Reflections of Me!

Hello, welcome to my E-Portfolio. My name is Angela Jenkins and boy oh boy has English 101D been an adventure for me as well as my family. I was born in November 1977, in the tiny little town of Arlington (although it has grown leaps and bounds in my 32 years). I am currently a full time student as well as a single stay at home mom of two little girls, Mattison (age 6) and Delaney (age 2). I was employed in the healthcare insurance industry until April 2009 when I was the victim of budget cuts. For years I toyed with the idea of going back to school to do something different but when I lost my job it certainly gave me the nudge I had been waiting for. I’m pursuing a certificate/degree in Medical Assisting with a long term goal of becoming a nurse-midwife.

I am probably one of the most centered and down to earth people that you will ever meet. Life has definitely thrown me some curve-balls that I was not expecting but I’ve handled them with my head held high and made it through with the love of my family. Arlington is the epicenter of our tribe and even though some live farther on the outskirts we are a very tight knit group. We all fight together for what we believe in, what we love and what we feel is the right thing.

Entering this class in September, I had not a clue what to expect. To read the course description the expectation is made that this is a college writing course. Never would I have guessed that I would be asked to explore my thoughts and beliefs about identity, communities and traditions. This class has pushed the personal envelope for me when it comes to what I believe in and has certainly challenged those beliefs beyond what has been comfortable for me. Never in my life have I thought of the ways that my identity is influenced by outside forces and is not just what I have chosen it to be. Community has always just been the town I live in but this class has taught me that a community is so much more than just that. Communities are online pro-ana websites for people that are anorexic and in need of a support system, they are the Amish, they are the Barbie collectors that are nationwide. Certainly my thoughts of traditions were baking cookies at Christmas time with the family and having a sit down dinner on all major holidays, not arranged marriages and cosmetic surgeries.

Diversity for me, prior to this class, meant that we live in a world in which we all come from different cultural backgrounds and all have different beliefs. For me, I knew I was accepting of those differences as I had married outside of my race, have biracial children so certainly that means that I’ve mastered being diverse. This class, through the readings as well as the movies we have watched, has opened my eyes to what diversity really means. It means that we are all different and while we don’t have to adopt other cultures and their beliefs we need to be accepting and respect those around us. Diversity also means that my ideas about something are not always accurate and that seeing the other side of the coin can be very enlightening. For example, the movie, “CRASH”, was one the choices for our Intermission 2 assignment. I couldn’t stand the movie when I first watched it as I was so awed and offended by the racial and stereotypical profiling that was in the movie I think I missed the overall point. Watching it again for this class, and through our Discussion Boards, I was able to see that the movie was really about the good overcoming the evil; about being able to forgive the police officer for what he did because of the fact that he saved the same woman’s life later on in the movie.

For my portfolio, I have selected four works completed during the quarter based on various assignments we were given. As our assignment indicates we are to select writings that we felt best represented our critical thinking skills, our ability to re-see and revise one of our writings, a piece that demonstrated our awareness of audience and voice, and last but not least a writer’s choice piece. I have selected our first Timed Writing assignment for the critical thinking piece, my identity paper for my revision piece (because I completely missed the boat originally), one of my Discussion Board posts from Intermission 2 and for my writer’s choice I have selected my first blog post about the contents of my purse.

This class has been a roller coaster ride, from beginning to end, full of ups and downs but I’m certainly glad I decided to get on. English 101D has certainly been an enlightening journey, one that is reflected in this e-portfolio as well as in my daily life. Thanks for taking the time to read my pieces and sharing this journey with me.