Category: McCoy Fall 2016

Revision is the most repetitive thing. I’ll stare at my computer screen for hours, as I have been doing over the past few days, writing and rewriting a single paragraph until it comes out just the way I want it to. Sometimes that means changing one word what seems like a million times until it comes out in a way that is equal parts beautiful and articulate.

After changing the order of a sentence ten times, I find myself sitting back and wondering… is it really worth it? Is it worth writing and rewriting one sentence, spending five minutes finding the perfect adjective? Isn’t there something that would allow me to be more productive and efficient?

I then know that I have to trust myself and what I have learned about writing essays – that although revision seems repetitive and useless in the moment, it is worth it in the long run. I know that when I eventually read my many-times-revised paper and compare it to my original draft, the new and improved version will be much better than my initial draft.

As a class, we have discussed the process, art, and importance of revision. In previous English classes (especially in high school), my teachers did not stress revision as much as Dr. McCoy does. Initially, especially at the beginning of the semester, the amount of time I spent writing and rewriting various pieces seemed futile, but, as the semester has progressed, I have been able to better understand the reason for revision.

In the moment, revision, as encouraged in class throughout the semester, might seem pointless, but will ultimately lead to an end product that is far superior to my original creation.

And to future Elaine, who is inevitably reading this blog post in frustration later today, keep going. It’s worth it. Seriously.

It’s Sunday night, and here I am, reflecting on the essay and (obviously) stressing about its fast approaching due date. I’m thinking about other essay ideas my fellow classmates have shared with me over the past few weeks. I have had many of my own ideas, which have been corroborated by peers and professors, and other ideas that have been contradicted by other students, only to be replaced with other concepts that seem to be far better than anything I could have thought of. All of this (my own confidence and hesitation included) has been brought along, at least in part, by group work.

Working in groups has been a large part of our time in English 203. Dr. McCoy often puts us into groups to bounce ideas off one another about books, analysis, world events, etc. Over the course of the semester, I have noticed that these acts of conversation have improved my ability to reflect on my own ideas, listen to others in a constructive way, and learn new things (both English-related, and, honestly, not – did you know the sky used to be orange? And watermelons used to be the size of grapes? Does that count as interdisciplinary work?)

While all of these things have been incredibly helpful (especially the watermelon fact, which is actually true – who knew?), some of the most helpful conversations have happened in the past week. However, I’ve found that bouncing ideas off of my peers while working on this essay, can be just as harmful as it is helpful.

Last class, I spoke with Dr. McCoy on solidifying an idea for my essay. I was feeling very overwhelmed with the amount of feedback I had received, and had what seemed like 50 pages of good material to work with. I became overwhelmed, as every piece of evidence I had appeared to strengthen my essay. I realized that while discussing ideas with my peers can be helpful, there is also a moment when helpfulness can turn on a writer.

Now, I am forcing myself to sit with my ideas and condense them into one concise point with my strongest evidence. I know that by doing this, I will come out with a second essay that is thoughtful, concise, and less wordy than my first.

As finals week approaches, some people are nervous and studying like crazy, and other people (like me) are just ready to be home for a month. With that being said, good luck to all of those that are spending late nights in the library, sacrificing sleep and your social life while praying that your GPA won’t be crushed too much. However, even if you study until you can’t study anymore and you still don’t get the grade that you wanted, think about how much fun you are going to have over break.

For many people, this is the first time that you have seen your family since Thanksgiving and although you might get sick of your family within the first 24 hours of being home, think of how amazing your own bed is going to feel and being able to sleep in until noon everyday with nothing to do but see your family and friends. Winter break is one of the best parts about being in college. No matter what holiday you celebrate, everyone celebrates New Years. I don’t know about you, but I have been planning my New Years Eve since I left for college and the time is finally here. But with that being said, the idea of leaving 2016 behind is overpowering.

So much has happened, even in the last couple of months, that I cannot even think about what happened all the way back in February. When reflecting back on 2016, I think about everything that happened in order to make 2016 what it was. With the help of my friends, traveling, family, and school, I would say that my 2016 was a pretty eventful year. However, I cannot wait for 2017 to come. I have so much already planned for 2017 and although the election did not have the outcome we had all hoped and wished for, that is just part of what is going to make 2017 interesting.

With the fall semester coming to a close, I can’t help but think about all of the exciting things that are going to be happening during 2017. One of the events that I am most excited for is to study abroad during the summer for a month. I will be spending four weeks in Athens, Greece taking a Humanities class through Geneseo. Continue reading “Interdisciplinarity Abroad”

As I was reading the conclusion of Moran’s Interdisciplinarity, I was again astounded by the complexity and layers of this subject.  Moran discusses and acknowledges a ‘critique’ to interdisciplinarity: that it can be directly linked to political and economic agendas, particularly within colleges and universities.  Moran sums up an argument made by Bill Readings, “In other words, Readings suggests that interdisciplinarity has as much to do with universities managing budgets and being flexible to the demands of the marketplace as it does with the admirable aims of intellectual dialogue and co-operation, since merging departments into interdisciplinarity programmes can be a form of downsizing and cost-cutting.” (Moran, Interdisciplinarity).  Continue reading “Mind Blowing Conclusion: Interdisciplinarity Today”

As I sit here on my laptop looking through the just about 8 different assignments that need to be complete within the next week, I am beyond overwhelmed. But in this whirlwind of chaos that is the end of the semester, I am amazed at the interdisciplinarity that has occurred within my classes this semester. Here I am in the beginning of the semester, walking into an English class with no idea what I’ll be in for and I’m introduced to this idea of interdisciplinarity. Never had I heard of this concept before nor had I ever considered it in relation to my own life. But now looking back, all of my classes were hand-in-hand at some points.

Continue reading “Buried in Interdisciplinarity”

Over this past week, I had the privilege of being initiated as one of my sorority’s new Vice Presidents as the new Vice President of Community Relations for the 2017 year. And while this was a highlight of career here at Geneseo and one of the parts of the spring semester that I am most excited for, it is nerve racking to think about how my ideas might differ from the previous Vice President of Community Relations and the previous ideas about the job set but the sorority as a whole. Continue reading “Changing Over of Ideas”