Blog 10: THANKSGIVING BLOG

1. Share your traditions. Explain them in depth

This Thanksgiving we had dinner at my apartment which was the second we have have hosted Thanksgiving.  Usually, Thanksgiving on my mom's side is held at my grandparent's house, but this year my mom wanted to host it, to relieve my grandparents, especially my grandmother, of the stress of cooking and cleaning up afterwards. My mom did all the cooking this year and with me helping out a little bit. We typically eat early, around 2pm.  Overall, my Thanksgivings are usually pretty laid back and involve me seeing family I don't see often.

2. Share who you share the holiday with. Describe them.

Our guests consisted of my grandmother and grandfather, my great aunt, my uncle, and one of my mom's friend. Usually on Thanksgiving I visit both my mom and my father's side of the family but my Aunt and Uncle who usually host dinner at their house, went to visit my other relatives in Pennsylvania.

4. Share where you tend to be when you celebrate

I am usually at my house, my grandparents house in Millbury, my Aunt's house in Holden, and this year I spent the evening working.

5.  Share the meaning of the holiday to you, in depth.

For me, Thanksgiving is time to see those you don't see on an everyday basis. It is also a time to eat good food that has meaning/history in your family. Since I am part of diverse family, after eating my mom's food, I go over to my dad's side of the family and eat both "traditional" thanksgiving and Kenyan food.  Also, I work at a movie theater and we are open everyday of the year with the exception of bad, snowy weather and since I was used to spending all day with my family, it definitely was weird to be working. Although, seeing that I got paid time and a half for Thanksgiving, I could deal with it.

 

Blog 9: The Other Park Trip

1. The walk down towards Marblehead on the bike path contributed to my sense of place because I had been on the bike path before, as it is behind my dorm hall, but I had never been down that far. I did not know the bike path went down that far and it is cool to think how close I live to the ocean.

2. The bike path runs right behind the Bertolon School of Business, Marsh, and Atlantic dorm halls. We walked from Sullivan down to the School of Business and went on the path from there. It is not where the path originates, but it is a point of origin for most who walk it.

3. I already knew the bike path existed, but again I didn't know the extent of its length. It was nice to walk it as it was a nice day and it was good to get to know some new people.

4. I liked this trip because it was a nice escape from the same,boring classroom routine that I have to deal with in some of my other classes. Also, I got to see a part of Salem that I have never seen before.

5. I could not find the movies.

Blog 8: Triad experience

2. Our group chose the Peabody Essex Museum because we had never been there before and it is in a convenient location. Also, we knew it would be a great place to find a topic to include in our research paper.


3. We created a group chat and we talked about what time would work best for us. One of our group members could not make it on the day we went.

4.  We did not speak to an individual since this was a museum and it was mostly just observing, but for the experience overall I had:

• What exhibit struck me the most?
• How was the museum set up so that it remained interesting? 

5.  Going to the museum allowed me to learn about topics ranging from Ancient China to Native American. These cultures were displayed through their art. What I found most interesting was how prevalent glass production was here in Massachusetts. Glass products were very elaborate and important in colonial America, so much that they represented one's social status in society. Throughout the experience in the PEM , I used observation strategies to help me learn new information.

6.  This contributed to my sense of place in Salem as I had passed this place many times before, but I had never made it inside. I now can say that I have been here and will most likely be back.

7.

• Who determines the type of exhibits that come to the museum?
• How does the museum get its collections besides donations?

8. I am going to talk about the glass-making industry in colonial America.

9. The link did not work, but my triad knows what we are doing for our presentation next week.

Sense of Place at the nearby Park

3. There are many ways interconnectedness is seen throughout the park. From my point of view, the trees provided shade on the sunny day we were there. The leaves that made the ground orange, were once part of the tree. The squirrels running around in those leaves, find shelter and food up in the trees. The trees contribute greatly to the park and we are just spectators.

4. The park is a nice gathering spot not too far from campus. It is a good place to relax either with others or by yourself.

5. I went to this park for the first year day of service I did in early September. We picked up trash and learned about the marine life on the shores of the park. I have been back a few times with friends since it is a convenient walk from campus.

6. I liked the free time we got to just absorb our surroundings. It was a nice laid-back class on that Monday after a tiring weekend. It was sunny out that day, so it was a nice day to go to the park.

7. I like little excursions like this where the walk is not too far from campus and the assignments are independent or in small groups.

Panel and Advising

1. Last class, the First Year mentors came in and talked about the different resources that are on campus for us to utilize. They advised us to load our "shopping cart" ahead of time for registration so we get the classes we want. Also, they talked to us about sites such as ratemyprofessor.com to help us pick a course with good professor. Many of them stressed to us the importance of time management and how many of them take advantage of any free time we have during the day to work on assignments that are due.  

2. Justin Snow was able to explain to us how degree tracker worked, which was really helpful considering the fact that I had no idea how to even use it. The handouts he gave us on degree tracker were also useful since they had screenshots of what to click on, along with guided descriptions. He also showed us how to find out how many credits you have and which ones will actually count towards graduation. I already scheduled an appointment with my adviser at that point, so I did not have questions for him on how to reach to her.





3. 

This is my pre-made class schedule. Of course it has not been finalized yet since registration has not begun yet, but these are the classes I expect to be taking next semester. 

4.  https://www.salemstate.edu/academics/2424.php 

Mini response 2: Sense of Place

1. Referring to the article, please reflect on ways to develop a sense of place. Explain

Here are some interesting ideas that I took away 

• Understanding Yourself: This can be a great way to see and understand your surroundings. Also, you can relax and take in the environment.

• Changing Positions: Changing your physical position on viewing an object can change your way of thinking and give you an idea on how another person/animal could see something.

2.Record what you have done already as part of developing a sense of place in Salem.


I have been able to walk down to Forest River Park multiple times and enjoy the surrounding an

3. List the way the article suggested to foster a sense of place and explain what you have done that is similar. Explain in depth.

I have done the "Finding Patterns" one in my Biology Lab. I have had to take note of what I see out in the environment and take pictures.  

4.Record what you read about in the article that you have not tried but want to.  Share the aspects from the article and reflect on why you chose these. Explain.

I would like to try "Magnifying the World" because I think it would be cool to see what an object in nature would look like magnified. It is always interesting to see what can be easily overlooked by the naked eye.

5.Record what you read about developing a sense of place that you have not tried, but are afraid to try. Explain why.

I don't know how I feel about "naming plants and animals". There is usually too many to track and I'll uncomfortable doing it in general.


6. Record what you read about developing a sense of place that you have not tried and have no interest in trying. Explain.

I could not see myself "speaking to nature" not because I am scared to do so, but because I can't see myself speaking to rocks.

Farmer's Market (Grant Family Farm)

Last Thursday October 13th I met up with two other classmates at Sullivan and we were able to walk down to the market and meet two other group members to ask the farmer so questions and interact with him.

I expected the farmer's market to be a little bigger than what it was, but seeing the location it was in I understood why. I was not too surprised at how busy it was considering that it is October and many people like buying their produce from farmer's markets nowadays. I was also surprised at how many people were coming from afar to buy items from the market.

Here's some questions and answers I got from Chris:

1. When did the farm begin operation?  The farm was purchased in the 70's and the participation in the market began in 2006
2. How many people work for the farm? Just family members and Chris is the only full time worker, working about 80 hours a week during the summer. 
3. What did you do for work before working on the farm? Chris did office work for a few months for a catalog, thought it was boring, and then decided to do farm work.
4. Is the farm "certified organic"? They do their best to do everything the organic way, but they are not certified.

Some other interesting things I learned was:

• The farm usually brings 60-70 dozen eggs to every farmer's market they go to.  
• The dry 2016 summer negatively affected the farm's vegetable growth
• Lettuce,Arugula, or any salad type of vegetable is the most popular item(s) sold at the markets
• They have no farm stand on-site because the farm land is conservation land

I think that the farmer's market scene in Salem is an interesting little part of town that is not widely known (due to the witch reputation). The farmer's market definitely contributes to sense of place for those who go there frequently and for those such as Chris who value the farm very much. 

For me, I think it contributed to my sense of place because I did not know about the farm up until I took this class even though I had been to downtown Salem recently. 

   

Library Reflection

When thinking about having a sense of place in a building, like the library, where could you see yourself feeling comfortable?  

The Salem State Library provides a comfortable and quiet place to study and do homework for all students who attend. For me personally, I usually go up to the second floor to do homework on my laptop and sit at one the tables or the arm chairs depending on the mood I am in. 

Think about the campus, and the location of the library.  How does the location of the library contribute to the sense of place of SSU campus?

The library is located on North campus near two major academic buildings which almost all students have classes, so it is not hard to miss. It's central location on North campus makes it easy for people to access it and it's resources make it a popular place for students to do homework, research, and study. It is a popular gathering place for students and even some staff.  
  

What did you learn from Jason about the library itself, and its places?

Since I took a tour earlier in September for my Biology lab, I had a different person show me around. I was showed the lower level and the different study areas throughout the library. I learned about the private study rooms that you can reserve on a first come, first serve bases which I did not know about.   

What did you learn from Jason about researching?

I was able to learn about Refworks which is a website that I will use often in my bio classes.I was showed how to site websites and databases among other sources. 

What did you learn about Mapworks?

I did not get to learn about Mapworks on my tour of the library, but I did take the survey that was constantly being sent to my email.  

I did not feel comfortable taking pictures since when I went to do so, it was busy and did not want to invade people's privacy or make them uncomfortable.

Refworks was the main website that I was showed how to use it and it has been used to cite papers and other assignments. 

Link:
https://www.refworks.com/refworks2/default.aspx?r=authentication::init

Trip to Salem National Park

1) Share information you learned about Salem from the NPS from your reading, from your fellow peers teaching you, from the ranger, and from the place itself.

This past Monday, our class took a trip to the Salem National Park on Derby St. Our ranger was able to teach us about the many different components that made up Salem back in the day, such as the Polish Immigration wave, the Maritime trade, and the middle class. The reading I had to do involved the Maritime trade and how vital it was the Salem's economy at the time since Salem had little to no agricultural land. The two other groups in my class were able to teach me about the Polish immigration wave and the custom officers/international trade.

4. https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/maritime/commerce.htm

5.

A. I think it always cool to be in old and preserved houses such as the Narbonne home. It is amazing to think that hundreds of years ago in that same spot, technology and way of life in general was so much different than what it is today. 

B. By going into the different old homes and structures and seeing the actual artifacts that have been preserved or dug up added to the feel of what life was the centuries ago. Our knowledgeable park ranger was very helpful in giving me a vision of how trade, maritime, and life was years ago.

6. The only question I had is what the red line I seen around downtown Salem is. Where does it lead to??

Option 1:

 If you did the homework on Monday before Jim and Kylie came, how and in what ways did preparing help make the talks more interesting?  Did it help? 

The homework allowed me to learn some information about Jim, more so then Kylie. I learned some of his background before he came in to talk to us and his contributions to Salem. Overall, the homework prepared me more for Jim than Kylie.

What meaning did the speakers have for you personally and your sense of place and beginning college?  What made the speakers effective?  What could have been better?

For Jim, he talked about his personal experiences and how he made his connections around town which was cool. I liked how he told us stories about the different friends he made and how many people became family to him. For Kylie, it was interesting to hear what Salem is like from her point of view, but I thought it was difficult to hear her at times. 

Last, how did it impact your engagement?  Also, what did you rate yourself as far as engaging with our resource experiences?  1-5 1 being totally engaged and 5 not, and explain your rating.

Jim I rate him a 5 since I found him more engaging. I thought his stories and him telling us about his life experiences made him personable. 
Kylie I rate 3.5. I understood most of what she was saying, but she seemed hard to follow at times. 

Sense of Place and Story

On Monday we had Jim come in and talk to us about his time and life here in Salem. I learned about how he moved up to Salem to go to SSU and how he began to get to know everyone in town which was interesting. He told us about Red's Sandwich shop and its reputation and legacy in Salem.

Someone asked the location of Red's which I would have looked up on google, but the directions he gave were simple to understand, so now I don't need to look it up.







I learned what Derby Street was (were he lived for awhile) and how it is like Salem's second main street.


US Customs House, 178 Derby Street in 1818
Photograph courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum
http://www.salemweb.com/guide/arch/ddistrict.php