Hi everyone!
My name is Julienne and I’m a 3rd year Psychology major. I was born and raised in the Philippines, and moved here in 2019. I have been working since, and got back into university in 2021. I already did my undergrad back home, majoring in Organizational Communication. My hobbies include watching movies, trying out new food spots, discovering new music, and having time alone. Some of my interests lie in language, communication, gender, inequalities, and the environment.
Like others, I am registered in this program as I am hoping to fulfill my literature requirement, and also because I took Spanish 280 a couple semesters back and really enjoyed it. I’m also very interested in the structure of the course, that we’re able to choose our own path, and having full transparency on how you can reach your intended grade is something that caught my eye as well. Though I’m not that big of a fan of reading books similar to what we tackle in this course, I’m excited to embark on this journey.
I ‘d ike to think that my culture has quite some similarities to Latin America’s, given that we were colonized by Spaniards for more than 3 centuries. Our struggles, conflicts, and fight for freedom are some of the things I recognize to be similar. Our language is also heavily influenced by the Spanish language, and we often use similar words to describe the same things.
Based on our first lecture and upon reading, I believe our readings will be pretty rigorous, fast-paced, and will produce meaningful discussions amongst our peers. Having already read Cartucho by Nellie Campobello, I have a feeling that our text for the course will reveal and expose what was happening during the times that it was written, without having to use any fancy words to cover or sugarcoat these events.
For me, the play in literature involves trying to decode a puzzle, like how you would in a mystery game. Having to read between the lines of what you are trying to figure out from a text – what the theme is, what the conflict and resolution would be, what the villain is trying to do, etc. It can also be in a sense, having the opportunity to start all over again if you “fail” at trying to get at your destined goal, like how a game would just restart and it’s not an ultimate end that you can’t change. Lastly, I find that literature can be enjoyed alone, or with good company such as a friend, or a margarita instead.
The question I’d like to leave everyone is: Is there any impact literature has had in your life that you think wouldn’t have happened otherwise?
Hi Julienne,
I really enjoyed your comment about seeing literature as decoding a puzzle — what a fun metaphor. I often feel the same way about literature, having to read between the lines to get to the ‘meat’ of the content, but sometimes find this a struggle. I think literature in my life has exposed me to a lot of stories that have shaped my emotional understanding of humans (wow, that sounds deep). Reading books about people with great struggles or emotions allows me to connect with ideas and people I would’ve never otherwise encountered. I think in this way literature has made me a more emotionally intelligent and aware person. I believe we can learn a lot about human emotions and interactions through reading about things we don’t normally have interests in.
Hi Julienne! It’s so nice to get to know you, and your life experiences thus far seems so interesting compared to mine as someone just starting out in university. I read that you like trying out new food spots, so please let me know if you have any really good recommendations! For your question (which is a really good one by the way), I truly cannot imagine myself without the influence literature has had on me. I’ve been a reader throughout my life since a kid, and honestly Percy Jackson has influenced me more than I’d like to admit. For more recently, I’ve read some books around political philosophy, which has prompted me to think much more about the way I view the world, and how to survive and orient myself in the 21st century.
Hi Julienne! I think we sat beside each other during the last two lectures, and I was so excited when I found out that you were a Filipino! I was also born and raised there, but I moved to Saskatchewan back in 2010. I do agree on your post that we do have quite a lot of similarities when it comes to language, culture, and tradition with Latin America. I look forward to seeing you again!