Saturday, May 19, 2012
Fundraising for The School of Social Work Student Lounge
Is anyone still reading this? If so, check out how you can help renovate The School of Social Work student lounge!
Monday, May 14, 2012
End of the Semester- Join Me at www.katywaters.blogspot.com
Hi viewers,
Because this blog was for a class and the semester is over, I will no longer be updating it.Please join me on my personal blog! In this blog I write about working towards social justice in my community- through school and through volunteering.
Because this blog was for a class and the semester is over, I will no longer be updating it.Please join me on my personal blog! In this blog I write about working towards social justice in my community- through school and through volunteering.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Final Thoughts
Non-Traditional Students
This project had me on the verge of tears and I'm not exactly sure why. The statistics were striking, but I think the personal narrative really brought it home (thank you for sharing). Maybe it is because Barbara, Gwen, and Lynde are my mama hens. Their high academic standards help me strive, too. I always aim to do my best, but sometimes I don't want to write that optional assignment or I want to wait until the last minute to write a paper. But they push me to be the best student I can.
I think the other reason this presentation made me emotional is that my dad is a non traditional student, and I am also going to be the first person in my immediate family to graduate with a bachelor's degree.
My parents expected me to graduate from high school, but I wasn't pushed my whole life to go to college. I didn't ever expect to see myself in college, especially not at UT at Austin. My point is, I have had to figure this thing out on my own, and I think that was one of the points made in the presentation. College is hard to navigate by yourself.
Now that my dad is in college and understands the work load, I think he appreciates what I'm doing more which means a lot. I guess what I'm trying to say is I am so proud of my dad, and I think that your families will be, too.
I loved and appreciated your presentation. It was very brave of you to share your stories.
Racist Article About Black Studies Doctoral Candidates
Well, I'm pretty sure none of you want to read anything else for at least a few weeks, but when I read these articles I had to share. Mostly because I wouldn't have understood why they were racist until I took this class.
Someone from the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote an article titled, "The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies? Just Read the Dissertations." Then, throughout her 500 word opinion piece, she makes it clear that she did not read the dissertations, just the titles. She "argues" that phenomena like the subprime mortgage crisis did not disproportionately affect black people (which our class read research on from the NYT that it did... we saw how the bankruptcy claims were filed differently for black and whites as well), and that racism doesn't exist because we have a black president.
Obviously this drew some fiery criticism, to which she wrote a rebuttal, basically admitting and not apologizing for all of the claims made against her.
I think these two articles make a good case that racism still exists. It's soft racism. "We liked the civil rights movement, but now it's time for you to be quiet. Also, if we know about the white experience, POC experience doesn't need to be investigated." (And, not to mention, I would love to read all of the mentioned dissertations, especially about black midwifery. This opinion piece wasn't based on logical arguments, it was based on hate.)
So lastly, here is a rebuttal to the racist article. It reminds me of Dr. Aguilar's first visit to our class, so I think you will enjoy it.
Closing Thoughts About Our Class
Y'all, I loved this class with you. And Prof G, you have taught me so much. While the blogging didn't scare me but rather excited me, I was nervous about suggesting my own letter grade without stringent guidelines. (Let's be honest, I'm still a little nervous.) But without guidelines, I excelled not only in this class but in my personal life.
This semester I became a REAL activist. I rallied, I lobbied, I started a student org called "Voices for Reproductive Justice," I became a voter deputy registrar, and I continued volunteering on a regular basis with Planned Parenthood. While my knowledge of injustice has been growing over the last year and a half that I've been at UT, the courage to actually try to do something about it came from this class. (And unfortunately the timing was ripe with all of the severe anti-choice legislation occurring in Texas right now.)
A few of you in the class have said that you are proud of me for my activism, which means SO much. You have asked me for advice and you have asked how you can get involved. And as I struggle with what to do with my life after advice from different mentors of mine, you have encouraged me to shoot for the stars. Hell, Morgan even suggested I go to law school. (And again, as a first generation college student... gosh it just means a lot. Morgan thinks there is even the smallest sliver of hope that I could be successful in LAW SCHOOL.)
One more point... I make "observations" ALL THE TIME! Even my friends from the other set of classes call out, "OBSERVATION!" when they notice an injustice. To be honest, it has been kind of hard to notice all of the "-isms," that occur around you: notably when I got tattooed in Dallas a few weeks ago. Those guys that my boyfriend and I were so close with... they're so sexist! I stopped Will from tattooing me when he moved his sexist comments away from the giggly girls in the shop to me. I told him not to talk to me that way. It was hard, but it made the other girls move down the line to flirt with someone else and Will did not make any other rude commentary towards me. (By the way, I would say this group of tattooers are definitely an outlier group even from the tattoo community... as to not discourage you from getting tattooed.) Anyway, it shined a light on how much my self efficacy has grown. It's kind of scary to tell a tough tattooed dude who is permanently marking your body to shut up!
This class was hard. There was a lot of reading and a lot of emotional processing. But it has been so worth it. I feel closer to my cohort, and Prof G has made me feel comfortable enough to ask her for advice when it is so scary to do so. I LOVE Y'ALL! I can't wait for next semester.
BEFORE YOU GO
If you are going to continue blogging, please leave me a comment! I would love to continue to follow your blogs through my personal blog, since I won't really check this one anymore.
And, I think these videos are important. Watch if you have time so you can FLEX YOUR RIGHTS!
This project had me on the verge of tears and I'm not exactly sure why. The statistics were striking, but I think the personal narrative really brought it home (thank you for sharing). Maybe it is because Barbara, Gwen, and Lynde are my mama hens. Their high academic standards help me strive, too. I always aim to do my best, but sometimes I don't want to write that optional assignment or I want to wait until the last minute to write a paper. But they push me to be the best student I can.
I think the other reason this presentation made me emotional is that my dad is a non traditional student, and I am also going to be the first person in my immediate family to graduate with a bachelor's degree.
My parents expected me to graduate from high school, but I wasn't pushed my whole life to go to college. I didn't ever expect to see myself in college, especially not at UT at Austin. My point is, I have had to figure this thing out on my own, and I think that was one of the points made in the presentation. College is hard to navigate by yourself.
Now that my dad is in college and understands the work load, I think he appreciates what I'm doing more which means a lot. I guess what I'm trying to say is I am so proud of my dad, and I think that your families will be, too.
I loved and appreciated your presentation. It was very brave of you to share your stories.
Racist Article About Black Studies Doctoral Candidates
Well, I'm pretty sure none of you want to read anything else for at least a few weeks, but when I read these articles I had to share. Mostly because I wouldn't have understood why they were racist until I took this class.
Someone from the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote an article titled, "The Most Persuasive Case for Eliminating Black Studies? Just Read the Dissertations." Then, throughout her 500 word opinion piece, she makes it clear that she did not read the dissertations, just the titles. She "argues" that phenomena like the subprime mortgage crisis did not disproportionately affect black people (which our class read research on from the NYT that it did... we saw how the bankruptcy claims were filed differently for black and whites as well), and that racism doesn't exist because we have a black president.
Obviously this drew some fiery criticism, to which she wrote a rebuttal, basically admitting and not apologizing for all of the claims made against her.
I think these two articles make a good case that racism still exists. It's soft racism. "We liked the civil rights movement, but now it's time for you to be quiet. Also, if we know about the white experience, POC experience doesn't need to be investigated." (And, not to mention, I would love to read all of the mentioned dissertations, especially about black midwifery. This opinion piece wasn't based on logical arguments, it was based on hate.)
So lastly, here is a rebuttal to the racist article. It reminds me of Dr. Aguilar's first visit to our class, so I think you will enjoy it.
Closing Thoughts About Our Class
Y'all, I loved this class with you. And Prof G, you have taught me so much. While the blogging didn't scare me but rather excited me, I was nervous about suggesting my own letter grade without stringent guidelines. (Let's be honest, I'm still a little nervous.) But without guidelines, I excelled not only in this class but in my personal life.
This semester I became a REAL activist. I rallied, I lobbied, I started a student org called "Voices for Reproductive Justice," I became a voter deputy registrar, and I continued volunteering on a regular basis with Planned Parenthood. While my knowledge of injustice has been growing over the last year and a half that I've been at UT, the courage to actually try to do something about it came from this class. (And unfortunately the timing was ripe with all of the severe anti-choice legislation occurring in Texas right now.)
A few of you in the class have said that you are proud of me for my activism, which means SO much. You have asked me for advice and you have asked how you can get involved. And as I struggle with what to do with my life after advice from different mentors of mine, you have encouraged me to shoot for the stars. Hell, Morgan even suggested I go to law school. (And again, as a first generation college student... gosh it just means a lot. Morgan thinks there is even the smallest sliver of hope that I could be successful in LAW SCHOOL.)
One more point... I make "observations" ALL THE TIME! Even my friends from the other set of classes call out, "OBSERVATION!" when they notice an injustice. To be honest, it has been kind of hard to notice all of the "-isms," that occur around you: notably when I got tattooed in Dallas a few weeks ago. Those guys that my boyfriend and I were so close with... they're so sexist! I stopped Will from tattooing me when he moved his sexist comments away from the giggly girls in the shop to me. I told him not to talk to me that way. It was hard, but it made the other girls move down the line to flirt with someone else and Will did not make any other rude commentary towards me. (By the way, I would say this group of tattooers are definitely an outlier group even from the tattoo community... as to not discourage you from getting tattooed.) Anyway, it shined a light on how much my self efficacy has grown. It's kind of scary to tell a tough tattooed dude who is permanently marking your body to shut up!
This class was hard. There was a lot of reading and a lot of emotional processing. But it has been so worth it. I feel closer to my cohort, and Prof G has made me feel comfortable enough to ask her for advice when it is so scary to do so. I LOVE Y'ALL! I can't wait for next semester.
BEFORE YOU GO
If you are going to continue blogging, please leave me a comment! I would love to continue to follow your blogs through my personal blog, since I won't really check this one anymore.
And, I think these videos are important. Watch if you have time so you can FLEX YOUR RIGHTS!
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