Sometimes I wonder if this class is like vitamins. OK, hear me out. I don’t like taking pills (also I can’t remember to take them daily), so I stopped taking vitamins because I “didn’t feel any different.” I never took them very long and I certainly wasn’t doing any other healthy things at the same time. I keep expecting to “feel different” because of this class (that was such a major part of the presentations from other students), but it’s so early in the semester and I haven’t really done any work to reflect on.
We have been working on some documents on Google Drive and I have been sending a lot of “let’s do thisssss!” emails because no one else is right now (I love technology), so I suppose I am growing as a person. I just want some BIG revelation.
Of course, after doing the reading and thinking about all of it carefully, I can’t be passive to my own change. Change is an action and I have to do something.
Last week I immersed myself in folk documentaries (thanks, Inside Llweyn Davis) and became enamored with protest singer Phil Ochs. He is probably to blame for how I have taken to the word change–but for him, it had a very different meaning. Everything he did was in response to something in society. He wrote “Love Me, I’m a Liberal” after seeing left-wing folks (those who actually bought his records) turn their backs on Malcolm X and more revolutionary politics. When folk music became popular and his “thing”, he put out a record of orchestral “baroque-folk” music. He was always trying to change the conversation. I will keep him in mind this semester as I begin my own personal revolution.
Melissa A. Koch 
Wow, Mel! Way to begin your journey with an awareness of self-awareness (re: Ochs)! I’m glad that you recognize the fact that previous students felt different but also that it’s early in the semester. I didn’t really feel different until the very end; I still find that I feel different a little each time I reflect back on my experience. Transformational learning is not comfortable, and certainly not immediate, but you seem to be setting yourself up well for the journey ahead 🙂
Good luck! I know you’ll do amazing work, as always 🙂
Hi Melissa:
I love that you are doing this — I have to start taking notes and pondering on ADLT 636 too. I feel a little bit lost right now … I am sure we are going to do a great job but finding our way at the beginning is surely a bit of a challenge.