Hi. I’m a generative AI hater. I don’t think its pros outweigh its environmental destruction. Small towns in the States are being exploited for their water just to cool server farms. Actual farmers are going to struggle, as will the people living in these more remote places. I also cringe at people’s dependence on it in general. It’s overly biased towards certain demographics because the people teaching the language learning model have their own unchecked -isms. Men will use it for therapy and learn to be more misogynistic as a result. Back in my day we’d just ask Reddit anonymously how to fix our hyper specific situations.
I won’t treat GenAI as a tool for these reasons. I also don’t think people who choose to use it deserve condemnation. A lot of AI haters treat people who have used it as already being “morally tainted.” Discouragement doesn’t have to come in the form admonishment. But I do think there’s a point where you have to draw a line with technology in general, and many people are too codependent to recognize the line anymore.
Hello everyone. My name is Oliver Berrocal. My pronouns are He/Him and/or They/Them, any of the two works fine for me. My major is English Creative Writing with a minor in Psychology. I enjoy listening to music, watching video games, movies, and anime.
Hello everyone. My name is Hunter Marshall and I am super excited to be in this class with all of you. If I am being honest, I absolutely hate writing and talking about myself so I want to keep this short and sweet. I am a brother, a son, a gamer, writer, avid reader tutor and a art lover. If you ask me about my favorite work of art/book/game is will gladly yap for days. This is my second semester here in the Grad program. One last thing worth mentioning here is that I am a HUGE hater when it comes to AI. While there are probably decent things that can come out of its development, I hate its current uses and the way people manage its systems. I am really interested to work through this course and talk about this throughout the spring. Its nice to meet you all.
Hello all! My name is CJ Petersen, I use he/they pronouns, and I am in the graduate writing studies program at Kean University. There is a lot you could know about me, but I will try my best to include the top stuff!
Some things I like in general (for those who want a brief overview): -Funko Pops -Pins -Video games -Music -Reading -Writing -Horror -Tutoring -Cats (my pets, not the musical) -Movies -Rats -Shrimp (the animal itself, it isn’t my favorite food) -Smosh -Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel -Halloween -D&D
Getting more specific (for those who can tolerate my yapping): -I collect Funko Pops of my favorite shows/characters. My collection includes Marvel, DC, Pokémon, Trick ‘r Treat, Wednesday, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Stranger Things, Demon Slayer, Fairy Tail, The Witcher, Owl House, KPop Demon Hunters, Ben 10, My Little Pony, and The Lion King -I have all the pins I own on my backpack. My favorite pins are the Bolt, Flapjack tattoo, The Lion King poster, and the shrimp -My main game is Marvel Rivals. I play that game a LOT, trying to get to diamond rank. I main support. Some other games I enjoy are Dead by Daylight, Life is Strange (I have Life is Strange 2 and Life is Strange Double Exposure, but haven’t played them yet due to playing games for their battle passes or events), Rainbow Six Siege, Fortnite, Minecraft, and Rocket League. I love The Last of Us and Batman Arkham games as well, just not currently in my rotation (over break, I introduced my younger sister to Life is Strange, which is why it is in the current rotation). I mostly play on PlayStation, but I also have games on my computer. Like Minecraft and Jackbox. I also have a Switch Lite that has Minecraft and Animal Crossing. I have Pokémon Sword and Shield, haven’t played them. Too many games, not enough time. -The main artists I listen to are: Sabrina Carpenter, Maya Hawke, Hozier, Ariana Grande, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Stray Kids, XLOV, baltzy, and West Gura. I am trying to collect vinyls. Right now, I mostly have Sabrina Carpenter and Hozier, but I also have the KPop Demon Hunters and one XLOV. I have all the XLOV albums except the special edition first album because it was a limited edition and sold out FAST. -For reading, I mostly read queer books. I also tend to read graphic novels. I got one full manga, Komi Can’t Communicate, cause I introduced it to my younger sister and she loved it. That was a mistake cause now she has half the books with HER. But whatever, it is what it is. I also have some Teen Titans comics by Gabriel Picolo. My favorite book is Listen by Stephanie S. Tolan -Kinda obvious, I know. I always write a lot (those in Dr. Sisler’s Monday class learned that early on), but I love creative writing the most. In the rare chance I have time, I work on one of my MANY stories I have in the works. I have been published once in the Dark Horse Magazine, issue 35, “Infection”. -My favorite genre is horror. I love writing dark, creepy, weird stuff. Also like watching it. Saw is one of my favourite movie series. Trick ‘r Treat is one of my favorite movies as well. Some others I thought were good were Bird Box, Hush, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Korean movies Parasite and Forgotten. I also like horror games, like Outlast. -I enjoy tutoring for the most part. Obviously, every job has complications. However, I enjoy seeing how one prompt gets so many different responses. I like seeing how differently everyone thinks and figuring out how to help them. -My cats are Luci and Beanie. Luci is a black cat, and Beanie is a tabby that has bonked eyes from an infection (we think, we adopted her, so we don’t know). My younger sister has a cat that she named Yuki (Japanese name meaning snow). He is a tabby with a clipped ear cause he was feral but she took him in for some reason (he is still feral like, very smacky with his paws). We call him Elfo. Luci, Beanie, and Elfo from the show Disenchantment -Already mentioned a few movies, but my top ones are: The Lion King, Bolt, How to Train Your Dragon, and Trick ‘r Treat. Movies I watch every year are The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween, and the Twilight series in the summer. -The rat lore goes deep, guys. It was a paper, a presentation, a speech, more presentations, a board in the writing center, gifts, and everyday usage in my family. The rat lore is crazy, but I will summarize. An ex-friend called her pets Agent Rodent (and then pet name). I called Luci and Beanie rats. It turned into calling them a rat when they were naughty. My family picked up on it. We started calling each other rats when we disagreed with what the other did. Or, saying things like “that was such rat behavior”. When classes want us to write about words, language, definitions, or put things in our own voice, rat came out. Hence, the papers and presentations. I called the kids I worked with during the summer at the writing center rats. Hence, the writing center learning about rat behavior. Hence, the rat board. I have rat stickers and rat stuffed animals now. I am that committed to the bit. Rats, are indeed, NOT my favorite animal. The lore is sooo deep it just continues and now it seems I have a rat obsession. No longer do I get lions or polar bears for Christmas, my actual favorite animals. It is rats now. -Shrimps are a new thing. I do like the food, but just like rats this is a bit that has gone way too far but I continue it. One of my favorite videos on YouTube is the shrimp quartet by justan oval. By other favorite video is a wet kitten in a cup, not connected to the shrimp lore I just thought I would mention it. Anyways, plushes of the shrimps got made and I have two of justan oval’s shrimp plushes. Iconic of me. Then Walmart had some meme song about Radioactive Shrimp, and I have a shrimp mug of that. A friend of my younger sister got me a shrimp neck pillow and a shrimp pin. So shrimp is like rat, but not as intense. Not yet. -Smosh is my other favorite channel on YouTube, specifically the games. Yes, I do enjoy watching people play board games. It is fun to me. And I also like the Reddit Stories. I find some of the Smosh cast very funny. I also got my younger sister involved in liking Smosh. We watch some of the videos together, and it is a good bonding times. – I have pins of Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel. I watched Helluva Boss first, for a long time. Back when Hazbin just had the pilot on YouTube. Now it is popular on Amazon Prime, and everyone is always asking me about Hazbin Hotel. Justice for my guy Helluva Boss. It is just as good guys. Way fewer songs and that is enjoyable cause Hazbin Hotel seems to want to hit the two songs per episode, but some songs are not it. My favorite characters are Stolas and Millie from Helluva Boss and Zestial and Carmilla from Hazbin Hotel -Halloween is my favorite holiday. It is the only one my family goes all out for. Putting up so many decorations and getting so much stuff we make goodie bags for the kids. I love dressing up as Sam from Trick ‘r Treat or a grim reaper to scare the kids. Favorite holiday as I love creepy, weird, horror stuff and giving to people. I also love fall. My birthday is in September, I love pumpkin, love fall colors, and it is all so joyous to me. -D&D or DND, Dungeons and Dragons, is a new love of mine. It started in Intro to Journalism. We had to pick a club to interview, I skimmed the events happening (it was towards the end of the semester so it was all parties) and D&D caught my eye. My dad has played D&D since middle school. He bought many books, figures, props, and information stuff over the years. I knew he would be able to assist in helping me understand things. He got so excited I was asking about D&D. Interviewing the eboard, seeing the club run, and his excitement got me into playing. I joined the club next semester. Over the summer, Criag was doing D&D with the kids, and said they could go to me for help. I got scared cause I am still very new to D&D. It all worked out, and last semester I became the new public relations for the club. I am on the eboard helping the club stay running. My dad gave me some of my favorite things for Christmas over break, like Funkos and a rat stuffed animal, but he also gave me a bunch of D&D dice and figures. He offers to help the club all the time, supplying figures and books when I am a player in a one-shot or other cool items when it is Kean Day and the club is tabling.
Some pictures for those who read all that:
This is a Funko Pop of me, Luci, and Beanie next to half of my Komi Can’t Communicate collection. Below are some of my Funkos
This semester, I embark on my journey as a graduate student for the English Writing Studies Masters program here at Kean. For undergrad, I also went to Kean (I majored in English (the writing concentration duhhh) and minored in marketing.
I have a plethora of interests! I love reading (although the irresistible habit of doomscrolling has diminished my once-glowing reading log record). The Song of Achilles (Madeline Miller), The End of Loneliness (Benedict Wells), The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath), and All the Lovers in the Night (Mieko Kawakami) are some of my favorites. I love writing (poetry and more). I love crocheting and watercoloring (trying to do those more this year). I love playing the guitar (I’d consider myself a beginner on the cusp of intermediate). I love music (The Beatles!). I love photography (more on my website)! And I love (love, love, love) traveling.
I’ve been to 13 countries now. I’ve traveled with my sister, with friends, and all by myself (and as someone with anxiety, this is something I am particularly proud of).
Rainbow thrills!!! some friends and i eating dinner on the porch of the bungalow (which was in the middle of a cow farm) 30 minutes outside of amsterdam.
family!!!My dogs!!!From common read event (2025): Juan Felipe herrera (former U.s poet laureate)!
What else???
My favorite colors green. My mom, grandma, and aunts are my superheroes. I’m currently watching Hacks on HBO. Yes, I watched Heated Rivalry (and yes, I loved it). I play Minecraft. And I love Pinterest.
I have many aspirations in life. Many directions I want to take. Which is overwhelming to think about considering the climate of today. I, like many others, tend to fall into the endless pit that is pessimism…but despite it all, I come out of it hopeful. Hopeful and excited to look back at all the warm memories I’ve yet to make. And I’m wishing you all the same.
Introductions usually can feel a bit awkward. It is hard to gauge what is important, interesting or valuable to share to what new people at what time. I guess for myself, a lot of the time, I try my very best to analyze every micro expression of their faces, what is working and what is not- how much or how little to share, how silly or serious, how much Alexa can Alexa be. Usually, though, doing so ends with me just giving a very lame, dry first impression they likely will forget in half and hour, and I will cringe at for ions on end afterwards. But, on paper, me is so free.
So, I will try my best to share a small part of myself. My name is Alexa and I am 23. I loudly love my home state of New Jersey. I also love hummus, makeup, Oreos, Snoopy and the color pink. I am also a big fan of Yacht Rock music and a lot of other kinds, too. My favorite songs right now are “Wildfire” by Michael Martin Murphey and “Daughter” by Pearl Jam. My favorite show is Arrested Development but I decided that a long time ago, when I used to actually watch tv. I like to say I have a pretty good fashion sense, but to be frank, it is way better in my brain than what my closet (and wallet) can manifest. I snort when I laugh and I kinda like that. My teeth are a bit more yellow than I’d like and I am trying to work on that. I used to crack my knuckles a lot until people told me to stop. I have never been able to nap, not even as an infant. I have never been on a plane either. Or a boat. I do like trains, though. I used to be a bit too into astrology. I like hands a ton. I know some sign language and taught myself how to read palms on Tiktok one day. I don’t do either of those now for different reasons. I love to paint my nails and have been keeping a spreadsheet of every color I used and how long it lasted. I found that I wear a lot of shimmers in the winter and lots of pinks in the summer. My most frequent color is Midnight Cami by Essie. I try to make people feel very seen when talking with them but that has been harder recently since I am so so tired. I have a fear of landlocked states. I think I am pretty ok at singing. I think I am even more ok at writing and most ok at editing. I am excited about being a teacher. I am most worried I am not a good friend nor daughter because I am so busy. I worry a lot about other things but that one just feels the most real. I have been mixing metals for the last few months and I feel so happy I can wear more jewelry, silver and gold, every day. I look most forward to my coffee and my jewerly and my makeup every morning. Xoxo
Blog 1
AI Reveals the Most Human Parts of Writing by Katy Ilonka Gero shares a very compelling, yet- in my opinion at least- optimistic view on writing and AI. Specifically, I appreciated how Gero honed in on how AI can be a direct companion or peer for writers, sharing a viewpoint of these language models behaving as “-a half-decent writing buddy who at least wants to do what they ask… and has no desire to take any credit.” Still, Gero acknowledges that it does lean towards an oftentimes narrow, biased, straight male perspective, and how the “dance” of sorts writers embark on with AI can easily be thrown offbeat through the tiniest stepping on one another’s toes.
As a future educator, I found these highlights of the article to be the most interesting. Gero speaks of writers as professionals, people who can scribe nearly in their sleep but who can appreciate a bit of assistance or collaboration later in their writing process. But, of course, this led to me to start thinking of my students- young writers who need to be reminded to add periods, commas and capitalize their “I”s. What does this kinda program mean for them? Why do we even hone in so thoroughly on editing and revision? Will this skill even be needed in a decade? Or- an even more robust question- will this skill go extinct in the very near future?
I am biased, but, I believe writing is a paramount skill. It is so so so vital for all people- especially the little ones- to learn how to communicate their thoughts, feelings, reasons and opinions via pencil/paper, keyboard/screen, marker/desk (at times). The whole editing/revision process can be kinda lame and boring for some ppl, BUT, is needed! What other time are you able to so narrowly communicate and tweak such a message before sharing it with others- ensuring to the very best of your ability, your innermost thoughts can be consumed and digested in the very specific bites you have doled out to your readers. Again, lame process (at times) but so so needed, and quite empowering in a way, too.
This dance that mature, adult, accomplished writers can take with AI companions is great, I guess, sure. But, our youth is watching and soaking up every little action, task and decision we make. And when it is time for them to throw their dance pants on and give it their all- will they even know where the dancehall is? Or, will they be left alone in the dark, shuffling in the corner on a tablet, watching ballerinas and thinking it is the same thing as soaring on the floor?
The official class site for Dr. Mia Zamora's Spring 2026 "New Media" course: ENG 4060 & ENG 5085
