Learning Reflection - Week 4

I have learned so much in a three weeks time span. The first thing I learned was how to navigate the weebly website. I have never had that used anything besides blackboard. This was something that was new to me. In the second week, we were assigned to read “What is an American by Crevecoeurs. After reading Crevecoeurs, we then had to compose our own essay of What being an American means to us. Something that I learned from Crevecoeurs, my classmates, and I had in common when it came to realizing “What is an American?” is that you do not have to be from America to be considered to be an American. In Week 3, the major reading was “Self-Reliance” by Emerson. For that week, we had to compose an essay about our best self. I got the chance to actually write about what makes me who I am and how to define who my best self is. I also learned about sublime. A sublime is an intense moment of being overwhelmed with feelings. An example of an sublime could be a religious moment or the death of a family member. In the discussion post, I wrote about when I got saved as my sublime moment. Within the last three weeks we have read several readings but the one that stuck with me the most is “Walking” by Thoreau. Reading “Walking” and then going out and actually taking a walk and engaging with nature helped me to appreciate nature so much more. I go walking a lot on that same trail and on that walk I saw things that I had never seen before. It was very peaceful and relaxing. Thoreau “Walking” essay was a guide for me while I was walking on the trail. In his essay, he explained that you should not bring the worries of the world in the woods with you or you want get to enjoy the whole experience.

In this course, there wasn’t a time where I felt distant. I never had a teacher that knew how to lecture online. With every online class that I have taken usually you have to teach yourself but in this case Dr. Brandon makes you feel like you are in class. He gives online lectures. This is definitely by far the best online class that I have had. The in-depth explanations of everything is definitely something that has helped me thus far. And the fact that Dr. Brandon is always available and make sure that we have several ways of contacting him with questions. He is always there to assist his students. Thus far, there really wasn’t an action taken that was confusing or puzzling to me. Something about the reading or discussion that surprised me is how much I am actually learning from reading the essays of Thoreau and Emerson. I had read some of these essays in high school but now I am finding a more profound interest in them. It’s really hard for me to get the reading done but with most of the reading I try to find a way to relate to it to get it done. I know that in order to gain an understanding of what is trying to be taught I must get it done. I can’t wait until Professor Brandon provides ways to be able to get the reading done and connect with it because I know it’s not something that I will be able to use in this class but in all of my classes.