I am a writer.

As a writer I think that I've grown in some areas that I had never worked before. I am used to writing essays and papers in one sitting with a limited amount of time. I took AP Lit. last year and the AP test for Lit. I was trained thoroughly to write constantly, not stop to plan or evaluate my thoughts. This was the biggest obstacle that I had to overcome this year. I never did any prewriting, I would just write until my ideas formed themselves. This worked for the AP test, but it wasn't very successful in a college English class. I really had to train myself to do planning before a paper. Also, I learned a great deal about editing and revising. Like I said, I never did any prewriting before and I was used to writing a paper or essay in one sitting to turn in as soon as I was done. Once I got used to revising though, I think that I improved my skills and made my papers grow to a new level of skill that I couldn't have reached before. As to the style of my writing, I think it's about the same but I was happy with the way my papers sound. I think that the assignments i did this semester helped me form a better argumentative tone however. I never wrote much in the way of arguments, so I feel like that are of my writing has developed greatly and will continue to improve as I continue to write throughout my college experience. Overall, I believe that this class helped me develop in some ways as a writer that I didn't even know could develop any further. I am glad for the experience despite any of the frustrations or setbacks that I faced this semester. I enjoy writing, but I am glad to be done with English.

Questions

Recently I saw the movie "The Music Within". This movie is about a young college student who goes off to the Vietnam War and loses most of his hearing. Upon his return, the college refuses his government paid tuition on the basis that he's deaf and needs special needs. He meets another young man who has cerebral palsy and they become best freinds because they are both alienated from society for different reasons. Watching their struggle in society, it made me wonder how I treat people with special needs on a daily basis. The main argument Art (the friend with cerebral palsy) makes is that special people don't want to be ignored. He's angry that people can ignore someone who looks and acts the way he does. I had to ask myself then, do I ignore these people too? Am I trying not to look like I'm staring, or making them uncomfortable? This is one of the reasons that these people are treated differently throughout our society, because many other people act the same way that I do but they don't question why. I also began to question how well I think I know people with special needs. I think that we all make assumptions about someone based on their visible limitations, but there could be so much more right underneath the surface. In the movie, Art is completely limited by his physical state but he's a certified genius. This paradox would drive any normal person mad, but Art embraces it and moves through his life overcoming his obstacles. It made me wonder how many times people are underestimated because people think they are handicapped. In the movie, the main character turns out to be the person who writes the handbook on how to hire and interact with handicapped people in the workplace. This book permeated every corner of the working and social world and changed the way the handicapped community was viewed within society. He was also a major advocate for the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act). This proves to me that people who are different and may be considered "handicapped" may just be able to achieve more than any other talented person with normal circumstances. I wonder now how many business people, executives, politicians, officials, and major power holders may have disabilities of their own. In truth, every one is the same. We're all human beings, we all have dreams, and we all have talents. They may be different between individual people, but that's what makes us unique as a human race. We should embrace the differences among ourselves and strive to see the light coming from each individual person.

The core of the American Dream...

In the movie “The Great Gatsby” the American dream is portrayed through the perspective of high society 20’s socialites. The American dream at this time, and also quite similar to now, was to gain great financial standing and move forward through the world while living life to the fullest. The great imperfections within our society are amplified by the writing of this story in that it portrays the vilest aspects of human nature. All these people strive for are material and physical needs. Their lives are driven by a need to always reach for something more and this corruption still lingers in our world today. Even when these people reach the height of social status, they find a way to ruin it all by striving for more. They all destroy each other due to their own greed and avarice, and I believe that their portrayal of struggling for the American dream is truly foreboding to our future. F. Scott Fitzgerald was trying to warn us that our own greed will lead to our inevitable demise. What people dream about reaching isn’t what humans should be striving for. If people would concentrate more on the needs of others and pursuits of health and happiness instead of material wealth, the world might turn out to be a better place.

An exciting week

So I had a birthday recently, and for anybody who doesn’t know me very well I hardly ever do anything exciting even for special occasions. This year was completely different however, and everything we did was special. First things first, my mom took me skydiving as my present. For her, this is very out of character but I was excited none the less. We drove down to Rockmart GA (it’s out past Austell for those people like me who live in civilization) and I jumped tandem at about 10:30. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life, and I will always have my mom to thank for that. We had a video made and pictures taken when I jumped so I can have it to eventually show my children. On the way home we stopped at a Petco to look at the adoptions. We always go look, but we’ve never made any movements toward adopting an animal. This day we stopped to look at a fluffy little puppy that looked like a bear cub. I was instantly in love, but I never thought we would leave with him. Thinking we would just move on, I got up and walked away. My mom caught up with me and told me to guard our puppy. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but I stayed with him and got to hold him. She came back to hold him and told me that she was filling out the paperwork. I was so shocked, but we were getting a puppy! We left with our fuzzy little mutt and went home to take it all in. I watched my skydiving video with my boyfriend and held the puppy we named Buster as I tried to take in everything that had happened that day.

Youtube: the newest news source

People talk about freedom of speech, and our generation seems to have latched onto that idea in a big way. The internet provides people with so many ways to express their opinions and Youtube has become one of the most popular ways to do that. People treat Youtube like a video diary, expressing their feelings about everything from world events to high school dramas. Youtube has become a way for people to see how others feel about things, but also get a glimpse of events happening in other places. Like many news shows on television, videos posted to Youtube can show events that are important in the world that an average person might not be able to see. On the other hand, the upside to online video postings is that you can get a very personal insight into the event that is occurring. I believe that Youtube may be the news source that our generation will look to in the future. It’s true that people have less respect for privacy, and that almost anything can be viewed on the internet, but this is true for anything on the internet. Already, major television stations are using Youtube to feature popular videos and appeal to a younger demographic. I believe that eventually, a majority of the news people get will be from online sources such as Youtube. It’s accessible, filtered to keep out smut, and reliable to a certain degree. People will have the same recognition factor as online broadcasters as one on television. Youtube is the future of media in our world, and I’m ready for it.

Is a secret still secret if you tell everyone?

1. I’ve been to the site before, but I always feel the same way when I read the postcards. I become immediately emotionally invested in the stories these people are telling. I think it’s a good forum for people to open up and get things off their minds, and for people to give or receive support when they need it.
2. I think for the most part, the images portray the secret in a subtle way. It’s not an exact photo of the story the person is telling, but it gives you enough context to feel connected to them. There is the feeling of emotional closeness without an invasion into their lives.
3. The writing brings the reader into the mindset of the writer. Instead of only interpreting what the image means to the writer, the words actually tell the story of what that person is keeping secret from the rest of the world.
4. The words always speak to me more because they actually come from the writer’s mind and heart. The image may help tie the secret in with a visual cue, but without the words there would be nothing personal to it.
5. I picked this secret because I feel like everyone feels this way about themselves no matter what they look like. I feel like this picture is arguing that people feel insecure inside even if they look confident on the outside. Just because someone looks fit and healthy, doesn’t mean that they’ve always been that way. If they have in fact changed in some monumental way, then they might never be able to change on the inside. The girl who looks like a cute, fit adult might still feel like an insignificant fat girl on the inside. People always talk about loving someone for who they are and being comfortable with who they are, but the truth is that people don’t truly think that way all the time. Physical appearance is important to everyone in some way, and it determines how we live our lives.

Adoption?

I have always been a supporter of animal adoptions, but I’ve never been involved in one myself. I’m not sure what to expect from new animals, but I want to give one the chance to be a loving pet. We brought home a dog today to see how well he would fit with our family. So far, it’s a yin and yang situation. We love him. He’s sweet, cute, energetic, and loving. The problem is that our cats hate him. We expected some issues with our cats and a new dog, but it was ridiculous. Our smallest cat actually chased him down and attacked him in a corner. After this, I completely assumed that we wouldn’t be able to keep him but then he swayed my opinion again. He started to calm down a bit and then he totally surprised me by climbing up on the couch and quietly laying with me. I’m torn now. Do I give the dog a chance and risk losing the love of the cats, or do I give the dog back hoping that someone else with a calmer house will find him? I worry that his excitement will ward off other adoptive parents so I feel like I should keep him, but we’ve had our cats for 3 years and they’re very comfortable with our situation. Another worry that we have is about the size of the dog. He’s much larger than any other dog we’ve ever owned before, and we can’t even find space for his kennel in our animal room. It’s not that I’m indecisive at all about the idea of having a dog, it’s just that this dog in particular worries me. I would love to keep him, but I just don’t know what to do for the well being of my other animals. The guilt is already kicking in, and I don’t even know what I’m going to do yet.

Facebook or face to face?

As I first read the article, there were many things that I found easy to agree with. I was a holdout for a long time, so I understand where he is coming from when he talks about people who are resisting the lure of Facebook. I can see how he feels that intellectual stimulation is more important than staring at a meaningless screen for extended periods of time. But like he says, there isn’t any real reason to avoid Facebook anymore. I eventually joined just like many others did, because it was the easiest way to connect with friends. Facebook has become almost like carrying a cell phone; everyone just expects you to be included and it’s the newest, fastest way to connect with people. I also agree that Facebook is a very unaggressive way to approach people. You don’t have the worries associated with face to face conversation, and there is a certain level of privacy that people have no way of breaching. I can see why some people avoid Facebook claiming that it is too much work. I was first turned off from it for the same reason, and so was my own mother. However, once I entered the site I found that it was very easy to navigate and explain to my mother. So, even to a technologically disinclined woman such as herself my mother has become more and more excited with the site. There is a certain sense of awkwardness in dealing with what friends to keep, but I also believe that the same awkwardness applies to physical interaction if not in a more acute way. Personally, I am very shy around new people when making face to face encounters, but on Facebook none of the same stresses apply. Also, I don’t find myself sucked into the site as much as other people. I only check my profile when I get emails about things that have changed. That means I could check it 2-3 times a week, or not for 2-3 weeks at a time. When I am on Facebook, I find it very easy to socialize with the people I chose. Even with the messenger option, I don’t have to converse with people I don’t want to. I have the power to control the socialization, and if I even want to contact anyone. This doesn’t make people introverted as much as it actually fosters connections out in the real world. People make plans to meet in real places, and meet new people just by using the web site. I think it’s a major advance in today’s social connection.

In contrast, when I read the article a second time I found a few holes in his key arguments. First, I believe that his perception is skewed. In reference to the quote from the Onion, “Area Man Constantly mentioning he doesn’t own a television” when he states that he isn’t an elitist, I believe he’s just self-indulgently boosting his own ego. He obviously thinks he’s superior to people who watch television because he reads Proust. Anyone who wants to state for others’ knowledge that sculpting and reading lofty authors is more important than staring at an “idiot box” is extremely pretentious in their assumptions. There are many intelligent things that can be found on television for those who wish to take the time to view them. Second, there are many people who have strong personal reasons not to join an online social network. Despite the security precautions, people have their worries that they could be stalked or their financial identities put at risk. Additionally, many people chose not to carry a cell phone not to make a statement but because they had no need to carry one and they didn’t care if they weren’t “in the now”. The same principle applies to people and online social networks. For many professionals, Facebook is too geared toward college students and a younger group of people. It doesn’t have the features that apply to their circle of social interactions. Another fault is to assume that most people only check the Facebook page only once or twice a week. Most people I know who use it, even my mother, find time to check their Facebook pages 2-3 even up to 9-10 times daily. Whether it’s to update their status or post pictures, it’s available from cell phones too so people always have the urge and opportunity to check on their pages. I think it draws people even further into the internet and their own homes. They find it easier to communicate over the internet than to develop real relationships with people. People have become too concerned with what others post about their lives online instead of living their own lives.

Dreaming in America

I feel like the "American Dream" has morphed through the decades. To some, coming into our country held a promise for a better future and so their American dream would be to be higher in society, make more money, receive a better education, or even just live freely for their beliefs. To me, I've always pictured the American dream as eventual happiness. Whether that means educational achievements, attainment of material possessions, or social status, I don’t know. Through my own experiences in life and seeing how other people's lives have turned out, I have decided that I just want to be happy with my life. My American dream is to own my own bakery and live in a close knit community. It may seem simple, but I believe that I would be satisfied with my financial situation and greatly pleased with my life. Some people may believe that money is the only thing that can bring them happiness, but I have seen that exact idea ruin someone's life. I don't want to be miserable in a job just because it pays well. It's true that I want financial security, but I don't need to live lavishly to be happy. I'm not willing to give up my happiness just for a flashy car. My dream is to have a well balanced job and family life and inspire others to reach beyond the allure of money and find happiness. My parents, like others from their generation, were taught to get an education and find a well paying job. There were supposed to make their parents proud and do better than they were able to. My parents taught me a similar lesson. I was taught that I would only earn respect in the community if I earned a degree, no matter what it would pertain to. I would have fallen into the same pattern too, but I reached a point of clarity. I realized that neither of my parents are happy doing what they do even though the money is good. My mother doesn't receive the respect she should in her profession even though she has a degree. I just want to do what makes me happy. If I never make enough money to live in a house like my parents had for me, then I'm okay with that. I don't want to dread getting up every morning to go to my job. I don't want to look forward to retirement as if it's the end to a grotesque nightmare. I'm going to enjoy what I do, and enjoy life along the way.