When I first sat in my writing in the social sciences class, I thought it would be a typical English class with readings, essays and assignments. When I realized the amount of technology I had to use for this class, I had to reevaluate my screen time for personal use! I felt completely lost on the direction this class was going in. I actually had no idea what social sciences were, nor what it meant to be a writer in the social sciences. To my surprise my development as a reader, writer, and observer, has encouraged me to pursue other projects outside of school.

My relationship with reading has always been more of an obligation than a desire to do so in my recent years. I used to enjoy reading but because of the workload from all of my classes put together, it has caused me to no longer enjoy reading on my own time. However, this class has taught me how to find reliable resources for class work. Google does not always have in depth information that I need which leads me to search for sources through the school library and scholarly articles found on google scholar, reliable experts and the CCNY library. I have noticed that offline reading is more straight to the point. Online reading is a bit different because in most websites, the pages promote ads and other unnecessary solicitations on the sides which throw off my research. Reading in general can be very resourceful and information driven, but for reasons like school work, we (students) want to find articles that are straight to the point, not redundant, and have sectioned outlined so it is clear to find what is being looked for.

My relationship with writing had been amazing. Even before taking this class I have had an ultimate love for writing. I have written a lot of poetry, journal entries, I even wrote a book. This class has allowed me to view writing in the social sciences through completely different lenses. I had never observed anything for a class before and it has really helped me become a stronger writer in different topics such as the way a class works, or something as simple as a cultural artifact. As I look back to the first writing assignments we had for this class, I noticed how progressive my writing pieces can be depending if I am writing from an insider or an outsider’s perspective. As an insider at the beginning of the semester, I found it so difficult to write about myself. As the class  went on, readings such as Iowa 80 helped me develop my sense of outsider perspective; therefore helping me write using different language depending on my view. I am excited to say that the work I have done for this class has helped me develop the most rewarding project to end the semester.

I believe my progress is showing well in my observations and my writing. After all the work we have done this semester, my attention to observations has increased therefore helping me be better at writing about it. When I stepped into my subculture, I went in with the mindset that I should expect nothing but keep an eye out for anything. I still feel like I want to observe more video work within different topics. Although cinematic production is a subculture on its own, there are subcultures within cinematic productions because videographers all create different content. For example, a video for a comedy skit may differ greatly from a news reporter. Moreover, I feel like my observations have helped me create an eye catching layout to my site related to my topic of interest. There is a big difference coming across a medical article and an article speaking about subcultures, I feel like my practice in online reading has helped me create that visual for the audience who will read my work. Going forward I must continue working on better brushing up my sentences for my future work and projects, but thanks to this class I am more open to ideas from peers and better at finding appropriate sources.