Cally Cruikshank
Professor Newlands
UNST 133A Work of Art
April 12, 2021
Claiming an Education
College is hard for everyone. It signifies the change from a teenager to an adult, and for many, this is a difficult change. I am no different. Even though I still live at my parent’s house, it still is different than what I expected, and that is something I struggle with. I have gotten much better at evaluating both myself and the world around me, but I still struggle with my research. This is something I hope to improve, whether that be research into how to do things or on topics I am interested in. Research is an integral part of any paper, work, or study, and mastering this part of the process can improve something you work on by tenfold. This step not only can improve the final product but in the process, it can teach you how to better inquire and ask questions. Depending on the topic being researched it can also open one’s mind to the problems around equity and justice in the modern world, as one takes a plunge into the topic and discovers the history of something.
In this course, I did not start off too hot, but I improved a lot. I hope that I can continue this upward trend and get an even better grade during the spring term. In order to achieve this, I hope to be able to dive deeper into various topics. Not only to deepen my understanding but to broaden my view and relate it to the world around me. This term I hope to at least earn a B in the course. Though in the end I hope to achieve my goals and go beyond what I expected of myself and possibly earn something better than that. I find that it is common for me to underestimate myself and do much better than I had hoped.
In order to achieve my goals, I will constantly be trying to better my understanding of things I might not know. I can do this by myself but I will have better results if I get the help of others. Although for them to help better my work they must be willing to critique my work and give honest feedback. That I will then be able to incorporate into my work. For others to provide formative feedback, they must not only say what needs to be improved but also explain why it is a problem and how it can be changed or improved to better convey what is trying to be said.
I hope to not only better myself this term but try to help others as well. In order to help others accomplish their goals, I will provide honest feedback in a way so it can be built off of. I will also help people to the best of my ability if they ask for it. When I give feedback to someone I will not simply tell them what they need to improve, but I will try to provide ways that they can do so. To do this I will tell them the problem and say why this might be a problem then propose one or more solutions to the problem, so if they don't like one, they may choose another. When I provide this feedback I will not only be helping them but also myself since this critical way of thinking can also be applied to my own work.
In order to deepen my knowledge, I first need to improve my research process. In order to do this, I hope to better be able to critique and evaluate the information I am given. I hope to find ways to better my workflow and get the help of others when needed. My grades have been increasing steadily and I hope to continue this trend as I continue to better myself and help others do the same.
To think critically about something, means to reflect upon it. to reflect upon the past of not only the world around you, but also how you have learned. For the claiming an education essay, I did just that. I took what I have learned from the past in order to set a plan for my future. In this way, I find that everything in life is connected, we are constantly criticizing the world around us, using the past as leverage against the ever flowing future.