Brooks's and Graham

In Barbara Grahams article she talks about her becoming a quit addict. When she heard a famous quote, she had already quit college. She had never been good at doing much that did not arouse her passion. During high school she made A’s in English but failed Math. After graduating high school she went to college but never finished. She was free from any responsibilities and relationships. It didn’t take long for her to find a collaborator. The collaborator soon became her boyfriend. They traveled the world together starting a new life, but she never knew that she and her boyfriend could have so many ups and downs. A little later on in life she found herself pregnant and getting tired of traveling. Was ready to settle down with her family. Barbara found herself regretting that she had no friends, had no place where she can call home, and few little friends. Barbara soon got divorced and moved across the country multiple times. Then she found her passion as becoming a writer. She realized that  you have to chase after change or it will not find you.

David Brooks talks about how colleges sent another class of graduates off thinking it's all about them. Most young people don't look inside and plan their life. College grads are often sent into life and tole to find their passion, own course, and to follow their dreams. Graduates are told to pursue happiness and joy. To process and find a main plotting point in life. But as they have read articles they compel their happiness with their admiration. They are told to be independent-minded and to express their spirit. But the whole purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself in who you are becoming.

As we read and discussed Barbara Graham's article i really gained a lot of information that could help me. I learned to never quit on what you want to pursue in life, but to mainly find your passion. Even though it took her several years to find happiness she never really found her own passion. I looked at Barbara article like it was my story that i was telling. She also connected with David Brooks's article. I see these two articles connecting because of the obstacles they went through to get their college degree but managed not to get it. Brooks’s and Graham tried so hard to find their passion but came up empty handed.

free write

Growing up throughout my elementary school years, I always hated to write papers for any subject. As i continued to practice and increase my vocabulary, I became more comfortable with writing any sort of paper whether it is a short answer or an essay. Sometimes the best kind of writing is a free-write, which allows you to pick any topic of your choice. I have really enjoyed reading my classmates blogs every week. It helps me to get to know them better and I also get to hear their opinions on what they have learned or think about a situation so far. Since we began to write blogs every week I have found myself becoming stress free. I also began to write one short paragraph a night about my day to decrease the stress. Writing is very useful to me because i get to express my feelings, thoughts, and my creativity. The blogs give me a bit of a break from all of my classes. When I start writing it gives me a sign of relief that someone will finally listen to what I am asking or saying. As I am reading my classmates articles, they might insert something that I have no clue about and I gain knowledge that will help me better myself in the future. Whenever I finish reading their blogs I comment my opinion on whether i disagree or agree. It really means a lot that they use it and take it into consideration of what i'm saying. While reading articles the most thing that stands out to me is how my classmates describe what they have been through this school year,  or how they are progressing in their classes. I never know what to expect out of my classmates because their minds are so open and they are willing to talk anything.

While writing you think of the events that happened on a certain day. You are writing about what made you sad or happy, but you are no longer involved in those things as you began to talk about them. I once researched that whenever you are writing or typing a paper,  your breathing becomes slower and your mind is wide open for different ideas to enter. Being a writer is an active process. The more relaxed you are the better you can think and become a better writer. It doesn't matter what you are writing about as long as you are writing how you feel or what you believe in.

Technology

Technology and social media are a bad habit that many people tend to do. I began using social media when i was 13 years old. I had a Myspace and a Facebook. Even though Myspace wasn’t popular i still had it. Back then there were cyber bullies, people faking their age, and not completely honest about who they really are. My mom was very protective of my accounts. She had all of my passwords and she also had to know all my friends or know of their parents. Many teenage parents worry about the exposure or the things their teenage child might see or who they might come in contact with. In today's time the parents worry less and have more understanding of what they child is doing. But they are a lot more bad influences on social media than there were 5 years ago. Teenagers keep their self occupied for up to two and a half hours on social media. Texting, on Instagram, sharing Facebook posts or even tweeting on twitter. They keep themselves busy throughout the whole day to cover up the fact that they are bored with their own lives. Teenagers also meet many of their friends on social media because meeting them in person can be a little uncomfortable. Maintaining a friendship consist of many obstacles. Social media can also ruin friendships. Say you’re grabbing a bite to eat with friends and they can’t enjoy their time because you are on your phone. That moment can cause a major problem. Your friends chose to hang out with you, not hang out to watch you scroll up and down on you Snap-chat account.

I once read an article that David Brooks wrote. In this article, David Brooks mainly talks about the attention span and how the internet is abusing it. He mentions that “you feel those phantom vibrations even when no one is texting you.’’ He uses this to describe that you’re so use to feeling your phone vibrate or even use to being on it that you absolutely think that someone is texting you. Many people rely on their social media to tell them what’s going on in the world.

summer vacation

Every summer we planned to go on a trip but it would always backfire. So this summer we finally made the arrangements to leave in July and we stay two weeks there. This summer i went to Pensacola, Florida with my dad, stepmom, and brothers. I really enjoyed this trip because we spent quality time with each other. We have family up there, so once we arrived I crashed. It was a very long and uncomfortable ride. First few days I really did nothing, just killing time by sleeping or eating and watching movies with my family.The next day I decided to go out and visit a famous theme park with a gorgeous beach attached. There was a ride called the lazy river where you just relax on a floaty and  the current drags you in a circle. We were at the park for 8 hours and still didn't get to ride all the rides.  My uncle was in the army so we got to go on the base, and visit all the stores and different stuff that was located there. It was a store called Army Up. This store was filled with jet skis, a gun range, passes to theme parks, and boats. This was a very famous store on the base because you got to rent the things for only 10 bucks an hour. It was my first time riding on a jet ski. I really enjoyed it, even though I didn’t get the hang of it till an hour later.

The following day was my birthday. We traveled another 2 hours to go to Destin, Florida. There were all the good eating spots and great places to celebrate. We visited a beach that is famous for weddings. We rented bikes so that we could just ride along the sidewalk and see everything instead of driving. I really regret doing that because it was very hot and people could not drive. We only had two days left to be in Florida and my family and I arranged activities to do around the house for the mean time. Within those two days we visited 2 more beaches and one more theme park. We actually finished this theme park, it was so fun, the rides were better and the food was great. Out of all my family vacation i have to say that this was the best one, even though it was my last school vacation with my family I cherished every moment of it.

major exam 1

For the major exam i had many expectations, i thought that the test was going to be about reading passages and inferring the information about it, and also giving the definitions of a lot of vocabulary words. Although the exam did not meet my expectations but i think i did really good on it. To prepare for this test i start studying a week before. First I reread all of handwritten notes, then i downloaded apps to help with the vocabulary words, I also written the vocabulary words in my own definition so that i could get a better understanding of them. I practice writing the original text many and many times. Whenever the next exam is i will do the exact same thing. I got more practice then i expected. My study technique helped me a lot, it was very beneficial to me.When the test came to me i suddenly forgot everything that i studied for. As i started to scan through the exam, i noticed that there were a lot of short answers. While writing the short answer questions i was very relaxed, even though i spent most of my time on those. Short answer questions gives you the opportunity to express your opinion and to give the person that's reading it a different idea about the question. I struggle so much with the short answers questions because i sometimes don't know how to word it or put it in a great sentence. The exam it self was not difficult just a lot of writing. I would most definitely like to take a test like that again or even a multiple choice test like it. If you study the right way and understand what the question ask you should have no problem to give a great feedback.

Words!

    Growing up with sickle cell I missed a lot of my elementary days so i never got the chance to take any vocabulary test. I would have to use an overlay to help me see my words better. I couldn't read as fast as the other kids, or i would get tongue twisted and lose my place, so my teacher had to read the questions for me and let me answer them. Whenever we took a test, i would always go to a separate room with four other kids just to get the test read to us. English was one of my struggles in school, i never liked anything about it or wanted anything to do with it. I knew i had to change the environment i was in. I didn't want it to be like this the rest of my school years, so i started reading higher level books to boost my vocabulary and learn different types pronunciations and grammar. I even joined the spelling club when i was in the seventh grade. Til this day i am still learning different types of words that could benefit me in the long run. As i grew up i realized that as you expand your vocabulary, life would be easier. I would volunteer to read out loud because i have gotten so comfortable with words. 
   We use a lot of words each and everyday. Each word has a corresponding meaning to it. We often use words to express how we feel or communicate with family members and friends. We also use words to put songs and poems together. Words can often describe a picture, how someone feels about you. Words are throughout the entire country with different cultures and languages. Different words are spelled the same way but have different meanings. Words have a very strong powerful meaning. It also damages a person's life, because they remember what you said to them and If you say the wrong thing it can make them feel like you don't love or respect them. and it will hurt someone's feelings. However if you are in a situation where a person needs to know your opinion then using a combination of critical words would help them out. For example, if you are giving a speech to change a persons life you would use a gathering of inspiring words to make them realize that they can be better in life and that they actually have a purpose to be someone special in life. Words could be so encouraging to others.

About me

I was born and raised in a small town. The best thing about living in a small town is, everybody knows everyone. I have a total of three siblings, two brothers, and one sister. Even though we didn't have much my mother always made sure that we had what we needed. Even on some occasions we got what we wanted. I participated in many after school activities such as volleyball, basketball, and softball, but I mostly played basketball. I've been playing since I was five. In softball, I played third base and left field. I was a member of the church drill team for 3 years. This was very exciting to me because every summer we got to travel from state to state.

My hobbies consist of riding horses and watching movies. Riding horses is something that i absolutely love doing. I spend so much time with them. I love the quality sense of freedom as we are running free through the countryside of nature. The reasons I watch movies is because I don't have the patience to sit and I read a book, but it also allows me to feel their struggle and emotions in that situation. As watch the movies i feel relaxed and stress free.  

My future goals are as simple as they come. I see myself in five years still in school but pursuing my degree for dental hygienist. I love the fact that i have a chance to help people better themselves in whatever they are planning to do. I choose to be a dentist because I can change someone's life by just fixing their smile. Growing up, most of my inspirational memories come from being in the dentist office, and the fact that I have a close relative in the dentist ministry really encouraged me to become one myself.