User:Raequel.Sank/NMAC 3108 Journal

Hello, My Name Is...

Journal Entry 1: 5/29/19

Hello, my name is Raequel Sank. I am a Junior English major with two minors: Professional Writing and IT. Upon graduating in Fall 2020, I plan to become a Technical Writer/Programmer Writer. I enjoy reading, however, the constant reading that I'm required to do as an English major has decreased the amount of reading that I do for pleasure. My goal is to read at least 5 novels by the end of this year, because I miss the satisfying feeling of becoming enveloped in a story and the attachment that I used to gain to characters. Aside from reading, I thoroughly enjoy working with students because I believe that education and knowledge are two of the fundamentals of life. Currently, I host SAT/ACT writing test prep workshops that includes college prep as a way to incorporate my passion. Eventually, I would like to begin an enrichment program that offers college prep, tutoring, creative writing courses, resume writing and develops other small educational programs.

As a Junior in college, my work and school have taken over, and I would like to become more adventurous in my personal life. I am currently on vacation in New Jersey, and have been fulfilling my desire of becoming more spontaneous. I scheduled the trip with no plans, other than visiting family, and so far, I have thoroughly enjoyed the limitless possibilities that each day brings.

@Raequel.Sank: Welcome to the course. What novels have you read so far? Please be sure to date your journal posts. Thanks! —Grlucas (talk) 10:48, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Great goals! I'm sure you'll have a great enrichment program that will impact many lives. Looking forward to a great semester @Raequel.Sank: --AmaniSensei (talk) 15:41, 4 June 2019 (UTC)

Wikipedia Challenges

Journal Entry 2: 5/30/19 So far, working with Wikipedia has been a bit challenging. For starters, I didn't realize that the things that we're doing were possible; I suppose that I assumed that Wikipedia hired a team of educated individuals to post articles. However, I am excited to be working with Wikipedia overall. Posting journal entries has been the most difficult thing for me so far. If I'm honest, as much as I appreciate highly descriptive instructions, I learn best through trial and error (which frustrates me). When trying to figure out something new, I read the instructions only once through and never go back to them afterwards. Instead, I struggle and get frustrated with myself until I figure it out. Although this technique frustrates me, I find that it is the only technique that gives me complete confidence in my ability to complete the task.

@Raequel.Sank: Hi Raequel, I would agree with you and say that it has been challenging for me to get used using to Wikipedia as well. I am also the type of person that has a hard time following along by reading the instructions and it has been easier for me to get the hang of things by actively doing it, opposed to trying to read about it. —Aaliyah

@Raequel.Sank and Ajhawkins95: I hear you about figuring out things on your own: that's really the only way we learn, and I commend it. However, don't let it frustrate you. There's a lot to take in. IS there another way (other than instructions) that I could help? —Grlucas (talk) 10:46, 3 June 2019 (UTC)

Hi Raequel. I understand exactly where you are coming from. I had some of your same thoughts. With anything, the more you work on something the better you will get at it. I have no doubt you will thrive this semester! @Raequel.Sank:--AmaniSensei (talk) 15:38, 4 June 2019 (UTC

President Trump Conspiracy

Journal Entry 3: 6/3/19

The article that I chose to evaluate for this week's journal actually has a pretty interesting back story. A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through Instagram when I came across a post about conspiracy theories. I typically find these sorts of things amusing, so I scrolled through the thread and was intrigued when I came across a conspiracy regarding Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla, according to the Wikipedia article, was a Serbian-American inventor in the early 1900s who is famous for his contributions to the AC and the electrical supply system. Tesla conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging, and even built a wireless-controlled boat. The conspiracy regarding Tesla, however, regarded time travel and President Trump (yeah, pretty intriguing already, huh). Apparently, Nikola Tesla claimed to have invented a powerful particle-beam weapon. The American government allegedly took possession of all information regarding the invention, which was officially declassified by the FBI in 2016. Dr. John G. Trump, uncle of President Donald Trump, was head of research at a high voltage lab at MIT and apparently had access to Tesla's research. Although no one truly knows what was included in Tesla's research, there are rumors that it was leading to the verge of time travel. Ingersoll Lockwood, author of "1900; or, The Last President" and "Baron Trump's Marvelous Underground Journey", has many theorists spinning their heads regarding some pretty coincidental information. Lockwood's stories regard a young boy named Baron Trump who finds a portal that leads to other worlds. There are many coincidences within the book, as well as coincidental dates that cause people to believe that President Trump's family has access to time travel, and even that President Trump, in fact, has traveled through time.

Anywho, I digress; I chose this article because of the opinionated information that I'd found regarding conspiracies. I used that as a basis to check just how factual, and non opinionated Wikipedia articles are. I was presumably disappointed that the article was strictly fact. Although professors warn students not to use Wikipedia as a source, I typically still look through articles simply to gain solid background information on a subject that isn't biased. I also like how Wikipedia articles are structured in chronological order, which helps the research process go by smoothly.

This is hilarious! Would you happen to have the link? I would not mind digging into this @Raequel.Sank:--AmaniSensei (talk) 16:16, 6 June 2019 (UTC)

Unfortunately, I can't find the link to the conspiracy theory information, however, I did update my journal and included the link to Nikola Tesla's Wikipedia article! @AmaniSensei:--

Raequel.Sank (User talk:Raequel.Sank\talk) 13:01, 6 June 2019

@Raequel.Sank: Did you see my comment on your first post? (I don't think you did.) Please use correct Wikipedia linking (have you bee doing your training?); also, use it in the context of your post, not on a line by itself. Please add the article you evaluated to the WikiEdu dashboard. Remember, this is not an essay; you should be practicing what you're learning. Did you notice that your comment above needs to be fixed? All of these things are important in writing for digital media. Finally, updates to your journal are called journal posts not journals. —Grlucas (talk) 20:02, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

My trip to New Jersey

Journal Entry 4: 6/8/19

For my third journal, I wanted to discuss my trip to New Jersey. In my first journal, I mentioned that I would be traveling to New Jersey for two weeks. Today is my second to last day so I figured it would be the perfect journal topic. My trip has been an exciting experience; so far, I’ve visited a lot of family, eaten a lot of amazing Spanish food, experienced the city life in Philadelphia, including eating an authentic Philly cheesesteak that will make you never eat another outside of Philadelphia. Overall, I've created a lifetime of memories over the past two weeks. I’ve always enjoyed traveling but haven’t always been able to do it. This trip feels amazing, and has inspired me to travel once a year, or at least once every two years. Whether it be a foreign country, a different state, or a stay-cation in your hometown, I think that it's important to experience new things to keep your mind open to all that the world has to offer. On my list of places to visit are: Barcelona, Spain; San Juan, Puerto Rico and Cairo, Egypt; however, I also want to see some of the treasures within the United States like Yellowstone, The Grand Canyon and The Four Corners Monument.

@Raequel.Sank: One way you could consider improving your Journal entry on your trip to New Jersey is to add appropriate links to items you discuss. For example, you could link to articles on the word "Philadelphia" that would take the reader to content about the city.TSchiroMGA (talk) 18:50, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

@TSchiroMGA: Great advice! 👍🏼 Plus, linking will give you much-needed practice. —Grlucas (talk) 20:04, 10 June 2019 (UTC)

Should I go with this?

Journal Entry 5: 6/18/19

I decided to review and edit the article, Hypergamy. Initially, it was the last article that I thought I'd review, but, I've been finding that weird, or even intricate topics have very little information. This may be because of Wikipedia's intolerance of bias, since it's very hard to discuss certain topics without a bit of bias. However, I decided to accept this challenge and add more information to this article without any bias. Wish me luck guys! And be sure to check it out and let me know how I did!

@Raequel.Sank: You should be dating your posts and using proper headers. I do not see how your chosen article fits with the assignment. Please let me know. —Grlucas (talk) 15:30, 1 July 2019 (UTC)

Not Hypergamy

Journal Entry 6: 7/22/2019

So, after reading through the comments of my previous journal, and rereading the assignment instructions, I realized that my understanding of the assignment was all wrong. I saw Hypergamy in a list of articles and possible topics, and thought, "huh, this might be interesting". I've found that I am a pretty unconventional person, and that my journal entries are pretty different from my classmates; so I thought that an article about gold-diggers would be a perfect fit for my shameless journal entries. However, after finding out that I had the assignment all wrong, I changed my article to things Macon related: The Telegraph (because I enjoy writing, and used to think that I wanted to work as a newspaper editor), and

Am I allowed to do this? Copyediting Woes

Journal Entry 7: 7/22/2019

Although it has been reinforced that Wikipedia allows users to edit articles, I stil felt weird editing the article for Macon, GA. I made a very simple change because, honestly, it felt weird. I reworded a sentence in the history section of the article from, "As many Europeans had already begun to move into the area, they renamed Fort Hawkins "Newtown.", to, "As many Europeans had already begun to move into the area, Fort Hawkins was renamed "Newtown.". I also linked the article for Fort Hawkins because it just seemed necessary to have the link there in my opinion.

Lack of Motivation

Journal Entry 8: 7/7/19

For this week's journal I wanted to be a bit candid and discuss something very personal: my recent lack of motivation. I had a meeting with Professor Lucas early in the semester that motivated me and gave me a different appreciation for the structure of this course. I left the meeting and immediately planned everything out; I had an idea of how I wanted my journals to be structured and even had a few topics in mind. I was all set, then, procrastination hit me, hard. My plan included completing the WikiEdu assignments early and making daily contributions to my article and journals. Truth be told I can't think of a singular reason as to why I lost the motivation, but I did, and it affected my ability to perform in this class. So, I'm here, two weeks before all of the course work is due trying to make up for the past two weeks of procrastination. There is, however, some good in all of this because I somehow managed to take this as an opportunity to learn something: for starters, I've realized that I can't allow my circumstances the power to take over my life; and second, I learned that although I work well under pressure, I can't use that as an excuse for procrastination. So, I'm currently in the process of retraining my mind to be a more effective student.

@Raequel.Sank: Welcome back to the course! It may help you to review other students' journals so you can see tips on how to avoid some of our common mistakes. I suggest you read Dr. Lucas' tips on writing on a wiki in order to jumpstart your success. Also, go back through Weeks 1-6 to find out what tasks you may have missed. For example, this post is titled "Journal 7". However, I don't see a Journal 6. You should strongly consider using subheadings for your journal posts. Also, Dr. Lucas asked you a question about your Journal 5 post. Have you replied to him yet? Please post any questions that you have to the class help page. We look forward to working with you soon!—TSchiroMGA (talk) 03:24, 8 July 2019 (UTC)

Journal 9 Peer Review

What's New

Journal 10: 7/23/2019

So, apparently, Wikipedia automatically creates a table of contents when you chose the appropriate header! Who knew? Also, I updated the first paragraph of the Macon Telegraph article. I am attempting to add a picture of the historical building.

Social Media Plan

Journal Entry 11: 7/22/2019

One of my goals is to create a company, S.A.N.K Enrichment program, that provides opportunities for students and encourages early career and college planning. I know that social media will be a big part of marketing my business, not only to gain clientele, but also to show the community the good that my company will do. I do not have a formal plan, but I do know that I would like to take every opportunity to post pictures of the workshops, and opportunities that I create for the students. Further, I have learned that social media requires constant engagement and consistency, so I would need to be consistent with my postings and engage with my following.

Making Progress

Journal Entry 12: 7/22/2019

I truly appreciate my classmate for welcoming me back to the course after my low motivation hiatus. That comment truly meant a lot, especially because I didn't expect anyone to think I was still a part of this course. I am slowly but surely picking up my slack, and while it's been challenging, that comment was the motivation that I needed to keep going. Honestly, that comment reminds me of why it is important to support others. You truly never know what someone is going through, and how one small compliment or positive comment can affect that person.

Field Trip

Journal Entry 13: 7/22/2017

I haven't taken a field trip since high school, but throughout my year of grade school, I did go on a good amount of school trips. My most memorable trip was during my Junior year of high school. In high school, I was a part of an organization called DECA, which was a marketing and entrepreneurship club that fostered early business skills. DECA is a nationally recognized organization that hosts leadership conferences annually. During the fall of my Junior year, I got to attend the leadership conference and had the absolute best experience. The conference consisted on various workshops about leadership, entrepreneurship, and other business related skills. We got to chose which workshops we wanted to attend, and in the evening, there was a formal gathering that taught us about conducting ourselves at business dinner parties. Trip was two days long, and was hosted a hotel in the city of Atlanta, where all of the attending schools stayed. The best part about the trip was that the hotel was connected to Cumberland mall, and after all of the planned festivities, we got to shop!

Procrastination

Journal Entry 14: 7/22/2019

So, since I decided to make this journal an honest one, devoted to my struggles both with this class and in general, I decided to discuss procrastination. I am currently awake, after a long day of work, finishing up things that I put off until now. I find it so funny how I literally hate when I procrastinate, but end up doing it anyways. I find myself having mini speeches in my head, perhaps my ID and SuperEgo at work, debating how long it will actually take to complete the task. When it comes to small tasks such as taking out the trash, or washing the dishes immediately after breakfast, my EGO springs into action and I do it. When it comes to those dreadful tasks, I will literally make up ANY excuse not to immediately do it. Of those dreadful tasks, if I'm completely transparent is doing my homework. I find it so crazy that when it comes time to do anything that I dread, I muster the desire to do everything except for the initial task. One time, while procrastinating my homework, I mustered the energy to clean the entire house: organized my bedroom, scrubbed my bathroom spotless, and even helped my mom to rearrange and organize somethings; four hours later, my house was emmaculate, and my homework was untouched.

Reflective Essay

I would like to begin this essay by expressing my regret for not being motivated enough during this semester. This truly was an interesting class experience, and I regret that I did not take full advantage and utilize my true creativity. However, it was a lesson learned, and I am happy that I got to participate in something so unique.

Critiquing Articles

I still have not gotten over my over-arching fear of critiquing articles. Reading over an article, and discussing its flaws in a class discussion is one things, but the fact that Wikipedia allows users to actually edit and makes changes freaks me out...still. It makes me truly think before I critique anything because I want to make sure that the critique is constructive and not biased, or preference based.

My Contributions

My contributions were mainly visual. I edited the layout of my journal page to fit my personal interest. I also copyedited the Macon Telegraph article.

Feedback

I truly appreciated the feedback that I received on my first journal.

Wikipedia Generally

Overall, I enjoyed the Wikipedia assignment. I especially liked how unique it was. As I am transitioning into my senior year, I find myself in every class trying to figure out what I can gain that can actually translate into something tangible to use in a portfolio or on my resume. I enjoy that this class provides that opportunity. Although my participation lacked in this course, I still would like to use the skills that I gained on my resume because of how appealing they'll sound to a potential employer. This assignment was a real-life, hands-on experience; almost somewhat of an internship, and I truly enjoyed it.