Response to Rifkin

Just as I had written in the essay we did in class, I responded to Rifkin's article by agreeing that animals are a lot alike us humans whether we like it or not. There is scientific evidence and just general ideas such as they give birth like we do, they react to pain like we do, and they eat and drink to survive like we do. And for some reason I began to think about turning the tables. Are WE a lot like them? But I think we try to be like them through our advancing technology. Maybe we got the idea of airplanes from flying birds, fast sports cars from jaguars, and the idea of being able to breathe underwater from fishes. Without the living functions of animals, we wouldn't be able to do those kinds of things. We unconsciously built our technology based upon animals. We somehow are like them as well.

Senior year

We are finally here, and we find ourselves wanting to be rid of high school. The first couple years were great, fun, easy, fast now this year all we want  is it to be out on our own. We want to have fun in our own ways, and not think once about school anymore. To put it straight guys we have a semester left; we can't slack off or get sick of school. This is the year you have been working toward, but this year will set the tone of your life. We hear this all to often now it`s either college, join the army, or just work. We all know that last option will get you minimum wage at a dead end job, military works for some people, but college if you have patience and work hard to get a masters or doctorate you can live comfortable. Life is hard, harder then it use to be. We need to make the right choices

Animal Rights

My feelings directly to the article "A Change of Heart about Animals" is half and half in my head... I haven't really picked a side, but I think after hearing what I say and what people have blogged about, I believe I may side the side that it is taking it could be taking it a bit too far. Personally, I think it would be difficult to draw a line somewhere. We do abuse animals a lot when we don't think about it, I think it's fair that they should have better animal rights, but isn't human rights a little too far? Animals were put on the Earth for us to use, to eat. Some animals can eat us too, dangerous creatures, though we don't know if they can be friendly. In my opinion, we should just treat animals with more care so they don't abuse us. Hitting them, cursing at them, caging them. I mean, I don't own any pets so I don't know what it's like to have own a domestic animal. We tame them, some people abuse them, some people experiment on animals, but most of us care for domestic animals. Some experiments are harmless, but can be used for data on the animal (to know more about the animal and to know what to do and what not to do with that creature). In conclusion, giving animals human rights is just taking it a bit too far, we don't know what they are really capable of... Some animals are very intelligent, but they aren't like us. Human and animal rights should be separate in my opinion.

Somewhere between the extremes.

All the animal rights arguments irritate me because it is very polarizing and there is no real answer. I hate questions like this because people try as hard as they can defend argument with no real facts. The vegetarians drown you with their argument. The animal experimenters drown you with their argument. Now scientist are even trying to judge if they should take an animals life based on whether it's smart or not. I know I have to pick a side, but I'm actually stuck in the middle. This is because I feel that killing animals for food and protection is justified, but killing animals in a cruel and unusual way is not. In the bible, it reads that some animals are meant to be killed and eaten. Also, killing predators that attack your sheep, or threaten our survival, is not a sin. This basic rule makes so much sense to me. Eating animals is a part of life; it is a way to sustain ourselves. Just because our society has evolved hunters to office workers, does not mean we have to change our diet. Also, we should  always have the right to protect ourselves from predators. But where I am against the killing of animals is when they are hurt and experimented on for no good reason. I've read stories of rabbits who have had their eyes melted away because a scientist is supposedly testing cosmetics. This is an example of cruelty that should be stopped. Especially because there are so many alternate ways to test the product, like skin cultures and virtual simulations. However, worrying about the animals intelligence or emotions is a little too far for me. The main reason we shouldn't be treating animals cruelly it because it is morally incorrect. Some people feel the reason should be because they are similar to us.  Does this mean that a gorilla should be pampered because it is similar and a turtle tortured because it is different? This argument makes no sense to me. In my opinion, a human is a human and  an animal is an animal. The sole reason should be because it is the right thing to do. So basically, I feel animals being killed for sustenance and protection is extremely reasonable, and I feel some pro-animal rights groups are being unreasonable. Converting the whole population to vegetarians is impossible, and treating animals like humans is ridiculous.

Animals and Humans

Reading the article "A Change of Heart about Animals" was very interesting to me. I found it interesting that a 300-pound gorilla was taught sign language, and honestly, that's pretty impressive. What I don't understand is why? Why does a 300-pound gorilla need to know sign language? Is it because it's cool to look at? Is it because people wanted to test the animal on it's learning ability? Who really knows? A gorilla needs to be in the wild roaming free, not in a session learning a new language. That is my opinion on that matter. Another topic in the article I found interesting was the research with the two birds. I was interested about how the female bird, Betty, was able to use her beak to wedge a wire through a crack and bend it with her beak to make a hook, grabbing a piece of food from the tube 9 out of 10 times. One questioned raised up in my head: How did she think to do that? And that is probably what the researchers were studying. I have no problem with animals having researched done on them, but there should be some type of limit to the research. What makes sense to test the animal on, and what doesn't. The article also started, " It's commonly believed that other animals have no sense of their mortality and are unable to comprehend the concept of their own death. " Sometimes I believe that researchers know this and they take advantage of it. Sometimes the animals are treated in such a cruel way when they are being used for research and it shouldn't be like that. If an animal is going to be used for the project, they should be treated in a where it doesn't seem like a cruel and unusual punishment. Like I said before, I don't mind animals being used for research, but  do believe there should be a limit. 

I dont think we should be trying to give animals human rights because if you start with one species of animals on human rights then where will we draw the line? Although do you think we should be treating animals anyway we want and disregaurding them afterwards I dont really think thats right either. Would you want your pet (if you have one) to be kicked around during some stand-up act and then thrown out into the street afterwards. I believe we should be give the animals we use some sort of curtisy and not just use abuse and leave them to die.

Blogging

"We get some rules to follow, that and this, these and those." Those are lyrics from the song No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age. Why are us students restricted from what we can blog about? I feel that if students got to blog about whatever we wanted to, we would be more motivated to blog or we would like it more than we do currently. I get that we have restrictions, but why do is it only things that happen in class? Why couldn’t students blog about current events? A perfect example would be the death of Paul Walker, or even the death of Brian Griffin from Family Guy! These would be perfect topics that students are interested in and would like to talk about for a while. Ms. Fletcher said that she just wants us to have conversations on the blogs and that would certainly let us students have conversations with each other. Another thing Ms. Fletcher wanted was to challenge ideas and to show what we like or dislike. Using the example from earlier, I totally disagree with Brian Griffins death in family guy and I could go on and on just on that topic alone. People always tell students in school to never be plain and to use our imagination, so why are students being limited?

Animal Repect vs Animal Rights

 I  am glad to know I 'm not the only one who thinks this whole animal rights thing is silly. I mean I love animals and I do believe they should be treated with respect. However, I don't believe they should be put at the same level as humans. I find when it comes to animal rights movements monkeys are always the prime subject. For some reason many people belive because of monkeys similarities and genetic backround they should be put at the same level as humans. I don't think that should happen, true monkeys do have a genetic connection to humans, but I think everyone's for getting there not humans physically or mentally. When monkeys start creating civilizations similar to our own and well meeting humans level then they can qualify.Now I know that sounds harsh but the truth hurts. Animals are not humans nor should they be treated as such. In the article "Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and "Dignity" to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?", a research monkey named Haisl is trying to achieve a human rights so he wont be homeless. I thinks its crazy to give a monkey a home when a lot of humans don't even have one. In another article German scientist were giving pigs toys so they wouldn't be depressed. Pigs? Really? What about all the little children who won't be receiving a gift for Christmas. Or what about the other 'depressed' animals. Should slugs be given toys now too. What you guys think?

Chimpanzees, Gorillas. Humans... They're All the Same!?

         Are you for or against animal's rights? Over the past couple of weeks we have been reading a packet filled with articles debating and informing us about animal rights research. I, personally, do not really agree that animals should have complete rights like that of humans. In the article "Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and "Dignity" to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?", I was very shocked to see that environmental committees are attempting to give legal rights to chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans. In paragraph three of this article it basically says that scientists would no longer be able to use these creatures for experiments. I questioned this by asking "Why only these animals? What about the rest?" So I looked up online and discovered that chimpanzees are humans closest living relatives. (http://www.livescience.com/7929-human-evolution-closest-living-relatives-chimps.html) I feel that knowing this, it should be okay for scientists to use these animals for useful experiments that could help mankind. For example. What if you or a relative or a close friend had a disease that doctors didn't know the cure to? Would you want them to experiment on you to find a cure? Or would you want them to give the disease to an animal some how and then look for cures? Or what if they had a cure for the disease but they found it by testing on animals? Would you not want the cure because they had to test on animals to find it? NO! Because obviously your life is more important than that of the animal. If these animals aren't being experimented on just for fun, what's the problem with it? Plus, it's not like they're going extinct! So do you still agree that animals shouldn't be tested on?

Is there a resemblance?

people first, animals second

Bob Stevens in response to "A Change of Heart about Animals" asks if 'animals are more important than human children'? This really stuck with me because in our society it seems as if we treat animals more importantly than humans sometimes. I tend to see more commercials about helping animals throughout the world then I do helping humans throughout the world. I am not saying animals shouldn't be cared about, but I feel our priorities should be leaning more towards help out our fellow humans and then we can help the animals. I believe that helping starving children is slightly more important than giving animals rights, and making sure pigs are happy. We need to get our affairs in order before we worry about another's.

Waiting for results....

        Well here I am again ranting about college. I'm going to admit I'm starting to become a bit jealous of my friends that are beginning to receive their college acceptance letters. Don't get me wrong, I love to hear about their acheivements but a part of me feels a bit lame for not being able to share such good news with them. I feel like I should've invested more time into looking for the right college for me. This whole process is so new to me and I still have no idea as to what to do when it comes to applying for out-of-states and looking for scholarships and financial aid and what not. And being the stubborn person that I am, I prefer to figure it out on my own rather than asking for help. That is a habit that I'm trying to break because right now I need help. I really want to make my family proud by being the first to apply, attend and graduate from a four year college and I also want to be able to set up a good foundation for the rest of my life.
        I finally made the decision to major in Kinesiology and I'm not sure which college would be the best for my field of study. Everything is feeling so rushed right now. I feel like I didn't have enough time with actually checking out schools that had that major. I have current school work, winterguard practices, homework, tests that i needed to study for and on top of that everyone is rushing me to fill out applications as soon as possible. And now that all of the applications are over I have to wait for the results and start thinking about financial aid. I'm so overwhelmed at this point. I'm just scared that I am missing something. Does anyone else feel this way or is it just me?

Where do we draw the line?

In the articles we have read in class, such as "A Change of Heart about Animals" and "Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and "Dignity" to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?", have changed my mind on the issue of animal rights. I am the last person anyone would call an "animal person", so when I saw the headlines of these articles I was a little uneasy. However, once I read "A Change of Heart about Animals" by Jeremy Rifkin, my mind began to reconsider. I do believe animals deserve to be treated humanely, because it is proven that animals feel pain and stress. No animal should be beaten, starved, etc... Elephants even have the mental capacity to mourn the loss of their children. However, the article  "Of  Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and "Dignity" to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?" was not as convincing. In paragraph 4, a Primatologist said that "I do think we have special obligations to the great apes as our closest relatives, but if we give rights to apes, what would be the compelling reason not to give rights to monkeys, dogs, rats, and so on?", a question in which I don't really know the answer too. The real question is where do we draw the line? Where do we say that it's to much?

[5 ways to fix run-on sentences.]

I really enjoyed this lesson that Ms. Fletcher taught us. I always that the only way you could fix a run-on sentence was to either delete the whole thing, or just separate it somehow. Ms. Fletcher showed us the different ways to handle that type of situation and still make it flow. My favorite way she explained to us was number 4 (I believe), which was how to use a semi colon correctly. 

DEPENDENT + [;] INDEPENDENT = CORRECT STRUCTURE.

Basically, it is only write to use the semi colon when you trying to connect two clauses that have the same subject. She always showed us that you can use the semi colon and attach a independent marker word, such as: however, consequently, therefore, and many others. You would use the marker word at the beginning of the independent clause.

Overall, I found this grammar lesson a very helpful one. I appreciate the help and assistance Ms. Fletcher gave us. Does anyone else agree that this lesson was kind of mind changing? That it kind of broke the common barriers of how we should repair run-on/fused sentences?

I guess Fletch being a "snoot" was helpful overall! 

Give animals rights or just think about their feelings?

   "A Change of Heart about Animals", written by Jeremy Rifkin is about how animals are very similar to human beings.  Who knew animals experience affection, depression, excitement or stress?  Rifkin talks about a study that compares humans and rats, which shows that when “they play, their brains release large amounts of dopamine” which is related with excitement in human beings.

    Rifkin emphasizes that animals should have better treatment due to the lack of compassion animals are given. Rifkin concentrates on how animals are intelligent creatures and need to be protected. This made me think about the last time my family and I went to the zoo. The animals did look unhappy and some even turned their backs to people. It’s like the animals are being put in jail that’s probably why they attack people, they’re depressed. They are taken away from their family and their home for our own enjoyment. I don’t think that’s right. I wouldn’t want to be taken away from my family and have to live in a room or a cage for the rest of my life.

    Bob Stevens questions Rifkin’s article and believes he’s trying to convince us that animals should have more rights than humans. He knows that animals have feelings but he also knows they cannot perform task such as “writing a poem or grocery list”.  

     I think we should take the animals feelings into consideration. I understand they are not human and cannot complete everyday task like we do but, they do have feelings. Think about how it feels to be neglected or unloved, you would not want to feel that every day so why should the animals? I do not think they should have rights but, I think they should be treated better than how they are being treated. Don’t you?

Fish are friends, not food.

       Or are they? Can fish be comparable to us, humans?  In the article, “Do fish feel pain?” makes me skeptical of the reasons to agree with Braithwaite. Her main argument in the article is that fish can feel pain, like humans can. I argue that how pain perception works for humans is not comparable to fish pain. We experience sprained ankles, broken bones, and sore muscles. Fish cannot and will not fit in that category of human pain. Do you guys agree or disagree? During class I couldn’t help but want to research argumentative points for this article point of focus. What does this article mean for those who use fish? It’s considered a food item to me. I personally view fish as pets or food, not comparable with humans in any way. Is the focus on fish being hurt and that humans are the blame? No way. I think there is often a lack of similarity between any animals and humans. We experience conscious pain and fish do not. I want to raise the question to my classmates to see if fish should be friends and not food? Are fish the same as everyone else on the Earth? And should fish have animal rights? I say no. Do you?

Should Animals Have Rights?

In “A Change of Heart about Animals,” Jeremy Rifkin states that scientists are finding more similarities between humans and animals. He starts off with how animals can experience feelings such as stress, affection, excitement, love, etc. Rifkin then provides research and examples showing the development of the animals and the way they handle situations. He explains how a bird uses her beak to bend a wire for food, and how the gorilla, Koto, has mastered more than one thousand signs and understands several thousand words. Based off of these examples and a few others, Rifkin has come to the conclusion that animals need better treatment. He believes that animals should be treated with care and respect because of the strong similarities they share with humans. In response to Rifkin’s view about animals, Bob Stevens provides a reason of why we shouldn’t have “empathy” for animals. Stevens explains how other animals naturally kill each other and how they don’t care about the feelings of their prey. Because of this fact, he believes that humans shouldn’t be any different. Stevens then goes on to show how Rifkin believes that pigs need to be provided with toys for social contact, and he compares it to “human children” who don’t have toys. Stevens uses Rifkin’s information to show that humans are more important than animals; therefore animals don’t need rights. According to these different views from Rifkin and Stevens about animals, I would have to agree with Rifkin that animals should be treated better. If animals have feelings then we should not abuse them. What do you think?

AF: ERWC Winter Blogging

Written by E. Phinizy, and swiped by A. Fletcher :)

It's that time again: Time to take our discussion online.  For this round you need to initiate one discussion and comment on two.  Remember to refer to the texts as sources as well as that which keeps your ideas focused.

Procrastination will not work this time, gang.  You've got to start earlier on your entries.  I cannot envision the alternative as even "basically fine" participation.  There is nothing genuine about a discussion when most of the members arrive with five minutes left.

Also, the rules netiquette apply; so, keep the flamewars and trolling to yourself.


The texts:

• Braithwaite, Victoria. “Hooked on a Myth: Do Fish Feel Pain?” Los Angeles Times 8 Oct. 2006: M5. Print.
   
• Edlund, John R. “Letters to the Editor in Response to ‘A Change of Heart About Animals.’” 2003. Print.

• Edlund, John R. “Three Ways to Persuade.” 2011. Print.
   
• Rifkin, Jeremy. “A Change of Heart About Animals.” Editorial. Los Angeles Times 1 Sept. 2003: B15. Print
   
• Yong, Ed. “Of Primates and Personhood: Will According Rights and ‘Dignity’ to Nonhuman Organisms Halt Research?” Seed. Seed Magazine, 12 Dec. 2008. Web. 24 Jul. 2012.

AF: Roger Ebert and his wife, Chaz

AF: TEDYouth

Kids, read this, and look at the bottom where it says,

Not able to make it to TEDYouth in person? Totally fine. The event will be webcast on Saturday, November 16, from 11am to 6pm CDT. Or find a TEDxYouthDay event near you. They are happening all over the world, in the 48-hour period surrounding TEDYouth.

AF: What's good?

The Orange
—Wendy Cope

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange —
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange, it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.
This is peace and contentment.  It's new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all the jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I'm glad I exist.

AF: Success on TED Radio

This was a great little moment on the radio this morning:  an hour devoted to different ideas about success.  I'm going to go back and listen to the entire show, but this short segment (13:17) by Alain de Botton* is really very good.  Play it in the background while you are doing something else, like folding your laundry.

Why I thought of you:  because you are trying to figure out what your major will be; it feels urgent to you that you figure this out, and soon.  Why?  Because our identities are tied up so closely with our work.  But honestly,  how can someone who is just 17 or 18 years old know who they are or what they will be?  You are just on the cusp.

Don't worry about WHAT you are.  Worry instead about getting a good education.  Become well educated.  Study everything. For most of us, it is mistake to look at college from such a narrow, careerist point of view.  I'm not saying that NO ONE knows what they want to be when they grow up, but I am saying that most don't, and that's fine.

*If you're trying to figure out why this guy sounds familiar...he wrote The Architecture of Happiness, a book that figured prominently in the movie, 500 Days of Summer.

Striving for Improvement

I never thought English was an important subject to slowly master throughout elementary and middle school, since my interest was captured by math at an early age, which I recognized is universally applicable in the real world every time I apprenticed my dad in any of his construction jobs. I’ve felt confident in my ability to do math throughout my academic experience, but I don’t feel equally secure about my ability to write long essays like I do in math. Simply manifesting any writing exceeding more than one page has been steadily becoming less of a challenge, as I read and write more frequent. I’ve found more motivation throughout my experience in high school and in my preparation for the major I want to pursue in college, because the demand for extensive writing in college is high as I’ve heard by college grads. I’ve put my writing-phobia aside to focus on my academic success. If you’re not confident in one or more subjects it’s never too late to begin improving, because your future depends on it.

Silent Sustained Reading

I'm not the kind of person that likes to read books. I only read books when I'm forced too and even then, I'm still not into the reading. Science fiction is usually my favorite type of book to read, but the introduction is a very slow process in the books I've read, so it tends to be boring. I tend to slowly knock-out or gaze off somewhere rather than read my book sometimes. I don't get how people read for fun, the book could be better because of the details and description of the story, but that's a con for me because long stories tend to get boring and too descriptive for me to read. How do people read for hours on a book for fun sometimes? I mean it's probably a really good book, but I would probably spend months just trying to complete half a book sometimes. I see people reading their books everyday and are really into it, but when you see me, I just read only 5 pages and not get into it. I've read many different genres and I still can't find the best genre that suits me. Hopefully, I get that feeling one day in a book that won't make me stop reading it or won't let me put the book down, but not because I'm forced to read... but to read for fun.

Other People

The Peter Elbow's chapter Other People is about how your audience affects your writing.   At first I thought he meant it literally but, he meant it figuratively. The audience he is talking about is the audience in your mind. You picture yourself in front of an audience and began getting nervous. Your audience can help you or hinder you. Elbow tells us about two types of audiences, safe audiences and dangerous audiences. A safe audience is the audience everybody wants. Safe audiences are supportive, friendly, comfortable, and your words come easier. If the audience is paying attention to you, you'll have more ideas and be able to speak more freely. A dangerous audience is what no one wants they are uninterested, you will stumble over your words, and they are just no real audience at all. You will become nervous and you will develop a protective voice. Peter Elbow tells us to ignore our audience and just think of talking to a friend. He also suggests a lot of free writing and changing your audience. 

Ms Fletcher's 40 Question Test

The test we took a few days ago in class was a very helpful test for me. At first, I was looking through it and thinking, "I really don't feel like taking this test but I'm still going to try my best." And that's exactly what I did. I got my test back and I did pretty good. I appreciated the sheet that Ms. Fletcher gave us to see what we needed to work on and that really helped me a lot. I realized that I need to work on more than I thought I had to. I also liked how it was organized. It was set up in a way where everything wasn't all over the place. The topics were organized and easy to follow/read and that made the test easier to do. I believe this test was designed to show us where we all stood for college level english right now. Made to show us the key points we are doing well in, and the key points that we aren't doing so well in. Made to get us thinking, "Okay. This is where I need more help and this is where my focus should be." I really do appreciate Ms. Fletcher for making that test for us because now I see that I need work on points I thought I knew very well, and that was the whole point of this test. So if you got nothing from this blog, get this: Don't be afraid to ask questions on the points you need help with.  

Free Writing

      My biggest weakness is writing essays. I am not good at it because I tend to get off topic, sometimes it doesn't make sense, and most of the time it is short. However I personally love free writing because I get to jot anything down, for example, talking about basketball or talking about how I am feeling. Free writing comes in handy because whenever I am mad, feeling down, stressed, frustrated or anything like that I just start writing a plethora of things down that comes to mind. On the other hand free writing benefits myself because I can keep calm and lets me have the freedom to talk about anything I please.

2014

      We are finally seniors! At first over the summer I couldn't grasp the fact that I only had one more year left in high school and to be honest that scared me! To me it is a nerve racking, excited, and scary thing all at once because we are entering the real world, are adults, and will be going to college! Anyways we came a long way, especially if you attended Mayfair ever since seventh grade! However their is no excuse to slack off or get "senioritis" just because we almost accomplished what we have been waiting for. We should enjoy our senior year not only with our friends but educationally, join sports, get involved with clubs, and volunteering anywhere. All I have to say is that we are already done with our first quarter so do not give up or discourage yourself because you know what? We can do it, just like Nike! Lets go Class of 2014!

Talk to Yourself... Seriously

When I was reading revising with feedback, a chapter from Peter Elbows book Writing with Power I noticed he was talking about getting feedback from all these people and asking their opinion. Literally. I’m not bashing him; every sentence was saying to get feedback from one of your peers. But really, why cant you just talk to your self about your paper I mean really. Ask yourself why you worded that sentence that way and why you used that word instead of the other word. I know it may seem dumb, but I actually did it with my last personal statement I ended up deleting a whole paragraph because I reread it and thought “this makes absolutely no sense” Yes getting feedback from your peers is good and all but they can easily lie to you and say that your paper is the best paper ever because they don’t want you to feel bad. When you can be you own critic on your paper and tell yourself this sounds bad and revise it yourself and make it sound better. Basically to get down to the point I don’t like revising with my peers solely because they can be lying to me to make me feel better about my terrible paper. Go criticize your own paper be harsh make your paper sound amazing. Im not saying to not revise with your peers im just suggesting that it isn’t a bad thing to revise your own paper rather than someone else but it is good to get different view points on your paper. Don’t be afraid to critique your work to improve it.

I Think We Learned Our Lesson

I think we all learned our lesson on posting late. Why do we even procrastinate for so long and put ourselves under so much pressure and stress. Its really dumb if you think about it we brought this on ourselves. I think that we are all in this mental state of mind that “Ill do it later” I was thinking that maybe this mindset is just a phase we’re all in a very lazy phase actually, and I believe that we will soon grow out of it. We all know that high school is a learning experience and to embrace your mistakes and learn from them. Well that’s what I’m doing tonight I, and many others, waited till the last minute to do all of this blogging and what happens? We get stressed out. Therefore I think that as we move onto being freshman in college we will essentially grow out of this mind set of putting things off until the last minute and actually doing everything in a timely manner. So lets all take a breath and remember not to take things because you will have a mental breakdown and it will become extremely hard to fit in all your work in a one hour time frame. I know none of this was from Peter Elbow but this does have to do with some reference to the college articles because hopefully we will have mature once we go into college and realize that procrastinating is the worst thing ever.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both."

The title is the beginning of one of my favorite poems, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. It is basically about a traveler who is presented with two paths and he chooses the scarier one and it ends up being good.

This whole "major" thing has brought me to a fork in the road. My entire life I've said that I wanted to be a lawyer. However, as I fill out my college applications, I am so reluctant to click Pre-Law as my major. All adults tell us to do is, "pick something you love" but what if I do not know what I love yet. I wanted to be a lawyer because it seems like a job that brings in money and power. I really don’t know if I will genuinely enjoy this because Mayfair does not offer any classes on just pure law. The alternative could be for me to pick a fun major but it would be less prestigious. The question in my mind now is either to choose to be wealthy but struggle to go to work every day or love my job but worry about paying my bills every month. Both bring unhappiness but I prefer the lawyer version. I'd rather be sad about my job and happy with my free time then be happy at my job and have no spending money. I know this is a naive way to pick a major but I really am lost. I really do not understand how colleges expect us to know what to do with our entire life right after graduation. I personally do not want to decide the rest of my life at 17. But I also don't want to be one of those "lost kids" in college who wastes their parent’s money with no goal (my parents have no money so it would be money I worked for). It's hard to figure out the road less traveled because both roads have been taken over and over. Instead of the road less traveled, I need to find the best road for P.J. and as of now I don't know which one it is.

Group Evaluations.

Can I speak on the fact that I find this whole group evaluation process is pretty much stupid? I find it kind of dumb that we have to write a whole page on what our partner has done. I understand the point that we should evaluate how we split the work and stuff, but a whole page blabbering on about what we've done is stupid as hell. I don't feel the need to write about the work that my partner has done. If we turned in the project completed, I don't think a written statement is needed. I am having so much trouble trying to figure out what to write for this Group Evaluation. To simply write a whole page on him is completely idiotic.

To be completely honest, this whole class is a hot vapid mess. I feel as if we never know what we're completely doing in this class. Fletch will tell us something, then my group will have a discussion and all be so lost on what we are actually trying to learn and pursue. I find it very careless that ever day when I walk into the classroom, there is no sort of agenda on the board. I do not like having no sense of what I am doing. There's never any specific due dates. There's never any sort of consequences for the talking. It's just overall messy. Don't get me wrong, I love this class and what it stands for. I just do not think it is very well executed. Ms. Fletcher is a wonderful teacher, I'm sure of it. But, maybe she's not the teacher for me. Does anybody else think that this class is sort of messy? Or am I the only one bold enough to say something?

AF: Glitches in the Common App

Here is an article about the glitches in the Common App this year!

Knowledge Truly is Power

Is college really the holy grail? Does it honestly give us as much of an advantage in the real world as we think it does?
     “College’s Identity Crisis” is an article from the New York Times written by Frank Bruni. This article questions why we put such significance on a college degree and if the other options out there like the military or being a mom are comparable to time in the classroom. Should these other paths receive the same recognition or reward similar to that of a college degree? Many people now are leaning in favor of real world experiences being recognizable; in fact, some college professors would like to give credit for off campus experiences to help students gain their degree faster!

In addition to this, Bruni explains that the United States recently engaged in a worldwide survey that revealed that out of twenty-three counties, “we [are] closer to the bottom of the pack,” and “our young adults in particular [preformed] unremarkably.” That was shocking for me to read! Maybe we need to focus more on higher education not only for ourselves, but so that we actually stand a chance against other nations. Furthermore, how can we expect to advance as a country when many people choose to stop educating themselves after high school and settle into mind-numbing jobs?

I really believe that getting a higher education and receiving a college degree should be stressed more. It is important to be educated or skilled and able to keep up with the growing demands of them time. Don’t you agree?

Ms. Fletcher was Right

In the beginning of the school year we were pretty much cruising through this course and the Ms fletcher warned us that it is not an easy class and not to get to comfortable with being super chill in her class. Those weren't her exact words but it was her point. Well I was just chilling relaxing acting real cool and had no worries because we were just reading and annotating. Nothing real difficult. Eventually Mrs Fletcher assigned us worked and it still seemed like a piece of cake cause it was nothing hard so I wasn't really worried. Consequently, everything seemed to pile up out of nowhere and I felt like I couldn't breathe fresh air. This course got really stressing but only cause I wasnt using my time wisely , I think! Writing really isnt my specialty but I know this class will help me in the long run. What do you guys do to not let things get piled up like me? Do you guys get stressed over this class too or its just a breeze? Is English someone else's weakness?

Major Probs

Now that some of us are on the verge of making the transition into college, choosing a major might be one of the major problems for us. We don't know what we want to be because this decision is like choosing the path of life. The time span is dependent on which major we'll be taking. No one likes the idea of taking four years of general ed and then four more years for law school or medical school. Some majors take longer than others, but it's our choice on whether to commit to it or not. And the problem I've been hearing from all my friends in college is their consistent change in course.

I don't think I know anyone who knew what they were going to major in and stuck with it until the end. If someone has, then that person must have been really confident because the most common reason as to why they have changed majors is because their previous major seemed to disinterest them. Now, I have known what I wanted to major in since eighth grade and I haven't changed it since. Sure I've had a few doubts in my mind but they've only begun to stir ever since I heard about these switches. I'm afraid that when I begin medical school, it would suddenly frighten me into switching out. Sometimes I even thought of majoring in something completely different and then switch out just so I can reassure myself that becoming a Pediatrician is what I truly want to do.Yet, I don't want to make that complication in my  life. 

If you know what you love to do, then you should take that risk, right?

Reading..

  I've always had trouble with reading something that I didn't want to read. English has always been my best subject, but its always been hard for me when the teacher assigns us to read a book that i'm not really interested in. Not that I don't give the book a chance, there's just certain type of books that I actually enjoy reading. I will read the book that the teacher assigns because I have to but it makes it so easy for me to lose focus. I end up reading it but not actually paying attention therefore I have to read it over and over. I enjoy reading fiction books such as ones I can sometimes relate to. Fiction books are more interesting to me because the stories are real so they make more sense to me. When I read a book I like I can finish it very fast but if not it takes me forever. I need to work on staying focused while I read because I need to brighten my horizons with reading different types of books.    

It really works guys !!

Yesterday night when I was doing revising on my final Personal Statements, I realized something pretty cool. I had actually done the correct writing process on not one, but two essays. Both of my personal statements were products of the process Revising with Feedback. Although I did not plan it this way at all, I am very happy that it worked out this way.

Last year when I had Ms. Fletcher for AP English 11, at the end of the year she had us write 2 personal statements. So, when Fletch said we had to do that for this class, I thought this would be the perfect chance to go back to my essays from 4 months ago and see what was up. I was pretty disappointed at what I found. I didn't even know what I was trying to say and I'm the writer ! So, I gave my personal statements to 2 different people, asking them for suggestions.

When they got back to me, I had to remember to receive constructive criticism with grace. It is so hard though, because these stories that we have all written mean something to us (personal, duh...) and we don't want to hear that they are bad. I had to take all of their comments into consideration, and remember from Elbow that we have to revise with feedback especially because these people can tell you exactly what the piece looks like from the readers view.

What I have learned from this process is that yes, you can use it with a shorter amount of time, but it works so much better with more time. This is because every new time you look at it, it is a fresh look. Me not looking at my papers for about 4 months gave me a whole new perspective on them, and then I had more time to play with different ideas.

So, even though I know we all procrastinate as much as possible, I am highly suggesting to all of you to try this process, because I am very glad I tried it. Although I am still not completely ready to  turn these papers into my college application, I am very close to my final product.

anxiousness got the best of me

     I let my nerves get to me. I do not mean to compliment myself or brag, but I perform fairly well with presentations. What can I say I am pretty social and love talking. Today though I really let myself down. I spoke to fast, which in my defense is how I usually talk, but that isn't really a good excuse. That was not the only flaw in my presentation I noticed though. I let the music overpower my voice, did not keep eye contact, and my voice was just horrible.The old saying that "you are your worst critique" falls true for me. Reading some of the feedback, I should start by saying thank you to everyone for them, well I believe two things when I looked them over. One this person probably wasn't sincere with their scores, they just gave 10s for the sake of getting it done. Two this person was just being generous.
     Thinking on everything it probably doesn't really even matter how I feel about it. It was a small project that I over thought and I made myself nervous for no reason.When I say got nervous I am not referring to stage fright because given any day I feel pretty confident in myself to not worry about others opinion. I got myself nervous of how I met up to my expectations. It sounds cocky and arrogant to say this, but I hold myself to a higher standard then others especially when the work specifically represents me. I feel that effort and quality of the work you give tells you a lot about person. So I take presentations seriously. I am starting to rabble on so I will cut it short.
     So to recap I messed up in my perspective. A little philosophy of mine is to do work that makes you proud and to be confident. I really bopped it on this little life rule. Well, I am just going to chalk it up to just one of those days. Forgive my informality, but on a side note I thought that the baby girl that said she had stage fright was adorable. If your reading this babe I thought you did great.

Our Elbow Presentations

To be honest, when I found out that we have to do presentations on what we read in our Peter Elbow books, I wasn't all that happy about it. I was wondering why we had to present, and how that would help us. Once I saw how the presentations worked, I was very interested in what was actually going on. I was understanding the purpose of presenting the chapters we read, and that purpose is to inform the class about what Elbow advises us to do when it came to writing. I became interested in what people were saying about their chapters and one thing that really stood out to me was, it doesn't matter what you write about, just keep writing. It could be the most weirdest thing in the world but that doesn't matter, just keep writing. That is something that I plan to hold on to when it comes down to free writing. Another thing that stood out to me was, don't worry about the audience when you are writing. If you are writing a paper and you believe it's a pretty good paper and you like it, STICK WITH IT. Don't worry about what other people may think. If other people don't understand what you wrote, that's okay. As long as you understand what you wrote, that's what really matters (I believe Ms Fletcher told us that.) I appreciate Ms Fletcher for having us do these presentations because it is actually helping me in my writing and that was the whole point of this exercise.

Worries and Concerns

     I can’t lie, reading “The 10 Most Common Excuses for NOT Going to College and Why They’re All Wrong!” really helped to reassure me that everything will be okay. 
     Going to college is a for sure thing for me. I know that I am going, but of course, I still have worries and concerns for what I might face. After all, I am about to dive head first into uncharted waters considering that I am the first in my immediate family to go to college. Things like “I don’t know how to apply to college, or where I want to go” and “I don’t know where all the money is going to come from” have gone through my mind countless times. But after reading this article I was able to breathe a short sigh of relief. 
     Many of my concerns were addressed in this article and I really think that it would offer some reassurance to people in a similar position as me. In addition, this paper really got me researching and looking into scholarships/college websites and I found out a lot of information. I wanted to share a couple of websites with you guys that I thought were really helpful! First, Cappex is an amazing website that is kind of a one stop shop for college stats and scholarships and I really recommend checking it out. Then, the California Student Aid Commission has a lot of information about what California has to offer to students who are new to college.
     I wanna know what you guys think! How do you feel about this article? What are your worries or concerns about college? Did you visit the websites, if so, did they offer any help?

Half the world is starving the other is trying to lose weight

Have you ever felt you never have enough. I know i cant be the only one, we all have our selfish tendecies. There have been moments where we believe we absulutly need this or we'll die without it. When the honest truth is we probably won't even think about it next year. Whenever i get like this i try to think about those who couldn't even dream to achieve such thing. The part of the world that us "starving" for my item/object. Then  while  i persuade myself to forget whatever i was gushing about i suddenly think yolo. No really i do. I then start asking myself why not obtain this  why try "lose weight". Note this iem or object could be the iphone 5c or it could be a hot n ready pizza. Should we really throw away something whilst trying to mimik others. Or should we spend and pretend the other half dosen't exist.

Diabolical Innocence and Honest Mishchief

I honestly dont.know what to write about so before i start i should apologize. I will ramble and most of it wont make sense.  When most people look at me they asume i am either a angel Or the devil himself. Both are horribly mistaken . The honest truth of the matter is many people arent one or the other,there both. Everyone has some good in them and some bad. If you dont believe that think about your life as young child. Some of us were bad little baebae kids. Kids who knew what they were doing but to carefree to care. Kids with diabolical innocence. Other were the good kids, the ones who only slip up when a "freind" persuades them. Or when there just not thinking clearly. These kids are the honest mishiefs ones. Now can we honestly say one .kid is really that different to the other. Both had there bad moments and both had some good. This goes fro crimjnals to. Yeah most of them did terrible things but does that really make them terrible people. Can we as humans say someone is a bad guy destroying the memories of every moment they felt like a good guy.It's not always that easy to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. Sinners can surprise you. And the same is true for saints. So why do we try to define people as simply good or simply evil?Because no one wants to admit that compassion and cruelty can live side by side in one heart. And that anyone is capable of anything.

Recipe for success

We spend money to go, leave our loved ones, and settle away from home, all for what? In the article, "Why Go to College?" gives statistics on reasons why we should go to college. I read this article completely in awe. There are two questions that sparked an interest in me. I wondered will these questions spark things in you guys.

          The article brings up the concept of "the big picture." Seniors, this is the time for us to imagine ourselves ten years from now. Like adding ingredients to a recipe, ask yourself, who do I want to be? What do I love to do? Who am I? Questions like those force us to think positively about our future. The article also discusses the concept of "Are we better off going to college.” This all can be like a master plan or recipe. I ask, well, are we? We are all high school seniors and after graduating, college will add to this recipe. It's a key ingredient!! It is proven that a person with a bachelor's degree is nearly twice that of someone with only a high school diploma. That is a great statistic to prove that this recipe is set for success. Yes, we will be confronted with the choice of getting a job or entering a four-year college. Yes, we will have to make the best decision for our future, mentally and physically. It's up to us to keep our word to work hard this year. Yay or nay?

P.s Wisdom from the wise Fletcher, "Just keep working and dreaming." 

Hidden Intellectualism

When it comes to grades, I've noticed that the average student would rather talk about a failing test score rather than getting a good grade. Why is that? In my opinion, most students hide their intellectual talents because being average is the social norm. Students just cruise through a school year with minimal effort because they think that’s what cool guys do. Some girls act so naïve just because they think they are being cute. Meanwhile, the “smart” students have been cast into a class of their own. Fellow students categorize any person that gets A’s regularly as a genius. This automatically makes it seem like getting A’s constantly is an impossible feat. An “A” student is not a genetically superior person because of their good grades. I think the only difference between a “C” student and an “A” student is the amount of effort that individual is willing to give and their level of maturity. First of all, effort is one of the main problems of all my fellow students. Effort is the key to all the opportunities that have been laid out for us as high school students.  However, the maturity part is more central to the point I’m trying to prove. A “C” student that raises their maturity level could easily turn into an “A” student. When a “C” student forgets about insignificant things such as how boring school is, how cool they are, or how cute they look, their attention shifts to most important part of attending high school, to get an education. They now realize that their grades have serious implications on their life. Some may reach this level of maturity during college applications but then it’s too late. It is too late to change from a “C” student to an “A” student because high school’s over. This is just what I notice. Being average should not be cool because striving to be normal will limit you.  

-P.J. 

Hidden Intellectualism

I agree with Gerald Graff in 'Hidden Intellectualism' when he says street smarts can make someone an intellectual. I think that we have different views on 'street smarts' though. He uses the example of a student not having straight A's but having vast knowledge in sports. I think street smarts are something that helps you survive in life such as mechanics, weaponry, or hunting. All three could help you in a situation that is life threatening. I don't think a person is considered and intellectual because they have a great knowledge about a sport, because that knowledge isn't much of a necessity in life.  Street smarts are just a higher form of common sense.

AF: Period 5 Catches FIRE!

You kids are blowing my mind.  Honestly.  A sudden torrent of thinking going on out here.

Listen:  that article entitled "Not Going to College is a Viable Option" seems to have thrown a monkey wrench into your thinking.  You must know that there are many ways in this world to be happy and successful; however, if my own daughter had said she were going to skip college, I would have blown a gasket. And when I consider everything I learned and everything I came to understand through the process of battling -- yes, battling -- for my degree, I embrace it all.

But I started out clueless.  I really was clueless.  And my 20s were bump-ity.  So don't believe you are about to run a straight line to your perfect life.  Anyone who is honest with you will tell you the path is not straight, and even the people who seem like they completely have it together -- they secretly don't.  You make a plan, and you adjust your plan when life throws new stuff at you.  You work to avoid the pitfalls -- unnecessary debt, bad influences and addictions, negative attitudes and unproductive self-talk.  You have faith in yourself.  Learn to lead with your intelligence and your good intentions.  Figure out how to help others, even when you don't have your own thing completely worked out.  Look for problems to solve.  The best businesses and the best innovations come from people who attentively notice a problem and then who go on to figure out how to solve it.

Most of all, don't be so worried.  You're so shiny and young, and there's so much life waiting for you.  Your generation has the capacity to do great things, and you're going to witness momentous change in your lifetime.  I know I have.  And the job of the future -- well, we don't even know what that is going to look like yet.  You have to know how to learn new things, how to be resilient and flexible, how to finish what you start, how to be your own best advocate...these things matter.

You are going to be fine.  I promise you.  Just keep working and dreaming.  Have a little faith that somebody's got your back.

Keep writing!  Keep communicating!  Keep thinking.
AF

Guess What?

After racking my brain for quite some time, as well as looking through everybody's  articles in this blog, I feel like I should just put this out there. I’m not going to college (for a year.) I have  set my mind on this after experiencing the merciless eligibility scores and required essays heaving down on my neck with it’s insidious presence. I could just already foreshadow twice the amount of daily procrastinations and regretful choices for each course I take. The smell of loans is near; prepare yourselves. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the importance of education and what accomplishments it could give to others for their road to success. It’s just that in my mind set, and feeling confident to say that many others, feel that maximizing textbooks and courses is less as important than maximizing compassion and fulfillment in life both professionally and personally. So thus far in my own plans, I am just going to defer for a year after high school graduation, move out of the country, and take private art lessons. It just feels right to take one long deep breath from school and work, and then just get back into the bureaucratic cycle of daily activities in a state college.

EAP 10/29/13

 We took the EAP yesterday. At first I was like "ugh I'm not in the mood to take this test." I don't think anyone wanted to take that test today. It was 40 questions long and it seemed like it was going to take forever because who wants to take a forty question test honestly? (I'm sorry Ms. Fletcher) It felt like an easier version of the English SAT. So at first I wasn't too happy to take it, but then during I thought that it's not too bad because it wasn't that hard. Isn't that a good thing if I thought it was easy? We got them back and I did pretty well, which I was kind of surprised. English is definitely my worst subject. I like what Ms. Fletcher did, how she categorized the questions on what subject they are and to show you what you messed up on specifically. It helps us all to see our weaknesses so we can become stronger in that certain subject. I thought it was just going to be one of those test to let Ms. Fletcher see where we are in our knowledge for english and stuff, but it was for us to know where we are which helps. It helped me cause I can't remember the last time where I was being told how my knowledge level for a certain subject is.