Kiana Henderson

Dr. Littlejohn
RCO 390
4/22/18

Critical Reflection

Writing and research:

How do you feel about your research topic now that your project is completed?

● During the process of learning more about my topic I learned that I am more interested in

my topic than I previously believed. During the expo when I would present my topic to

those around me I found myself engaging more than I believed I would. I do feel relieved

now that it is complete though because it caused a lot of stress.

In what ways did writing help you think through complex ideas raised during your research?

● Whenever I would write out my ideas it would allow me to gain more connections with

certain topics included within my research. By writing out my ideas I found my essay

beginning to expand into what I needed it to be.

Describe your research process. What steps do you do when tackling a research project?

● When I first started my research, it took me so long to just come up with a locked in

topic. I found myself questioning if I really wanted to stick with a certain topic or if I

really cared about the topic. After I finalized my research topic, I found it easier to gain

information on what I wanted to speak on. After putting all of my ideas on the paper and

listening to different perspectives through interviews, I was finally able to put it all into

words and onto the document and the poster.

In what ways have you developed your ability conduct research?

 ● Initially I had always been nervous to conduct interviews and talk to people

professionally. After doing this research project, i’ve found that it’s not as tedious and

nerve racking as I previously thought.

What was it like being part of the Research Expo and sharing your research with others?

● As stated before I actually really enjoyed doing the expo. It allowed me to thoroughly

discuss my ideas and state some things that I may not have even put in the paper or on the

poster. I found myself getting engaged when explaining my topic to others.

Describe your writing process.

● My writing process started off so childlike. I was just trying to get words on a paper in

order to get a grade and you could tell. Later on though I made sure to fix it. I added titles

to my topics and expanded on those ideas in order to not only help myself but to help the

reader as well. I made sure to include accurate data and build my credibility so that my

paper was valid.

What do you like about it and why? What will you will change and why?

● I like how I added titles to my paper and another thing that I think I did really well was

stating my main ideas in a clear and accurate way. One thing that I would fix about my

paper is the way I transitioned into another paragraph. I didn't know how to connect the

last paragraph to the next.

What are your strengths and weaknesses as a writer?

● I know that i’m not good at writing papers but I believe that a strength of mine is writing

my thoughts out in an understandable form even when I don’t know how. I believe that a
 weakness of mine is my vocabulary and punctuation. I have a tendency to forget commas

and semicolons when writing so it brings my paper to a lower level than it could be at.

What strategies will you employ to address your weaknesses?

● As i’m writing this now, I’m trying to focus on where I believe punctuation should be

included. This will help it to become a natural thing in my mind.

What is the relationship between writing for school and writing for your future or current

professional life?

● In my opinion writing for school is building up the right skills needed to later write for

your future professional life.

Your Final Website Project:

Describe two or three moments when you made intentional decisions when curating your work.

What contributed to those decisions?

● One of the decisions that I made when designing my website was making sure that my

logo was all inclusive to my topic. I wanted it to be known what I was talking about and

be sure that it was clear and precise. Another thing that I know I want to do is change the

colors of the website to define my topic more.

What was the best part of doing the website?

● So far the best part of doing the website is allowing myself to be open to learn how to

create a website and also i’ve enjoyed the seeing my information on a professional

webpage.

What was the most challenging part of the website?

 ● I’m not tech savvy, so the most challenging part to me is just the making of the website in

general. It is tedious and can be annoying.

If you had more time to work on these projects what would you do differently and why?

● If I had more time, I would make sure that I organize my information in a way that makes

it easier for me to later put onto paper. I would be sure to be more thorough in my

research and learn my topic.

In what ways has your project furthered your personal, academic, or professional goals?

● I personally don’t feel like it furthered my goals, but it was a good experience to learn

about the struggles of others and myself.

Sustainability and Fieldwork:

Define Sustainability.

● Sustainability it the ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.

Define Fieldwork.

● Fieldwork is the practical work conducted by a researcher in the natural environment,

rather than in a laboratory or office.

Describe what you have learned from your own interactions with sustainability and fieldwork.

● I’ve learned that sustainability can be simple if you put in the effort with the smaller

things. For fieldwork i’ve learned that it is not as hard as I previously believed. Fieldwork

can be tedious but it is still simple.

Describe one connection that you see between your research project and the broader definition of

sustainability.
 ● My research project supports the idea that sustainability can impact others in a negative

way. The sustainability of biphobia causes a great impact on those of bisexual identity

because they are not able to get around the feeling because it is so long lasting.

Which fieldwork methods do you feel most comfortable with and why?

● I feel most comfortable with the observation because on a daily basis I just people watch,

my only issue was finding the right people to watch.

What fieldwork would you like to see yourself improve and why?

● I’d like to improve in charts and data, because i’ve never really been able to put together

data in an organized manner so that’s something that I can improve on.

Strong College:

What has been the most important part of your experience at Strong and why?

● I believe the most important part of being a part of Strong are the bonds that i’ve built

inside of the community. It has been a rollercoaster ride, but it’s helped me to grow into a

better individual.

What would you do differently if you could change anything about your experiences?

● I don’t think there is anything I would really change because everything that happened

has happened for a reason. I would keep everything the same.

In what ways did you see connections between your Strong courses and other UNCG courses?

● Often times I would find myself in a course outside of Strong and would think to myself

“Oh I remember that from…” so I believe that Strong connects majorly to courses on

UNCG campus.
In what ways did your experiences at Strong extend outward to help others inside Strong or

outside in the community of UNCG or beyond?

● I’m not sure how my experiences extended outwards except for when giving tours i’m

able to tell stories and help them to understand Strong in more than a scripted way.

Which contributions to Strong (committees, quality of student work ethic, attendance at events,

leadership, or good community citizenship, for ex.) are you most proud of and why?

How has your experience at Strong impacted your ethical approach to engaging with others who

are different from you?

● Being inside of Strong I have encountered many different types of people. Being in this

environment I have learned to accept other people's views when I need to and try and

change them when I need to also.

Education and studenthood:

How well did you turn in your assignments on time? Why or why not?

● I did not turn my in my assignments on time often and most of the time it was because I

started it late and thought I didn’t need much time to complete it but I actually needed a

lot more time than I thought.

How well have you followed directions this semester for your assignments? Why or why not?

● Most of the time I have followed directions correctly, but there have been times when I

missed critical reflection questions and I believe that this just comes from me not paying

attention to the full assignment.

What are your goals for your yourself as you pursue your education and why?
 ● My goals are to keep my grades at a decent position and while doing this begin to retain

information instead of learning it for a semester. I need this so that I am actually

knowledgeable about what I need to know in the future.

In what ways did you contribute to meeting those goals?

● This semester I have drastically improved my grades from last semester because I

actually take time out of my day to focus on homework and get better grades.

If you could change something about your student life so far, what would you do differently?

● From the beginning I probably would have figured out a way to keep my grades at a

decent level so that now I wouldn't have to pull myself out of the gutter, but the past is

the past.

Any final thoughts you want me to know as I read through your project?

● I’ve been trying but I’m stressed and I hope I’ve given you good content.