Owen Burns INTD 105
The title “Risks, Rewards, and Rent Paying” leads the common reader to believe the course goes over the business aspect of learning the ins and outs of rent paying and the risks and rewards of doing so or not. When coming to SUNY Geneseo, I initially led myself to believe we would be writing about the risks of a bad credit score and the economics of property management. With this idea of a class that would help me in real-life economics and learning about the risks and rewards of it, I was excited to add a class to my fall semester that would promote my knowledge in business. The ignorance I had ended up being the greatest asset I have now at the end of this course because it demonstrates the connection between my life and the story of Octavia Butler’s “Blood Child.”
Walking into this classroom, sitting down for the first time and only knowing the title of the course and that I was going to have to do some form of writing, I thought this class was going to be another lecture-style course, where I would be given a prompt and left to write my mind away, hoping I could produce an essay that would give me a good grade. Come to find out, I never knew there was a thing as a self-graded class that was structured for the hope of good-faith collaborative conversation between myself and the other peers that are in the same position I was in. This was the first time my ignorance ran me the wrong way, and I was proved wrong. The second time was my idea of what this course was about; when I think of risks, rewards, and rent paying, it gives off a very different idea than what it actually means, and I think I can speak for others on that. In this course, I learned that risks, rewards, and rent paying are the application of ignorance and knowledge in our everyday lives. Taking risks leads to a reward, but it also can leave us paying for that ignorance.
The first essay we wrote was the “In This Space Essay,” and in my opinion, I completely ruined my image of a writer when I got that essay reflection back because I was not only utterly embarrassed, but I used the spelling of “fraze” in the completely wrong way when I meant to say “phrase.” The realization of my ego was a very important lesson I also learned when I read the feedback because I knew from that moment on, I am not the best writer in the world, and I cannot rush through things and expect a positive outcome. Me learning how to slow down and access different writing tools to help me use course themes like unpacking and thinking were very important lessons because I learned writing accountability and why I should care for my writing.
After learning how to unpack and get a small understanding of the course, I still wasn’t sure what this course meant because in my mind, I was thinking, “well, okay, any writing course is going to show me how to write better.” Yet again, wrong, but thankfully for that because my mindset set me up again to learn and opened my eyes to, in my opinion, the biggest lesson I have learned in this class. “Blood Child” presents an elaborate story of the problems ignorance can cause. By using a rather harsh and disgusting example of an insect life species implanting their eggs into humans. This story tells us about a kid coming of age and having to face the so-called last night of his childhood, not realizing what he was going to have to go through as he became old enough to carry the egg of the Tlic. He had an idea of what it was but he was still extremely ignorant about the exact doings and procedure. The story relates to me and my adventure in this class because just like the Terrans, I only had a small particle of information and understanding of something I was going to have to face as I grew up and came of age to pick my classes as I entered college. In my case, I possessed the lack of knowledge of this course, entering it almost blindly, thinking I would be doing something completely different than what we actually did.
Completing “Blood Child” was the part of this course that, I think, helped me the most in learning how to become a better writer and a better classmate because we did many different interactive activities with each other, either talking about the book and applying situations to our life and themes from “They Say/I Say.” In doing this, I learned what it meant to take care of my learning and my peers’ learning, having to stay on top of my reading and actively listening during class so if I got called on I could give a valued answer or an opinion that would benefit the class. Learning to be collaborative with each other was definitely my favorite part of this course because we got to read the same material and think about it however we wanted and freely form our own opinions on the story and how it applies to us. Then after doing that, we are able to come together and share our thoughts with one another in good faith. Our collaborative essay was by far my favorite because I got to sit first hand, watching more skilled writers use different formats and writing styles and constructing their message in very impressive ways. Recognizing the great work from my peers and being able to actively add and ask for their opinion on my thoughts really helped gain understanding on how to become a better writer, and it showed me a different opinion is not the wrong opinion. I also really enjoyed the collaborative essay because I felt like I was part of a team working together to reach a common goal of producing a well-written essay.
I believe this class was one of the best ignorant decisions I have ever made because I learned not only writing skills but real-life skills about being accountable for myself and the work I produce. I think I am coming out of this class stronger because now I cannot be ashamed of switching numbers up and having a small attention span because I was able to come to an understanding that there is help and people do care about my learning. I also think if it wasn’t for this class I would’ve blown off the chances to accountability for myself in going to office hours and actually going to talk to someone about learning accommodations. I will be able to apply this class and our course concepts all the time throughout my life. Knowing that there will always be risks and rewards in all decision-making, understanding that being ignorant is a common thing but becoming aware is a powerful tool inside the classroom reviewing and doing your best to understand course material and reading. Also being aware in everyday life, thinking what impact do my actions have on myself, knowing all my decisions have risks and rewards. This class has given me an opening eye experience to a new way of thinking and I will continue to apply the course themes in my future classes and life experiences.
