Communication Competence:

Learners will become effective communicators in their discipline

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The first artifact for the Program Outcomes that I have chosen was written two full years ago in the fall semester of 2016, in American History I (HIS-131). It is entitled "Immigration in the Mid-19th Century" and presents the wave of immigration that broke over the mid-19th century. The essay that I picked out of a list of pre-assigned topics was written for one half of the final exam. It is informative in its base, and the finer details of the assignment were to discuss potential reasons for this movement as well as the impact of it.

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I decided to use this essay for the relation of it to my personal life, as I am of Italian descent. The topic was quite fitting for that as well as when compared to the current, political debates on the issue. The essay covers immigration via an overlook of pre- and post-rush demographic statistics, comparisons of those numbers, and the suggested reasons for the increase of immigration. Also, many ramifications of immigration are mentioned, such as political maneuvering, and the acts of legislation that were ratified to prevent further immigration and marginalize those already in-country.

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However, going back to the purpose of this Program Outcome: as with the Core Skills, there were two smart goals that I set for myself to achieve. The first of these is my ability to communicate a broader topic succinctly with varying, credibly sources to back my research. I feel that I accomplished this admirably, considering "immigration" in and of itself denotes a very broad topic, as does mid-19th century. This essay presents a brief outline that hits the major points required for the assignment without getting into too much extra detail.

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Regarding the second half of my first goal, there is a variety of sources. These sources come from journals, college studies, a textbook, and other educational services, while one cites a poem. Not one could be challenged as not being "credible." Finding sources is not the only important part of research; finding the correct sources that can support and expound upon one's work from a qualified standpoint is even more invaluable. Making the time to dig for legitimate, academic support is a necessary skill in any sort of professional writing.

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The second smart goal I had for this Program Outcome was that I would explain simply and effectively the impact that past choices have on the current generation. The divide of stance on immigration in the political sector is nothing new. There are many acts of legislation covered in the essay that demonstrate this, as they only added to the anti-immigrant mindset that was quite prevalent in the discussed period. Fortunately, more positive acts were passed in the later years of the 20th Century; several of which have standards remaining in our present time.

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To end, I will rephrase an earlier statement: I am a product of Italian immigration. When I read opinion pieces on immigration (itself; never mind refugees – that is an entirely separate debate for another time) I find myself frustrated. Without my family having the opportunity to make a life for themselves in this country, would I now be American or Italian? Currently, the answer is "both," as the other side of my family has been here since the Pilgrim days.

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I am proud of my heritage – on both sides. I will not pretend that every person who seeks a place in this country does so with the same, honest intentions that my family had. Neither will I believe that all who come here are the beggars and thieves of their world, dredged up from some forsaken sewer. My family had a chance. My desire is that same chance will be given again.

 

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Cultural Competence:

Learners will recognize and adapt to various cultures, ideas, and practices within their discipline.

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This next artifact, written in the summer of 2018 for World Geography (GEO-111), is called "Puerto Rico Overshadowed: An Overview of Her History and Relationship to the United States." This topic came from a list of over thirty choices from which we were to choose. The prompt merely directed to write on "the political and economic relationship between the United States and Puerto Rico," so I took the liberty of expounding on it to provide more context as to the basis of this two-fold relationship.

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I had always found the relationship of Puerto Rico and the United States interesting, but I had never really pursued it before this summer. I knew there were issues, but in one sense, they were "out of sight; out of mind." Ultimately, studying this topic through was an eye-opening experience. I had no idea the complete power-complex in play, nor the many attempts that have been made to begin the process for statehood. Awareness brings a sort of caring that I had not known before to help understand cultural frustration.

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For the first smart goal in this section, I decided that I would show the history and value of another culture – particularly one that is closely related to the United States. Even though a dictatorial stance is improbable, Puerto Rico is technically at the mercy of the United States. Recently, the favor that has long been on the "melting-pot" culture of the United States has shifted more towards an immersive bearing. When in America, do as the Americans do. This ideal almost negates the beauty of varying cultures; in this case, the Puerto Rican culture, and how those distinctions blend together to make up the landscape of the United States.

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The paper demonstrates my ability to recognize this worth in several ways, beginning with what is known about the original Puerto Ricans, the Taíno. Though there is a lack of ancient records, history tells of an indigenous culture that had its own art, religion, and language. Furthermore, even though the Taíno were considered to have faded out over the passing generations, a current study shows that a majority portion of the Puerto Rican population contain Taíno genetics. Ethnic pride has only been bolstered by this discovery, as it should be. History should never be forgotten, nor ignored.

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The second smart goal is that I would present the frustrations some within the culture feel and logically explain those feelings. To begin, with its "commonwealth" status Puerto Rico does not have as many rights as states do. A more specific reason is the American military base located in Vieques: though a referendum to cease operations was promised, the vote was canceled, and the base remained running. Lastly, Puerto Rico was subjected to an oversight board by PROMESA when dealing with their financial-crisis - as if the United States government is the leading example regarding debt.

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I do not take kindly to someone attempting to control me. Fortunately, I am not under the legally ruling gauntlet of some entity that refuses to recognize me as an equal. I have friends and mentors to whom I look for advice, but ultimately, I make my own decisions. There may be some concern from certain people I know that I am incapable of making the right choice, but as I have mentioned before, falling can often help lead us onward. It may seem that control should be taken if another is more qualified to have it, but I would argue that to successfully maintain control one must first learn control.

 

 

Creative Problem Solving:

Learners will apply appropriate techniques to solving problems within their discipline.

 

For this artifact, I have decided to use a project written in the spring of 2018 for Writing in the Disciplines (ENG-112) that is titled "Safer Schools and Students." We were given the task of creating a possible solution for a real-world problem that we found within our discipline. I have not yet declared a major, so I decided to veer towards something with which I am familiar.

 

As a preschool teacher, I felt that it would be fitting to do something tailored towards schools. Even though my students are little, their safety is of the utmost priority to me. My connection with students and education was the driving force behind this proposal, even though it is not exactly relevant for a preschool. I will not claim that this proposal would be 100% effective in every situation, but I do feel that it is one step that could be taken to increase security. I contrived it specifically for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, with figures and other statistics coming directly from their sources.

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My first smart goal for this project was that I would provide an attainable solution for a current concern within the public-school system. Shortly before I began this proposal, the Parkland school shooting occurred in Florida. I am in no way intending to place blame in this paper for the event but to provide an idea that may prevent future circumstances of the same nature. At the time I wrote this, less than one-third of schools nation-wide had security personnel. Moreover, that is under the assumption that there is only one guard at the schools that even had security. If there were more than one guard, the overall school count would drop lower.

 

This is referencing my primary solution: the placement of armed security throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. The plan would certify there would be at least one security officer placed in every school, with a contingency to add more as needed. For financing, I did not feel it would be essential to raise the budget. After some calculations (confirmed by my math teacher mother), I discovered that it would take less than one percent of the 2015-2016 budget to accommodate for this staffing addition.

 

Moving on, the second smart goal I set was that I would be able to provide a logical implementation to make the proposal more reasonable, with focus on financing and personnel. I formed a timeline based off training regulations, and a payment plan based on references both from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Only a couple months would be needed for the entirety of the hiring and training process. Also, a suggested pool for potential employees is also presented, focusing on veterans that may find the transition to civilian life and a more regular job difficult.

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I realize that not everyone would agree with this course of action. Nevertheless, I feel it is a viable solution. Ignoring a problem for the bull-headed sake of "first amendment rights" is incorrect and not something I would wish to do. However, wanting to go to extreme measures to try and entirely ban the problem will not sort it out either. In the midst of all the debate and fighting that has happened, I feel that compromise is not valued quite as much as it once was. . .nor is the art of listening.

 

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Information and Media Literacy:

Learners will demonstrate the ability to know when there is a need for information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively and responsibly use and share that information for the problem at hand.

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This artifact, "André Cailloux, 1825-1863," comes once again from the American History I (HIS-131) course that I took in the fall of 2016. It is also a return to more culture-specific musings. The purpose behind this assignment was to create an online "gallery" in which those of us in the class would learn from each other about unfamiliar people, places, and things within the span of American history covered in the class.

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The topics were assigned by the professor at random, and I found myself faced with a man about whom I knew nothing. Granted, that is not unusual when considering the breadth of history and the millions of people who have come, lived, and gone. Yet, I found myself intrigued from my initial prodding into Cailloux's life - mostly due to the concept of a free Afro-Creole man dying in battle for the Confederacy. He was an enigma, but one that I happily set about to decipher.

 

For this Program Outcome, I chose to focus more on the latter half of the description. There may have not been a "need" to know about Cailloux, but identifying, locating, and sharing information about Cailloux was a challenge of a different sort. My first smart goal for this was that I would demonstrate an ability to secure strong, primary sources about a lesser-known subject. With a Google search, plenty of information appeared, but it was from various websites and blogs that did not contain educational or professional backgrounds. I ended that search with only one article from a government site, and another from the SPCC databases.

 

However, there was one thing that brightened my chances a bit. I had noted some references that I wanted to include from one, random website regarding Cailloux's funeral. After searching for nearly two hours, I managed to track down an online archive of the Harper's Weekly political magazine. I spent more time "flipping" through the magazine until I had located the exact article I needed. I firmly believe that this shows that from start of my academic career, I have always been insistent on finding strong, credible sources, and when compared with more current pieces on my ePortfolio, that I have not reneged on this belief.

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My second smart goal was that I would not limit my research to the internet but would also show my ability to gather information in a physical way. I ended up spending almost a full day in a local library combing through old Civil War tomes and encyclopedias. I sought everything regarding Port Hudson, the Southern colored troops, and anything else that might be referring to Cailloux. I skimmed entire books to find his name. Beyond this was the combination of the two mediums of research. In several of the books I found pictures relating to Cailloux and the many colored troops' flags. From that starting point, I was able to locate the pictures online to transfer them directly to the PowerPoint.

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Impatience can be a killer. Without allowing for thoroughness, I would have missed so much that I needed. It would have been simpler to use what first came up on Google, but I was determined not to take the easy way out. Committing to taking the time to properly locate and find credible information could save us all a world of good. Perhaps it would even limit division and strife if one bothered to look past the surface to see the truth underneath.

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Social Scientific Literacy:

Learners will demonstrate an understanding of social science methodologies in order to explain the consequences of human actions.

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This presented artifact was written in the fall of 2017, for American Government (POL-120). The title of it is "Racial Disparity in Criminal Sentencing and Its Effect on Society." The exact cue for the paper is as follows: "Racial Disparities in Sentencing (is there a problem, if so what exactly is it, what has been the effect on society, what has been the cost to government, what can be done about it)." More specifically, is was to be an unbiased, informative essay.

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Even though this topic had caught my eye, I held back on e-mailing to convince myself to pick something safer. However, I missed the deadline for choosing, and found myself handed this one. Though it ended up being the most challenging paper on which I have ever worked, it was also the most rewarding. I spent almost forty hours on it, two-thirds of which was spent on pure research. It was long and exhausting to complete, but because of that, it remains my personal favorite. I went into the paper with what I believe was a mostly balanced mindset, and with that, I did not find myself arguing with the facts that I encountered. Instead of fighting, I was able to take all I discovered and transfer it back into the paper with an element of fairness.

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The first smart goal I had for this was that I would analyze a specific piece of the American criminal justice system to search for a proposed subjection of certain demographics. From the start, the one thing that was difficult aside from the intensity of the topic was ensuring that the paper stayed focused. Narrowing a topic has always been difficult, so having one that was pre-set allowed me the freedom to expound without concern over wandering. While the paper also covers a range of things connected to sentencing, the overall topic stays centered. Context is necessary, and I do not feel I verged from within that realm in my discussion.

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The paper begins with a comparison of popular cases with an example of the sentences, gives a timeline of historical sentencing involving racism that reached to present day, compares prosecution rates, and brings a return to current statistics. Exoneration numbers are discussed further; then combined with prison costs to show how cost is impacted by incorrect sentencing. The conclusion begins with the struggles with reentry by those unlawfully convicted, current stands against racism, and the question of "what comes next?" to end the paper. Altogether, everything connects back to sentencing.

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This carries into the second smart goal: that I would demonstrate an understanding of a social issue while maintaining integrity in analytical data and factual evidence. I would argue with anyone who did not agree racism exists and is a very present concern for minorities. However, regarding the exact focus of sentencing, it could not be proved that racism is institutional. There is nothing on an average basis that shows minorities receive sentences that are vastly different from Caucasian criminals. What this paper does is open the door to other debates, such as rates of prosecution, conviction, and the brutality that is often seen in arrests of minorities.

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I often find myself using the word "balance." I have always considered extremes to be dangerous, and I have always vehemently disliked when such extremes are exaggerated or made up. To properly fight for a cause, one must have a legitimate cause. I entered this project with an open mind, honestly curious about the answers I would have at the end. What I discovered was what I had thought: that was something occurring between the two words "institutionalism"* and "nonexistent." Being able to challenge one's suppositions to see and understand a problem is a necessity in life - one that I hope was seen in this paper and will continue to be present in all else that I do.

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*Author's note, 2020: When I first completed this ePortfolio, I found myself in the midst of radically altering how I viewed the world and the systems contained within it. I began to realize that there was much more than I had ever known, or that had been declared by white-washed curriculum. I understand much more deeply now what the word institutional truly means. That being said, I have chosen to leave my phrasing in its original form. I have done this in the hope that it will align with other sentiments shared on my ePortfolio; primarily this: there is always room for more growth.

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Understanding the Arts and the Human Experience:

Learners will demonstrate an understanding of arts and humanities in historical and cultural contexts.

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This concluding artifact is a return to the American Literature I (ENG-231) course. The title of it is "The Crime of Capitalism;" it was the final exam done in the style of a "conspiracy theory." What we were to do was take a piece of literature studied and discussed in class and present a new interpretation of it based on one of the formal literary criticisms. Not only were we to use the work of literature to analyze our theory but find other credible sources that would also provide support.

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The level of "conspiracy" was not something to be drastically radical. We were to find a new perspective that could technically be correct. With some literature, especially poetry, the possibilities of meaning are nearly endless. Unless it has been explicitly stated, one would be quite presumptuous to assume the ability to know the intention of a long-gone author. For this paper, I chose to use the Marxist literary criticism on a poem written by Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, Lines Written at Castle Island, Lake Superior.

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The first smart goal that I set for this paper was that I would express an original perspective on a piece of literature and show how it demonstrates efforts made to diminish a minority demographic. Beginning this is the search for opinion mirroring my own; if there were plenty of analyses already done on the perspective that was chosen, it would no longer maintain that sense of originality. I did not find much information regarding mine online, so I was able to continue.

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As the title suggests, Capitalism is as the forefront of the paper. With the increase of Capitalism and industrialism, the struggles Native Americans faced were altered, but no less valid. This economic boom was the crux that I found to be the underlying notion Mrs. Schoolcraft had been suggesting. Aside from the historical trends in dealing with Native Americans, there were more industrial means of suppression. One of these was the increased use of waterways for industrial purposes that affected a certain food staple of Mrs. Schoolcraft's people. Another is how the lucrative fur trade was overtaken by white leadership. Lastly, the change in corporate structures pushed Native Americans further down the ladder of success. All of it comes back to the point that they were apparently "in the way" of American progress.

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The closing smart goal that I have for my Program Outcomes is that I would support this perspective and analysis with credible, academic sources, as well as numerous references from the primary source. To repeat myself, finding the right sources is very important. Opinions are not fact. I chose to compare the historically documented industrialism timeline to the words of the poem to prove my interpretation is just. That supported my stance even more, as there were plenty of crimes committed that would have transpired in Mrs. Schoolcraft’s lifetime.

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To continue, "numerous" did not precisely happen. There are only five lines out of eighteen from the poem that are used. Additionally, to keep from disrupting the flow, I chose not to repeat pieces of the lines in their relevant paragraphs. What I ended up doing was spend more time concentrating on the other sources fixating on Capitalism and crimes against Native Americans than using every piece of the poem. While I do think more quotes should have been included, I do feel the ones within were used effectively and appropriately.

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On a final note - it is interesting how this class is the one from which I received the most criticism, and from that, the most growth. Mr. B: I may have been miffed before, but not now. I deliberately chose to frame all the artifacts with the two principal works done in this class to show that even at the end, there is still learning to be had. Yes, I progressed in the internal stages of the course, but more importantly – I also progressed in life. My passion for truth, and my determination to move forward have become even more secure.

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It has not been easy, but it has been worth it.