By: Jeff Styer on January 15, 2024
No pressure here folks. Our second blog post, not fully confident in our reading and writing abilities and we are assigned Tom Camacho’s Mining for Gold [1]. I picked up the book and read the comments on the back, I read a blog post I found online and then I read the reviews inside the…
By: Jennifer Eckert on January 12, 2024
I have made multiple attempts to pen this premier blog. As a champion overthinker, I visited numerous rabbit holes to critically consider what a self-assessment means and what standard I compare. Framing my evaluation in humility may sound disingenuous, and efforts to incorporate humor did not seem as funny the next day. So, the cycle…
By: Dinka Utomo on January 11, 2024
This gives all of us a moral obligation to listen to each other with full attention and an open mind. But the point of this hard work is communication, not deference -Yascha Mounk- I will commence this article by emphasizing two significant aspects that, from my point of view, should not be casually disregarded.…
By: Jana Dluehosh on January 11, 2024
Identity. What a hard concept to nail down and at the same time a key part of every human experience. One of my past teachers stated, “we are the medicine, how well do you know that medicine?”. [1] This is a key part of my “why” I do what I do and who I am. …
By: Noel Liemam on January 11, 2024
As I try to give an assessment or an evaluation to the levels of reading, note taking and writing capacity, I come to terms with the thought there are correlations between my reading, note-taking, and writing essays abilities. Generally speaking, we could say that writing skills would improve by not only writing, but the practice…
By: Mathieu Yuill on January 11, 2024
Yascha Mounk’s, Identity Trap[1], is not just a treatise on the dynamics of identity politics; it’s a mirror reflecting the challenges and opportunities in harmonizing a company’s mission and vision with the richness of its employees’ identities. Complexity of Identity Politics and Company Vision Integration Mounk’s narrative around the complexity of identity politics parallels the…
By: Adam Harris on January 11, 2024
Before there was the “bi-racial” box on examines, as a kid I felt the need to find a creative way to show my race when filling out the pre-information before answering questions in English, science, or math. Most of my friends would simply color in the “white” box. Most expected me to fill in the…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on January 11, 2024
I want to share a story with you. It came to mind as I read the introduction of The Identity Trap. As I have shared in other blogs, I am a Consultant and I work with non- profit organizations, churches, and charitable foundations. During the pandemic, in July of 2020, I worked with a CEO…
By: Erica Briggs on January 11, 2024
I was not a reader in early elementary, didn’t become one until I discovered the fantasy section at the local library. Battles between angels and demons. Tolkein’s orcs and elves. Legends of dwarves and fairies. When I discovered Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books, I was hooked on the written word – at least in the third way words…
By: Julie O'Hara on January 11, 2024
About 10 years ago it seemed that everyone I knew was obsessed with “Strengths Finder” as a self-assessment tool. It never excited me the same way that Enneagram or Extended Disc has done, but I still remember three of my top strengths were Responsibility, Learner, and Strategic. Those strengths, and their corresponding shadow sides provide…
By: Todd E Henley on January 11, 2024
I have always enjoyed preaching, teaching, training, podcasting, and hosting workshops. About 90% of the time, I am asked to speak on topics such as: Trauma’s impact on the body, brain, immune system, or nervous system. How to help the body heal from childhood trauma? How pornography and/or sex addiction wires the brain. Generational trauma…
By: Chad Warren on January 11, 2024
Literacy equals access. Access to what? According to the ancients, freedom. In “The Republic,” Plato first introduced the seven liberal arts, those arts which would set a human free, and he began with reading and grammar. In your first few years in elementary school, the goal is to learn to read so that, eventually, you…
By: Chris Blackman on January 11, 2024
Writing was and is my biggest concern in this program and was actually one of the things that prevented me from starting earlier. There are two things against me. Firstly, I am a self-professed standard writer, certainly not an academic writer. The second is that I have always been a slow word-for-word reader, and as…
By: Daren Jaime on January 11, 2024
Growing up as a child I was introduced to the popular saying, reading is fundamental. This simple but complex saying stayed etched in my mind throughout my life’s journey. It speaks to a highly valued skill that is essential for a person’s growth and lifelong learning. What I took from this saying is reading…
By: Kari on January 11, 2024
Bold, wise, and courageous while being a minority are some of Daniel’s admirable traits in the Old Testament. Until this week, I never correlated his actions with his “learning and skill in all literature” as seen in Daniel 1:17 [1]. Perhaps it seemed more obvious as I have focused my own on reading, writing, and…
By: Elysse Burns on January 11, 2024
I remember watching films in which the main character, in a flash of inspiration, writes a literary masterpiece or reads all the resources on a given topic in a very short time, usually overnight. I don’t know why, but throughout my early studies I thought this method was a worthy practice. I think some people…
By: Akwese on January 11, 2024
To be honest, I was struggling to sit down and do this first assignment. The mere thought of delving into reading and writing with the knowledge that public eyes and comments awaited me was paralyzing. Although imposter syndrome had been discussed by others, it wasn’t something I truly connected with until now. That’s because when…
By: Nancy Blackman on January 11, 2024
Image created with Jasper AI Art As a lifelong reader and writer, it’s not the reading I’m concerned with, but my ability to retain the amount of information, not just for one semester but for the entire three years and beyond. When I was a kid I used to deep dive into books as my…
By: Jenny Dooley on January 11, 2024
The Identity Trap: A story of Ideas and Power in Our Time, by Yascha Mounk, offered a clear perspective on the discord and polarization I encountered when I returned to the USA in 2014. Something had drastically changed over the years that I could not put my finger on and left me fearful of speaking…
By: Joel Zantingh on January 11, 2024
I was a late bloomer when it comes to reading. I did not take to reading very well or very much until middle school, and didn’t take to writing very well until my Undergrad. But it seems that the techniques of linear writing processes were at odds with the way my brain is wired. In…
