Freshman Year - The Journey Begins
HONORS 100 - Intro to Honors
Honors 100 with Erin Peach gave me my first taste of academic life as a college student, helping me to solidify my knowledge of the Honors Program and to understand its expectations of my scholastic performance. Over the course of a quarter, I completed several assignments that acquainted me both with my new responsibilities and with the many opportunities offered by the University of Washington.
For my Honors 100 artifact, I decided to display my "Intro to Honors" assignment. The document epitomizes the naïveté, enthusiasm, and neurosis of a newly-minted college freshman, and while looking back on it is somewhat cringe-inducing, I appreciate its value as a reality check on my progress through college.
HONORS 231 - Encounters in the Heart of Darkness
Taking a class with Clarke Speed remains one of the most "meta," cerebral educational experiences of my seventeen years within the U.S. educational system (although the ABC's in Kindergarten are definitely up there). Much more than a simple survey of a Joseph Conrad book, this course took us deep into the dark recesses of the human mind, combining metaphysics, anthropology, and sociological concepts to unearth the monomaniac that resides deep within all of us. Convicting and terrifying, this class gave me insight into the unconscious mental processes that shape our relationships with others.
This particular artifact is an artistic/written analysis of a supplemental anthropological text that we read, Eleanor Smith Bowen's Return to Laughter. Notice the subtle punk rock reference in the illustration. Chuckle. Proceed. My analysis studied the concepts of commerce and the "mental marketplace" as paradigms of interaction, as well as the violence that may proceed from such a space. After crafting this essay, I don't think that I will ever see human relationships in the same light.
ENGL 111 - English Composition
I'll be honest: English 111 was neither the sexiest nor the most interesting class that I took during my freshman year at the University of Washington. Many sessions focused on such riveting topics as grammar improvement, effective essay composition, and general writing-related advice. With that said, I still maintain that it was one of the most important experiences during my time in college. While I have yet to crank out a Hemingwayesque novel, I owe much of my writing aptitude to this class.
Another bonus: our class material revolved around the "graphic memoir," which meant that we got to read and write about comics (sweet!). This culminated in the synthesis of our own visual story. I took the opportunity to write about (what else?) running, discussing the mental impact of a nagging leg injury on my perception of failure.
No-shave November, freshman year. Some decisions need not be repeated.