My performance is inspired by my previous perception about the United States. Before coming here, everything I knew about this country was through the media. Through this class, I recognize that the US is not always as dreamy as I thought. There are a lot of downsides. Furthermore, I also realize the importance of the media to form my perception about the society and this perception is somehow stereotyped and biased. And I think most people all have the same problems. It is easy to make assumptions and judgement about other people based on their apprearance and language. This powerpoint aims to make me and the rest of the class to correct the wrong perception and become more impartial

For our final performance, we decided to do some slam poetry! We all wrote about different aspects of our E-Sem experiences and from various perspectives. Mfon also did a crossword puzzle about the packing problem. Some other topics included learning about banking education and our own perceptions of our socioeconomic statuses and realizing our responsibilities as Bryn Mawr students to bring up touchy topics like class to campus and make them relevant to our peers. Our poems were personal and allowed us to share what we learned from this E-Sem and how class mattered to us back then and how it will matter to us in the future. I remember discussing the project with my group and all of us being unsure about which area about the broad topic of class we would be writing our poems about. It's a complicated subject!

I really, really enjoyed seeing all of the final performances last night. At some points, I couldn't stop laughing and at others, I wanted to burst into tears. I've really enjoyed my time spent with this class, and I feel like I've learned so much, not only from the curriculum but also my peers. 

We've spent much of the class identifying different perceptions and stereotypes about every socioeconomic class. We've seen what situations they can lead to, and how to fight them. But what we haven't had a chance to touch on is where they come from. So this is what our group chose to focus on for the final performance. In our presentation, we talked about the media and how it perpetuates stereotypes about certain groups in regards to class, race and the American Dream. We also discussed how easily children are influenced by these media stereotypes, and how they continue to grow up with these negative, often exaggerated stereotypes. To do this, we provided examples of media which portrays different people in certain lights. To conclude the presentation, we offered suggests on how to resist media bias, in an effort to alleviate negative perceptions. We also included a fun animated clip about the going ons of ESem and the consequences of our disinterest in moving the tables! 

Last night’s performances were amazing and seeing the different ways that our classmates portrayed what their experiences was so moving.

For our final performance, we went with an activity that was similar to ones that we did in class. We wanted everyone to write down one thing that they still felt uncomfortable talking about even after having this ESem. We decided to keep the students anonymous, since their concern made them uncomfortable. We read the responses and wrote them on the board, so everyone could see what their classmates were still comfortable with. Originally, we wanted to break up into smaller groups and discuss what we saw on the board and some common ideas. Many of the ideas were personal issues that we still faced. Our goal for our performance to convey that even after going through In Class/Outclassed, understanding and learning about class, we all had something we were anxious to discuss. This led us to another idea that the conversation does not stop. We will continue to feel uncomfortable with many issues, but bringing light to these issues and discussing them further, can make a change.

We did not get to read all of the responses because we ran out of time, but in a way that sort of showed us that the conversation is ongoing. We didn’t finish, but maybe it’s because we weren’t meant to finish.  To those of you whose responses were not read, it was an issue with time is anything. But that fact that you wrote your concern down is a step in moving forward and addressing it.

For our final project, we decided to take a popular song ("I'm on a Boat") and rewrite the lyrics to try to encapsulate our freshman year Bryn Mawr (and ESEM) experience. Though, of course, the goal was for it to be funny, we were also trying to show that the discussions we've been doing in class can happen in very different mediums – including song and video. Because I don't have a youtube account, I can't upload the video to youtube. However, the lyrics are below:

Aw shit, get your lanterns ready
Its about to go down
Everybody at Bryn Mawr hit the English House
But stay on your fingers and toes
We running this, lets go 

I’m at Bryn Mawr, I’m at Bryn Mawr
Everybody look at us
Cause we know who we are
I’m at Bryn Mawr, I’m at Bryn Mawr
Take a good hard look
At the place where we are 

I’m at Bryn Mawr, just take a look at us
Walking through campus on the way to the Blue Bus
Thinking about class and education
It seems so easy
But look at us now cus we’re feeling kinda breezy 

Take this picture of M. Carey Thomas
She made a promise
For Bryn Mawr College
She was a very important person,
No doubt about that
But now look at Bryn Mawr cus we got JMAC 

I’m reading John Dewey, take a look at me
Learning from experience at BMC
Bel hooks and Freire—for the oppressed
Doesn’t matter which one was better dressed

During each “finals” period, I find myself attached to a different song in my music library that I listen to on repeat, almost literally, for the entire week. This semester that song is John Ondrasik’s Chances. Some of you may be more familiar with his single 100 Years or his stage name, Five for Fighting. Re-reading my portfolio, reflecting on my journey, and musing on our sylla-ship, I’m reminded of how excited I was for the potential in our semester together. 

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to say one more time how amazing this class was.  Jomi and I were talking about how we hope Anne and Jody teach it again, but we aren't sure anything can measure up to this experience.  It's been wonderful to see us (e-sem students, Jomi & I, and also Jody & Anne) grow throughout this semester. I'm going abroad next semester and now I'm actually kind of sad (I know, I know, you can yell at me, I should only be excited) BUT when I come back I hope you all say "hi" to me still and whatever role you saw me as before (teacher, classmate, weird in between) I hope you will be open to the idea of being friends because you are all so incredibly intelligent and I would love to continue to have amazing conversations about class with you.  Thank you all for making this semester so great. 

-Sarah