Final Blog Post: Kinetic Text 2.0

     So what exactly is college readiness?  Is it everything the media makes it out to be, or is it a whole lot more than that?  I decided to do some research on this subject and make a kinetic text project to show what information I found.  To clarify on any question you might have, the entire kinetic text mini project incorporated my ideas and well as some questions from media about what college readiness is about (common questions from the beginning like, is college readiness getting good grades over the years?).  McAlister and Mevs's report about college readiness for Brown University really contrasts with some of the things the individual's I interviewed said.  The authors said, "Create a college-going culture in school, support students through college planning process, and engage families in learning about and supporting college going" (McAlister, Mevs 12).  This to me says that high schools are trying to focus more on preparing students for college...something Devon said they "do not accurately do."  Devon said that high school's aren't preparing students for the work and critical thinking they are going to have to do in college.  However, the article says otherwise, so what is going on here?  I think they haven't been preparing students for college, and they are trying to change that.       
     My high school didn't nearly do this efficiently.  They introduced us to CFNC and that was about it.  The only thing my high school did that greatly helped me in preparation for college was offering the Allied Health 2 course that led to me getting my CNA (Certified Nurse Aide).  Not only did I get my CNA in high school at no charge to me (other than cost of the exam), but it also helped me in deciding my major for college and what I ultimately wanted to do in life.  That is one thing I greatly appreciate from my high school...giving me the opportunity to become a CNA in before college even started. 
     As the years go on, I do see an increase in high school's trying to prepare for their students for college by doing things like requiring the work keys exam, requiring the ACT for Juniors, etc.  The ideas of college readiness intertwine no doubt, but like the point I have been trying to get across this whole project, I believe it depends on the individual.  Not everybody will goes through the same things in their life (or at the same times), and everybody will have their own story.  The media portray's this "idea" of college readiness as taking all these exams and scoring high on them, but that is clearly not the case.  Other components like grades, social life, family life, sports, and other extracurricular activities play a key role in an individual's pathway to being prepared for college. 
     For my final blog post and revision, I struggled to figure out exactly what I wanted to do.  At one point, I thought about combining my kinetic text with my photo essay (the ending of kinetic text "individualism," then bringing my story into it), but I figured it wouldn't be the best idea.  In the comments sheet I got back from Lacy, she said, "You might say a little more in your reflection about what thoughts you got from other people to clarify where ideas are yours and where you are sharing other people's ideas.  I mean this might be blurry, but it would be useful to share some of that."  Since this was the only negative feedback I got back from Lacy on any of my three mini projects, I decided to tackle it and see what I could do to achieve what she was asking. 
     It took time to think about what I wanted to do to "upgrade" my kinetic text mini project, but in the end I decided to add on to the ending in order to incorporate some to the individual's ideas on the topic of college readiness from the names I had pop up towards the end.  I interviewed a few of those people (exception of myself) and got their ideas of college readiness, and it turned out that everybody had something different to say about the topic.  In conjunction with adding on to the project, I also changed the song to "Let Me Be Myself" by 3 Doors Down.  I felt this song would be perfect for my kinetic text since the idea here is individualism and how everybody has a different story regarding college readiness.  As well as adding on and changing the song, I also changed the design of the kinetic text, but that was just for looks.  With that being said, I hope you guys enjoy my newly upgraded Kinetic Text 2.0 Mini Project! 

Sources:

1.  Arnold, Brad. "Let Me Be Myself." Rec. 2007. 3 Doors Down. Universal Records, n.d. MP3.

2. "College Readiness Definition." The Oxford American College Dictionary, through Google.com. 
2001.

3. McAlister, Sara, Pascale Mevs, and University Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown.
"College Readiness: A Guide To The Field." Annenberg Institute For School Reform At Brown

University (2012): ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Mini Project #3: Interview

     For my third and final mini project, I decided I wanted to take the idea of the individual further regarding college readiness by interviewing Morgan Kepley, a freshman here at UNC Charlotte.  As I went through the interview, I asked her a series of questions pertaining to the idea of college readiness and her opinions about it.  The interview was on camera; however, I shared my input with her on every question off camera.  On the first question, "What is your idea of college readiness?" Morgan replied with, "My idea of college readiness is being academically ready for college like you've taken the SAT, you've taken all your high school classes so you kinda know what you're getting into, and knowing what you wanna do with your life like your major when you first come in.  It's also being ready to accept the responsibilities of being on your own.  You're not with your parents anymore.  You have to be responsible for your own decisions.  You have to make sure you do your own homework.  You have to be ready to do things on your own."  I agree with her statement because I believe that in order to be successful in college, you need to make a life change of living on your own and being able to do things on your own.  Most of the time it's a huge responsibility that we aren't ready for and therefore have to adapt to it.  In the second question I asked (Who in your life has most influenced you towards college readiness?), Morgan answered, "My parents have been a really big influence on me, they always encouraged me, they always made sure I do my best, even when I kinda messed up a little bit they would always say it's okay do better next time, or they would help me see what I did wrong. My teachers were also a really big influence too.  Especially my Spanish 4 teacher.  She was really awesome encouraging us and explaining...She had a kid in college so she knew what it was like and she would help us out if we had problems, and like when we were filling out admissions stuff.  So she was a really big influence too."  In regards to her answer I told her I didn't really have a model figure in my journey to college.  Of course my parents were always there for me and always encouraged me to do my best (s/o to my parents!), but for me, it was mostly my decision to work hard and to get into college.  Neither of my parents have been to college so I know what it is like to financially struggle at times and I see how money problems affects families.  My parents have always been there for me as much as possible and tried to give me everything I ever wanted, but that is the main reason why I'm doing what I'm doing.  I didn't want to have to financially struggle in my life.  I wanted to be able to take care of the family without worrying about where the next meal is coming from or where the next mortgage payment was coming from.  Also, where Morgan though high school somewhat prepared her for college, I completely disagree.  High school was honestly a joke for me... we hardly ever had homework and only had one major paper and project to do, the Senior project.  When I got to college I was extremely stressed when all the work piled up and I felt like I couldn't finish it all on time.  It's been very tough to adapt to the workload and studying you need to put in to get good results in college; so much in fact that I am still working on it.  In the academic source I found, the article said, "high schools have turned their attention to equipping students with the skilled needed to enroll and succeed," meaning that students would have the skills to succeed in college without remediation.  This statement is false because in order for Morgan to change majors to Pre-Nursing, she must first  take classes over the summer to catch up.  Also, early I discussed how I believe high schools do not properly prepare us for the work college has to offer.  The article also had a segment on academic preparedness that quoted, "align standards, curricula, and assessment to college ready expectations, use data to drive college readiness policies, intervene early to keep students on college-ready track."  This also goes hand in hand with what I said earlier about high schools preparing students for college readiness.  Not only this, but the article describes that everything high schools do is to support students through college planning process, and to engage families in learning about and supporting college going."  I don't know about any other high school's, but all mine did was introduce us to CFNC and hand out scholarship applications.  I had to pretty much figure out everything else on my own, and it was quite difficult.  Now without further ado, I hope you all enjoy my interview and I will see you in class! P.S. Sorry for making my reflection so long!

Source:
McAlister, Sara, Pascale Mevs, and University Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown. "College Readiness: A Guide To The Field." Annenberg Institute For School Reform At Brown University (2012): ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.

Mini Project #2: Photo Essay

     At the end of my first mini project, I proceeded to say that college readiness is dependent on the individual (refer to Mini Project #1: Kinetic Text).  For my second mini project, I wanted to go more in depth on the idea of individual college readiness and success, so I created a photo essay of my life specifically.  This was just as hard if not harder to make than the Kinetic text from last week, since I added just as much animation to it.  This project took me literally all week to do, but I am very happy with the results and I hope you all enjoy as well.  Again I apologize for the sound quality, picture quality, and slowness of the video.  It looks and sounds good on powerpoint, but when transferred into a video, it ends up taking a turn for the worst. I compared my ideals with the academic source I found and there was many similarities.  In the article, it says, "Acknowledging that to thrive in today's economy requires more than a High School diploma."  I knew this, and that's why I have worked as hard as I have to get where I am today.  The article also talked about how schools now have new policies used to prepare and test for college readiness.  As a senior, I was forced to take the work keys exam.  Another thing that just came into effect this year is that it is now required for Juniors to take the ACT.  Along with the article, I also had tons of help and support along the way.  Without further ado, here is my mini project #2!!! I hope you all enjoy and I will see you in class on Monday!

Source:
McAlister, Sara, Pascale Mevs, and University Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown. "College Readiness: A Guide To The Field." Annenberg Institute For School Reform At Brown University (2012): ERIC. Web. 25 Mar. 2013.