Thank You Class of Engish 103!

This semester has been a very crazy one that is for sure. When I first looked at our first week of assignments, I thought it was going to be overwhelming. We had so many things to do, and this is only one class. I remember thinking; this lady must be out of her mind to assign us all of this work. It did seem like a lot didn’t it? Well, I am glad she assigned us every assignment because it has helped me to be a better writer and communicator. This class has been a real journey, even with all of these assignments. I am glad she pushed us to our limits. The blogs were my favorite because I got to vent my ideas, and my peers would agree with me, for the most part. It was nice to be able to respond to a topic without feeling judged. The blogs have also showed me that five hundred words is a lot, and if we can complete these every week than we can write essays easier, and that is exactly how I felt.

Essay came easier because of these blogs and it was also enjoyable. I also liked reading my classmates’ blogs to see how they feel and how they think. Majority of the time we were all on the same page. We were feeling the same way, or we had similar ideas. When it came to venting about our research papers that was my favorite. It made me feel so much better that I wasn’t the only one that was feeling that way. I loved this class because we all had the same goal. I felt like we were all friends just trying to get through school. We al supported one another; this is what made the class so enjoyable. We gave each other advice when needed, or just a simply phase as “you are doing great” makes me feel accomplished. I loved everything about this class, the peers, the professor, and even some of the work.

For the most part I did enjoy everything we had to do except for the reading discussions. I did not like posting on there, not too sure why but I just felt like it was a waste. I didn’t get too much out of it, and most of the time I ending up forgetting. It obviously was not on my top priority even though it should be. I was more focused on the critical thinking and the essays at the time. Other than that, I felt like all the work we did was worth it and I took something out of it. I really enjoyed getting to know every one of you and it was just a real pleasure. If I would want to take an English class I would want it to be just like this! Thank you for everything! You guys have made this semester pleasant with all of your nice words, thank you! Have a great summer everyone! (:

Better Writing!

Writing essays or anything involving writing words was a dreadful task. When I heard I had to do a two page report, I found myself struggling to make the page requirement. Essays came hard and I just overall did not enjoy them at all! Even if was just a few paragraphs, I wasn't too sure on how to approach this task. Now that I'm taking English 103 and almost done with this class, I find writing so much easier. In the beginning of the semester I remember reading the tasks we have to do, and it all involved so much writing. The first couple of weeks it took me awhile just to complete one assignment. Now, it all comes so easy thanks to a variety of things. Our blogs helped me the most. When I thought of 500 words, it seemed like nothing, but in the beginning it was really hard. During my essays I would keep checking my word count, and 500 words was a good two to three paragraphs. So these blogs helped me the most. It really got me to think fast, and even use critical thinking skills to answer some of the blog topics. Another thing that really helped me was the critical thinking questions. I hated doing those so much, but in the end it was so worth it! I was able to read a story and answer questions so fast, in the beginning it took me a good one to two hours. Towards the end I got it to the most one hour. Having our essays is always good practice, but I liked how we had two chances to improve our papers. I know teachers who would only collect a final draft. Having the drafts help because it doesn't seem so bad. The peer draft reviews were different, and sometimes it was stressful. I personally don't like critiquing someones essay. I just get frustrated, but I have to remember it is only a draft. It did help me though because it did give me ideas of how my paper should be. It was nice to get opinions from my classmates.
Overall this class has helped my writing so much! I now can write a four page paper in just one day. Before I would struggle and didn't even know where to begin. Writing feels more natural and I find it just flows out. I can just keep writing and writing. I never thought I would be able to write essays as easy as I can now. This class has helped me in so many ways and really and provided me with greater knowledge of writing essays. I don't dread writing essays anymore, of course it is still stressful, but once I take the time to sit down and write it all comes together. These blogs has helped me so much, I thought it was going to be a waste of time and boy was I wrong. I also love reading my classmates blog, because we end up relating to one another. It makes me not feel alone. These blogs were probably the best thing we ever did in this class and I just enjoyed it. Sometimes the topics were tricky and wasn't too sure how to approach it. Those blogs made me a stronger writer, because we aren't always going to get topics we love. So this is why these blogs are so special, the difficult could vary from each week which was interesting. Last week was probably the best blog because I was just able to vent to you guys. It's nice to get opinions and advice it just helps hearing my classmates. You guys reply and make me feel so much better. Thank you class you really are the best!

So a Research Paper eh?

So I hear we need to do a research paper right? The sad part is, that I haven’t even started on it yet and it’s already Tuesday. I have five classes and it’s hard for me to balance all of them. I do get the job done, but it’s normally last minute. My mom always tells me, “Why do you wait till the last minute?” I honestly don’t even know because I always wish I wasn’t overwhelmed. I think if I organized my time better this paper would seem easier and less stressful. She gave us plenty of time to start this essay, and I still wait till the same week it’s due to start. So I do plan on starting my paper tomorrow. There are so many good reasons of why I should start tomorrow.

I haven’t read any of those books she listed, so I plan on doing my paper on one of the extra research topics. I don’t think there will be any problems other than trying to full fill the requirement of five pages. My plan is if I get a lot of research then it will be easier to write because I will have examples and hard-core evidence. I find research papers easier to write only because it’s based off of evidence rather than an opinion. When it’s an opinionated essay I find it hard to write three pages about what I think. Research papers comes a little easier also because there is quite a few quotations, which means less writing for me. I also have to make sure that I don’t use “you” in my papers. I learned from my last paper this can cause my paper to be a “D” which is no good for anybody. When I write I like to write to you guys, but I can’t, which makes it hard for me. I will keep reminding myself of the purpose for this paper.

Even though I haven’t started on this paper yet, I plan to accomplish it by taking baby steps. I figured if I start by writing two pages a day, then the paper will be done by Friday. This way I’m not overwhelmed and I still meet the deadline. If I stick to my plan then I will even have the weekend off if I finish by then. I haven’t had a free weekend from homework since this semester started, so this will be my motivation. I have to keep pushing myself that school is starting to finish up and I need to push for the home stretch. One more paper and I will be done with English for the rest of my life! Doesn’t that sound nice? So Jen, but it does sound nice. I need to remind myself of this and try to make this paper the best paper I have ever written. I don’t want to slack off on this paper, and I want to earn a good grade for my last official English paper, from the best English teacher Ms. Gross.

Gotta Love Facebook

            When it comes to communicating on facebook or myspace, we normally say things that we do not even question. We just post a status and never think twice about it. We crack jokes and never even to think how it appears to others. Everyone’s lives are different, and there are things that amuse people. If we are young teens like me, we post up stupid videos, pictures, or even a status that does not make any sense. Do we ever question what we put up? Are we thinking about the video that we posted? Or do we take pride in our stupid videos? I know being on a softball team, we have free time in between practices and classes, and this is when most of the crazy stuff goes on. There are so many videos of us girls just being dumb. I personally don’t take any action in these, but they all know they are the softball girls, so sometimes you do get an image. We aren’t doing anything stupid involving anything illegal, just normally funny videos of cracking jokes with each nothing too serious right? In the next few years will we regret those silly videos or pictures? I personally think not.

            Those silly dumb videos and pictures represent our youth. We should never be ashamed of what we did or what we went through. I know I will never forget this crazy softball team from AVC. I think if people were to regret it, you couldn’t take in pride or learning from it. If you regret something you did, it was a learning experience and not something you should be ashamed of. I have seen pictures of young teens partying it up. They couldn’t be happier to be a freshman in college. We see these pictures on facebook and we just think, I can’t believe they just posted that up. We have to take in consideration that everybody is their own person, and should get to make life decisions for however they want. Yes, sometimes it can be a little disappointing, especially if it’s your young cousin that is living the life. But it is their life!

            These pictures and videos represent our lives, and there is not one thing I will regret from posting. I have some stupid videos and it just makes me laugh. Yes they can be embarrassing, but that just makes life more fun. I want to keep those memories with me forever, and for whomever else that wants them. We all have been young and dumb, and I can only imagine going back in five years and looking at those silly pictures. If anything it will be a reminder of what a great time I had. We should never be ashamed of our past, it is our past anyways right? Show those silly pictures or videos with pride! What is so funny is that I’m sitting here writing this blog in my hotel room with my team mate because we are in the playoffs, and she just slipped and fell while getting in the shower! LOL! She wasn’t hurt, but that is definitely going on facebook. ;)

Is It Right to Make Fun Of One Another?

Political cartoons are normally funny and capture their audience. The humor behind he cartoons is hilarious, and most of the time it is actually true. This is why people love them so much because they make fun of politics. It is a good way to laugh about the situations we are in, some of them not being so good. We could be in the middle of a war (like right now) and they come up with a cartoon relating to the war. Of course they never make fun of the military, but maybe the other sides. Normally people get a kick out of these cartoons because it is like an escape from reality. It is a way to laugh off our reality. We don’t like the way our government is being ran so they come up with these cartoons. These cartoons in a way are making fun of our political system. We are supposed to be Americans and look out for one another, but instead we are making fun of each other. They put down a lot of things and a lot of people, which is why I do not like them.

Cartoons are supposed to be easy to comprehend, but sometimes the message is lost. The artist may have a meaning behind it, and someone else finds a different meaning. These cartoons can be a real disaster and can be taking wrong very easily. I remember there being a huge conflict behind someone putting Obama’s face on a gorilla. Some people took this really personally and thought of it being racist. That was not the meaning of the cartoon at all. These cartoons can so easily be misunderstood they aren’t even worth it. They are supposed to be funny and a way to easily comprehend what is going on with out politics. Those cartoons make even bigger issues out of our political system. They do not solve anything with these cartoons. It is never right to make fun of someone, so why are these different? I just simply do not like them because they make fun of our government, and it makes me feel like we aren’t any better.

These cartoons are not funny and I don’t like them at all. They are hard to comprehend, and what I get out of them is not what the artist intended. The cartoons lead to false impressions and make our country look bad. If we make fun of each other, what kind of country are we? It makes us seem immature if we just keep making up these cartoons about one another, we don’t seem like a country that can come together in a time of need. Yes it is always a good laugh, but it’s still not right. Our government is not on a mission to screw us over, that’s what I believe anyways. We all have our own opinions and that is perfectly fine. I just think it’s never okay to make fun of one another, because we all are Americans and we all are equal, no one is better than another. We are Americans!

Cutting Classes!

There is one political issue that sticks to my mind and it even relates to this valley and it’s the cutting back of classes, so the budget would be the issue. I think it is unfair that we students have to suffer because of the government’s inability to handle money. We are in this deep hole, so what has to get punished for it, we do. It will now take us longer to graduate because there will be less classes, which means they will be even harder to get in. The government covers the problem up by using certain language and their political wordplay.

There is a secret language for everyone, and when it involves politics it is a different one. To make it seem like there is nothing wrong, they know what to say to make it seem “okay”. There are even a lot of commercials on different schools for your education. The common line is “I can do it, anybody can do it”. This line really bribes in people to want to go to school. What they do not tell you is how pricey the school can be. When you finished you can be $35,000 in debt. They advertise those schools to be so good and can change your life, but never mention how intense the course can be. There are always positive commercials about the education but they once mention how many classes there are or what the price is. Not only are they cutting classes, but they are also raising the prices of classes.

There is also political wordplay in which they are pretending to communicate to us, but they really aren’t. They are telling us things to makes us think they are telling us something important when in reality it’s probably false information. They can be misleading us with information. They could also be using jargon so we really do not know what they are talking about. Only they really know what is going on, but they are going to use words they know so we do not have a full understanding of what is going on. They could also be using words to make it seem like it’s not a big deal. They will find other words to make it seem like this budget cut isn’t so bad and only so many classes will be cut. They will try to make the situation not seem like a major panic. They want us to think nothing is wrong and keep moving forward with our daily lives. They could also overwhelm us with words to the point we are just lost. After hearing a huge explanation of why they are doing something, we will more than likely just go with it. If they can give us this big reason then it must be good right? They are cutting classes at AVC, not only is this going to affect us as students, but teachers will be laid off. Fewer classes to teach, means less money for them. This is a big mess, no matter what they try to tell us.

Extra Extra Read All About It

According to Danny Schechter, “Young people get the news from late night TV, the Comedy Channel, or The Onion.” He found this can be a problem because it’s not the real news. This can be a problem because without the teenagers knowing the real problems in society, when it comes time to vote they might not have a full understanding of what is going on in society. The late night shows focus more on “attitude” and comedy rather than listing the facts. Teenagers could find the news a little boring. Those teenagers are more focused on movies, video games, and comic books. This could be a problem in society because teens are getting less educated about the world, so how are they supposed to make future decisions for the country? When it comes time to vote, are they going to know what to vote for? I say yes they will know. Just because we like to watch comedy channels it doesn’t mean we don’t know what is going on around us.

This makes teenagers look like they don’t care what is going on in society. I am also a teenager, so this kind of hurts. He makes us seem that we are more focused on ourselves, that we are selfish. Speaking for myself, I am not interested in politics, so it is really hard for me to watch news on politics. I watch the daily news to see what is going on in our country, and the news also mentions what is happening in other countries. It’s not like I have no idea what is going on in this world, which I’m too busy downloading music, because this is not true. I even get a joy of reading the news paper because I feel I learn what is going on in our community. Once again though, not all teenagers are the same.

Some teens rather not know what is going on around us and focus on the new release of a video game. There are those children out there, but it is not all of them. For the teenagers that are interested in what is happening to our country, and you know someone who isn’t too upbeat with it. Start a conversation with your friend of what you learned on the news on the news paper. Sometimes it just takes a little push to get people interested in the news. It is fun bringing up a topic from the news, because normally there are so many different versions. So we all discuss what we learned and normally we come out as experts with the topic. It is fun having an educated conversation with your friends, and no it’s not “nerdy”. Don’t be afraid to start an educated conversation, you never know that someone might feel the same way. I think this is the main problem with teenagers. We are too focused on being “cool” that we are afraid to ruin our image. I say who cares about the image! We are educated adults, now lets express ourselves!