1/14/20

I Plan to ask both my parents about my family history because they both know a lot about their
history from ancestry.com. I think I plan on doing the genealogy project on my mom’s side
because they are Italian and will be from Italy. As of right now I can’t do much on this project
because my mom is in London on a business trip so I can’t ask her many questions. But I plan
to ask my dad to send me my birth certificate and if he has his to send his too.

-Where are the important documents?

-What did great grandma/grandpa do?
-How much money did they make?
-Who went to college/highschool?
-Any architects?
-Where did they live?
-Know anyone famous?
-Why did they move to the USA?
-Did they play any sports?
-Relationships before marriage?

1/16/20
What job did your grandparents have?
Where are your grandparents from?
Compare death dates?

-What jobs did your grandparents have?

-ask mom and dad
-ask grandma
-look at documents

I am an only child
My favorite color is yellow
I’m Originally from Ohio

1/21/20
I would say that Columbus, Ohio is a very important place in shaping my family.
Columbus is where both my brother and I were born. I lived in Ohio for around eight years of my
life which definitely shaped who I am today. All of my Dad’s side of the family also lives in Ohio
so we still get to visit sometimes. Another place that has shaped my family is Burlington, North
Carolina because it is where my family moved to after Ohio. I spent most of my life in Burlington,
where I met the friends that I have now. Burlington is where I went to most of grade school,
middle school and high school. Both cities hold a special place in my heart.

1/23/20
 I remember when this past summer I went on a cruise to Italy, Spain, and France for my
graduation gift. I remember when we missed our connecting flight before the cruise and we had
to stay the night at a hotel near the airport. I remember when we went to Italy we went on a wine
tour in Tuscany and everyone got wine drunk. I remember when we got kicked out of a church
in Spain because we weren’t wearing the right clothes. I remember when we got to see so many
wonderful attractions in all three countries. I remember when the cruise ended and I didn’t want
to go back home.

Last summer my graduation gift from my parents was a cruise that went to Italy, Spain,
and France. To catch the cruise we had to fly to Barcelona, Spain. We had a connecting flight
from Charlotte, to New York, back to Charlotte, to Barcelona. But on the way back to Charlotte
we had weather problems and delays so we had to sprint through the entire airport to try to
catch our flight. But unfortunately we were 5 minutes too late and we missed the flight. So after
we had to wait in the customer service line for about 2 hours to get a flight the next day to
Barcelona, we almost missed our cruise.

1. Which country was your favorite?

2. Did the backup flight still get to Barcelona on time?
3. What was your favorite part about barcelona?

Last summer my graduation gift from my parents was a cruise that went to Italy, Spain,
and France. To catch the cruise we had to fly to Barcelona, Spain. We had a connecting flight
from Charlotte, to New York, back to Charlotte, to Barcelona. But on the way back to Charlotte
we had weather problems and delays so we had to sprint through the entire airport to try to
catch our flight. But unfortunately we were 5 minutes too late and we missed the flight. So after
we had to wait in the customer service line for about 2 hours to get a flight the next day to
Barcelona, we almost missed our cruise. This flight made us a day later than when we would’ve
gotten to Barcelona but we still made our cruise. In Barcelona, I would say that visiting the
attractions and the food was my favorite part. After visiting every country I would have to say
that Italy was my favorite country to visit.

1/28/20
One early childhood school memory I have is when I was in first grade and I had to tell
all of my friends that I was moving to North Carolina. I also remember being the “new kid” in
second grade at my new school in North Carolina. This memory was good and bad because I
had to leave all of my childhood friends but I also got to make new ones. My other family
members were involved because they moved also. I would assume that with moving they went
through their own troubles like moving to a new state that they had never been before and
leaving their family and friends behind. This memory doesn’t really give me any inspiration to
learn anything more.

1/30/20
 The first time I used a computer was at home, we had a desktop computer that my
whole family would use. I do think my generation has an advantage over those who didn’t grow
up with computers. I feel that because the internet and laptops are at our fingertips information
is so easy to obtain. I feel like my experiences with technology will make finding information
about my family easier. Especially with websites like ancesory.com I will be able to find
information I maybe wouldn’t have if I didn’t have technology.

2/6/20
When Zinsser says “don’t make lazy word choices” I feel that that speaks to me the most
because it is what I tend to do when writing. I tend to only use the words I am comfortable using
instead of finding words that mean the same thing. I feel that using the thesaurus to help find
better words would improve my writing.

2/11/20
With the vignette “Live Like an Italian” I had a lot of connections because I too am Italian.
I too have relatives in Italy and although I have never visited them, I have been to Italy and
experienced the culture there. I could relate to the cooking talked about in the vignette because
all of my relatives on my moms side love to cook and can cook amazing Italian food. We even
have recipes that have been passed down through generations and one day hope to carry them
down to my kids.
My inquiry question would be what made the older generations want to carry on the
cooking recipes?

2/13/20
I feel like what Henry Louis Gates has to say about the funeral is important and that
remembering those who have died carries on their legacy. I remember going to both my
grandparents funerals and my uncle's funeral. After going to those funerals I’m not really sure
how one can forget the funeral. It is important to remember our ancestors in order to learn from
the past.

2/20/20
Because I am Italian my family makes pasta and pasta sauce from scratch all the time.
We make ravioli and gnocchi the most often. For Christmas my family always eats homemade
ravioli and meatballs. The best part about the pasta is the sauce, something about homemade
sauce hits differently than store bought. The reason why my family makes homemade pasta and
sauce is because my grandparents always made it for special occasions and their parents, the
recipes have been passed down through generations.

2/25/20
One thing I somewhat recently discovered that I didn’t already know is that my grandpa
was in the navy. He was drafted in the war and didn’t want to fight so he decided to be a cook.
He was on a battleship and he said he hated it. My grandpa would always tell my brother to
move to Canada if there was another draft.
3/10/20
The quote that speaks to me is “research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and
prying with a purpose” by Zora Neale Hurston. This quote speaks to me because I
believe that it describes researching perfectly. I do believe that research comes from
curiosity and you are searching the internet or through books with a purpose of finding
an answer to your curiosity. During research you are searching every place you can to
find an answer or maybe just find more information to help make some sense of what
you are curious about.

3/17/20
When first coming into my UWRT class I didn’t expect to be talking and writing about my
family this semester. But it is definitely something I am not against. To me genealogy means
family history. Learning everything you possibly can about your family's past. Whether that be
learning more through past events like holidays or a more tragic event like a death.
Genealogy is very important in understanding our past and future. Genealogy gives
people a sense of where they came from. With genealogy you can find a relative you never
knew you had, maybe even find out you’re related to someone famous. Genealogy can also tell
you whether or not you have a chance in inheriting a medical condition. This research helps us
preserve family legacies and discover so much we might not have before.

3/24/20
The pandemic I chose was SARS, which stands for Severe Acute Respiratory
Syndrome. This pandemic was identified in February of 2003 and started in China. It was
believed to have started with bats, then to cats, and then humans. It is believed to have affected
26 countries, infecting 8,096, and killing 774 people. SARS attacked your respiratory system
leading to a dry cough, fever, and body aches. The pandemic spread through respiratory
droplets through coughs and sneezes. Because there were quarantine efforts, the virus was
contained by July and hasn’t returned.
The COVID-19 pandemic is very similar to the SARS pandemic, both being
coronaviruses. Both attack your respiratory system, causing fevers and coughs. Both viruses
spread through respiratory droplets through coughs and sneezes. Both started in China and
from an animal source. And both have led to quarantine efforts throughout many countries.
Although similar COVID-19 has affected far more people, around 163 countries, over 400,000
infected people, and over 18,000 deaths. After doing some research I found that there were only
29 cases of SARS in the United States compared to the 50,000 cases of COVID-19 in the
United States and the pandemic hasn’t even ended.
The COVID-19 pandemic although similar to the SARS pandemic is a lot more severe. I
always see these pandemics in movies but I never would have imagined it happening in real life.
I also hate learning online, I can’t stand staring at a computer all day. I honestly think being on a
computer for all of my classes is straining my eyes which is now giving me migraines. I also
have a hard time focusing with online classes and I feel very stressed all the time. I am also
very worried about end of year testing and how that is going to work especially with my
architecture classes because we usually have reviews but I don’t know how we would do that
now. To conclude this rant, I really hope this virus goes away soon because I don’t know how
much longer I can handle being stuck inside my house all day.

3/26/20
I would suggest maybe doing the same genealogy project that we have. With the project
being a semester long project they will be able to use the skills they learned from the course in
their project. Plus the project has really helped me learn more about my genealogy so I’m sure it
will help them learn more too. Or another idea I have would be to make an alternative to the
digital project to make it more hands on. The project would be the same concept of the
genealogy project but it would be making your own scrapbook instead. I know some people
enjoy being more hands on and would be able to physically put their project together instead of
doing it online.

3/31/20
I have experienced the procrastination cycle before, many times. I am one to
procrastinate a lot because my mind likes to wonder and I have a hard time completely focusing
on one thing fully. I would say I have experienced all the steps of the cycle of procrastination
especially when it comes to topics that I find less interesting. Or if there is a task that I know will
be harder than others I put it off simply because I don’t want to do it. For me college has been
hard managing my procrastination. I have had to really push myself to focus more and I have
tried my best to find strategies for time management.
One technique that has helped me focus more and has reduced procrastination is the
pomodoro technique. With this technique you work for 25 minutes straight, with no distractions
and completely focused on your given task. Then after those 25 minutes you take a short 3-5
minute break to clear your mind and then go back to working. After you have finished a task and
say you have another task you take a 25 minute break in between tasks and then start the
process over again until all your tasks are complete. This way your procrastination is limited and
you are set to a certain amount of time away from your work.

4/2/20
Not really honesty I don’t think peer reviewing is that helpful. I feel that students don’t
really take peer reviewing that seriously or that they don't want to change a lot in your writing
because they feel that it will “hurt your feelings”. Or even sometimes the student reviewing your
paper is too lazy to even really read through the whole thing. A lot of the time I still find myself
reviewing my own paper after someone else has because they will miss things.
I guess there is more of a benefit to peer reviewing now because I am at home with my
parents and they can both review my writing. I know that they will at least read my entire paper
and correct anything they find. Because they are my parents I also know that they aren’t afraid
to “hurt my feelings” when correcting my writing.

4/7/20
I have mentioned before that I am not a big fan of online learning. I am someone that
learns best in person. I have a hard time focusing on assignments at home, there are a lot of
distractions. I am also a people person, I enjoy being around others and being stuck at home
cooped up in my room all day, with no human interaction other than my family is hard.
There really isn’t anything I enjoy about this change. I miss actually going to class, sitting
at a desk, being taught new things. I miss hanging out with friends, going out to eat, really just
going anywhere without worrying about being too close to someone. I am hoping this all goes
away soon so that everything goes back to normal. At least I now know to not take anything for
granted.

4/9/20
Something I have learned through this experience of the pandemic is to not take the little
things for granted. I never thought I would say this because I am not big on school but I miss
actually getting up and walking to class and sitting in a desk learning. I have realized that I didn’t
appreciate being able to see my friends every day as much as I should have or just being able
to go to the store without worrying about being too close to someone. Something I have
mentioned in past writings is that I am someone that thrives on human interaction. Not being
able to socialize with other people is hard and I have realized that I take being able to do that for
granted. This pandemic has taught me that every moment spent with friends, teachers, elders,
and family is a moment to be thankful for.