Author: Nicholas Gunn

The story of the founding of Virginia is gruesome and shocking. It’s a story of the British settlers dehumanizing the Native Americans and treating them as savages and not real people. They had no respect for the indigenous tribes and continuously attempted to expand their settlements, disregarding Native American ownership of land. It also shows the shocking atrocities committed against the native tribes and how British settlers mercilessly attacked and murdered them. They had no sense of remorse for their actions, only focusing on the expansion of their settlements and doing whatever was necessary to complete this task. Although it was not all of the settlers who treated the Native Americans in this way, it was enough for the negative actions of the settlers to outweigh any good.

For me personally, I have learned about conflicts between the British settlers and the Native Americans in the past but I did not fully grasp how violent these conflicts were. Some of the stories told in these first chapters did not seem real. I specifically recall the one story of the British settlers executing two Native American children by throwing them overboard into the water and shooting them. They also had other torturous methods such as burning people or chaining them to a tree and leaving them there until they starved to death. It’s shocking to think how anyone could commit such acts.

I found both the readings and video interesting but the video was definitely more impactful. Seeing inside Bon Air and hearing from Marquez made everything feel so much more real. It’s easy to see the crimes people have committed on paper and immediately dehumanize them. However, hearing Marquez talk about his situation as well as Kelvin and Terrence just helps me to see that these are real people, just like me. Their story is more than the crimes they committed. That’s why I think the justice system is sometimes overly harsh because it fails to humanize these people and realize they can be rehabilitated and not just punished.

So far, I’ve made progress toward the class goals by contributing more in class. It’s easy for me to simply become a listener in a conversation so I have to actively push myself to participate but I think I’ve improved in this sense. I also just better realize now that everybody has something different to contribute. Everybody has a different background, different experiences, and different insights. Therefore, whenever we discuss a topic I feel I can share my thoughts on based on my experiences, I try to do so.

In terms of my learning philosophy, I would say that I believe in discussion, experiential learning, and learning to grow oneself and not just packing information into your head. I hate classes that revolve strictly around memorization because realistically everybody is going to forget almost all of the information. However, classes that are focused on new experiences, sharing your experiences with others, and really learning with the goal of improving yourself are the most impactful.

Question: Out of all the cases you have worked on, which one resonates with you the most?

(Kelvin) One quote that stood out to me was when you said, “I put the quick money in front of the sure money and benefits every time.” Do you think that this culture of chasing quick money and instant gratification is one of the root issues of the environment you grew up in? 

(Either) A common theme I saw throughout the book was the importance of never showing emotion and always having to be hard. If you did show emotion, others would label you as being soft. What would happen to you once you had that label of being soft?

After finishing “Writing Our Way Out,” I feel more aware of the reality behind the justice system. It’s easy for us to label people in jail as just criminals. It’s easy to assume these people are nothing more than the crimes they committed and not dig any deeper than the surface level. Very rarely do we dive into the circumstances and backstories of these individuals and truly ask “Why?”. The beauty of “Writing Our Way Out,” is that it does just that, forces us to dive into the backstories of these imprisoned men and see them as complete human beings and not just their actions.

I was happy to see that many of the men who participated in the writing program ended up turning their lives around after being released. One theme I saw that all these reformed men possessed was something to keep them motivated. For many of them, that was religion or their families. It’s no coincidence that the men who most successfully reformed were the ones who were most motivated and grounded by something bigger than themselves. Not only were they turning their lives around for themselves, but for God or their families. I also was happy to see that the writing of their stories did the intended job of helping them to reflect on and reconcile with their pasts. Sometimes we can be confused by our own thoughts and until we really lay out everything into words or writing it is difficult to see and accept the reality of the past.

The story that definitely impacted me the most was Naji’s. At a young age, Naji’s father was never present in his life, and then his mother passed away unexpectedly. As a result, Naji went to live with his grandparents. Instead of cherishing what little piece of their daughter they still had left, her kids, Naji’s grandmother tormented and abused them mercilessly. She would become outraged and any small mistake and beat them as punishment. This constant abuse and feeling of not having a true home led Naji down a path of drug use to escape. He then began stealing to sustain this habit and eventually was incarcerated. While incarcerated, however, he began to try and educate himself. He discovered the Nation of Islam and became infatuated with it, especially the fact that the first man on earth was black. Eventually, he was finally released and he learned of his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s. She had forgotten the years of abuse she inflicted upon Naji and his brother. He still took care of her and continued rebuilding his life. The combination of the things he learned while studying the Muslim faith and Dr. Coogan’s writing class helped him to reflect on and re-evaluate his life. This story was so tragic to hear because of how my grandmother was so different from Naji’s. My grandmother was always so supportive and loved us unconditionally. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to experience such traumatic abuse from a family member. This also overall just made me reflect on how lucky I am to have the family I do and the positive environment I have grown up in. I was thankful before, but hearing what these men went through put things into a whole different perspective.

I surprisingly enjoyed the first half of Writing Our Way Out. To be honest, I definitely am not the biggest fan of reading but I felt like I flew through the pages. At first, I thought the title Writing Our Way Out would entail something along the lines of the inmates retelling the story of their crimes and accepting the reality of their actions and the consequences. I did not expect to go so in-depth into the trauma of each of their childhoods. What struck me was that although the inmates all had some sort of childhood trauma, each one of their traumas differed slightly. Some were about getting hooked on drugs at a young age, some were about parental figures and even one about his journey with homosexuality. Each inmate had a story and it was apparent to see how they were led down the wrong path by their unfortunate home environment. I think the story that stuck with me the most was Naji’s story of how he and his brother were brutally abused by their grandmother. It was sad to see the abuse get increasingly worse and more extreme. Now, both of them are in jail with his brother being convicted of murder. Across all of the stories, it was apparent how much of a factor parental figures played and how not having a loving and supportive family can cause so much pain. After finishing the reading, I really thought about how amazing my parents and family are and how appreciative I am to have grown up in such a supportive and loving environment.

Portfolio Keeping was definitely an interesting read. I was honestly unaware that there were other types of portfolios besides maybe art or financial portfolios before taking this class so I really went in not knowing anything. However, after reading the book, I have a solid understanding of writing portfolios. You can create a physical or digital portfolio and it generally is created with the intention of presenting the portfolio or using it as a tool to track your development. I also learned these portfolios can include a variety of things besides writing pieces such as pictures or music. Overall I think it will benefit my writing and I’m excited to start.

As I was scrolling through other people’s prep notes, I read Nicholas Javier’s note and he mentioned journaling and how he related that to a writing portfolio, which really struck me. I also have kept a journal for almost a year now and it has been super helpful to just get all my thoughts out there but it has indirectly tracked my growth as a person. I went back and reread some of my old entries and it is apparent how much I have matured since I first began the journal. In the same way that my journal demonstrates my personal progression, I know my writing portfolio will show my journey as a writer which I can reflect upon and see my growth.

I also found the articles interesting. I was surprised by the fact that we actually form some level of identity by age 2 and begin creating memories but we forget them completely by age 8. It was also interesting to see the correlation between a strong family and more resilience in the child. My favorite of the two articles was definitely the one about campfire stories. I didn’t expect there to be such a history behind campfires and how they resulted in more storytelling. The study conducted also surprised me. The fact that 81% of the conversations held at night were storytelling as opposed to I believe 6% during the day is a huge difference.

The experience that comes to mind when I think about creating something successful as a group is when my friends and I founded the PopDarts club at my high school. Everyday before our AP Calc began, my friends and I would all play this game called PopDarts. The game is played by placing the orange target dart anywhere in the room, whether it be on the floor, on the whiteboard, on a desk, etc. Along with the orange dart, there are three blue and three purple darts that each player gets and the goal is to shoot your blue or purple dart and land it as close to the orange dart as possible. Whoever lands their dart the closest wins. It was a simple game, but we all loved it and played every single day, without fail. One day we were playing and I suggested we create a PopDarts club. My friends all agreed and we began talking with the administration to help us start our club. Eventually, the club was official and we received some funding to purchase more sets of PopDarts. We all worked together to promote the club, increase the number of members, and organize some small events like tournaments. Now, the club has been passed down to the junior class and it is still up and running.