REFLECTION
When I enrolled in English 2010 I
knew I was going to have to put in a lot of time and effort to make it through
the course. Several years ago, I had
taken this course and received a C- . . . the lowest grade I’d ever received
while at Salt Lake Community College.
Following the end of that semester I quit college. I hesitantly returned to college after a
two-year break, and then put off retaking English 2010 for another three
semesters. When I finally decided to
retake English, I knew I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes I had made
before. I wanted to build my skills as a
writer. I wanted to feel excited rather than afraid when told to, “be
creative.” I wanted to know the different genres intimately, being
able to decipher one from another. I
didn’t want to second guess my work and worry about whether I would “sound
stupid.” I wanted to learn how to
research a topic rather than relying on the first three options that popped up
with Google. I wanted to be a writer,
and in this class, that is exactly what I was able to become.
In this course, Prof. Solomon gave
us the opportunity to explore several different genres of writing, my favorites
being the flash memoir and persuasive genres.
The flash memoir was our first major writing assignment of the semester,
and it was immediately before this assignment that I was required to decide
upon my social justice issue. With the
flash memoir assignment in mind, I thought about the issues of the world and
what I was most interested in, what I could work toward changing, and what I,
personally, had experience with. This
helped me in deciding on food-insecurity as my social justice issue and gave
birth to my first flash memoir—a short narrative about an experience I had with
hunger and food insecurity.
Food-insecurity is a topic that is
all around us, constantly. We see it in
advertisements on the television asking us to donate. We see it pamphlets and flyers from our
churches and community organizations telling us to make 72-hour kits that contain
three days’ worth of food for each member in our families in case of
emergency. We see it in the food
pantries around town, the soup kitchens that provide meals, and in our
government issued EBT cards that are used to purchase food. Food-insecurity is to blame for reduced price
lunches at elementary, middle, and high schools. It is to thank for the food assistance plans
and the student body food pantries in our colleges. It affects over 47 million Americans and
nearly 800 million individuals worldwide.
It is a serious and dangerous problem that steals lives every day.
At the beginning of the course, all my
writing had fueling it were my personal dealings and experiences with
food-insecurity, which was especially true for my Flash Memoir. I didn’t know statistics, nor current events
surrounding the issue. I had done no
research, and besides what I had picked up here and there, I knew little to
nothing about the issue of food-insecurity.
It was through research and many hours spent reading that I was able to
uncover the information that I now know.
My best research being the first-hand experience that I gained through
my time volunteering with a local food pantry, REACH Salt Lake. It was through this that I moved from an
individual who was close to completely uninformed to someone who knows quite a
bit about the topic.
Through my online research, which
was a major challenge for me at first. I
was able to understand what food-insecurity is: inconsistent access to adequate
food. Sounds simple, right? Not really.
Food insecurity comes in many different forms. It can be so severe that you’re literally
dying due to its effects or it can mean that a person has to skip a meal once a
week. It looks different for everyone
suffering from it. But I would have
never known any of this had I not first learned how to research.
My research began by googling,
“scholarly articles on food-insecurity.”
They then evolved to using Google Scholar and searching for many
different topics. This made things easier,
seeing as thought I didn’t know that Google even offered Google Scholar, among
many other useful tools such as Google News and Google Blogger that can be used
to search for articles of different types on your topic. On top of that I learned that I was able to
access SLCC’s Library Database from my home computer. I found a wealth of information in data bases
such as EBSCO Host, JSTOR, and AGRICOLA—the USDA’s database which would be
especially useful for me. I also found
video databases such as Kanopy and Films on Demand. These would be two of my favorite discoveries
this semester. I spent time in films
databases researching my social justice issue as well as many more hours browsing
numerous topics for my own pleaser. It
was here that I found a source for countless hours of documentary films.
Some of the more interesting
research discoveries regarding food-insecurity I made were those related to
current events. I researched statistics
about poverty and how that relates to food-insecurity. It’s no surprise that nearly all documented
cases of food-insecurity go hand in hand with poverty. According to statistics found in AGRICOLA,
the USDA states that 100% of individuals taking part in the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP)—the leading governmental program in the US created
for the purpose of combating food-insecurity—fall under the US poverty
line. It also gave way to research
regarding SNAP itself. I began to learn
things about food-insecurity that changed my mind completely on what I believe
to be sustainable solutions.
When I began this project, I
believed that safety-net programs such as SNAP and food pantries across the
country were making a real difference in the lives of those they serve. And what I found surprised me. While this isn’t Untrue, it isn’t exactly
true either. These programs do wonders
in combatting short term or situational food-insecurity, such as that suffered
by individuals who are going through major life events such as divorce, job
loss, and natural disaster. However, in
cases of chronic food-insecurity such as that experienced by members of the
homeless community, individuals who suffer from generational poverty, or those
suffering from chronic poverty, food safety-net programs do very little to
improve their likelihood of moving from a food-insecure individual to what is known as a food-secure individual. This
information made me realize that the current system, while absolutely
essential, is not a permanent solution.
The time I spent volunteering at
REACH Salt Lake only reinforced these beliefs.
While there, I translated for the Spanish speaking clients. I spent most of my time in the office of one
of REACH’s board members helping he and the Spanish speaking clients
communicate and navigate through the intake process. This meant that I had a knowledgeable and
experienced person in the field of food-insecurity to talk to when things were
slow. I took the opportunity to ask
every imaginable question related to food-insecurity that I could think
of. I found out that the majority of the
clients at REACH have been coming there for years with no sign of moving on to
self-sufficiency when it comes to providing their own food. He explained that programs such as REACH do
little to solve the problem. He even
toyed with the idea that they help to perpetuate the problem by not motivating
or supporting people in becoming self-reliant.
He explained that what these programs lack is job search assistance,
English classes, and mentoring that could help guide and support those who
strive to make it out of poverty, and thus, become food-secure.
Now armed with all of this
information, I was able to write informed and motivating essays. I saw my work improve and progress with each
new writing project. I slowly saw new ideas immerge in my writing and took new
paths in each paper. I started as an
advocate writing in defense of food safety-net programs and then became an
advocate for change within these programs.
I began to write about the shortcomings of food safety-net programs and
gave possible improvements that could be made.
I was able to incorporate better research more efficiently. I became comfortable with citing sources and
finding new information. I began as a
writer who relied solely on emotional appeal to a more balanced writer who was
able to take advantage of logic and research, implementing them into my
work. This made me a more credible
writer overall. It gave my audience
reason to listen to what I had to say, trusting that it wasn’t just the beliefs
of one person they were relying on, but instead, it was the documented studies
of sociologists and scientists that agreed with these points as well. This semester’s research helped show me that
with some research and practice my writing could be balanced, logical, easy to
understand, clear, and most importantly, meaningful. It showed me that I am able to promote change
through many different avenues, writing being one of the most efficient.
PROJECTS
Each genre of writing gave me a new
challenge that helped to improve my writing.
As I stated earlier, I started with the flash memoir. I was fairly comfortable with this genre,
relying on emotional appeal to get me through it. However, in case it isn’t obvious already,
I’m a pretty longwinded writer, which made grasping the meaning of flash in flash memoir a fairly difficult task for me. I had to go through cutting out entire
paragraphs at a time to get to the word count assigned to us. In the end, while there was much I had wanted
to say that I wasn’t able to, the words I did use were meaningful. This showed me that length doesn’t
necessarily equal quality, although I still struggle with overdoing now and
again.
My next assignment as a part of The
Narrative Project was a profile. This
may have been my biggest struggle. I
didn’t start the assignment with a good understanding of my paper’s
layout. I had no plan, and I suffered
because of it. I took this assignment
into the writing lab and was offered quite a bit of constructive
criticism. I saw the assignment as a
report on a person to promote an idea, what I learned was that a profile is a
narrative, a story about an event in a person’s life that is meaningful to the
social justice issue I had chosen to explore.
Because my issue was food-insecurity, I chose to write a profile about
the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
I believe that choosing to write on an entity, instead of a person, made
this assignment all the more difficult for me.
My rough draft ended up looking more like a history of SNAP rather than
a narrative about an event. To attempt
to save the pape without completely re-doing it, I added in my own opinions and
tweaked it here and there to try and focus it on a centralized issue. What I learned most from this assignment was
that preparing is important. My
“wing-it” approach that I had grown accustomed to no longer cut it. After this assignment, I began to outline the
approach I would take in my writing assignment.
I studied the genre I was writing on and I started to print out examples,
highlighting the moves they made. This
just went to show me that even my biggest failures could help me become a more
successful writer.
I then moved on to the Information
Effect Project. I focused in on the
topic I had begun writing on in my profile.
I researched different aspects of the SNAP program and decided on a
current event related to SNAP: the one-million participant cuts from SNAP
happening in 2016. I began delving into
articles on successes and failures of SNAP.
I wanted to know what SNAP officials had to say and what independent
researchers had to say. I compared the
two and learned that was quite a difference.
This is when I became aware that safety-net programs weren’t as
successful as I once thought, however, that wasn’t the only perspective that I
had to present. Because the Information
Effect Project required me to present information, not take a side, I had to
become familiar with both sides of the argument. It was difficult for me to not make my own
opinions known throughout this assignment.
However, in the end I learned that you could still make a point even
when presenting both sides of the story.
It was difficult, but I was able to make people aware of the problems
with SNAP and the one-million cuts without actually stating my opinion. I think this genre is especially useful
because it allows your audience to come to their own conclusions without
feeling pushed one way or the other, which might actually be more effective
than trying to openly persuade them.
It was also in this project that I
began experimenting with visual media in my writing. I added tables, charts, and graphics to back
up my claims. I was able to continue
experimenting with the use of multiple medias in my next project as well, which
was the Persuasion Effect Project. It
was in this project that I was able to refine my writing in purpose, direction,
and organization. I had become fairly
comfortable with research and logic, and I had some practice with a multimedia
project at this point as well, but I wanted to be more organized. I wanted my audience to be able to read
through the paper smoothly, without any major bumps or diversions getting in
the way of the main topic. I stated my thesis,
that SNAP’s newly imposed three-month time limit is morally wrong and
detrimental to those the program was designed to help, and went on to back that
up clearly. I also enjoyed that I was
able to argue a specific opinion in this paper, unlike in the information
effect project where I had to remain unbiased—a challenge for any opinionated
person!
VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering at REACH Salt Lake, a
food pantry here in Salt Lake City, was an educational and rewarding
experience. Through my time translating
for Spanish speaking clients I got to see the real life people behind my
“issue.” I saw the needs and help that
we were able to help by providing food.
But I also saw the same people every week. While there, I learned about a English as a
Second Language course that those working at REACH Salt Lake were going to attend. It was because of this course that I was able
to learn about how to go about starting an English class for those needing to
learn it, and it was because of this that the idea for my Final Project was
born.
As I learned from those I worked
with at REACH, it takes more than handing out free food to help a person free
themselves from food-insecurity. One of
the most logical routes one can take to free themselves from food-insecurity is
to find stable employment that earns enough to buy what you need, including
food. One of the biggest obstacles in
finding gainful employment is not being able to speak with those you hope will
hire you. This is why ESL classes make
so much sense. I was at REACH for the
purpose of translating because around 50% of the clients there are not able to
speak English. So, I went to my
supervisor, Javan Payne, at REACH and proposed my idea: that I would create the
curriculum for the first two weeks of the beginner ESL class that REACH recently
started advertising as, “coming soon.”
With the course on starting ESL
classes, I was able to bring my ideas to fruition. I worked closely with Javan and was able to
come up with a curriculum that would benefit REACH. Because it is for the beginner class, grammer
and sentences were not our focus. Our
focus was on teaching the students words associated with practical, everyday
situations that they would likely find themselves in, and teaching them how to
communicate in order to get their needs met.
I proposed several different scenarios we could use teach in the form of
storyboards. I considered scenarios like
doctor visits, school registration, grocery shopping, going to the park,
traveling and learning direction, and many more. In the end Javan and I decided upon two
different types of scenarios to focus on.
The first being a grocery shopping, the second being navigation.
With the grocery shopping scene, I
used Creative Commons’ website to find clipart and photos I could use in
storyboards that could teach the students the words associated with the
pictures and how to communicate when paying for items. I got images of many different fruits,
vegetables, and meats, along with the cashier, checkout stand, grocery cart,
and money. The students will be able to
create stories using these images, and associate the image with the English
word for it. The teachers, which I will
be one of, will also be able to create scenes that focus on the words they want
to teach the class that week. I also
made money that can be used to learn to pay, count, and say the numbers in
English. All of these images will be
reusable. They’re laminated and I
provided sticky putty so that they can be put on a board for the whole class to
see.
Next I made several reuseable
images of street signs. We will use
these to teach the students, many of which are from the Middle East and other
countries, the meaning of the sign, how that translates to driving, and also
how to say the associated words in English.
We also have a large map of Salt Lake County. This will be used to help the students learn
to navigate the valley. It is essential
to get to know your new environment in order to meet your needs, get to the
grocery store, get your kids to school, get to work, go to the movies, or go to
a Christmas party. Many of these
individuals use public transit, so knowing the roads, where they go, and how to
navigate them will be very important.
Getting on the wrong bus and getting lost could be a very scary event
for someone who can’t speak the language and ask for directions or help.
Learning these skills and the
English language will be absolutely essential for the students at REACH. These skills will open potential doors to
employment, friendship, and comfortability that they would not otherwise
have. I should also add that I created
the intake forms along with the placement test.
The placement test is a series of questions that are asked of the
student upon enrolling in the ESL classes.
It determines whether they should be in the beginner, intermediate or
advanced class and is an important part of the process. Having students either overwhelmed or bored
is not good and it is important to them and also to the teachers and classmates
that each person is where they should be.
This will not only help the student get everything possible out of the
classes, but will also help the class run more smoothly. The following are some of the images I used
for the storyboards and placement test. I
also included some of the images I’ve been working on for future classes that I
will also be creating lessons for, with Javan’s help, such as learning the
various body parts and facial features, which could be useful for doctors’
visits and general conversation. On top of that I will be including images of the advertisement we will be using to advertise the classes and the signup sheet for placement exams.
