Final Blog of the Semester

1. I did all of the papers in the class and finished them comfortably. I was happier with the way I did this semester than how I did last semester. My writing was more consistent this semester and I was able to maintain better grades. The two semesters were kind of opposite of each other. The first semester, I started out slow and then warmed up to the writing process that we use in this class. During the second semester, I started off getting good grades and staying on top of my work. Towards the end of the semester I started to get lazy and slack off a little bit. Also, I was not entirely sure if I missed any blog posts. I probably did because I was not very consisted on keeping up with the blog. Besides the blogs, I did all of the work. I also participated in class a lot. The semester was fun and I am glad that I was able to get the same professor as last semester.


2. I always try to do my very best on the blogs and papers that I wrote. For the blogs, I just wrote exactly what I was feeling at that time. The blogs were somewhat of a free write or rant, but I thought they turned out good. I followed the writing process for the papers so that they would turn on good enough. I tried to make each one better than the last so that each paper was a learning experience.


3. I took away a couple strategies for writing from this class. I learned to write early and revise often. I also learned different ways of writing and strategies for specific type of papers. I also have some memories from this class. Between the two semesters, I have made many friends and memories. This class was a good experience and made it an easy transition from high school to college during the first semester. In high school, my teachers did not really like my style of writing. On most of my papers, I would receive, at the highest, B's. But coming into college and receiving good grades in a writing class definitely helped boost my confidence a little. I took away a lot within the two semesters that I took in this course. I will never forget some of the things that I learned in this class. Life is about experiences and I am very happy that I was a part of this experience.

Inspiration

This is a picture I took over winter break during our training trip for swimming. It is a panoramic view of from our balcony at the hotel. I took this because we came from zero degree weather to warm and breezy 70 degree weather. I found this inspirational, not just because of the nice weather, but because the warm weather provides a sense of tranquility and peacefulness. The shining sun provided warmth and just felt amazing. The palm trees rustling in the cool Florida breeze provided background music to our mini vacation. Just outside of our room there was a world of comfort. Even outside of your real home and real bed, there are places that you can find comfort in. Even though we were thousands of miles away from our own beds, we had the beautiful Florida weather to embrace us in all of it's entirety. The point is that even outside of your own home, you can find a home away from home. Some people say "There is no place like home." I think that is just an exaggeration.

Post Rant Questions

Did the article you reviewed about your problematic concept change your view on the topic?

The article that I read did not change my view on the problem whatsoever. The article actually supported my opinion on this problem. The article talked about how the exonerated prisoners had to apply for "Proof of Innocence" papers which is completely bogus. This finding supports my opinion of this problematic concept fully. I could not believe how our judicial system, which is supposed to be fair and just, was flawed. This article did not change my view point on this problem in anyway and it dug me into a deeper hole of disappoint in our judicial system.

Did it influence your decision about how to post and where? In what ways?

The article did not really influence where I was going to post the question for my problematic concept. I posted the question on Twitter because that is really the only social media that I use on a consistent basis. I only use Facebook for communicating with old friends and the swim team has a chat on it where we can communicate things to each other. Twitter was really my only option from the start.

Rant

Some exonerated prisoners have never gotten their records expunged. Taking a deeper look into this topic, it seems that to do this you must get a "Certificate of Actual Innocence". If you ask me that is pretty bogus. Why should a person who was wrongly accused of a crime have to go out of their way in order to clear their records of something that they did not even do. That is taking away their time and energy. People have other things to do than to be wrongly accused of crimes then having to go clear their records. "Ain't nobody got time for that." The judicial system should clear their records. This is what happened to all of the exonerated prisoners in After Innocence, except their records never actually got expunged. This is a complete disgrace to what America stands for. Everyone should be able to live "the American dream." Everyone should have an equal shot. Everyone should have their freedom. Everyone should have an equal opportunity. Everyone should be treated correctly. This is the complete opposite of what America stands for. This is like me going to get my haircut. I tell the barber what I want and she does the complete opposite (this happened last night). I am probably never going to go back to Sports Clips. But besides that, the judicial system is stripping these people of their rights. They just want to have a normal life and they cannot even due that because they do not even know how to get their records expunged or the process to do that is too long and difficult. This is a shame to everything that the United States of America stands for. I chose Twitter as my platform to express my feelings over this controversial topic. I chose Twitter because really I did not know what else to use for it. I do not think there will be any repercussions for this tweet due to the fact that I am not famous or a celebrity. A benefit could come from this is that it will bring attention to this problem within our judicial system. Hopefully it was a topic that sparked interest in my followers.

"After Innocence" Questions

What did you learn fro the movie?

I learned that the judicial system is flawed in many ways. It fails to prove innocent people innocent and gives sentences to the wrong people. Innocent people are in jail today just cause the judicial system just wants to accuse someone of a crime that they did not commit. Also if the court makes a mistake, they do not want to seem stupid so they do not reverse their decision. This is unethical and wrong in so many ways. The real person who committed the crime is walking free while an innocent person is serving jail time and sometimes even facing death row for something they did not even do.

What surprised you?

Something that surprised me was the amount of people in jail that were actually innocent. There are hundreds, probably thousands, that are still in jail that are innocent. The judicial and court system are flawed and still are. I was also surprised that it took the judicial system till 2003 to start using DNA as evidence in crimes. As one of the exonerated prisoners said "DNA is God's footprint. You can't deny DNA." This is a crucial piece of evidence to every single crime now-a-days which is why it surprises me that it took them that long.

What questions remain after the viewing?

A question that still remains is where are these exonerated prisoners now? This movie was released in 2005 so maybe some of these people could have turned their lives around. You never know what someone with that much will power can do. If you want to be successful bad enough, you will be successful.

What would you like to know more about?

I would like to know more about each individual case. Maybe some information was left out of their cases or some information was simplified due to time sake for the documentary. I would also like to know if some of these organizations have been successful in helping innocent prisoners or exonerated prisoners become successful. I don't even know what these organizations could do to help out people who are in jail. How can you argue with the government and the court? It is a stick situation.

Was there a specific scene or segment that stayed with you and caused you to be curious? delighted? angry? motivated?

A scene that angered me was when Wilton Dedge was proven innocent three years earlier and they still did not release him. I don't understand how you can take someone's life away from them just so you don't seem stupid. This amazed me in a bad way. This makes me take a look at the United States judicial system. The reason it is a system is to make sure that it is fair and just. That decision was not fair or just. Dedge was an innocent man in prison for 22 years. When he was released he was 42. He missed the prime years of his life. He missed almost all of his 20s and all of his 30s. That is seriously messed up. This segment left a sour taste in my mouth.