Week 4 in the Sig Series

Well, it’s hard to believe that we are nearing the end of week 4. The material has been difficult to this point, but the time has been flying by. In fact, we are nearing the point in which we will start to begin on our projects and quite honestly, I’m nervous about it. I’m not as worried about the Capstone project as I am about the digital story. I have never in my life had to do anything remotely similar to this and I really don’t know where to begin. One of the hardest things for me to do has always been deciding on a topic that will fit the requirements of the project. In this case, I’m not really sure what to do for the digital story. I’m not exactly proud to say it, but I’ve never really volunteered my time for anything and I have no idea what I should be doing. I don’t like to make excuses, but I’m not sure how I will be able to accomplish this because of things like work, family, etc. One of the major problems I have is with work because I don’t work a regular work week like many people. I work an off work week with rotating shifts and it is going to be a challenge to hold any type of commitment outside of that. I’m sure it’s been done before, but I’m just not sure how I am going to be able to do it. I would be lying if I said I was looking forward to it.

Then there is the Capstone project. As I said in my first blog, I was not thrilled when I learned that I would be required to write another one because I had just finished one a week before. I can’t say that my position has changed much. Again, just as with the digital story, I am not very good at coming up with topics. I’m more of a person that handles these things better when given a topic, or at least I think I am. I know there is a general outline of what we are supposed to include, but I’m still struggling with where to begin. Up to this point in the class I have struggled trying to incorporate our readings into the essays and I know it won’t get any easier trying to do it with the Capstone. Basically, I don’t know that I feel comfortable including anything from the readings because I can’t honestly say that I understand the full context of them. The reading has been extremely difficult to grasp. Much more so than I ever thought it would be and it hasn’t gotten any easier from week to week.

This wasn’t meant to be a whine session, but I guess that’s what it turned out to be. In the end, if I really want my degree, I’m just going to have to suck it up and get it done. Is it Thanksgiving yet?

Week 3 in the Sig Series

This week brought with it another round of challenging stories to read. The reading was very time consuming and not exactly easy for me to understand. I found myself having to read some the stories more than once to try and get an understanding of each one. It seems as though "Crito" has been one of the more popular topics on the discussion board and that has certainly helped me in my understanding of it. For whatever reason, Plato's writings are somewhat difficult for me to understand and the thoughts and inputs of my classmates were definitely a bonus in clearing up some of my confusion. It also seems as though the general consensus was pretty much the same. It's hard to say how one would react without actually having been put into a situation like Socrates was in. We can speculate on how we might act, but you can't really by sure. It was an interesting story and I would like to believe that I would have made the same decision as Socrates. He certainly made a noble choice and I respect that. All in all, it was a good week and I'm ready to move on to the next round of challenges. The class is flying by!

Josh

Week 2 in the Sig Series

This week presented some different challenges than the previous week. At least it did for me anyway as I can’t speak for the rest of my classmates. I found most of the assigned readings to be very complicated and confusing, especially the two written by Plato. I actually had to read some of the stories twice just to try and get a better idea of what the purpose and meaning of the story was. I think there were some that I was able to grasp a little better, but others still remain a bit hazy. I am hoping that after reading the posts of other students I will be able to get a better understanding of at least some of the stories.

The biggest challenge by far had to be writing the essay on Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave”. I really did not understand this story at first. It took three times of reading it and researching outside sources before I was able to get a glimpse of what he was talking about. I think part of the problem for me is that it seems like he is “beating around the bush” when telling the story. The vocabulary is not exactly easy to understand because of the way in which the words are used. I realize that this was written in 360 B.C., but I found myself saying, “come on and just say it already”. Because I had difficulty understanding the meaning of the story it was hard to write the essay. I read it again today and I’m not sure that I was very clear in my writing. I understand it because it was my thoughts, but I can’t be certain that another person would be able to interpret the meaning. Even though I read my essay a number of times beforehand, I probably should have waited to submit it until I had a chance to really absorb the information.

All in all, the reading was again very interesting. I try not to hold judgment on anyone, especially when they aren’t around to defend their view, but there was one story in particular that I did not agree with. The excerpt from Friedrich Nietzsche’s The Antichrist was in conflict with my own personal beliefs, but I respect his point of view. My posting for the week was on this story so I won’t get into it too much. I may have interpreted it entirely wrong so I’m looking forward to seeing what other students have to say about. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m wrong if that is the case.

What is the Kirkpatrick Signature Series and Why am I Here?

The Kirkpatrick Signature Series is a cluster course that is designed to give students a perspective on the American way of life. I believe it will attempt to show how our values, morals, and belief systems have helped to shape America as we know it today and how they will affect it into the future. I'm taking this class first and foremost, because it's a requirement of Bellevue University and I need it to graduate, but more importantly, because I think that it's important to know our history and how we got to where we are today. I believe the university has put this series into place for much of the same reason, but also to give us an understanding of the Western way of life and to help guide us down the path of success in our future endeavors.

I must say that so far I've had mixed emotions about the class and we're technically not even started with the first week. If I'm being honest, I would say that I felt excited at first. I didn't really have an idea of what the Signature Series was all about until two days ago. Once I read through the course content and got some idea of the work we would be doing, I felt a little angry. I was angry not because I despise doing work, but I noticed that we have to prepare a Capstone project and I just got done doing a Capstone project for my major. I guess I had the impression that I would only be doing one. However, after completing the reading assignments for the week I felt a little surprised. I was surprised at how interesting I found the stories to be and I can take solace in the fact that at least the project will hopefully be able to hold my attention. I'm not going to lie, the topic for my last Capstone was pretty boring.

As I previously stated, the reading was very captivating. There are many different views that are presented by some pretty respected minds. I'm not the one to say who is right and who is wrong. I see valid points in all of their views, but I also consider some aspects a little strange. I guess I try to find a good balance with everything that I do, whether it be in my personal life or in my professional life. As easy as that sounds, that isn't always the case and many times I believe circumstances dictate how react to something or how we handle a situation. I'm sure I've been guilty of saying one thing and doing the complete opposite and that's fine. As some of the reading stated, humans are imperfect.

I hope that is one thing that I can contribute to the class, humans are imperfect. I know I'm not perfect and I'm sure that many of the views I hold will be met with criticism and that's fine with me. I welcome it and I expect it and I hope I can learn from it. I don't mind taking criticism, but I'm not very good at giving it. If there's one thing that I've learned about the online format, it's that some people don't hold back on their feelings toward a particular topic and it makes for some interesting debate. When this course is over, I hope that I will have helped to make for some interesting conversation. I can't say that it will be better because I'm in it. I think each one of us will make a contribution in making this a better course and that's what's important. Best of luck to everyone!

Josh