Fifth Post

Civic Engagement ended up being a pretty cool class. I really liked the organization on the part of the professor and I liked the structure of the class itself. I liked the movies that we watched in class. I find that some professors avoid using movies because they may find it hard to relate it to the class, but I believe the movies were thoughtfully and deliberately chosen, and were definitely an asset to the class. I also thought the quizzes were appropriate. I have a problem remembering small details of what I read, so I liked that the quizzes focused on broad ideas that encompassed the chapter. However, I didn't like the book itself. I didn't feel that it brought a lot of relevant material to the class, and of the relevant material that it did have, I think we could have had presented to us in a better, more creative way. The book presents some basic, common sense ideas, such as: compassion, activism and participating without gratification. Honestly, I believe if those concepts were introduced to the class in a different manner, they would be more effective. It was a little boring to read about those few concepts over and over again.

I like that we had to do a civic engagement project. I found that it was worthwhile, and a good use of my time. The fact that we have to do all the research and create the opportunity for ourselves, was a pleasant contrast from Colloquium, where our service learning hours felt like free labor for the organization we worked with for. In this class, we had to figure out the details of the project on our own, which made it more personal and more educational. I had to learn how to write a press release, how to schedule a location and how to gather the appropriate people and resources.

To improve, I think the class could use a little more class discussion. I enjoyed the classes when we did this, and it was a great opportunity to appreciate the different points of view that are brought from different students into the classroom.
I would also choose to forgo a book and instead use more interactive and creative presentations or discussions on the topics covered in the book. I really felt that a book wasn't really necessary in this particular class.
I would also have enjoyed a small group activity in the beginning of the semester. Something like a field trip or class project for the community. Nothing longer than two class periods. I feel that if we had gone to a soup kitchen for an hour,

or worked together in class to create quilts for a domestic abuse shelter, we could have learned much more about compassion and empathy than we did from reading the book. I think the real learning comes from seeing the look on the faces of the people we help. Some of the civic engagement projects made goods, or raised money, but didn't expose the students to people who received the help. Also, a class project would have helped the class get to know each other a little better, and would have served as an opportunity to learn about creating projects before doing it ourselves.

Fourth Post

The movie The Last Lecture was really interesting. I enjoyed seeing it in class and I found it inspirational. It is so easy, especially in college to get worried about the little things. Things that, at the time, seems huge in our lives, aren't actually as detrimental as we perceive them to be. Some of the greatest problems I've had in college, have led to changes that have ended up making me happier. I think we get into a mindset at a young age, that anything that changes our routine is bad. Until we lose someone close, or experience a similar large tragedy, we have a hard time putting our lives, and the problems that are in them, into perspective.

I liked the lecture because he was very upbeat and positive. It would have been hard to listen to someone talk about cancer and the negativity that goes with it for an hour and fifteen minutes. Instead, he chose to take a positive stance that, in the long run, probably exposed the lecture to a larger audience.

I think the line from the movie that stuck with me the most was the part about brick walls. He said that brick walls are just a way of weeding out the people who aren't passionate about the experience. I had an experience with a brick wall recently, and I dealt with it as a passionate person, but I still wasn't able to get around it. I still like the idea of the brick wall only being a short-term obstacle. I foresee myself applying that concept in the future.

I also liked the part of his lecture about childhood dreams. I don't recall having any specific childhood dreams. After viewing this lecture, I wish that I had given thought to future dreams when I was a child. One dream I can think of is teaching. I've always wanted to be a teacher. When I was in first grade, I got put in time out and I told the teacher, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a teacher so I can put kids in time out for no reason, too!" Though my goals in teaching have changed, I am still pursuing a job as a teacher. Still, throughout my education, I had a hard time deciding what kind of teacher I wanted to be. For a long time I wanted to be an English teacher - until I found out I had to learn about the parts of a sentence. I also wanted to be a massage therapist or a vet, but I stayed with the teaching aspect in the long run. I recall having a dream that I would have a lot of cats when I "grew up," because I wasn't allowed to have them as a kid. I have two cats right now and I think it would be fun to have a third. We even have a name picked out: Dorothy.

So perhaps I have realized two of my dreams. I can't really think of any other dreams I had. I never got into the little girl dream of fantasizing about my wedding day. My wedding day ended up being really casual and low-stress, much to the surprise of my parents and my mother-in-law. I had the feeling they wanted it to be a lot more formal than it was. Perhaps that was their dream?

Third Post

I really enjoyed the movie Pay it Forward. I agreed with the idea that we should all do good things for one another.

I looked up the phrase Pay it Forward, and it seems that it originated from banking. This seems a little odd to me, considering banking is, it seems, inherently evil. I also learned that the concept is used by some service groups that travel to cities and do community service projects in the hope that the community will pay it forward to their own members.

In the larger sense, Pay it Forward is an example of reciprocity; the act of doing something positive, and that action leading to another positive action. I believe we would all be a little better off if we could all adhere to this principle.

The movie itself was a good addition to our class. I really enjoy that we use different mediums to get the point across. This is a concept my other, lecture-based, professors need to learn from. Sometimes, when classes stick to one medium, the professors can begin to sound like this:



Fortunately, this is not one of those classes.

The movie itself was pretty good. I have seen it before, well, at least part of it. I really like the actors. Not Helen Hunt though, ever since Castaway, I cannot take her seriously. I love Kevin Spacey in it (but I loved him even more in American Beauty). The movie kept my attention and did a good job of explaining the concept of paying it forward.

I was excited to hear that the book and movie inspired people to create the Pay it Forward Foundation. This foundation aims to educate people that they can change the world. I can really buy into that concept. I feel like, when people are young, they really do want to change the world. However, as we grow older, we lose sight of the dreams we had as youth. I feel like I am in between the two stages, and I don't want to cross to the side of indifference. I feel like I can change the world a little by being a music teacher, but I'd really like to make a larger impact. I considered entering the peace corps after college, and I haven't totally written off that idea yet. I can't live my whole life without affecting some sort of change. Otherwise, I feel like my life is a waste. People ask, "What is the meaning of life?" I think the meaning of life is helping others.

Pay it Forward relates to our class because it emphasizes how we can change the world. In Soul of a Citizen, Loeb talks about how people neglect to be activists because they think it is somebody else's job. This movie invites us to believe the opposite. We can change the world, and it's not up to the larger-than-life characters.

Second Post

My civic engagement project was not hard to think of. Anthony and I chose to create a horn choir. This project was the result of our experiences at the University of Northern Iowa, where we participated in the community horn choir. The horn choir up there has been in existence since the 80's and it was always pretty fun. I liked playing next to community members. It really felt like I was connecting with members of the local music community.

A horn choir consists of more than 4 horn players. A community horn choir is a special ensemble in itself. Many of the horn choirs in the US are based in colleges. This leaves out any people who aren't students. We aim to approach this project with the same community aspect as the University of Northern Iowa. This is a more inclusive way to do it, and that is more in line with our music philosophy.

Our proposal is to hold a concert on campus, involving members of the community, including those who may not participate in many ensembles. We do not aim to have a perfect concert, we just want everyone to enjoy making music. I feel this is connected to civic engagement because we are bringing new people into our musical experiences, and allowing those people to play their instruments. Hopefully, this will enable them to have a greater connection to music. Also, since the concert is public, the community at large can still appreciate the concert. Some people may be interested in the horn choir, but not other popular groups in the area. Those are the people we're most interested in reaching. I really hope that this ensemble continues to occur in this area after we graduate. I'm around for another semester, so I'll try to do it then at the very least.

Here is an example of what a horn choir is:
(You may want to turn down your volume a little)

I'm thinking about adding that piece to the concert. I really like it! Music has been one of the only costs of this project, and we have decided to purchase it ourselves, rather than raising the funds. The sheet music is pretty cheap. It only costs around twelve dollars and we predict that we're going to be programming only about 3 or 4 pieces.

We tried to pick out music that wasn't too difficult, especially since we're not going to be able to have many rehearsals. We are having a little trouble finding a location, but if we can't find anything soon, we're going to use the school's resources.

I really like that this class assigns this project. I like that, unlike colloqium, we follow a project from beginning to end. It feels a lot less like labor, and more like a collaboration.

We're anticipating that the concert is going to be on April 18th. I'm really hoping some of the professional players in the area can join us.

First Entry

At first, I didn't know what to expect with this class. I thought it might be another boring general education class, and I was especially turned off by the subject material. I already consider myself a good citizen.

For instance, I wanted to vote in the 2004 presidential election. However, the elections were on the 2nd of November, and my eighteenth birthday was on November 5th. Instead of accepting that I would not be able to vote, I chose to get a job canvassing with my political party of choice. My job was to make phone calls and knock on doors. I even drove people to the election center. I was able to directly involve other people in the election process. Instead of only casting one vote, I was able to indirectly cast many votes that might not otherwise have been cast.

I also take the time to notice and help other people. I don't necessarily volunteer at a soup kitchen, but I do try to make people's lives a little easier when I can. I'm on a message group locally called Freecycle, where people offer and request free items. For example, I have received a free breadmaker, a coffee table, 2 bookshelves and a birdcage. I have gotten rid of a large, heavy filing cabinet, a recliner and some plastic patio chairs. Freecycle is one of the things that forces me to have a positive outlook on my community. People are willing to give to each other, just because they can. In regards to the recliner I gave away, it was taking up too much space, it would have been irresponsible to throw away, a hassle to sell, and the Goodwills and the Salvation Army price furniture way too high for the people that could really use it. It ended up that the person who responded to my message was a disabled and retired English teacher from New York. She offered to have a friend pick it up from us. When that friend found that it would not fit in her car, instead of moving to the next person on the list, we decided to take the recliner to her apartment ourselves. This is a little unheard of on Freecycle. Because the items are free, people expect the recipients to pick them up. However, we weren't doing anything that day, and I didn't want this person to miss out, just because they couldn't pick it up. When we got there, we found she lived in a small apartment and had recently had back surgery. She had a lot of trouble getting out of the couch that she had. The recliner was going to help her with her back pain. I had such a great rest of the day after that. Nothing makes me feel better than the feeling I get after genuinely helping someone.

Now, as this class continues, I find I like it more and more, and that I can do more. I could have probably entered this class with a better attitude.
In regards to our reading, I liked Soul of a Citizen because of the message it tries to get across is inline with my beliefs. However, the further I read into this book, the less I like it.
Soul of a Citizen fails to capture my attention. If I had decided to read this on my own accord, I wouldn't have gone past the first chapter.