My E-Portfolio

I created this portfolio to showcase my academic growth and achievements throughout my college career. One particular section of the portfolio is dedicated to assignments from my Spring 2011 Honors Rhetoric and Civic Life course. Although this course is a mandatory general education requirement at Penn State, and I went into it with little expectation of gaining anything, I left with so much more.

When I complete the remainder of my academic studies, I hope to work in the field of medical social work. A medical social worker is someone who helps individuals, couples and families cope with the social, psychological, cultural and medical issues resulting from an illness. Specifically, I dream of working in the pediatric ward of hospitals, counseling families through their children’s illnesses. Therefore, success in this profession demands a mastery of communication skills. The skills I learned in LA101H will absolutely help me be an effective communicator.

Some of these skills include knowledge of audience, different modes of communication and their appropriateness, and capitalizing on kairos and exigence. I believe that as a medical social worker, knowledge of audience will be most vital to my success. I will consistently be placed in situations with families who have recently heard devastating news. With proper knowledge of an audience, which in my case will be knowledge about the dynamics of a particular family, I can adapt my advice and methods for recovery depending on a family’s situation.

As I continue on with my academic career at Penn State, I will implement the lessons I learned in LA101H. Once I graduate and enter the career world, I will still implement knowledge from this course on a regular basis. This course helped me understand the strong relationship between communication and professionalism: the best communicators come off as the most professional.

Sandra Bamford's E-Portfolio

My Mom's Adventure to the Capital

Like so many other young female adults, I consider my Mom my role model. I hope that when I grow up, I have the courage to stand up for what I believe in like my Mom. Prior to this week, I considered the presidential rally for Obama in 2008 the best example of my Mom's passion for standing up for what she believes in. She woke me up at 5am on a Saturday morning to drive just under an hour into Philadelphia and stand in line for 3 hours before Obama spoke. On that memorable morning, my Mom reminded me of the crucial importance in being an active citizen. As I spoke to my Mom on the phone a few days ago, she reminded me once again of that importance.

"I was halfway through the drive to Harrisburg when I looked down at my feet and noticed I was wearing two different shoes!" My Mom laughed as she recounted the tale of her adventure to the capital. She drove by herself to Harrisburg to attend the rally about Corbett's proposed budget cuts funding public institutions of higher learning. As a proud Penn State grad with a family rooted in State college, and a teacher in a school district that consistently strikes when determining new contracts, my Mom has a lot invested in public education. Her decision to attend the rally was easy because of her passion about the necessity of funding education.

I admire my Mom's ability to not only take a stance on a prevalent issue, but act on it. She accomplishes everything in her power to act on her stance. After wearing two different shoes, and stumbling lost through the Capital building, my mom voiced her belief to a state representative. She explained to me that even if her perspectives and explanations had no effect on the eventual budget cut decision, she still could say that she gave every effort to voice her opinion. My mom's experience is the perfect example of the power of taking action on behalf of your beliefs.

Gay Marriage: A Worn Out Yet Critical Debate

I think of myself as a person who stands up for the well being of others, including family, friends, peers, and strangers. When the worn out debate ove gay marriage surfaces in any conversation, I can't help but become strongly defensive because I am proud to stand in strong favor of gay marriage. I wouldn't call this attitude stubborn because in high school I engaged in formal debate over the issue in a Speech and Debate class and in Government class, so I've done the research and formulated opinions based off of more than just personal values. This is my stance:

As one of the most powerful countries in the world, America is constantly setting the precedent for other nations to meet. However, there is one glaring omission from the progressive attitude of America: the lack of a nationwide law permitting same sex marriage. Same sex marriage is a controversial issue in the United States that has fueled many conflicts in the past. There have been court cases, overturned laws, and passionate protests in the past decades. Although same sex marriage debates were not as prevalent prior to the 1990’s, the history of the issue traces all the way back to the traditional definition of marriage. In its simplest form, the issue is concerned with human rights. Same sex marriage should be legalized in every state because, in forbidding it, the government is denying a basic human right, discriminating against a minority, and resisting change to a modern age.

The issue of gay marriage appeared in the United States courts in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Court rulings were inconsistent and had little impact on the general population. In the 1990’s, it seemed support for gay marriage was possible. However, the Defense of Marriage Act seriously undermined the success of the 1990’s. In the past five years, more states have passed legislation granting gay rights than ever. The next step that remains for every state, and hopefully at last the national level, is redefining marriage to mean ‘the permanent relationship with a significant other’. 

I could go on. And on. And on. I take pride in this passion of favoring gay marriage. I think the importance of holding strong beliefs is underestimated and ignored by young adults, causing a lack of awareness about societal issues.

How to Write About Family Emergencies

Wednesday afternoon, my Grandfather passed away. I am very close with my family and the loss has put my life on hold. I had two exams on Thursday and a paper due today. When I inquired the Office of Student Affairs about an excused absence from these exams, they said that the death must be of an immediate family member. So this morning, I was stuck composing emails to my professors about my situation, asking them to work with me through this loss.

I know this is a depressing blog post, but when something like this happens, it becomes your entire world. My family is absolutely critical in my life, and a loss like this that threatens our foundation terrifies me. I put studying on hold last night so that I could spend time with my brother, the closest family I have up here. I have been up every night this week with a terrible cough that prevents me from sleeping more than a consecutive hour. It's not so hard to write about my situation in a blog post, but how can I communicate with my professors in the right way? How can I let them know that I still value their course? I struggled with this dilemma earlier today, trying to say just the right things in my emails.

We have learned in class that verb choice, sentence structure, and style are critical in writing. We have also discussed the difficulty of communicating via email because of the loss of emotion in typed words. I typed and retyped every sentence of my emails, worried that my professors would think I was using this family loss as a mere excuse to get out of taking their exam. I have minimal relationships with these professors. However, I still try to excel academically in these classes. My emails had to explain my situation and outline a plan for me to overcome it. I clicked "send" and now await responses from professors, uncertain that they will sympathize with me missing exams today. Luckily, these kinds of situations rarely occur, but unfortunately, when they do, coming up with the best response is very difficult.

(Not So) Happy Meals

I have seen the documentary Supersize Me three times. It intrigues me, but also leaves me with many lingering questions. I think the film fails to address a relevant controversy: the Happy Meal. Unhealthy eating habits start during youth; therefore, the unhealthy components of a Happy Meal increase the chances of a later, unhealthy lifestyle.

I remember riding home from intramural soccer games in elementary school with my hopes set on one goal: a McDonald's Happy Meal. On special occasions, my parents would treat me to a Happy Meal. For me, it was not about the chicken nuggets or french fries. Sure, I enjoyed them, but I much rather preferred my Mom's home cooking. I lived for the free toys. I introduced the Happy Meal toys into my extensive collection of bath toys. I swam through the bathtub with Buzz Lightyear, Pocahontas, and Simba figurines floating by my side. My floating friends came from my Happy Meal, therefore, it is easy for me to associate a Happy Meal with happiness. However, this association leaves out an unfortunate ramification of Happy Meals: improper nutrition for America's Youth.

My Happy Meal was made up of chicken nuggets, fries, a toy, and orange soda. Today, a Happy Meal offers an array of slightly healthier options, including: 'all white meat' chicken nuggets, apple slices, and a milk jug. Certainly these options are superior to the typical Happy Meal of my youth. Except, what elementary school age child would ever choose apples over fries? Milk over soda? Very few.

At the drive through, the menu displays bright images of salted french fries, juicy beef patties, crispy chicken nuggets, and bubbly soda. The healthy options are definitely pictured, but with a much less appealing nature. There is clearly less effort to make the apples appear crunchy or the milk appear fresh. In the restaurant, wafts of fried food seep through your senses. Oils popping from the grill and fry basket saturate the air and massive ketchup containers spread a hint of tomato among the smells. The scent of fresh cut vegetables and fruit or lean proteins is completely absent.

What has McDonald's actually done to encourage children to pick healthier options in their Happy Meals? Barely anything. On the surface, the company can boast the mere existence of the healthier options and therefore slyly avoid criticism. Unfortunately, McDonald's has not changed their advertising, presentation, or ideology in the slightest. The restaurants and menus are geared for customers to purchase the classic McDonald's foods, and not the somewhat healthier options. The company capitalizes on the biology of humans: we crave unhealthy foods because they satisfy pleasure centers in our brain.

PowerPOINTLESS

After Robin explained the PowerPoint controversy in class yesterday, I reflected on the PowerPoint styles that I have encountered recently and throughout high school. I think I can break it down to a few specific styles:

The frantic copier- Aaaah. Too much text on a slide, not enough time for the pen to busily scratch down every word. How can I decipher what is crucial and what is not when my teacher verbalizes every phrase on the PowerPoint?! Conversely, some of my professors have a tendency to elaborate extensively on a single slide while I lose my place and let go of all hopes of organization.

Technical difficulties- Don't get me wrong, I love my Stat professor. But his constant mumblings over clicking the wrong button or how to work the laser point or flipping back and forth between slides are incredibly distracting. I also love my high school Government teacher. However, his fear of his SmartBoard led to many interruptions during failed attempts at PowerPoints during class.

Slide overload- This inevitably leads to the "time-is-running-out-let-me-skip-six-slides-in-ten-seconds" trick. Class is almost over....the end of the PowerPoint is nowhere in sight! So, why not just fly through each slide? Wrong. Too many slides in the PowerPoint restricts time limits enough at it is. Flipping through the last slides to save time deprives important information from the lesson.

That's just too fancy- I don't understand why people insist on excessive animation on their slides. I don't care if my title slide flies in, flips upside down, bounces, spins, shakes, or changes colors. It just has to be there! Intricate backgrounds detract from the focus on the text on the slides and complicated formats make the slides hard to follow. Sometimes, fancy is fun. Sometimes, fancy is just too much.

...Luckily, I have had teachers who utilize the PowerPoint brilliantly, leading to enhanced learning and an overall better educational experience. Kudos to them. However, those who fail, usually fail miserably. PowerPoints are tools for rhetoric, allowing the presenter to effectively convey their ideas to their peers. Unfortunately, Powerpoints are also weapons for mass confusion.

You guessed it... A THON Reflection Post

Due to the class speeches this week, I decided to write a personal blog post about something related to a rhetoric technique. Speakers employ pathos to draw emotional responses from their audience. Mr. Rupp, a speaker during Family Hour at THON 2011, crafted a beautiful speech that left the 13,000 spectators in the BJC speechless and in tears. His speech is an excellent example of pathos.

Mr. Rupp may have spoken for ten minutes, or fifty minutes. I was too entranced by his words to notice any passing of time. His daughter, Felicia, lost the battle against cancer over 10 years ago. Yet he still returns to THON with his family because Felicia cherished THON weekend. His return to THON 2011 was accompanied by a speech that had a major impact on my life perspective.

He began his speech with stories about his daughter's friendship with another cancer patient. The story took me back to memories of my own childhood, evoking laughter over ridiculous memories of sleeping in my dog's crate with my own best friend of 13 years. Mr. Rupp's explanation of Felicia’s friendship with another cancer patient reminded me of my own childhood friendships, and how lucky I am to still hold these friendships close to my heart. Felicia's friend lost the battle to cancer when she was 8 years old. Mr. Rupp's daughter battled pediatric Cancer while combating the grief of losing her best friend.

I think you can see how pathos applies to this aspect of Mr. Rupp's speech. This intricate story of friendship and loss paralleled every single spectator of the BJC's own childhood friendships. The emotional appeal was overwhelming and incredibly effective. I stood in the stands next to my best friends at THON (my Rules & Regulations committee); our arms wrapped around each other, tears sliding silently down our cheeks. Mr. Rupp's entire speech was rich with elements of pathos, but especially the story about his daughter's childhood best friend.

His speech ended with a statement that reached every individual listening; i was so raw and eye opening that it undoubtedly inspired all of us. "I want you to dance, I want you to THON, and I want you to do this because I don’t want you to ever have your child die in your arms.” These words reminded me of why I THON. Sure, my feet ached and my headache was near unbearable. However, my minor pains were nothing in comparison to the suffering faced by Mr. Rupp.He lost his own daughter, but still finds the strength to empower thousands with his story.

I consider myself lucky to have heard Mr. Rupp's speech during Family Hour. I believe that Mr. Rupp's words will stick with me for the rest of my life. His anecdotes and advice enriched the elements of pathos in his speech. Mr. Rupp’s words motivated me to think through every challenge I face in my day to day life and put the challenge into a greater perspective. Mr. Rupp’s daughter died in his own arms. My own personal battles are minuscule compared to this. FTK!

Thank you for this perspective, Mr. Rupp.