Category: Unit 1

The one significant event I can think of that had an impact on the way I view education was my first year of high school  when we started to study European history. I actually wondered why I needed to learn European history? It had know impact on my life, all it taught me was all the horrible things that white people did to other races to gain power, money and land. Literally I learned that there was not a race of people that had not been oppressed, marginalized or discriminated against by white people. I wondered if we were being taught this history as a warning on not repeating the past? Then I realized the education system in our country thinks this history is really really important and this is why 9th grade students like myself and thousands of other kids have to memorize this ancient and outdated information as a standard of learning. As I continued to learn history in the proceeding grades 10th, 11th and 12th grades it was still more history on what white people did, who they conquered or fought a war with to get more power, more money and more land. I did not see the value in learning this history, I don’t see the value of it now! It would have been more beneficial for me to learn how to open a checking or saving account or to invest or how to save for the future than to learn European/American history.  The educational system in the US does not prepare children for the real world. It focuses too much on the past and not enough on the future. We need to do better for students by incorporating more practical and beneficial subjects in school.

I think Mike Bunn’s callout “You are already an author.” means we write all the time. Whether it’s writing posts on social media, answering/responding to emails, writing for school, sending text messages all day long… we write constantly! I think Mike Bunn means even the simplest writings are still writing and you are the author of that writing. I know my writing can be short with poor grammar, misspelled words and lots of abbreviations but this is my own unique way of putting words together to get a laugh: LOL, LMAOF or a sad face emoji or other emotional responses from my audience. This is authorship! 

I dont really know how this knowledge will help me with my college reading and writing! When I read in my personal life I look for things I can connect with, this makes it easier for me to write a summary or to give my POV. I have never really been a deep reader or writer…when Mike talks about “Read Like a Writer” that really doesnt mean much to me. I read for enjoyment or to gain some kind of information so I can respond to a question my teacher is asking or to summarize what I have read. Mike goes really deep into reading and breaking it down in this article. I’m not really interested in reading that deeply. In my opinion if an author writes a book, article, blog about something I’m interested in and gets me to think about the content or brings out some emotional response in me I would consider them a good author. This article was a bit much for me to really comprehend, I did not find it very interesting.

As we have been reading three different essays, I noticed that they were all sort of similar yet they had different topics they were talking about. The first essay we read was “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan, where she brought up many points the main one being the fact that we should embrace and value our language, culture, and identity, Tan highlights the power and the beauty a language holds, even if it considered “Broken” by society, simply brings up the point that each language has a unique perspective. Then we have “The Fourth of July” By Audre Lorde, with the main point being that we have to challenge social norms and advocate for different communities and that it is time to acknowledge the complexities of freedom and continue striving for equality. Lastly, we have “Maybe I Could Save Myself By Writing” By José Olivarez, the main point being How writing helps put thoughts and emotions into words and that it can be a form of self-care and a way of someone finding empowerment, Writing becomes a tool of self-expression and help navigate the world.  All three of the essays talk about empowerment, whether it’s of your own or someone’s. Once read all these 3 essays I think the best place to start with my education narrative is by getting a story set and starting by explaining that story, having examples that go with it, and having different points of view so you get a better understanding of what is happening and make a solid main point that you want your readers to grab at it and not let go of it.