Introduction

I have always been skeptical of introductions because a person's behavior tells me more than a list of hobbies and interests. On the other hand, some context would be ideal before I unload my deepest thoughts and opinions. That being said...

Primarily, I am a thinker and a storyteller; if I'm not caught up in a rapid monologue, then I'm quietly working or observing. I'm also analytic of everything that catches my eye --of course, with everything else, I'm utterly oblivious. In life, I'm a 19 year old college student and during my free-time, I'm a painter and a sandwich artisan at Subway (that's right: artisan). I'm also learning the ways of the engineer and the ninja. One could say they are childhood dreams of mine, so I'm majoring Computer Science Engineering and taking Judo classes in my spare time (laugh all you want --we'll see who laughs last).

Looking at writing now, it has little to do with my major or direction, but everything to do with life. If I can express my thoughts about something, not only do I influence others, but I develop who I am in the process. When I approached the topics of identity, community, and tradition, I was forced to explore my own views before writing about them.

Focusing on identity, I learned that people do not control who they become –at least not entirely. Before, I viewed identity as something conscious and decisive. During the unit, however, I reflected on challenges to forming an identity, as well as my own name. “Masks,” for example, showed how people are formed through forces out of their control. As Grealy recalled, “I hadn't realized how meek I'd become, how self-conscious I was about my face until now that it was obscured.” In this case, Grealy's identity had been formed around her appearance without her even knowing. I also found something similar while focusing on names in a discussion board. There, I realized that things beyond one's control (like a name) still impacted identity, while at the same time, provide an opportunity to respond. I didn't like my name for a long time, and while I couldn't really change it, I learned to change my attitude towards it. In this way, I was still impacted by my situation, but instead of just letting it define me, I chose how it did so.

The community unit was a bit challenging for me. I have never been a “group person,” and make most of my friends by talking to them one-on-one. Because of this, I had little experience with communities, and really had to examine our readings to fully understand them. My thesis for the community paper was a result of this. One of the main functions of communities, I found, was to support their members and sometimes, the outside world. Before, I only knew them to be large groups joined from some common cause, but exploring the topic has since expanded that.

As our course came to an end, I hit the most difficult topic yet: tradition. This was particularly difficult for me because I could not think of a single tradition. I never took into account what was normal –only barely when it was challenged. Luckily, when it the essay was assigned, I was able to unearth a topic by going through my culture-pet peeves. I discovered that traditions weren't limited to bringing home a real Christmas tree or eating turkey on Thanksgiving; they extended to bigger everyday things, often taken for granted. Reading the other essays showed me this too (a bit late, to my annoyance) as they covered topics like massive chain stores versus family owned ones, or microwave dinners versus traditional ones. So overall, the concept of tradition is anything that's become normal in our culture.

With all that said and done, here's a heads up for the actual portfolio. Each of the following pieces were chosen as samples of certain writing elements. Included, are discussion board posts, blog entries, timed writes, and full-fledged essays (okay, there is only one of each). So, without further ado, welcome to my final reflection!