Final Reflection It is hard to believe my freshman year in college is now numbered to a few single days.

I remember walking into Ms. Hofmanns room on the first day of the spring semester thinking if I can just fast forward to the last day of class then I can finally enjoy the summer. Every class took me one step closer to summer and every class helped me grow as a student and writer. Throughout the semester we were asked to write from almost every perspective imaginable. One perspective I seem to grasp is when we are asked to think cross-culturally. This is one of my inclass writings that displayed my thoughts on what values are prominent within different cultures and what I would like to learn about another culture. Values across cultures can vary depending on where you are from and how you were raised. Because I have traveled to different parts of the world and have experienced different cultures and I feel like the underlying theme is family. Even though each culture has different beliefs on family and how everyone should interact, I feel as if the bond between families is a stronghold that connects everyone. The most interesting aspect is the way that each culture interprets the meaning of values and beliefs. I would like to learn more about the Chinese culture and how children interact each other? How are their traditions similar to the traditions we have in America? I chose this short piece because I think I have a unique perspective. I have been blessed to be able to go on three mission trips. Most recently I went to Cuba over Thanksgiving break and Honduras over the summer. Both trips were instrumental in helping to mold me into the person I am today. Through these experiences I was able to get a taste of their customs, traditions, and values. I noticed the underlining theme was family and simplicity. In America I feel like we get so caught up in trying to get ahead that we lose focus on the present. In the Latin American culture people are relaxed, they do not care what time it is or if they will be late. They live in the moment. After going on these mission trips I have learned to take life one step at a time. One of my goals is to cherish every moment. Every moment is a blessing and if I am worrying about the future how can I ever receive the blessings of the present. After our first revisions were due Ms. Hofmann wanted us to rethink our introductions. In the Ballenger book we looked at all the different ways writers have used to hook their audience. Some introductions were based on facts, humor, and dialogue. Ebone, my partner, used to dialogue to begin her paper. Original Intro Hey man did you get your ACT scores back Yea, I got a 1600 and my highest was in math and science, what about you? Restructured Intro Imagine your studying abroad in Japan. Your teacher is wising through word problems and moving at lightning speed. Youre the only American in the room and you cannot speak a lick of

Japanese. This is not something youre accustomed to. It is 8:00 a.m. in the morning and somehow you have to make it until 5:00 p.m. Wow! What a day. Ebone and I decided to spice up her introduction by using imagery to create a scene to set the tone for her paper. Her paper is about the differences in American and Japanese education. We both agree her original introduction was not bad but she felt like it lacked something. Ballenger emphasized introductions making a statement. I told Ebone that literally paint a picture for her readers as they begin reading her paper. The new introduction makes the reader envision themselves in Japan. This is exactly the mindset Ebone wanted her audience to have. As we were going through the process of exploring our inquiry topic, Ballenger stressed the importance of quoting and plagiarizing correctly. He also offered advice on how to get more out of what you have researched by writing down your initial after thoughts and commentary of what you have discovered. Below is a quote I read from one of my articles along with the talk back I used. I also practiced paraphrasing when I took a quote from another article. A New Age of Demand Based Pricing: An Examination of Dynamic Ticket Pricing and Secondary Market Prices in Major League Baseball There is a wealth of literature examining various factors influencing demand at sporting events. Early work in this area identified ticket price, substitute forms of entertainment, income, population size, team performance, and consumer preferences as variables influencing attendance. Talk Back: Before I started my project I never thought about all the variables that factor into setting a ticket price. I thought the team charged as much as they could for each ticket so that they could receive maximum revenue. After my research and further exploration I have noticed all of these variables make a dramatic impact on how ticket prices are set and how fans can influence ticket sales. I agree with this statement because I have compared the ticket prices to iconic venues such as Yankee Stadium to that of the Atlanta Braves and the discrepancy between the two prices is astronomical. Tickets to watch the Yankees play are extremely higher than that of the Braves. By looking at factors such as demographics, economic outlook, and population size, New York has the ability to charge higher prices. Whereas the Braves do not have the luxury and demand that the Yankees have therefore, limiting the price of their tickets. Dynamic Ticket Pricing in Sports: An Agenda for Future Research and Practice Other unique variables such as roster changes throughout the season via trades and signings, team and player performance, and player injuries create constant shifts in demand that differ from other industries.

When factoring in variables to the fluctuating prices of tickets to a sporting event people are often motivated to buy tickets based upon small random variables. These random variables include: If the team has a winning record, how players are performing, if elite players are signed or traded to another team, and if a player gets injured resulting in their absence on the field. One of the pivotal points in developing my inquiry question was when we submitted our research proposal. After submitting my proposal I was thinking my topic was broad because it does not focus on one professional team. After discussing with my group I decided to narrow my subject to only focus on the professional teams in and around the Charlotte area. This includes the Atlanta Braves, Carolina Panthers, and Charlotte Bobcats. By narrowing my subject to these three teams I was able to grab more accurate and precise information especially with the statistical type information I wanted to use to emphasize my points. I was able to keep my initial inquiry question the same; however, I approached it with a honed in perspective. The only change that occurred from narrowing my inquiry question was from the information that I gathered featured the three teams near Charlotte instead of across the United States. My group also pointed out that I should expound upon the differences in going to a game rather than staying at home and watching on television. They said they could relate more closely to watching a game from their home. Below is the feedback I received from my group. Although, Regina only submitted two feedback points, as a group we discussed more information to add into my paper. 1. Maybe you can narrow your topic down and talk about what's the trend for watching the game, such as more and more fans would like to watch as home due to the high price? 2. Your peers have very little common knowledge about this topic but the writer connects with this topic closely. I am so grateful for my classmates and their opinions on my paper. Because Ms. Hofmann has given us a lot of time to tweak, change, and even recreate or paper my classmates have really helped me nail down what is appealing and what is not. When we were asked to look at introductions I was wondering how other people started their paper? I knew mine involved painting the scene for my audience but I also knew there were more effective and engaging ways to grab the readers attention. Below is the feedback I was given from three of my classmates. I have also uploaded my introduction paragraph on my website for you to look at. This one was also engaging on a personal level. The way the scenery is described in this intro makes it very easy to picture and relate to. This is my favorite introduction that I have read. It is attention grabbing and gives a different way of writing a paper that not a lot of people would consider. Just reading the words in the paper puts the song in my head. It is very good! Hers caught the readers attention right from the start. It was very creative and great visual for the reader.

After receiving this feedback I felt like my introduction was successful. I wanted to captivate the attention of my audience by relating to them with a modern spin. Most people have heard the Rocky Balboa fight song and for me I remember going to an Atlanta Braves game and they played this song to energize the fans. I was hoping to have the same effect on my readers. I wanted them to fill energized as they began to read. At the very beginning of the research process we were asked if we could talk for a solid minute about our topic. This was easy for me because I had plenty of research regarding ticketing. I knew the fundamentals but this was baseline knowledge. A few weeks later we were asked to speak for three to five minutes to gauge if we had conducted enough research to fill the time requirement. Ballenger had said if you can talk for three to five minutes about your topic then you probably have a good understanding of the information. I was able to speak for five minutes. I had no problem telling my group what all I had learned. My mind was chalk full of information; however, my problem was how am I going to get all this information into my paper so that my readers do not get bored and uninterested. By narrowing down my focus to the Charlotte area sports I believe I was able to relate to my classmates on a personal level. Living in the Charlotte area we are exposed to and aware of professional sports. By creating common ground I think my classmates will be interested in my topic because they can relate to the Panthers, Bobcats, and Braves. Below is one of my in-class writing samples as I moved from a working knowledge to a focused knowledge.
What is the relationship between ticket prices and attendance at professional sporting events and how does that affect the game? This is what I am basing my research and inquiry paper on. In the beginning I was so confused and my topic was way too narrow. After some soul searching and talking it out with my sister I have ultimately grasped the idea and where I want to go with my paper. Leading up to this point I have a lot of information about the history of ticketing and how it is implement and used in professional sports. In the beginning I thought that ticketing was fairly simple. The organization charges the high possible price for a ticket so that they can receive maximum revenue. After some exploration I found out that ticketing is very complex and has many different variables. Ticketing is different for every sport, but it also intertwines the other sports. The fundamentals of ticketing can be represented by a tree trunk and the branches can represent the different professional sports leagues. Each sport stems of the fundamentals but is able to tweak the concept based upon the variables within the sport. As I continued to research I realized that for my paper I would need to conduce my paper to only highlight three professional sports: NBA, MLB, and NFL. I then took it a step further and narrowed my focus to only feature the teams in near the Charlotte area: Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Bobcats, and Atlanta Braves. As we were talking about gathering research for our papers Ms. Hoffman showed us a short story of a boy named Tim who was a procrastinator. We always waited to the last minute to turn in assignments and he had poor researching habits. We were asked to compare ourselves with Tim. Do you have anything in common with Tim? How does your research methods and documenting notes differ from Tims? Below is my reaction to how Tim prepares his papers. Tims research methods are not familiar with me. I am a type of person who likes to get assignments completed well before the intended deadline. I research my topic, start thinking of how I want to organize my paper, and then I begin working. I am not a procrastinator. When an assignment is given to

me I like to get it off my mind as soon as possible. If I do not get the assignment done I continue to think, worry, and stress over it. This puts me in a bad mood and I do not like being in a bad mood. By completing my paper early it gives me time to revise, recreate, and gather feedback before I submit my best work. As you can see, Tim and I have nothing in common. But I know many college students can relate to Tim and his procrastination. My mom has always said I was a rare child. After our in-class discussion I realized what she meant. Many students do not manage their time wisely when it comes to writing papers and doing projects. I found out very few students are like me in which I actually like to do projects and write papers. I love to learn and explore. When an assignment is given to me I want to tackle it full steam ahead. I am a doer. I like to get everything done so that I can sit back and relax. So far my methods have paid off for me because I have made good grades. One of our in-class writings revolved around reading a passage in the Ballenger book about called What? I Failed? But I paid for Those Credits! We were asked to separate our paper into two columns. The left we wrote a summary and on the right we wrote our reaction. Summary I believe the most important aspect in this article is the fact that he recognizes the current perception students have on education and then he takes a stand on how education is viewed from a teachers perspective. He also explains how teacher evaluations normally show the true opinion of the teaching style and difficulty of the class. Fast Write

I think this was a great article. I agree that teacher evaluations are important for teachers and the university; however, the only way evaluations work is if teachers are willing to step out and try something different if what they are currently doing is unsatisfactory according to their students. Some professors are set in stone and will not teach any other way besides the way they are currently Students dont seem to realize that education is the teaching. This is when I have a problem with art of using information, not the art of restating it. evaluations. Teachers will look at them and see that students do not like their teaching style but Student evaluation of their professors are refuse to change. I believe a good teacher is one impacted heavily by students perception who cares for their students. If a teacher has the students in mind as they are going throughout the course students will see their willingness to help them succeed ultimately landing good evaluations and a likable reputation.

I choose this in-class writing because I liked the quote, Students dont seem to realize that education is the art of using information, not the art of restating it. This quote makes me think of SATs, ACTs, and cumulative exams. As students I feel as if we are tested on how well we can regurgitate information instead of how well we know the information. Common finals and cumulative exams for example have questions from the first day of class on the test. Do professors honestly think I will remember that information. This semester I have a Geography teacher named Mr. Wendel. On the first day of class he said there is no common final in this class. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. He said, I was once a student and I remember my professors testing us on information from the first day of class. I

never understood what the point was. If I can give you quizzes and several exams to test your understanding of the information, why should you have to cram your brain with frivolous facts from the first day of class. Mr.Wendel has a unique perspective. He wants his students to remember his class by putting the information to use. He provides real life situations which results in students remember what he has lectured on. Professors who know what it is like to be a student and can relate to the dislikes of teacher habits are the professors I want to have. The outside of class assignments that I chose were my first and second revisions as well as my conclusion. I wanted to highlight my progression from my first draft to my second then I wanted to explain my conclusion. I have put all three documents on my website in the order of which I wrote them so that you could see my progression through the different phases of our paper. My first draft I went in with the mindset of getting all the facts in my paper. I was thinking if I put everything I learned in my paper I will not have to spend more time researching to back up my points. When I received my first peer review they said my facts were relevant and on point. I was excited. Yay! I accomplished one of my goals. Then they said I needed to add more of my perspective. Yes, I agreed. My point of view is pivotal in the readers understanding who I am and what angle I am taking. My second draft I deleted some of the facts and spiced up my paper with my own voice. I realized that my classmates liked the facts for credibility but they really wanted to hear about my experience. One of my favorite parts of my paper is the introduction and conclusion. The conclusion is a spin-off of the introduction with the Rocky Balboa Eye of the Tiger cadence; however, I recreated the scene to that of staying at home to watch the game instead of being at the stadium. I wanted to leave my audience questioning whether they would rather go to the game in person or stay at home. I ended by stating that the ultimate fan experience can be recreated. I said this because throughout the process of exploring my inquiry question my perspective changed a little bit. I found out that staying home can create the ultimate fan experience and I wanted my readers to see my transformation from the introduction paragraph to the conclusion. I am very proud of the work I have done to reach my final product. I am confident in the information I have pieced together and I know my hard work has paid off. In the very beginning stages of our assignment we were asked to read page 29 in the Ballenger book. On this page I learned two things that helped me form my inquiry question: Consider topics that I have a passion for but have not got to research and choose something I do not already know the answer to. I began thinking about questions I had in sports that I did not already know the answer to. It was really hard because I am a sports encyclopedia and every topic I wanted to write on turned out to be research based. When I finally came up with my inquiry question I then wanted to show my perspective. This quote from Ballenger helped me shape my point of view, Find an angle on a familiar topic that helps readers to see what they probably havent noticed before. He goes on to state, Find your own angle. With Ballengers advice in mind I tried to form my beliefs around a topic that people are aware of and bring them into a new perspective. I wanted my paper to be about finding new information and applying my own interpretation instead of regurgitating the facts I found through articles. If I was to teach this class I would stress the importance of finding a topic that is interests you. It will be easier to research and you will be motivated to find more information. Ms. Hofmann emphasized that our papers were not to be research papers. This concept took me a while to figure out but once I finally grasped the idea my paper started to come together. My portfolio is an accurate reflection of me. On my about me page the first words someone would read is my favorite bible verse, Job23-13. In the header of each of my pages you will see the

logos of my favorite sports teams. The theme of my webpage changed from the mid-term submission to the final submission. I felt like my first theme did not allow me to make the necessary changes I need to make. I am happy with my new theme because I think it flows better. Last semester I used Mahara to create my e-portfolio. This semester I used Weebly to create my website. Using Weebly was a struggle at first because I was not aware of the features it had to offer. After I got more acquainted with the website making my portfolio became much easier. I asked my classmates that had used Weebly in their previous classes to help me work out some of my problems. If I have to make another site in the future I would like to try Wix because a lot of my friends said it was simple and easy to use. Looking back at my mid-term reflection I proposed a couple of questions. 1. I have always wondered how sports journalist gain so much attention from ESPN or Fox from the articles they write? It seems like every day there is a new story or breaking news surrounding sports. How do the journalist get their hands on the information and within hours have an article plastered on the internet or ESPN? I think journalist get their information through a series of networks. Their job is to talk to people and by doing so they create contacts and connections. I also think that social media plays a major role in spreading information. Websites such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook provide breaking news at our finger tips. 2. I also want to learn how to research more effectively. The internet is notorious for spitting out information that we request, but I want to know how to research efficiently? In my opinion researching efficiently is being able to narrow your search. I learned through the process of my inquiry question that narrowing your search provides more relevant results. I narrow my search to the three Charlotte area teams and I was able to find information at the local level which I could not find by typing in my initial question. 3. I want to find out if books are better for learning about sports or are articles that are up to date more resourceful to my generation? I think articles are more relevant to my generation because these articles can be written and published within hours of an event taken place. Books provide the history; however, articles are more convenient and up to date which is what everyone wants. Articles are easily linked to Facebook and Twitter therefore, making them more accessible to their audience. Two new questions I have are: What ways can I stay up to date with social media so that I can better my chances at landing the job of my dreams? I also want to know if there are techniques or secrets to writing faster?