Greetings, I hope you’re doing well and thank you for taking the time to read.

Two of the most meaningful courses I’ve taken at York which I’ll remember throughout my life are: CT 101 (taught by ‘Maestro de GIPHY’ — Ryan Seslow) and Web Design II (taught by Prof. Michael Smith).

The reasons behind both of these courses standing out so much compared to any other I’ve taken @York or CUNY in general are; the professors themselves — grounded on their excellent ways of teaching, WITHOUT stressing students.

Both of these courses were required, prominently due to CT 101 being the foundation of “creativity” — as it’s supposed to teach you how to think creatively; starting with fun Gifs. Because let’s be honest, if you can’t create Gifs — you’re screwed. Where Web Design II is the primary foundation of serious design work — utilizing html, CSS, Sass, node-JS being the crucial elements. They both shined in that I learned to be creative and started creating things, which I will be depending on for life. I’ll use my photography website from Design II to showcase pictures I’ve taken, while use gifs frequently to make friends laugh. I’m thankful to have ended up with both of these courses and no complaints about the professors — perfect just the way they are; don’t fix if it ain’t broken. My expectation was simply to learn, and I did learn a lot more than ever imagined.

My professors expectations was for me to create gifs (Prof. Seslow), and create a website for myself to use in the future (Prof. Smith). The syllabus was extremely straightforward and following the requirements was easy. I struggled the most with Web Design II — primarily due to my ASD brain; not being good at logical operation (calculation, coding, math). Prof. Smith still made it fairly easy, and I actually learned far more than I ever had from any other coding class (including my previous college, QCC).

Link to my CT101 Final blog (silliest final blog you should never read): https://ct101.us/2020/05/21/digital-storytelling-101-the-final-blog%f0%9f%92%94/

As for my final website from Design II, the domain expired so… 🙁 very sorry.

Prof. Seslow is deaf, yet he does a better job listening and being more lively than any other professor — beating out the already ultra-awesome Prof. Smith. While we may have lost Prof. Smith’s long and cool hair, he’s still awesome as always and has been there for me everytime I needed him. Therefore, I’m thankful!

The worst class I took; Writ 303 with a professor I’m not interested in naming. Gonna keep it short; not in the mood as I never fail. This is the first time I’m walking away from a class with an <{F}> and letting my 3.5 gpa take a dump. It is required according to advisor BUT could’ve been AVOIDED if Prof. Smith advised me. I reject not waiting for his response (pandemic caused him to delay his response to my emails).

Here’s how it went, Writ 303 started with 23 students from what I remember; now left with only 7 students (including myself). The rest quit, due to the immense pressure put by the professor on what should’ve been an INTRO to writing. I’m taking Sociology 390 (independent field research) the most bad ass writing course at York college. This class is flat-out masters thesis level research NOT required, still I’m taking it because I love writing. I’m happy to report that I’ll do great!

If I managed to get an <{A}> from Speech 350, then I’m no slouch. Still I gave up because not doing it was hurting every other class (including CT 399). The professor literally spent more than half the semester making us do bullshit work worth only 30 or so percent of my final grade, leaving me to FINALLY start my 8-10 research paper (worth everything else) in mid-November. Like wtf was he thinking — 3 drafts within 1 month (wtf), would be fine if he wasn’t nitpicking the effing sh!* of everyone’s work. But he does so much that it became clear; take an <{F}> and focus on your other great professors — by giving them the best of myself as a student. It’s not Writ 303, it’s just that unreasonable professor who killed it.

Professors should focus on Quality over Quantity, why even bother to offer a course where more than half the students will just dropout?

As for the values of the community that the college exists in, here’s some reviews from students who took Writ 303:

(courtesy of Rate My Professor)

Thank you and have a wonderful day.