Holly

The word for grades in Spanish is las notas. Good grades = Buenas notas.

Today I received my first grade in my Spanish class, and I am finding myself instantly nostalgic for Evergreen once again. There is a lot of discussion about Evergreen and its non-grading policy, and a lot of people are quick to discredit a school that doesn’t fit into the mold of the standard numeric point grading system. However, as of today I am not only a fan of not having grades, I have become a screaming advocate for it.

I have to provide more context for this by stating that I received a good grade on my Spanish essay. Undoubtedly, I earned the points I was awarded for this writing assignment. My professor made some marks in my text and offered some vague suggestions in a brief summary at the end. Then, at the bottom of the page, there it was… a grade. Una nota. Una buena nota, sí… but not the best grade. I cringed and felt disappointed with myself, and as I sit here writing this blog, I have to confess that the disappointing feeling still hasn’t left me.

What I am realizing is that I am feeling disappointed about my work for the first time since I became a Greener. Instead of opening up to the ability to take suggestions and feedback, I am pondering exactly how it was that my professor came up with that number. And I must say, this number has suddenly become spiteful to me. And I know, I know, it’s a good grade. And it’s only one essay. And I am way too critical of myself (and sometimes of others). All that said, I am satisfied with the number. I just don’t think it reflects the amount of work and effort I put into it.

Evergreen takes the uncertainty out of arbitrary grading scales. I enjoy being a student and participating in my education, but when the reciprocity for my enthusiasm is only reflected in a number on a point scale system, it doesn’t seem fair. That is when education becomes competitive and it takes all the fun out of learning. Evergreen’s philosophy is extraordinarily progressive. It has helped the perfectionist in me to stop worrying about being perfect and just focus on doing the best I can. As a non-traditional student I have the cognizance of mind to realize now that grades can, and often do, cause more harm than good. Even when they are buenas notas.

Like many other students, I have been closely following the Presidential Campaign this year. I come from and live in a generally liberal area, and sometimes I forget that the world is very different outside of the Pacific Northwest. And notably, it’s very different here. I love living in Washington State and it is inspirational to see so many students like myself paying attention to and talking about politics. I have long been a consumer of news media in all formats, and I have challenged myself to be highly critical of everything the media tells me.

It seems all media formats are talking about The Economy. And I get it. I understand why it’s a big deal. Do you? It’s complicated, of course. As a student I am impacted by the government’s ability, or inability, to assist me in funding the cost of my education. Not just how much money I will receive, but whether or not it is a loan or a grant, subsidized or not. And almost everyone ends up with some kind of loan because college is expensive, right? If not the student, then the parents will usually take on this burden because let’s face it, who has approximately $17,000 extra to throw down every year for four or more years?

Yes, I feel very affected by The Economy in one sense. But in another, not so much. Being that I am a college student, I live simply. I am financing my life so that I can focus on my education, and it’s expensive, indeed. I am doing so independently with no assistance from my parents. I work part-time, enough to have some cash for what the financial aid doesn’t cover, and I have adjusted my priorities. I am not at risk of foreclosure and losing my home. I rent and I try my hardest not to spend money on frivolous wants. But, sometimes I can’t resist and the urge to stimulate The Economy overpowers me and I buy something. That’s why I work, right? I am a part of The Economy. It’s all around me. It always has been. How does it affect you?

Tonight’s debate will be interesting. The Economy. I hope everyone pays attention and thinks critically about the issues that affect them most.

I wish I had something more interesting to blog about than the work I am doing in my classes, but unfortunately these days my classes are all-consuming. My first essay in Spanish is due on Wednesday, so I have been working on that over the past couple of days. It’s a literary analysis about a short story by a Spanish author named Ana María Matute. My Portuguese class is going well after the first week. My class only has four students so it’s very intense! We are constantly speaking Portuguese in class even though we are all beginners in the language. My experience with Spanish is definitely a bonus, but pronouncing Portuguese is a completely different story!

One exciting thing is that I have been renting a room in Seattle for the past couple of months, and I’ve been searching for my own apartment. I may have found the perfect place this past weekend, pending the acceptance of my application to rent it. I have been completely astounded by the increase in housing prices in Seattle, especially anywhere near the vicinity of UW. The last thing I need is the added stress of moving in the middle of the quarter, but I’ve realized that if you find a place within any realistic price range, you have to jump on it or it is going to be gone within minutes of being posted on Craigslist. Wish me luck!

Bueno, la vida sigue como siempre… ¡Chau chau!

…Português!

I can’t believe we are already a week into October! I’m definitely in the thick of it, with no lack of reading or response writing to show for it! I was able to find an alternative to Portuguese at the University of Washington through the Washington Academy of Languages. My first class meets tonight and I’m so thrilled to begin. It is a 5-week semi-intensive class with only four students when I enrolled last week. I will be receiving four credits for the class transferable back to Evergreen through Seattle Pacific University. It’s all very complicated, but thankfully the kind folks in the Office of Admissions were willing to work with me to find a solution for this very important educational goal I have set for myself. Having a knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese will greatly enhance my ability to contribute in any Latin American community organization, not to mention that reading and writing proficiency is required for some graduate school programs.

This week I have been reading leadership narratives from people like César Chávez, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. for my Social Movements class. I’ve decided to write my response paper on César Chávez, a community organizer who helped to unionize farmworkers in the 1960s by working with migrant farm workers. In Spanish class we have been reading short stories and learning how to respond critically and analytically in order to practice our literary reading and writing skills en español. A draft of our first literary analysis paper is due on Wednesday of next week. Good thing I already have a thesis floating around in my brain; I just have to catch it and make it come out eloquently onto paper.