The Post of Meta Reflection

After I started to read the entries I have created the past semester for a reflective blog post, I got very excited. I had forgot about all the topics I have analyzed and and questioned these past few months. I first came to the conclusion that AIS has really triggered some thoughts that I don't think would have crossed my mind before I started the course. This is because I believe I was encouraged to really take a look at American society in a variety of perspectives and inquire why American society is this way.
During the first semester of school, I have noticed that I basically only discuss topics that interest me on a philosophical level. I like to choose blog post subjects that I find relatable (and usually controversial) in society. 24 Hours of Reality, for example, was a huge deal in my household. My family is very environmentally active and "is on a mission to save the world", so I came to the conclusion that a great way to inform my peers is to create a blog post about the event. 
The titles of my posts also have had a constant theme where I question the principles and morals of the topic I write about--particularly referencing the hardships adolescents go through due to the way society treats them. For example, in Curfew: Considerate or Controlling, I question the necessity of a curfew. "Why is the government allowed to dictate what time a teenager needs to be at their house?" I accuse the government of "dictating" their power over myself and my peers (the youth of the nation). By using this word choice, I create a really personal connection between myself and the argument instead of maintaining a neutral position on the analysis. This influences the reader to sympathize for me, taking my side.
Although I do make some convincing claims, I had a major problem during my first quarter of blogging: I used virtually no external evidence backing up my statements. In the blog post Raising the Standard in Standardized Testing, I scrutinize the ethics of the standardized by asking the question "How can [ACT] be considered a standardized tests when there are thousands of kids that aren't getting the extra  preparation that other students are?" Although this is an inspiring ethical argument that questions a generally accepted practice, I don't have a quote from an external source. After creating this post and receiving a helpful comment from Bo'Connor, I stopped creating posts without any evidence as backbone and have continuously created blog posts with evidence.
After this reflection, I have come to see that I have slowly evolved from exclusively ethical arguments and have created more and more posts that relate more strongly to our curriculum. During second semester, I plan to work on both analyzing my quotes in my blog posts in greater detail and choosing topics that have a greater relation to historical topics opposed to exclusively American society. I would also like to become more technologically savvy and learn how to crop video clips for posts, but I won't try to bite off more than I can chew. 
"American society idolize[s] individuals and supports those who actively fight for what they believe in" (A Stronger Voice). Hopefully through this next semester, I will hold true to these words I wrote and actively attempt and pursue improvement  in my blogging, in my expression of opinions, and my newfound ability to ask questions.