Research Journal 25

So far in my research portfolio, I have 6 sets of field notes, 1 interview written down and 5 interviews recorded on video, all of my research journals thus far, and all of my WA’s up to this point. Basically, this is all of the information I have gathered in relation to my research project as well as all of the information that led to the development of my research question. I have decided to include EVERYTHING that we have done this far because all of it is relevant to my project. I believe it is relevant because it looks at literacy and the many different ways one can gain it. I feel like the kinds of interactions we have with our peers as our literacy develops affects how we view our literacy as well as what we choose to do with it. Some of the Honors students, particularly the one in the older years, mentioned that they neglect to inform people of their scholarship simply because they do not want to be viewed differently from anyone else. I feel like that, in a way, affects our literacy. The students who have made it to the Honors College have overcome these obstacles for the most part with their academic goals still intact. This makes me wonder what happended to the students who had potential to do extremely well in school and chose to fit in instead. I believe (I am not proven correct) that there are far more intelligent people out there than we realize – some have just been conditioned that intelligence is a negative thing. Especially for women, magazines and other types of media tell us that it is not attractive for a girl to be “too smart.” Men are often told that girls prefer brawn over brain. Our society portrays more importance on appearance rather than substance, which makes me wonedr what the world would be like if intelligence and ambition were valued more so than beauty. I hope that my project helps people to see that the Honors students are just normal people…and that others are just as capable of being successful in school if only they applied themselves and practiced good study habits. My field notes have shown me, and hopefully will show others, that even the “smart” kids can get distracted and perform poorly on assignments just like anyone else. Self discipline seemed to outweigh intelligence on several occasions…which led me to wonder just what intelligence qualifies as…because this project only taught me that the only thing that separates the successful from the unsuccessfull is ambition…some want to rise above and stand out while others wish to stay grounded and blend in with the crowd…I totally wish that the world valued ambition and intellect more…because beauty fades with time…but intellect is something that is always growing and always changing and can pass through vast periods of time. No matter how much anti-aging cream you slap on your face…it will never outlast intellect.

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