Post #12 of my English Class: Blog Reflection

This blog has been a great job to do. At first it was very hard because I am not the kind of persons who wrote for the public, like I do not even like Facebook. At first, I had to write something and it could take me very long hours and I was so stressed because I did not know what to write. The process has been slow but I am getting better on writing. I am thinking more deeply and faster, also I am writing more effortless. I learned how to clear my mind and just think about the writing and this helps with the creative process.

It is not just that, I also learn a lot about other aspects of the tourism. When I first read Jamaica Kincaid's chapter of her book I was confuse because of the perspective she have of the tourist. At first, I thought that she was a hater and she was jealous of the tourist. Then, I started to do more reflections about it and analyze it more and now I can understand her and why she saw the tourist in that way.

The post that I more enjoyed was the Day as a Tourist because it was such a great experience. Externally I had a really great time going to all the places; but, internally I learned a lot with that experience.  First of all, I share some time with my family because we do not hang out very often together. Also, after four years of having my best friend finally our parents meet each other. Second I get to know my Island more because I went to really nice places that I did not know they .exist. And, finally because the people treat me really well because they thought I was a real tourist. It was such a nice experience being a tourist here and as a tourist I concluded that I definitely have to come back to visit more places because it was awesome.

Overall it was such a nice experience doing this blog. However, this is not the end I will continue this blog posting my experiences externally and internally. I already have three external journeys planed already. In May I 0have a cruise ship travel with my friends for a week. Later, on September I am going to start a new stage of my life because I am going to study at St. Kitts and two years after that I have to move to Portland, Maine for training. So, I am exciting of this and I will tell you about my inner journey.

Post #11 of my English Class: Literary Contest Awards Ceremony Reflection

On Wednesday, April 9 I attended to the 47th Annual Literary Contest Awards Ceremony. It was in one of the General Studies Amphitheaters and that place was perfect for that. First of all Dr. James Penner presented himself as the Literary Contest Coordinator and as the host of the ceremony. He also describe the contest and named each judge. Then, a representative of the Dean of General Studies spoke. Later on, the professor of my Journey in Literature Class and the Chair of the English Department, Dr. Cynthia Pittmann gave an speech about morning writing. She emphasized that the morning practice in writing is very important because you have fresh thoughts about yourself, it helps you to know what is bothering you and you discover hiding feelings and motivations. After her, the university chorus "Tuna" gave us some minutes of entertainment. they were really awesome I love especially one of the song that talks about the university and the professors and it was really nice to heard them.  

The keynote speaker was Dr. Elsa Luciano and it was really great listen to her because she said some interesting things that I never really thought about it. I like it so much when she said: "to be a writer you most are a reader" and it so true because while you read you acquire vocabulary and it stimulate your imagination for your own writing. Other thing that I really liked is when she talks about writing about the things that you want to learn more about it, because I never see it that way and most people write about what are they are good at it. Finally, I was surprised when she said that she have a group to share blogs because I am doing that in my English Class. Also, at the end she ask me about my blog and request my blog link.

Finally, they mention the winners. The contest was divide in three categories: poetry, essay and short story. In each category they had three places and two honorable mention, but in poetry the first prize was named Mark Wekander Prize for Poetry because the contest was dedicated to him. Overall, I think it was a awesome way to attract the students to write. The activity it must be memorable for the ones who won because it is such a prestige to won a contest of the English Department for writers.

Post #10 of my English Class: Journal Reflection: The Inner Journey

For my English Class we had to write 5 journals and 3 compass a week. Totally, I did 40 journals and 24 compass. This activity have the purpose to give the student a space to reflect about your inner journey. For this, the professor makes up some rules that are: keep your hand moving, don't cross out, don't worry about grammar, lose control, don't think and go for the jugular. And, the final objective of this is to improve our writing skills.

At the beginning follow the rules were very difficult especially the one that says don't think because is very hard to not think while you are writing but you get use to it. Also it was very hard to do not worry about grammar and to keep your hand moving. Keeping my hand moving was hard because I usually think a little before I write something and this was about putting there you first thoughts. Sometimes, also I wanted to put really deep things but the reality things is that most of the time you are just thinking in how tired you are or about eating something because you are starving. The grammar was so hard to ignore because since childhood the grammar is the main objective of the teachers, but after all I did it.

When we started doing it I write on the morning because that was the time in which my mind felt more clear, but then, I continue to wrote on the evening because it was the time when I had all the things that happened to me that day on my mind. Also, at the beginning the 10 minutes were too much time you just get exhausted of writing your thoughts, but at the end the 10 minutes were nothing they end really soon. I also noticed that my handwriting was more free through time like it was effortless.

My inner journey would change a lot this year because I'm not just graduating from the university, I'm also going to the St. Kitts medical school. And because of this, one of the most significant journals was the one that I did on the day of the interview. That day I write after the interview and I describe all the feelings that I had, from happiness to stress.  This was one of the best day of my life but also one of the most stressful and I had the opportunity to reflect on this on my journal. 

Finally, I had to say that this inner journey has been very  helpful because I can express some emotions and feelings that I can't say. Also, it helped me with the stress because when I had to make a decision I talk to myself with this journal and it helps me. I will keep writing because I think it is a great opportunity to get rid of the emotions and to connect with yourself. 

Post #9 of my English Class: Mini Sagas Conference

Last week General Studies Faculty offered an activity called Student Research and Writing Conference. I went to the panel  " Mini Sagas: My Creative Process" on March 25th at 10:40 a.m. In this conference I saw some students of Pre-Basic English exposing this new genre in a wonderful way. Before this, I did not listen about mini sagas before and they really surprised me.

The first one was Kathyria and her saga was about a bulimic woman. The second was Paula that talks about racism. The third one was Tatiana who write about Jesus. The fourth was Ashley who talks about finding a husband. The fifth one talks about ecology and the importance of saving animals lives. And, the last one was Mannelli who write about his girlfriend and for our surprise his girlfriend was one of the other writers. I think they all did great works it was just flawless and interesting. I have to say that each one were very unique and special.

With this conference, I learned a lot about mini sagas. I think they were really great and creative. They emphasized in creative process because is the important thing here. I think is very hard to say a lot of things in just 50 words. I personally love the Paula's mini saga about bulimia because of a personal experience and because it was very touching; but, I also liked the Ashley's mini saga because it was unexpected that she were talking about finding a husband. Also, I have to say that this is a great and interesting way of starting the writing process. I would like that this would be implemented in some schools because it might be attractive to the students, because this is not just throwing some words in a paper, is making an analytic writing with creativity.