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. 

Is it Just Me Or.....?

       Okay is it just me or does it seem like most of our class is being a bit redundant? I see a lot of posts about the article "Not Going to College is a Viable Option." Yes, that one in particular is a very interesting topic but I think we should try and be a bit more different. We have so much more potential you guys!
      As someone who enjoys being an outcast (most of the time), I think we should do the unthinkable. Okay maybe not the unthinkable but at least more intersting. This is OUR BLOG like we have the freedom to become closer to one another as a class. I pretty much know a good amount of you guys but I would like to know more. I'm nice, trust me you can ask Danae Biddle or Janice Stanford.
       I want to know what colleges you guys are applying for and what you plan on majoring in. I truly am interested because I have no clue what I'm doing when it comes to planning for the future. I feel like all my friends have their entire lives planned out and I'm just here. STUCK. Like where am I going? What do I enjoy doing? Do I want to leave the state of California or should I stay here and go to the reliable Cal States that are pretty much everywhere? I'm really confused at this moment in time. No one in my family is able to help because none of them went to college. Does anyone else feel this way? I need some assistance! Let me know, I would like to hear your thoughts or concerns.

Personal Statements: Where's your dignity?

Having to define myself and life worth into 1,000 words and a few pages is a hard thing for me to do. Self-worth has always been a big deal of mine. I don’t feel that one essay on a dumb topic can sum up all that I am worth. I believe that personal statement is a huge waste of time, and should not be an assignment that all students should do. Having to sum up my self-worth according to a rubric grading sheet is ridiculous. I live for more than an essay that defines who I am; I am more that just a few pages. Colleges that decide on students making an entry based solely on a personal statement obviously do not have any sense of personal pride that a student has to offer. Students are a lot more than just a GPA and an essay. Does anybody else agree with me that the personal statement is not a proper way to understand a student's dignity?

Fear of Being Unedumacated

Education is one of the numerous priorities, typically, Asians have. I am one of the living examples where "Did you do your homework?", "Did you finish studying?", and "What did you get on your test?" is constantly breathing down my neck. So reading the article "Not Going to College is a Viable Option" had placed an unexpected doubt in my mind. Preparing for college is what I've been taught to do, basically. I may not be the brightest student, but I do my best in everything I do. Seeing as majority of the successful people are uneducated, it surprised me in such a way where I should have seen that coming.

"Focus on your studies", they say. But there's more to life than that, isn't there? If I were to bring up this argument that you don't have to go to college to be successful with my parents, they would most likely disagree. They were raised to stay focused on school. My father even broke up with a girl just so he could stay focused and I even think he told her that, haha. But they were raised to believe that education is the most important principle in being successful in life. Now you can probably see why I wouldn't have the audacity to break such family tradition of going to college after high school.

'Not going to College is a Viable Option'

'Not going to College is a Viable Option' by Lawrence Schlack couldn't speak for me any more. I really don't know if I am going to college, I would like to think I am but I still don't know. I am getting driven away from college because of people telling me that it is what I have to do to be successful. Who is to say that college could or couldn't make me successful. If I want to be successful and be able to do get into a career who would know if studying that career on my own is less of a viable option then going to college and learning about a field of work that the professor doesn't even do, only teaches. With technology I can learn just as much as a professor can teach me and more and all that information would be easily accessible. This fad of college being a necessity to have a career will soon be over, employers will soon realize they want the people who are most educated not the people with a paper that says they are educated.

Peter Elbow

I still have yet to present for peter elbow. My partners are Drew Donaldson and Justin Chu. I am a bit nervous I have to say, especially since some of the groups that have gone have done pretty well. That has made me a bit nervous. The thing that helps me is that I at least have two other people instead of just one in my group so that will help. I think everyone has those jitters before presenting, but I think that once I get up there and talk, if I do talk, it will all just flow out smoothly. The part I am mostly worried about is comprehending the chapter cause our chapter is kind of hard and the book is kind of hard to understand.

I was kind of upset to find out that I was going to be one of the lasts to present because I wanted to get over with it rather than to wait till the end of the quarter like I am now. Yeah it has its downside to present early because you're going to be one of the firsts to present so it has to be good, but its better to just get the presentation over with. It's like peeling off a band aid, you would rather get it over with than to drag it out. The good thing about this presentation is that when my group presents, we're going to present the same day as a lot of other groups presenting, so if our presentation isn't that good people won't really notice because they'll be tired of all the presentations!

feelings of pessimism

In a comment a student says that "feelings of pessimism are later conquered in the day"; this intrigued me because the fact is that this is true; it's true because the fact us that people have friends in classes that just make them laugh or feel good. like Justin Tompkins said he goes to class and even through the frustration of his friend Eric Cervantes who when unsatisfied with his work throws his work into the center of the table and even though he's frustrated they both start laughing because they; when all said and done they're friends and they feel happy around each other and that's what should happen with all of us. We should be able to go to college, and when we leave the classroom be able to call the friends we made in highschool. This is what happens with Highschooler's and that's what good about highschool and I see this happening with this class I now have friends who were only acquaintances and now we blog together. So when all is said and done and the laughter stops in the classroom i can look around and think "this is good".

The Heart of Life

"Pain Throws your heart to the ground, love turns the whole thing around, and no it wont all go the way it should, but i know the heart of life is good." So basically ask yourself if you would like to enjoy your life, or if you would like to live a miserable distanced life. You need to make yourself aware of every positive uplifting thing in your life. I love everyday because i choose to. Little things such as Erick getting mad at his writing and throwing down the center of the table, or falling asleep in an upright position can make my day because it immediately reminds me of all the great things i have in my life. Nobody said life is fair, but life is not completely unfair. I believe life is what you make of it, and life is willing to allow you to get everything you want from it. The heart of life is good.

Blogging and Writing

My brother used to always tell me to write about how my day was to him. It didn't have to be an essay, just write as much as you want. Basically, it was blogging. I used to always blog and write about my day as a kid. I ended up not writing a paragraph, but an essay about my day. Blogging about my life made me a better writer because I felt more comfortable blogging and writing about my day to day life. The only hard part about it, was making it descriptive or making people interested in what you have wrote. I realized that my brother taught me how to write through blogging. I have stopped blogging since my sophomore year and since then, my writing has been sloppier and has gotten worse because I have stopped writing/blogging about my day. The less I write or blog everyday, the more worse my writing becomes. I hope I can get myself to write and blog more about my life on my old blog rather than just blog here! It's one of the ways to make my writing better, plus it's a peter elbow method. Freewriting about my day to night.

The mystery of Life

Often times i find myself wondering about how we got on this planet, what created us or placed us here. Is it true that we were created by a "god" or was this "god" just a higher being, an alien of some sort maybe? The possibility of life beyond our planet is highly likely; therefore the possibility of the human race just being a branch of an alien race seems highly likely.

Not Another Failure Post!

Remember during the first month of school when were given personal superlatives to free write about? For those applying to colleges, did you find them useful when creating your personal statement? In a way I have found the superlatives, along with the Peter Elbow presentations, very helpful. Some of the superlatives, for me, were actually hard to write about. For example the one stating "Discuss your definition of happiness." When I first read that I wondered how I would take a topic so easy and break it down from my standpoint. Happiness is universal and I automatically assumed that everyone would consider happiness the same. But ( I know, you aren't supposed to start a sentence with "but") as I thought deeper into this topic I realized that people view happiness differently from one another. Moving on to the Peter Elbow presentations. We all, at one point, procrastinate and wait until the last minute to type up essays. Did you ever think that this was an actual strategy writers use? Or take free writing for an example. Don't you feel better after doing so? Well I do. I feel refreshed after writing all of my thoughts down when I can't seem to tell anyone else who doesn't understand. It helps clear my mind so that I am able to focus on writing essays needed for other classes. So far I enjoy this class because it's helping me discover new ways to make my writing more easier to understand as well as adding my own flavor to it. I feel like by the end of the year all of our writing will be improved. Maybe even those who hate writing will learn to love or at least tolerate it.

whats a blog

What is a blog really?
Its a compilation of thoughts and Feelings on a certain subject. The fact is blogging isnt hard its basically talking but instead of your mouth your voice comes from your hands

Hopefully this blog isn't a failure

There is almost no way for anybody to achieve a major goal or acquire a certain skill without experiencing failure. We need to go through circumstances with some sort of failure in order to either motivate us, or teach us that we have done the wrong thing. The process of trial and error is a beautiful thing which can shape our performance and nearly perfect us in the area we are attempting to succeed in. Where would we be if we had never failed? We would be nowhere. We would be stuck in the old ways that do not make us excel in anything. I'm glad i have failed and learned to fail. Failure for me is one of my biggest successes.

Failure is the best teacher

Some people live their whole life in fear of failing, the best way to learn and progress is from your mistakes, analyzing what went wrong and correcting it for the next time.

What do we do !?

     When reading the article "Not Going to College is a Viable Option", I realized when I finished reading that I did not give it a fair read. I read it with a huge biased opinion of that if I want to be successful, I have to be educated. But when I stepped back for a moment, I realized that the most successful people I know in my life are mostly not what I would consider educated. 
     My grandfather, just recently retired from an extremely successful 40 year run as Senior VP of IT for Macy's, is a Cuban immigrant who, when began his career, barely even spoke English. He eventually had to drop out of college at Cal State Fullerton, only 20 credits away from a bachelors degree, due to the normal stresses of life. But through his amazing attitude and devotion to his company, along with moving around the country for his career, he discovered huge success. Although this may sound like one of those stories that everything just happens to work out , it has a point of proving the question ,"Do I need this college degree ? " If my fabulously wealthy grandfather didn't need it, why do I? Well, honestly , I don't have the guts to take that chance. I do not posses the relaxed mindset that I can work my way up and everything will be fine. I have this voice in my head that screams at me when I even think of not furthering my education. When Ms. Fletcher said in class that if an administrator were to walk in while discussing that college is not a viable option she would probably stop talking about it , I understood. Not because I think that she shouldn't be talking about it , but because it is frowned upon to put the idea into kids heads. 
     I think it was an enlightening experience to read about different options, and for many people these may be good options. I think I have to get my education to be successful. But what about you guys? Do you think you absolutely need it , or would you be okay without it? Maybe only an associates degree? Trade school?

Failure is an option?

       I believe that this is true up to a point. The reason being is failure isn't just to keep you down but to help you learn and succeed during the later points in your life. lets say that you graduate high school not knowing what to do whatsoever after high school other than that college seems to be the right course of action although you like most people don't know what they want to go into they just know that college equals more money. The one thing not all people know is that people don't come out of college with the same major or degree they went set on having or that they had in mind.

       My main point is while your in college or wherever you end up failure could lead you to wanting a new kind of life or a new kind of career. you could go into a college wanting to go into a field but that field is a large umbrella covering a plethora of careers and majors. You can only know what you're not suited for when you don't want to try those things. I know I'm going to college and i also know that I'm going to go there go graphic design, my situation makes for a great example, graphic design is actually a plethora of things, you could try many different forms of careers but truthfully only a few fit like cogs in a watch. Failure helps eliminate the different things that don't fit and show you the things that do and help guide you along the correct path.

AF: Fletcher Checks In

So here we are in the last week before the quarter, and this assignment is just hanging there, undone. (You kids are scaring me; I know I'm about to get clobbered with a mountain of last minute work; last minute work is often rushed and careless work.  Prove me wrong.  Do a good job!)

A shout out to the writers: Kiara, Danae, Gia, Lindsey, Kevin, Savannah, and Desiree — and the commenters, Kiara, Danae, Siah, Gia, Savannah and Christian T. Thanks for leading the way and demonstrating to the rest of us how to get this done!

Please make sure you make a visit to essayhell.com and see what kind of help you might find.  I am starting to read essays.  If you are finished, if you have a draft that you feel pretty solid about, give it to me.  Just turn it in early.  You can hang on to all your drafts and all the background work until we have the official collection time on Thursday...but if you have something you want me to read on Tuesday or Wednesday, bring it on.  I'm climbing into the essay reading saddle, and I'll be there for a few weeks.

I have a Peter Elbow presentation that I am getting ready to give about writing with teachers.  It is hard to get real with a teacher.  I do my best to take off that teacher persona, but ultimately you know I'm reading to judge you — but that is NOT why we write.  We don't write to be judged.  We write to communicate with another person.  That's why the blog is really a better place for you to develop your writer's muscles.  Write TO EACH OTHER.  Talk to each other.  I like what I see started out here, and I'd like to see it bloom and flourish.

I'm out!
Peace and love,
AFletcher

Quote: What Does it Mean to You?

A quote that my mom has always told me is, “It’s better to have and not need, than to need and not have.” My mom grew up hearing this quote and she has been saying it to me for as long as I can remember.

One meaning of this quote is that you should always be prepared in anything that you do because you never know what can happen. For example, let’s say that you have a paper due and you work really hard to get it done. Then you find out that you are moving the week that the paper is due and you’ll be going to a different school, so you throw the paper away because you think you don’t need it anymore. All of a sudden, there is a change of plans and on the day before the paper is due you are told that you’re no longer moving. Now, you still have a paper due and you have to redo it because you threw it away. If you would have kept it just in case, you would have saved yourself the trouble of having to redo a paper.

Another meaning of this quote can be that you should be grateful for the things that you do have. Most times I don’t realize how important the smallest things are. Although I shouldn’t, I take the things that I have for granted. There are many people in this world who don’t have the things or the opportunities that I have, so I should appreciate everything that I have, even if it is small. This quote is a reminder to me that I should be prepared no matter what and that I shouldn’t take what I have for granted.

 What do you think the quote means?

Failure is a viable option

       In the article, "Want to Get Into College? Learn to Fail" by Angel B. Perez, it says, "The lessons of failure can't be taught in a classroom; they are experienced and reflected upon." Failure forces us, seniors, to grow, learn, overcome, and move on. Move on to bigger and better things after we've gotten up, dust ourselves off, and limped on. These so-called "lessons" that failure teach us are proven to be beneficial. I want to raise the question and ask, “Is failure good for the soul?”

       

         We do not attended a class name "Failure" and get a grade in it. Instead, we experience it, inside and out the classroom. Failure to me is life's greatest teacher once you have failed at anything. No one is perfect and should never aspire to be perfect. I agree with Perez in this article because many seniors want to perfect their college applications. Seniors!! Don't be afraid to admit to colleges any low grades in any course. Instead, embrace it. Learn how to learn from all of your mistakes. 

         Our life span on earth gives us very little time to reach our full potential. Failure gets us to reaching our potential faster. Failure makes our mindset act fearless of failing. It's a scary process, where we may stress and lack confidence but it's how determined we are to overcome any obstacle. We will benefit from working hard to get our senior year done with. We been in high school for four years and this is our last fight to the finish line!! Anyone agree or disagree? Comment! 

Is it really ok?

As I was reading some of the previous posts on the blog I couldn't agree more about what people were saying. Especially Desiree when she was saying its ok to fail and make mistakes. Although I agreed with her, and agreed with the articles about not going to college and not being perfect, there is still a voice in my head saying "don't believe them! go to college! do great things Lindsay!!"

This voice is upsetting me.

I feel like I'm not the only one in this situation.
You want to believe that it is ok not to go to college, and maybe you really do believe it, but there is still a voice in your head telling you that you need to go. And I don't know about you, but its upsetting me very much because I really want to believe that I don't need to go.

All our lives we were told to get good grades and do things that will help us get to college. Then all of a sudden our senior year of high school we get these articles telling us we don't have to go and we reach an epiphany like "wow I don't have to go. the word college sounds weird anyway".
But then you go home and actually think about it and you realize, "wait.. what was I thinking? I have to go to college". We were raised to believe college was the only choice and whether we like it or not, that belief will not go away.

so really we can keep saying that we don't have to go and all this "its ok!" and "I'll be fine without it" talk. But in reality, there is still that part of us that is saying "oh my gosh. Why am I saying this? Am I ok?"