Nina Wentt DB 5

Honestly, this along with another one of my classes are my favorites. Not that I don’t look forward to my other classes but I especially enjoy this class for the whole duration. It’s really difficult (for me atleast) to find learning environment thats as inclusive as this one. By this I don’t just mean a professor respecting pronouns but taking the time to gather information about her students so she can reach each and everyone of them. A common trend with me is feeling anxious to fully express myself in class if I feel the environment is hostile so its really comforting being in this class and feeling like there is pupil support as well (so I thank my classmates for that as well). The discussions we have and ideas we exchange are going especially well in this class and I would like to owe that to Prof. Soniya, like wow finally a class where the professor is equally engaging.  I don’t think there is anything that needs to be changed actually now that I think about it. With distance learning, there is only so much that can actually be changed (obviously I do miss in person class because it’s a separate experience but I would rather be safe then sorry). I found the question about choosing one song a bit difficult because there were two songs in particular I had in mind. For class, I would suggest one of my favorite songs from 2014 titled “July The Fourth” by Nothing. Considering this is an Asian-American class, I found this sound to be especially fitting since the song is a criticism of American morals and how we (as in America) attempts to clean our messes (say involvement in wars with other countries,) and uses it as a excuse to show our resilience. I immediately thought about migration/immigration of peoples from different asian countries who come here for a variety of reasons with a common intention to build a more stable life for their independence. I also thought about the Vietnam war, Japanese interment camps, and the trafficking of asian immigrants (from all asian countries).  A great coincidence is the title is named after the United States (13 colonies) gaining their independence from Great Britain (it’s a great song ya’ll and a great band) yet went ahead and denied independence for other countries, groups of people they “conquered” “stole”. For those curious about the other song I had in mind, it’s from my favorite band Deftones and the song is “Genesis”. That song in particular discusses rebirth, choices you must make especially coming from difficult (even traumatic) experiences and how they affect your life in the long run and if it’s a life worth pursuing. Fitting also for the themes we have discussed so far (not sure how some of the classmates will like this since this song is heavier and this was the only other song I could think about with legible lyrics in contrast to the music I listen to (whoops, metal head things lol).