The Year of the Pirate

The Year of the Pirate was without a doubt much more interesting and entertaining than many of the scheduled events we were required to attend during Orientation Week. Having actual Southwestern students put together a show that is humorous yet educational is definitely much more interesting than attending required presentations put together by school representatives where well-known facts are presented or humor is strenuously constructed. However, despite the humor, some of the suggestions to follow in order to succeed at Southwestern seemed redundant just like the popular phrase “Say No to Drugs.” I do realize, though, that many times constant repetition of what to avoid is necessary, especially when we humans are so prone to avoid well-known advice and later end up suffering the consequences. The play also seemed to point out that partying and the activities revolving around it are given more time than academics, which don’t seem all that accurate in reality. Overall, the play succeeded in maintaining us engaged through the entire hour and nicely summed up the most important points to keep us safe at Southwestern.

My experience at Southwestern so far in relation to The Year of the Pirate has been very positive. I have had to stay up late in order to complete some assignments but I certainly did not have to recur to unprescribed medication. I am also hoping I don’t have to ask for an extension on an assignment any time soon or throughout my four years at Southwestern. Finally, the Commons food, if it hasn’t already, will certainly get boring and will require variety in one way or another.

Determination in Education

Twenty-two minutes, under different circumstances, could go by in an instant or so slow it actually feels like time is coming to a halt. We could be surfing the web or reading a good book and not even give much thought to how much time has just passed, yet while we wait in a long line, to get school IDs or lunch, we are constantly checking the time and wondering why the line is moving so slow. However, while twenty-two minutes might not be enough time to do a wide variety of activities, it definitely seems to be enough time to solve a mathematical problem. But would you dedicate an entire twenty-two minutes to solve a single mathematical problem to the point where you fully understand the reasoning behind it? Many of us would probably say yes, but when it comes down to actions, we would probably give up and ask for help or just find the answer without really knowing why that is the answer. This lack of determination is one of the main educational differences between our country and the countries which we are being leveled with due to the flattening of the world. And since this difference puts us at a great disadvantage in a global educational perspective, we need to aim at improving the way we learn in order to improve our chances of success in a flat world.

The reference to the twenty-two minutes needed to solve and understand a mathematical problem is derived from an example in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. In his book, Gladwell mentions a videotape made by Alan Schoenfeld, a math professor at Berkeley, which clearly demonstrates the importance of determination in solving a troubling problem (239-244). The participant in the video, a woman named Renee, is using a computer program and is given the task to find the slope of a vertical line directly over the y-axis. Failing to recall basic “middle-school algebra,” (240) it takes her a good twenty-two minutes to realize that “a vertical line has an undefined slope” (240) and thus can’t be done. Gladwell goes on to say that while Renee never gave up until finding an answer and understanding the logic behind it, Schoenfeld learned from a group of high school students that they only take an average of two minutes to attempt finding an answer to their individual homework problems (245). Such time differences are an example of how little importance our country is placing on the education needed to maintain the upper hand in today’s world. Realizing the positive impact determination in mathematical problem solving can have on a country, Gladwell concludes by making us “imagine a country where Renee’s doggedness is not the exemption, but a cultural trait” (246-247).

In The World is Flat 3.0, Thomas Friedman also understands the importance of “a very high ethic of education” (212). While we attend school five days a week and are relieved to have numerous breaks throughout the school year, in India, students in an “intensive, seven-days-a-week class” are “rapt…[and] eager” (213). Proof of their hard work is evident through studies that show it “sent more students to college in the United States in 2004-2005 than did any other country in the world” (213).

I can easily recall certain instances throughout my education where I have lacked the determination to fully understand a concept or where I have taken the easy way out, and in certain aspects does provide some disadvantage in the long run as I continue my education. The most recent experience involves the CLA Assessment. Although I knew it was important to a certain extent, the length of the exam ultimately led me to become slightly vague in my responses as the assessment came to an end. I might not see the consequences of such a decision at the moment, just like the United States is currently not being greatly affected by the lack of intellectual determination in many students, yet in the future such carelessness might have a significant impact. Going back to our high school years, many of us could also probably remember those classes in which we would constantly keep our eyes on the time and instead of focusing on the material given by our instructor we would focus our thoughts on the plans we had for the day. I can also recall the times when I would be relieved to know that our high school calculus class, instead of speeding up in order to catch up to the syllabus, would be fine with not covering the more advanced topics later in the semester. Such decisions seemed fine at the moment, but now that I am currently taking Calculus I at Southwestern, I sometimes wish our high school calculus teacher wouldn’t of have been so complacent with our desires.

Overall, I believe the United States needs to implement a solution in order to prevent its students from becoming complacent in their studies. We need to realize we will inevitably need to increase our drive to improve the academic determination of our country. It seems that if we fail to take action right now before it’s too late, we will be at a great disadvantage in the future as countries continue to become part of the flat world in which we live in.

Revised Response Paper

The Slow Implementation of Technological Advancements

I was left behind. As technology continued to flatten the world throughout my late childhood and teen years I had, at some point, many of the latest electronics at my fingertips. Yet as technology improved with very blink of an eye and the “latest” electronics soon took the backseat, I, along with my family, have failed to take many of the necessary steps to facilitate the way we communicate with the world around us.

With today’s technology “the world has changed in profound and unsettling ways…at warp speed and directly or indirectly touching a lot more people on the planet at once” (49). According to Tomas Friedman in The World is Flat 3.0, this rapid change may either “overwhelm people or leave them behind” (50) if they are reluctant to change, and since they are “inevitable, even predictable, changes” (49) people must find the best way to adapt. Failing to take part in the technological advances of today does not automatically mean one could not properly function in today’s society. Doing so only means one would probably face more obstacles when it comes to doing something where technology is required and communicating with people in different locations may be limited or never occur. Of course, at the fast rate technology is affecting our everyday lives it is only a matter of years until it will become necessary for everyone to have their own devices through which to communicate.

            My family is a great example of how the slow implementation of technological advancements negatively affects the daily lives of people. When my sister and I were small and technology did not have the tremendous impact it does today, our parents, over the years, actually invested in a typewriter, a Nintendo with two or three games, and a huge desktop computer when such items were popular. We also had the basic electronics such as a television, VCR, stereo, cassette players, and a cord home phone. But as we grew up and technology began increasing at an astonishing speed, our parents failed to modernize the slow, big, simple, and inconvenient electronics with fast, thin, updated, convenient ones. It has become apparent they only do so if the device has stopped functioning correctly and updating it is the only option or they decide it is not worth updating it at all. Sure, we now have an HD television but only because the analog television before it stopped functioning correctly and it doesn’t have cable television (it only did for a few months after we got it). And after our huge desktop computer got numerous viruses, which inevitably led it to have a slow online connection to the point it was unproductive, our family failed to update it since we could have access to the internet and the world wide web elsewhere. Although it can many times be inconvenient and time consuming, we have come to rely on the free computer and web access from our public library only two blocks away from our home and on school computers during the school year. For the most part our family has been left behind in the technological world for the simple reasons most of today’s technology revolves around electronics which are not essential for our daily survival (but which are essential in the worlds of entertainment and communication) and because technology is not yet to the point where it is economically available in all households.

            Apart from the decisions that have been taken in my family regarding our current relationship with technological devices, I have for various reasons also chosen not become too involved in the ownership of technological devices. Preferring to reduce the economical burden on my parents, being energy conscious, environment-friendly and not much of a social person, I have only recently gotten my first cell phone and ordered a laptop online. Although such decisions have ultimately kept me away from online communities and from becoming more technology dependent, through them I will inevitably become less distanced from the fast paced realm of technology. However, even though I am only recently obtaining such technological tools, I have had to rely on them through others in the past, such as asking someone else for their phone or utilizing internet access away from home, and it has many times been inconvenient.

            The fact our family has yet to obtain many of the technological tools needed to stay up to date in this busy and interconnected world demonstrates how, despite the fast speed at which technology is evolving, many people are still being left behind and unable to take full advantage of all the benefits such technology offers. Perhaps part of it has to do with our Hispanic background and the fact we live in an area where most of the people do not spend large percentages of their income in updating their electronics. Being in this situation is certainly not easy and I realize the fact we are slowly being required to become part of this technology tapestry even though it is at a much slower rate.