General Reflection

 

    I have challenged myself to complete my associates degree at the least right now and figured what better time than the pandemic to get back at. It has been a struggle to complete because I have let myself believe my excuses that I don’t know what I want to do and I just do not have time for this, but the truth is you make time for what you need to. It will all fall into place and you just make it work. A big motivator for this decision was my son, I just want to be able to make the best life for him without being gone at work to achieve that. I feel that education does help open the door for other opportunities and if things arise where I need a college degree to move forward, I do not want anything to hold me back. 

    It has been a while since taking an English class, so it was interesting to revisit the logos, ethos, and pathos theories again. I find those intriguing because I like to analyze how I may try to persuade people to feel or think like myself and vice versa.  Especially when everyone has been talking about the pandemic it is easy to see some examples of the media and other outlets trying to take logical, ethical, or emotional kind of approaches to persuade people to do what they may be guiding towards. It has for sure been a crazy year, but I hope people can come out a little cleaner, more understanding towards each other and overall more grateful for what we may have.

Documentary Reflection: Dinosaur 13

        1.  I thought that watching the movie was going to be a challenge. I watched the trailer and felt like it may be interesting, but dinosaurs aren’t really my thing over all but I liked that it was about Sue and that I can educate myself on some of our history in Illinois. It was intriguing to learn more about her and how she came to the Field Museum.  I found it surprising how much I could  relate to how the town was feeling on some level while they came to take Sue away. It was amazing to watch everyone protesting the FBI taking parts of Sue in boxes and other evidence with their signs and chants. This small town had a huge, exciting discovery that helped unite them in a positive way. Even in defeat they banded together to try and help Sue however they could. Lately there has felt like a lot of division in the country but after seeing how the towns, cities, and communities tried to help each other through the recent riots and covid shut downs, was uplifting and I hope a move in a better healing direction.

        2. It was surprising how interesting this movie was. They discussed more of the drama behind Sue and initially I thought this was going to be more about her discovery from the earth. I really enjoyed that this was a discussion about the people that helped work on her and what they had to go through after finding this. A person would imagine being famous in their line of work for this type of discovery but it feels like the crew was more infamous for the laws that were broken. They all seemed to talk about Sue like they loved her but there was also a deep kind of pain associated with the story and there was a looming sadness felt. 

        3.  I found myself feeling for the anthropologists and team who worked so hard to discover Sue and put her together. It was such a painstakingly delicate process to get everything not only removed from the mountain side in one piece but then placed back together. I couldn't imagine working so hard on something for so many years to just have it taken away and as an added bonus you have to serve a prison sentence. These people were paid to do a job and I feel like they were failed.  I am glad Sue was finally able to be placed in a museum as they wanted, but I am still curious if they wished that the tire was never flat and would do it all  again. 

        4. If I researched this movie before watching it I would have been distracted from the point of the work that went into finding Sue and the surprise of how wrong things could get. Some parts were a happy ending but the difficult times those people endured overall is tough to think about. Really the only good thing to happen was that Sue is at the Field Museum as intended.

Documentary Project: Dinosaur 13

If you would like to read my documentary summary of Sue please click the link below! 

 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iHrOM6wPz_dbGMGVFq3j8SzsfgsKW5s9HewoilBUjvM/edit?usp=sharing

Documentary Project - Reflective Post: Dinosaur 13

    Naturally, after reading the description for Dinosaur 13 directed and produced by Todd Douglas miller, I was hooked because Sue is so close to us at the Field Museum. I liked that there was a common connection, and I could possibly relate more to the documentary. Sue was the 13th T-Rex discovered and was thought to be the biggest and most complete.  There is so much more to Sue's story than I thought going in. Truthfully, I am not much for movies like this, I do not find bones and fossils that exciting. I was pleasantly surprised how intriguing this movie became and the drama behind her story.

    

     There did not seem to be a dull moment since the documentary started. We begin with a small team of paleontologists finding 3 white looking rocks, to the untrained eye. Susan Hendrickson was the fist team member to discover the three white rocks or more accurately the vertebrae of the T-Rex. We then watch them locate the rest of the dinosaur over the course of 17 days. The team had to start carefully digging 30 feet above where they found the vertebrae, in 115-degree weather to extract her properly. It is truly amazing that these bones were preserved so perfectly in this mountain side for a 150 million years. After removing her body, they noticed the left side of her skull had been severely damaged possibly from another T-Rex attack.

    This small trusting team which consisted of Pete Larsen, his brother Neal Larsen, and Susan Hendrickson worked for 2 years prepping Sue to be sold to a museum. When they removed her skeleton from that South Dakota mountain, they had a verbal agreement with the landowner Maurice Williams. The men agreed that Pete Larson would pay Maurice Williams $5,000.00 to take Sue and put her in a museum, then they proceeded to shake hands, which was videotaped. Immediately after that my mind thought foreshadowing and that feels like a big red flag. Why wouldn't Pete or Maurice request a contract or anything more formal? Did Pete think if it was recorded he was protected?

Next thing we witness is the FBI barging in, yellow taping whatever they can see and trying to box up Sue. If the FBI is not enough power, there was also a need to send in the Army and the IRS to this small North Dakota town. The team was defenseless against the FBI and Army taking Sue, but they were able to convince them the let them help box her up safely. In a small way it gave the team a chance to say goodbye.

The town took notice and started to come together in support of the team and Sue. The scene was powerful to watch because it felt very similar to things going on in some of our towns and communities. Many children were so excited and proud by Sue's discovery in their hometown they were just devastated that she was being stolen. Everyone was confused about what was going on. The crowd made signs and would chant "Don't be cruel save Sue!". That community was heartbroken when Sue was finally gone. Instead of letting Sue go they rose up and fought by starting fundraisers and petitions with over 20,000 signatures.  Luckily, this caught attention the of many news outlets including the reporter Katie Couric on CNN and Unsolved Mysteries.

Of course, some of the big questions are what is going on, why was Sue taken, and what laws were broken? Maurice Williams has an interesting twist of being part of the Cheyanne Sioux River Tribe. Sue is believed to be found on tribal lands. This case is becoming increasingly complicated with the need for Tribal Court to deal with their concerns and federal court to handle the 153 charges against our paleontologists.  I was shocked and confused to hear how many charges were against Pete, Neal, and Susan. One of the team members had to serve 2 years in prison. He was sent to the Alcatraz of the Rockies, same prison as Timothy McVeigh the Unabomber and John Gotti the mob boss. This documentary had me feeling many more emotions than I anticipated I would. Maurice was awarded Sue in the end and that did not feel like a just decision. I was  and frustrated after hearing their stories and seeing the hurt in their eyes. Sue was sold at auction to Richard Gray in 1997 for 7.6 million dollars. I hope at the end of the day they are happy that Sue is part the Field Museum and gets to be on display after so many years. I know that I cherish her more now knowing the struggle she went through.

Intro

I am returning to school in hopes to finally complete an associates degree. I have been working as a medical assistant for many more years than I realized before writing this. I enjoy working in a doctors office at the hospital because it is ever changing, especially this past year. We may see similar things like people recovering from surgery or illnesses but every body handles things differently and each experience is unique. However, my position does not allow for too much more growth at the hospital without a degree. In addition to working I am a mom of a 3 year old son, 2 cats, a fish and a wife. I am looking forward to getting back to some sort of normalcy soon, and things seem like they are heading in a good direction.