Table of Contents

Table of Contents Reflection Letter Demonstration of Critical Thinking Techno Speaking Writers Choice A Red Neck Thanksgiving My Audience My Voice A Workout group is a community Revision Skills A Firefighter’s Identity Fire Incident 101

Fire Incident 101

Our engine crew was dispatched to a working structure fire. It was mid-day with blue skies; it was a cool crisp day. While en-route we were putting on our packs. As we got closer we could see dark smoke off in the distance. I could feel the anxiety building within the crew. We saw that this was a working fire so we proceeded to put on our masks. I could smell the rubber silicone of the mask. I was seated on the side of the fire. So I knew I would be pulling the pre-connect hose.

Upon arrival we found a two story residential home with heavy smoke coming from the eaves. I grabbed the nozzle and hose stretching the line out. My partner was right behind with his tools.  I approached the front door with adrenalin pumping and my heart racing.

My partner was a new firefighter and he was hanging onto my coat tail. He was a little nervous but excited. I could hear the excitement in his voice as we approached the front door. As the hose charged the pressure pushed me forward. I checked the nozzle pattern bleeding the air out of the line. I had to make a minor adjustment to the water stream pattern.  I checked the door and found it locked. I proceeded to force the door open, size eleven style.

We found fire behind the door and up the stairway with the second floor fully engulfed in fire. The fire was an orange color swirling down the stair case. I opened up the bail on the fire.  The stairs were carpeted and burning. I was extinguishing the fire on the steps as I was climbing up them, hoping the steps would not fail and send me falling. The hose had gotten stuck at the front door so my partner had to go back down the stairs to free up the hose line. As it was freed I continued to climb without my partner. As I approached the second floor I could feel the intense heat trying to push me back down the stairs.
 
I directed the water stream towards the ceiling to check for flash over conditions as I was taught in the academy.  It was safe to proceed, when suddenly I had ceiling tiles falling on top of me.  I could feel my breaths getting bigger and faster within my mask. I took a step back kneeling close to the top of the stairs; I knew I could retreat down the stairs if the roof started to collapse.  I was able to darken down the fire and our visibility went to nonexistence. It was black as charcoal.

I radioed command requesting ventilation on the second floor.  A second crew had entered the first floor to search for any trapped victims.  The vent crew broke out the second floor window with long pike poles. The second floor now had some ventilation, our visibility started to improve. I could now just make out the red glows of fire to the right and left of me.  I could hear popping and crackling of the fire until the positive pressure ventilation fan fired up at the front door. With smoke now being forced out the second floor windows, visibility was once again clear. We proceeded to the seat of the fires for extinguishment.

Being young and excited my partner and I had sucked down our 30 minute bottles of air quickly.  Our low air alarms started sounding just after extinguishing the fire.  We radioed command informing him the conditions of the fire and that we were out of air and starting to exit the house.  As I exited the front door I had ran out of air and my mask was being sucked into my face using every bit of air in the system. Our gear was steaming due to the heat from the fire and exiting into the cool air. Removing my mask I could smell my smoke stained gear. We were exhausted and dripping with sweat, we were ready for a rest in rehab. We sat on the front bumper of the pumper.  While we were sitting catching our breath we heard the search crew had rescued a victim on the first floor.
 
I was so proud of our company that day.  Everything went so smooth, as some would say text book style.  Everyone was on a high of pride that seemed to last the week.

Reflection Letter

Welcome to my e-portfolio. My name is Todd Olson and I am 47 years of age.  I have been happily married for twenty great years to my lovely wife Judy.  We have three wonderful kids and four grandchildren. Our youngest child still lives at home and is a freshman in high school. I am living my dream of being in the fire service and I am currently the Assistant Fire Chief/Training Officer for the City of Sedro-Woolley.  I have been in the fire service for twenty one exciting and rewarding years. I grew up in Everett and graduated from Everett High School. Shortly after graduating I decided to continue my education at Everett Community College. At that time I aspired to become an engineer. Soon after starting school my plans came to an abrupt halt.  My father had suffered from the effects of diabetes for many years and he finally succumbed to the disease. His death caused a hardship for my family and I had to put my dreams aside and help my mother and siblings out wherever I could. 

Life happens and things don’t always go as planned. My dream of becoming an engineer had been put on hold but God had a bigger and better plan for me that included helping people in their time of need and saving lives. I started to volunteer for the Marysville Fire Department and realized that my passion was firefighting and specifically training. Years passed and after much procrastination because I was fearful of going back to school. I decided it was time to put that fear aside and follow my new dream of receiving an associate of arts degree in fire science. I did start back to school last year and I currently have two more courses to complete after this class  to get my degree. I plan to further my education with a bachelor degree in Fire Administration. The last English course I took was in high school 29 years ago. I had a lot of anxiety about taking this course and that is also where the procrastination came from. I knew deep down that I could become a proficient writer and I do enjoy story telling.  I have a creative mind for it. I suppose I get that from my grandfather, he wrote a book of poems that was published. This course has been a huge challenge for me, but with many long hours and a lot of hard work and dedication I am a better writer and have learned a lot about diversity. With the support of my fellow classmates, their feedback on assignments and encouraging words they have helped me succeed in this course.

In this course we had to write three thesis papers on the subjects of Identity, Community and Tradition. I had never written a thesis paper prior to this course.  Writing these thesis papers has made me take a closer look at the meaning of each of the subjects, expanding my thoughts about each one. We were given several reading assignments. They were short stories about each of the subjects.

One of the stories that I read titled “The “F Word” was about an Iranian family that moved to America. The family was discriminated against because they were not considered true Americans. Firoozeh, was the daughter and she was teased incessantly about her name. At one point she was called the “F word" because a person did not even try to pronounce her name or ask her how to pronounce it. She decided to change her name to an American name “Julie” because she thought this would help her fit in. She continued to struggle with her identity even after graduating from college. Identity is much more than what is printed on an identification card.  It is who a person is; their heritage, history, life experiences, hardships and accomplishments. It is also how these things have affected them that create their identity.

Community is more than a neighborhood, town or city. Communities can be small groups with something in common. Such as the fire service, church groups, workout groups or even an on-line gaming group. We were given an assignment to watch a movie and write about it in regards to community and identity. We were given several movies to choose from. I had watched them all but I chose to write about the movie titled “The Rabbit Proof Fence” because it was based on a true story and an incredible one. It is about three young aboriginal girls that were taken away from their mothers and put into a training camp called Moore River Native Center. They were being trained to do domestic work, to be slaves for Australian families. The girls escaped the camp and made it back to their family after traveling approximately 1,500 miles in 9 weeks. The journey changed Molly’s identity. The change was forced by the outsiders (white man) by taking them away from their family. She was now the adult the care taker the leader.  This experience gave her strength and confidence that she may not have had before but needed later in life.

Tradition is more than holiday traditions. It is also courtesies and manners, family game night or a road trip, communication, rituals and marriage. There are new family traditions that are created and sometimes changed over time. These are traditions that we hope to pass down from generation to generation. An interesting read about tradition was a story about a family thanksgiving titled “A Wobegon Holiday Dinner.” Uncle Jack and Aunt Dee were not getting along and Aunt Dee “threw something at him, playfully, which happened to be a paring knife, and it made a deep scratch down his cheek.” It reminded me of a Jerry Springer episode.

The final project for the class was to create an e-portfolio to highlight the work that we have done and what we have learned in our English Diversity Course. We had to choose four of our writings. A paper that demonstrates our critical thinking skills, I chose a paper that I wrote about tradition titled “Techno Speaking”. This paper is about how cell phones have had a negative impact on tradition of communication. Another thesis paper I have chosen to demonstrate my revision skills is my paper on Identity. This was my first thesis paper and it needs a lot of revision.   I also had to choose a paper that illustrates my awareness of audience and voice; I choose my writing on my blog titled “A Workout Group is a Community.” This paper describes my workout community and its common goals. The final writing I would like to share is one of my favorites titled “A Red Neck Thanksgiving.” It is a blog post and is about my families Thanksgiving traditions.

My writing has greatly improved in the way that each of the paragraphs flow and moves the argument along. The diversity portion has broadened my thinking about identity, community and tradition. I hope you enjoy my writings.

A Firefighter’s Identity

Often people see a familiar face and don’t remember your name. They recognize and identify a person from where they work or from their occupation. Patients refer to their Physician by their title. They are also referred to as the Doctor that saved my life or that helped me through some kind of medical crisis. There are several careers that are dominated by alpha males and females. Firefighter’s with alpha male syndrome and how their career can change their identity.

In Kate Ludeman and Eddie Erlandson’s essay “Alpha Male Syndrome”, they state “Alphas are aggressive, result driven achievers who insist on top performance from themselves and others. Courageous and self-confident, they are turned on by bold innovative ideas and ambitious goals, and they pursue their objective with tenacity and an urgent sense of mission”.

Firefighters are seen as strong, courageous and tough. They are clean cut and their bodies are in good physical shape. When they are out in the public they are always dressed in their firefighter gear or wearing their duty uniform. They are identified by a name tag that they wear on their uniforms that includes their rank and last name. When the public sees them in uniform they address them as Firefighter Nelson, Chief Olson. They have lost a part of their identity, their first name. The department creates business cards that state our name and rank and how to contact us. These cards are a type of Identification that we hand out to the public. Sometimes people associate us for what we did for them such as; you’re the firefighter that helped my grandmother or you’re the firefighter that visited my school.

The Fire Department is run like the military.  There is a chain of command that consists of an alpha male or female acting as the Chief. All firefighters want to become a chief. This statement may not be true, but this is the type of personnel the fire departments wants to hire. These alpha males/females work hard and strive for that next step up the ladder.  They are assigned projects and they strive to complete them better or faster than the last person.  This is their competitive nature, another alpha male trait. Donald Trump’s essay. Find the Greatness within Yourself, states: “I am a competitive person and to me, that’s a good thing. Staying competitive is the opposite of being complacent. Complacency is the ultimate enemy of success.” Firefighters have a better opportunity of being promoted to Lieutenant if he and or she is ambitious and has asserted themselves to be trained to the next level.  This ambition is another alpha male trait. With each promotion there is a great feeling of accomplishment of pride. There is always a pay incentive for each rank, but in the twenty plus years that I have in the fire service, I have never heard of someone working for that promotion to get the pay increase. They are striving for that next leadership role.
   
As mentioned before the fire department is run like the military. The Fire Academy has similar traits of the military’s boot camp. You typically start out the day with exercises. The drill instructor is there to influence you to do your best but he may yell at you like a drill sergeant and actually degrade you. Some people cannot handle this stress and end up quitting.  Others strive to the challenges and are already reaching for a leadership role in their company. Some firefighters vomit at the sights and smells they encounter at an emergency incident. They are not able to adapt to this and end up quitting.

It is this adapting to the horrific calls that we see that influence the changes in their identity. It affects them emotionally and changes their outlook and personality. The sight of a charred body or a shooting incident, where the force of the bullet has split the patient’s head open, these types of incidents have a way of haunting you.  These types of images affect a person emotionally for the rest of their life.  Without counseling they may have psychological difficulties. They begin to get de-sensitized in regards to their loved ones emotions.  This has happened to me.  For instance, my son fell and scrapped his knee and was crying because he was hurt.  I have caught myself brushing off his emotions by telling him that “he is ok, the blood is not even gushing”.  I should have comforted him instead of trying to make a tough guy out of him. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to prevent the horrific things that are seen. A good officer does limit the exposure to his crew by quickly identifying and securing the scene which will prevent his crew from the exposure of such devastating sites.

Many careers have alpha leaders that are known by their title or positions they hold and their actions or accomplishments. Our careers can change us without us even knowing it.  The influences by the people we come in contact with, by our co-workers or the events and actions we have endured on the job. Some of these changes in our identity can occur slowly over the years and some may change in a very short time. This can be a challenge in keeping ones true self identity.

A Fifefighter's Identity

                                                                                  

Often people see a familiar face and don’t remember their name. They recognize and identify a person from where they work or from their occupation. Patients refer to their physician by their title. They are also referred to as the doctor who saved their life or that helped them through some kind of medical crisis. There are several careers that are dominated by alpha males and females. Firefighters are alpha male or female their career changes their identity.
The Fire Department has a chain of command that consists of an alpha male or female acting as the Chief. All firefighters want to become a chief. This statement may not be true, but this is the type of personnel the fire departments wants to hire. These alpha males/females work hard and strive for that next step up the ladder.  They are assigned projects and they strive to complete them better or faster than the last person.  This is their competitive nature, another alpha male and female trait. “I am a competitive person and to me, that’s a good thing. Staying competitive is the opposite of being complacent. Complacency is the ultimate enemy of success” (Trump 242). Firefighters have a better opportunity of being promoted to Lieutenant if he and or she is ambitious and has asserted themselves to be trained to the next level.  This ambition is another alpha male/female trait.

“Alphas are aggressive, result driven achievers who insist on top performance from themselves and others. Courageous and self-confident, they are turned on by bold innovative ideas and ambitious goals, and they pursue their objective with tenacity and an urgent sense of mission” (Ludeman & Erlandson 226).

Firefighters respond to a variety of different types of calls. These calls can be challenging and quite stressful.  Some of the firefighters cannot handle this stress and end up quitting.  It is this adapting to the horrific calls that have the biggest influence on the changes in their identity. It affects them emotionally and changes their outlook and personality. Others strive to the challenges and are already reaching for a leadership role in their company.

Many careers have alpha leaders who are known by their title or the position they hold and their actions or accomplishments. Our careers can change us without us even knowing it.  The influences by the people we come in contact with, by our co-workers or the events and actions we have endured on the job. Some of these changes in our identity can occur slowly over the years and some may change in a very short time.

Revision Skills

In this revision assignment I chose my first thesis paper about Identity. This was the first thesis paper that I had ever written; I had a few mistakes which included the following: I didn't include a title on the paper, the MLA format was incorrect. There were several sentences that did not support the thesis, “Firefighters are alpha male or female their career changes their identity” example: Firefighters are seen as strong, courageous and tough. They are clean cut and their bodies are in good physical shape. When they are out in the public they are always dressed in their firefighter gear or wearing their duty uniform. They are identified by a name tag that they wear on their uniforms that includes their rank and last name. When the public sees them in uniform they address them as Firefighter Nelson, Chief Olson. They have lost a part of their identity, their first name. The department creates business cards that state our name and rank and how to contact us. These cards are a type of Identification that we hand out to the public. Sometimes people associate us for what we did for them such as; you’re the firefighter that helped my grandmother or you’re the firefighter that visited my school. This paragraph didn’t support the idea of firefighters’ are alpha male or female nor does it support how the career changes their identity. I used the word “you” though out the paper. One should not use "you" to address no one in particular. Finally, I did not list my sources at the end of my paper.

This paper was challenging for me but I learned from my mistakes and made improvements after each writing assignment.

A workout group is a community

A workout group is a community. This is a community because the people in this class have common goals and enjoy working out. There is a sense of comradery and a knowledgeable, energetic, instructor that makes the class fun and sometimes entertaining. People in this class encourage one another to work hard. This is what holds the group together. It is a place where they can go to meet new people, have fun, relieve stress, become healthier, stronger and have more energy. The group has common values that includes; no shortcuts by using diet pills or the use of steroids. They all realize that it takes a lot of hard work and commitment to achieve their goals.

When the club changes the dates and times of the workout class this causes tension within the group because it upsets the member’s schedules. Another thing that causes tension within the group is during stretching time when it is supposed to be a time to relax and wind down. A couple of the members like to take this time to catch up on gossip. This can be very annoying. One way that this can be resolved is to talk with the instructor after class and she could bring it up at the next class.

I fit into this group because I have the common goal of working hard to stay healthy, strong and fit. I enjoy the people within the group. Many of them have a great sense of humor and we have a lot of fun and this makes the class go by really quickly. This is why I enjoy being a part of this community.

My Audience My Voice

My chosen piece of writing that illustrates my awareness of audience and voice is a blog post about community titled “A Work Out Group is a Community.” The intended audience is people that go to the gym or are interested in working out at a gym. The members of this work out community give a lot of encouragement to people that attend this work out group and I hope that this will encourage new people to attend and participate. There is a sense of comradery and a knowledgeable, energetic, instructor that makes the class fun and sometimes entertaining. People in this class encourage one another to work hard. This is what holds the group together.

I wrote about the goals and values shared by the work out group, and stimulating the audience by writing about the positive and negative aspects of the community.  I think this made my paper very interesting to the readers.

Creating a blog was a new experience for me.  It was easier than I thought it would be. I linked my blog to my facebook account firefighter Challenge page and also to the City of Sedro-Woolley Web the Firefighter Competition page. My intent was to reach out to my fellow firefighters and to encourage them to work out.

Techno Speaking

Think before you speak.  Technology has changed the way society communicates. Cell phones have made it easier to communicate. Not only can we talk to someone on the phone but we can also text and send e-mails. Cell phones have had a negative impact on the cultural tradition of how we interact with others.

A person could be having an intimate conversation with a loved one, and all of a sudden a loud, obnoxious ring tone starts to blare. The cell phone has interrupted the conversation and now they have to decide to answer the phone, mute it or let it continue to ring. That jingle of a tone has interrupted meetings, classes, church services and even funerals.

Face-to-face communication, nonverbal communication, like facial expressions and body language has been lost because of the use of cell phones. “When you’re on the cell phone, you can’t ever have a full conversation. Usually the reception is terrible, and somehow it’s only bad on your side. The person talking to you has no idea that you have bad reception. They’re rambling on and on and you’ve got your finger jammed in your ear” (DeGeneres 640). When we are not having face to face conversations we lose that personal interaction between each other. People have become introverted and do not know how to communicate one on one.

People answer their phone in public areas, for instance when riding a bus, and due to the loud back ground noise they have to speak even louder and unfortunately everyone else is forced to listen to their conversation.  Many people feel uncomfortable about eaves dropping and do not want to hear about other people’s problems. “THE WOLRD IS A NOISY PLACE. YOU AREN’T HELPING THINGS” (641).

           

Texting creates laziness for some people. They are lazy about spelling. Sometimes people text each other while they are in the same room watching television. The quality of conversation has become less important. People have become less patient and seem to rely on an immediate response.

The cell phone has become a constant distraction. People text while walking, running, driving and talking they are less likely to be aware of their surroundings and what is going on. Due to this multi- tasking, many motor vehicle accidents have occurred. Laws have been created to protect the innocent. “Now we have the hands-free phone so you can concentrate on the thing you’re really supposed to be doing. My thought is this: Chances are, if you need both of your hands to do something, your brain should be in on it too” (DeGeneres 642).

Remember that famous ding? You’ve got mail.  E-mails can also be sent and received on a cell phone. The constant ding from incoming e-mails is quite annoying and distracting.  People will stop whatever they are doing to check their incoming messages. “Just in: boyfriend’s gay. Merry Christmas” (Hargett 661).

Photos and videos can be sent via e-mail. Some of these photos or videos can be inappropriate. They can be humiliating and harmful to others. A person’s privacy can easily be violated. Some messages can accidently get sent to the wrong people by pressing reply to all instead of reply.

Cell phones are handy when reporting emergencies or calling for help when the car breaks down. A person used to have to walk to the nearest pay phone or residence to call for help. Another positive thing about cell phones is that children can communicate with their parents and let them know where they are or where they are going and let their parents know that they have arrived safely at their destination.

Cell phones have had a negative impact on how we interact with others. The constant interruption of a phone ringing distracts us from watching our favorite reality television show. Information communicated has lost substance and quality with meaningless, mindless conversations on the cell phone. We have lost the personal interaction we get from face-to-face conversations, seeing the twinkle in their eye or the smile on a loved one’s face.

Demonstration of Critical Thinking

To demonstrate my critical thinking I chose my paper about how cell phones have changed the tradition of communication in a negative way. We were asked to write about how technology has changed tradition. The paper I chose is titled “Techno Speaking.”  The title is creative and it refers to the new technology (tech) and not to speaking in reference to talking on cell phones. I also liked this paper because I was able to use a portion of what was taught in the Inter Personal Communication class at the college. Face-to-face communication, nonverbal communication, like facial expressions and body language has been lost because of the use of cell phones. The material for my summary is also from the Interpersonal Communication Class. Information communicated has lost substance and quality with meaningless, mindless conversations on the cell phone. We have lost the personal interaction we get from face-to-face conversations.

            This paper and like the others, I like to add humor in my writing. I hope you enjoy it.

A Red Neck Thanksgiving

This one particular Thanksgiving was very memorable because a relative flew in from Arkansas for Thanksgiving. He brought one of his favorite foods, cooked squirrel. Yes, I said “squirrel.”  This was a little shocking to me, seeing this little rodent cooked and sitting on a plate. Now, of course squirrel is not a typical Thanksgiving food, even for this family. But never the less there it was waiting to be eaten. I was feeling a little adventurous so I ripped off a little drumstick, if drumstick is an appropriate word for this particular part of the squirrel.  I placed it on my plate and wondered what it would taste like.

The elders sit at the table and everyone else finds a spot on the sofa with a TV tray, if they are lucky, or where ever they can find a place to sit. The family members that were at the back of the line and were not fortunate enough to find a seat they would have to eat standing up.

I was fortunate this time and found a spot on the sofa with a TV tray. I sat there a moment pondering if I was really going to take a bite of this cooked rodent. After giving it some serious thought. I decided it would be the first item that I would taste so I could use the other foods to drown out the taste if it was unpleasant. So, I picked up the drumstick and took a bite. I am sure there must have been a couple dozen sets of eyes watching me. To my surprise it tasted good and it tasted like chicken.  How often do we hear that phrase? But it was true the squirrel tasted like chicken.

After the main course is completed everyone would resume their prior positions, at the table, outside around the fire or in the living room watching football. After an hour or so the dessert plates would be set out. Dessert was a free for all.  You certainly have to move quick if you want some of the banana pudding. It is a favorite and there is never enough for everyone no matter how much is made. After desert the family slowly starts to clean up and pack up the leftovers. There is always enough food to take home for another entire meal and for the host/hostess to take to their elderly neighbors.

 

My in-laws may be Hillbilly or Red Neck but they are the nicest and the most generous family I have ever met and I am proud to be a part of this family. 

Writer’s Choice

One assignment the class had was about tradition. So, I chose a blog post titled “A Red Neck Thanksgiving” as my writer’s choice. I enjoyed writing about family and traditions and I think this post is humorous and a little bit unusual.  In this particular writing I think that I did a good job on how the paragraphs flow together.

This one particular Thanksgiving was very memorable because a relative flew in from Arkansas for Thanksgiving. He brought one of his favorite foods, cooked squirrel. Yes, I said “squirrel.”  This was a little shocking to me, seeing this little rodent cooked and sitting on a plate. Now, of course squirrel is not a typical Thanksgiving food, even for this family. But never the less there it was waiting to be eaten. I was feeling a little adventurous so I ripped off a little drumstick, if drumstick is an appropriate word for this particular part of the squirrel.

I also like this blog post because it is about my wonderful in-laws.

My in-laws may be Hillbilly or Red Neck but they are the nicest and the most generous family I have ever met and I am proud to be a part of this family.