Month: September 2017

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Educational Narrative

Christopher Alfaro

ENG103

September 18, 2017

My most memorable years probably had to be in middle school. I attended I.S.145Q,  in Jackson Heights. The 3 years spent here were filled with ups and multiple downs. It was at this age where I started declining academically. My interests drifted away from the academic fields and I started seeing beyond following an academic path.


Obviously this was just my mind roaming off elsewhere, because I really didn’t like school. I showed up and did everything that had to be done, but I wasn’t enjoying it. Despite the lack of interest, I did learn a lot and discovered my interest for history and also art in the 7th grade. At this stage you tend to start developing your personality and I started finding myself and building myself up. I met people that had I had things in common with and they’re still my best friends till today. We had similar struggles but found ways to help each other succeed. I spent most of my afternoons after the 7th grade in detention for all my latenesses, and was even suspended multiple times because of it. It was so bad, my dean had told me I had set a record of latenesses for the school year. Although it probably all sounds bad, my years in middle school have many positive moments.

This eventually came to an end after graduation, obviously. A month later I moved to Colombia and started High School later that year. This was a drastic change  in which the Educational system was way more advanced than I could have imagined, but also an amazing experience. At first I struggled a whole lot because of how advanced they actually were. In my first year, they were already deep into chemistry and physics. Something I don’t remember seeing in middle school. Because of obstacles like these, I felt worse towards school. At that moment, I started looking in a different direction. I found a passion for soccer in me I didn’t know existed. I took it upon myself to make something happen and fit practice sessions into my school schedule and after graduating High School, I was more than committed to it.

This forced me to give up things any other teenager my age would do, such as go out late nights, drinking, partying, etc. In my head this was all worth it but I would ask myself “How bad do I want it?” More than anything. I eventually went on to playing at a semi-professional level, and Because of certain conflicts with my parents, I left Colombia to come here and start school. Back to school though, it’s something I feel like I needed to go through. Those three years really pushed me to challenge myself and do more than I thought I was able to do and bring my grades up or in other situations. These years of my life are important to me because of that drastic change experienced while leaving the country. After a whole life here, I moved onto something different and made the best of it. Sometimes events like those can change you as a person and make you want to strive for all types of success, like it did to me.

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Research Topics

The research topics that I have selected to be in in my final two are, Is New York City graffiti still booming like it was in the 70’s? and How did the Italian mafia impact the U.S. government? The reasons why I have selected these two topics is because one I find these topics to be quite interesting and two because both these topics had such an impact on this country that some people don’t even realize it. Now, I do know quite a bit on the history of graffiti but not in its entirety, I have a lot of questions for this topic but my main three are what do graffiti writers want others to see from their art pieces, how has graffiti changed over the past 20 years, and lastly has graffiti ever created positive opportunities for a writer? As for my topic on the Italian mafia, I don’t know as much information. But, I do however, know that Italian mafia families were well deep into organized crimes, being involved with crimes such as prostitution, drug dealing, money laundering, extortion and many more. A couple of questions I would like answers for are, is the Italian mafia still in existence, has the mob ever done something positive for the U.S., and does the mob still have ties to the American government?

I believe I can find my data regarding graffiti, maybe in some books that the library offers but I can also gain information from actual graffiti writers that I personally know. Gathering information on the mafia I think my best bet would be online sources, books from a library and if I’m lucky talking to someone who has connections to the mob. One last source that can be used are official documentaries that different networks or movie companies created.

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Research Topics – Alejandro Canelas

Alejandro Canelas

ENG103

Dr.Kitana Ananda

09/26/17

 

  The first Research topic that I would like to look further into is Gentrification in NYC. This issue is one that I personally see around NYC and in all honesty it frightens me if it were to affect my neighborhood. I would like to explore the history of communities of color being displaced all due to capitalist agendas. I know that columbus Circle used to be an area where a Puerto Rican neighborhood once thrived and now the area is a tourist destination and shopping district. This little known fact makes me think of the recent Puerto Rican and Dominican displacement of neighborhoods like Williamsburg which was once referred to as “los surez” by locals. This issue has a historical component and i would like to explore if this simply is an economic issue or is it racial genocide? Or is it both? I would like to tie in housing issues and employment issues into the research as well. I would like to also explore on-going African American displacement in places like Bushwick, Bed Stuy, and Crown Heights. There is a historical component to this that I would to connect to in recent history.

 

  My second research topic I am considering is the grossly overlooked contribution of LGBTQI people of color in the sexual liberation movement. Specifically I would like to point out how Trans gendered individuals were and are the catalyst of much of the freedoms experienced today. Often times the narrative tends to be centered around a White gay male’s perspective and I would like to explore how the Stonewall riots became such a white washed moment in history. I would like to even point out the recent issues that occurred in Orlando and how many Black, and Puetro Rican/Domincans died and their ethnicity was overlooked during the discussion.

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Educational Narrative – Alejandro Canelas

Alejandro Canelas

ENG103

Dr.Kitana Ananda

09/26/17

 

   Education has always been something that was deemed as a necessity by society at large. Not only is it a necessity, it is mandatory up to a certain age depending on where one resides. Personally for me I have always felt that education is more of a regurgitation of what the grade wants one to learn. This ends up with us becoming miseducated and learning diluted histories for the sake of not pushing societal boundaries. In addition the school system I grew up with was so focused on teaching about test preparations that this would lead to testing anxiety among students and sometimes lead to failed results. The school system has yet to adapt to different learning styles and it is about time it catches up with the times.

  On a lighter note learning does not have to be confined to the classroom. If one is open you could learn something new quite periodically. There are amazing resources out there where one could learn about the times and not have to rely on mainstream education to provide the answers. Twitter is an invaluable resource where people re tweet useful links to articles and direct us to information we would not have access to otherwise. I personally like going on  YouTube and learning simple phrases in foreign languages or coming across a Ted Talk on topics that peak my interests. These platforms that I frequent provide an excellent resource for me to engage in everyday learning.

  On the subject of higher education, it has been a journey for me to say the least. This is my second time around in college and this time around feels more certain. What I mean by certain is that although I am unsure of where my direction in education is leading me, I feel that my absence in higher education has taught me the value of having a degree. Realistically I do not want to be stuck working an endless job which translates to Just Over Broke. Unfortunately for me nepotism is not apart of my reality, so I must obtain a degree in order to be connected to resources and valuable connections. In addition the growth and maturity I bring to the table this time around allows me to be fully engaged in the process day to day learning.

  Overall, education is a loaded subject that has various complexities that we all bring to the table. I feel that education needs a revamping in a lot of arenas, but I know it is a valuable tool no one can take away. I also feel that many people shouldn’t give up on school just because they failed the first time. It is never too late to learn and reassess your own situation.

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My Research Topic

The research topic that interests me the most is the small village of African-American land owners living in what we know as Central Park today. There are several reasons I find this topic so interesting and they are: I want to know in what years this community established itself, I want to know what their daily lives were like while living as a community, what kind of work were they doing, what did their homes look like, what did they do for recreation, did they have citizens rights, how was this community viewed by the larger majority (Whites) at that time, and I want to know what happened to these people after their land was taken from them.

What I know so far is that the existence of the village called “Seneca Village” remained unknown to the public during the first 150 years of Central Park’s existence. And that if wasn’t for a group of archaeologists and historians who call themselves the Seneca Village Society  pressuring the city to reveal the existence of Seneca Village in the year 2001,  we likely wouldnt have known this settlement ever existed. I also know that the land was seized due to prominent white residents of NYC feeling envious of the natural parks in London, and so they brought their concerns to the mayor in year 1854 and the mayor complied.  Mayor Ambrose Kingsland used the law of eminent domain to seize the land.

The data on this topic is going to come from the findings of the Seneca Village Society.  I am going to do more research on their website as well as attempt to visit them and see what artifacts they dug up.

The research methods I plan to use will be interviewing someone from the SVS, reading any article written by them, or another acceptable source, and possibly going to Central Park and asking one of the employees where could I find out about this topic.

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My Research Topic

The first topic I am very interested in is how life changes for immigrants, how it is adapting to a new culture. Also how the culture differs from theirs. My interest in this topic is because I moved to New York from Saint Vincent, and it was a complete culture shock for me.

My second topic is how immigrants are treated. Immigrants are accused of taking away jobs from Americans. Though many of the jobs that immigrants do are jobs that Americans hate and complain about doing. (Jobs like babysitting, janitors, maids, live in jobs)

My third topic is how immigrants get involved in gangs. They become Americanized and do things that they would not do back in their country. (This can also go with the first topic). Many of them are just trying to survive their neighborhoods and fit in.

Most immigrants from the Caribbean when they come to America, they want to go to school and get an education; because that is one of the most important thing to Caribbean people. Sometimes many cannot afford to go to college because it is too much money and they cannot afford it.

Article 1: Light, M. T., Miller, T., & Kelly, B. C. (2017). Undocumented Immigration, Drug Problems, and Driving Under the Influence in the United States, 1990-2014. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(9), 1448-1454. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.303884

Article 2: Ornori, M. (2016). Educated and Staying at Home: Asian Immigrant Wives’ Labor Force Participation in the U.S. Journal Of Comparative Family Studies, 47(4), 463-481.

Article 3: Blasco, J. (2017). Immigrant Families Behind Bars: Technology Setting Them Free. Vanderbilt Journal Of Entertainment & Technology Law, 19(3), 697-720.

Article 4: De La Rosa, M., Dillon, F. R., Sastre, F., & Babino, R. (2013). Alcohol Use among Recent Latino Immigrants Before and After Immigration to the United States. American Journal On Addictions, 22(2), 162-168. doi:10.1111/j.1521-0391.2013.00310.x

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My Research Topics

Two research topics that I am considering are “Feminism in Zimbabwe” and “The History of Cherokee Indians in Michigan”. I came about these topics by way of my heritage and the fact that I am a woman. I know a little bit about American feminism, but not very much about feminism in other continents or countries. I can research American feminism on my own, but I want the African Feminist Movement to be known and appreciated in America. I chose Cherokee Indians as my focus because my father is Cherokee and Blackfoot Indian as well as black, since I do not know where the black part of my heritage comes from, I figured this would be a better topic.

My original topics were “The Feminist Movement” and “Cherokee and Blackfoot Indians”, I specified them to the previously mentioned topics because I felt like American Feminism is too well known and Cherokee Indians are a great foundation for my heritage. Some things that I know about Feminism is that is is the movement by which women are fighting for their right for equality, and not only that, but justice too. I say justice as well because there are some things that women need that men do not. For example, men do not give birth, so they do not need certain accommodations to make the workplace suitable for their pregnancy. I do not know much about Cherokee Indians at all, just that my father’s family is originally from Alabama, so I may find that some of the Cherokee Indians resided there before it became more populated with other races and ethnicities.

I plan to use the online sources provided by the college library mainly and possibly some of the hard copies provided in the archives section. I plan starting with Zimbabwean feminism by asking the question “How did it being?” I plan to start the Cherokee Indian research by finding out where in “America” they had resided before Columbus came and changed everything.

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Blogging About Potential Research Topics

You will select and write about two (potential) research topics for your final paper. Your post should be approximately 300 words in paragraph form, and will address the following questions that we discussed in class:

  • What topics have you selected?
  • What questions do you have about these topics?
  • Where could you find data to answer your questions about these topics?
  • What research methods would you use to find that data?

If you have two very different topics, you may find it easier to write a paragraph about each topic separately. On the other hand, if one topic led you to consider another topic, you use a segue to make clear the link between the two topics in your writing. (For example, you could say, “Thinking about X in Topic #1 led me to consider the intersecting roles of X and Y in Topic #2.”)

Think of this post as a “pre-“ or “draft” of a proposal. On a blog your tone can be a little more conversational than the typical academic research proposal or paper, but you still want to be somewhat formal. As you write, you may find it helpful to imagine that you are pitching your topic to an audience.

Read and revise you work—for organization; for spelling, grammar and punctuation; for clarity–before you publish your post! A good practice is to have someone else read it to find out whether they understand what you’ve written, and where you may want to revise.

Here are a few other things to do as you prepare to publish your post:

  • Title your post “My Research Topics”
  • In a blog post, you don’t have to add info you would usually add to an assignment or paper – no need to add your name, date, or my name to the body of the post
  • Under Categories, check “Blog”
  • Under Tags, add “Research topics” (Choose from most used tags)
  • Make sure the date and timestamp is correct on your post
  • Select “Public” to make your post available to all (and searchable online) or “Private” to make your post available only to our class
    • I encourage you all to at least share you writing with the class. If, however, you have a strong reason for why you do not want to do this, you can share your post only with me. To do so, select “Password protected,” create a password, and share it with me I encourage you all to comment on each others posts, to provide positive and constructive feedback or information about resources.  We did this in class today, and I saw how it helped spark new ideas among you and provided motivation for doing more research!
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Narrative (Kymberly Gurdon)

Throughout my childhood I have had many educational memories. My first educational memories took place in elementary school q135. However, the earliest one i could remember was back in kindergarten with my teacher Ms.James. Ms. James was one of my favorite teachers she taught me how to write my letters perfectly and she was really patient with us. Also , i could still remember when she was teaching us how to add one digit numbers she gave us starburst and had us counting them in a way we could put it together and add. After we will get to eat them.

I also remember in 5th grade close to graduation my teacher ms. Sarwee was an algebra teacher she was teaching us how to multiply big numbers to help prepare us for middle school. That class i remember because it was challenging for me it was a advance class. Even though it was challenging my teacher still made it entertaining and great learning experience i’ll never forget.

Going into middle school that’s when the experiences really started . the classes become challenging, the teacher become harder, and so did the work. I’ll never forget my social studies advance class with Mr.donor that class was really difficult he gave us several quizzes each day. However, it all paid off in the end because when i got to highschool i felt prepared and confident going into world history because of Mr.Donor i got one of the highest grades on my Global regents and ended up with a high grade in that class.

Honestly highschool for me wasn’t really challenging i was well prepared from overcoming my hardships in middle school. I felt like what others were struggling with i was already prepared. The only thing i struggled with was AP trig, other than that highschool was a breeze. Now in college ive been doing good so far with the classes that ive been given . I learned that in college so far studying is key to success.

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Educational Narrative

Foulera Toutabizi

ENG 103

Prof . Kitana Ananda

I remember elementary school back home in Ghana West Africa.School was a little different compared to the one in the states. I really didn’t know how to speak english so i was placed in an ESL class so i could better learn and speak good english. Being  a fast learner i was able to accomplish that goal.everything was different because back home in school we had uniforms but here you could wear whatever you choose to wear which was a little cool i guess.we have to move from class to next class where by back home teachers have to do the movements. I happen to like the system here where students have to do the movements.You get to know places in the school.I remember being that lost girl from a different county experiencing something new and totally different from where I came from. It was all fun until i met some new student.they were not all that friendly but i had to blend in. it was abad and good experience at the same time. There were so many good memories and friends from my previous school many of which I’m still friend with. But now I’m in college and everything is totally different. New thing, new friends ,new professors etc. that,s a different story to tell.