Posts

Here's How I Figure Out My Life

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I've been sitting on writing this blog because it really forced me to think. Think about what I want my future to look like. Where do I want to live when I'm older? What do I want to be doing? What kind of job will I have? The more I thought about it the more I felt lost... Honestly, I really don't know what I want to do after college. I feel like at a young age we're expected to know what we want to be doing with life. I remember in high school I started getting college applications filling them out and sending them to colleges that I want to go to. I remember writing essays talking about "my story" and "my future aspirations" hoping that they sounded good enough that colleges would accept me. Even deciding on a major was difficult. I like science and math so maybe I should be an engineer? Or a scientist? But I don't want to sit in an office all day. Or maybe I could be a finance major and learn about how to make a lot of money so I can b...

Arguments, Identities, and Genres

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In our world today there are many genres that are used to convey information. Back then it was in the form of books and papers, then the telegraph, and then came the radio. Which became a huge chapter in the sharing of information in the United States. Although that all changed when the television came into existence. Turning the American population from a genre based on listening to watching. Today a large part of the way that we consume media and information is in the form of video. We watch news on the TV, videos on social media, and videos to help us remember important events. There has even emerged a social platform based solely on video, called YouTube . Igniting a new era of our consumption of information. Having such an influence on our culture it's important to have the understanding and ability to communicate through video. Video is a genre that is integrated in our culture and can be at times done poorly. In order to create a proper video the videographer must co...

Entering the Conversation: Wait? I get to give my opinion?

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Throughout high school and middle school I was normally taught how to write essays. First I was taught how to write a paragraph in elementary school. Five sentences and you have a paragraph. Of course that doesn't really matter how many sentences you have. It's just what my teachers taught me when I was younger. As you get older though, in middle school, the teachers think you're so smart now and have you start writing essays! Yippie! I was so not overjoyed with having to write essays with the structure of intro, three paragraph body, and a conclusion. It was the worst. Honestly, I really didn't like writing when I was younger. Maybe it was because of all the structured writing we had to do, really killed my creativity. Although, there were some teachers throughout my schooling that really pushed us as students to expand our creativity through writing. I even had a teacher in middle school named Mr. Myers that created a writing club for our whole class and called...

Ethos, Identity, and Mushfaking

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When learning something new I'm constantly pretty honest about how good I am. I don't try to fake it or make it seem like I'm better than I am. I stay pretty true to how skilled I think I am. I remember when I was trying to learn to do tricks on my skateboard. How to Ollie, manual, and do pop-shuvits.  I really wasn't good at all, although my friends that didn't really skate, thought I was pretty good because I could Ollie. I knew I wasn't much though so I would just say thank you and tell them I'm not really that great at it. I think this approach has helped me to not get into situations where people would expect me to do something crazy I haven't done. Allowing me to slowly progress at my own pace and if I wanted to try something more challenging I could give it a shot and I wouldn't be expected to land it the first try. I feel like as individuals we need to stay honest to ourselves and the people around us. If we're not honest or ...

Best Advice for College Students

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Best Advice for College Students In Annie Murphy Paul 's " Secrets of the Most Successful College Students ," she discusses the idea of there being three different types of learners; " surface, who do as little as possible to get by; strategic, who aim for top grades rather than true understanding; and deep learners, who leave college with a real, rich education." Before going to college I never read Paul's article although I remember developing my own version of theses different types of learners throughout high school. I categorized them as the people who didn't try, the try-hards, and the ones that just wanted to learn. The people who didn't try usually got alright grades and focused more on things besides school, like hanging out with friends or sports, or anything other than school. While back in the day I thought these people weren't the smartest I come to realize that having good grades doesn't mean you're the smartest pe...

Where I'm From

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Where I'm From I am from haircuts,  from barbecues  and backyard parties.  I am from the heat of the valleys. (Hot, like potatoes  in a pot.)  I am from the persimmon tree the orange tree whose shade would be what protected me. I'm from lunch after church,  from the stairs we would perch.  I'm from the sit stills and the wrinkly  bills,  from sit down and eat your fill!  I'm from sing your song when you go on and not practice all along. I'm from signs that say yield and large green fields,  strawberries and broccoli at times.  From the waves on the shore  to the birds that would soar,  the mountains we would climb up night. Remember the days of the team,  the days we would get some ice cream.  Till I wake up-- felling distraught -- realizing it was just another dream. Analysis: Looking at George Ellen Lyon's poem, "Wher...

Six-Word Memoir and Backstory

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I Don't Know, Figure it Out. I don't know. Sometimes I really don't, but that doesn't mean I can't find out. I think that the best way to learn something new is to go out and do it. Not by sitting there waiting for an answer to come hit you smack dab in the face. When I was younger I thought the only way to learn is to sit in a class and have someone teach it to you. However, I soon realized that that's not the only way to learn. You could learn something new by hearing, seeing, or doing. I think being able to understand how you learn and being able to find the best ways for you to learn will help you grasp and understand new ideas and concepts. I remember when I was younger I wanted to learn how to surf. I would see my dad and his friends go out all the time and I asked them if I could go with them. Keep in mind that my dad and his friends like surfing bigger waves, waves that are around five to eight feet high. Being a little sixth grader and...