thamid's blog

Last night’s performances were amazing and seeing the different ways that our classmates portrayed what their experiences was so moving.

For our final performance, we went with an activity that was similar to ones that we did in class. We wanted everyone to write down one thing that they still felt uncomfortable talking about even after having this ESem. We decided to keep the students anonymous, since their concern made them uncomfortable. We read the responses and wrote them on the board, so everyone could see what their classmates were still comfortable with. Originally, we wanted to break up into smaller groups and discuss what we saw on the board and some common ideas. Many of the ideas were personal issues that we still faced. Our goal for our performance to convey that even after going through In Class/Outclassed, understanding and learning about class, we all had something we were anxious to discuss. This led us to another idea that the conversation does not stop. We will continue to feel uncomfortable with many issues, but bringing light to these issues and discussing them further, can make a change.

We did not get to read all of the responses because we ran out of time, but in a way that sort of showed us that the conversation is ongoing. We didn’t finish, but maybe it’s because we weren’t meant to finish.  To those of you whose responses were not read, it was an issue with time is anything. But that fact that you wrote your concern down is a step in moving forward and addressing it.

Masquerade Ball: A Message to the Pretenders

pretending [pri-tend-ing] (v.) – the act of being something you are not

upper class [up∙per-class] (n.) – a class of people above the middle class, having the highest social rank or standing based on wealth, family connections, and the like

middle class [mid∙dle-class] (n.) – a class of people intermediate between the classes of higher and lower social rank or standing; the social, economic, cultural class, having approximately average status, income, education, tastes, and the like.

lower class [low∙er-class] (n.) – a class of people below the middle class, having the lowest social rank or standing due to low income, lack of skills or education, and the like.

mask [mask] (v.) – to disguise or conceal; hide; dissemble

Why is it that we pretend to be something we are not? “Poor people want to be rich. Rich people want to, well, blend in”

TOP TEN WAYS TO HIDE BEING RICH

The class dimensions of academic writing seem to be very limited to x number of pages. There is an introduction, a body, and a conclusion, and of course a works cited. There is always a thesis that needs to be supported or refuted. This type of academic writing seems to be the “norm” for many professors and teachers. I am not saying that this type of writing is bad, but it is monotonous. Personally I feel that I cannot truly express all my ideas, thoughts, and questions, in these types of papers because I am more worried about structure, length, and other writing conventions. For these types of papers I feel like I am writing them because I have to instead of having to writing AND wanting to write it. I wonder if this type of writing became the “standard” so teachers and professors can clearly see what point is trying to be made rather than having to figure it out for themselves and really reading what is trying to be said.

At first I hated the idea of this paper. I did not give much thought to the process we were going to go through. I just judged my feelings from the initial idea, which is not always the best way to go about things. I felt like my interviews were successful and I gathered some important information, but I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do with that information. Initially my focus area was based on class and money. I did not have a research question to base anything off of, so I decided a focus area would lead me to my research question. Initially I thought that my research question would relate to class and money, but my interviews led me to a new question that I did not think would come up based on the questions I asked. My research question was based on the correlation of class position and how comfortable we are talking about class. Once I found the path I was going to take with this paper, I realized hate was a pretty strong word.

In the end, I actually enjoyed writing this paper because of the fact that it was so different form ones we have written before. Our sources were not what we read from scholars, but rather our own questions we made for our interviews. I also liked that we created our own question to analyze and make a claim towards. We were not given a specific question that we had to make something out of, but rather we created a question based off of what was collected. So, I guess this paper was not as bad as I made it out to be.

After the workshop I realized that our ESem needs to be bigger. There were so many ideas and thoughts that people had that I never thought about. It seemed like the workshop gave people and opportunity to vocalize their thoughts about class if they never had the chance before. A constant theme that stood out was the idea to keep a continuing dialogue and make these issues known and take them head on. One idea that stood out to me was the idea to talk about class during Customs Week so freshman could have the opportunity to understand what they may see while here at Bryn Mawr. Initially I was all for this idea and I still believe that this is a great idea, but it may also be too much for an incoming freshman to discuss her first week here. If this idea is incorporated into Customs Week, I think it would most likely be a one way dialogue because many freshmen may find it difficult to discuss class their first week here. I know I was shy or afraid to speak up about anything my first week here, let alone class. I think a continuation of this ESem is one way to continue the dialogue. This is the first year this class was available and it had come such a long way since the first day. The workshop brought our ideas to a greater community of Bryn Mawr. In years to come, the participants of this class will hopefully bring to light the issues of class to their peers and take these issues head on as our class does.

I chose to take pictures of my room because it is where I spend the most time on campus. I took many shots of different perspectives of the room. After reading passages about M. Carey Thomas, I felt that I did not belong in my room because I was not the typical "Bryn Mawr girl" she was looking for but, I am still a student here. My paper revolves around the spaces that M. Carey Thomas envisioned for the women of Bryn Mawr and how I reclaim and re-shape those spaces to fit my education at Bryn Mawr. Although I reclaimed my space at Bryn Mawr, I still feel a sense of disconnect because M. Carey plays a major role in Bryn Mawr’s history and so many of the women here look up to her. It’s difficult to say whether I will truly feel a whole sense of belonging to the Bryn Mawr community.

P.S.-My pictures are on an attached word document because they exceeded 1 MB so I could not upload them, but check them out!

I feel as though you

Like Jillian, my reflection was based on working on thinking and rethinking my papers. It was difficult for me in the beginning of the semester to think beyond what I already deemed true. Thinking beyond or rethinking my papers got easier as the semester progressed due to my classmates. Hearing all their stories, sharing their thoughts, and opening up to the class, helped me with rethinking because I had more ideas that I never considered. The progress of my work is mainly credited to our class and the conversations we hold. These conversations really opened new windows into thinking about education and not only the academic aspect of it.

The question I asked myself was not what about what I want to learn, but how much I can learn. Like Shannon said, I would love to know "everything". I want to know what its like going to a public school that you have to be accepted into, going to school in the city, and what their life is like at home. Since we are visiting sophomores and juniors, I want to hear some feedback on standardized testing because sophomore year and junior year are considered the "important years". I would also love to hear about their ideas for the future, what they hope to do, where they hope to go etc.

Since this is a mutual learning experience, I hope I can give them some feedback on what high school was like for me, how I felt about testing, what I was thinking at the time about my  future plans and so on. I also hope to share my background and where I come from. I also hope to give them a sense of going to a non-selective public high school in the suburbs. Hopefully we can discuss some of the topics we discuss in class get new ideas thrown into the mix.

Let's just say, I can't wait to go to the high school.

I think that a majority of people want to believe that education levels the playing field, but it does not. From my own experiences and what can be seen, money seems to level the playing field of education. Many students can have the opportunity to get an education, but the quality of the education depends on money. Lower class families do not always have the means to access private schools, charter school, etc. They may have access to advanced level classes, but do they compare to the advanced level classes at a private school a few blocks away? Usually in lower income areas, the schools do not have the funds to get new books or technology and rely on poor quality versions of Romeo and Juliet.