Dr. Dunston's Lecture (Lauren Bolden)

This week Dr. Dunston talked about the human genome. I found her lecture very interesting in that I learned things that I did not know before. She explained how less than 1% of our DNA is geared towards our physical traits. With all the focus we put on appearance you would think it would be a lot more than that. She went on to say that only another 2% goes to making our physical bodies. That means that almost all of our DNA is about controlling what we see. This surprised me because I always assumed that most of our DNA determined what we look like.

            Dr. Dunston also talked about how history and location contributes to who you are. I believe this is true because it has been proven that your surroundings affect who you are.  Another thing she discussed is how wisdom is the ability to solve problems. This really made me think about the idea of wisdom. I thought of my grandparents and older people who surround me and discovered that it really is their ability to deal with life’s endless problems that makes them so wise. After years of being put in tough situations and figuring out how to make it through them, they have a new level of knowledge that comes only from experience.

            From this lecture I have been inspired to work through all of life’s trials so that I too may become wise. I also want to challenge myself to discover who I am, and focus not so much on physical appearance but to go much deeper and develop myself as a person.

By Lauren Bolden

Dr. Pollard's Lecture (Lauren Bolden)

Dr. Pollard’s lecture today was one of the most intriguing lectures we have had thus far in freshman seminar. Not only did he introduce everyone in the lecture to a very powerful popular song from years ago, but he also had a couple key points that I found extremely profound. I thought that his method of presentation was the best we have seen so far in that he went out of his way to go beyond the ordinary to provide us with another way to share his message instead of just teaching from a power point.

            Beginning his lecture Dr. Polllard played for us “Ship Ahoy” by the Ojays, a song about slavery and Africans being taken away from their homeland on ships. As the room sat in silence we listened to this powerful song. You could feel the impact of the song in the room as everyone listened.  Listening to the song I began to feel the words and felt as if I was seeing it being done right in front of my eyes. Hearing this song instead of just talking about the message of the song was definitely amore powerful experience for me.

            The most powerful part of Dr. Pollard’s lecture however, were his ending words. Before leaving he told everyone that they must know who they are to accomplish anything. In order to succeed you need to have the confidence and determination that comes with knowing who you are. I believe so many problems in our culture stem from the fact that people do not know who they are. If people knew who they were they wouldn’t worry about what they wore, or holding back others, or doing whatever they could to fit in, even if it meant doing something they wouldn’t ordinarily do. I believe this one line summed up the reason most of us are at Howard in the first place, to cultivate and find ourselves so that we may be a changing force in the world.

Dr. William's Lecture (Lauren Bolden)

 I found this week’s lecture by Dr. Williams to be very informational.  Not only did it show me what I should be accomplishing on my blogs, but it also gave me a look into what I should expect  for the rest of the course. I thought it was very helpful that she put student’s blogs up as an example of what we should be writing.

                I was also confused about the requirements for the E portfolio. I wasn’t sure when we would be working on them or what would be included. I thought that it was extremely helpful that Dr. Williams went over all of the information so that I would not have to guess what is expected of me.  I like that we are going to get plenty of time in class to work on the project so that we don’t have to worry about the conflicting schedules of all of our group members.

                Another thing that I found extremely helpful was the fact that Dr. Williams took the time to explain the proper components of research. Although I have done other research projects in the past, I have never had such a thorough template of what should be incorporated. I had also never heard of a Lit review. Because Dr. Williams showed us a mock portfolio, I was able to visualize exactly how she wanted thing s to be done and could begin to form some ideas for my future group research. I truly think I am beginning to see the importance of freshman seminar.  Not only does it inform me about my rich history and inspire me to do great things, it gives me the tools I need to do those things.

by Lauren Bolden

Dr. Gbadegsin's lecture (Lauren Bolden)

This week’s lecture given by Dr. Segun Gbadegesin was very interesting. It began with the use of a “talking drum”. Dr. Gbadegesin would say a word and the player of the drum would “repeat” that word using the bead of the drum. Dr. Gbadegesin described that in many cases the player of the drum is the only one who really knows what is being said, because so many of the words played can sound very similar. It was interesting to see the use of music as a means of communication.

                Dr. Gbadegesin then began to tell the story of Iwa.  He explained that Iwa (whose name means character) was married to Orunmila under the condition that he would not mistreat her.  When Orunmila was never satisfied with anything that Iwa did, she began to feel mistreated and therefore left. After Iwa left him everything went downhill for Orunmila. He decided to go on a search for Iwa and after finding her at her father’s house everything returned to normal. The moral of the story was not to lose your character, because without character nothing can go right.

                I thought this story was very relevant for this time in all or our lives. In entering college it could be easy to get swept up in all the chaos and lose your character and who you are. This story reminded everyone of the importance of maintaining good character. If you maintain your good character everything else will fall into place. Overall I thought this was a great lecture that left me with ideas that I can apply in my life.

by Lauren Bolden