The Human Genome

The Human Genome lecture. Honestly, that was the hardest lecture for me to relate to. The professor went into this strange conversasion about Ancesteral Memory, something I thought I'd never hear outside of a discussion about Assassin's Creed. She went off into all sorts of strange and barely connected tangents and I'm not sure what exactly she was trying to say: that we're already perfect? That we have all that we need sealed away into our DNA? That our species' Nitrogenous Base Sequences are somehow more divine than the Base Sequences of other lifeforms? I really didn't know what to take away from that lecture. I'm not that bad at understanding metaphors, but I'm not a terribly reflective person either. Maybe her lecture just encompassed one of those concepts I do not, and perhaps never will, understand. I think my groupmates felt the same way, seeing as no one had written this entry, even though I specifically asked one of them to do so (Tsk, Tsk). Or maybe she just couldn't articulate her point well. Some other lectures were a lot more steeped in metaphors and allegory, but I understood them well enough to reflect upon them instead of just repeating their words. I really, truely, don't know what she was talking about. It just made me angrey confused.

African Burial Ground

This past saturday, we went to visit the African Burial Grounds. I was overly excited to see the grounds but also since it would be my first time being in New York. I really didn't know what to expect. I really couldnt wait to get off of the bus and explore into more of my African roots. when we arrive Dr. Carr had us pay our respects to those who were buried in the ground. he said it was up too 400 the were in the ground. Also the other man i forgot his named showed us around the burial ground and went into great depth of the individual meanings that each had. the man was white aat first i kinda past judgement but after hearing him speak i realized that african culture is within us all. Afterwards we moved on into the federal building, I learned a great about the struggle that my ancestors went through. I touched me in a way to where i really took the time to appreciate the things that i have. i realized that i should be thankful that i didnt have to go through what those before me had too. we then watched a video of the history on the Burial grounds and how its connected to Howard university. I never knew that Howard was involved in the findings and the understanding of the grounds. I was aware that Howard has a great history behind it but the Burial grounds I took a great interst too. The wall inside the build als gave insight to what the slaves then had to go through. I read few of the captions and I understand now that I can't lose focus on my education because of the fact that so many were denied theirs. The African Burial grounds was a great expericence, i shall cherrish this experience and it close to my heart.

Components Of Research

In this weeks lecture session, Dr Dana Williams gave vital insight on how to research and clues to making your research worthwhile. But I found that these research tips were not only beneficial in my schoolwork but as well in all life situations. The six steps of research consisted of: Stating the problem, Current state of researching, Methodology, Framework, Developing a thesis, and Conclusion. This form of research is similar to the Scientific method. But with stating the problem can relate to all aspects of life. in order to solve a problem we have know exactly what that problem is. Current state of researching, help to expand on ways to solve a problem. this has made it possible for there to be multiply ways to get things done. Methodology, helps with methods of collecting information. Framework, forces you think about how you would want to present your information as well as present yourself. Developing a thesis, is at the point of having all of your info sumed up. Conclusion, What was revealed and how should we go about things in the future to prevent the duplication on the same problem.. i realized that I should take in account these components of research. With this it will better me in my organization on my schooling and my goals in life.

Character

Character, is the most important part a person can uphold. without character you have nothing at all. in the story of Iwa, it explains the importance of character. iwa= character/ existence. in the story of Iwa is married too Orunmila. Orunmila=Yorba God of wisdom. Orunmila mistreats Iwa and in return Iwa leaves orunmila. as a result Orunmila loses everything that he possesed and now is lost looking for Iwa. the moral of this story is once you lose your character you lose everything. you end up being left alone trying to find out who you are because you never cherrished the simple things that once made you who you were. this lesson has brought to my attention how important it is to cherrish who you are. Egyptians, were the first to expand on the importance of character. the egyptians really took pride in who they were and set the foundation that i believe we should follow in todays society. it seems that things in life that are the most valueable fall short because we all overlook their importance. character is one of those things that needs to be taken into account as being more valueable than gold.

To be honest I thought that freshman seminar this week would not help me at all. I walked in thinking how is this information going to help me in the future, but this week I was pleasantly surprised. the information that was given to us can not only help me in group project, which to be honest I had no idea on how to get going on, but, I can use this information on future assignments not just in my college career.
The first step to me was obvious, but no less important for that. The first step was to state the problem and to do that you must consider the purpose of your research. You must take this step to help you order thoughts in one direction. The second step is to consider the current research on your subject. To do this you must consider what has been said about the subject of your project, and you must ask what new information your research will reveal. The third step was to consider the methodology that you are going to use. This includes such thing as which disciplinary methods that are best. Whether you want to take the single, multi, or interdisciplinary method when you research your projects. The fourth step is to decide your framework, such as how you structure your research, and how you present your research to your audience. At first it truck me kind of odd that the fifth step wasn't the second or third step, I always thought that developing your thesis statement was one of your most important steps, but then I thought about it for a little while and this analogy came to mind before you can build a house you have to have a blueprint, before you caan delve into your research you must decide how your going to go about it. The last step is your conclusion. I think this is like a catharsis were you go into the new insights that your research has brought and the limitations of your research. this also helps out the people who are reading your report. It gives them a realistic view of the good and the bad of your paper.
Another thing she did was use the class as a way to illustrate how you apply this method. I liked her example because not only did it explain the purpose of Freshman Seminar better, it also explained their reasoning in structuring the class the way they did. this also showed us that they were trying to make sure we got as much out of this class by structuring it the way that they did.
This weeks freshman seminar not only made it easier to do my project but it also gave me skills that I can use in the future. this week connected the journey of the African people from the beginning, into the past, then how to live in the present with character, and they gave me skills I can use to better the future

Character: More Valuable Than Gold

Character is something tat has been valued throughout the ages, but the first culture to stress the importance of character was the Egyptians. The Egyptians notion of good character, and that the principles of Ma'at, their rules to live by, evolved into the ten commandments.
Character, according to the Egyptians, is the most important thing that a person has, without character a man is nothing. According to Egyptian culture even if you are the richest man earth but if you have bad character. This notion comes from the story of Iwa, where a women denies a god because of his character and his attitude, showing that to Egyptians nothing is more important then character and that their gods are not exempt from this. The reason that this struck me so hard was that they are instilling the importance of character into their society. not only did they first use this idea of character they spread it from Egypt to other parts of Africa, and to the rest of the world. yet they didnt spread it forcefully, they were the dew drop that spread virtue and culture to the rest of the world. They showed us a better way to live, a way that helped your fellow man.

It was also wonderful to be shown my connection to this great civilization. It inspired me, it made me want to do more, it made me more confident in my abilities to know that I have the potential and character of an Egyptian inside of me.

The Centrality of Character.

There are two sets of laws people hold themselves to, the laws of the land, and the laws of oneself, that is, their own personal honor code. Often times these two sets overlap with one another, but the former can never be appreciated without the latter. Without a family and a village to enforce the reverence of character and personal honor, we will never be able to retain a stable society. The importance of character can be traced back to some of the earliest writing by the Egyptians. They were laws of the state, but they were also laws that everyone had strived to uphold not only for others, but for themselves. The Egyptians took great pride in their quality of character, which is something that is more than admirable. I too, strive to improve and treasure my person so this revelation makes my relation with Egypt and Africa feel all the more powerful. One thing I found particularly interesting is the story about the dew-drop. By being gentle, understanding, and holding oneself to those characteristics can move others to behave the same way, making the world a more harmonious place.