- Have you grown/changed through this process? How? Have you improved your reading/writing/thinking skills? How?
I have grown so much throughout the two years I took Dr. Preston's Open Source Learning class. They were both different English classes but the same in the way they were taught. The class was taught in such a way that you truly did feel you had a voice. I got the chance to collaborate with my fellow classmates and Dr. Preston and was able to get very far.
I am very grateful I had the opportunity to have gotten the chance to take the class once again as a senior. The class benefit my future and I a lot. I wasn't a part of a class that was creating a scrapbook and wasting their time. I was able to get all my goals straight as were others in my class. I'm not going to lie, when I first stepped into this class i panicked. I didn't think i would be able to make it through. In the end i'm proud of all that was accomplished.
During the first semester we were assigned to write a ten page research paper on racism. I learned so much. I realized there's more racism surrounding us than we ever take the time to realize. Everywhere we look, racism is being demonstrated and nobody is doing anything about it.
I've improved my thinking skills by a lot. Teachers would never allow students to really think for themselves. They never put faith in us. They always assumed we were just teenagers incapable of doing great things. Only if they could see us now. We've all succeeded in one way or another. Some are booking coaches, writers, chefs, music producers, or in my case majoring in the Ag department. We all want to become successful and with the help of Dr. Preston have gotten very far.
I haven't quite completed my journey yet, but will start working towards it even more during the summer while I am on vacation. Then I will commence school, figure out what exactly I want to do in the Ag department, and hopefully pursue my career after a few years.
I am very proud of what everyone has achieved in Preston's class. Their masterpieces were one of a kind. We were all able to tell how passionate each student was on their masterpiece. Senior year in this class has been memorable and a lot more was accomplished than expected.
An example of what was seen in the presentations given the last few weeks would be Paige Logan's passion for crafts. She loved being creative. She made a few vintage frames to hold some of her captured senior memories. Elizabeth and Billy collaborated and made a Prezi showing a few clips of them interviewing experts and practicing their coaching skills. Jacob cooked food for the class which was so good! After his internship he was able to get a job at the Far Western Tavern. I could keep going, but you just had to be there and be a part of all the great projects.
