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Sean Porter - System Earth -
Spring 2007
Over the past year I have been challenged and intrigued over and over by the content
of this course. Both in the discussions of the material presented by the instructor,
and by the research and presentations performed by the students. It has been a very
enlightening, enthralling experience, that far surpasses my freshman year experience
at Oregon State a few years ago. I think that this program, or at least the System
Earth course, is a great introduction to the rigors of college academic life, and is
well worth the effort required to be successful in it. I have learned many new skills
and improved on skills I already possessed, as well as growing and changing as a person.
I have improved my research skills, my ability to critically evaluate the authors of a
paper or study, my time management skills (to some extent), and certainly broadened my
view of others opinions. I have encountered issues which forced me to listen to people's
views even though I disagreed with them, and accepted that there would not always be
consensus in all things. I have improved my writing skills to some extent, and hope to
continue that trend.
I don't think I improved my time management skills enough, because I still don't set my
own goals and benchmarks for getting my assignments completed on time to my own standards
of quality. I would definitely like to improve my ability to take constructive criticism
and use it properly to improve my essays and papers. I think I also have to improve on my
ability to truly respectfully listen to other people's opinions without reacting to them,
especially in a manner that could be offensive to the speaker. I hope to improve my research
skills as well, since I feel I did not succeed in truly using them this year. I also don't
truly feel that I have improved my public speaking skills in any large measure.
To improve in these areas I think I need to make it a point to start things earlier, set goals
for myself independent of the due dates of assignments so that I have time to get peer reviews
and other critiques, as well as ample time to revise and rethink my positions and statements so
as to more effectively communicate my message. I need to practice listening to people I
disagree with so that I can maintain my composure in the face of ideas I strongly disagree
with. Losing that composure destroys my credibility when I attempt to rebut people's arguments,
and it is likely to lessen their inclination to listen to my position on the matter at hand.
Composure in front of a crowd is probably the skill that I would like to improve the most,
next to time management. The only way to improve my presentation skills is to practice them,
so I will attempt in the future to jump at every opportunity to present something.
This course has not really helped me bridge the transition from high school to college,
because I have been out of high school for a number of years now. Despite that, I feel
it has been valuable in helping me transition from working full time to being a full time
student again because it has challenged me to think carefully and manage my time more
carefully than all of my other classes. I have written more in the last year in this
program than I probably wrote throughout my high school career, which has helped immensely,
especially when I get useful cogent feedback about how I can improve my writing.
I have been shown how effectively good time management can increase my productivity, when
I've used it, and if I can increase the percentage of the time that I apply my good time
management skills, I will be better able to handle the rigors of a full college workload.
I certainly have been challenged to improve my skills at working with a group of people,
which I still find difficult a lot of the time, because I tend to be very lackadaisical
when I am not with my group, but I think I am improving ever so slightly in that respect,
I just need to continue practicing those skills. I hope that if I improve my time management
skills, they will help me to be a better group member as well. I feel more comfortable
speaking in public now, though I still have a certain amount of trepidation about it,
especially if I don't feel that I've properly prepared myself.
I doubt I could be more comfortable with technology than I was when I began this class,
I am an electronic/electrical engineering major, after all. I have definitely benefited
from our in-class discussions, they have encouraged me to think carefully about our
assigned readings and take into account all aspects of the issue, including contrary
viewpoints. These discussions have also encouraged me to consider the impact that other
people's unique set of experiences have on their viewpoints and to acknowledge them as
valid even when I disagree.
Overall, I think that this year has been a great journey, I have learned a lot, including
the fact that I still have a lot to learn, and I hope to continue improving my skills as
a student so that I can be successful at Portland State and my career thereafter.
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