Sit Back and Enjoy the Ride

"Relax, everything will turn out okay. I can do this." These are thoughts that seemed to run through my mind the whole length of this course. It has been one crazy, stressful, wild ride. I am glad it is at an end. I will sure miss it. When I first enrolled in English 101D I thought it would be cake. English was my "thing" in high school after all. The class was much more challenging, and rewarding, that I ever though possible. I was taken on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. What a ride! It really was like a roller coaster. When in line to get on the ride I think "this is a joke. It is nothing. The size of this ride is almost laughable." Then the ride begins. There are inclines that seem almost insurmountable. There are vast drop offs that we breeze through so quick it barely gives enough time to brace for the next incline. I laugh and enjoy the ride, but I am so very glad when it is over. I realize that I was barely breathing the whole length of the ride. The "What's next?" anticipation made me hold my breath most of the time. That is how English 101D was for me. I loved the ride, and was glad when it was over. I can breathe easy again.

There were three separate units during this course; they included identity, community, and tradition. We read essays, watched movies, and discussed our thoughts , and findings, in a class discussion board. We had to be able to analyze thoroughly all materials. During this course I learned the value of each separate theme, identity, community, and tradition. Our identity contains many elements. Some elements are gender, race, religion, and culture. Two other elements are the communities that we relate to, and the traditions that we uphold. Communities are extremely important in our lives. They include sports, religious affiliations, groups of friends, and even family. We all belong to some form of community. They are there to give us a sense of comfort, and support. Sometimes a community may fail at this or may support a member in a negative way. An example of this is the pro-ana community that Mim Udovitch describes in her essay, "A Secret Society of the Starving." Pro-ana is an online community of "angry girls and women [that] come together to support each other in sickness rather than in health' (Udovitch 114). The members encourage each other in their anorexic lifestyles. When a community does this it makes being a member of that community pointless. The other element, tradition, is usually passed down to younger generations from their parents/grandparents. Traditions can help people feel a sense of stability and comfort. Traditions, just like everything else in life, continually change. Old traditions are revamped or eliminated by newer generations, and new traditions are started every day.

For our portfolio we had to choose four of our best works, one for four different categories. The categories and my selections are:
1. Critical Thinking Piece- "The Internet is Good, or is it Bad?"
2. Revision Piece- "My Uniformed Community"
3. Voice and Audience Piece- "Food, Family, Fun!"
4. Writer's Choice Piece- "All Our Masks"

The critical thinking piece is to show our ability to analyze material. I chose "The Internet is good, or is it bad?" because it shows quite well my ability to analyze, and my personal thoughts in relation to what the writer is saying. "My Uniformed Community" has good bones, but needs some muscle to help support it. I chose to use it as my revision piece, and hope it lives up to it's potential. "Food, Family, Fun!" was a perfect fit when it came time to choose a piece for the voice and audience section. The way this paper is written makes the reader reminiscent of their own family cookouts. They may be able to smell the food on the grill! For the writer's choice piece I decided to use "All Our Masks." This is like the icing on the cake. The paper discusses why people hide behind masks, compared to why Lucy Grealy hid behind her mask. I loved Grealy's essay and feel my portfolio would not be complete without my analysis of her work.

I hope you all enjoy my work as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until this course my work was only seen by the instructors grading it. The experience of sharing my work with fellow students has been quite interesting, and rewarding. I am pleased to share my experiences with you all. Remember, enjoy being who you are. If that requires changing traditions, then change them. IF a community interferes with personal growth, ditch that community, and join one that encourages instead. Above all else, remember what Garrison Keillor says in his essay, "A Woebegon Holiday Dinner," Life is good. Even when it is lousy, it is still good, and thank God for it" (231). We all have bad times, but life really is good, so sit back and enjoy the ride.