My Feelings On My Progress In CARD 101

(Picture from this link-- this picture is dedicated to my CARD 101 class (syllabus))

    CARD 101 has been an incredibly fun journey this fall 2023 semester! This is one of my favorite English classes by far. I really enjoyed having the choice of topic to write about, the new structures, the freedom, the unique ways to write, and voice my thoughts and opinions on paper. It's like combining the robotic structure (from middle and high school) with the freedom of my own voice and new structures (from NCC/college), to create these wonderful writing pieces. 

    Three different essays I wrote this semester. The first was my mircotheme essay. My thoughts were all over the place at the start– I struggled to think of a problem that I could write about. After minutes, hours, to days (about a day or two) I finally figured out what my topic could be. Screen time. It was so obvious on my face, and I always struggled to balance screen time and my life. I love being on my phone to talk and text my friends. I love being on my laptop to take notes, play games with friends, do projects, do homework, watch, journal, and so much more. I use my devices so much that I don’t leave my room or go outside much. There’s so much more I can do than just being on technology all the time. So that’s why I thought about screen time, as it was the most current and a challenge I still face today. With this essay, I learned to think "invention" or "problematizing". Which is to think of every possibility of thoughts and opinion about a problem. To make a person think a certain way before they can even form an opinion or thought of the topic, say the possible causes/reasons instead of something definite, understand my question/claim, and have a fair conversation -- to understand both sides and not just trying to be right. 

    The next essay I wrote is my documentary essay. This essay was actually enjoyable to write about. I think it’s because I can watch something, then describe what I’ve watched, analyze the documentary, and put all my feelings and thoughts into the essay. I also admired all the backup singer’s passion— especially Darlene Love (thus the reason I wrote about her). I've learned to write in a nonfictional way, which means writing about real facts and things. Instead of storytelling/making up stories, I focused on providing information and explained things as they are. Telling the truth in my writing and helping others understand the world around them. 

    Finally my rational argument essay. A lot of stuff was happening at the time so I wasn’t able to give my time. The first semester of college is almost over, everyone’s feeling tired–even me– but I’ll give it my best! A rough late start to my essay and research, but that’s alright. I already had a structure of how I was going to write my essay, the most time-consuming part was trying to find sources on NCC’s database and on Google Scholar. After finding those and the quote needed, I assembled my essay: the introduction must have what it is, a description of it, thesis, then each body paragraph must have a topic sentence relating to the thesis, then signal phrases, quotes (from different sources--for my writing class, I had NCC database and google scholars to use), analysis, and transition, and lastly, the conclusion must restate the introduction, summary or main points per body paragraphs, and a closure. Work Cited on a new next page. After having a rough draft, all I need to do now is revise the little stuff (like grammar, explanation, MLA formatting, and flow). I've learned to have a main claim/question and have it be backed up by hard evidence, different view points, and feelings, realities, going beyond my original "stance" and more. I want to write a rational argument piece to move someone's mind, heart, and body.

    Writing all three papers made me realize how much I improved as a writer. I've learned that it's better to finish a rough draft and make a ton of revisions along the way-- rather than writing it last minute and revising it. Knowing the basic rules of writing and format of an essay still applies-- but this class taught me new interesting ways to write. From the beginning of middle school when I didn’t know how to write one, to now (in college) knowing and feeling proud of my work and I’m glad to share my work with others. I love and will miss this class so much, I hope future students will enjoy CARD 101 too.  

My feelings on rational argument

(Picture from Pinterest. I'm a busy bee.)

    Having a source (TedTalk by Sherry Turkle) already, summarizing and analyzing it was a great start. For the introduction I had an idea or a structure of how to write it. Same with my conclusion. Body paragraphs I had no clue. All I knew was to go in detail about each subtopic rather than being general about mental, physical, psychological, and so on. 

To be honest, I had time to work on it but outside factors made me not have a chance to fully invest my time working on the essay. The last day of Thanksgiving break, I finally had the time to just focus on school– especially my essay. So I had to have an idea for what each body paragraph will be talking about and how it ties back to the thesis. I used NCC’s database and google scholar to find my articles. Finding the articles was difficult as my topic was specific and needed facts and data. 

    As of now (11/30/23), I got the rough draft done and just need to revise a few things. Those few stuff are making sure the quotes are in MLA format (the titles of articles are in quotation marks, and some words should be upper cased), don’t say ‘states’ ‘says’ after what the author’s last name– instead say more of what the author’s feeling and for transitions use words that could make the paragraph flow together Block quote is something new I learned yesterday when I visited my professor during her office hours (will definitely use Purdue Owl to make sure my writing is what my professors and future writing would like). Block quote is when there are four or more lines of quotes it should have indents, no quotation marks and a period right after the quote ends. This makes the quote more appealing, easier to read, and easier to identify when the quote begins and ends. I'll give this my all before school ends! 

What I learned about Scholarly Research

 

 (Picture from Pinterest)

    Another day to visit NCC’s library computer lab room to learn more in depth about research! (Specific research questions to build my specific topics of my essay). I learned a lot today. We learned how to be in depth and more specific about our research question. The introduction started off with a warm up– using Amazon as an example! When we search for something, we all search up specific stuff we want– even add in filters to narrow our search– and we don’t always choose the first option to buy. It’s the same when we research our articles for our rational argument essays. 

    Next, we did a mini activity about creating a question from three different topics (one about place, problem, and something else). My two side desk partners and I all worked together to form one. The topics were interesting and difficult, but we managed to form a question from it. Laruen (one of the librarians who agreed to teach CARD-101 how to do research on NCC’s database library@noctrl.edu)-- would come by every group to check and discuss more about it. When she arrived at our group, we realized that our question was more on the border than specific. So, she helped us make it more specific. It was an interesting activity though. 

    After that activity, it was time to do our own. Everyone was given a worksheet that seemed like an organizer. We were assigned a box in the organizer to write down our own  research question. Then a smaller box with main subtopics and four more additional smaller boxes below– to write down even more specific topics under the subtopics. There are steps on how to start your research on the worksheet. On the back of the worksheet, it shows visual examples as to how to do narrow searching on the database. 

Library

 What I learned about the library (new stuff)

(picture from Pinterest) 

    I learned to remember the url: “library.noctrl.edu”. It’s the homebase of research, where students can find articles they need for either their psychology class, science, english, and other classes. I honestly didn’t learn anything new, everything in that computer lab room in the library was all familiar to me. 

The first time I used NCC’s library was for my general psychology (or Psychology: Sci of Behavior 100) class for my group’s project. My professor linked a slidedeck of detailed instructions on canvas so anyone can find our sources at the library.noctrl.edu. It led me to another place to find specifically psychology and my group’s topic. However, I still explored the library.noctrl.edu a bit. Then when I came into today’s library computer room to find out that I’ll be learning about how to use NCC’s library database– it turns out that I have already used it. I may not have known other filters there– but I was able to find it pretty quickly and add filters to my searched topic (on a google doc). 

In the computer lab lesson on credibility, they handed out a worksheet. The worksheet was a good review on learning how to look at an article and find out whether it’s credible or not. It must achieve the following in order for the article/book/etc to be creditable: who, what, where, why, and how. On the y-axis there’s more academic at the top and less academic on the bottom. On the x-axis left is the library and right is the internet. Then there’s what type of resource it is in the middle. Basically it’s a visual of resource types of how credible or not an article is. On the other side of the worksheet– there’s cardinal search practice– and I was off on my own looking for articles for my rational argument essay. I also already learned how to find credible sources in middle/high school. I think my high school also used the same method (the 5 criteria: who, what, where, why and how) to know if an article is credible or not. 

Week on my idea and process

                                                              (Picture from Pinterest)

 

Idea: 

I had no clue what I’ll write about for my rational argument essay. I was thinking of a problem at home– but it’s like having a partner who doesn’t do anything and I have to carry for us, not having enough time for self, wishing I had more time, my poor stats exam… etc. It’s just simple and random stuff in my life. Wasn’t sure if anything I listed or could have listed work as my rational argument essay. Luckily, now I know– or have an idea: screen time. I could reuse the same topic as my microtheme, because thinking of a new one is difficult.  

Process: 

I honestly had no idea what to write about for this new essay we need to write– rational argument. But then I remembered I wrote about screen time for my microtheme, and thought why not reuse it for this essay? I spent about a day and half thinking about what topics to write about– turns out I didn’t need to do it like that. I could reuse my microtheme topic! 

But that’s why I stayed after school (on 11.2.23) a bit, with my professor, to ask about my topic. Of course it’s a good topic– but the body paragraph ideas would be too much. Originally I had body paragraph one as health (physically and mentally), then body paragraph two about school and productivity, and body paragraph three will be about social media, and counterarguments: helps learning and productivity, social connections, watch and relax, jobs(?). It's basically a lot of subtopics, and my paper will probably exceed 7 pages. So now I’m just gonna focus on the psychological and mental effects of screen time. I could also talk about how it’s distracting or productive– depending on how people balance it out. We shall see what next week will be like. I'll be working on my summary and analysis worksheet-- just watching a TedTalk and jotting down important notes, and later in the box-- put it altogether!  

Open topic #5: Writing

 An open topic I've decided today: writing.

(Picture from pinterest) 

Hyperlink to grammarly-- always helpful to look over your essay or any writing

Types of writing 

There are so many types of writing in the world. Those could be free writing (freely writing about whatever you're interested in), narrative writing (like books telling stories), persuasive/argumentative writing (convincing or persuade readers to agree to a certain perspective or action),  school writing (the times in middle school and high school writing those essays-- introduction, body paragraph one, body paragraph two, body paragraph three, (and more each body paragraph as CUE (Context, Use of evidence/quote, Explain and elaborate) with transition to next body paragraphs), and finally conclusion), poetry (that has rhythm, rhyme, metaphor, imagery, abstract ideas, unique, interesting, etc), and more. Blogging could also be considered as writing, as it's a form of online writing that organizes, creates, and publishes stuff on there. It could be any topic, and have different styles of writing. 

Effects it has on us

Besides speaking, writing is another way to communicate with others. It allows you to express and reflect thoughts, ideas, emotions, and more to self/others. To educate and interpret information yourself-- whether it's real or fiction-- it'll leave you to imagine, understand, and/or wonder about what the writer wrote about. Creates a sense of community, as others may have the same opinion or thoughts as you, or one may be unsure or uncertain about something but seeing a writing piece-- it'll give certainty to their confusion. Relaxing, free, inspired, less stressed, and more.

Mine

I write because I love to rant and vent about anything I’m dealing with or am interested in. I feel like I’m able to express myself better this way than speaking. As English is my third language, sometimes words do not come as easily– but on the bright side, I can go in detail/be descriptive about something I’m not sure how to word on paper than speaking. When I speak, I have a brief moment of silence just to think about how to say something or form my thoughts correctly to say it correctly. It’s the same as writing– but when I write, I can visually see my thoughts and revise it. It’s quite enjoyable to revise– but that’s only if I have time. Sometimes it’s really stressful to revise when I have no time. I also love to read comments or write pieces that had some similar perspectives or ideas as me– or finding new perspectives or ideas to grow from. Additionally, it’s enjoyable to look back at my old pieces of writing, see how I slowly improve my writing and how I’m able to express my thoughts and ideas throughout my writing life.

Open topic #4: Scrapbook

 An open topic I've decided today: Scrapbook.

(a picture of a page of my scrapbook)

The Basics

   Scrapbooking may seem easy, as it just needs some paper, stickers, tape, pictures printed and assembled together– but the final product might not be how you imagined. Yes, some paper, stickers, tape, and pictures printed are a part of scrapbooking, but you must also consider the theme, type of tape (most preferred is double-sided tape), pictures,photographs, pens, markers, color pencils, extra deigned or colored papers, stickers, ribbons, and more. Those are some of the materials you'd consider. Now you must consider the layout design, color, organization, cropping and adjusting, what's being layered, creativity and personal touches. Considering these factors, the page won't look like a mess and will look aesthetic (and memorable mostly to ourselves) to you and others who might see a page of your scrapbook! Here's a link to a YouTube link for a scrapbook ideas! And here's a link to a beginner guide to scrapbook article! 

Memories

   Once you got down a theme, materials, layout figured out-- start assembling it! Scrapbooking is like keeping  memories onto a page and being creative and personal of how it's being designed. Adding notes and pictures makes it more personal and memorable. Adding decorations and any mini details makes it look more visually appealing. I also use interactive stuff for my scrapbook. For example, a flip-up, an envelope, a pocket, and/or pull-out tab. I mostly use the envelope option to put more pictures or notes inside. Enjoy the process of making the page, it’s relaxing and more enjoyable than just rushing to finish it and seeing the final product. Though finishing it and looking at the overall work, it feels great to start a new one. 

Effects it has on us

   Scrapbooking is a way to relax and enjoy the process. It's a place to keep memories and personal history, add personal and creativity into it, improve organization skills, and  improve problem-solving because you're figuring out solution(s) when layering or adding details. Additionally, we can pay attention to details, it can be emotionally healing, bring happiness, and connections with others when you share your scrapbook page. It’s nice to ourselves, but we can also give them as a gift to our friends and family. We also can continue learning different techniques and ways to decorate the pages.  

Open topic #3: Dance

 An open topic I've decided today: Dance.

(a picture of me in a dance room-- sitting on a big bouncy ball taking a mini break at YMCA)

Types of dancing styles

   There are so many types of dance styles in the world. I'll just list a few examples: ballet, hip-hop, k-pop, tap dance, salsa, tango, just dance, line dance, and more. I think every country's dance style is unique and beautiful. It shows their history, cultural expressions, music, evolving, creativity, entertainment and enjoyment, for special occasions, etc. 

Effects dancing has on us 

   Dancing can impact one's physical and mental well-being. It can be used as a workout, social connection, reduce stress, express yourself, boost confidence, improve cognitive function and memory, coordination, creativity, joy, emotions released, and many more. I use dancing as a workout, making connections with others, joy, fun, and improving memory and coordination. 

Mine

   I don’t dance for a team or a group, but dancing is just a hobby of mine. I really enjoy it, as it’s a time to de-stress, not think about anything– just pour my soul and feelings into the music and dance. It’s like a two in one deal– it’s a workout for me, as well as it is a mental and emotional briefing moment to just have me. I listen to pop and k-pop songs, and I usually dance to k-pop ones often because they have choreographs. And occasionally to 1MILLION Dance Studio on YouTube. I also usually go on Instagram and YouTube, looking at reels/shorts of mini dances, so sometimes I’d watch it, learn, and master it. 

Open Topic #2: Music

 An open topic I've decided today: Music.

(Picture from Pintrest)

Mini music history.   

   Starting off with a mini history of music genre, trends, and culture. Around the time of the 18th century, classical music was invented. It was full of orchestras and composers, and famous people from then like Mozart and Beethoven. Then in the early 20th century and sometime in the 1900s-- jazz and rock'n roll. It had rhythm and beat to music. Some famous people back then like Elvis Presley changed the symphony orchestras to electric guitars and rock performances. Around the late 20th century, hip-hop came into the music world-- lots of rapping, DJ, break dancing, etc. During this time period, hip-hop was a time for self-expression and expressing issues of inequality, urban life, and more. Pop music also came into the world in the 1950s, bopping and catchy beats to artists like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and more. With today's present time, K-pop, Indie and other kinds of music are more popular. K-pop (Korean pop music) is known for its catchy tunes, and choreography, indies and other kinds for mini artists or non-mainstream music genres. Some (k-pop) groups are BTS, Blackpink, etc, and (Indie and others) Radiohead, Nirvana, etc. 

Where I use music 

  All I need are my earbuds and my phone with me. Pop and K-pop are my main genres, but I do listen to other genres (using Spotify or YouTube Music). I use music for school, home, and really anywhere I go. For school, I use the pomodoro method (that’s having a fixed set amount of time to do homework and/or study, and a fixed set amount of time for break. An example is 25-5, 25 minutes for studying/homework, and 5 minute break). Also have music to write or get some work (whether it’s for doing some stats/math problems, writing a paper for english/writing class, work on my psychology busting myths journal assignments, etc) done at the library with music as the background sound. At home, it’s pretty similar to when I’m at school— I use the pomodoro method to do my work– sometimes I just blast my music and just work for hours without a break. I get distracted easily and need to focus and get my work all in one sitting most of the time. When I’m not studying/doing homework, I would have a mini karaoke session in my room and just sing away! A way to relax. I also dance while I sing sometimes. Other times I use music in the car, jamming out with my friends while getting to our destination, my sister and I jamming out in the kitchen, on a walk in my neighborhood with earbuds and music on, and wherever else I go, dancing as my workout, going to an actual karaoke place and sing away, and more. 

Effects of music on us 

   Music has so many effects on us! It could create certain moods, relieve stress/depression/pain, bring or make memories, motivation and concentration, understanding us, helping us sleep, connections with others similar taste in music, and just overall a positive effect on everyone's well-being. I relate with everything I listed, because music just understands us and creates happiness and understanding that we, ourselves, might not be able to realize or understand. 

Open Topic #1: Language

 An open topic I've decided today: Language. 

(Picture from google)

    If you don't know about me, I can speak four languages-- English, Chinese Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Teochew. When I was little, I spoke Vietnamese and Teochew first (which one did I speak first? I'm not sure, possibly Teochew and then Vietnamese). Growing up, I was struggling in English, I was a quiet lonely kid, listening and observing the world around me. I just remember one day, I just felt determined to learn English and speak with others, instead of just listening and observing the world around me. 

  From being in ESL (English Second Learner) and ELL (English Language Learner) throughout elementary, middle, and freshman year of high school-- to now being done with high school and going to college. I was quiet and lonely, but now I'm talkative and have many friends. I used to dislike knowing so many languages, especially not speaking English first. I was so alone and afraid of everything around me. No one had the same struggles as me. Near the end of 7th grade, I finally understood English--- not broken English when I speak, I knew what response to questions I was being asked about, I could read a book and understand what I was reading, and so much more. I became more talkative with my peers too. 

  I enjoyed learning languages after I finally understood English. That's why, in my Sophomore year in high school, I decided to take Chinese Mandarin (here's a link to my Chinese Mandarin 1 folder if you're curious about learning the basics). I felt like it was sorta the same structure as Vietnamese and Teochew-- of course, there are some similarities, but not all are the same. Besides the similarities and differences, I took a liking to learning Mandarin, and the culture and everything to it. Language has been a main part of my life, and I would like to share my story with you. 

  Writing about language relates to our course content because I can learn other people's styles of writing. If I find one I like, I'll use it in my own writing. Of course, with our class course, we have a structure of exactly how something's supposed to be written-- and if any topics are available-- I  need to make sure it fits the requirements or rubric of said topic. I also feel like knowing many languages creates diversity, creativity, and open-mindedness allowing ways I can argue or be persuasive in writing. You can also use language apps-- for example most popular is Duolingo.

Visual Literacy + Documentary

Visual Literacy 

Definition: the ability to interpret and understand visual info/images. To observe, interpret, contextualize, evaluate, and reflect to better understand most visual literacy. 

 Examples: pictures, documentaries, posters, ads, painting, etc. 

 Documentary 

(Picture from google)

Hyperlink to watch it on Youtube or Hulu (gotta pay though)

Title: 20 feet from stardom

Was there a specific scene that got to you? 

1:40:15-1:21:12    

That time stamp is the scene that got to me. It's the choices (weather or not to go to another singer or another company) the background singers have, the struggles to go big as a solo artist-- but going that route would be so difficult and you have to have self-confidence alongside the strong mentally to be a solo artist. Then there are doubts whether this is even right- and sometimes you'd wish you had the answers as to what you're supposed to do. Honestly, all the backup singer's personal stories also got me too. It's incredible to see their passion, strength, resilience, and determination to pursue their dreams.  

What surprised you? Why do you think it caught you off guard?

Live performance! The documentary showed the backup singer's talents, power, and skills within each individual. It caught me off guard because it was truly wonderful to hear them sing. I wish I was there in person to see it!

What feelings stayed with you after the film? Did they “pop up” in your life in unexpected ways? When? How? What was that like?

I felt captivated and admirable for hard work through the challenges and passion of singing. I also felt appreciated for their hard work in the music industry. It reminds me of when it "pop up" in my life in an unexpected way-- intro to teaching one and two, during high school of my senior year. I was a student teacher when I went to the elementary schools (Highlands and Steeple Run). The teachers had a ton of "behind the scenes" for the next day to teach-- similarity to this documentary (when the backup singers would do background singing to make the entire song sound like a masterpiece. Without background singers back then, music would have missed the background soundtracks we hear today). Teachers prep a ton for the next day, teach it the day of, and night they prep again for the next day, and that cycle repeats. They work tirelessly everyday to educate and make students learn and grow. That's why I considered being an elementary teacher back in Sophomore-Junior year.  

Ethos/pathos and/or logos:

Ethos: the backup singers (Darlene Love, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton, Claudia Lennear, and Judith Hill)

Pathos: joy, struggles, sacrifices, success,  sadness

Logos: interviews from the backup singers themselves or people they worked with, their performance, and film clips 

Challenges + experiences at college (in general)

(Picture from google)

Challenges:

   New to the campus, I felt like I was lost without a map and asking people where to go. (If you're ever lost to get onto NCC's site-- just use this link to get to NCC's main homepage! And if you want campus merch-- this link is a must to go on). Also, procrastinating and lack of motivation to do school work. Additionally, sleep has been getting me these days. I just feel like I always gotta be doing something other than sleeping. Of course sleep is important to humans, so I force myself to not feel like doing something else besides sleeping.

   Lastly, not knowing what my job is after college. Literally most jobs don't need college, so I can technically drop out of college and go to work. However, I dislike the idea of not going to college and earning my bachelor's degree-- or some type of degree. I just need to figure out what I want to do in life (which is to help people) but because I'm so fixated on that idea, there's so many jobs and their description for it fits what I'm looking for, but I know long term, I'll wear myself out fast. 

Experiences:

   After going to the same building often, and seeing nearby buildings, I got used to where I needed to go. I'm usually friendly and can make friends/acquaintances easily, but I just rather have friends that I can have long-term and have a deep connection with. The course work and load isn't too bad (in fact it's less than highschool -- but the content is a lot and deep; unlike highschool where it's sorta deep thinking but it's just a chill 4 years of learning what I like), I just procrastinate at times (like I sometimes do throughout my education life) causing me to lag behind a bit. As long as I can manage my time well, I will not be lagging behind too much. 

Challenges & experiences with mircotheme

(Picture from google) 

 Challenges:

   A challenge I faced was trying to not give solutions. Microthemes is an essay that explores the idea of an issue, and while I was writing I wanted to just give solutions instead of discussing the possible causes of the issue. 

Another challenge I faced was choosing a topic. I thought my topic should be language at first but I realized that there are so many pros to learning a language. So I changed my topic to a future career. (...a few days later, I changed topics because future careers is another difficult topic-- thus screen time is my current topic. I say it's better). 

   

   Additionally, the final paragraph was a challenge because (for me at least) again I wanted to give solutions-- but I instead had to think about the value of the question. Overall, the challenges I had while typing my microtheme was thinking of a topic, not giving solutions, and the final paragraph. 

Experiences:

I mean everyday, I have random mini problems-- plus major simple problems people have. Like procrastination, texting while driving, time management, future job, etc. I and many others have experienced any of those (if not all), and have managed to solve it or are still trying to learn to improve/grow from it. This is my first time writing a microtheme essay and it's difficult to not give solutions to my topic.