Encyclopédia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/story/why-is-marijuana-illegal-in-the-us.

Amy Tikkanen, the author of this article is the General Corrections Manager of Britannica. In this article Tikkanen is telling the history of how marijuana became a federally controlled substance and why it had remained a federally controlled substance for so long. Tikkanen’s claim in this article is that marijuana was illegal and remained illegal for so long because of racism. I agree with Tikkanen because after extensive research on the history of the plant’s legality and benefits my opinion is that the criminalization of marijuana was nothing but a tactic to keep white Americans on a pedestal while trying to demonize minorities and people of color. Tikkanen also explores the theory that the criminalization of marijuana wasn’t actually rooted in racism but rather that it was just a way for the head of the brand new Federal Bureau of Narcotics to gain popularity and public support. However, this theory can be quickly debunked once one notices all of the mean and racist things that was said about Mexicans, simply for engaging in their culture. This theory can also be disproven when one takes into account that the drug had been being used by Americans since the early 1800s as an over the counter pain relieving medication. The hatred for the drug had only started when Mexicans brought it over when they immigrated along with their other parts of their culture, which were just too much for Americans. This article further answers the initial question of why America made marijuana illegal in the first place. With the answer to the question being racism. The criminalization of marijuana started off as a way to keep Mexicans from bringing their culture into the United States and force them to either assimilate to American culture or to just show them their culture is not actually welcome then. This article supports my claim and the author’s claim that the only reason America ever made the sale, consumption, and possession of marijuana illegal was because of racism. It also supports the claim that the reason it continued to be illegal despite research showing the consumption of marijuana was stemmed from racism as well.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, the question of why marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place has only one answer, racism. It has never been a secret that America has a racist past, however many people don’t know exactly how racist and how deep the racism went. The criminalization of marijuana was a prime example of that. Despite the fact that marijuana was already being consumed by the American people for its medicinal benefits, everyone was completely against its consumption when they saw Mexican immigrants consuming it. Mexicans introduced it into the states under a different name however, it was known that it was the same drug. When advocating for the criminalization of marijuana, politicians tried to justify it by claiming that marijuana was making Mexicans disruptive and rowdy. Politicians also told the public that consuming marijuana was going to make teenagers addicted and making bad decisions like hanging out in jazz clubs. Jazz clubs were mainly used by African Americans and hispanics. White Americans did not want to associate their children with Mexicans and African Americans because they did not like them for no other reason other than they were Mexican and black. However, the United States’ racist history with marijuana does not stop there. Since the 1900s, marijuana has been used as an excuse to lock up black men and women. Before marijuana was so heavily restricted the punishment for when you’re caught with it was so much harsher, with years behind prison. Cops took this as a way to lock up young black men and keep them off the streets. To this day that is still true, with millions of black men behind bars for marijuana possession when the only reason it was even illegal was to keep them locked up behind bars. As a result, the reason that marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place was not for the safety of the American people, not even for economic reasons, but rather because of nothing other than the ignorance, racism, and xenophobia that embodied Americans and still continues to embody some Americans today.

Unit 3

My unit two topic was the history of the legality of marijuana in the United States. More specifically it was about why marijuana was ever made illegal in the first place. After an extensive amount of research into it’s history it had become very obvious that marijuana was made illegal because of racism. As a result there are several different genres that can successfully convey this information. Whether they’re traditional or not. Since this is a topic about informing people almost anyway where people will view or hear the information would suffice. It’s more about spreading information than making an argument. With that being said, an essay or article would be the obvious choice if we’re looking for something more traditional. However we’re not and therefore, I believe the best 3 possible “new genres” that will successfully be able to tell the history of marijuana in this country are, a podcast, an informational video, or a Ted Talk. Being that there is no real target audience for my topic but rather it’s just for anyone who’s interested in history, these 3 genres would be able to get the point across thoroughly. Podcasts, Ted Talks, and informational videos tend to be short, concise, and straight to the point. As a result, it would be easy to keep people from all different backgrounds interested. While all of these things can be short they can also be much longer, for people who want the full in depth history. Informational videos can even be interactive, which can make it even easier to gather an audience and help inform people on the real reason as to why marijuana was criminalized instead of what they try to tell us. Moreover, they’re things that can be streamed repeatedly. Something like an article or magazine will be lost once it’s thrown in the garbage, however what’s put up on the internet stays there forever. This means it can reach a larger amount of people over time.
The topic I initially chose was that of the criminalization of marijuana in the United States. I chose to research how and why marijuana was made illegal in America if it’s common knowledge that marijuana can be use medicinally. Being that I’m not arguing anything and just merely sharing information, I don’t really have an argument to make nor do I need any evidence to support my argument. The new non-traditional genre that I’m choosing is an informational video. The reason being is that videos can be accessed by almost any and everyone. Videos can also stay online forever and have a chance at going viral. As long as the video is kept to about a minute it is very likely that hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people might see it. By having such a large audience it can help educate people about why marijuana was criminalized and how the plant is not an enemy. With that being said, this video won’t have a specific target audience. It’s targeted more for people who like to learn about history, but also for anyone who wants to know the truth. Moreover, I believe that an informational video is the best way to be able to share the real history behind the criminalization of marijuana.

Reflection
Since the end of semester is nearing every day, reflecting on this course, it has been a roller coaster. Beginning the class was very smooth. I was very nervous knowing that this was going to be my first year in college and it was going to be remote. Our first intro assignment had me at ease after seeing how my classmates were also worried and nervous, I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one. Then when our first major assignment came up I wasn’t really at a panic. The professor gave us all feedback on our drafts and it helped me find inspiration in what I wanted to incorporate in our first major assignment. I could also say the same with our unit 2 assignment. I felt that it was the most fun especially being able to come up with our own questions and research our topic. It wasn’t until the last assignment where I was having trouble. I didn’t have much motivation to keep on carrying out with all my work in my classes. Summer is approaching, the weather is getting nice and the last thing i want to do is be in front of a screen doing schoolwork. I pushed through, and i’m proud to finally be done with my first semester in school.

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Portfolio & Reflection

FINAL PORTFOLIO

Unit 1, educational narrative essay – Review

I got wonderful feedback from my professor and peer review partner for both for my first draft and my final essay. Despite that I still went through my essay and made some minor changes which I think is especially important. In my final draft my opening sentence for my essay was “Growing up in a third world country like St. Lucia, there were many challenges and fragments in the educational system.” After revising my essay, I noticed that I did not specify the type of challenges and after reading the body where I had listed many economic challenges, I then restructure my sentence to this: “Growing up in a third world country like St. Lucia, there were many economic challenges and fragments in the educational system.”  I also reword my thesis statement. I changed my opening sentence for body paragrapg#5 because it summed up my paragraph a lot better.

 

Growing up in a third world country like St. Lucia, there were many economic challenges and many fragments in the educational system.  One of which was, there were no national policies on early childhood development and another one was that many kids including me had truly little cultural capital at our disposal. Despite the lack of preschool, limited financial resources and the struggles I faced with the English language I was still able to excel throughout my educational journey in St. Lucia.

As I mentioned before I was not fortunate enough to attend quality preschool in my country and therefore could not receive all the literacy and numeracy skills needed to form a foundation for my education. My first official educational experience was kindergarten and as an eager learner, I did not let anything stop me. I started reading early on and before long excelled in every subject, even when it was hard to focus sometimes, because of the noise that carried through, as all classrooms were in one building with just blackboards and desk to separate them.  My school had no computers, extremely limited school supplies but what we had were very dedicated teachers who made a huge impact on my education. I had extraordinarily little school supplies at home because my parents were not able to provide me with all the books needed for school. We had no internet access and to make matters worse the nearest library was fifteen miles away from home.  Dispute all of this, I had always managed to engage in whatever limited reading or writing materials that were available to me and when I could not find a good book to read, I would spend hours practicing math problems and as a result math become my favorite subject in school. My fondness memory and one of my proudest moments was in 6th grade, when a friend and I were chosen to represent our school in an inter-regional school math competition, and we won! This competition is like the spelling bee competition but instead of spelling words you solve math problems. My entire school was overjoyed as it was the first time in an awfully long time that my school had won any competition. It was indeed a proud moment for La Resource Combined School.  It was at the end of this very same year I went on to attain the highest score from my school after writing the common entrance exam; this was an exam to determine which high school you can attend. I was the only student from my school to attend the most prestigious high school in the country. This achievement did not only make myself and my parents proud but also my entire community.

The news about my high brought lots of excitement in my household of course but for my parents it also brought about a lot of worry and anxiety. I knew that they were thinking about how they could afford to send me to this high school which was all the way in the city. How could they afford not just uniforms and books but now they had to also think of transportation cost to and from school. My parents both dropped out of high school at an early age, my dad worked as an automobile mechanic while my mom worked on a farm. The money that they brought home was barely enough to sustain our family of four. But With help from other family members my parents were able to afford me this great educational opportunity. And before you knew it, it was September and I was boarding the very first bus out of my small village, wearing proudly, my white and blue uniform along with my brand-new pair of Nike sneakers bought by my Godmother and carrying my new Jan sport backpack. I left my village on my forty-minute journey overly excited but also extremely nervous about what this new endeavor would bring.

High school for me came with a few challenges but with my parents’ encouragement I hanged in there and made it through. There I was, in a new city, new school, no familiar faces except one other friend, who was my elementary school principal’s daughter. My worries indeed came to light on that very first week of school; my fellow classmates made me feel like I did not belong because of how I spoke. My parents primarily spoke French Patois and that was our main home language. In Saint Lucia, most of the elders spoke French Patois except if they had some form of schooling, then they may know a little bit of English. My parents both dropped out school at an early age and as a result their English was extremely limited and therefore, we spoke mainly French patois at home. The English I knew was mostly what I had learnt at school. I remember accompanying my mom on multiple shopping trips to the city as she needed me to translate to the store attendants so they could better understand her. On the contrary, most of the kids at my high school were from the city so they spoke a little differently from how we spoke in the countryside because they spoke mostly English at home and were exposed to little French Patois if any. I remember being one of those who was constantly ridiculed at school when I read because I did not sound like my other “city” friends. This was very embarrassing and stressful for me and at one point I thought about having my parents transfer me to a high school closer to home. My parents of course knew that staying at St. Joseph’s Convent Secondary school gave me the best shot at passing my CXC exams and insisted that I stayed there. CXC stands for Caribbean Examination Council and is a huge exam that Caribbean students write at the end of high school.  I am glad I stayed because halfway through my first year, I really started enjoying my school; the ridicule had stopped, and I had formed many friendships, but it did impact my love or lack thereof for English Composition.  I always found it extremely difficult to come up with creative ideas to write about and how to correctly formulate my sentences in proper standard English. Although the way I felt about English never really changed throughout high school, I was still able to obtain an “A” in English, along with seven other CXC passes at the end of my high school tenure. I still struggle today when I am faced with putting a writing piece together even after all these years.

Now that I live in the United States and having school aged kids of my own, I cannot help but realize the vast differences in available resources that my kids have now that I did not have back then. My kids are attending high quality schools, they have internet access, a wider range of books and other reading materials, a lot more learning resources in their classrooms and libraries in their neighborhood. And I have often thought about how different my educational experience would be, had all these resources been available to me back in my country. Although I did not have the best start with education and truly little resources at my disposal, I was still able to shine throughout my educational journey in St. Lucia. And I am grateful that I can proudly share this journey with my kids today.

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Unit 2 – Annotated Bibliography Review

Unit 2 was very new to me and although I enjoyed doing the research and gathering the necessary information, I found this project the least enjoyable. This annotated bibliography was straight forward so I changed my thesis statement in the introduction a little. Although this was not my favorite unit, I am glad that I got to put an annotated bibliography together since this was my very first attempt at it.

 Research Topic:

COVID-19 Pandemic and it’s Mental Health Impact on Children and Adolescents.

INTRODUCTION:

I am interested in this topic because, first and foremost, I am a mom; I have two boys in elementary school who have not seen the inside of a classroom since March of 2020. Although I am very thankful that as of now, my boys seem alright; they are happy and seem well adjusted, I often worry about their lack of interaction or socialization with friends and other close relatives and whether that can have a negative impact on their wellbeing in the future. I also cannot help but think about many other kids out there that are having a hard time adjusting and has no support system at home.  Also, as a Human Services Major student this topic is especially important to me because getting individuals back on their feet is my main goal as a changemaker. My hope is that if these kids and their families can get the help that is needed right now, they could soon be on the right track to recovery and live productive lives again.

SOURCE 1:  

Imran, N., Zeshan, M., & Pervaiz, Z. (2020). Mental health considerations for children & adolescents in COVID-19 Pandemic. Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, 36, S-1-S-6.

According to Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz, although the number of children affected by the COVID-19 Virus is small and most of the affected children only experience mild symptoms, they explained that “the disease and containment measures are likely to negatively impact the mental health and well-being of children”. They highlighted the fact that children are vulnerable because they have limited understanding of the event and that school closures and separation from friends can cause stress and anxiety. Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz point out that some of the symptoms of stress and anxiety include disturbances in sleep and appetite and impairment in social interactions. The authors used research study to support their claim; one of the research studies was from China where children and adolescents were screened for behavioral and emotional distress due to the Pandemic. In this research they found that clinginess, distraction, irritability and fear of family members contracting the virus were the most common behavioral problems Identified. They also pointed out that screen time of children and adolescents has increased significantly since the start of the Pandemic. They express that excessive exposure to media coverage of the pandemic itself can cause stress. They highlighted a research that was done after 9/11 and found that excessive television exposure led to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health disorders. They also highlighted the fact that the Pandemic has brought about financial losses to many families and that too can heighten the stress levels in these households. They went on to say that during the pandemic, there were increased reports of suspected child abuse, neglect, and exploitation in the State of Texas. Such behaviors are very traumatic and detrimental to children.

Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz used recent studies and research to support their claims and these claims appear to be plausible. In this review article, they present a strong argument that The Pandemic is indeed affecting children and adolescents’ mental health. The authors suggested a few ways of connecting with loved ones during the pandemic and one was through video chat. My thought about this is that unfortunately, many households cannot afford internet or even telephone service and can make it difficult to connect via these means. During the start of the pandemic and prior, many low-income American families could not afford internet or phone service and the kids of these households were not able to connect with their peers for school or neither with other family members. I can see how these families seemed even more isolated than those who were able to use technology to connect.

The authors are all in the Psychology field and they corroborated to write this highly informative scholarly article.  They have presented extraordinarily strong arguments to support their claim and they have presented ways to help children and adolescents cope with stress and anxiety during and after the pandemic. I believe the author’s main audience is Parents and to some extent health care professionals.

 

SOURCE 2:

KLUGER, J. (2020). The Kids Are Not Alright. TIME Magazine, 196(5/6), 64–67.

In this Article, Kluger highlights the fact that COVID-19 affects various age groups differently, with 65 and older being the population who is more likely to get hospitalized and even die from the virus. Just like Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz, Kluger seems to suggest that “although the virus seems to spare most kids bodies, it’s not being as kind to their minds”. In this article, Ezra Golberstein, a health-policy researcher at the University of Minnesota said, “I worry that kids will get a double wallop”. She explained that kids are having to deal with the disease itself and the fear of it. She then added that, moreover, they have to deal with the lockdowns and being removed from the school environment and their friends. Kluger used a study out of China to further support his claims. This study examined a sample group of 2,330 school children for signs of emotional distress. The kids had been locked down for an average of 33.7 days and found that even after that single month 22.6% of the children reported depressive symptoms and 18.9% were experiencing anxiety. Like Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz, Golberstein found that job lost and economic strain during the pandemic causes mental health problems in children – she states that “when the economy is in a bad place, kids mental health gets worse”. Goldberg and his co-authors studied economic conditions in the U.S. from 2001 to 2013 and found that during the Great recession, a 5-percentage-point increase in the national unemployment rate correlated with an astounding 35% to 50% increase in “clinically meaningful childhood mental health problem”. Kluger added work of another psychologist, Mary Alvord who is also the co-author of “Resilience Builder Program for Children and Adolescents”. She points out that kids are saying about COVID-19, that they are afraid for themselves and for their parents and they feel helpless and out of control and that can cause increased anxiety in those kids. Another important point highlighted in this article is that children who were already using mental-health services are at higher risk and that it is especially important that these services are not disrupted even during the pandemic.

In Klugers article, Silver said that, “If there is one thing that’s certain about the impact of the pandemic on young mind, is that it’s not going to stop until the spread of COVID-19 itself does”. I strongly disagree with silver on this point; I believe that the impact will be less once the spread of COVID-19 stops but I do believe that there will be some children and adolescents who would require mental health services well after the pandemic ends. Except this point I believe that this article used lots of studies and statements from Psychologists and they posed exceptionally good arguments and research studies to support Kluger’s claim. I do believe that the pandemic has had and will probably continue to negatively impact children’s mental health. Some families are better equipped to handle changes and challenges while others not so much and those are the families who will be mostly affected.

The author is a writer for Time Magazine and have used recent studies, health researcher to help come up with plausible arguments to support his claims and as a result I find this article very credible. I believe his main target audience is parents and health officials and hopefully government agencies.

 

SOURCE 3:

https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/population-care/patrice-harris-md-ma-discusses-pandemics-impact-children-teens

Patrice Harris MD, MA, discusses the Pandemics Impact on children and Teens. February 2021

In this video interview, Todd Unger, AMA Chief Experience Officer in Chicago asks Patrice Harris, MD, MA, a variety of questions regarding the Pandemics impact on Children and Teens. Dr. Harris argued that although there’s good news regarding vaccines being administered to people and the overall number of COVID-19 cases are decreasing, there have been increasing number of children and adolescents experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression and that there has also been an increased in the number of suicides. She also highlights that the suicide rate increased in far greater numbers for African American male youth. Dr.Harris pointed out that some families have had to deal with the loss of family members due to COVId19 and went on to say that these families are not able to grieve or say goodbye to the people they love because of COVID-19 restrictions. She said that all these stressors are causing more incidences of depression, anxiety, and suicide. She believes that support services need to be available when needed. She also argues that collaborative care and integrated care is particularly important in helping young people achieve better health outcomes.

In the interview Dr Harris mentioned that suicide rates were far higher among young African American males, I was hoping she would go into more details as to why this is the case and what programs or policies are available or being implemented to help reduce the suicide rate in young African American males. I agree with Dr. Harris when say said “After we get over the acute phase of the pandemic, I think we will be talking more and thinking more about perhaps post-traumatic stress disorder”. I believe this is true because many families are still having a hard time getting access to quality health care services and another reason is the fact that many jobs have left the economy and may not come back even after the pandemic and this contributes to continued stress and anxiety for many families.

Dr.Patrice Harris is an American psychiatrist and the first African-American woman to be elected president of the American Medical Association. I think that Todd Unger asked really important questions and Dr.Harris’ information from this interview is very credible and that she has presented strong arguments supporting the claim that the pandemic has and may continue to have a negative impact on Children’s mental health.

 

CONCLUSION:

To conclude, I have found that based on research, surveys there is a strong correlation between the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health issues in Children and adolescents.  There are increased cases of depression and anxiety in young children and an increased in the rate of suicides in that population as well.  I have discovered that these could be presented in many different forms such as clinginess, disturbances in sleep and appetite, irritability and impairment in social interactions.  The articles above suggested a few ways that we can help lessen these effects. The articles suggested that providing a safe, loving environment is especially important as well as keeping kids away from tv news and other social media news coverage can help lessen their worry and anxiety. The authors also believe that kids with mental health issues should seek the medical attention that they need even though accessing these resources during the pandemic might be difficult at times. Imran, Zeshan and Pervaiz said that” ignoring the immediate and long-term psychology effects of COVID-19 pandemic would be disastrous, especially for children”. They emphasize that parents also need to look after their mental health in order to better support children and adolescents to get through this difficult time.

I think this information is immensely helpful for parents but also for healthcare professionals and government agencies. For Parents, these articles could help them better spot the symptoms that are associated with depression and anxiety and it provides parents with many tools and mechanism that can help support kids who are having difficulties adjusting. For Healthcare professionals this could help them do further research about the issue of mental health and in turn could better support these patients and their families. And Lastly, government agencies could implement policies to help families better access health care services and provide better support for these families. I believe that when school do reopen fully, some kids will need all the mental service support that they can get through their schools – this is another way that local government can help.

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Link for Unit 3 Below:  Unit 3 – “New Genre”

 

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FINAL REFLECTION

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I have learnt a lot about myself as both a reader and a writer this semester.  Many of the articles that we discussed in class this semester was aimed at improving our reading and writing skills. I have been trying to use these tools and strategies in most if not all my writing materials since.  As I am writing this final reflection, I am practicing what I learnt in the article “shitty first draft”, as I reflected on my English composition course this semester, I let the thoughts and ideas flow without the pressure of sitting at my screen and thinking that I needed to come up with a great reflection right away.  This allowed me to take a break and then go back to my piece, with a clear mind and edit my work. I have learnt that even the best writers come up with a “shitty first draft” and it is out of this “shitty first draft” that you can come up with great work.  Before I started this Course, I always felt pressured to come up with a perfect draft right off the bat, a draft with well-structured sentences, perfect standard English. But upon reading some of these articles I learned that first drafts do not have to be perfect and writing in my “mother tongue” is also alright as well.  Knowing this has reduce the anxiety and worry I feel when undertaking a writing assignment. I also learned a lot from the article, “backpack and briefcases” by Laura Bolin. And that a good piece will include Ethos, pathos, and Logos. I have tried to include all in my writing this semester and will continue to do so in my future courses and in my everyday writing pieces such as emails, reviews, essays and so on.

This semester I also learned a lot about thesis statements and what constitutes a good thesis statement. This is an important writing technique that I now try to pay attention to when I attempt to write any material. I think my Unit 1 essay – Educational Narrative, had an extraordinarily strong thesis statement in part because of the feedback from Professor Reichert. It read “Despite the lack of preschool, limited financial resources and my struggles I faced with the English language, I was still able to excel throughout my educational Journey in St. Lucia”.  This thesis statement worked because it covered everything in my body paragraphs. I really enjoyed writing the essay in Unit 1. The first reason is because after over a decade not being in college, I was incredibly nervous when I started this course. I kept doubting myself and thinking that I did not have it in me. After Unit 1, and the wonderful feedback from Professor Reichert and my Peer review partner I knew that I still had it in me, and that really improved my overall confidence and self-esteem.

My favorite assignment was Unit 3 – New Genre. After watching the documentary “Norwegian Prison” by Michael Moore, it opened my eyes as to the different ways we can present various issues or topics. Like we discussed in class, had Michael Moore presented this issue in an article or a podcast, we believe that It would not have the same effect as it did as a documentary. The film clearly covered the Ethos, pathos, and logos of Michael Moore issue. For my “new genre” assignment I choose to do a newspaper article as my genre for presenting the issue of COVID-19 and its mental health Impact on Children.  This assignment allowed me to use my creativity and think outside-the-box.  I made sure I incorporated Pathos (I used an image of a child clearly not enjoying distant learning and looking very unhappy). I also used Logos (I included a survey from China which looked at a group of 2,330 school children for symptoms of stress after 33.7 weeks in lockdown and showed how U.S lockdowns were longer than 33 weeks and so could be even more detrimental to kid’s mental health here in the U.S). Ethos in which I used credible sources such as research studies and surveys to prove my argument. When I started my assignment for Unit 3 it was especially important to me that I picked an appropriate headline for my newspaper article and the right images that would help bring across my point and attract my readers attention and have the greatest appeal to my audience.

Unit 2 was very new to me and although I enjoyed doing the research and gathering the necessary information, I found this project the least enjoyable. It was a very lengthy and boring process for me.  But although this was not my favorite unit, I am glad that I got to put an annotated bibliography together since this was my very first attempt at it. I also got to learn how to access City Tech online Library during my research and I have been able to use the library for my other courses as well.

Revising my assignment weeks after I had submitted them gave me the opportunity to look at it with a fresh new perspective. And my doing so I was able to make some structural and some other minor changes to my essays. This allowed me another opportunity to “clean up my mess”.  I am glad I got a final opportunity to make my essays more readable and presentable. During my revision process I was able to use the reflecting techniques highlighted in Sandra Giles article, “Reflective writing and the Revision Process: What were you thinking”. This allowed me to probe a little deeper into my thinking and what has really helped to cement my learning.

Before this class I had always viewed English class as a class where every assignment would be a traditional essay but when I started Units 2 and 3, It became noticeably clear to me that English class can go beyond essay writing and can allow you to further use your creativity and think more outside-the-box. This is one of the reasons that I really liked working on my Unit 3 assignment.