English 485: Expedition Adolescence

Full Name: Phillip Jawara Kwame Owusu Nickname: Phil Birthplace: Beaufort, SC Hometown: Blythewood, SC Hobbies:   I enjoy writing poetry, playing the ukulele, guitar, and the piano. I enjoy singing, dancing watching anime, listening to music and riding a longboard  Work:  仕事をしない (shi-go-to'o-shi-na-i) What do I need to know about you as a learner in order to help you become successful in this course? I learn the best when I figure it out on my own. Favorite Book as a Teenager: A Series of Unfortunate Events By Lemony Snicket I really enjoyed this series as a kid because I was always wondering what unfortunate event was going to happen next. As I grew older I started to enjoy the silver linings that the author brings to the table. My favorite character out of the series Was either Violet or Klaus. I liked Violet because she was always inventing, and I enjoyed Klaus as a character because He was always reading some sort of book. The Icing on top of...

My name is Daniel Stacy, I am from Spartanburg, South Carolina. In high school I played  four sports, and in college I played tennis at Spartanburg Methodist College. Now I mostly just play basketball through intramural for fun. I work between 24 and 34 hours a week at a screen printing company about 15 minutes from campus, during the summers I am full time to pay my tuition. I am responsible for shipping several hundred packages, along with multiple other jobs in creating products for the loans and financing company Advance America. (We supply every AA store in the country). I learn best in a lecturing environment. I like old school teaching philosophies, where the teacher lectures or leads a discussion about a book, and I listen and contribute. As a child, I read a ton. I read every Harry Potter book that was out when I was just in first or second grade. I used to read more than I watched TV, a ratio which became heavily lopsided in the other direction when I hit about 7th grade....

My name is Evon Youssef, but I go by Eva. I was born in a small town in Egypt and immigrated to America when I was almost five years old. In my free time I love to read, watch Netflix, hang out with my friends, and listen to music. During the summer I usually spend my time working at Panera, but during school I take time off to focus on all my classes. I learn best in the classroom when I am reading and writing. I also learn best when I look at visuals and examples.  I first fell in love with reading in the third grade. We would sit in a circle and popcorn read out of the latest baby sitters club book. From then on I fell in love with reading because it felt like an escape into a different world. My favorite characters that stood out to me most in books were the fearless quirky ones. I really loved characters who were true to themselves through and through. The strong ones always caught my eyes and made me want to become a better person. Books have meant the world to me in my ...

Hello, My name is Asia Bre'l Thurman. I am originally from Rock Hill SC. I don't play any sports at all but I prefer to just watch them. One of my hobbies are making and customizing wigs.  In my spare time, I like to watch Scandal which is one of my favorite shows of all time and eat. At the moment, I do not work but am currently looking for a job. As a learner, I prefer interactive activities versus lectures. I also like to feel like I am actually learning material and applying it. I feel that I don't do as well in classes where we have to take notes every single day on new material and then having a test on it right away. When I think about my childhood, a book that stood out to me was Green Eggs and Ham because that was one of the first books that I learned to read all the way through all by myself. A book series that I absolutely loved was the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books.  During my childhood, books meant so much to me. You would never see me without one in my hand. ...

Hello everyone! My name is Noah Goodwin and I prefer to go by Noah.  I am originally from Cowpens, but I now live in Spartanburg, right across the way from Chesnee.  My main hobbies would be writing poetry and playing video games.  I am also a classically trained singer, so I love to sing in my free time.  I work at The Piedmont Club in downtown Spartanburg.  I work roughly 15 hours a week.  On Sundays, I am payed to sing at the Church of the Advent in downtown Spartanburg.  As far as how I function as a learner,  I am very openly engaged in whatever coursework is at hand. For example, if we are studying and analyzing a text, I will definitely be vocal about my thoughts.  Thinking back over my childhood, the character that sticks out to me the most would definitely be Hermione Granger.  She is considered an outcast by some because of her muggle heritage and 'no nonsense' attitude.  However, she perseveres all of her adversary and pr...

Hello my name is Kiara McVay, sometimes my friends and family call me Keeks. I am originally from Columbia, South Carolina. Some of my favorite things to do during my free time is singing and dancing, I never played any sports. I do like to help people and make others laugh as well. I'm trying to put my main focus on schoolwork so I am not working right now but I did work this summer. I do struggle with procrastination but I always get my work done in time(not that it makes it okay, I'm working on it). I honestly cannot remember which book stuck out to me the most when I was younger because it was so many but I did find myself being interested in mystery books or whatever was most talked about at the time. Also, this is a huge step back but Geronimo Stilton was a series I enjoyed to read as a child as well - I thought his adventures were pretty interesting.When I was younger my dad would always take my sister and I to books a million on the weekends to find a book we liked so I...

Hi my name is Griffin Thomas. I have no nicknames so you all can continue to call me Griffin. I am originally from Boiling Springs, South Carolina. I lived in Rock Hill, South Carolina for two years while attending Winthrop University. I transferred here last year. I played soccer and baseball most of my life until I tore my ACL in early high school. For now my hobbies include work, school, and film. I do not have much time outside of school and work to pursue any new hobbies. I enjoy film and I keep putting off continuing writing a screenplay that I have wanted to get back to for a while. It will never see the light of day but its more of a personal accomplishment piece than anything else. I am currently a valet driver and can work anywhere from 15-40 hours a week. I usually work about thirty hours a week though. Before anyone asks, yes I hate it. I am only doing it to get through college. My ultimate goal is to be able to quit and go into a ELA teaching job at a good high school. Som...

Hey guys! My name is Taylor Renee Scott. I was born in North Carolina, but moved to South Carolina shortly afterwards. I consider Powdersville, South Carolina to be my hometown. My hobbies include playing basketball, soccer, going to the gym, hanging out with my friends, and going hiking. I am passionate about serving with the middle school girls at my church on Sundays and through the week. I currently babysit for a family sometimes during the week, and am looking for another part-time job, potentially at Chick-Fil-A. For me personally, I love to do activities surrounding what I just read to help me stay engaged. I like to learn about things that I can relate to and apply to my life, which is why I really appreciate discussions in class. Thinking back to my childhood and adolescence, I remember characters like Odysseus, Katniss, Nancy Drew, and Tris from Divergent. They stand out to me because of all the adventures they went on and how they developed because of them. In general, boo...

Hey guys! My name is Carter McGill. I'm from Chesnee, South Carolina. Some of the things I like to do in my past time is workout, play basketball, and occasionally play the guitar when I can. Currently I work at Quiktrip as a clerk trainer. This is a full time position so I work 40 hours a week. The way I like to learn is very hands on, and discussion based. I like to hear others ideas and put all those ideas together to come up with a solution. Growing up I loved the Harry Potter series, but as I got older I really like Shakespeare. I love the play Hamlet, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night. These stand out because when I was younger I just read the Harry Potter books because I very interested in them, and I love the story. With Shakespeare's play's I realized I liked to analyze, and find the true meaning behind what he was trying to get across to his readers. Books overall have given me things to do in my past time, kept me interested, and helped me think differently about thi...

Hey everyone! So I've never had any experience with a blog post so I hope I'm doing this correctly. Full Name  Logan Ashly Fowler Hometown  Born in Fairfax, VA/Grew up in Spartanburg, SC Hobbies? Sports? Passions?  I danced in high school, I love flag football and hiking Do you work? If so, where and how many hours?  I work at a daycare after school about 20 hrs a week and then wait tables at night at Hickory Tavern about 25 hrs a week What do I need to know about you as a learner in order to help you become successful in this course?  I’m an auditory and visual learner. I am also very good at multitasking so I may be looking at one thing in front of me, but listening and keeping up perfectly with the lesson.  Thinking back over your childhood and adolescence, which books and characters stand out? Why?   I just remember all of the dystonian books and characters coming out during my adolescence. Hunge...

My full name is Dianna Paige Gilfillan, but I go by Anna. I am from Blacksburg, S.C. I love playing volleyball, softball, and kickball. I play in different leagues across different counties. I also coach middle school volleyball in my hometown. I do not have a job right now. For me as a learner I like to be more hands on. I do not like to sit for a long period of time. I love group work because it allows me to get to know my peers. When I think back about the books that I read in school the one that stands out the most is Freak the Mighty because I loved the morals that the book taught. I think that books have impacted my life in a big way because they allowed me to escape reality. 

Hey y'all! My name is Allison Dunlap. My friends call me Ally. I am from Pauline, South Carolina. I like to run in my free time, and one of my passions is writing. I am currently a server at Bronco Mexican restaurant, and I work about 20-25 hours a week during the school year. I am a visual learner. When thinking back to my childhood and adolescence, a character that stands out to me is Beatrice Prior from the Divergent series. She is very brave and worked hard to be successful in the path she chose. To me, books have always been a way to escape reality and explore my imagination. There are so many different and interesting things to read and learn about!

Hiya Everyone? My name is Tiara Alexandra Winton. I do not have any preferred nicknames, but I do find myself having to correct the pronunciation of my name so I think I might get one soon. I am originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina. I was born and raised in the city of Fayetteville until the age of 12 when I moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina after my grandmother was appointed a church. Moving to another city was the best thing that happened to me because I leaned more about myself including my likes, interests, and hobbies. Some of my hobbies include painting, reading, and doing arts and crafts. I don't believe that I have a passion, but I do enjoy working with children and helping them find out what sort of things that they enjoy. My job also helps me interact with children to help determine the things they enjoy. I am a after school site supervisor, and I work Monday through Friday from 2:00 till 6:00 and sometimes 1 if my classes get out early enough. I am a very vi...