The Final Blog Post

Oh wow. Here we are, the end of the quarter. After 10 weeks of grueling and rigorous work from all my classes combined, we have reached the end. This course in particular was demanding, yet extremely rewarding. Upon taking this course, I was unaware of the topics we would be discussing and I chose this Professor on a whim. Little did I know, it would be a good choice.

After 10 weeks of learning about animal science, research, and ethics, I now look at the treatment of animals completely different. I look at zoos and think, "how did I ever think it was okay for me to go there?" and I look at the animal product industry and consider whether I can still support it. I remember going to zoos and aquariums when I was little and thought it was innocent, but this course shifted the way I perceived things and now I am more aware that it is unethical to capture animals and confine them to small places. Something that I learned that will make me act differently now is elephant poaching. I did my AP essay on elephant poaching and their endangerment and I will never purchase any ivory products because that will support the businesses to illegally and wrongfully kill innocent animals for profit. This learning experience allowed me to reflect on the time I rode on an elephant in Thailand, a couple years back, and I now feel disgusted that I did that. At the time, I was oblivious to issues that were going on and I thought it would be a fun experience, but all I did was unintentionally enable the business to keep the elephants in captivity and force them to entertain humans. I will NEVER do that again. Something I learned that will change my actions is how geotagging wildlife can lead poachers to the animals, contributing to their endangerment. As I look back on this course in the future, I feel like I will remember how animals suffer just like humans do. Just because they do not look, talk, or act like us, does not dismiss the fact that they feel emotions such as suffering.

Something course-related that I now think about differently is my new appreciation for all the researchers and writers out there. I used to never give much thought to things that I read and I only ever read them with the intent of completing an assignment. However, this course showed me all the work and thought that goes on behind the scenes of research papers and how tough the job really is. This appreciation encourages me to put more effort into the things that I write and with this new mentality, I feel as if the content that I researched has stuck with me more than any of my other classes. If I am being honest, I feel like I retained so much information that I researched, which is not a normal thing for me to experience. Something that I have also learned that will make me act differently in the future is to take peer reviews seriously. This not only benefits my peers, but me as well. It pointed out to me what I should and should not include in my essays. These activities also show me different writing styles that I can explore and use to find my own voice when writing. When I look back on this course in the future, I will remember to appreciate the work that goes into every piece of writing and the dedication it takes to carry it out.

Looking back on my performance during this class, I noticed how rusty I have been on MLA format. I did not know I needed to review that much on in-text citations and bibliographies. I still feel like I could use more work on that area because I find myself confused on when to add in page numbers or the dates for the in-text citations. The Connect activities did help me brush up on my MLA format but I do plan on looking back at my old work that I wrote in high school because I remember that MLA was the only format we ever used. This year, I was so used to using APA format for my other courses that I forgot how to do MLA and by looking back at old examples, I believe that it can help me recall my memories on in-text citations. Another issue that I know I need help on is effectively putting my thoughts down on paper. I noticed that when writing the LR and AP, I struggled and spent the most time on trying to figure out how to word things in a way that made sense, but also formal. I think I struggle with this because I don't have an expansive vocabulary and I know that I can improve on this by reading more books. By exposing myself to sources that enrich my knowledge and vocabulary, I can then implement them into my future writing endeavors. When the new year began, I picked up reading and was addicted to books, but as the school year went on, I found myself getting busy and I think that is where my downfall was. Overall, I hope that I by reading more books, I can improve my writing and find my own style.