Tonilynn Holtz

Introduction This week's class is a continuation of our previous diversity discussions. Our main focus this week was over a movie titled "Motorcycle Diaries". The film follows two men who ride a motorcycle over South America.  "Motorcycle Diaries" "Motorcycle Diaries" follows two young men, Ernesto and Alberto, on a trip across South America. Alberto was a biochemist and Ernesto was in school to be a doctor. Ernesto kept a journal of their trip, hence the name. Along the trip, they met a plethora of people who live impoverished lives and/or are extremely sick. They meet this one couple who is traveling to find work since they were forced off their land. Then they go to an island full of doctors and nurses who take care of a community of sick people. These interactions changed Ernesto's entire outlook on life. His beliefs and his purpose in life took a 360. After watching the film, we found out that Ernesto is also known as "Che", a

Introduction This week we discussed the credibility of sources/fake news as well as how to go about researching for a paper. We talked about clues to look for when it comes to picking out fake news. We also discussed how to decide which sources to use in our research papers.  Monday On Monday, we primarily focused on fake news. We talked about how to know whether or not you should trust a source. Doctora made a very fun powerpoint for us that included many different articles that showed how the media with twist facts or pictures to make a false, yet more interesting news story. The powerpoint also included a series of articles that we had to skim over and decide if they were true or fake. This was very interesting because a lot of the ones that seemed real ended up being false. At the end of class, we were assigned a little bit of homework. We were required to pick a topic, brainstorm a deep question, and pick two articles to print off and pick to class. One of the articles had t

Introduction This week we discussed registration and the power of a meaningful question. With registration for honors happening on Monday, we discussed everything we need to prepare and what to do on the day of. Doctora sent us a link to an article about the art of a meaningful question which we have to read before class on Wednesday.  Monday On Monday, our honors advisor, Erin Martin came in to give us a run down on preparing for registration. The first thing she said we had to do was see our academic advisor. Our academic advisors are there to ensure we stay on the right track to get our degree, help us pick the best classes for us to take each semester, and give us our CRN number which is needed to register. After seeing our advisor, we should go onto wings and see if there are any holds on our account. If there are holds, we must get them fixed before Monday or else we won't be able to register. Once we are sure there are no holds on our account, we must go to the cou

Introduction This week we went back to our normal schedule... sadly. Although I enjoyed I previous weeks classes, this week was a lot more helpful. Our topic was degree engagement and consisted of everything we need to do during our years at college to prepare to get our degree and beyond.  Monday On Monday, we discussed the steps we should be taking to get our degree. They told informed us about the course catalog , which none of us had heard of. The course catalog is a list of major specific requirements that were set for the year you declared that major. Over the years, the catalog change, but you have the choice to stick with the catalog you were assigned or to use the new catalog. We also briefly discussed the MACE, major and career exploration center (shout out to Taylor). The last major requirement thing we learned about were our program maps and where to find them. Program maps are spreadsheets that ourline the classes we should take to graduate in four years. At the

Introduction This week we discussed the recent event on campus, the book burning lecture. I thoroughly enjoyed our class discussion this week. I felt as though everyone who spoke gave their own thoughts and opinions in a respectful way without making anyone else feel uncomfortable. I was very impressed with my fellow classmates and how they were mature and respectful enough to have such an open conversation about such a hard subject. For this week's blog, we were told to take it where we felt we lead, while also incorporating articles from class. My Opinions In last week's blog, I chose to take a more neutral approach to this topic to ensure I didn't offend any of my classmates, but this week I feel comfortable enough to share. Regarding Jennine Capo Crucet's speech, I feel as though her speech was very eye-opening and EXTREMELY empowering. She said things that needed to be said and addressed common issues that needed to be addressed. The only issue I had abo

Introduction For this course, all freshman were required to read Make Your Home Among Strangers. We were required to read the book before week 8 of class to discuss it and as well as go to the authors lecture.  Make Your Home Among Strangers I'm gonna be honest, this was not my favorite book to read, but I managed to get through it. The novel is about a Cuban girl named Lizet and her first year at Rawlings University. It follows her journey and shows the issues she faced as not only a freshman at a college far from home, but as well as being one of the only people of color on campus. The author added a fictionalized version of Elian Gonzalez to add more drama into the plot as well as tell a story of a huge controversy in her community and around the world. In the book, Lizet has no support from her famiy as she faces her first year at college. They don't care about her grades and they feel like she would have been better at home. My situation is very similar. My family