This
semester in History class has been a journey to say the least. I have never
done research in my life. I have called it research but it was nowhere close to
the research I’ve done in this course.
Research is time consuming. It can be frustrating at times. You can get upset and want to quit. I had an awesome professor this year in Dr.
Soldani. She has taught me so much about life, history, and research. Research
is not my strong point but with her guidance I was able to do extensive
research and find some amazing facts. In this semester I have done two
casefiles and a peer review. None of
those assignments were easy, not one. For
the first casefile I couldn’t get going. I had a hard time finding
information. I ran into stumbling block
after stumbling block. I would get mad and frustrated but, in the end, things
began to come together for me. I did my
casefile on a man named Albert Johnson.
He was a reverend from Michigan.
My reason for choosing Mr. Albert is because of the qualities and
characteristics he possessed. I am not a revered but some of those same
qualities he had, I also have. As far as
the peer review, it was a tall task. We
had to choose five casefiles and review them. Basically, you graded them and
offered your feedback. After reading the casefiles, doing your own research to
make sure the things written were factual, and offering your feedback, I gained
so much respect for Dr. Soldani. I
wouldn’t last a day in her shoes, that’s why I pray for her daily. For my second casefile I wanted it to do it
on my family tree. I started doing research and found out useful information
about my great grandfather and grandmother.
Like I said, I wanted to do a family tree but for some reason I started
writing about my dad. I lost my dad at age eleven. He was my hero and my best friend. I wouldn’t
be the man I am today had it not been for him.
One thing I
learned about research is that you can’t believe everything you read. Some
articles or posts are just for entertainment.
They want a story that will sale. They don’t care about facts. They are
just trying to make a profit. For
example, I read a article the other day that was related to Tupac still being
alive. I found that stranger being that he died in 1996. Another thing I’ve learned while researching
American History is that there was so much that I didn’t know. I recall on the first day of class we were
told to write down some words and the definition if we knew what the definition
was. I remember that she said write down the definition of “cotton gin” and I
said it was a liquor store that sold gin.
Now as crazy as this sounded, I really didn’t know what it was. There are so many myths and lies in history
that it’s good to know the facts for yourself.
Don’t go by what you are told, instead do research for yourself.
