Learning Record Interview

 You will interview someone close to you (friend, roommate, parent, partner, etc.) about your strengths and challenges for this class.

After explaining the nature of a service learning class and the purpose of our class, you can ask your interviewee questions that deal with the following topics: (you can also add/edit questions):

a. What do you think my strengths/challenges are for this class?

I have a good relationship with people, so I can do a group work well with other group members. I am a responsible person and don’t give up easily, so I do my best what I have to do, even though it is hard for me. Sometimes I hesitate to act and behave get out of rules and worry too much, so I think I need to try to be more creative and originative while doing the project. If I have some tasks that I have to do by myself, I usually try to do it by myself and don’t ask others, but I think sometimes I need to ask others to get help for not to be stressed out and to get a better result.

b. Am I a good collaborator? 

My friend told me that I am social person. I was a class president several times during my school years, so I think I have several experience about collaborating people’s opinion and ideas.

c. Am I a good communicator (written, verbal, visual)? 

I am a good communicator, especially a good listener. Friends said my friends or people who first meet me feel comfortable to talk with me.

d. How well do you think I work with groups of people I don't know or who have different experiences and perspectives than I do? 

I can understand that each person have a different values and opinions as they are having different experiences. I always try my best to understand others and not to judge or hurt others by my standard or values.

e. How well do I synthesize theory and practice? Do you see me more invested in theory or practical applications? 

I think I learn a lot from both theory and practical applications, and both are important. Sometimes knowing theory first helps me to learn more and makes me to try new things while I am experiencing something. If I experience something before I know the theory, I can think more creative and originative. 

f. Did you ever think of me as an agent of change [Activist, Advocate, Invested in community empowerment] Yes or no? Explain. 

I think I’m not a person of change the community usually in daily lives, but I thought like this during the missionary trip to Mongolia or during other volunteer works. I am happy and excited to be a participant for changing the community of East Austin through this class.

g. What do you think I need to work on to be a better student/person/global citizen?

I think I need to look around more carefully to know what is happening and how people are living. I need to be more concerned about social issues and problems, and think about how I can contribute to help those issues.

Next:

Reflect in writing on the answers you received and write a short reflection (one paragraph) on the extent to which you agree or not with the responses you received and, in general, what you learned about yourself through this interview process. 

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Interview

Criteria

·         Interview is complete, includes student reflection

·         Timely completion

·         Provides a good sense of the student’s strengths/challenges coming into the class

·         DUE DATE: September 22, 2014

I asked to my friends and my sister about how they think I am and my strengths and weakness. One friend describes me with the Korean idiom, Wae Yu Nae Gang, which means being gentle to others and in appearance, but sturdy in spirit. People said I have a kind mind, and know how precious the people around me are. I am social and have a good relationship with people. I am a good listener, and I am confident and I have a high esteem. I’m strong and don’t give up easily. I am passionate about what I want to do and learn, and I am independent so that I could come to US alone, and go school. I am sincere and responsible. I’m good at self care and treatment, and do exercise regularly and take vitamins. I’m good at music and playing the instruments. I do a proper invest in myself and buy good things for me sometimes. I am mature than other people in my age. People also told me about my weakness. I am delicate and hesitate to act and behave get out of rules. I think too much to make a decision, and worry about something before it happens. I try to do everything by myself, so I need to ask to others to get help. I need to be more punctual, and I’m not good at dancing.

Interviewing about myself was really great opportunity to know about who I am. After I could hear my strengths and weakness from close people, I could find my strengths and weakness which I didn’t aware of by myself. I feel like I became a better person after I heard my strengths, I became more confident and I feel happy that people acknowledge my strengths. I also thought I should keep try hard to keep my strengths with me. Also, I thought I should be careful to not people feel uncomfortable because of my weakness. I should try to correct my weakness.

BLOG PROMPT #7

We visited the Robert Weaver neighborhood again, and met the families for an interview. We could get useful information and stories about the neighbor through the interview, and we also got several pictures and videos. The interviewee told us about the history of east Austin, what is happening now and showed inside of their house. Mrs.Ross gave us the housing plan of Robert Weaver houses. We are going to gather the information together, and start to edit the video. We could get a lot of information more than we expected, and we really enjoyed visiting and interviewing the Robert Weaver neighborhood.

BLOG PROMPT #6

 Last Monday, my group and I went to Robert Weaver Neighborhood for documentary project. Our group divided into two groups and followed other groups which are doing survey to take pictures and videos. The other group asked the neighbor’s about their need for house or garden, and our group took several pictures of them and their houses. It was exciting to meet the residents and do the survey to know what they need. Some residents seem happy to tell us about their needs and welcomed us, but some residents seem they didn’t want to be bothered. Some residents were suspicious and asked us if they have to pay for the repairs. I thought we need to inform more about our project to the residents and let them know what our project is and make them feel more comfortable with the project. We asked them for the interview on next week.

BLOG PROMPT #5

The book: Austin's Rosewood Neighborhood

It was really interesting to read the book about East Austin. From several pictures in the book, I could see how the East Austin looks like in the past and how it has changed. The book shows how the East Austin was developed and how the old things were renewal. I could know the community’s history, how people in the East Austin lived and what events were held. During the van tour, the wall painting and ceramic mosaic wall was impressive, and I was curious about those. It was really good that the book also had pictures and explanations of those wall arts in the East Austin. I could know that those wall paintings were related to restaurant business and music in the East Austin Community. It was also interesting that music is a large part of East Austin’s history and culture. It was interesting that the famous musicians whom I learned at the Jazz music class visited East Austin. I felt more comfortable and familiar about East Austin after I read the book. 

BLOG PROMPT #4

I am from Seoul, South Korea. I research about gentrification in my hometown, and I read several articles and studies. There are investigations and neighborhood changes as a gentrification process in Seoul. Gentrification is the restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by the middle class and commercial developers, often causing displacement of low income people. Seoul had a potential for gentrification in that the residential and commercial land values in the inner cities. Seoul has experienced the shift from an industrial city to a post-industrial city. Seoul still had a high dependence on a manufacturing instead of producer services. In the statistical analyses of gentrification in Seoul between 1990 and 2000, the strongest correlations existed between the gentrification index and independent variables representing post-industrial city status, rent gap, and institutional dimensions. Factor analysis revealed that post-industrial city status and rent gap factors were significant in explaining the changing regional structure of Seoul. Gentrification in Seoul has the same pattern as Western cities in that the rent gap and post-industrial city status theses are applicable to explain gentrification in Seoul, but there are differences of urban policy between Korea's local governments and Western countries' local governments in inducing gentrification to raise tax revenues. I think gentrification of East Austin is similar to other region’s gentrification. As many restaurants and amenities are built and people became interested in East Austin, the rent price rises. During the van tour, I could see what is happening in East Austin. I could see and understand what gentrification is and how it is ongoing, and how neighbors in the East Austin are living.

BLOG PROMPT #3

 The most surprising thing was East Austin city is growing and has their unique history and background. When I interviewed people about how they think of east Austin, people only said that east Austin is a dangerous city where low income people and family live. However, after I read the articles, I learned that east Austin is the fastest growing cities in the US and the area is now undergoing the rapid gentrification and economic changes. House market increases and people do investments. People who live in the east Austin and having a financial difficulty are suffering from the economic changes and the rise of poverty tax in the city. They are also worrying about their health because the growing industry pollutes the community. I could also learn that how east Austin people lived in the past days, and economic, education issues in east Austin.

ASSIGNMENTS DUE on SEPT 22nd

Interview

Criteria

·         Interview is complete, includes student reflection

·         Timely completion

·         Provides a good sense of the student’s strengths/challenges coming into the class

·         DUE DATE: September 22, 2014

I asked to my friends and my sister about how they think I am and my strengths and weakness. One friend describes me with the Korean idiom, Wae Yu Nae Gang, which means being gentle to others and in appearance, but sturdy in spirit. People said I have a kind mind, and know how precious the people around me are. I am social and have a good relationship with people. I am a good listener, and I am confident and I have a high esteem. I’m strong and don’t give up easily. I am passionate about what I want to do and learn, and I am independent so that I could come to US alone, and go school. I am sincere and responsible. I’m good at self care and treatment, and do exercise regularly and take vitamins. I’m good at music and playing the instruments. I do a proper invest in myself and buy good things for me sometimes. I am mature than other people in my age. People also told me about my weakness. I am delicate and hesitate to act and behave get out of rules. I think too much to make a decision, and worry about something before it happens. I try to do everything by myself, so I need to ask to others to get help. I need to be more punctual, and I’m not good at dancing.

Interviewing about myself was really great opportunity to know about who I am. After I could hear my strengths and weakness from close people, I could find my strengths and weakness which I didn’t aware of by myself. I feel like I became a better person after I heard my strengths, I became more confident and I feel happy that people acknowledge my strengths. I also thought I should keep try hard to keep my strengths with me. Also, I thought I should be careful to not people feel uncomfortable because of my weakness. I should try to correct my weakness.

Cultural Assessment

The purpose of this assignment is to identify your “collective me” that has shaped your social identity. Choose 5 items that represent your social identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, social class, nationality, age, size) that have influenced your worldview or behavior. These items might include photographs, pieces of art, jewelry, piece of clothing, or anything you believe has significant influence on how you perceive and behave in the world.  

- Bible: Bible shows my religion. I am a Christian, and grown up with Christian family.

- Korean ornament: shows my nationality

- Folding fan with traditional pattern: This shows my race and ethnicity because several Asian countries have a similar pattern.

- Jewelry: I like jewelry, and it shows my gender and age.

- Piano, guitar: I like music and I like to play the instruments.

Criteria for evaluation

·    Write brief paragraph to explain your cultural self-assessment

·    Share with the class (based on your personal comfort level) items and aspects of your cultural self-assessment

·    Thoughtful reflection and sharing

·    Completion of reflective blog post on activity

·    DUE DATE: September 22, 2014

I was born and raised in Korea which is one of the countries in Asia. Politeness is really important in my culture, so I try to be polite to strangers and elders. In Korea, I use the honorific word to elders and bow instead of waving hands. Making a direct eye contact considered impolite behavior, which is opposite from US. When I am about to having a dinner together with my grandparents or my parents, I wait for them to start eating because it is impolite to start eating before the elder starts to eat. Also, my culture values the community like family, company, school and so on. I consider my family first in my life. There is a MT culture in my countries college. MT is short for membership training. When I was a freshman in Korea, every grade in the same major gathered together and went on a trip before the semester started. Students eat BBQ, drink a lot and play the games together to know each other and tighten the bonds. There are also several MT’s during the semester.