Derek Dolby's ENGL 105 Blog

 Man, was this Halloween sad. Not sad for me, all I did was lay around and watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but for the kids. Nowadays, even though I'm dead center in the "techy" generation, it's so disheartening to see children not experiencing holidays like they used to. I know COVID-19 is a legitimate concern, but I figured we could still go about it normally with some basic distancing. I think at the peak of the night, we only had about 9 kids come get candy. That's usual in some neighborhoods, but we usually see about a hundred. The extra candy is a plus though. :)

 We've made some awesome progress on our Experiential Learning Project, especially Ben (as always). Specifically, we've gotten everything wrapped with the brochure, we've drafted the presentation, and the interview I conducted is now transcribed and ready for our presentation. I loved working with Gabriel's Horn, and I hope I can see the staff again, they were truly some of the kindest people I've met. One oversight I didn't address is that they're very religious, which is probably pretty apparent to others when they read "Gabriel's Horn", and somehow not me. Though they're religious, they do not push these beliefs on their tenants, which is uncommon and pretty admirable.

 Hey Dr. Kyburz! I'm just gonna leave the date on this one actually representative of when I wrote it. Sorry, I knew you said you'd pull your hair out and all that if we posted on the 22nd, but I feel like its a good last post for this half of the semester. These blogs are an amazing idea! This is the most fun I've had in an English course since junior year of high school, I feel like I can actually put my thought onto paper, and someone cares . Maybe doesn't care to the point of reading these 100% through, but still cares regardless. This blog has been a great place to vent some internal frustrations, and I feel as if this style of teaching is very beneficial to our mental health and academic experiences. So, pretty much, great job Dr.! Thank you for this opportunity! :)

 In this month's project, we're hitting a little closer to home by supporting a non-profit organization of our choosing and organizing a group to accomplish a determined goal. I've teamed up with Ben, Kalista, and Bri to help a local womens-and-childrens homeless shelter by the name of Gabriel's Horn. Personally, I'm directing an interview with the current owner of the shelter, and hopefully I'll be able to interview one of the residents.

 Okay, let me start off with saying that I'm not planning on dropping out at all, at least whole-heartedly. Let me proceed to tell you that I despise Chemistry 116 and everything about it besides my two wonderful professors, Dr. Steele and Dr. Pelter. The material isn't even tremendously difficult, but the program we're forced to use, ALEKS, is the epitome of humanity's consequences for their sins and crimes against humanity. ALEKS is perhaps the most rancid, corrupted, nefarious online "learning" program publicly available. The system for ALEKS pretty much boils down to this; Get the answer wrong 3 times, get told your answer is wrong and get a terrible explanation why, and the program closes on itself because you're not getting any questions right and ALEKS feels like you're hopeless. If anyone from the chemistry department sees this, rethink that decision, please. ;)

 Happy October 1st! A lot of people are pretty excited for their normal Fall stuff, coffees and orchards and all that. I'm just glad it isn't so freaking hot outside anymore, I can't stand wearing short sleeves. My girlfriend and me when to Chicago! It's one of our favorite spots, and we had a phenomenal time. The city can put life into me like not much else can, and I feel like myself when I walk through crowded streets and angry traffic.