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Tia Piscitelli

Final Reflective Essay


Over the past three terms I have been assigned a wide variety of papers to write
and assignments to do, and each one has helped me improve numerous writing and
thinking skills. I have picked eight assignments I have completed that show my
improvement and are good examples of how I have used the university study goals.
The first paper I included was an urban demographics assignment. After
collecting data about a Portland area zip code and San Francisco area zip code, I was
supposed to compare the data of the two areas together. I compared educating,
income, housing and poverty. This assignment required a lot of critical thinking about
what the data meant about citizens in those areas as well as the outside forces affecting
them. Also, this project required me to learn how to use Excel and how to work with
peers to complete a project. I also sharpened my summarizing skills. There was a lot
that could be interpreted and said about the demographics data, but this assignment
required preciseness and staying on track.
The second paper I included was a gaining and holding power paper. The small
group I was in was assigned Singapores Prime Minister. Most groups were assigned
dictators that were not the best people, but our leader was actually a progressive and
somewhat positive leader. By completing this assignment I learned group working
skills, and how to divide up work and time towards the research and writing. It also
helped me work on my communication skills because in order to keep on track, a clear
line of communication must be maintained. Our group collected a lot of research and
then we had to determine how to interpret it and what to include in our analysis paper. I

learned about how different forms of governments and different cultures function. I went
into the assignment with minimal knowledge of what a Prime Minister was and came out
of knowing a little bit more about how that type of ruling functioned. I also learned a
little bit about Singapores beliefs and traditions.
The third paper I included was essay about The Dispossessed by Ursula LeGuin.
Part of completing the assignment was to read the book not just to finish it, but to take
away a opinion and perspective about the content. Reading critically helped me think
critically. The book was not like anything I had ever read before so I had to be a little bit
inquisitive in order to fully understand it. The paper required me to summarize the
meaning of the story without summarizing the overall story. I met with a small group of
other people that had also read it a few times to discuss opinions, they helped answer
questions and address strong opinions I had about the story. Writing the actual paper
helped me improve my formatting and writing skills on a computer. A main theme of the
story was different forms of government, and that can be directly applied to politics and
government topics that are actually occurring.
The fourth assignment I included was the Community Based Learning Project.
This assignment took a lot of time, patience and group cooperation. We divided up
responsibilities which worked out pretty well. I can definitely say I have improved my
team work skills. By holding each person responsible for a task, everything gets done
well and on time. I also have gotten better about working on computers. We used
google docs to write everything out, so I learned how to edit and collaborate with people
that are in different rooms. Our group interviewed two people and collected a lot of
research, we then had to analyse what we knew and compile it together to write a

cohesive paper. The interview required us to ask creative questions to get answers we
could not find on the internet. After we gathered information, we discussed it and
thought about Make-A-Wish's impact on the US and the impact of nonprofits in general.
We learned a lot about how organizations and good causes grow and become
successful, mostly through media and volunteer participation.
The fifth paper i included was the commodity research paper. My commodity
was mahogany. I had to start by thinking a lot about the commodity and then come up
with a specific question about mahogany to research about. I already knew a little bit
about how to do research on a question, but this paper improved my knowledge of
where to look. I was surprised to find a lot of information about mahogany, so I had to
read a lot and then clear out papers and facts that did not pertain to my question. I
learned a lot about lumber production and fine wood selection. Beyond that, I learned a
good amount about how commodities work in general, mostly about government
regulation and involvement.
The sixth assignment I included was the rough draft of the commodity research
paper. I changed a lot of things about my paper after turning in the rough draft. I went
back and looked at the information I collected and decide it was not enough, I needed to
justify the answer I came up with. I improved the layout of my paper so it would flow
smoother. I also took out words and sentences that were not necessary. This made my
paper make more sense to read. It is hard to find mistakes in papers you write yourself
since your mind thinks about what it should be instead of what is on the paper, so I had
a few people proofread my paper. Their suggestions helped a lot. My overly answer

actually shifted a little bit after I submitted my rough draft. That was mostly due to
gathering more research and asking more questions about it.
The seventh paper I included was an observation essay about different classes
in society. In main session we watched a video about different classes that we see
everyday and peoples skewed opinions of them. I went to a mall and took observations
of people I saw and what signified the class they were in. It was pretty difficult for me to
do, so after making observations I had to think a lot about what I noticed. My opinions
about set standards in society got a lot stronger after this assignment. I actually had to
do an assignment where my opinion was not included in the paper. Societal classes
have been a concept for a long time, and they are not going to go away, so it is
important to know a little bit about them.
The final assignment I included was the Kafka Essay. In order to write it, I
had to read the actual Kafka story and then critically think about what I read. I think the
story could be interpreted in a lot of different ways, but the general idea was clear.
Power is a common theme that is present in everything we do and see. Authority does
not just have to be something present in people. Power causes fear, and that fear
creates authority. At first the paper was difficult to write because I had a lot of thoughts
going through my head, so I had to write out a formatting plan. It was easy to connect
this paper to what we had previously read and discussed in class throughout the term.
All of the assignments I chose to include in the portfolio are the ones that stuck
out the most to me. They were unique and interesting to complete. I dont always enjoy
doing research and critical thinking, but it is not so bad when there is a large variety of
possibilities. Power is something that is present in a lot of different aspects of my life

socially, politically and economically. I am glad I was able to learn how to think deeper
about it.

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