Hi all, I’m Mike Kavanagh, originally class of ’96, now class of 202X. Yes, you read that right. I started at SU back in the fall of ’92, and for various reasons was forced to walk away from school without finishing. I’m now back through University College in the Creative Leadership program. This is my second semester of taking online classes and the experience has been extremely positive. Originally from New York, I now live in Baltimore with my wife Heather. I work as an IT Manager for a Fortune 100 company, and am a Gooner, Deadhead, Phishhead and Ravenclaw. I love (and am missing) live music, am obsessed with buffalo chicken and look forward to spending this quarantined summer with you all.
Intro
I’m Ian Botnick and I’ll be a sophomore this fall. I’ve never taken an online class because I think I’m better when I go to actual classes, but that’s obviously not an option right now so I’m excited to see how this goes. I’m an Econ major so writing and research skills are important for me to work on. I also took writing 109 and liked it a lot so I wanted to take this class. I would normally be working in the summer, but my internship was cancelled so I decided to take a semester’s worth of classes instead. Hope everyone is healthy and staying safe!
Intro
Hi, my name is Michaela Reis and I am a rising senior from Long Island. I am majoring in Communications Design. Though this class is required for me I am excited to take it since I haven’t had the chance to be in many writing based classes. This summer I am enrolled in one other online class so I can get ahead on credits, I also have a internship. My internship was supposed to take place in NYC but due to covid it is now remote. I am looking forward to starting this class and hopefully improving my writing skills throughout.
Intro
Hello, my names Isaac Haseltine. I’ll be heading into my junior year at SU this Fall hopefully on campus. I’ve spent my time there at the warehouse where I major in fashion design. Art and design play a very significant role in my life, I spend more time working in my studio than I do on anything else. My writing skills, on the other hand, haven’t had as much attention. I’ve only written a handful of essays in the two years I’ve been here, but its always been a skill I find to be crucial for an artist to appropriately convey their perspective, so I figured taking a summer writing class would let me focus on my writing more.
Week of 5/18–let’s get started
We’ve got a mix of assignments this week as we gear up for the course and get familiar with the platforms. Please see below for a quick rundown of the week’s work.
- by Wednesday, post a brief introduction to yourself on the blog
- by Saturday, respond to 2 of the discussion prompts below (on the blog)
- by Sunday, submit your analysis of the introduction to They Say/I Say (in the Blackboard Dropbox)
Discussions on the blog will serve as class discussion work throughout the summer. For this week, please respond to Question #1 and to either #2 or #3.
Create a new post for your responses. Categorize it as “Discussions,” and tag it with “unit1,” “week of 5/18,” and [your first name]. Each of your responses should be >150 words. Once you have posted, please review your classmates’ posts and comment on at least 2 of them (>75 words each). You should complete this work by the end of the day on Saturday, 5/23.
- What are some of the researchable questions that this week’s readings raise for you? In other words, what issues do these readings make you wonder about? What questions would you be interested in exploring further?
- Anytime we learn about something new, we start from where we are. Use your own experiences to respond to one of these articles–draw some connections between your experiences of work and/or school and the claims/ideas that these authors raise.
- Select one of the definitions from “What is organizational culture and why should we care” OR one statistic from “Why diversity matters,” and discuss what questions this sparks for you? What do you think is interesting or significant about this idea? In other words, how does your look at this article open up questions about what organizational culture is and why it matters?
A quick note on protocol: In order to keep our blog organized, it will be important for us to use categories and tags appropriately:
- categories will sort posts into different locations (pages) on the blog
- tags will make posts easily searchable.
When you click the “+” button to create a new post, your text editor window will have boxes for Tags and Categories in the right menu.
Intro
Hello everyone! My name is Dominique Van Gilst and I am a rising sophomore from Moorestown, New Jersey. My major is inclusive elementary and special education. I am taking this class because it is required for my major, and I think that it would be very helpful to learn more about writing. This summer, I was supposed to be working at a summer camp, but I am not sure if that will happen now. I am starting to get used to having all online classes but it was definitely a challenge at first! I thought that it would be a good idea to take some summer courses so that I will not have to take too many credits in the fall.
Jackie Pimentel Intro
My name is Jackie Pimentel and I am a rising junior from Rhode Island majoring in a BS in Psychology with a minor in Human Family Science. This summer is uncertain for me, as the virus has lead me to not quite knowing if I’m going to have a job or not. I normally work as a lifeguard at a country club and at Syracuse as well, however I might have to find a new one, or even go without one this summer. I chose to do this class online for the summer to get ahead of my credits and to complete it for my major. First semester I had to unfortunately take a leave of absence and I had to withdraw from 16 credits, so I’m playing a big game of catchup! With the uncertainty of a job and quarantine still in effect, I figured taking an online course this summer would be perfect, especially with the transition we just had with having our courses be fully online for the rest of the semester.
Intro
My name is Valerie Solomon and I am a Psychology BS major. I am from outside of Philadelphia and this summer I am hoping to be down the shore at our beach house. Personally, I am taking this course this summer because I know it is required for my degree and in future semesters I want to focus on earning my science credits. I have plans on going to graduate school for psychiatry and because of COVID I was not able to take the science courses I had planned on taking at a nearby university; so instead I decided to complete other major requirements I had. After this past semester being sent home early, I am sort of used to the online class format I just set reminders to make sure to complete the homework when it’s due. A useful app I never really used was the reminders app, so easy to add a reminder for simple assignments but any essays or larger assignments I mark on my calendar when they are due and then set a reminder a few days before.
Dan’s intro ( Week of 5/18)
Hello all,
My name is Dan Desmarais and I am in my junior year studying Mechanical Engineering here at SU. I am a part-time student and work full time as an Engineering technician at TTM technologies in East Syracuse.
I have a 4 year old little girl named lily with my Fiancée Crystal.
I have had a few experiences taking classes that are fully online. Some of the classes went well, though I struggled in others. My advice for those who are not used to this format of learning is to make a schedule for yourself and stick to it. I have found that it’s very easy to get behind in an online class and very challenging to catch back up.
With that said I am excited to spend the summer learning with all of you. I am looking forward to improving my ability to conduct quality research and construct more impactful arguments in my writings.
Introduction
Hello,
My name is Keebah Garnett. I am a dual major in Accounting and Information Management and Technology, with hopes of working as a Risk Advisory Consultant after graduation. This summer I will be spending time at home completing my internship virtually with EY because of COVID. I never fully took a course online and this will be my first experience (aside from the ending of our Spring semester). I’m excited about this class and I hope to improve my writing.
A little casual information about me is that I am a huge Nicki Minaj fan and I love listening to music. Unfortunately, I cannot sing or rap but I love to do it so I do it anyways. I’m looking forward to connecting with you all.