Final Blog

Pt 1

After this class, I will never forget Bede Carmody’s words about Broiler chickens and the research that came after. It was surprising to find that such an error is hiding in plain sight. Also to find only a handful of articles about it and even less research articles. It made me wonder if not a lot of people know about it because the thought never crossed their minds like me, or if large poultry companies made it this way. To add to that, before the research, I thought chickens were a lesser animal than say cats or dogs. This is because for all my life, I have only heard of how to cook them or farm them, never about anything more. Along with that, I thought that people were putting in enough effort trying to do good to chickens by raising them cage free, but to think people have done them wrong genetically is mind blowing. Selective breeding is not a new concept to me, but it is usually done to strengthen and make things healthier, not make a baby chick grow into an oversized chicken in the blink of an eye.

Another transformative experience would be setting up the website and adding on pages like the blog. I have used Wix before, but very simply. At that time, aside from how Wix’s functions are located differently from Google Docs, I felt no difference between using the two. With this class, I explored many other functions Wix has to offer and made a website that actually feels like a proper site. Making blogs, seeing the views, and seeing the comments was transformative. The interaction did not have any back and forth, but it was like confirmation that the work is really being put out into the public. The process made me wonder if making a website really is this easy and not to mention free. I have heard many people talk about how the first step towards growing their brand or store is to hire someone to pay for a website, and they made it seem like you needed to learn how to code to make one.

Pt 2

Strangely enough, it is as if the older I get, the worse I become at grammar. The Connect practice sessions along with comments on my writing has humbled me. It is embarrassing to admit, but they made me realize that I need to go back to the beginning and review some basic grammar rules. I have found videos on youtube where you could test yourself with multiple choice questions pertaining to grammar and get the answers a few seconds after along with a mini explanation. Hopefully, these videos would be enough to refresh my memory.

Likewise, I could improve on my reading comprehension. It was not as easy to go through the research articles as I had thought. It was a weird feeling as if the articles were partially written in another language. To overcome the complexities of research articles, I think it is best to read more of them and use the tried and true method of highlighting key words, circling words you don’t understand and hopefully compare your understanding of the article to someone else’s. I also plan on trying to find gateway articles, ones with subjects I have a solid understanding of.