Issue Brief: Exigence, Rhetorical Situation, Audience

In terms of the nature of the situation, I think that my issue brief can be tailored to consider how standardized testing requirements have been affected by the pandemic. There have been a lot of new considerations about standardized testing in the college admissions process because the pandemic has significantly limited access to tests among other factors. Schools have increasingly dropped their testing requirement, so the results of the pandemic may make it significantly easier for colleges to consider the practicality of removing their testing requirements permanently. I may also touch upon the general trend of schools getting rid of their standardized testing policies, even before the pandemic. I think that both of these rhetorical situations will work in favor of solving this issue and make my audience more willing to consider this change.

In terms of audience, I think that this issue brief would be best tailored to admissions officers at public higher-level institutions. However, as I am particularly interested in public college programs, my audience may also include members of the state government. The only problem with having the state government officials as the audience is that authority over state schools greatly varies by state so it may not be incredibly effective across the board. So, I think the best way to go about presenting this issue is by targeting the public college administration directly because they universally have the most information about admissions and policies for admissions.

Boxty

As we all know, St. Patrick’s day was this week so I decided to try out a traditional Irish recipe for this week’s post. At first, I was going to go with a recipe for corned beef. However, after a little bit of research, I was surprised to learn that corned beef is actually not considered a traditional Irish meal. So after a little more research and a lot of cookbook readings later, I decided to make boxty.

Boxty is a potato pancake dish that hails from the northern area of Ireland. In terms of history, many cite the Irish Famine as the event that inspired the creation of this recipe and it has been considered an Irish meal staple ever since.

Irish Boxty Recipe from Gallagher's Boxty House in Temple Bar, Dublin

The recipe itself is actually pretty simple. The recipes are all pretty standard and include things that were already in my kitchen which I greatly appreciated. In terms of actually cooking the boxty, the process was very similar to making a pancake just a lot stickier because the batter is very thick. One important thing to note is that according to the several blogs I read through, flattening the boxty while they cook is important to make them as thin as possible. The first recipe I used suggested using mashed potatoes in addition to actual potatoes, but I was really not prepared to make mashed potatoes in addition to making this recipe. Instead, I found another recipe to supplement the ingredient suggestions that only required one type of potatoes that I only had to prep by peeling which was helpful. However, this did make the version of the recipe stray a little bit from the traditional version. So, if you have a little more time or want to make the boxty as authentic as possible, have some mashed potatoes on hand!

Like some of the recipes I’ve tried in the past for this blog, boxty is considered a staple item that can be dressed up in a seemingly infinite amount of ways. I decided to try boxy in three ways. The first was just plain, the second was with peppers, and the third was with a mushroom sauce. I personally favored the last of the three, but all of them were surprisingly delish. If you want the standard version, I would recommend eating it as a side dish. If you’re looking to try out some of the variants on the recipe, then it’s honestly perfect for any meal. I’m also a really big fan of trying out a bunch of different spices and seeing how they end up, which I will definitely try on this recipe in the future.

I really liked this recipe and it was a fun cultural take on the typical potato pancake, which I appreciated. Be warned though, the boxty is very filling and the recipes do make quite a few so you may want to adjust accordingly if you’re just cooking for yourself.

If you try this recipe out or already have, I’d love to hear about it. I’ll attach a link to the recipes I used down below for you to refer to in the future.

Recipe:

Boxty: the Best Ever Irish Potato Pancakes Recipe

https://www.chowhound.com/recipes/boxty-irish-potato-pancake-28172

Sources:

https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/food-drink/traditional-irish-potato-cakes-boxty

https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sns-holiday-st-patricks-day-dishes-story.html

Easy Irish Boxty Recipe From the Experts at Gallagher’s Boxty House, Dublin

Issue Brief

For my issue brief, I want to look at standardized test requirements in the admissions process of public colleges. I’ve addressed similar topics in my previous civic issues blog posts, and I think that this issue combines aspects of the problems standardized tests include. This is an intervention in a policy discussion because the current pandemic is causing a lot of higher education institutions to remove their standardized test requirement. In recent years, the University of California schools, which are public, have announced their policy which explains the schools’ plan to permanently remove standardized tests from their admissions process in light of the biases these tests may contain. The current policy that most (but not all) public colleges have in place includes requiring standardized test scores for admission consideration. However, the pandemic is bringing light to the decreasing importance of these tests as well as the challenges they present to many students.

The problem of college admission standardized testing bias has an inadvertent cause. SAT/ACT scores submitted by students to these public schools have already faced a “filtration” by the nature of the tests including factors like cost and prep courses. When these public colleges enforce the requirements for these exams, they are inadvertently enforcing the bias that accompanies the process of these exams. While colleges do strive for a diverse student body, they may not recognize that these standardized tests may actually be a boundary for certain parts of a student body.

I believe that a system change would be the best way to propose this policy because it requires an entire change in a large aspect of the admission process across public institutions. However, a capacity builder approach may be beneficial until colleges can officially make such a large-scale change. By educating college admission officers through programs and workshops, they may be able to better advocate for change themselves or take the students’ problems into consideration when they read applications on an individual basis. The multi-pronged approach would most likely make this policy seem more sustainable and achievable for institutions.

Additional Sources: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-12/uc-should-permanently-eliminate-sat-and-all-standardized-tests-for-admissions-experts-say

 

AP/IB Standardized Courses & Exams

For my previous civic blog post, I looked into how test preparation programs affected standardized test scores, specifically for college admission. This week, I want to consider the inequalities of programs like Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests. In this civic issue post, I will consider the accessibility and cost of taking these types of standardized subject exams. 

Advanced Placement exams, commonly referred to as AP exams, are taken after a student has completed an Advanced Placement course. Many high schools across the country include an AP course, but there are discrepancies as to how many of those courses are offered. There are 38 AP courses currently sponsored by the College Board. Even fewer schools offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. High schools have very wide ranges of how many of those courses they teach, from none of them to all of them. Low-income students and students of color are statistically more likely to attend a high school that has a limited AP program in place. 

Cost is the next factor to consider in the inequity present in the AP and IB standardized exams. It does not cost any money to enroll in an AP-level course. However, in order to take the standardized test and receive any AP credit for the course, you must pay $95 per course. Students who look to be “competitive applicants” in the college application process are recommended to take as many as 5 AP exams, costing a total of $435. This cost can be a significant burden on families, especially those from low-income backgrounds. IB has recently eliminated their registration fee, lowering the price per course from $291 to $119 per course. This is still a significant cost, especially if the student wishes to pursue the IB diploma curriculum which would total $1,746. This does not even consider the cost of actually sending the scores to the institutes you wish you apply to or attend.

Some may raise the argument that these exams result in college credits, and college credits are incredibly costly as well. Although this is true, not every student will be able to “cash in” their AP or IB score for credit at the university they attend. Every university has different requirements for which scores they accept. Some highly selective universities will not accept any of the credit from AP or IB exams, yet still expect students to take about 5 of those courses in order to be considered competitive applicants.

Schools that chose to include other rigorous coursework in their curriculum, instead of nationally practiced exams like the AP and IB, are sometimes punished for doing so. Say a high school decides that the AP courses are unreasonably expensive and they are unfair for the low-income students that make up their student body. Instead, they come up with an equally difficult curriculum that is free and does not require a standardized test at the end. Although this school is taking its student’s needs into account, the school will be ranked lower for not producing enough AP and IB students. The number of AP and IB students a high school produces is becoming an increasingly used statistic for school rankings on sites like Niche and U.S. News in both categories of “College Readiness” and “College Curriculum Breadth”.

Many sources agree that there is a “gap” between the number of students from various backgrounds who should be enrolled in these various AP and IB programs. This gap can be explained by the inequity of these standardized tests and programs, especially among the individual qualities of these exams’ accessibility, cost, and how useful students find them.

Moving forward, there is hope for the development of the AP and IB programs. Evidence provided by research by The Ohio State University has shown that students who perform “well” on the AP exam and come from high-poverty areas are more likely to enroll in college education programs. In the graphs, it becomes clear that although they do not make up a majority (about 18%) of the general student demographic, “Suburban, low poverty” makes up a large proportion of students enrolled in AP programs in the state of Ohio (about 35%). Students in the “Rural, high poverty” demographic share similarly higher enrollments in AP courses. However, this research also noted a similar claim as I mentioned in my last post. Just like the SAT, AP scores do not serve as an accurate depiction of a student’s success in college. This is especially true for low poverty students enrolled in AP programs. This discrepancy based on demographic raises the concern that although the exams are standardized, the courses and their content might not be so universal. This proves to be especially harmful to students in high-poverty neighborhoods where school districts are more likely to alter the curriculum. These students in turn have a disadvantage when it comes to the final standardized test at the end of the year compared to their low poverty neighborhood counterparts.

The International Baccalaureate program has begun making headway in tackling inequality in these courses and their testing policies. They have enforced an equity coaching program in order to allow their program to reach students from diverse backgrounds.

The Advanced Placement program is also making strong improvements in improving the accessibility of their programs, especially through their “AP for All” initiative. This initiative hopes to bring at least 5 AP courses to all schools in New York City by next fall. Although there are other boundaries preventing students from enrolling in these courses, improving accessibility is definitely a step in the right direction. If this plan succeeds, we may see major headway in the accessibility and enrollment of ethnic and socioeconomic minorities in these programs.

In terms of future policies that can be implemented, the Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate programs need to work towards a future where all students have the opportunity to enroll in their courses even if they live in a rural or low-income neighborhood. This policy work can also be done on a district level by mandating all high schools to offer a baseline number of AP and IB courses within their curriculum. Additionally, the AP and IB programs should work to decrease the cost of enrolling in these courses in order to allow students from all socio-economic backgrounds to be able to participate.

Sources:

  1. https://sites.ed.gov/underservedyouth/files/2017/01/MS3-Lead-Higher-Initiative-Finding-Americas-Missing-AP-and-IB-Students.pdf
  2. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/articles/how-us-news-calculated-the-rankings
  3. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/international-baccalaureate-to-eliminate-172-registration-fee/2019/07#:~:text=The%20IB%20is%20getting%20rid,qualify%20students%20for%20college%20credit
  4. https://blog.prepscholar.com/how-many-ap-classes-should-you-take#:~:text=Take%20as%20many%20as%20you,to%204%20would%20be%20enough.
  5. https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/exam-administration-ordering-scores/ordering-fees/ordering-exam-materials/help/cost-of-exam
  6. https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/87466/1/Gibson_Thesis_Latex.pdf
  7. https://professionals.collegeboard.org/testing/states-local-governments/partnerships/nyc/ap-all

Camarão Moçambique

For my second passion blog post, I decided to try to make something completely new. Camarão Moçambique (also known as Shrimp Mozambique) is an Afro-Portuguese dish originating from the Portuguese-speaking country of Mozambique, Africa. This recipe fuses multiple cultures by incorporating the seafood aspect and spices of multiple cultures and their availability.

This recipe was quite easy to make, especially since I’m used to making shrimp pretty frequently. Unforntualey, a lot of the recipes I looked at talked about using “Piri-Piri” which is a hot pepper sauce or powder that is pretty hard to find in the United States. A few recipes I did come across, though, did mention a few spicy substitutes for that particular spice as an alternative. The recipe I used told me to try habanero chili instead and, from what I could tell, it seemed to work well as an alternative. To be honest, I feel like the fact that it is so hard to find that ingredient also makes it more special in revealing the authentic fusion of African and Portuguese culture in this dish. Other than that, all of the other ingredients we’re very readily available in my kitchen which made the process a whole lot easier. 

In Portugal, this dish is served as either an appetizer or as an entrée. Usually, when it is served as an entree, it is coupled with a bowl of rice (which is how I made my own). Some of the sources I looked into also said that it is customary to eat bread with this dish to soak up some of the sauce.

If you like shrimp, I’d defiantly try this recipe out. It’s not too complicated and the results are definitely worth the work. The whole process took me about a half-hour, so I’ll definitely be making this recipe again because it was a lot easier than I expected. It’s also really perfect for the upcoming cold weather so if you are looking for a dish to warm you up, you should definitely try this one. Fair warning, the recipe is pretty spicy but I’m sure you could avoid using certain ingredients if you’re not a big fan of spicy foods. Personally, I really into spicy foods so I just made it with all of the spices in the recipe.

There is quite a bit of variation from recipe to recipe, but the main ingredients and tastes are the same. I’m definitely interested in trying another version of this recipe in the future and seeing how different it might be.

As always, if you decide to try this recipe out, I’d love to hear about how it went. I’ll leave the link to the recipe and more cultural information in case you are interested in reading more or making it yourself. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for a specific culture and/or recipe they want me to try out for my next post, I’d love to hear it. 

Link to Recipe: https://www.thespruceeats.com/shrimp-mozambique-camarao-mocambique-2743418

History Source: https://ifood.tv/african/shrimp-mozambique/about

Image Source: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/shrimp-mozambique/

Equity In Standardized Testing: SAT/ACT Preparatory Courses and Test Optional Institutions

The SAT and ACT tests are infamous for being used in the college admission process. In theory, these exams are intended to identify how much knowledge students have retained over the course of high school. This tested knowledge is then converted into a score on the SAT or ACT to notify colleges of a student’s predicted academic success during their first year of college. Unfortunately, because of the tension and competitiveness of college admission, many students find themselves enrolling in test preparation courses to boost their scores. Over the last few years, questions have come to light as to the fairness of test preparation considering how it usually comes at a very high price and excludes students from a socio-economic background that does not allow for that type of investment. For this civic issues post, I will consider how test preparation hurts students of low-income backgrounds and how policies college admission offices should be expected to implement in order to account for these difficulties.

The first thing to consider is whether test prep even works. In the past, the College Board has repeatedly stated that test prep is not significantly helpful in increasing students’ scores. In 2017, the College Board announced a new sponsorship of Khan Academy. Khan Academy is a free online learning platform that has also released a test prep service to provide students with individualized practice problems in areas they struggle in. Interestingly, after this partnership was announced, the College Board made a statement applauding the effects of test prep and encouraging students to sign up for the Khan Academy program. Although this program is free, one can draw the line to understand that if this prep course is considered helpful by the College Board, personal tutoring is probably helpful as well. 

If we step back for a minute and consider a world before online schooling became a regular thing, a lot of low-income students may not have the resources or technology to spend as many hours as they want on a free test prep program like Khan Academy. Although these circumstances might change in the coming years, companies like College Board and Khan Academy cannot assume that all students have unlimited access to a computer or the internet.

Previous studies have concluded that there is a strong correlation between college admission standardized test scores and the student’s family income. According to data provided by the College Board, students whose families have an annual income of above $200,000 are reported to score 388 points higher than students with family annual incomes below that value. Of course, there are many ways that a student’s family income affects their personal circumstances and ultimately their test scores but being able to afford and enroll in a test prep program is certainly one of those many factors. Test prep is a costly luxury that most families simply cannot afford. The combined (or individual) expenses of a private tutor, test preparation books, and even a family’s availability to bring their child to a prep center every week are simply not feasible for a lot of families. 

Going forward, there is a greater need for students to have more equal opportunities when it comes to preparing for college admission standardized tests. The work that Khan Academy is doing to provide students with free access to helpful test prep is definitely a step in the right direction. All students need to be aware of these freely available resources and have access to them in order to improve the fairness associated with these standardized tests. 

It must also be understood though that at the end of the day, it is very difficult to ensure equality for all students in terms of standardized tests. For that reason, college admission offices should recognize these inequities and use standardized test scores sparingly in their admission decisions. Standardized test scores are seen as deciding factors in the college admission process and then lead students to worry about their scores. That anxiety ultimately leads them to turn to test preparation courses and discrepancies in standardized test scores across socio-economic backgrounds. 

With the current COVID-19 pandemic, many colleges across the country have opted to become test-optional for the foreseeable future because of the health concerns and scheduling issues associated with sitting for the exam. Even before the pandemic though, in early 2020, 40% of colleges were reported as test-optional institutions. Hopefully, this policy will extend past the pandemic and will reveal more opportunities for socio-economic diversity in incoming college classes. Studies provided by NPR have reported that colleges that identify as test-optional report an influx of minority students including first-generation, low-income, and ethnic minority students.

Image result for what percent of colleges went test optional this year

Some argue that going test-optional will allow less qualified to gain admission. Most colleges agree that standardized tests are not the best indicators of college success. Instead, the admission officers at these test-optional schools are relying on other parts of a student’s application that they consider a more equitable indication of a student’s future academic success in college. 

Overall, the standardized testing process used for college admissions is flawed, specifically because of the socio-economic barrier preventing students from low-income backgrounds from being seen as equally competitive applicants. Future policies are required on both sides of the standardized testing for the college admission process. First, companies like the College Board need to implement policies to emphasize content learned in high school. If students feel prepared for this standardized testing, they might be less likely to feel like they have to fund outside resources to receive a “good” score which will in turn help diminish the discrepancies in scores between students of various socio-economic backgrounds. Programming like Khan Academy is important in increasing the accessibility of test preparation material specifically for college admission tests. Secondly, colleges should consider policies to reduce the importance of standardized test scores in the admission process. This can be done by simply considering the test scores to a lesser degree or just altogether becoming a test-optional school.

It can be frustrating to learn of the barriers affecting minority populations and preventing them from receiving equal opportunities to do well on these standardized tests. That being said, these policies as well as the free test prep programs are slowly but surely making strides in addressing these inequities facing the current standardized testing implementations. In future posts, I will consider other factors such as access to disability accommodations as well as the ability to enroll and sit for the test of AP, IB, and other college course classes.

 

Sources:

https://thecollegepost.com/test-prep-industry-access-equity/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/05/09/can-coaching-truly-boost-sat-scores-for-years-the-college-board-said-no-now-it-says-yes/

https://tower.mastersny.org/4900/features/privilege-sat/

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/26/604875394/study-colleges-that-ditch-the-sat-and-act-can-enhance-diversity

More colleges are taking an anti-test stance for admissions

Why are so many US universities going test-optional?

This I Believe Draft #2

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it directly.

It all started in my dreaded 8th grade public speaking class. The bottomless pit in my stomach deepens as I drag my feet to the front of the fluorescently lit classroom with air that feeels especially cold. I’m supposed to present my instructional speech to teach the class how to braid hair. My friend, who volunteered for the demonstration, sits at the front of the class, waiting for me to start braiding her hair. My hands shake so much that the braid turns into a knot. The notes I desperately cling to are shaking, making more noise than me. Then, I’m out cold.

I can say with the utmost certainty that I avoided public speaking for quite sometime after that. Whenever I signed up for classes, I avoided any that included a presentation during the year. There were times when I did a whole project but would pretend that I hadn’t just so that I wouldn’t have to step into that spotlight at the front of the classroom. I should probably be embarrassed by how fiercely I avoided any time in the public eye, but it really did seem like the only option.

I lived like that for four years.

But then, an audition sign up list was posted for my high school’s musical. You’d think that someone with textbook-definition stage fright and no musical background might have thought against signing up, but for some reason, I was tempted to. I thought back to the things I had missed out on because of my fear—all of the karaoke nights and interesting discussion-based classes. I was sick of it. Before I could change my mind, I scribbled my name onto the back of the call sheet.

I paced the halls, waiting to be called into the choir room. In those moments, I contemplated just walking away. There wouldn’t have been any consequences. My mind tried to formulate an exit strategy, but my body would not let me leave. When my name was called, I dragged myself into the room, just as I had back in my public speaking class. This time, the room was filled with my peers and a dozen professionals all waiting for the music to start. I faked a smile and strained to hear the music over my heartbeat. Two minutes later, it was over, and I emerged with a smile from ear to ear.

The audition hadn’t gone well at all. I forgot most of the words and didn’t hit the notes. But I didn’t care. When the callback list came back, I didn’t even bother to check. I knew I wasn’t showtune material, but I never expected to be. I had done it. More importantly, I had chosen to do it.

I believe that the only way to overcome a fear is to confront it head-on. I still wouldn’t consider myself confident in front of an audience, but I definitely won’t drop a class because of my fear anymore. I believe that if I had been forced to go to that audition that day, I wouldn’t have overcome my fear. The biggest milestone for me was recognizing that I had a choice and still going for it. No one would ever know the difference if I didn’t do it, but I decided to throw caution to the wind. It’s not that the audition went perfectly, or even well. It is the fact that I chose to fake the confidence, just do it, and move forward.

Galette Bretonne

For my first passion blog post of the semester, I’m going to be looking at a French recipe that I’ve grown up with. Galette Bretonne is a savory crepe (instead of the dessert type) that is great for a typical French breakfast or lunch meal. Fair warning, this recipe goes by a handful of names depending on which source you chose to use but if the recipe includes buckwheat flour, it’s probably the right one. The outside of a crepe is really similar to how you would make a pancake, just really really thin. Buckwheat flour instead of regular flour is really the defining ingredient that makes this type of crêpe different. Once you make that outer layer you can use it to wrap up pretty much anything you want. Typical fillings for this type of crêpe include eggs, ham, and cheese.

Before I get into the logistics, I’m going to go over some of the history and cultural traditions of this dish. As I mentioned before, this is a French recipe from the specific region of Britanny (Bretagne in French) in the Western part of the country. This dish is also traditionally enjoyed with apple cider or juice which was something new that I learned so I really enjoyed being able to try that out.

Image result for galette bretonne

For this recipe, all you really need is buckwheat flour (which I surprised to find in my kitchen), whole wheat flour (which was included in the recipe I used but not always used in every recipe), an egg, and water. Then, you can top the crėpe of with whatever you want. I went with the traditional egg and cheese combination. Overall, this recipe is pretty simple when it comes to the necessary ingredients.

When I tried to make this dish, I struggled at first because it can be hard to make sure your crêpe is the right size and thickness. Crepes are like pancakes in that the first one is never good. The pan should also be really hot before you pour the batter. Other than that, the recipe is pretty straight forward just be mindful not to burn them (like I did multiple times) because they cook fast

Making the batter was pretty easy and adding the toppings was pretty straightforward. The whole process took me just over half an hour which includes the time I spent remaking burnt crepes. So, I’d say this recipe is pretty convenient and looks like it takes a lot more time than it actually does.

I’d say that these crepes took only a little more effort than making pancakes so if you’re looking for a new breakfast or brunch alternative, then you should definitely try this recipe out. This recipe wasn’t easy enough to replace my bagel in the morning, but I think it’s perfect for those days when I feel like putting in a little more effort because it’s definitely worth it.

I’ll like the recipe that I referred to down below so that you can try it out if you’re interested. If you do, I’d love to hear how it came out and how you liked it. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for a recipe and/or specific culture they want me to check out for future blog posts please let me know because I’d love to try them out!

Crêpe Bretonne Recipe: https://www.masalaherb.com/galette-bretonne/

History/Cultural Info Source: https://us.france.fr/en/brittany/list/all-you-need-to-know-about-breton-crepes-in-5-minutes

Photo Source: https://jow.fr/recettes/galette-fondue-de-poireaux-et-oeuf-miroir-89e1gm6slbiagvxt0vaf

This I Believe Rough Draft

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it voluntarily.

The deep pit in my stomach deepened as I dragged my feet to the front of the fluorescently lit classroom with air that especially cold. My 8th-grade public speaking class was the one graduation requirement I dreaded weeks in advance. That day I was presenting my instructional speech where I was supposed to be teaching the class how to braid hair. I remember my friend, who volunteered for the demonstration, sitting at the front of the class waiting for me to start braiding her hair. My hands are shaking so much that the braid turns into a knot. The notes I desperately cling to are shaking too, making more noise than me. Then, I’m out cold.

I can say with the utmost certainty that I avoided public speaking for quite sometime after that. Whenever I signed up for classes, I made sure to avoid any that included a presentation during the year. There were times when I did a project and was so proud of it, but would pretend that I had forgotten it just so that I wouldn’t have to step in front of that spotlight at the front of the classroom. I probably should be embarrassed by how fiercely I avoided any time in the public eye but it really did seem like the only rational option.

I lived like that for at least 4 years. I had successfully gone without having to do a presentation or speak to an audience, or at least as little as I possibly could.

But then, an audition sign up list was posted for my high school’s musical. You’d think that someone with textbook-definition stage fright and no musical background might have thought against signing up but for some reason, I scribbled my name onto the back of the call sheet. No one told me to. The anticipation within me as I paced the halls up and down waiting to be called into the choir room rose with each step. In those moments, I seriously contemplated just walking away. There would have been no consequences. My mind raced trying to formulate an exit strategy but my legs would not let me leave. When my name was called, I dragged my legs into the room, just as I had back in my public speaking class. This time, not only were my peers there but also about a dozen professionals all waiting for the music to start. I stood up, faked a smile, and strained to hear the music over my heartbeat. Two minutes later, it was over and I emerged with a smile from ear to ear. The audition hadn’t gone well at all. I forgot most of the words and didn’t hit a lot of the notes. But I didn’t care. I had done it and it was over. More importantly, I had chosen to do it.

I believe that the only way to truly overcome a fear is to confront it heads on. I’ll be honest. I still wouldn’t consider myself confident or comfortable in front of an audience, but it definitely wouldn’t make me turn an assignment in late or drop a class. I believe that if I had been forced to go to that audition that day, I wouldn’t have overcome my fear. The biggest milestone for me was recognizing that I had a choice and still going for it. There was no grade hanging over my head, and no one would ever know the difference if I didn’t do it.  I decided to throw caution to the wind which looking back on it seems really reckless of me but it worked out. It’s not that the audition went perfectly, or even well. It is the fact that I chose to fake the confidence, just do it, and move forward.

Passion Blog & Civic Issue Blog

For my Civic Issue Blog, I’ve decided to work under the umbrella of education and specifically look into equity when it comes to standardized testing. There’s definitely a lot of information out there about this topic, and there are definitely a lot of specific stats that go along with it. I want to specifically look at how well standardized testing is at accurately depicting education readiness given the rise of things like prep classes, content, and the cost of it all.

As for my passion blog, I have decided to stick to my old topic which was taking on a recipe from a different culture every week. I will continue to make the recipes at home and then write about that experience in my blog post. Something I’d like to touch on more with my blog this semester is the cultural aspect of each dish which is something I haven’t focused enough on in my past posts.