Brandon Reed's Mission Statement.

To be a sustainable source of advice.  To help people deal with the psychological aspects of life using the teachings of psychology and history of sustainable functions.  From this class, I will use more than other teachings the topic of sustainability.  Basically, now I can interperet the fundamental basis of sustainability, and how it can be achieved.  With this, my mission is to help future clients in my psychological field achieve sustainability in their lives. 

Final Project

Entering this class, I felt it would be a bit boring from being in previous english classes.  You know, the endless Shakespeare play readings and early english novels that read like foreign languages. One thing I've realized is that it's not just another english class, it's composition.  Composing, the collaboration of different elements into a final product.  One technique I will take away from this class is the writing process.  This is, from start to finish, pre-writing, rough drafts, peer edit, and finally, the final revision.  I didn't realize how effective this process could be until experiencing it on this wiki.  The wiki is the ideal medium to create perfection.  It allows people to broadcast their work online to peers for critique, with the hope of editing a first draft into a sustainable work.  Through peer editing, I've learned to see where others have made mistakes, which helps me not to make that same mistake.  Peer advice has also helped develop my papers as well.  It works really well with a diverse group like ours because there is always someone that knows something you don't, which leaves room for little error.

Sustainability is also a huge topic I've taken away from this course.  We have explored every realm of the word sustainability.  Sustainability in politics, the environment, government, on the USF campus, the economy, on the wiki, etc., are all areas of sustainability we've discussed.  Taking what I've learned, I plan to practice sustainability in my career.  My major is psychology, and my ultimate career goal is to have my own office.  Before then, to have a sustainable psychology career, I have to apply the teachings of psychology in my everyday life, and preform a psychological study to get into a good graduate school.  After being apart of such an open sustainable learning experience, I feel I have what it takes to accomplish these goals.

One thing I've learned from being a student is learned material doesn't stick unless it is rehearsed and practiced frequently.  This is why applying what I've learned from psychology courses in day to day life, is so crucial to having a sustainable psychology career.  To reinforce material, I am holding on to all the notes I've taken this semester in introduction to psychology, and using them to try and help peers who may be experiencing psychological problems.  This should help me remember material to stay on track with my career and get me more interested in the field.  Peer to peer advice through the wiki has had me thinking of other ways I can grow with my peers.  Collaborating with peers psychologically is one way I am practicing.

Junior year I plan to begin a psychological study to get into a good graduate school.  Sustainability is key to designing and preforming a study.  My study will focus on the reasons for attraction to different types.  For example, why are some people only attracted to people of a certain race?  I am hypothesizing that there is psychodynamic (childhood influence) reasoning for certain attractions to different races.  Sustainability is so crucial because everything has to be designed the right way for a study like that to be accurate.  Since this study choice is an idea that really can't be tested without being unethical, a correlational study would have to be done, thus examining coincidental examples and finding a pattern of relationship between variables.  If I'm going to risk my intelligence on an study I want it to be sustainable and viable.  From this class I have gained a better understanding of sustainable functions which will assist me in creating sustainable accomplishments.

What I like the most about this course is that it, "thinks outside the paper."  What I mean by this is we did it all!  We just didn't stick to the "same ole, same ole"!  We've explored the art of comics, ravaged through the latest conspiracy theories, created and interpereted the sound of freesound, mapped out career goals, the list goes on.  I've talked to friends who go to other colleges and they tell me their English classes are full of boring passages and twenty page papers.  They also say they will never use any of that in the future.  I'm just thankful that I feel like I can actually take something out of one of these core "must have" classes, not just get it over with.  The wiki is truly a new learning experience, and hopefully I'll have the priviledge to use it again in future courses.