SRTE

Hey, Ms. S.,

I filled out my SRTE form. Thanks!

Love, Maria Miralda-Tena

Self-Evaluation

This semester I learned a lot about Penn State, its community, and my part in its community. Our class took multiple field trips to different locations on campus and I got to know University Park and State College better because of it. We visited the Palmer Museum of Art, the Arboretum, and took a field trip to go see Kiss Me Kate at the Playhouse Theatre. I got to see many different forms of talent all having to do with art.

One of the most important things I learned is that art can be found in places one wouldn’t think to look. The obvious place is the art museum but it was also found in the arboretum, the playhouse theatre, and even just walking around campus. The nature, building, and the tight knit community is artistic in that there is passion and involvement everywhere. When I looked up a definition for art, I found this: “The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination”. From this and from taking English 15 this semester, I concluded that art and humanity are very closely related. In many ways, humanity is art and vice versa.

My writing also improved over the course of the semester. We wrote four essays focusing on rhetoric and overall, they helped me improve my persuasion in my essays. I learned about pathos, ethos, and logos persuasion and incorporated them into my essays. Peer reviews and the teacher’s comments helped me improve my essays as well, and I think the days where we took a class period to read over each other’s essays helped me too. Having an opinion from not only my professor but also my peers was very helpful because there was more than just one reader looking at my paper.

I wrote a lot about Penn State in this course and I really enjoyed exploring my school and its affiliation with the arts. However, I also liked being able to expand my horizons at the end of the semester and write about something outside of Penn State.

A nice break from persuasive essays and essays about Penn State was the memoir we wrote half way through the semester. This was an essay that took longer to write because I had to think back in my memory to a time in my life I wanted to record and share with others. This was an essay that I definitely spent time on and wrote from the heart.

The blogs were another creative way to express our opinions in a more informal way. They were not stressful like the bigger papers, and I felt I could write what I wanted and how I wanted. I liked being able to record my thoughts after seeing the musical, after visiting the museum and after going to the Arboretum. It was a nice way for us to record our thoughts and I would definitely recommend this in all English courses.

Overall, this was one of my favorite courses I took this semester because I learned a lot and had fun doing it. The class was pretty laidback, which was nice and I really got to explore the campus, my writing, and myself.

Thank you so much for everything! J

Self-Portrait with Rollercoaster

The first poem was very subtle in that it wasn't clear that the author was talking about herself. She described a girl with a blonde pony tail who went on roller coaster after roller coaster. It made her feel free and it sounded like a lyrical version of most kids thoughts when they go to theme parks. The beauty of this poem was that only the title gave away that it was a memoir. It was written in third person and only the students in class who payed close attention to the name of the poem recognized that it was about the author. This was a good start to the poetry reading.

Overall, these poems were about life including topics like childhood, growing up, and relationships. The best poems are about relatable topics like these. When people feel as if they can relate to something it means much more to them and poems that get through to people are the most touching kind. All of these poems were about a hard or memorable experience that can be expressed in many ways, one of them being poems or short stories.

I loved the diversity of these different poems. Some had eight parts and were put into the category of a "lyrical essay" while others sounded and looked like regular poems. Some were in paragraph form and did not necessarily sound like a poem at all. I loved that they did not all sound the same and they kept our attention.

I loved hearing these poems and "lyrical essays", they were so good! I hope to be able to write like that one day. :)

The Wonders of Wawa

Wawa is a home away from home to many people especially to those who reside in New Jersey. I have yet to visit a town or city in Jersey without finding at least one Wawa. Even me, who lives in a small college town named Princeton has a Wawa just ten minutes from my house.

How can I begin to describe it? Basically, everything one will ever need is in this place. There's ice cream and frozen foods in the refridgerated section, candy and chocolate in one aisle, and donuts in the front aisles. There's the famous "wawa brand" iced tea and lemonade that triumphs any other kind and is half the price. There are wawa slushies, smoothies, different kinds of coffee, and hot chocolate. There's fresh fruit, pre-made wraps, and chips. Not to mention the variety of hot foods behind the counter like mac-n-cheese (my personal favorite), subs, sandwiches, and soup. There's even a little section with over the counter drugs! The list goes on and on and anytime you're looking for something new to eat, wawa is the place to go.

Another reason why Wawa is the best, at least in my town, is that you will always see someone you know in there. Since everyone loves wawa and goes at least once a night on the weekend, you're bound to catch a glimpse of someone from high school or some other activity you're involved in. The best is going in there and seeing drunk college kids or even kids you know just messing around in there. Wawa is the place to be and to those who have never been there before, GO! It's the best place ever and you won't regret it!

The Perspective of a Non-Football Fan

Coming to Penn State, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I’ve never been big on sports and even though I was aware that Penn State was a huge football school, I decided to come here to get away from my hometown, to gain many new experiences, and to meet a lot of new people so it really had nothing to do with football. I heard the name Joe Paterno for the first time on my FTCAP advising day when they showed us videos about Penn State pride. That probably sounds pathetic, but like Sheila I don’t consider myself to bleed blue and white.

I went to one football game and one pep-rally this semester. Even though I knew I would have no idea what was going on since I don’t even know the rules of football, I thought I might as well go to one game. I got the ticket for twenty bucks and wanted to see what the hype of Beaver Stadium was. People were right, it was crazy to be in the middle of everything like that and it was exhilarating being a part of all the chants and cheers. It was great to see JoePa in person at the pep rally the night before as well, see it on TV the next day and think to myself, “I was there!” This was all very thrilling and I could see why some people are able to do it every weekend. I didn’t know much about our head coach but I knew that Penn State had a great football record and that Joe Paterno had been coaching here for almost fifty years. “No wonder he’s such an icon at Penn State,” I thought to myself. I grew to respect him and dreamed of a day that I would be able to talk to him in person or even just see him randomly at the Berkey Creamery or walking down College Ave.

The first I heard of the Penn State scandal was on Monday morning, the 7^th of November, in my 8am Intro to Psychology class. My professor brought it up briefly but went on to talk about that day’s lesson. I couldn’t get it out of my head though and went on to read three different online articles instead of paying attention in class. I could not believe it. This was absolutely disgusting to me and it had happened in my vicinity for who knew how many years. Since Sandusky still had access to our campus, he could have assaulted a child at Penn State just last week! I did read about the graduate student who is now an assistant coach here and how he did not inform the police but informed Paterno. I was shocked that nobody called the police but didn’t think too much of it. I didn’t think anybody would be fired over it because I thought it would all be overshadowed by Sandusky’s behavior. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

When there was news that Paterno would be asked to step down on Tuesday, people rallied at Old Main. I heard the rally on Tuesday night from my dorm and thought that these people were representing the student body in a way that could potentially backfire and make us look bad. Even if people expressed their anger by coming together and protesting, that would change nothing. I had no idea what was in store for me the night. Wednesday, I was in my friends’ dorm that just so happens to be a huge football fan. There were a few other people there with us and we were getting ready to watch “American Horror Story”. Just before it came on, his mother called him and told him that JoePa had just gotten fired. He hadn’t even hung up and was already putting his shoes and jacket on and told us all we should go to Beaver. Everybody knows how the riots went so it’s pointless to describe it but I remember being horrified and wanting to leave the entire time. As soon as I saw a lamppost go down I knew that this riot was getting out of hand and would be frowned upon so my friend Emma and I left, leaving our student body behind.

What I have learned from all that has been going on at Penn State recently is that people must keep their composure when a scandal occurs near them. We were nationally laughed at, something that would not have happened if we had dealt with this issue in a different way. Nobody talks about the vigil or the “blue-out” at the Nebraska game. All I hear is people talking about the riots and how pointless they were. They also talk about how bad of a guy Paterno is and sometimes it’s almost as if people have forgotten why all of this started. People are focusing on Paterno who only did one thing wrong and it wasn’t even legally wrong. What about Sandusky? Yes, actions have been taken to bring him to justice so why is that not enough? Why must people around the country suddenly hate Joe Paterno? I do not have an extreme devotion for this man like many at the riot that night and I do not have a passion for football but I still respect him. He has done amazing things for our school and has made it what it is today. Hearing Jon Stewart making fun of Penn State and so many other people or shows appearing on television makes my blood boil and reading Michael Weinreb’s thoughts on the scandal brought tears to my eyes. I think this is proof enough that one does not need to be a football fanatic to feel that they are a part of Penn State. I will never forget these past few weeks and above all, I will always have respect for my school and Joe Paterno.

Kiss Me Kate!

Maria Miralda

Journal Prompt

Kiss Me Kate

I have been to a few live performances before, one of them being Rent on Broadway! I’ve also been to a bunch that my high school put on, and I enjoyed all of them very much. I have a weakness for musicals, since I myself am a singer. Kiss Me Kate was similar to the performances I’ve seen in that there was a lot of talent in the performance. However, most of the musicals I’ve seen had a steady plotline and this was confused me a lot. It kept changing from reality to the play within the play and at times it was a little hard to tell what was going on. I didn’t know what to expect because I had never heard of Kiss Me Kate before. I think I would’ve liked seeing the actual play The Taming of the Shrew better than this adaptation of it, but it was still enjoyable. I performed The Taming of the Shrew with my fifth grade class, so when I saw that this musical was similar to it I was so excited to see it! I didn’t really like how it kept switching between story lines though.

As I’ve already stated, I love to sing so the musical theatre genre is one of my favorites. I’m not much of an actor, but if I were, I would be on that stage singing my heart out! Some of my favorite musicals are Wicked and Anything Goes. My high school performed Anything Goes four years ago and it was absolutely fantastic. There were three shows total and I went to all of them. That’s how much I loved it. What I like most about musicals I’ve realized is seeing familiar faces on stage. I always took every opportunity I could to go see my high schools’ plays and see a few of my friends performing. Without that aspect, some of the excitement of seeing a musical was taken away. It was still a great experience to see these talented people show us what they can do. The way the musical was performed was very similar to the high school productions I saw though. It wasn’t professional like a Broadway show, it was quaint and fun.

I haven’t read Shakespeare’s version of Taming of the Shrew or seen it, but as I said before, my fifth grade class did an adaptation of the play. I recognized that part of the storyline, which was really awesome. I thought the play could’ve done more to integrate The Taming of the Shrew into the show. The transitions between reality and play were a little rough at times, which made me and my classmates confused. It was hard to tell sometimes who was who since all the leads played two characters. They also didn’t show the entire play, only the key components. I wish they had focused the show on The Taming of the Shrew rather than the characters off stage (the backstage scenes).

Overall, I didn’t like the storyline very much but I was very impressed by the talent at Penn State! It encouraged me to look into the music program they have here. Now I’m scheduled to take a music course next semester. Although acting is not my strong suit, I would love to be a part of a musical group at Penn State and be in a few performances myself! Going to this show definitely inspired me to achieve a goal that has fallen off into the sidelines lately.

#1 Party School

Personally, I thought this podcast was hilarious. As college students, we never really stop to think that there are other people besides us living in the State College area. We have this assumption that the town is made for us to party in and for us to walk around drunk in at three o'clock in the morning. Hearing about how ridiculous and stupid we look from the viewpoint of a State College residence in the first few minutes of the podcast was pretty eye-opening to me, and I couldn't help but laugh at the students being portrayed in the podcast. From peeing on people's lawns, to stealing stop signs, to walking into someone's house and sleeping in their bed in the middle of the night, Penn State students have done it all. Although these are extreme cases, it is definitely an apt portrayal of a Penn State students, because they (and pretty much any college student) will do stupid stuff when they're drunk.

Ethos definitely comes into play in the podcast. For the most part, the arguers have ethos and the people being interviewed do not. The arguers are sensical, calm, and sober while the others are for the most part drunk. The people at the tailgate seem irresponsible for giving this young woman drink after drink for their entertainment. However, when the narrators bring up their college days, they seem to have done a lot of the same things that us current college students do, which puts them in a similar spot as us (aka they don't have much ethos). I am proud to say that most of the scenarios depicted in the podcast were very familiar to me. When they interviewed those girls in front of East Halls waiting for the bus, I instantly pictured the exact scene in my mind and same goes for when they got on the bus. Sometimes the best part of going out is the bus ride or the "drunk bus" as some call it. I am proud to be a part of this at Penn State. What moved me was the story about the death of Joe Dado. I thought that this could happen to any of us if we're not careful, and it encouraged me to never leave a group of friends or never let a friend go off by him/herself. I was a little shocked that this news wasn't more publicized and that nothing was done because of it, but then again we are a school of over 40,000 people and it would be extremely difficult to make a chance because of this incident. This was definitely the part of the podcast that had the most pathos appeal for me however. I felt horrible that this had to happen to an 18 year old kid, and that it could happen to anyone that isn't careful, regardless of how much they have to drink. The podcast does include a lot of statistics such as how many Penn State students party and drink on the weekends. The numbers were high and compelling but I don't think they differ much from other colleges. It just seems like a crazy number because there are so many people at this school.

What I didn't like about this piece was that it seemed to define Penn State as a party school and that's all. It briefly mentioned football but not nearly enough, and it did not mention the fact that we have an excellent academic program at our school. Penn State students should not be define as party animals because there is so much more to it than that. We all go to class in order to excel and we join clubs to get involved. We also party on the weekends, but so does every other college with a mass amount of people ranging from ages 18-22. It's normal, but it does not define who we are. We are Penn State and we define ourselves.