Educational Narrative Final Thoughts Oct 18, 2012

What is the main point of your paper?

     The main point of my Educational Narrative paper is to pass on a very important 'life lesson' that I learned about not letting emotions dictate the outcome of any given situation.

What is the main idea that you want your readers to come away with?

     I would like for my readers to come away with a better understanding that in any given situation, taking a moment to seperate what your logical brain is telling you and what your emotional knee jerk are often times not one in the same.

Expansion to a paragraph in Educational Narrative Paper- Oct 2012

 "I was astonished at the clarity in Kelsey’s re-telling of the tragic scenario. At the same time, I marveled in the fact that she recognized the presence of 'angelic beings' sent there to help her and that my Moms wisdom grounded her enough to follow the golden rule of letting “Logic Dictate Emotion.’ In doing so, it very well may have saved her life."   ~ excerpt from Education Narrative Paper

This weeks assignment is to clarify or detail further, a thought or paragraph in our Educational Narrative paper. I chose this paragraph because I wanted to expand on my daughter’s recollection of angelic beings being with her when the car hit the semi-truck and then rolled into the median. _________________________________________________________________________________

Throughout my life, I have heard many people share their stories about seeing 'visions of angelic beings' during a traumatic event. Thousands upon tens of thousands of people who prevail after a 'near death' event have reported seeing a 'bright and loving light' to which they felt compelled to 'go towards' and the Bible itself describes the experiences of people who saw 'beings' after said personage has crossed over to the Celestial Kingdom. Therefore it is no surprise that my curiosity was peaked when Kelsey stepped lightly into implication that she may have experienced such a phenomena and I could not help myself from probing further this topic. To my astonishment, my daughter was more then willing to share the details to which I sat in wonderment and awe as she proceeded to recant the ordeal.

"... The 30 minutes or so before the accident, all of the girls in the car (myself included) opted to turn the radio off because the topic of faith came up and we wanted no distractions as we explored the personal relationships we all have with Jesus Christ. Even though we all follow a different denomination, we had identical and exact relationships with the one we called 'our Savior.' Amanda, the girl who sat behind me referred to a verse in the Book of Mathew and she quoted "when two or more are gathered in his name, his presence will be felt.' I remember thinking 'How beautiful' because truly, in that moment, I FELT the Spirit and just knew, in my gut, that the Lord was with us in the car. It seemed like a split second later, I was being tossed around the cab of the car like a rag doll, yet I still felt like I was not alone. The moment before my head went through the window, with no explanation available, I felt like someone put a pillow to the side of my face. This feeling turned out to be a good thing because, the next thing I remember was that the window I sat next to shattered and for all intent and purpose, my head was outside [the window.] 

I don't really remember the car flipping [twice] through the air or it landing upside down in the median. But I do recall hearing a dismembered voice coaching me, telling me that it was 'imperative' that the car be turned off because there is gas being spilled and there was a risk of an explosion. I didn't panic, I just followed the instruction given and told Rachel [the driver] to try her best to reach the key and turn off the ignition. I could hear her struggling, but somehow, she managed to do as I asked and the car was turned off. After that, I closed my eyes again and I heard the voice giving me more direction. This time, I was asked to wriggle myself out of what was supposed to be my window. My logical brain was telling me there would be no way for my body to squeeze through this extremely small opening, but the voice told me not to worry cause a way would be provided for, I just had to trust enough to not think to much about it. So, I followed direction and, even though I was upside down and belted into the seat, I somehow managed to make my way out. 

It was as though everything was in happening in slow motion. I saw people, bystander’s, running towards me. I heard, what sounded like dull and distant noises, but could not make out definitive sound and, in all honesty, I don’t think I was even in my body. I felt like I was floating or something. But that voice, the one that kept talking me through everything was ever so present and if it had not been, I am not sure I would have made the decision to stay on this Earth.”

My heart nearly stopped beating when I heard those words…. “I am not sure I would have made the decision to stay on this Earth.” ~ Did this mean Kelsey was on the verge of a life changing decision? Was Kelsey given a spiritual choice as to whether or not it was ‘her time?’ … My mind was racing and I continued to listen, with baited breath as she continued to detail the moments after the accident.

“Anyway, back to the voice, it told me I needed to go to the driver’s side of the car and bring comfort to the girl who was still pinned.  I wasn’t exactly sure what I was being asked to do, after all, a 3000 pound car was on top of her, but I followed instruction and made my way to the ground where she lay and I reached for her hand. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t saying anything and in my heart, I wasn’t 100% positive she was even alive, but I was not being asked to analyze the situation. I was being asked to bring comfort. So, I did the only thing I could think to do and that was to pray.

I prayed for a miracle, strength, peace. I prayed for guidance and for help but most of all, I prayed for each girl to find comfort in knowing that because ‘Two or more were gathered in His Name, He was present.’

I opened my eyes a moment later and it was like a dream. There were seven total strangers lifting up the car. I was still holding tight to Rachel’s hand when someone reached in the mangled mess and dragged her out. As soon as the sun light hit her face, she opened her eyes. I know I am not a mother, but I could only imagine what a mom feels the moment a new life is delivered unto her hands, because in that moment, the one where she [Rachel] opened her eyes, I KNEW beyond any shadow of doubt, that I was witnessing the birth, well.. rebirth, of a near and dear friend.

As you can imagine, by the time she was finished with her own testimony, I was all but sobbing. I had a taste of something even greater then the miracle I had prayed for, because, as I was seeing it unfold, from her perspective, I realized that the little girl I was blessed to bring into this Earth was a little girl no more. In her place stood an amazing woman that had enough strength and courage to not only listen to guidance from beyond, but also carry out the instructions to a “T” and in doing so, changed the course of her own destiny.

The Difference Between Malcolm X and Ben Franklins Difference and SimilaritiesAutobiography Papers

 

The Differences and Similarities Between Malcolm X and Ben Franklin’s Autobiography Papers

        Benjamin Franklin wrote in the language of the time. He spoke and wrote in an Old English text and for those of us in the new millennium, it is a language all but dead, therefore it is difficult to read and comprehend in its fluidity. However, had we been born and educated some one hundred years earlier, I believe his written texts would have been received with elegance and grace. Even in a foreign tongue, Franklin had an approach to writing that hand-held the reader through his thought process. An example of this is Franklin’s quote, “Under him I acquired fair writing pretty soon, but failed in the arithmetic’s, and made no progress in it.” Whereas, he could have simply stated that he learned to write but didn’t find arithmetic’s as easy, he took it upon himself to clarify that he not only failed at mathematics but made no progress in it what-so-ever.

     In stark contrast to Franklin’s writing style, Malcolm X wrote a language easier to follow and his ‘tone’ seemed a little more raw. Where Franklin hand held, Malcolm assumed the reader had a certain comprehension level that gave credence to street smarts without diminishing those who understood better from an educated point of view. In other words, Malcolm X spoke to the heart of a person and Franklin spoke to the logic of a man. 

     Both Malcolm X and Benjamin Franklin were driven men and in their efforts of connecting with their target audience, they shared their experiences with the reader. I believe this was an honest effort to show that what they wrote had credence because of the merit behind the actions. It would be difficult to accept someone’s opinion if they had no previous experience to back up what they spout. IE: It would be difficult to accept Malcolm X’s viewpoint of slavery being an atrocity if we found out that he was, himself, a slave owner who mistreated his property. 

     In addition to both men trying to find a connection with their audience through the sharing of an experience, Malcolm and Franklin wrote in a voice of their time. A man from the early 1800 would fair little with an understanding of our current verbiage just as a man of today fairs little with the text of yesteryear

What I liked most about Malcolm X - Oct. 11, 2012

What did I enjoy or like best regarding Malcolm X?

     In truthfulness, prior to this class, I knew nothing about Mr. Malcolm Little, aka, Malcolm X so to read about his successes was rather startling. Most young men who turn to the lifestyle of hustling and gangbanging at an early age will seldom amount to anything more then the societal perception of low-life. To the credit of Malcolm Little though, he realized, albeit in prison, that to command a room takes more then quick talk and tricks. To truly ‘be heard,’ one must make sense and demand the right kind of respect. 

     To accomplish his goal of ‘commanding a room,’ Malcolm implemented an approach to learning that I have, myself, utilized. He wrote everything in the dictionary on tablet paper and then, aloud, read what he wrote. This is a combination of tactile and audio learning and, like, I mentioned earlier, it is my preferred method of learning.

     Before he even realized it, time had passed by and he was reading everything that had words such as novels, history books, philosophy and theology. He spent hours and hours educating himself and found that he was very much attracted to the philosophies taught by Elijah Muhammad as well as the injustice and brutality bestowed upon the black men, women and children during the era of slavery. He understood the importance of passing on what he knew in order to educate other African Americans and in so much as a blink of the eye, he did. He became a predominate figure in our history as America.

     To say that I admire his appetite for reading and learning is probably a gross understatement. I too have a deep seeded need to expand my horizons and I hunger for all things academic. My first love and passion has always been theology. I believe this came from an experience I had a small child where I literally stumbled upon a recently murdered man, in an alleyway, on Halloween. I was not more then 10 years old and it had such an impact on my perception of life and death that I never ‘let it go.’ Therefore, I spent nearly every waking minutes pondering what happened to and where did a person go after they expelled their last breath. Picture if you can, a child of 12 quizzing every respected religious leader in the community about their understanding of what happens to the soul upon departing the physical body.

     By the time I was 15, I had read the Torah, The Koran, the Bible and the New Age version of Gnosticism. I was fluid in nearly every argument there was for “Life after death,’ ‘Near death experiences,’ and ‘the existence of Angelic and Personage Beings,’

I was even a firm believer of some people having a special and unique ability to “see” the “Other Side.” (Please do not mistake that for people who are ‘psychic’ or who are ‘gypsies.’)

     I graduated high school when I was 16 and had very little doubt as to what I would pursue in college. Bare in mind, I have never had the desire to pursue a career in religion, as in, becoming a minister or evangelical crusader running full force to ‘save the world.’ That said, I knew I had gone as far as I could ‘on m own’ in regards the perspectives on death so the only logical choice then, was to move forward in academia with my favorite subject.

     So, in conclusion, I can relate to Malcolm X. I know the feeling of a burning need for ‘more’ and I know what it feels like to realize that sometimes, greatness can be thrust upon you and you have to decide whether or not you will ‘represent’ in a positive light, or a street savvy, albeit gangsta like, negative way.

Mike Rose - I Just Wanna Be Average Blog Assignment

1)

Mike Rose is the victim of his own circumstance. He was born in an era that didn’t focus on the potential of EVERY child so much as the focus that every child can do manual and remedial labor. To that, expectations never ran high and education was not a luxury one could afford elsewise. Add to the mix that his parents were immigrants with little or no pro-active support to his academics and the fact that teachers and staff were over worked, underappreciated or just plain old warn out and you have a recipe for low self-esteem and drive in the field of advanced academics.  

Fortunately, my personal experiences in school have never been as detrimental as Rose’s. I loved learning. I loved socializing and I loved each opportunity my education afforded me. My parents put an emphasis on the opportunities one could have with learned direction and they often played an intricate part in my class selections and after-school activities as a means of ‘showing me the way.’ Now, that said, I did bear witness to the discrimination some of my peers experienced when it became evident that they did not have outside support and the teacher became frustrated with the never ending challenge of motivating the unmotivated.

I do believe that Mike Rose expressed himself quiet well as he described his peers, the surroundings and the intensity of his situation. For that, I would like to try and use such detail in my Narrative paper.

2)

Just as kids today have advanced classes and programs such as TEAM, there are classes and programs set up to assist the student who has some sort of learning disability. In the past, people had horrid names for such programs and they carried with them the stigma that the child was ‘dumb,’ ‘stupid’ or ‘incapable.’ Being placed in such a class injured a child self-esteem and had the potential of extinguishing the fire with in the students belly.  Mike over-came some of his challenges by developing ‘short-cuts’ or ‘magic tricks’ to see him through the class. He would later go on to state that he regretted such an act, as it truly did hinder his later attempts at furthering his education.

What I am attracted to Mike’s honest approach. He is very candid with his story telling and the truth that only he can relate is relevant.

3)

Ken Harvey ran full speed into a solid brick wall. He went into the high school behind the 8-ball and just couldn’t seem to catch up. This was the direct link as to why he hated the academic experience. What breaks my heart is that: far too many students experience some sort of negative situation that shapes and molds their outlook towards a class environment or the educational experience as a whole. In retrospect though… finding kindred spirits and people who have similar likes and dislikes does help one get through the day in a classroom, tutorial or other means of confinement in academia.

4)

For me, going back to college in my 40’s has been extremely disorienting. The stark contrast between me and those around me are more than physically obvious. I don’t only standout as the ‘more seasoned’ student, but I don’t use the same verbiage in conversation, I don’t understand some of the drama the others deem ‘life changing’ and I don’t have the luxury of, what I presume to be as, wasting time. My days are crammed full with obligations that someone half my age wouldn’t necessarily have.  That said, I have found some of my peers to be a breadth of information and if asked in the right manor, they have been more than willing to step up and be a beacon of light for me to gravitate to. Thus far, my method of coping has been to just ‘jump in.’ In other words, I don’t care about what anyone else thinks. I am here for me and the opinions of others cannot and will not hinder me from achieving my goals. I cope with the strain and stress by focusing on my long term vision and know that these short months are just a stepping stone to finding fulfillment once I become an empty nester (which is right around the corner for me.)

How I am using my blog to move towards Paper #1

My blog is keeping me focused and on task. By using it daily for the assignments, I am forced to focus on a bigger picture and the fact that I am on a time constaint. By following some of my peers papers that I have attached to my blog, I am able to better understand my tartget audience and with that knowledge, I am able to curbtail my writing into an appropriate format. My hope is that this will assist me finding common threads in my 'writting voice' and therefore, 'connect' with my audience on more then just the basic level of reading and comprehending.

Education Narrative

            Christa Baesler

English 101

Educational Narrative

Logic Dictates Emotion

 Recently, I faced a life-altering situation that had me reevaluate my priorities and perspectives on the relationships I have in my life. I would like to say that my experience was pleasant and full of warm and fuzzies, but lessons ‘truly’ learned are seldom soft and sweet. In fact, it is my understanding that the tougher the experience, the more you remember the details and hence the lasting impression or, as I like to put it… ‘The lesson learned.’

On Sept. 29, 2012, my 18-year-old daughter, Kelsey, was in route from Spokane to the Tri-Cities. Eastern Washington is notorious for gusty winds that are fully capable of tugging or pulling a motor vehicle back and forth on the road. Such is the case in the accident that almost took the life of my child.

The automobile she was in proceeded to pass a semi-truck, a gust of wind pushed the vehicle towards the median. The driver tried to correct the small car and in doing so, struck the semi-truck. (They were moving approximately 70 miles per hour.) My daughter, who sat in the passenger front seat, hit the window with her face, shattering the glass. A split second after the initial impact with the 18-wheeler, the car rolled twice into the median and came to rest, upside down in a clearing between the two lanes of the highway. 

The accident happened at 4:00pm. At 4:12pm, notification came from a total stranger who happened to be on scene and, by the Grace of God, had the sense to open Kelsey’s phone and look for “Mom’s Number.”  Seeing the caller ID as ‘Daughter #1’, I answered the phone and in all truthfulness, I thought it was a prank call, telling me of the quick and edited version of an accident that had just happened. But the tone in the woman’s voice convinced me to the seriousness of the situation. A moment or so of gathering vital information, such as where the paramedics were taking my daughter and the fact that she was breathing on her own accord, I was off the cell. It took me all of 5 seconds to pull myself together and then formulate a plan of action. First thing was first; I needed to tell my husband about the call. Allowing him his moment of ‘freak out’ and then letting logic dictate our emotions, we worked out the quick details of where we needed to go, how we were going to get there and who we needed to contact. On an emotional level, my two worst fears were coming into fruition. First, the call every parent dreads “There’s been an unfortunate accident,” and second, that my child was all alone, scared and fighting for her life while I am ‘out of range.’ The idea that Kelsey was 5 hours away and alone haunted me, but I knew I had to remain calm and focused, or in a haste, we would not get to her in the projected 5 hours we knew it would take to travel the near 300 miles.  

I can honestly tell you that the drive east was, to say the least, the longest drive of my life. Every ‘worse-case scenario’ crept into my consciousness and it took all of my might and energy to not give into the temptation of a meltdown.  However, then I remembered something my Mom used to tell me and it brought such comfort and calmness to my mental state. Call it an educational moment for life, for it is this particular lesson that I embraced during one of the darkest hours of my life and in doing so, came out the other side with a new appreciation for life, love and the wonderment of all the tiny miracles it took to keep my daughter alive after her ordeal.

“In life, you will experience two major phenomena; the first is always ‘emotion.’ That is the knee jerk reaction you have to any given situation. It could be joy, jubilation, fear, anger. It is whatever emotion you feel ‘in the moment.’ Once you have worked through the emotions, logic steps in and navigates you through so that the ‘end-result’ lines up with the best possible outcome or scenario.” ~ Gail Fleischmann

I realize this simplifies every experience one may have, but if you think about it, there is truth behind the basics. In the above situation, my emotion was panic, fear and a loss of control. But… after my moment of ‘emotion,’ logic dictated my actual course of action. I knew I had to proceed rationally in order to accomplish my immediate goal, that being the need to get to Spokane and to help my daughter.

It was 11:45pm when we arrived at the Sacred Heart Hospital where paramedics transported Kelsey after the accident. I didn’t realize I had been holding my breath for near 5 hours until the moment I saw my daughter, standing in the lobby, waiting for me to rescue her from her near fatal ordeal. At first glance, I was able to assess that, although she was cut up, bruised and emotionally shaken, there were no other major injuries visible to the naked eye. That was such a relief. After a long moment of just holding her in silence, Kelsey began to recant the events of the afternoon. Her story affected my mind, body and spirit because in her rendition of the events, as they unfolded, I heard firsthand the lessons my Mom passed on to me, especially when Kelsey said, “I knew I had to remove myself from the state of emotion in an effort to get out of the situation. If I had stayed in that place of fear and confusion, I would not have gotten out of the car. I would not have known what to do to bring calm to the other girls who were still pinned under / in the car and I would not have had the wits about me to remember my training in Athletic Medicine. I knew I had to access the situation, administer emergency first aid, be the voice of reason since the others were frantic and most of all, I knew I had to trust that Heavenly Father and the Angels were with me, guiding me in what I had to do and then assist me in doing it.  One thing I knew for certain was that the car rolled twice and the top of the car was severed from the body of the vehicle, therefore, inevitably, we all had head injuries and if we took one wrong step, anyone of us, myself included, could very easily not have walked away.”

I was astonished at the clarity in Kelsey’s re-telling of the tragic scenario. At the same time, I marveled in the fact that she recognized the presence of angelic beings sent there to help her and that my Moms wisdom grounded her enough to follow the golden rule of letting “Logic Dictate Emotion.’ In doing so, it very well may have saved her life.   

 By now, you’re probably wondering how the tale of Kelsey's experience translates into my educational experience and in all truthfulness, that is a fair question.  The easiest way for me to answer it is to say that I learned to trust 'Logic' as it 'Dictates Emotion,' that my hard-work as a parent has paid off because my daughter has put into practice what I have been teaching and the reward for my efforts has been collected in that I witnessed firsthand her application of my said teachings. My lesson learned is that in a crisis, my cooler head will prevail and I to have enough common sense to listen to that 'little voice' because I just might never know when said little voice is the guidance from a place far beyond the scope of my imagination~ a place called Heaven.