First Blog Entry

Hello, my name is David Cohen and I am a junior and engineering major. Unfortunately for me this school does not have an engineering program so I will be leaving next year. I am currently in the process of applying to engineering schools and it is a bitter sweet because I know I will not be here with all my friends next year, but I will continue to do what I love. I have always loved mathematics and until recently, never really liked the sciences. It was not until St. Lawrence that I realized that to be an electrical engineer, I would have to know a lot of physics, and thus I became a physics major here at SLU. There are not many of us which makes it tough, but it also makes me enjoy it more because you become real close with your professors and you have a lot of one on one time with them as well.
I have not had that many experiences with English courses because I have always tried to stay away from them. In high school I took the bare minimum and this will be my first English course here at St. Lawrence. If you count the FYP and FYS program as an English course than there are some good and bad experiences that go along with these courses. My FYS in particular was the first real writing assignment of my college career and as most of us know, or will know by the end of this semester, resulted in a formal report that for me was very long and very hard to write. I am not going to lie but I took this course for the requirements. With that said I still think I can get a lot out of this course and it will open my mind to some writings that I have never seen before or experienced in my life. These authors give a whole different perspective about life that I think will change the way I think about some things, and make me think a lot about the world we live in today.
I grew up with an older sister and an older brother to look up to but at the same had to try and be as good as they were. This has been one of the more challenging things in my life because I always feel as I am being compared to them. In high school I always was split between the athletes and non athletes as I did activities in both. I was in musicals and chorus but at the same time playing a sport every season so my schedule was crowded and some days I wouldn’t leave the high school from 8 in the morning to 10 at night. Because of my crowded schedule I have grown accustom to managing my time real well and getting the things that I need done finished. This also made me have a lot of good friends in all types of groups of people because I have always had a way to fit in with most crowds. Being able to be in musicals and still play athletics in my opinion, is challenging especially at my high school where there are many cliques and it is hard for people to be in multiple cliques and has really shaped the person I am today.

Hi, as you may or may not know my name is Marquis Smith. I am currently a freshmen at St. Lawrence University who was born and raised in New York City, the Bronx to be precise. In the beginning of my fall semester as a freshmen I believed that I had my goals set on what I wanted to do all four years of my college life and what major I wanted undergo while I attended college, which was to take up a biology major and go into the Pre- Vet field of work. However, my goals have made a serious change since last semester and I have notice that I rather keep biology as a field that I like rather than a field that I would work in for the rest of my life. Instead of having a biology major my new course of interest happens to be psychology.

Psychology is a field that strikes my interests because not only is it a science course which happens to be one of my favorite subjects but it also happens to be a field that allows you to analyze and understand more than one already knows. So with that said my new goal in life is to become a psychology major. Although I do have a strong love for science; English is another course that I happen to find interesting. Growing up in the Bronx and getting different views of how English can be used in literature opened my eyes to new aspects of ways that I myself can write. During my high school years I would have to say truly gave me the best insight on how one could use english to open up new doors for people. Seeing how there are many minorities in the Bronx my literature teachers gave out books to read that actually had more to do with the struggles of many african americans and/or hispanic americans because it related more to my fellow classmates and I growing up in urban cities. THIS was one of the best experiences I had in my english classes. Reading books by hispanic and black authors was a good experience to me because I saw things in these books that made me feel like I could understand more and relate to more than other books. These books also helped me develop a new sense of how writing can be displayed to convey points in many works of literature.

Being partially African American would be one of the main reasons for me enrolling in this course. The true reason i decided to take this class would be to get more in depth with understanding the concepts and ideas portrayed through african american literature. One thing I do understand is that African american literature unlike other types of literature has many points to convey and from some of the african american literature I have read on my own time I have learned that these books always have missing information a reader must find and analyze to get the true meaning of the work. So to be honest I am interested in this course because African American Literature excites me because you truly never know what can happen or what will happen in this literature.

My name is Cathy Yancey. I'm a senior and I am majoring in chemistry with a minor in education. It is my plan to be a high school chemistry teacher. Teaching is the only thing that I really have ever felt that I would enjoy doing. My main goal in life is to help other people and hopefully teaching will allow me to do that. I love chemistry because I want to understand how everything around me works and chemistry really does explain how everything in the world functions.
I haven't taken many english classes, but the ones I have were good experiences. It's nice to look at things from a different perspective than I would in a science classroom. In chemistry, we read things to get the content. We don't really care how the content is delivered as long as it makes sense. However, when I read for an english class I have to force myself to analyze how things are written. This sometimes allows me to actually get more of the content because I have to think about what is important to the author. The more I do this the more I enjoy it.
I guess what I'm looking for the most from this class, is looking at race from a different perspective. I grew up in an area that wasn't very diverse so it is sometimes difficult for me to fully appreciate how different people feel about the issue. I have read some books by African American authors, but most of them centered around the Vietnam War or the Great Depression. I'm really interested in looking at books and stories from different time periods.
I have a really hard time labelling myself. I don't really feel like I fit into a "label". My family does not have a very recent immigrant background (my entire family had immigrated here by the mid-1850's), but I suppose that if you had to give me a "hyphen" it would be German-American. This did have some influence on my upbringing because many of the people in my hometown had similar backgrounds. We all had very similar traditions that could be tied back to the German influence.
I grew up on a small dairy farm in a very rural area of Northern New York. This had a huge influence on my life because as a kid had to work and help out on the farm. This built up my sense of responsibility. Also it gave me huge amounts of respect for people who choose (or are forced into) jobs that have very little glory, but make life possible for all of us. I greatly dislike people who look down on the working class. However, I sometimes have a hard time going home and hanging out with the people that I grew up with. Many of them have already entered the working class because they didn't go to college. I guess being away at college for three and a half years has changed me too.

HI, my name is Megan Coffey and I am a freshman from New Hampshire. I am planning on majoring in history because the past not only influences how people make decisions in the present and the future, but history and its contents also provide a window into the past. This window is interesting to me because it provides an opportunity to understand culture during a certain place and time period.

Since this is my first English course in college, I will have to refer to my experiences with English from high school. I enjoyed English and expressing my thoughts through writing and critiquing others writing. My favorite English course in high school was creative writing because it gave me a license to be out of the ordinary and construct my own story. I also felt a strong connection to African American Literature in high school, which I thoroughly enjoyed and led to my interest in taking it in college. When I took it in high school, I was intrigued by the poetry of Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks. I also enjoyed "Beloved" by Toni Morrison. I think I have some sort of foundation in this type of literature, but in taking this class I would like to expand my knowledge of African American Literature and create a new experience and meaning.

I would have to agree with Hannah, I did not grow up in an ethnically diverse area, which may have led to me not to create a strong identity with my heritage. Although this seems to be the case, I would classify myself as the descendent of a Irish-Italian father and an English-Irish mother. Their backgrounds have led to the observance of mass at the Catholic church, which inherently was passed on to me. Although I am confirmed in the Catholic church, I am not sure I would consider myself a Catholic because I rarely go to church and only attend mass on Christian holidays. From that statement, I would go on to say that I am agnostic, I am not really sure of faith and the role it plays in my life.

I would also describe myself as someone who enjoys athletics. I am not necessarily concerned with being on a team, but I enjoy watching and playing sports. At a very young age I became involved in sports and they have led me to identify with being a fan and player of a particular sport. I enjoy team sports and the sense of community between players, but I have also been drawn to individual sports. Sports like running and alpine skiing have tested not only my physical limits but my mental limits, where as lacrosse has given me a sense of community and camaraderie.

I am not really sure of my status of an insider/outsider. As a student, I find myself an insider because I want to further my education, like others who attend this institution and others. But at the same time, I wonder whether or not I am an insider because of my lack of knowledge in particular courses that I maybe taking. I also consider myself an outsider because I don't think I have become fully acquainted with St. Lawrence and all it has to offer. My condition as an insider has led me to take advantage of the education I am receiving and all it has to offer. As for being an outsider, I try to familiarize myself with the school and have experiences that will lead me on the course of becoming an insider.

My name is Jamie Patchefsky and I am a sophomore here at St. Lawrence. I'm majoring in Neuroscience as well as following the pre-med path. I guess you could say I am a "science and math" type of person, and have always been that way. I took my first psychology class last semester and since then have become fascinated the brain and how the mind works and hope to pursue a career working with children in medicine. English has not always been my strongest topic, but I can't exactly say that I've had bad experiences in any English courses. I definitely feel that sometimes the professors don't exactly understand what I'm trying to convey through my writing, but that is an issue I plan on improving as I write more and more. I tend to shy away from English courses but I am hoping to greatly improve my writing and confidence! I enjoy reading and broadening my understanding of different cultures through the text, and that is what I hope to achieve from reading the various works for this class. I want to learn more about the African American culture; their stances on race and gender issues (mentioned in the first reading from Norton), and the views on other common issues discussed in today's social world.
I am part Russian-Jew (from my father's side), as well as Scottish, Irish, Welsh, English, and German from my mother's side. My mom was raised Methodist, but my sister and I have not been educated much regarding religion. It's something that I'd like to learn more about. I went to a small, all girls private school (single sex until 9th grade) from 2nd through 12th grade. I feel as though I would definitely be more "sheltered" if it had not been for my parents and their desire to make sure that my sister and I had a broad understanding and exposure to different races, people of various sexualities, religions etc. I grew up in the outskirts of Philly and miss the city life while up at school. There is always so much going on and so many different types of people everywhere you go, I love it. I consider myself a pretty open-minded person and pride myself in being able to look at and appreciate different perspectives and beliefs.

Assignment 0

My name is Meggie Ryer, and I am a sophomore and an English major and Spanish minor. I love English literature because it allows me to read materials in depth and use critical and analytical skills. I enjoy discussing themes and techniques in class/group discussions, as I can listen to other people's perspectives, reactions to, and analyses of the reading content. Also, I love English because there is no wrong answer. I am minoring in Spanish because I also enjoy using a different language to read other texts and analyze them according to the perspective of another culture. I plan to travel to either Spain or Kenya my junior year.

I have had mostly good experiences in my English courses. Regarding papers and grades, I feel that most professors are willing to let students revise papers, because the more effort a student puts into his or her work, the more he/she will get out of it. If there was a bad experience in an English class, it would be last semester in a class where we couldn't revise our papers. I felt that I couldn't achieve what I wanted in learning certain topics, because I couldn't see my best work after reading the professor's criticism.

I'm hoping to broaden my horizons, in that I want to read an African American novel and understand an African American's perspective by learning more about the novel's background or the author's background; I'm hoping to discuss African American literature and analyze the culture behind it. I also want to understand themes related to race and gender and how an author using such themes goes about expressing them. I know there are techniques and themes used to express these perspectives and beliefs/morals or values, and I want to explore them. As I want to become more aware of different ethnicities and races, I think this course will help me to do so.

Regarding my subject positionality, I am a Caucasian girl from the East Coast with a Catholic background. I would consider myself an insider in that I strive for education, using public school and a college education as my stepping stones. I set goals for myself and hope to find a job right outside of school. I may consider myself an outsider in that I am not interested in finding a job in a field that is considerably growing in our today's economy. I do not know what I want to do with my major yet, but medicine is not an option for me, as it was for most of my family members and family friends in our local community in the Portland, Maine area. I find that these attributes make me who I am because I know what I like and am determined to make a successful career out of it but I am also likely to have some set-backs.

Assignment 0

My name is Hannah Dean and I am a sophomore from New Hampshire. I am studying English and education, but I won’t necessarily use that degree. I have always liked everything about English—reading, writing, and analyzing works. I have many interests, and it has taken me a long time to settle on a major, and I chose English because I know it’s a subject I will always enjoy.

Last semester I took Introduction to Creative Non-Fiction and loved every second of it. My favorite part was the workshop segment, when we were able to read other students’ works and have our own writing critiqued. I also took Introduction to American Literature, which I found both interesting and challenging. In this class I hope to learn how African American Literature has changed over the years, and the broad impact it has had on American society and education.

Having grown up in rural New Hampshire, I haven’t had much exposure to other cultures and races. I have never placed great emphasis on my own race or heritage as contributing to my identity. My dad’s family has been traced back to the Mayflower and my mom’s ancestors were predominantly Irish or French-Canadian. There are several roles and traits by which I normally classify myself. I am a student. I am freakishly organized, and I use this to my advantage in school, as well as all aspects of my life. I have always enjoyed school, and I strive to make the most of my education since I know it is not even an option for most of the world. Secondly, I would describe myself as a musician. I was completely tone-deaf until the age of ten, but as soon as I grew out of that, I started singing, and I haven’t stopped. I have picked up various instruments over the years, and I still play most of them now, but I prefer singing. Singing in choirs over the years has given me the opportunity to visit different parts of the world, and also to bring different parts of the world to my own neighborhood, by singing a wide range of styles and languages.

I would also describe myself as a middle child. I believe that my birth order has done much to shape who I am. My older brother is the typical first-born: driven, ambitious, intense, and successful. My younger brother is relaxed, sarcastic, and incredibly talented. That leaves me in the middle, as the mediator. My younger brother is my best friend, and my older brother is my hero. My older brother is valedictorian, my little brother is a musical prodigy, and I haven’t yet found my “thing.”

Lastly, and most importantly, I classify myself as a growing Christian. My faith doesn’t merely contribute to my worldview and life decisions, but it is the basis for them. It’s not like I have a school life, a music life, an athletic life, and a Christian life. My faith is prevalent in each aspect of my life; it has no borders. One could classify me as a Christian who studies, sings, and loves her family. But the faith label is most important to me.