Economics Essay

Assignment/Activity Title—            Economics Essay                                                                          Year—2014

Skill—            Writing, researching                                                                                    Portfolio Category—Critical Reasoning

           

My economics essay allowed me to apply previous knowledge in an area I was interested in while solidifying some of my own views on the subject matter.  Economics in an area that, while may seem dull and dry, affect all of our lives.  When we are looking into macroeconomic solutions to America’s problems, we are looking for ways to help Americans better feed their children, get a better job, or buy something new that they want.  I found it useful to look at economics from the human perspective.  This makes the discipline more interesting.  For this project, we were-at the most base level-asked to solve America’s economic woes.  Of course, dozens, if not hundreds, of books have been written about the subject and it was very difficult to take all of the information available and turn it into a short essay.  In the end I didn’t actually do a very good job at this, writing an essay that was likely multiple pages longer than it should have been.  However, this experience allowed me to improve my skills at writing in a concise way: my next few essays in other classes were of a more reasonable length.  I really enjoyed this assignment because I had done a lot of research into macroeconomic theory over the summer and was happy to apply that knowledge to a school assignment. 

On the Road

Assignment/Activity Title—            On The Road                                                                          Year—2014

Skill—Working in groups, writing, editing                                                                                                Portfolio Category—Media and Communications

            This assignment may have been one of the most challenging and frustrating things I’ve had to accomplish at CAP.  It is for my ability to complete it (with the help of my group mates of course) and get a high grade that I am so proud of it.  This assignment taught me about how to edit a film quickly and effectively, and also taught me how to work with oversized and ineffective groups last-minute.  For On the Road, we interviewed a former woman Air Force pilot.  For a few reasons, putting together a smooth documentary was difficult.  She had suffered a stroke and had been treated for cancer twice and due to this, she was inarticulate, off-topic, and difficult to understand.  For this reason, sorting through the footage of the interview took a much longer time than it did most other groups.  In addition, our group was two people larger than the average group.  This meant that five people were stuffed into one editing suite, and the conversations between group members often made it difficult to concentrate and get work done.  Lastly, there were many snow days during the time when we were supposed to be editing the project.  After we got back from one of the snow breaks, with little more than two weeks to edit almost the entirety of the film, we realized that we had to get down to business. 

CAP Foreign Policy Congress

Assignment/Activity Title—            Foreign Policy Congress                                                                          Year—2014

Skill—            Writing, researching, public speaking                                                                                     Portfolio Category—Critical Reasoning

           

This assignment allowed me to again utilize my research skills, but much more than that, it allowed me to define my public speaking skills and debating skills.  I was very excited to tackle foreign policy Congress because I was quite disappointed by my performance in domestic policy Congress.  As a MOCWA for domestic policy, I was charged with researching one topic in great detail and persuading legislators on that one topic.  Because of this requirement, I was unable to attain more than my previously held general understanding of the issues up for debate.  My actual issue never really came up and I found myself falling behind my fellow legislators in debating the issues.  I was determined not to let that happen again for foreign policy.  I jumped into the issues immediately after they were introduced and collected the most up-to-date information available on the topics.  My position papers were extremely detailed and I prepared my arguments thoroughly the days before Congress began.  Like for debates, I spent a few hours researching the issues as if I were going to take the opposite side and then did research to combat those points.  During lobbying day, I tested out my arguments against the opposing MOCWAS to search for holes, which is, in my opinion, the most effective way to prepare for a debate. 

C-SPAN StudentCam Documentary, Second Prize Winner

Assignment/Activity Title—            C-SPAN DOC                                                                          Year—2014

Skill—Writing, Researching, Media, teamwork                                                            Portfolio Category—Media and Communications

            I am putting this assignment into the “media and communications” category for two reasons. First, it helped me improve my own communication skills when working in a group.  Second, it helped improve my ability to put together a strong documentary that combined my editing, writing, and researching skills.

Candidate Analysis

Maryland Gubernatorial Race Analysis

Assignment/Activity Title—Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Analysis            Year—2014

Skill—            Writing, Researching                                                                                    Portfolio Category—Social Awareness

            This assignment solidified by researching skills, allowed me gain knowledge in a field I find interesting, and prompted political activism outside of the classroom.  The Maryland Gubernatorial Race Candidate Analysis asked me to conduct research on three candidates running for Governor of Maryland and analyze their policy positions and chances of victory.  I researched Lt. Governor Anthony Brown, Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler and District 20 Delegate Heather Mizeur.  I could have written a surface level essay on this topic with relative ease.  However, I chose instead to get deep into the political strategies of each of the candidates and especially go in depth in analyzing the policies of the candidates.  I want to work in a Political Science/Public Policy related field after college so I thought that working hard on this assignment would give me a chance to get updated on the most important issues facing Maryland, as well as the operation of a modern political campaign.  The information I learned about the political strategy wasn’t very surprising or interesting to me.  It seemed clear that Anthony Brown, as the front-runner, would refrain from making any controversial policy stands and would rely on his extraordinary support among the democratic elite and African Americans to prevail in the June primary.  It also wasn’t surprising that Doug Gansler would do anything possible to delegitimize Anthony Brown and shift attention away from his own scandals.  I, however, became fascinated by the policies of Heather Mizeur and Doug Gansler.  Doug Gansler, at least economically, represented the more Bill Clinton-like, pro-business side of the Democratic Party.  While I disagreed with many of his policies, I admire him for being a unique candidate in a Maryland Democratic primary dominated by liberals.  Heather Mizeur, on the hand, was running a flamingly liberal candidacy.  She, mainly due to her low name recognition and lack of money, was making a name for herself my taking controversial policy stands.  In addition, she came to visit the Blair Young Democrats, of which I am vice-president, and spoke about policy and youth engagement in the political process.  She was clearly a nerd; quite like myself and I connected with her passion for crafting good policy. I decided that I wanted to be a part of her campaign.

Final Op-Ed and Reflection

Final Op-Ed

Assignment/Activity Title—            Final Op-Ed Journalism                                                                          Year—2013

Skill—            Writing and Research                                                                                    Portfolio Category—Critical Thinking

            The final Op-Ed in journalism was an extremely important assignment in my academic career because is was the culmination of me learning an entire style of writing, with which I was not previously acquainted; as well as an exercise in good research.  Journalism was my most difficult class during the first quarter of this year because I had to learn a completely new writing style.  I have become relatively comfortable with the standard five-paragraph writing format, having done it for so many years, but entering the world of op-ed writing was like being doused with a bucket of freezing water.  The difficulty in writing good op-eds was not the structure of the writing, but being able to recognize one’s own logical fallacies.  When writing a five-paragraph essay in English, for example, the concept is not really that difficult to grasp.  In contrast, when writing a good op-ed about current events one must be able to grasp extremely complicated concepts and make a logically viable argument, while still remaining engaging and interesting.  This was my difficulty in writing the op-ed.  My eventual argument was that, following the events at the Navy Yard, local police and law enforcement should share detailed police records with other localities in a comprehensive crime-sharing database.  I was calling on local authorities to take the initiative in collecting detailed crime information to stop crucial facts from falling through the cracks.  Unfortunately, it took me a very long time, and multiple re-writes, to come up with a clear stand.  During the writing of my first few drafts, I would write the piece, and then, after reading over it, realize that I had taken no strong stance on anything.  I would write things that made sense if one were to look at each sentence separately, but when put together lacked any clear focus or direction.  After a while, thankfully, I was able to recognize my errors while I was writing and put together a good piece of writing with a legitimate policy argument.

Brooker T. Washington/ W.E.B. DuBois Comparison Essay

Brooker T. Washington/ W.E.B. DuBois Comparison Essay

Assignment/Activity Title— Washington DuBois Essay

By: Max Foley-Keene

Year—2012

Skill— Research and Writing

Portfolio Category—Critical Reason

The Brooker T. Washington/ WEB Dubois essay, assigned by Mr. Grossman, was both an introduction to the type of critical thinking, researching, and writing that would be expected in the CAP program, and a mind opening experience that has changed my view on the path a people should take when trying to achieve change.  When I received the assignment, I wasn’t extremely worried about the work it would take to get done.  I had written many essays while at the Eastern Magnet Program, and had also written many with a much shorter time frame to finish than for this one.  I came to CAP with a sort of arrogance that I believe that many graduates of the Eastern Magnet Program felt.  I thought I could research and write a profoundly good essay on any topic.  I felt I could write a simple five paragraph, compare-contrast, essay in my sleep.  This one was different.  I am very glad that I was responsible, and started working on the essay a few days before it was due.  I did a little research on both of the men, and got a general impression of their beliefs.  After the research, I began to write my opening paragraph.  That’s where I got stuck.  I had too much to say, too much to cover in an opening paragraph.  I wasn’t sure how much information I should put in the intro; if I should leave a full analysis of the beliefs of Washington and DuBois for my later paragraphs, or if I should have a basic analysis of their beliefs in the opening.  I couldn’t tell how much was too much, and I definitely wasn’t sure how to bring my own beliefs into the essay.  I knew it was best to do it in the opening paragraph, but it was hard to find the best way to go about that.  After re-writing the opening paragraph way to many times, I got into the meat of the essay, and found it much easier to complete.  Now, I have an easier time organizing my ideas throughout a piece of expository writing.