Pros and Cons of Community

The Pros of community in general are that people can gather together in a place and have a sort of support system where they can feel free to express themselves in a way they see fit.

Specifically in regards to my community which is Power Poetry, I think that a pro is being able to write exactly what I feel like in a community that is pretty accepting and in a community that isn't obligated to read my work. It's like Twitter for me. Sort of like a personal diary-ish, just not as vague, and people may read my work, but they don't have to. And if they do read it, they don't have to like it or make me acknowledge that they read it (I sort of hope someone is reading my poetry somewhere though).

I can't specifically think of a con of community but maybe lack of feedback especially when it comes to writing could definitely be a con. For instance I really like people give me feedback (though I don't think it's necessary) on my work, especially work that I'm confident and passionate about. I want to know especially if I've posted it for the world to see, whether people like it or don't and why. I want to hear people's comments and how they relate to what I'm saying.

Community Jargon

The community I joined is a community that communicates through poetry. People post poems that they've created that speak to them, in hopes of either just expressing themselves or in hopes of having their poems speak to other people as well. With poetry of course, and people from all over the world creating poetry, there is not exactly a specific jargon used necessarily because in my community, there isn't much commenting on poems. There are also so many different varieties of poems that fit under themes such as love, politics, race or immigration and every other topic imaginable that young adults could have input on. Therefore, every piece is varied by author and by topic. People will view each other's poems, but comments are rarely posted. I have however, seen similarities between poems that I've read, that most poets I believe would seem to understand. Many of the poems I've read have verses, which are very common to poems of old and new, and many have rhyme schemes though not all the poems do, or need. Many also have witty or deep metaphors that make the reader whoever they may be, really see into the examples the writer is portraying and I have seen and done this same thing in my poetry. This type of writing especially can be understood in so many different ways. It is often up to interpretation. So in my community, I think that as poets we understand where each other are coming from in mental sense more than we use specific language to communicate our understanding of each other's work.

Community Joining

Joining a community for the first time (in real life) is usually always a bit scary, but exciting at the same time because the whole thing is brand new to you. You've never belonged to this group before, but now that you've found out about this particular group, you're really interested and you feel that you may have a lot common. For instance when I was in third grade I had joined the Girl Scouts because I thought it'd be really fun and my friends were in it. Not only that though, but I looked up to the 8th grade Girl Scouts with their green vests/sashes full of patches (they were so far from the brown sash that you begin with). They seemed so smart and like they knew where they were going.

The idea of being in Girl Scouts to me was liking growing up and assuming responsibility and I felt like I was ready to be a big kid. So I asked my mom about joining, and of course she said yes. And at my first meeting I was introduced as new, and I was given a dark brown sash with no buttons or patches on it. I had to work for those, and I looked forward to that. (You could tell how good a girl scout was by how may patches they had.) Together with my fellow Girl Scouts that year, we sold cookies, did community service, and even ran a 4K together. Not to mention we started to learn sign language. My patches multiplied as the year went on, and I remember the happiness when I would watch my iron on my new patches . Then, by the end of the year, our sashes were finally filled and were so proud. Not only had we accomplished so much, but we were one step closer to receiving a green sash. We were on step closer to being like the 8th grade girls whom we so admired. 

Regis Experience and Maker Manifesto Connected

In my Maker Manifesto I really emphasized community with self and community with other people, and now that I'm at college it's a completely different experience. I'm around so many different new people and re-learning how to make community is quite challenging especially when coming from a community that you've known and surrounded yourself with for years (my community of family and friends is quite small I'd say). But being in college so far, I've been surrounded by so many people 24/7 (which can be good and bad). Yet, it's so good to see so many people from so many different backgrounds and states and heritages, and states of mind all in the same place where we are dedicated to trying to move forward with our education and our lives. Already a lot of people I've met have already had impacts on me, though school has been in session for only a few weeks, and hopefully throughout the next four years I have overwhelmingly good impacts on the people that I talk to and meet as I strive to do the same thing in my future career. I don't only wish to be a part of a community and make community, but I wish to make our community and the communities I associate myself with a little bit better by first trying to better myself and/ as well as trying to help understand or maybe just be kind to those who surround me.

Maker Manifesto

My Maker Manifesto... I guess I really don't know where to start since making isn't really something that I think about on a daily basis, and it's not really something I'm entirely passionate about. Yet, I guess I wish to make a good life for myself if that counts for anything... What's funny is I don't exactly know how to go about doing this but I don't think that anyone does. 

Making for me if anything is really about community. Community with self and community with others. Being at peace with yourself and learning and growing by yourself as well as learning and getting to know and be at peace with others. Finding happiness and joy in yourself and people and being able to make a difference in people's lives, lastly allowing them to be able to have an impact on you as well.

Along the way to wherever I’m going though, I hope to make community and make a positive impact on people's lives which probably somewhere along the lines ties in with me wanting to be a doctor. I don't have crazy dreams like saving everybody in the world, but I believe that I possibly touch each and every person I work with, no matter how large or how few. 

My Relationship with Writing

Over the years my relationship with writing has changed drastically. Around third through seventh or eighth grade I used to love writing. And  I loved writing because I knew how to do it and it came easily to me. I could type up or write well worded essays and papers and personal statements at a young age. Writing was something I was good at and something I was better than other people and I liked to convey my thoughts. Then, high school came around and honestly it tore me down. Teachers seemed like they were only looking for one type of writing and that I was not used to at all. Of course, they also had their favorites, of which I was not, and whose writing was better than I could have ever dreamed (or at least so I thought). (Yet I never really wanted to be like them.) I think since then my writing has sunk to a slump. It isn't great and I feel like I'm not progressing though I know I have a ways to go. Now, I feel like I can never get all my thoughts down on paper, and it it is very infrequently that I am confident in my writing. The words can never come fast enough, my words never seem "intelligent" enough. Really, I'm not sure what's happened to my writing and my mindset towards writing. It's become more of a drag than something I love to do and I know that's bad since being at school I'm going to be expected to write papers on papers and well written at that. However, I'm hoping that this class teaches me something more about writing than I've experienced in the past. That it doesn't have to be a drag and as unlikely as it may seem at this age (to me), that it's possible to become a better writer.

My Thoughts on Learning

When I think about learning I think about Jonathon Kozol’s In The Shame of the Nation. In his novel, Kozol relays his experiences with underprivileged and under educated minorities in the country, specifically focusing on impoverished schools in New York City. He emphasizes the fact that public schools with majority minorities such as many public schools in New York, are underprivileged and not taken care of. Many schools are over filled with students and at the same time have cut important classes such as art and music classes, which help initiate creativity, and provide a healthy and legitimate way to stay active. These electives also help cultivate well rounded and experienced children. In many cases as well, the schools themselves are deteriorating around the children as they ascend through the public school system.  Kid’s education is being deteriorated as the buildings that they are being taught in are literally falling apart. Mold is growing in buildings, which is affecting the health of many kids, windows are literally falling into the road and ceilings are caving in, all while the middle class and more privileged public schools as seen in the other parts of New York,  maintain higher standards of maintenance as well as education.

Kozol also speaks about the strictness and almost robotic-like teaching methods in the failing public schools in United States. It seems as though if the students even think out of place that it is considered to be wrong, which is teaching you students that there is only one way to do each and every specific thing. -----The sad thing is that children learn through failure, they learn from engaging in activities and through experimentation and socializing with others which many of the rules of these schools deny their students of----- This “educational system” is limiting the minds of young ones, and limiting their aspirations as their “education” is preparing them not for college, but for standardized tests and primarily industrial jobs.

(I personally learned a lot from reading this book because I feel like I really gained insight on things that I was completely unaware of beforehand.)

DIY

My knowledge of DIY yourself culture has really only come from what I've seen on TV which is people making things out of wood or using old things to  fix up their houses instead of wasting money on professional help. TLC and HGTV are prime DIY channels if I do say so myself. Why spend money on professionals when you can do it yourself right? People, especially these days where technology is practically always at hand, can research whatever they would like to do and figure out a way to do it through websites like Pinterest and Google. For instance my mom wanted to finish the basement in my house and she watched shows, YouTube videos and looked up information online so that she could make our basement a comfortable and livable space.She gathered supplies and tools and then carried out the process (with some family help of course). Now my basement has ceilings, walls, carpet, and even a separate bedroom. It's really interesting what you can do when you are actually dedicated to getting something done. 

Though I don't particularly identify myself as a maker, one of the only personal examples of DIY projects I can think of was when I wanted to buy a pair of shorts two summer's ago. I thought hard and  realized that I had a plethora of old jeans in my closet that I never really wore (It seemed as though flared jeans kind of went out of style after middle school). So, I took out a pair and cut them into shorts so that I didn't have to beg my parents to buy me a new pair.

Therefore to me, DIY is a lot about saving money, and, also about getting things done EXACTLY the way you want them to be done.