Reflections of a Procrastinator

My name is Christi Burns and I am a procrastinator; isn’t there some kind of support group out there for me? This will be funny to the students that participated in the Fight Club film discussion – if not; you should really watch the movie. Even if there were a procrastinator support group I’d probably talk myself out of going to it. I saved English 101 until the very end of my time spent at EVCC because I was afraid of it. What I’ve learned is that I need to embrace things that I’m afraid of because prolonging the pain doesn’t actually do anything but prolong the pain. Seems pretty simple, right? I have learned so much in a short amount of time but it wasn’t easy. Before I took this course I would have said, “I hate English”. In fact, I complained about taking this course for a good few months before it started. “Hating English” seems like a pretty stupid exclamation as I speak the language. I now realize I was really just worried if I’d be able to keep up with all the youngsters after being out of school for so long. Fear can make you say some really stupid things. Don’t get me wrong this class has been tedious, hard on the brain, and time consuming but what I learned is that I can do it. This is my second to last course before I receive my AA in Human Services. Again, procrastination = bad! There were weeks, especially the first week of each Unit where I wanted to thrown in the towel and say forget it. The problem with that is when you’re a procrastinator and have waited until the last minute there is no more time if you ever want to accomplish anything. So, I hung in there, I’m proud of my accomplishments, and I got to dialog with some pretty cool people in the class.

This course focused on three main topics; identity, community, and tradition. I noticed in the beginning many of my classmates, myself included, looked at these three words in very vague definitions. Identity = who you are; Community = where you live; Tradition = a set of customs you learn from you family. I learned that there is much more meaning to each of these words. In the identity unit I was drawn to Emily White’s essay called “High School’s Secret Life”. I chose one of the discussion boards from this essay to submit as my “Writer’s Choice” posting because White just got it. There wasn’t any fluff; she didn’t try to make it pretty. High school is what it is and I could relate to that. I think I immersed myself in the community unit more so than the others because I got to write about my passion which is traveling. I chose to use this blog as my example of audience and voice. I hope by reading this that other people may look upon my community and want to become a member. Finally we have the tradition unit. I enjoyed this unit because there was a little bit of freedom in what we chose to read. One thing that I liked discussing the most is that traditions can be created; they don’t just have to be followed. Life is about making your own choices and making yourself happy. In many cases this may mean disappointing your family or loved ones. But does it really? It depends on the perception. If your family is asking you to follow a tradition that doesn’t make you happy or doesn’t fit into your lifestyle hopefully they will be able to accept you in your individualism. That’s where choices come into play. Maybe this class has made me a little more sassy…wait, I don’t think that is possible.

One thing I changed greatly is the way I look at or listen to other people’s opinions. And even more so, how you dig a little deeper to find out what people really mean. Something very important I’ve learned is that we are not all great communicators nor do we always ask the correct questions to get to people’s true meaning. Some think “Why should I bother?” or “It’s not my job to probe for further discussion!” but you surely lose out on something by not doing so. In an on-line environment you only get out of it what you put in. I found myself sometimes disappointed with the lack of posts and responses from some of my classmates, mostly because I’m interested in what they have to say. I’m the typical little kid who asks why to every answer. I know it’s irritating yet you find out that sometimes you have to dig to get real answers from people. It’s almost as if we’re programmed to be vague and not bother with a real answer until someone pesters you for it. The flip-side to this is that I got to dialog with some really cool people who have interesting thoughts and ideas.

In conclusion, if you asked me if I’d do it all over again my response would be, “Hell NO, because I’m now moving on to English 102”. However, as hard and challenging as this course was I appreciate it immensely. That is pretty significant coming from me. I have learned to look at things in a slightly different light to draw out a greater understanding. I have selected four writing pieces for your reading enjoyment that I believe demonstrate my skills at critical thinking, revising my work, awareness of audience, and my personal choice. I hope you enjoy these choices.